NFL News

[Futureshock]

Lamar Jackson, Bernard Pollard have an extended Twitter battle

Posted by Mike Florio on July 14, 2022, 12:27 AM EDT

It actually started on Tuesday, when former NFL safety and current ESPN analyst Ryan Clark argued that Jackson should be among the list of top-10 quarterbacks, as complied by an ESPN survey of unnamed executives. Pollard said this of Jackson: “He’s def a Top 10 talent, but as far a Top 10 QB I don’t see it. I believe he should get paid by the #Ravens and should get TOP dollar!”

That one didn’t spark a response from Jackson. This comment, posted on Wednesday night by Pollard, did: “No TOP Wr will ever come there while LJ is there. Plenty of WRs have been available to get in the off-season while LJ has been starting, but nobody wants to go. They give him the respect, but they don’t want to play with him. LJ is good but he’s not able to make the throws.”

Jackson told Pollard: “You sound dumb asf.” Replied Pollard: “We’ll wait and see if one signs.”

Making Pollard’s point even more delicate is the fact that receiver Hollywood Brown wanted to be traded out of Baltimore. Jackson, who according to Brown knew about his discontent, responded with surprise and frustration to draft-night news that the team had traded Brown to Arizona. Although former Ravens quarterback Robert Griffin III later claimed that Brown wanted out because of the offense and not the quarterback, the fact remains that, in Baltimore, Jackson is the offense.

And Jackson just wouldn’t let it go. He attacked Pollard for being largely unknown. (Tom Bray definitely knows who Pollard is.) He attacked Pollard for a missed tackle in Super Bowl XLVII. He attacked Pollard for a locker-room dance capped by a split, saying “I only thought cheerleaders did the splits not players too.”

[Futureshock]

Baker Mayfied’s run with Progressive ends after his trade from the Browns

Posted by Mike Florio on July 13, 2022, 4:34 PM EDT

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At one point in Baker Mayfield‘s four-year run with the Browns, Charean Williams said during an appearance on #PFTPM that Mayfield has more endorsement deals than wins.

He now has one fewer endorsement deal.

Via Sports Business Journal, Mayfield said during his introductory press conference in Carolina that his arrangement with Progressive Insurance has ended. The commercials operated from the premise that Mayfield and his wife actually live in the team’s home stadium, known by some as the Factory of Sadness.

Mayfield said that he had hoped to do a moving-out version of the commercial. Things didn’t work out. (Some on Twitter have suggested a potential commercial featuring Mayfield moving out and Deshaun Watson moving in.)

Progressive Insurance is headquartered in Mayfield (yes, Mayfield), Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland.

The new Panthers quarterback rode a strong rookie season to a healthy portfolio of sponsorships. At some point, the performance has to justify the endorsements — or other players with greater accomplishments will get the opportunities.

[Nick Pappageorgio]

No one has mentioned the Zach Wilson story….

#gocougars
#thejetsfinallyscoredover40

[jaadam4]

"Everyone has a plan until..." Iron Mike Tyson


Le’Veon Bell won’t play football this year to focus on his boxing career

Posted by Charean Williams on July 12, 2022, 5:49 PM EDT

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Le’Veon Bell has not played since Week 18 of last season, and he saw only 44 touches in 170 snaps over eight games with two different teams. His career has not been the same since his 2017 All-Pro season, which was followed by a holdout in 2018 in a contract dispute with the Steelers.

Bell’s NFL career probably was finished anyway as no team has shown interest in signing the 30-year-old running back, but Bell said Tuesday he will not play this season.

He instead wants to focus on his boxing career.

“It’s been a challenge I’ve been willing to accept, something I took on,” Bell said during a promotional event for his upcoming fight with Adrian Peterson, via NFL.com. “Boxing is something that, you know, they always say it’s something you can’t play boxing. Last year, I almost sat out the whole year to try to focus on boxing because I kind of knew that was what I wanted to transition to. This year, I know I’m not going to be playing this year because I want to focus on boxing. So, this transition for me has kind of been like, I guess, another opportunity for me. I’m just ready to showcase what I’m about.

“This is not just a one-off. This is, I guess like my introduction to kind of show what I’ll doing and how I’ll be going about myself. Just an intro.”

Bell played five games for the Ravens and three for the Buccaneers last season after playing for the Jets and Chiefs in 2020. He has 6,554 career rushing yards and 42 touchdowns, while catching 399 passes for 3,289 yards and nine touchdowns.

He is scheduled to fight Peterson on July 30 at Crypto.com Arena, hoping that kick starts his second sports career.

“I obviously feel like I’m more quick than 99 percent of the people that I’m going to be in the ring with,” Bell said. “My speed, my quickness, my timing, it’s really going to be unmatched.”

Bell's career was such a weird story. He was killing it in Pitt until things went south regarding his contract.

[Futureshock]

Just a reminder that FA can be fool's gold for the team and the player. {I heard Pat Kirwin say that on Sirius-NFL radio}

He was all-world and should have tried to make it work in PIT. But hey, $$$$

[Futureshock]

Little optimism about deals for franchise-tagged players by Friday’s deadline

Posted by Josh Alper on July 15, 2022, 7:49 AM EDT

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Friday is the final day that players who have received franchise tags are able to sign long-term extensions with their teams, but there’s not much optimism that any of the four players in that position will come to such agreements.

The last few days have brought pessimistic reports about where things stand for Bengals safety Jessie Bates, Chiefs tackle Orlando Brown, Dolphins tight end Mike Gesicki, and Cowboys tight end Dalton Schultz.

Bates and Brown have not signed their tags, so the lack of a deal would make it unlikely that either player reports for the start of training camp. A report this week indicated that Brown could stay away from the team into the regular season and that could also be on the table for Bates in Cincinnati.

Brown would have a $16.66 million salary for 2022 under the tag while Bates would be in line to make $12.91 million. Gesicki and Schult, who have signed their tags, would have salaries of $10.9 million.

[Futureshock]

Marko, did Dan invite you? What a bawbag this guy is...

Does Daniel Snyder plan to avoid Congressional subpoena by hiding out on his yacht?

Posted by Mike Florio on July 14, 2022, 8:40 PM EDT

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I’ve joked in the past that one of the hidden benefits of having a superyacht comes from the ability of the owner to hide out on the boat indefinitely, in order to avoid service of process. It may not be a joke.

The Wall Street Journal recently delved into the question of whether Snyder is using the upgraded S.S. Minnow with the goal of avoiding a subpoena from the House Oversight Committee.

Why else would Snyder’s lawyer flatly refuse to accept service of the subpoena on her client’s behalf? The inescapable message from her client is this: Good freakin’ luck.

So let’s play this out. Snyder reported will be out of the country into August. Would he continue to cruise through international waters and/or dock in foreign ports until after the November election, assuming the Republicans retake the House? Although the new Congress wouldn’t officially take over until January, there’s not much time for meaningful work in a lame-duck period that includes the holiday season.

He’d have to be willing to not attend any Commanders games. Would he do that? He’d have to be willing to absorb all criticism that would come from the perception/reality that he’s staying out of the country in order to avoid being required to testify before Congress. Given the criticism he already experiences, how much more can there be?

The league doesn’t seem to care. They continue to be, by all appearances, afraid of Snyder. Thus, we fully expect the league office to continue to sit silently while Snyder floats lazily in any of the various oceans or seas, for a three-hour tour or something a lot longer than that.

[Futureshock]

Report: NFL generated $11 billion in national revenue in 2021

Posted by Mike Florio on July 14, 2022, 8:03 PM EDT

USA TODAY Sports

In 2010, Commissioner Roger Goodell set a total revenue goal of $25 billion by 2027. Five years from that deadline, how is the league doing?

Via Sportico.com, the NFL’s national revenue for 2021 came in at $11 billion. That’s the portion of the money generated by the NFL that is shared by the 32 franchises. Per team, it works out to $343.75 million each.

Three years ago, the league saw $15 billion in total revenue. That includes the national revenue and the local, unshared revenue generated by each team.

The total number, post-pandemic, surely is more than $15 billion. Because 31 of the teams are privately owned, there’s no reporting of local revenue — with the exception of the Packers, whose annual report will be released soon. Indeed, there’s a chance that the report regarding the $11 billion in national revenue comes from the numbers that will be included in Green Bay’s report.

The Packers’ annual report from a year ago showed an increase in national revenue from $296 million to $309.2 million. That translates to national revenue of $9.894 billion.

[Futureshock]

Bell's career was such a weird story. He was killing it in Pitt until things went south regarding his contract.

Le’Veon Bell wishes things had played out differently in 2018

Posted by Charean Williams on July 14, 2022, 5:09 PM EDT

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Le’Veon Bell said in a promotional appearance earlier this week that he won’t play football in 2022 to concentrate on his boxing career. Later, in an Instagram post, he hinted at retirement.

Bell’s career has not been the same since his 2017 All-Pro season, which was followed by a contract holdout in 2018 in a dispute with the Steelers.

Bell wrote in his post this week that he wished he could turn back time to 2018, regretting how things played out.

“The NFL has done great things for me, [and] I truly appreciated every single year of my NFL journey,” Bell wrote. “Obviously, I (we, whoever) wish things would’ve played out differently in 2018, like if I legit had a time machine to go back to 2018, that would be soo litttt 🔥 for soo many reasons but I don’t . . . all I can do, all WE can do is keep moving forward with life.”

Mike Maccagnan likely regrets how 2019 played out. The former Jets General Manager signed Bell to a four-year, $52.5 million contract that included $35 million guaranteed. Bell lasted only 17 games over two seasons, rushing for 863 yards and three touchdowns.

Bell never could find what he had in Pittsburgh.

Running backs have short careers, and Bell, now 30, wasted the 2018 season. He also ultimately lost money by turning down a five-year, $70 million offer from the Steelers because it contained a low true guarantee of $17 million, and he then eschewed the $14.5 million tag for 2018.

Last season, Bell played five games for the Ravens and three for the Buccaneers. He has 6,554 career rushing yards and 42 touchdowns, while catching 399 passes for 3,289 yards and nine touchdowns.

[Futureshock]

Derek Carr on Davante Adams: We both went “all in” to play together again

Posted by Charean Williams on July 14, 2022, 4:25 PM EDT

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Davante Adams turned down more money from the Packers and requested a trade to the Raiders instead. The All-Pro receiver confirmed last month he wanted to reunite with his best friend, Derek Carr, and move closer to his native California.

Carr then agreed to an extension that fully guaranteed him only $24.9 million at signing, a structure that allows the Raiders to “keep everybody together and really have continuity, have something to build on.”

Adams and Carr played together at Fresno State, so both have dreamed of teaming up again in the NFL.

Carr told Anthony Galaviz of the Fresno Bee it was perfect timing for the trade to happen.

“That’s something that we always talked about,” Carr said. “We dreamed of that and then when it became closer to reality, I went all in and he did, too. It’s something that we both just know where we’re at in our careers.”

The Bulldogs won a Mountain West title with the stars, and Adams ended up catching 233 receptions for 3,301 yards and 38 touchdowns in two seasons.

“It doesn’t promise that we can repeat what we’ve done,” Carr said. “It does give us an opportunity to play together again, and it’s exciting. We’re both fired up about it. We’ve both been working really hard to make sure that we’re not just good again; we want to be as good as we can possibly be, but that takes a lot of work, and that takes a lot of routes that he has to run, a lot of balls that I’ve got to throw, and we’ll see where it takes us. But we’re excited to be on this journey together again.”

For the first time since 2013, Carr and Adams will play together. It remains to be seen if they can find what Adams had with Aaron Rodgers, but Carr hopes “we can turn it into something that people will be happy to watch again.”

[Futureshock]

Good-dammmmm Rog! Lemme borrow a dollar

Roger Goodell’s suspended salary in 2020 led to record compensation

Posted by Mike Florio on July 14, 2022, 2:20 PM EDT

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When the pandemic began in 2020 and the world turned upside down, plenty of companies from coast to coast squeezed employees to take less money. Often for no reason other than they could.

For some companies, the people at the top set the example. If the boss is taking less, who are the rest of us to piss and/or moan?

At the top of the NFL, for example, Commissioner Roger Goodell slashed his salary to zero dollars and zero cents. That set the standard. It le the way. It made it easier to persuade many others to take a much smaller reduction.

As noted by Daniel Kaplan of TheAthletic.com, when the dust settled on the 2020-21 fiscal year, Goodell made $63.9 million — the same as he had made in the prior fiscal year.

Via Kaplan, Goodell wasn’t alone. PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan also took his salary to nothing. And yet, for 2020, he made $14.1 million, the most he ever has been paid in a single year by far.

So how does that happen when salary is sacrificed? Commissioners get bonuses. Big bonuses. Huge bonuses. So it’s easy to give up salary when salary pales in comparison to the big-ticket item for the year.

And, surely, the bonuses paid to Goodell and Monahan were driven by the ability to tighten the financial belt during the pandemic. As supported by their ultimately hollow gestures to give up any and all “salary.”

[jaadam4]

The Patrick MaHomes / Coors Light commercial is f’ing epic. Well do

[chemiclord]

Welcome to yet another example of the shell games wealthy people play to hide their money and drive narratives for fans to gobble up uncritically.

Remember stories like this whenever a billionaire team owner cries poverty and says having a higher payroll is reckless and unsustainable.

[Futureshock]

I don't understand the poor slobs who will back the team/corporation in a NY minute over a guy/girl just making as much as they can in the short span of a work-life.

[Futureshock]

Bengals to deploy white helmets in 2022

Posted by Mike Florio on July 14, 2022, 10:17 AM EDT

USA TODAY Sports

When the Bengals first introduced alternate uniforms consisting of white shirts and pants with black stripes on both, one key piece was missing. A change in league rules will make that piece a reality.

The Bengals have announced that they’ll use a white helmet (presumably with black stripes) in 2022.

Like other secondary looks, it will appear a handful of times throughout the season. But those occasions will be memorable, with the Bengals for the first time in franchise history using something other than orange helmets during a game.

For nearly a decade, the league insisted on players using one helmet and one helmet only for the entire season. It had something to do with preventing concussions. It never made much sense, especially with college programs like Oregon having a different helmet every week.

Now, it will make sense — and plenty of money. People will be buying up these alternate helmets, from the new red Texans helmet to the new black Saints black hemet to the new white Bengals helmet to the old-school looks from the like of the Patriots and Buccaneers. To any team that has yet to take advantage of the new ability to have a second helmet, what are you waiting for?