How much would it actually take to land the Packers disgruntled QB? Personnel execs weigh in. Plus, when will Mac Jones and Justin Fields play, will Julio Jones be moved and let s pump the breaks on Tim Tebow just a bit.
Apr 22, 2021
Alex Smith could stand right there forever, toes spoiled by the plush strip of emerald green underfoot at his Hawaiian hideaway. “Some of the best grass in the world,” he says, awestruck, like he’s walking on cashmere covered in talc. His eyes scan the tropical paradise spread before him, all paddleboards, putting greens and palm trees, waves crashing into white sand and black lava rocks on a March afternoon so perfect that “blissful” undersells.
He orders a beef-and-rice bowl at the oceanside restaurant in this private enclave that features not one but two golf courses. A thatched roof hangs overhead, covering a table near the pond stocked with exotic fish. The waitress says something about honey and beekeepers. I can’t follow her or the soothing ocean tunes playing from the speakers overhead. I’m not scanning, because I can’t stop staring at Smith’s uncovered right leg, the one that snapped and shattered on a football field 28 months earlier.
Mar 8, 2021
We’re still waiting for the 2021 salary cap number, which will lead to franchise tags being assigned and a bloodletting of high-priced veterans. Here’s what you need to know as of close of business Monday afternoon.
Kyle Terada/USA TODAY Sports (Williams); Isaiah J. Downing/USA TODAY Sports (Miller); Mark J. Rebilas/USA TODAY Sports (Godwin)
• The franchise tag deadline is, for now, hours away, set for 4 p.m. ET Tuesday. There’s a chance it’ll get moved, of course, since the cap is part of the calculation and the cap hasn’t been set yet. But it’s at least notable that 13 days into the tag period, there’s been just one executed the Broncos franchising Justin Simmons. In the case of Simmons, since it’s his second tag, Denver does have the benefit of knowing his number ($13.792 million, which is 120% of his cap figure from 2020). But there’s more to the fact that teams haven’t used the tags yet. One is that in some cases, like Tampa Bay’s (with Chr
Feb 22, 2021
As I was writing last week’s column, an image from Super Bowl LII, playing on NFL Network on one of my office TVs, caught my eye. There, on the small postgame podium, were Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie, GM Howie Roseman and coach Doug Pederson. With them were three players. One was the game’s MVP, Nick Foles. Another, Zach Ertz, scored the game-winning touchdown to dethrone the reigning world champion Patriots.
And the third was in street clothes and didn’t play a snap in the game.
Carson Wentz didn’t know at the time that a year later, after coming back from the torn ACL that cost him a chance to play in those playoffs, he’d be hurt again and watching Foles lead Philly to another playoff win. He didn’t know that a year after
Jan 20, 2021
With four teams left, most of your questions were on the other 28. So let’s dive in …
Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports
From
T (@BucWild007):
Why do teams constantly recycle people (WFT and Hurney) versus looking at new blood or someone outside of the inner circle of retreads?
It’s a fair question, T Ron Rivera did run the search in D.C., and the names the team cycled through were all connected to him. Both ex-Panthers GM Marty Hurney and Titans exec Ryan Cowden worked with him in Carolina, while ex-Lions GM/current 49ers exec Martin Mayhew shares an agent with him. But, really, I don’t have a huge issue with that. I think any coach, charged with leading a search, would seek that sort of alignment.