NFL News

[jaadam4]

I've always liked Tomlin.

[Futureshock]

Aaron Rodgers says he’ll be at “more than half” of the remaining offseason practices

Posted by Mike Florio on May 3, 2023, 10:10 AM EDT

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A week ago, new Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers created the clear impression that he would be at all offseason workouts. And, for now, Rodgers has been there.

During Tuesday’s appearance with Pat McAfee, Rodgers made it clear that his attendance won’t remain perfect.

Rodgers said he’ll be present for “more than half” of the remaining offseason workouts.

On one hand, that’s a lot more than he has attended in recent years in Green Bay. On the other hand, it’s far from the level of involvement needed to get Rodgers comfortable with new teammates and, more importantly, to get new teammates comfortable with him.

But here’s the reality. When Rodgers eventually skips out on some of the offseason workouts with his new team, the quarterbacks with whom he’ll be competing are quietly present, putting in the work in advance of the season to come. And Rodgers will see plenty of them, from Josh Allen twice to Jalen Hurts to Dak Prescott to Daniel Jones to Deshaun Watson to Patrick Mahomes.

Yes, Mahomes. Who has been to three times the number of Super Bowls as Rodgers in only one third the number of seasons as a starter.

Last year, Mahomes’s willingness to go well above and beyond the call helped prepare the team to move forward without Tyreek Hill. In addition to being present for the offseason workouts, Mahomes gathered pass-catchers in Dallas and shared his insights regarding their skills and abilities with the coaching staff.

This year, Mahomes was throwing to receivers in the draft pool. He basically was helping the team scout talent, getting to know players before they were even on the team.

Maybe Rodgers is good enough to overcome the fact that the quarterbacks he’ll be competing with have made the full and complete commitment. Or maybe, when the season is hanging in the balance, the quarterbacks who put in the extra time and then some in April, May, and June will be better prepared to make the right decision, the right throw, at the right time, to the right player.

It’ll all be forgotten once the season rolls around. Maybe, based on what happened last year with the Chiefs and Packers, it shouldn’t be.

[Futureshock]

Cool

Joey Porter Jr. plans to wear No. 24 in honor of Ike Taylor

Posted by Michael David Smith on May 3, 2023, 4:45 AM EDT

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Steelers rookie cornerback Joey Porter Jr. grew up around the team because his father played in Pittsburgh for eight years. And Porter Jr. will wear the jersey number of one of his father’s former teammates.

Ike Taylor, who played with Joey Porter Sr. from 2003 to 2006, told Dave Dameshek on the Minus Three Podcast that Porter Sr. told him his son plans to wear his old No. 24 jersey.

“Joey Porter Sr., was like, ‘He’s going to wear that 2-4 in honor of Uncle Ike,’. I was like, ‘Oh, hell yeah,'” Taylor said. “When I saw that this morning in the group text, I was like, that’s pretty damn cool.”

Taylor said he’s been in the younger Porter’s life a long time.

“I knew Joey Porter Jr. when he was small, like when he was born,” Taylor said.

And now Porter Jr. will do Taylor the honor of wearing his number.

[Futureshock]

Jonathan Gannon: Isaiah Simmons knows he has to play well for us and for him

Posted by Charean Williams on May 2, 2023, 6:18 PM EDT

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Cardinals linebacker Isaiah Simmons will play this year with a cap hit of $6.574 million. The team could have picked up his fifth-year option, which would have paid him a fully guaranteed salary of $12.722 million in 2024.

Simmons, though, has not done enough for the Cardinals to commit paying him that kind of money.

Instead, Simmons is scheduled to become a free agent in 2024, making this a prove-it year.

“Yeah, had a really good talk with Isaiah. Obviously, you talk to Isaiah a lot,” Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon said Tuesday, via video from Bo Brack of PHX_Cardinals. “Really comfortable with where we’re at with him. He’s very comfortable with it. The option or whatever really doesn’t change [anything]. That’s why I love when I say I’m really comfortable with where we’re at and comfortable where he’s at is because it doesn’t change how he goes about what he’s doing. He knows he has to play well for us and for him. That’s like everybody. Really like where his mindset’s at and excited to get to work with him.”

Simmons has played both safety and linebacker in his career, but Gannon has a “pretty clear vision” for how to use Simmons this season.

Simmons has never missed a game in his three-year career, playing all 50 games. He has totaled 258 tackles, 7.5 sacks, 11 quarterbacks hits, four interceptions, two fumble recoveries, seven forced fumbles and 16 passes defensed.

[Futureshock]

Vikings won’t exercise option on Jalen Reagor

Posted by Mike Florio on May 2, 2023, 5:14 PM EDT

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The Eagles, for all their recent draft prowess, could have had receiver Justin Jefferson in 2020. Instead, they took receiver Jalen Reagor one spot before Jefferson was picked.

It didn’t work out for Reagor in Philly. He was traded last year to the Vikings. And it didn’t work out sufficiently well during his first year with the Vikings to get Minnesota to exercise the fifth-year option.

The Vikings passed, as expected, on extending Reagor’s fifth-year option, via NFL.com.

Despite appearing in 17 regular-season games last year, Reagor caught only eight passes for 104 yards and one touchdown. His main job was returning punts.

Given the decision to use a first-round pick on receiver Jordan Addison, Raegor once again will be a complementary piece of the team, at best, in 2023. And he’ll be a free agent in 2024.

[Tom]

Tomlin was extremely lucky he didn’t come to Detroit with Marinelli and ended up taking the Minnesota DC job. I think Marinelli planned on bringing him here but he hadn’t received the job yet so he told Tomlin to take the Minnesota job in case Detroit didn’t come through.

[Iron Lion]

I've always liked Tomlin.

I used to. But when he stood on the field and botched a play (kick return I think) I lost all respect for him. Bush league shit.

[Futureshock]

Lamar Jackson gets $72.5 million to sign, $80 million total cash in 2023

Posted by Mike Florio on May 4, 2023, 12:55 PM EDT

Yes, it’s time for Patrick Mahomes to get a new deal.

The two-time NFL and Super Bowl MVP received $63 million for the first three years of his 12-year deal. Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, per a source with knowledge of the details, will make $80 million in 2023.

It starts with a $72.5 million signing bonus, plus another $7.5 million later this year.

The first three years are fully guaranteed. In the fourth year, $29 million is guaranteed as a practical matter, subject to offset.

We’ll have the full breakdown soon. As Ravens G.M. Eric DeCosta said during Wednesday’s #PFTPM, the Ravens used the offer that was made to Jackson in September 2022, with enhanced terms.

[Futureshock]

John Lynch: Teams were trying to trade up to draft kicker Jake Moody before 49ers did

Posted by Michael David Smith on May 4, 2023, 12:54 PM EDT

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The 49ers made the unusual decision to draft a kicker, Jake Moody, in the third round of the 2023 NFL draft. San Francisco General Manager John Lynch says that if the 49ers hadn’t drafted Moody so high, some other team would have taken him soon.

Lynch said on KNBR that other kicker-needy teams were trying to trade up to get in front of the 49ers to take Moody, according to Matt Barrows of TheAthletic.com.

Lynch can’t know for sure what any other team would have done, but there did seem to be significant interest in kickers this year. The Patriots drafted kicker Chad Ryland in the fourth round, just 13 spots after the 49ers drafted Moody, and most observers consider Moody a better prospect than Ryland.

But while Lynch got the kicker he wanted, kickers are not a safe bet. Kicking is inconsistent, and no one knows with any degree of certainty which college kickers will succeed in the NFL.

That’s why no kicker had been drafted within the first three rounds since Roberto Aguayo went to the Buccaneers in the second round in 2016. Lynch has to hope Moody turns out a lot better than Aguayo did.

[Futureshock]

Jalen Carter becomes first first-rounder to agree to NFL contract

Posted by Josh Alper on May 4, 2023, 12:24 PM EDT

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Defensive tackle Jalen Carter was not the first player drafted in the first round, but he is the first first-round pick to agree to a contract.

Carter’s agents announced that their client has agreed to a deal with the Eagles. The Eagles traded up one spot to take Carter with the ninth overall pick a week ago.

Carter’s four-year deal is worth a fully-guaranteed $21,806,184 million. As with the contracts for every first-round pick, Carter’s deal comes with a team option for a fifth season.

The Panthers agreed to terms with fifth-round safety Jammie Robinson a couple of days ago, so there are now two members of the 2023 draft class with agreements. That number should go up sharply as teams hold their rookie minicamps in the near future.

[Futureshock]

California and New York attorneys general will investigate NFL over employment issues

Posted by Mike Florio on May 4, 2023, 11:41 AM EDT

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The National Football League has another legal problem. And this one could end up being particularly problematic.

Via the Washington Post, California Attorney General Rob Bonta and New York Attorney General Letitia James jointly announced that they will investigate claims that the NFL “fostered a hostile workplace environment and engaged in employment discrimination.”

Both attorneys general also issued a subpoena to the NFL seeking information relative to the probe.

The NFL’s main office is headquartered in New York. NFL Network has its primary place of business in L.A. More than 1,000 employees work for the NFL in the two states.

This investigation relates to the league itself, not any teams. Hiring, firing, and day-to-day treatment of staff all become potential fair game for the probe.

Last year, a letter from six attorneys general to the league expressed “grave concerns” about allegations made by former employees of the NFL.

“We all watched in horror in 2014 when the video of Ray Rice striking, knocking out, and spitting on his fiancé was made public,” the letter from April 2022 explained. “In the aftermath, you promised to take gender violence seriously and improve the institutional culture for women at the [NFL]. These recent allegations suggest that you have not. Female employees reported that they were subjected to repeated viewings of the Rice video, with commentary by coworkers that the victim had brought the violence on herself. Other women reported that, in a training intended to improve sensitivity on the issue, they were asked to raise their hand to self-identify if they had been victims of domestic violence or knew someone who had. This is NOT doing better. Antidiscrimination laws in many states, including New York, prohibit employers from subjecting domestic violence victims, as well as women and people of color, to a hostile work environment.”

The letter also said that female employees believe they were “held back and criticized for having an ‘aggressive tone’ — an often unfair stereotype of women, especially women of color, who try to advance in a male dominated workplace.”

It remains to be seen whether the investigation results in formal action. It’s a step-by-step process. But this is a fairly important step. It’s now a thing that the NFL has to deal with. And it won’t go away simply because the league wants it to.

[Futureshock]

Quenton Nelson: What Anthony Richardson can do on the field is pretty extraordinary

Posted by Myles Simmons on May 4, 2023, 10:28 AM EDT

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Three-time first-team All-Pro Quenton Nelson has blocked for a variety of different quarterbacks in his first five seasons with the Colts.

But Indianapolis has moved to bring some consistency behind center by drafting Anthony Richardson last week.

While Nelson hasn’t yet met Richardson in person, he noted on Wednesday just how impressed he’s been with the quarterback’s college performance.

“Yeah, really excited,” Nelson said in his Wednesday press conference. “Just heard great things about him, and his character, and person he is. And then seeing his film, you see what can do on the field is pretty extraordinary. He dominated the combine and did really well in college football this year.”

With Richardson being that dual threat, Nelson acknowledged that the Colts could have some more designed runs in their offense.

That tracks with what Richardson has said about Indianapolis potentially crafting an offense similar to what head coach Shane Steichen ran as Philadelphia’s offensive coordinator with quarterback Jalen Hurts.

But that will hinge on Nelson and the rest of the Colts’ offensive line bouncing back in a significant way after a poor 2022 under former head coach Frank Reich and interim coach Jeff Saturday.

[Futureshock]

Kirk Cousins “really encouraged” by offensive continuity

Posted by Josh Alper on May 4, 2023, 9:58 AM EDT

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Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins is experiencing something different this season because the Vikings have the same offensive coaches and scheme in place from last season.

It’s the first time that’s happened during his time in Minnesota and he said Wednesday that the difference has already made an impression on him. Cousins said head coach Kevin O’Connell and others had to “hold my hand” last year because he didn’t even know how to call plays in the offense, but that isn’t something he has to deal with this spring and he believes “starting in a much further spot in May advances everything” the team can do this season.

“Having somebody in my helmet for the second year in a row, I’m really encouraged by because there had always been that change,” Cousins said, via the team’s website. “And while the system was many times staying similar, a different voice in front of the room, a different voice in your helmet, certainly there’s still changes there. I think that’s positive too, to build that rapport with Kevin.”

Cousins also said on Wednesday that he hopes to earn the chance to remain with the Vikings beyond this season, which is the final one of his current contract. Increased comfort in the offense should be a help to that bid.

[Futureshock]

Hakeem Butler invited to Steelers minicamp after strong XFL season

Posted by Josh Alper on May 4, 2023, 9:32 AM EDT

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Wide receiver Hakeem Butler is getting another NFL look.

The XFL announced that Butler has been invited to take part in Steelers minicamp on a tryout basis.

Butler was a 2019 fourth-round pick by the Cardinals, but missed his rookie season with a broken hand and failed to make the team out of camp the next year. He appeared in two games for the Eagles in 2020 and had a pair of brief stints in the CFL before landing with the St. Louis BattleHawks this season.

Butler had 51 catches for 599 yards and eight touchdowns in 10 games with the BattleHawks.

Diontae Johnson, George Pickens, Allen Robinson, Calvin Austin, Miles Boykin, Gunner Olszewski, and Cody White head up the receiving corps in Pittsburgh.

[Futureshock]

Chiefs reportedly will play consecutive years in Germany

Posted by Mike Florio on May 4, 2023, 9:25 AM EDT

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Last year, Germany got the old GOAT. This year, and next year, Germany will be getting the new GOAT.

Via the Kansas City Star, the German newspaper Bild reports that the Chiefs will play in Germany not only in 2023 but also in 2024.

Per the report, they’ll host the Bears on November 12 or November 19 in Frankfurt — and then in 2024 they’ll face the Panthers in Munich.

Last year’s Seahawks-Buccaneers game in Germany, featuring Tom Brady in his final (for now) season, was a rousing success. The league already is speaking openly about the possibility of creating a four-team European division.

If/when that happens, two would be in London. At least one of the other two would land in Germany. If not both.