NFL News

[Mainevent]

I hope he had a contract incentive for making the pro bowl.

[jaadam4]

lol.. I see what you did there

[whatever_gong82]

Broncos to hire Sean Payton as coach, finalizing trade with Saints: Source

The Broncos are finalizing trade compensation with the Saints that will make Sean Payton the next head coach in Denver, a source with knowledge of the situation confirmed to The Athletic.

The Saints and Broncos are discussing a package that includes a first-round pick in 2023 and a second-round pick in 2024 going to New Orleans with a 2024 third-round pick headed back to Denver.

[whatever_gong82]

Texans hiring 49ers defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans as head coach: Reports

The Houston Texans have agreed to terms with 49ers defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans as their next head coach, according to multiple reports Tuesday. Here’s what you need to know:

Ryans has spent the past two seasons as San Francisco’s defensive coordinator.
In 2022, the 49ers had the NFL’s top-ranked defense in yards allowed per game (300.6) and points allowed (16.3).
Ryans spent six seasons as a player with the Texans where he won defensive rookie of the year honors and was named to two Pro Bowls.


Backstory


The Texans fired head coach Lovie Smith after one season and landed Ryans, one of the top candidates on the market.

Ryans had spent his entire coaching career with San Francisco, serving as inside linebackers coach and a quality control analyst prior to being promoted to defensive coordinator in 2021. In his two seasons guiding the 49ers defense, Ryans’ units ranked third and first, respectively, in total yards allowed.

He takes over a team that went 3-13-1 in its lone season under Smith — the third time in the franchise’s 21-year history that the team finished with three wins or less in a season. The Texans also finished near the bottom of the league in 2022 on offense and defense in terms of yards and scoring.


What the Texans are getting


The two positions Ryans played as a boy, baseball catcher and football center, seem like odd fits for the skinny, athletic boy he was at the time. The common denominator was that both are stabilizing spots – where a coach might put his most dependable player, the kid who can calm an erratic pitcher or anchor a young offensive line. That’s who Ryans was from the outset, an excellent player but also an excellent leader wherever he went. Teammates in Houston, for example, called him “Cap” — for captain — early in his rookie season. He had the same effect on the 49ers.

Despite a distinguished playing career, he put in the work as an entry-level assistant in 2017, became linebackers coach in his second season in San Francisco and was a coordinator by his fifth. His players say he’s sharp on Xs and Os, but that his true gift has been inspiring them to reach another level in their performance. Ryans built true camaraderie among the 49ers, which is why everyone under him is certain he’ll excel as a head coach. — Barrows


What the 49ers are losing


The 49ers have been running essentially the same defense since 2017. Yes, they’ve added major wrinkles, such as the so-called Wide 9 style of defensive line play, since then, but the fact that players like Jimmie Ward, Arik Armstead, Fred Warner and Nick Bosa have been in the same scheme for multiple seasons has allowed them to get a little faster and sharper every year. That’s something Kyle Shanahan has to consider when replacing Ryans, and he may have a couple of internal candidates, such as secondary coach Cory Undlin, on his list of candidates. If he doesn’t tap one, he’ll not only have to replace someone who was as universally admired as Ryans was, he may have to look on as the team implements a new system in 2023. — Barrows

[CGVT]

Ryans deserves better

[whatever_gong82]

Ryans deserves better

Yeah, and I live in an area where a lot of the Texans/AFC South games are televised, so I get to see their dumpster fire of an organization up close most weeks.

Wow, typing those words reminded me of the Detroit Lions for most of my life. How things have changed in a hurry!

C'mon, Sheila Ford Hamp/Brad Holmes/John Dorsey/Dan Campbell. Keep on getting better, and forever retire that awful moniker, "Same Old Lions!"

[whatever_gong82]

Kawakami: Tom Brady and the 49ers could be headed for each other at last


By Tim Kawakami

Jan 31, 2023


Other than making a few urgent calls to Tom Brady, what the heck can the 49ers do now?

Other than laying out a very clear path back to the Bay Area for Brady, how will the 49ers deal with the repercussions of losing Brock Purdy at least until training camp due to a torn elbow ligament suffered in Sunday’s NFC Championship Game against the Eagles?

Other than letting Brady know that this is the perfect setup for one (or two) more Super Bowl runs, how can a team built to compete for championships get some momentum back this offseason?

Other than doing what it takes to get Brady into a 49ers uniform for 2023 training camp, what are the 49ers’ practical options here?

My answer is the blunt answer, but it’s probably true: There aren’t any easy fixes for the 49ers, who were, justifiably, so confident in Purdy and also have Trey Lance as a backup.

Other than giving Brady a call. Being very nice to him. Putting together a good contract offer.

And waiting to hear what he says.


I don’t quite mean to suggest that the 49ers will be irrelevant in 2023 if they don’t sign Brady. There are indications that Purdy could miss only six months, whether he elects surgery or not, which would take him right to the start of camp. So maybe he’ll be healthy enough to start in Week 1. Or Week 4. Or Week 10. I’m sure right now Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch would gratefully take a Purdy full-tilt return by October, if you offered them that guarantee. But there is no such guarantee.

There’s also Lance, who is coming off a broken ankle and should be able to participate in most of the offseason workouts (though maybe not at full speed until training camp). And the 49ers should make sure to have a solid veteran or two on hand — hey, I believe Jimmy Garoppolo knows the key code to the players’ parking lot.

After watching four QBs go down this season, and then absorbing the news that Purdy will be out for a while longer, it would be prudent for the 49ers to have as many healthy QBs in camp as possible next season. May I suggest 15? 20?


And the 49ers still have an excellent roster, of course. They were winning games with Garoppolo this season, they went 7-1 with Purdy and got to the NFC Championship Game, and there’s every reason to understand that it doesn’t take All-Pro QB play to take full advantage of Deebo Samuel, Christian McCaffrey, George Kittle, Brandon Aiyuk and the rest of that offense. It also doesn’t take an elite QB to just ride with the No. 1 defense in the league, which held up more than decently in Sunday’s 31-7 loss in Philadelphia considering that, as Shanahan put it, they were essentially playing by themselves once the 49ers ran out of QBs early in the third quarter.

I don’t think the 49ers would’ve strongly considered bringing in Brady this offseason if Purdy came out of that game healthy. Win or lose the NFC title game, the idea of Purdy at a league minimum salary next season plus Lance for competition seemed very, very solid. The 49ers could’ve added a savvy veteran to take QB3, maybe drafted another QB to stash on the practice squad, and who would’ve argued with that assemblage?


But as has happened to the 49ers at least four previous times this season, all the plans are blown up now. The 49ers can’t be sure about Purdy, so they can’t risk only bringing Lance along as QB1 insurance. They just don’t know enough about Lance after four NFL starts; and he’s already gotten hurt multiple times in just that limited action.

And as entertaining as it’d be to note the fan reaction if Garoppolo returns to the 49ers yet again when we all expected him to exit, it’d be almost impossible for Shanahan and Lynch to address their QB injury emergency by re-signing Garoppolo, who now has suffered major season-ending injuries in three of his six 49ers seasons.


Which brings us back to the 49ers’ pretty undeniable need for a proven veteran QB. Which is very different than their position after losing the Super Bowl in February 2020, when Brady was done with the Patriots and was interested in joining his childhood team. Shanahan and Lynch thought about it but decided to stick with Garoppolo, who’s 14 years younger and was coming off a career year.


Back then, Brady was 42 and coming off his worst season in a long while, throwing 24 touchdowns and 8 interceptions and registering an 88.0 passer rating, ending it with a loss in the wild-card round. Of course, after the 49ers passed on him, Brady signed with the Buccaneers and had a massive season (40 TDs, 102.2 rating) that just happened to end with his seventh Super Bowl victory.


This season, at 45, Brady threw 25 TDs and 9 INTs, lost in the wild-card round of the playoffs and had a 90.7 passer rating. And now he might be looking to change teams again — or join Fox to start his reported 10-year, $375 million analyst deal or do whatever Brady is going to do next.

Hmm. I hadn’t connected Brady with the 49ers in this cycle because I figured they were set with Purdy + Lance, and I believe Brady might want to stay on the East Coast this time.

But back in 2020, he wanted to join the 49ers because he saw that it was such a sweet situation. And this time, it might be a little flipped — Brady looks like a perfect fit for the new 49ers’ QB situation, and maybe Brady is the one who has to think about it. This is weird for me to type about somebody who’ll be 46 next season, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Brady is looking for more than a short-term commitment. (I don’t think that would be a deal breaker for the 49ers.) He also wouldn’t necessarily want to come to a team as an afterthought, in this case, only a prime option after the Purdy injury news. So we’d have to see how the 49ers describe the situation to him and how much he buys into it.


Brady would also cost a lot more than your normal journeyman QB, naturally. But Brady has been very flexible for years in working his salaries to make sure the team could continue to keep and add talent around him. And even at $25-30 million a year, he’s worth it, even with the 49ers facing a bit of a salary-cap squeeze this offseason.

Yes, Brady at some point is going to hit the wall. Yes, he’s probably never going to be the QB he was even two years ago and certainly not 10 years ago. Yes, the 49ers could and probably will look at Derek Carr and others available either as free agents or via trade.

And yes, Brady could get hurt, too. Anybody can get hurt, especially if you’re a 49ers QB. But here’s a big stat: Brady hasn’t missed a game to injury since 2008. That’s 14 consecutive healthy seasons.


When you’re the 49ers and you couldn’t get four QBs through a single campaign … a middle-aged all-timer who almost never gets hurt might seem a bit less risky than some other options. A bit less risky than every other option, I’m thinking.

Just look at it this way: Could Brady, who threw for 4,694 yards even in this past down season, simply match what Purdy and Garoppolo did this season? Could Brady run Shanahan’s system, distribute the ball to the playmakers and avoid mistakes? Would he benefit from a team that would never abandon the run the way Tampa Bay has done lately? I think the answer is yes to all of those questions.

What we don’t know is whether Brady really wants this or has his eye set on something else. And we don’t know what the 49ers can and will offer him, in dollars and contract length. But after the two sides have zig-zagged away from each other for all these years, fate has brought them this ripe and very convenient opportunity to come together at last.


Tim Kawakami is Editor-in-Chief of The Athletic's Bay Area coverage. Previously, he was a columnist with the Mercury News for 17 years, and before that he covered various beats for the Los Angeles Times and the Philadelphia Daily News. Follow Tim on Twitter @timkawakami

[Cody_Russell]

DeMeco Ryans did receive a 6 year contract… without details, assuming it’s similar to Dan Campbell’s contract. This was the smart move on both sides. Though I’m not so sure how competent Texans GM Nick Caserio is.

…

Wow, a lot going on here:

[ghandi]

Rookie coach and rookie QB (assuming they use 2nd pick on QB) often is a tough marriage for first year.....49ers have had 2 DCs get hired in last 3 years as HC.....Starting to think that maybe the defense is good no matter who coaches it?

[jaadam4]

Payton is about the best coach they can hire for their situation but I still don’t see it working out for them. They’re going to be a dumpster fire for awhile.

[Nick Pappageorgio]

Brady retired via social media this morning

He said no backsies this time

[Cody_Russell]

GOAT.
To my surprise, think it’s a legit retirement for Brady.

Watching a NFL season without Brady is going to feel weird… not since basically 2008. Then going back to 2000.
Though Brady taking Olsen’s lead broadcasting spot at FOX Sports will be interesting to see.

[froot loops]

That Bronco franchise has been rudderless since Manning retired. Sean Payton is a great coach to try and stabilize it. I think Wilson can be salvaged to an extent, the biggest problem there is Wilson's ego. The absence of draft picks will hurt a lot but it is.short term pain in my opinion.

[Mainevent]

Have they given any details on the power structure? Payton was stumping like he wanted full control, so curious to say who has final say on personnel there.

[The King]

DEN gave up THREE #1 picks and THREE #2 picks on Wilson/Payton.

That’s an all-time overpay. That Wal-Mart owner went shopping at Gucci, rather than the shit product white trash store he owns.