NFL News

[edindetroit]

Last year with the Bears, he had 10 catches for 140 yards — in 10 games.

[edindetroit]

Makes me wonder if they tried stents?

In a foot?

[Tom]

While I have doubts about Fields, I think it’s too early to write him off. He doesn’t play behind a very good line and he doesn’t have great weapons.

[jaadam4]

I hope the Bears take that approach and keep trying to make him work. Surround him with more weaponz!!

[wcfwtf]

Fields got so beat up at that game at Ford Field he looked like he wanted to quit.
He surrendered in the second quarter.

[Futureshock]

Claypool was originally a TE. He moved better then a TE in the pre-draft process and was moved to WR. He just can't get separation from any competent CB. Can't put that on Fields.

[Futureshock]

Yes, the 49ers and Rams could both pursue Kirk Cousins next year
By Mike Florio
Published June 26, 2023 08:33 PM
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It’s slow right now. Which means that every media outlet covering the NFL is looking for content. Us included.

Given that so many other media outlets covering the NFL have seized on something I said last week on Rich Eisen’s show , we might as well write something about it, too.

At some point during the discussion from last Wednesday, I blurted out the possibility that, in March 2024, the 49ers and Rams will end up in a tug of war for Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins. I know that, on the surface, it sounds crazy. But it could still happen.

For starters, the Vikings have no way to keep Cousins from becoming an unrestricted free agent after the coming season, unless they sign him to a new deal. They can’t use the franchise tag. If Cousins wants to hit the market after six years in Minnesota (where he signed after six years in Washington), he will.

So where will he go? In 2017, 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan didn’t even evaluate Patrick Mahomes because Shanahan believed he’d be signing Cousins a year later. Since then, the 49ers have had a revolving door of quarterbacks, due in large part to none of them being able to stay healthy.

Cousins always stays healthy. He never gets hurt. And if the 49ers had signed him in 2018, they’d likely have one or two more Super Bowl trophies in the case, given the quality of the rest of the team. (Stop laughing. They would.)

Shanahan’s interest in Cousins for 2024 will hinge heavily on whether Brock Purdy gets healthy, and whether he stays healthy. If he gets injured again, Shanahan could decide to roll the dice on Cousins next year.

The other wild card is the Rams. Although Matthew Stafford is officially their guy for 2023, there were rumblings that the Rams were hoping for a trade offer, possibly from the Jets if the Aaron Rodgers deal had fallen through. After another year of Stafford holding his aging body together, while also potentially getting injured at some point during the 2023 season, coach Sean McVay — who like Shanahan worked with Cousins in D.C. — could decide to make a play for Cousins. Especially if McVay thinks Shanahan will finally try to get Cousins.

Thus the potential tug of war, with Cousins caught between a couple of former Washington assistants turned NFC West rivals, and once again cashing in.

It’s really not a controversial theory. It’s actually sort of obvious.

But, again, it’s slow now. So have at it. Of course, if it ever comes to pass next year, not many of you will remember that it was a slow-time hypothesis from late June of 2023.

[Futureshock]

Jets are bracing for an involuntary Hard Knocks assignment
By Mike Florio
Published June 26, 2023 12:52 PM
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The NFL apparently will not be listening to the preferences of the HC of the NYJ .

Per a league source, the Jets are bracing for the preseason Hard Knocks assignment, despite making known publicly (and privately) their lack of interest in serving as the focal point of this year’s show.

The Jets, Saints, Bears, and Commanders fit the criteria for being required to do the show in the 2023 preseason. Under a formula developed several years ago, the teams that can be compelled to do it include those without a new head coach, those who have not been to the playoffs in either of the last two years, and those that have not been the subject of the show for the last ten years.

The Jets, Saints, and Bears have made it clear that they don’t want to do it this year. The Commanders, we’re told, would do it, if assigned . (We’re also told the league prefers to wait until after the sale of the team is finalized, and that the Commanders could be this year’s in-season option.)

The league had commenced talking to some of the other 28 teams, hopeful to find a volunteer. The Lions were approached about a second straight appearance. They declined.

The Jets technically can’t decline, although the NFL typically does not make a team submit to Hard Knocks when it doesn’t want to.

Most fans would prefer the Jets. With high expectations, the presence of quarterback Aaron Rodgers, and the memories of a successful run in 2010 (when coach Rex Ryan had the Jets eating goddamn snacks), the Jets are definitely the most interesting of the four teams that can be required to do it — and more interesting than most if not all of the other 28 teams.

If the Jets get the short straw, it could actually make for a more compelling presentation, with a possible attitude emanating from the coaching staff and the rest of the team that they don’t want the cameras and microphones there. Now that would be a reality show.

[Futureshock]

Elgton Jenkins has “high expectations” for Packers rookies Luke Musgrave, Jayden Reed
By Josh Alper
Published June 26, 2023 10:13 AM
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Jordan Love’s move to the starting quarterback job isn’t the only notable change to the Packers offense this season.

The team is also breaking in a pair of second-round picks who will be tasked with assisting Love in the passing game. Tight end Luke Musgrave and wide receiver Jayden Reed are both expected to play big roles for the team as rookies and left guard Elgton Jenkins said on NFL Network Monday that both players have made strong early impressions on him.

“Man, I was looking at Luke Musgrave and Jayden Reed a lot. Our weapons, man, they got some serious speed, Jayden and Luke,” Jenkins said. “Just being able to see them out there running and getting vertical up the field, running routes and stuff like that, it really put a smile on my face. I’m ready to see what’s in store for those guys. I feel like the future’s bright for those guys. . . . Luke Musgrave and Jayden Reed, I’ve got a lot of high expectations for those guys in Year 1, for sure.”

The Packers took two other wideouts and one other tight end in the draft, so there will be no shortage of new faces on the field come the fall. The speed of their transition to NFL life will help determine how successful Love and the Packers will be in 2023.

[Futureshock]

Report: Malachi Wideman enters supplemental draft
By Josh Alper
Published June 26, 2023 09:59 AM
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The NFL will be holding a supplemental draft for the first time since 2019 this year and a second prospect has reportedly been added to the pool.

According to multiple reports, former Jackson State wide receiver Malachi Wideman’s application to enter the draft has been accepted. Former Purdue wide receiver Milton Wright is the only other player currently eligible for selection.

Wideman caught 34 passes for 540 yards and 12 touchdowns in 2021, but was limited to three catches for 49 yards in six games last year. Wideman also played six games for Tennessee in 2020 and he was also a highly-regarded basketball player in high school.

The supplemental draft is scheduled to take place on July 11. If teams are interested in a prospect, they will submit a bid with the draft choice they would use to select that player and a successful bid would mean they lose their pick in that round in the 2024 draft.

[Futureshock]

Brian Callahan: Joe Burrow has mastered our system and is more like a coach
By Myles Simmons
Published June 26, 2023 09:49 AM
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Joe Burrow enters his fourth season as one of the league’s best quarterbacks, having helped his team reach the Super Bowl and the AFC Championship Game in each of the last two years.

One of the advantages Burrow has is that he’s always been in the same offensive system under head coach Zac Taylor and coordinator Brian Callahan. During a recent appearance on the Locked on Bengals podcast, Callahan said Burrow has mastered the offensive system, which makes him more like a coach on the field.

“It’s fun for me this year with Burrow it’s been, we get to these meetings and we watch 7-on-7 together,” Callahan said, via Russ Heltman of SI.com. “Joe almost coaches those guys — he’s very clear on what he expects from certain routes, where he wants guys to be the timing that it happens. It’s really fun to listen to him explain to everybody what he wants. So when he’s making a coaching point to Irv Smith. At some point, all the tight ends are supposed to hear that.

“When he’s talking to Ja’Marr [Chase] about something all those young receivers are gonna hear it. And so, that part’s really fun because he’s got mastery over our system now, which is a really cool thing to watch him grow in that and be able to almost become more like a coach.”

Burrow is in line for a contract extension, saying in May that he’s clear on what he wants. Whatever he and the Bengals eventually agree to, it seems that Burrow will be very much worth the investment.

[Nick Pappageorgio]

Claypool was originally a TE. He moved better then a TE in the pre-draft process and was moved to WR. He just can't get separation from any competent CB. Can't put that on Fields.

Not sure this statement is correct…Claypool was a WR at ND. He added bulk before the combine which led to speculation that he could be turned into a TE…but he was a WR in college.

[Futureshock]

Bye Felicia...


If requiring officials to be full-time employees would cause some to quit, some would be fine with that
By Mike Florio
Published June 27, 2023 07:48 PM
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The NFL should have full-time game officials. That’s a given. But the NFL refuses to give even an inch on the issue, because it would cost a mile-high pile of money to make it happen.

Beyond properly compensating current part-time, part-year employees for full-time, year-round efforts, the NFL would have to offer these officials enough to get them to give up primary employment that comes with far less accountability than working as a game official does.

NFL officials are constantly graded and judged. That creates pressure and stress. Hit enough of a rough spot and/or slip into a slump, and that could be it.

Currently, officials have their main jobs to fall back on. If they go all in with their NFL gigs, they give up those safety nets.

And so, if the NFL doesn’t offer enough to get officials to give up their current primary jobs and the security that comes with them, some officials might decide not to embrace full-time employment, ostensibly depriving the NFL of competent officials.

Not everyone has that concern. One high-level team executive has no qualms about officials choosing to go.

“These guys are not good enough for us to worry about losing them,” the source said, pointing out that they already make a full-time wage for part-time work.

That’s a strong opinion, the kind that we typically don’t share. But it indeed comes from a high-level executive with no reputation for hyperbole, and it illustrates the feelings that are held by people in positions of authority and influence.

The game officials are represented by a union. It would be interesting to know what the union thinks about the prospect of full-time employment. Given that they currently are being paid pretty well for part-time work and likely would end up with a full-time salary that pays far less per hour when considering total time investment, the officials are likely fine with having a primary job and a very-well-paying second gig.

Fans shouldn’t be fine with that. The officiating necessarily would be better if the officials were exclusively and entirely devoted to the craft/profession of officiating. That’s obvious.

But not obvious enough, apparently, to get the NFL to do anything about it.

[Futureshock]

Report: Dolphins have made Dalvin Cook an offer
By Charean Williams
Published June 27, 2023 06:03 PM

A report earlier in the day indicated that free agent running back Dalvin Cook has “multiple offers ” on the table. Tom Pelissero of NFL Media suggested the Jets, Dolphins, Broncos and Patriots as potential landing spots.

The Dolphins, indeed, have more than passing interest.

Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reports the Dolphins are one of the teams that has offered Cook. Jackson added that he has no knowledge of the details of the offer.

Cook recently mentioned the Jets and Dolphins, calling the latter “a perfect fit .” Cook is a Miami native who played his college ball at Florida State.

The Vikings cut Cook on June 9 in a cost-cutting move. The four-time Pro Bowler was due to make $11 million in base salary in 2023 and count $14.1 million against the Vikings’ cap.

Cook, 27, has four consecutive 1,000-yard seasons, rushing for 5,024 yards the past four years with 43 touchdowns. He has called himself in the “prime prime ” of his career.

He underwent shoulder surgery Feb. 14 in hopes of ending chronic separations.

[Futureshock]

Travis Kelce estimates 50% to 80% of NFL players use cannabis
By Michael David Smith
Published June 29, 2023 04:08 AM

When Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce was playing college football at Cincinnati, he tested positive for marijuana and was suspended for the entire 2010 season. Laws and attitudes relating to marijuana have changed significantly since then, and few people think such a harsh punishment fits such a mild crime. And Kelce now says what he did as a college football player is something most pro football players do.

Kelce told Vanity Fair that around 50 percent to 80 percent of NFL players use cannabis, and that under the more lenient policy the NFL implemented in 2021, it’s easy for players to use marijuana in the offseason and stop before testing begins.

“If you just stop in the middle of July, you’re fine,” he said. “A lot of guys stop a week before and they still pass because everybody’s working out in the heat and sweating their tail off. Nobody’s really getting hit for it anymore .”

Still, Kelce doesn’t necessarily regret what happened to him in college, saying that because of the experience of having to sit out a season, “I found out how many people were in my corner.”

Chief among the people in his corner were his big brother Jason Kelce, who was then a Cincinnati teammate and is now the Eagles’ All-Pro center. Jason moved Travis into his house on campus the year Travis was suspended to personally oversee Travis and make sure he kept up with his classes and stayed in shape so that he’d be ready to return to the team in 2011, after Jason had moved on to the NFL.

Travis got his college career back on track, got drafted by the Chiefs, and can now view that suspension as only a blip in a long career.