NFL News

[Futureshock]

Dolphins officially exercise Tua Tagovailoa’s fifth-year option

Posted by Josh Alper on March 20, 2023, 10:08 AM EDT

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Word earlier this month was that the Dolphins would be exercising their option on Tua Tagovailoa‘s contract for the 2024 season and it’s now official.

The Dolphins announced that they are exercising the fifth-year option on Tagovailoa’s rookie deal on Monday. The option comes with a $23.17 million salary that is fully guaranteed for next season upon execution.

The move strengthens Miami’s commitment to Tagovailoa for the next two seasons despite the concussion issues that caused him to miss significant time during the 2022 season. Tagovailoa threw for 3,548 yards, 25 touchdowns and eight interceptions while completing 64.8 percent of his passes when he was healthy and the Dolphins are banking on that kind of productivity with fewer injury issues in the future.

Mike White is on hand to step in at quarterback in the event Tagovailoa does get hurt, but the hope is that the Dolphins future features more of Tagovailoa than they got the last time around.

[CGVT]

Good to see him get his money before his brain turns to mush. He's going to need it for health care

[Futureshock]

O.J. Howard visiting Raiders

Posted by Michael David Smith on March 20, 2023, 10:05 AM EDT

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The Raiders are taking a look at veteran tight end O.J. Howard.

Howard is visiting the Raiders today, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.

The 28-year-old Howard went to the Buccaneers with the 19th overall pick in the 2017 NFL draft. He spent his first five seasons with the Bucs before signing a one-year contract with the Bills a year ago, then getting cut by the Bills just before the start of the regular season. He then signed with the Texans and played in 13 games with 10 starts.

Last year Howard had a career-low 10 catches, with 145 yards and two touchdowns.

[Futureshock]

ROGER GOODELLCOM, NFL


ESPN's Adam Schefter reports NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is expected to finalize a multi-year extension with owners at next week's owners meetings.


Goodell has been a busy man since being named as league commissioner in 2006. Whether it's navigating ways to improve player safety, growing the brand overseas, or even bringing the league through a worldwide pandemic, it's safe to say Goodell has done a little bit of everything during his tenure. Things haven't always been easy for Goodell, who has also been tasked with "defending the shield" on a number of occasions, but the NFL remains one of the biggest businesses in the world and continues to grow at a rapid rate. It's not exactly surprising to see owners re-up with Goodell for the foreseeable future.

SOURCE: Adam Schefter on Twitter

[jaadam4]

Glad it didn't work for them...

Bears mulled trading down with Texans from 1 to 2, then trading down again with Panthers

Posted by Michael David Smith on March 20, 2023, 10:45 AM EDT

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Bears General Manager Ryan Poles traded down from the first overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft to the ninth overall pick, and he’s pleased with what he got in return. But he was considering a more complex scenario that might have given the Bears an even greater return.

Poles told Peter King in Football Morning in America that he was considering the possibility of moving down just one spot in a trade with the Texans, getting the No. 2 overall pick this year and the Texans’ first-round pick next year, and then trading down again to No. 9 with the Panthers. But Poles said he ultimately decided that the time immediately following the Scouting Combine was the right time to execute a trade to a team that had fallen in love with one of the quarterbacks in the draft.

“I thought there was an opportunity to do something historically pretty cool with a trade from one to two and two to nine,” Poles said. “That had potential to add more draft capital this year, and then the possibility that you’re sitting on three ones in the following year. That had my attention. But my gut told me to trigger on it now. At the combine, I thought those quarterbacks did an outstanding job in their interview process. A lot of teams felt really good about some of those guys, but as you get further away from the combine, maybe there’s a bad pro day or something that turns teams off.”

Me too. They screwed the pooch with that one

[jaadam4]

Good to see him get his money before his brain turns to mush. He's going to need it for health care

The sad thing is that he knows he should hang’em up now but he won’t. 20 years from now he’ll be wishing he did.

[Futureshock]

Cowboys sign Chuma Edoga

Posted by Myles Simmons on March 21, 2023, 12:17 PM EDT

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The Cowboys have added some depth to their offensive line.

Dallas has signed Chuma Edoga to a one-year deal, according to Michael Gehlken of the Dallas Morning News.

Edoga, a Jets third-round pick in the 2019 draft, has appeared in 24 games with 13 starts. He started eight games as a rookie before playing 11 games with four starts in 2020.

New York waived Edoga last August and he was claimed by Atlanta. He appeared in a pair of games with one start for the Falcons in 2022, playing 55 offensive snaps.

Edoga took a free-agent visit with the Cowboys on Monday.

[Futureshock]

Arden Key felt “disrespected” by Jaguars in free agency

Posted by Myles Simmons on March 21, 2023, 10:34 AM EDT

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Edge rusher Arden Key has joined the Titans on a three-year deal, keeping him in the AFC South.

It sounds like he’s going to be motivated to play his former team two times a year.

During his introductory press conference on Monday, Key made it clear that he was expecting to continue playing for the Jaguars in 2023.

“With Jacksonville, it was a shock to me,” Key said, via Nick Suss of The Tennessean. “I ain’t gonna lie. After the year, I thought I was going to be a Jacksonville Jaguar. I felt disrespected. I came over there, lifted up the culture, brought a whole lot of energy, changed the city, changed the town and I felt like in my rightful mind I was going to be a Jacksonville Jaguar. That didn’t happen.”

After posting a career-high 6.5 sacks with San Francisco in 2021, Key signed a one-year deal with Jacksonville in free agency. He appeared in all 17 games with three starts, recording 4.5 sacks, five tackles for loss, and 15 QB hits while playing 41 percent of the Jags’ defensive snaps.

Key noted that when he entered free agency after spending his year with the 49ers, the club was straight up and told him that he was probably seeking something out of their price range. New Titans General Manager Ran Carthon was a part of San Francisco’s personnel staff then and has now brought him to Nashville.

“I still love the players, love the teammates, love the city, love the fans [in Jacksonville],” Key said. “But, yeah, we’ve got to see them twice.”

[Futureshock]

Will DeAndre Hopkins be the next receiver to be traded?

Posted by Mike Florio on March 21, 2023, 10:34 AM EDT

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The news that the Cowboys traded for receiver Brandin Cooks sparked the fairly obvious next report that the Cowboys were out of the OBJ sweepstakes.

Dallas also likely won’t be pursuing Cardinals receiver DeAndre Hopkins.

But someone will. Ian Rapoport of NFL Media saws that Hopkins’s status now “comes into focus,” and that “talks are ramping up among the interested teams.”

This could be interpreted as a deliberate effort by the Cardinals to remind any and all potential suitors that it’s time to speak now or forever hold your picks.

Regardless, it has seemed inevitable that Hopkins will be traded. He had been linked to the Cowboys. It’s unclear where he’ll now land.

Hopkins has a non-guaranteed base salary of $19.45 million for 2023, and a non-guaranteed base salary of $14,915,000 for 2024. He surely will be looking for a raise, given the current market at the position. The team that trades for him will need to realize, and accept, that wrinkle.

[Futureshock]

Dont’a Hightower announces his retirement

Posted by Myles Simmons on March 21, 2023, 10:14 AM EDT

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A former Patriots linebacker is officially calling it a career.

Dont’a Hightower announced his retirement on Tuesday in a piece published in the Players’ Tribune.

“Today, I am officially retiring from the NFL. I know these announcements always feel bittersweet, but I can’t think of a better story than the one I wrote in New England. A decade, three Super Bowls, two Pro Bowls, and the birth of my son — all playing for one franchise. How many guys have a story like that?

“So this is a happy day for me, and I just wanted to let you all know how much I appreciate you embracing a Southern kid from Lewisburg, Tennessee.”

A first-round pick in the 2012 draft, Hightower played his entire career with the Patriots. He appeared in 117 games with 114 starts, recording 27.0 sacks, 43 tackles for loss, 67 quarterback hits, two forced fumbles, and five fumble recoveries. He also intercepted one pass and scored two defensive touchdowns.

Hightower’s final contract with the Patriots expired after the 2021 season and he did not join a team in 2022.

[Futureshock]

Marcus Davenport officially signed Vikings contract on Monday

Posted by Mike Florio on March 21, 2023, 10:05 AM EDT

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The drama is over. If there ever was any, there isn’t now.

Per a Vikings representative, former Saints defensive end Marcus Davenport signed his one-year contract with Minnesota on Monday. It has been submitted to the league. It should appear on the official transactions report today.

It would have been done sooner, but Davenport is traveling with his family. He returns from the trip tomorrow, and the Vikings play to introduce him on Thursday.

So there it is. Davenport is a Viking, at least for 2023. He’ll make at least $10 million, with another $1 million tied to participation in offseason workouts and another $2 million attached to per-game roster bonuses.

[Futureshock]

Austin Ekeler: I am so underpaid right now, I’m relentlessly pursuing a long-term contract

Posted by Michael David Smith on March 21, 2023, 8:12 AM EDT

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The Chargers have given running back Austin Ekeler permission to seek a trade, and he’s making no secret that he wants some team to pay him what he thinks he’s worth.

Ekeler said on Chris Long’s Greenlight podcast that he has nothing against anyone with the Chargers, but he wouldn’t want to stay there unless he’s going to get paid what he thinks he’s worth, and he’s not going to top seeking the contract he wants.

“I’m so underpaid right now as far as my contract and what I contribute to the team, I am relentlessly pursuing this,” Ekeler said. “I want to get something long-term done. I want a team that wants me long-term. I’m at the peak of my game, I’m going to score you another 20 touchdowns. As long as I’m healthy I’m going to score 20 touchdowns, I’m going to have 1,600 all-purpose yards. I’m getting half my value of what I can be getting. So I am relentlessly pursuing someone who wants me.”

So far, Ekeler has been the one doing the pursuing, and no team has been identified as eager to both give Ekeler the contract he wants and give the Chargers the trade compensation they want. Ekeler has one more year on his current contract and acknowledged that he’s obligated to play for the Chargers if nothing gets done, but he wants to get something done soon.

[Futureshock]

Mississippi auditor pushes back against Brett Favre

Posted by Mike Florio on March 21, 2023, 6:43 AM EDT

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Often lost in the fact that Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre sued broadcasters Pat McAfee and Shannon Sharpe for defamation is that Mississippi auditor Shad White also has been accused of telling lies about Favre’s role in the state’s welfare-fund scandal.

White is now pushing back publicly against Favre.

Recently, Mississippi filed a response to Favre’s effort to be removed from a civil complaint aimed at recovering welfare funds. The State’s filing includes what White’s communications director, Logan Reeves, characterizes as “never-reported Favre text messages.”

Reeves also points to a Twitter thread from White regarding the situation. White tweeted an excerpt from the state’s new filing, regarding what White says are new text messages from Favre.

“Will the public perception be that I became a spokesperson for various state funded shelters, schools, homes, etc. . . . and was compensated with state money?” Favre asked, per the filing. “Or can we keep this confidential.”

Favre also asked, per the filing, about a potential solution to “the brick and mortar issue,” which the state characterizes as Favre knowing that welfare funds couldn’t be used for actual construction of buildings, “but he sought to secretly obtain those funds for that purpose anyway.”

Says White one of several tweets: “The public already knew Favre knew he was receiving public money. But the new texts make it clear Favre knew he was receiving ‘grant’ money intended to benefit people in ‘state funded shelters, schools, homes, etc.’ In other words, the poor.”

White also takes aim at Favre’s request to keep the payments quiet.

“The point is that there are multiple exchanges where Favre stressed the need for secrecy,” White tweeted. “National news has talked about how Favre said in one text that he didn’t want the media to find out. This wasn’t a one-off, transient thought, though. He said it repeatedly.”

White also contends that the texts provide “definitively” that “Favre was aware there were concerns about the legality of spending this money on a volleyball court . . . [a]nd he knew there was a need to get around those rules.”

White discloses in the thread that he is indeed a defendant in Favre’s defamation case.

“Bear in mind, this is the guy suing me for defamation for having the temerity to tell taxpayers the truth: that Favre knew he was being paid in public funds and he knows this was a sham,” White tweeted.

Truth is an absolute defense to a defamation case. This latest filing, coupled with the stream of tweets from Shad White, seem to be directly calculated at proving that the things said by him, McAfee, and Sharpe about Favre are true.

Favre has repeatedly denied wrongdoing. We’ll defer to the relevant court processes before coming to any firm conclusions as to what he did or didn’t do, and what he knew or didn’t know.

[Futureshock]

Seahawks announce release of Al Woods

Posted by Charean Williams on March 20, 2023, 9:23 PM EDT

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The Seahawks released defensive tackle Al Woods on Monday, the team announced. They parted ways after three seasons in his second stint with the team, saving $3.67 million in cash and cap space.

Woods, who turns 36 next week, was a defensive co-captain last season along with Quandre Diggs.

The 13-year veteran started 30 games the past two years, totaling a career-high 50 tackles in 2021 and 39 tackles last season. He also recorded 3.5 sacks and nine tackles for loss combined the past two years.

His departure continues an overhaul of the defensive line. The Seahawks released Shelby Harris and Quinton Jefferson last week and have added defensive ends Dre'Mont Jones and Jarran Reed in free agency.

[Futureshock]

Cam Newton will throw at Auburn’s Pro Day on Tuesday

Posted by Charean Williams on March 20, 2023, 8:36 PM EDT

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Cam Newton hasn’t lost his swag, but what he wants is another chance.

The free agent quarterback confirmed in a social media post that he will throw during Auburn’s Pro Day on Tuesday.

“Tell me how these randoms keep getting jobs,” Newton says during the video before later adding, “Ain’t 32 mother [expletive] better than me. You dig?”

Newton, 33, has not played since 2021 during a second stint with the Panthers.

He last won a game in 2020, last passed for 3,000 yards in 2018, last started every game in a season in 2017, last started a playoff game in 2017 and last made the Pro Bowl in 2015. Newton also was league MVP in 2015 when he led the Panthers to a 15-1 record and an appearance in the Super Bowl.

He spent 10 seasons with Carolina and one with New England.