NFL News

[Futureshock]

Frank Reich on possibly moving Quenton Nelson to LT: He’ll do what’s best for team

Posted by Josh Alper on February 25, 2021, 2:00 PM EST

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Anthony Castonzo’s retirement has opened up a hole at left tackle for the Colts and the team isn’t committing to a plan to fill it at this point.

The prospect of moving All-Pro left guard Quenton Nelson to left tackle has come up since Castonzo’s announcement and Castonzo himself said that Nelson has the skills for the job. Head coach Frank Reich said on Thursday that Nelson is on board with anything the team wants to do, but that they won’t determine that path for some time.

“I think the discussion with Quenton, Quenton wants to do whatever’s best for the team, and he trusts that we’ll make what we believe is the best decision. . . . We want to get the best five guys on the field at the best positions for those guys,” Reich said, via Joel A. Erickson of the Indianapolis Star.

Trent Williams, Taylor Moton, Alejandro Villanueva, Cam Robinson, and Daryl Williams top the list of impending free agent tackles, but Moton and Daryl Williams play on the right side. The Ravens may be trading Orlando Brown Jr. because of his desire to play left tackle and the draft offers other options. Should the Colts go any of those routes, Nelson will likely be staying put in 2021.

[Futureshock]

Agent says Russell Wilson would accept a trade only to the Cowboys, Saints, Raiders, or Bears

Posted by Mike Florio on February 25, 2021, 1:52 PM EST

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Agent Mark Rodgers has confirmed to ESPN something that PFT reported 13 days ago: Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson has not yet requested a trade.

But Rodgers took it a huge step farther. Wilson told ESPN that Wilson wants to play in Seattle “but, if a trade were considered, the only teams he would go to are the Cowboys, Saints, Raiders, Bears.”

Wilson has a no-trade clause in his current contract. That was a reaction to the rumor that the Seahawks had talked to the Browns about a possible trade in 2018 that would have sent Wilson to Cleveland.

The practical impact of Rodgers’ comment is obvious. Although Wilson hasn’t officially asked to be traded, his identification of the universe of teams for which he’d play sets the stage for one or more of those teams to begin making offers for Wilson’s contract. If one of them eventually makes an offer the Seahawks can’t refuse, then the trade will happen.

Wilson’s discontent isn’t new. For well over a year, whenever the issue of Wilson’s long-term future has come up, we’ve heard the Cowboys as a potential destination. It’s now clear that it’s one of four teams Wilson would welcome.

The presence of the Raiders on the list is also intriguing, since they have a supposed franchise quarterback whom they say don’t want to trade. Derek Carr may not appreciate the notion that Wilson, through his agent, is attempting to supplant Carr.

If it happens, Carr might be the only one upset by it. Wilson in Las Vegas would mean at least two games per year featuring Wilson and Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

Wilson on the Saints also would be fascinating, given the ability of Sean Payton to maximize a quarterback’s skills. In Chicago, Wilson instantly would be the team’s best quarterback since Sid Luckman, and maybe better.

Where things go from here remains to be seen. It seems like no accident that Rodgers has decided to go on the record with Wilson’s preferred destination on the same day a report emerged with plenty of off-record quotes that seem to trace back to the Seahawks.

Ultimately, here’s the question the Seahawks needs to resolve. Do they think Wilson is a true short-list franchise quarterback through whom their offense should run? If they do, keep him. If not, the Seahawks should take what they can get from a team that views Wilson that way, since that team surely would give up a lot to get him.

[Futureshock]

Corey Linsley expects to be snapping somewhere else next season

Posted by Josh Alper on February 25, 2021, 1:22 PM EST

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After the Packers lost to the Buccaneers in the NFC Championship Game, center Corey Linsley acknowledged the possibility that he’d played his final game for Green Bay.

During an appearance on SiriusXM NFL Radio, Linsley went even further. He went beyond saying that it is possible that he’ll sign elsewhere in free agency to saying that he expects to be playing for a different team in 2021.

“We’re not closing the door for anything,” Linsley said. “Obviously we’d never do that for any team, especially the Packers, but yeah it definitely feels weird. It looks like all signs are pointing towards snapping the ball somewhere else next year.”

Linsley said he is working out as usual, but is feeling “a little more anxiety” than in other offseasons because of the uncertainty about where where he’ll be next season. The 2014 fourth-round pick made his first All-Pro team in 2020 and that should help him find a strong market once free agency opens next month.

[Futureshock]

Report emerges of multiple offers to J.J. Watt

Posted by Mike Florio on February 25, 2021, 12:45 PM EST

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Thirteen days into his 33-day head start on free agency, defensive lineman J.J. Watt continues to look for a new team. Multiple teams reportedly are interested, but no deal has been done, yet.

According to Diana Russini of ESPN.com, Watt “has received contract offers from multiple teams,” and “the most lucrative offer Watt currently has on the table is believed to be worth between $15 million and $16 million.”

Multiple league sources have identified multiple questions in response to this news. One high-level team executive opined that there’s “no way” that someone would put that much money on the table for Watt, given his age, his injury history, and the expected shrinkage of the salary cap.

Another source pointed out that the structure of the offer becomes critical to understanding its true value. How much is fully guaranteed at signing? Does the offer have a non-guaranteed back end that makes the average look higher than it really is?

If Watt gets a three-year contract that pays out (for example) $10 million fully-guaranteed in 2021, $15 million with an injury-guarantee that converts to a full guarantee in 2022, and $20 million in non-guaranteed salary in 2023, it’s technically a thee-year, $45 million contract. As a practical matter, however, it’s a one-year, $10 million deal or, possibly, a two-year, $25 million deal.

As another source put it, if multiple teams were truly interested in paying Watt in the range of $15 million to $16 million, it would have made much more sense for the Texans to try to trade Watt to someone who would have purchased his remaining contract ($17.5 million for one year) and then converted it to a more realistic long-term deal.

Under that scenario, the Texans could have shipped Watt to a new team under his current deal for, say, a seventh-round pick in 2021 and, if his contract were extended or if he had re-signed with that team before the 2022 draft, the Texans would have gotten another low-round pick next year.

Thus, if the market truly is in the range of $15 million to $16 million for Watt, the Texans’ decision to simply cut Watt loose without any compensation becomes more confusing. They could have gotten something for him. At a minimum, they could have at least tried.

Then there’s the factor we pointed out last night. It’s difficult to commit to Watt without knowing who else may be available as teams scramble to comply with a reduce salary cap. What if, for example, the Broncos don’t keep Von Miller? Lesser names than Watt or Miller also could become available, and the deals that could be done for those players could end up being much better on a dollar-for-dollar basis.

However it plays out, it’s obvious that Watt has yet to receive an offer that he has accepted. As one source argued on Thursday morning, if Watt were truly being offered a firm and real deal with a true and actual value falling between $15 million and $16 million annually, he should pounce on it.

Maybe he has. Maybe he will. Time, as always, will tell. But when he signs, remember not to draw any conclusions based on the initial reports but instead to wait for the breakdown of the actual details of the deal.

[Futureshock]

Broncos release Jurrell Casey

Posted by Josh Alper on February 25, 2021, 12:34 PM EST

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Defensive tackle Jurrell Casey‘s run with the Broncos is over after one season.

Adam Schefter of ESPN reports and PFT has confirmed, via a league source, that the Broncos have released Casey. Casey was set to count for more than $11.8 million against the cap and the team clears all of that space as a result of the move.

The Broncos sent a seventh-round pick to the Titans for Casey last March. He started the first three games of the season, but missed the rest of the year with a torn biceps.

Casey made the Pro Bowl in each of his final five seasons with the Titans, so some team will likely be willing to bet on a rebound if he can show he’s healthy enough to play.

The Broncos also released cornerback A.J. Bouye this month and the two moves opened up about $24 million in cap space for the team to use this offseason.

[Futureshock]

Report: Russell Wilson “stormed out” after his ideas for fixing Seattle’s offense were dismissed

Posted by Mike Florio on February 25, 2021, 10:17 AM EST

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Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson publicly said what he needed to say in the days after the Super Bowl. Someone has been speaking privately since then, and it has culminated in a lengthy item from TheAthletic.com that takes the closest look yet and the fractures and fissures in a relationship that currently seems to have a shelf life far closer to bread than bricks.

The article looks closely at the tension between Wilson and the coaching staff regarding Wilson’s desire to essentially be the offense, like Patrick Mahomes in Kansas City. That motivation drove the #LetRussCook phenomenon early in the season. But coach Pete Carroll freaked out after a turnover-fest against the Bills (four from Wilson) and another subpar performance against the Rams (three more Wilson turnovers).

After those seven turnovers from Wilson in two games, the Seahawks faced a short-week challenge against a Cardinals team that had a two-game winning streak against Seattle, and that was riding a wave of euphoria after the Hail Murray win over the Bills.

Here’s what happened next, via the story in TheAthletic.com: “Before the Thursday night game against Arizona, Wilson met with his coaches. For some time, Wilson has sought — even pushed — for influence within the organization regarding scheme and personnel. In the meeting, he outlined his own ideas for how to fix the offense. His suggestions were dismissed, multiple sources told The Athletic — another reminder to Wilson that the Seahawks did not see him the same way he saw himself, as a player who had earned greater control over his situation, his future, his legacy. He stormed out of the room.”

It takes no magnifying glass or other Sherlockian investigative tools to conclude that this nugget comes from the Seahawks, who finally are pushing back against the notion that Wilson’s skillset justifies more power and control.

Consider this quote in the story, from an unnamed source who surely isn’t connected to Wilson: “He’s finally catching heat. That’s the main reason for all of this. . . . People are talking and holding him accountable because he’s one of the highest-paid quarterbacks, he says he wants to be the greatest, so now people are holding him to that standard. . . . It’s a PR game. He’s trying to protect himself.”

It’s unclear whether the unnamed source is a Seahawks source. If it is, it suggests that the Seahawks should indeed try to finagle a major trade package from a team who views Wilson the way Wilson views Wilson. If it is, it also suggests that the Seahawks should be more discreet about their true feelings, since if that’s how they regard Wilson then maybe a huge trade offer isn’t justified.

That’s really what this comes down to. If the Seahawks view Wilson as an all-time great, they should treat him that way. If they don’t, they should trade him to a team that does, since that team would put together a trade offer that the Seahawks would regard as one they can’t refuse.

Wilson surely sees himself as someone who has the potential to crack the top five in league history. And he has every right to think that. The current problem between player and team seems to be that the Seahawks don’t share that assessment and/or they aren’t willing to transform their overall strategy to let Wilson create the kind of numbers and outcomes that will prove that Wilson belongs in the pantheon of the best pro football quarterbacks in history. Given Wilson’s current objectives for his career, it’s not a question of if but when the two sides go their separate ways.

[The King]

This QB market is wild with Watson and Russ Wilson added to the mix. I don’t blame Wilson. He’s older and they won’t ride him. They want go to vanilla. Word is Ciara wants out, too. So they may want a bigger market for both their careers. Wilson is going to do some thangs post NFL.

[TheLondonLion]

Just stay away from Chicago.

[Fraquar]

Helluva timing.
Look coach, I know I've turned the ball over 7 times the last 2 games - but you NEED to listen to me - I KNOW how to fix this offense....
Best thing to do in that situation is shut the fuck up and let a 70 year old HC who has seen it all and done it all - just do his thing.
It's not like you are bargaining from solid ground here.

[Futureshock]

Cowboys headline list of five candidates for 2021 Hard Knocks

Posted by Charean Williams on February 25, 2021, 8:02 PM EST

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The Cowboys twice have appeared on Hard Knocks, NFL Films’ reality TV series that appears on HBO. Both were hits.

In 2002, the Cowboys acquired Chad Hutchinson to compete with Quincy Carter, and Emmitt Smith was closing in on the NFL’s all-time rushing title.

In 2008, the Cowboys were coming off a 13-3 season that ended disappointingly, and they had Tony Romo at quarterback, DeMarcus Ware as an edge rusher and cornerback Adam Jones joining the team in his return from a suspension.

The Cowboys are one of the five teams that can’t turn down being on Hard Knocks in 2021.

Hard Knocks loves the Cowboys, and Jerry Jones loves being on Hard Knocks.

The Giants, Panthers, Cardinals and Broncos also are candidates since, like the Cowboys, they don’t have any of the three exemptions that get them off the hook.

In 2014, the league and its teams agreed to three conditions that void mandatory inclusion on Hard Knocks: 1. They have a first-year head coach; 2. They have a playoff berth over the past two seasons; or 3. They have appeared on Hard Knocks in the past 10 years.

However, teams also can volunteer for the series, and NFL Network predicts the series will feature the Jaguars this summer. They would make for an intriguing series with Urban Meyer as their head coach and likely Trevor Lawrence as the No. 1 overall draft choice.

The Rams and Chargers were featured in the training camp documentary series for the 2020 season, the 15th season of Hard Knocks.

[Futureshock]

Report: Teams have called to make trade offers for Deshaun Watson, Texans won’t talk

Posted by Michael David Smith on February 25, 2021, 6:11 PM EST

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Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson wants to be traded. The Texans do not want to trade him. Or even hear what teams would be willing to give up for him.

That’s the word from Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, who reports that the Texans have been unwilling to discuss Watson with any of the teams that have called to make trade offers.

According to Pelissero, some teams have left their trade offers over voicemail, presumably to the line of Texans General Manager Nick Caserio. The Broncos, Panthers and Dolphins are among the teams that are reportedly interested in trading for Watson.

It’s unclear whether it’s even up to Caserio to decide on whether the Texans will trade Watson, however. Texans owner Cal McNair has indicated that he won’t trade Watson.

Watson reiterated his desire to be traded in a conversation with new Texans head coach David Culley.

[Futureshock]

If I were Watson and they persisted to try and make me be there I would be out there throwing the ball exclusively to the other team.

[Futureshock]

DESHAUN WATSONQB, HOUSTON TEXANS


NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reports "no one believes" Deshaun Watson will be traded.


That's via sources "knee deep" in the situation. Rapsheet appears to be referring to teams that might be interested in acquiring the elite young quarterback. Rapoport also reports the Texans do not view either the start of free agency or the draft as "any sort of deadline." Rapsheet believes the drama will last for a "very, very long time." That is consistent with the established facts, as each side continues to dig in, both out in the open and via leaks.

SOURCE: Ian Rapoport on Twitter
Feb 25, 2021, 7:47 PM

[Futureshock]

ORLANDO BROWNT, BALTIMORE RAVENS


ESPN's Jeremy Fowler reports the Ravens are allowing OT Orlando Brown's agent to explode trade scenarios.


The 2018 third-year pro has decided he's a left tackle after ably filling in for Ronnie Stanley in 2020. The Ravens are going to require a genuine haul to trade their mauling right tackle, but a disgruntled player who is presumably not amendable to signing an extension, Brown would fetch an early-round pick. At least "exploring" a trade makes all the sense in the world.

SOURCE: Jeremy Fowler on Twitter
Feb 25, 2021, 5:05 PM
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Big V head up

[Futureshock]

DESHAUN WATSONQB, HOUSTON TEXANS
NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reports teams are leaving the Texans voicemails with trade offers for Deshaun Watson.


Watson met with coach David Culley last Friday to tell him that he still wants to be traded and "has no intention of playing for the Texans again," per ESPN's Dan Graziano. Houston isn't budging either. Teams will continue making trade offers, but it's possible that owner Cal McNair will be unwilling to trade his star quarterback until he proves that he'll sit out games, thus losing millions of dollars. It's an impossible situation to be in. The Jets, Panthers, and others are likely among the teams leaving "call me back" messages. It would make sense for Houston to trade Watson prior to the 2021 NFL Draft to get their rebuild started quicker, but what makes sense and what the Texans' actually do are usually the opposite.

SOURCE: Tom Pelissero on Twitter
Feb 25, 2021, 4:07 PM