MONDAY MORNING QUARTERBACK

Matt Eberflus: Justin Fields in “a great spot” learning offense



The Bears are coming to the end of their second week of offseason work and head coach Matt Eberflus updated the progress of one crucial player during an appearance on The Cris Collinsworth Podcast.

Eberflus said last mont that he is looking for a big jump from quarterback Justin Fields in his second season with the team. It will be his first season running the offense being installed by offensive coordinator Luke Getsy and Eberflus said that he likes where Fields is in his adoption of the new system.


“I think he’s in a great spot,” Eberflus said, via the team’s website. “He’s been meeting with the offensive staff, and he feels very comfortable in this offense. This is a rhythm-and-timing offense. It’s based in the West Coast system. It’s going to be very quarterback-friendly for him. It’s been quarterback-friendly for a lot of guys in the past. You can see the way that it’s coached, the rhythm and timing of it, of the passing game, is really going to help him understand when to get rid of the ball, what his progressions are. He’s going to have a clear understanding of what the offense is. And he’s really doing a good job right now of grasping that and helping to teach it to the other players as well.”

It’s way too early in the calendar to make any judgments on how Fields will do in the offense, but the team will step up their work a little next week with a three-day voluntary minicamp.

PFT

 

Malik Willis Visiting With Lions, Steelers


Liberty quarterback Malik Willis continues his tour of NFL teams in the market for a new quarterback this week with a visit to the Detroit Lions on Tuesday and the Pittsburgh Steelers on Wednesday, according to sources. The Lions have the second overall pick in this month's draft, while the Steelers pick at No. 20. Detroit continues to say that they are comfortable with Jared Goff, but they also probably wouldn't mind getting a QB for the future. The Lions could also trade down with a team that's hungry for a quarterback. Pittsburgh, who signed Mitchell Trubisky in free agency, also is very much in the QB market, especially after the tragic death of Dwayne Haskins. Willis, although raw, is seen as perhaps the highest-ceiling QB in this year's draft.

Roto Baller

 

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Tyler Huntley signed a one-year contract tender with the team on Monday. He started four games for the Ravens while Lamar Jackson (ankle) was sidelined. The 24-year-old completed 122-of-188 passing attempts for 1,081 yards, three TDs, and four interceptions while rushing for 294 yards on 47 attempts and a pair of scores over seven games in 2021. Huntley will serve as Jackson's primary backup in 2022 and proved to be a valuable fantasy quarterback when filling in for him last year.

Roto Baller

 

49ers QB Jimmy Garoppolo won't report for start of voluntary offseason program

Jimmy Garoppolo won't be in attendance when the San Francisco 49ers open voluntary offseason workouts today.

NFL Network's Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero reported Tuesday morning that Jimmy G has been rehabbing his shoulder off-site, per the surgeon's instructions. The quarterback and team are on the same page that he won't be there when the offseason conditioning program begins, per sources informed of the situation.

The Niners are one of seven teams to begin Phase One of their offseason program Tuesday, which consists of meetings, strength and conditioning and rehab.

While most injured players show up to get rehab work done and check in on their progress during the early phases of the voluntary offseason program, it's not a big deal for Garoppolo not to be there, his future status notwithstanding.

Garoppolo is due a $24.2 million non-guaranteed base salary this season. While the Niners brass insists they could keep him at that salary for the season, it's still expected the club will move on at some point this offseason, likely via trade.

It's possible that Garoppolo never reports to the 49ers facility this season -- and that could be what the QB and team have agreed.

With Jimmy G not there, it will be less awkward for Trey Lance to step into a leadership role during meetings as he's expected to take over the starting QB job in year two.

NFL.com

 

Awkward situation in SF, in my opinion. Jimmy G seems to be somewhat proven and a veteran which the team has had success with, but he's not seemingly wanted.

On the other hand, Lance is not proven and seems to be the front leader for the 49ers QB1 this '22 season.

Im thinking it ought to be the other way around.

 

Patrick Peterson: Kyler Murray won’t sit and wait for Cardinals to put him in position to win



Patrick Peterson spent the first 10 years of his NFL career with the Cardinals, and he thinks the franchise has failed to do what it takes to win with quarterback Kyler Murray.

Peterson, who now plays in Minnesota but played with Murray in Arizona in 2019 and 2020, said he doesn’t think the Cardinals’ decision-makers have done a good enough job to build a winner, and that Murray is losing patience with them.


“I’ve been around K1,” Peterson told CBS Sports. “He’s a competitor. . . . And I feel like, no disrespect to the Arizona Cardinals, I feel like they don’t put the team in a position to be successful year after year after year. And Kyler Murray’s not gonna sit around and wait for that.”

Speaking on the same podcast, former Cardinals running back Chase Edmonds agreed.

“I just know, especially knowing how the last two years ended, meaning 2021 and 2020, and knowing the type of competitor that K1 is, and the type of winner that he wants to be,” Edmonds said. “I knew there was gonna be, at some point, some things happening.”

Reports have surfaced throughout the offseason that Murray and the Cardinals are not on the same page, and Murray is reportedly planning to skip all voluntary offseason work.

PFT

 

I get that rosters mean something, it's obvious, but leadership goes beyond that. If your leader is the voice in the room saying they don't have enough talent to win, then dammit, they aren't going to win. This article talks about the Cardinals management not doing enough to "help" Kyler be in a position to win.. Does skipping off season workouts somehow put you in a better position to win?

Already had Larry Fitzgerald, David Johnson, and Christian Kirk

Since drafting Kyler, they have added:

2019; drafted along with him.. WR Andy Isabella(2nd round), Hakeem Butler(4th round) and Keesean Johnson(6th round)
2020; spent the entire off season attempting to upgrade the defense, then traded for WR DeAndre Hopkins
2021; signed JJ Watt, Malcomlm Butler, James Connor and A.J. Green
2021; drafted.. WR Rondale Moore(2nd round)
2022; signed Zach Ertz

His current receiving group is: DeAndre Hopkins, Rondale Moore, Zach Ertz and Andy Isabella.. Many teams have worse to work with.

WTF does this guy want? At some point you need to look in the mirror.

 

Kyler Murray: I wanna win Super Bowls with the Cardinals



In a recent interview with CBS Sports, former Cardinals cornerback Patrick Peterson said he doesn’t feel like the Cardinals put the team in a position to have consistent success, and quarterback Kyler Murray isn’t “gonna sit around and wait for that.”

Former Cardinals running back Chase Edmonds agreed with the sentiment in the same interview, saying, “I knew there was gonna be, at some point, some things happening.”


Murray apparently has seen the interview. And it struck him enough to comment on it.

“I wanna win Super Bowls with the Cardinals,” Murray said in a retweet of the CBS interview, “AZ is home.”

Murray also replied with a “100” emoji to Ian Rapoport of NFL Media’s tweet of Cardinals G.M. Steve Keim saying there was “zero chance” Murray will be traded.

Taken together, those two comments are a decent indication that Murray has no desire to be traded from Arizona and hopes to work out a long-term deal.

But that has not happened to this point. As of last week, the Cardinals had reportedly not yet made a contract offer to Murray and the quarterback’s agent had pulled his first proposal off the table.

Murray has not been present for the first few days of Arizona’s offseason program. But Keim and head coach Kliff Kingsbury said during a Thursday press conference that they had both talked with Murray recently and they’ve all been kept in the loop.

PFT

 

Jimmy Garoppolo thinks he’ll be ready for training camp



49ers (for now) quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo made a mini-media tour on Thursday, at a time when his situation continues to be shrouded in uncertainty. In addition to comments about Deebo Samuel and the “strange” 2021 season given the team’s move for Trey Lance, Garoppolo provided an update on his surgically-repaired shoulder.

Will Garoppolo be ready for training camp? He told this to Rob Maaddi of the Associated Press: “There’s a lot of steps in between now and then but I think we’ll be ready by then.”


It’s a huge factor when it comes to the question of whether the 49ers will find a trade partner for Garoppolo, who has a compensation package in excess of $25 million for 2022, the final season of his contract. If he won’t be ready until camp — and if there’s a chance he won’t even be ready by then — why would any team trade for him now?

Garoppolo’s decision to go public on Thursday is intriguing. All in all, his comments won’t make it any easier for the 49ers to trade him. It also won’t make it any easier for the 49ers to sell the ruse that they’d actually keep him into the regular season, at which time he’d be guaranteed to make every penny of the $25 million.

Currently, there are no guarantees for Garoppolo. If the 49ers play it out until the days preceding the start of the regular season and then cut Garoppolo, he gets nothing. And he’d land on the market at a time when all other depth charts are set.

Unlike Baker Mayfield, who is guaranteed to make $18.8 million in 2022, Garoppolo is guaranteed to make nothing. The sooner he finds a new team, the sooner he knows that he’ll be making something this year.

Thus, Garoppolo has every reason to agitate for an immediately exit ramp. He has every reason to ask to be released. He has every reason to persuade the 49ers not to overplay their hand and/or overthink their situation in an effort to emerge from the inevitable divorce with a draft pick or two. At some point, it undermines the effort to prepare for 2022. At some point, it undermines the development of Trey Lance.

PFT

 

I look at this and can't help but to look at the Saints. Over the years, they have done pretty well getting QB's off the NFL scrap heap. Remember a guy named Brees from San Diego with a dislocated throwing shoulder? He went to Miami and the doctors said no. Then he went to Nola and that seemed to work out pretty well. Same with Bridgewater. Was never the starter but when Brees got hurt, he came in and won 4 or 5 games and saved our season. This Garoppolo thing has the same feel to it. If the price is right.

 

Falcons GM Terry Fontenot wants to add a quarterback in the draft

Falcons General Manager Terry Fontenot is making no secret that he’d like to get a quarterback in this week’s NFL draft.

“We could come out of this draft with a quarterback. We want to add to that room,” Fontenot said today.


The Falcons currently have just two quarterbacks on the roster, Marcus Mariota and Feleipe Franks. Mariota is expected to be the starter in Atlanta, while Franks was an undrafted rookie last year who barely played in 2021. They’ll surely add at least one quarterback before training camp.

The Falcons own the eighth overall pick in the draft, and few people think they’re picking a quarterback that high. They also have two second-round picks and two third-round picks, and it wouldn’t be surprising if Day 2 is when the Falcons find a quarterback.

PFT

 

Lovie Smith: We feel good about our QBs room, leading off with Davis Mills



The Texans have three picks in the first two rounds of this week’s draft: No. 3, No. 13, and No. 37.

While anything said in the pre-draft process — especially this week — can be considered a smokescreen, it doesn’t sound like the team is itching to use one of those high selections on a quarterback.


Houston currently has three QBs on its roster with Davis Mills, Kyle Allen, and Jeff Driskel. New head coach Lovie Smith has been clear that he likes Mills’ potential as a starter and he reiterated that in a Tuesday press conference.

“As a general rule, I guess you can have four [quarterbacks]. Some teams have four,” Smith said. “I think once you have three quarterbacks on your roster, you should feel pretty good about that, and we do. We keep all options open, but we feel good about our quarterback room right now — leading off with Davis Mills. I’ve talked about him and our feelings about who our leader will be.”

After the Texans drafted him in the third round out of Stanford last year, Mills had a rocky start to his rookie season. But the quarterback made steady strides over the rest of the season, recording a 102.4 passer rating with nine touchdowns and two interceptions in his last five starts. The Texans went 2-3 in those games with wins over the Jaguars and Chargers.

Overall, Mills completed 67 percent of his passes for 1,664 yards with 16 touchdowns and 10 interceptions as a rookie.

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Jets teammates see 'more swag' from QB Zach Wilson entering second season

A year ago on draft day, Zach Wilson became the latest New York Jets top-5 quarterback pick, as the club continues to churn through signal-callers like they're pothole filler. Wilson suffered through a rough rookie season, struggling in every facet of being a professional quarterback.

But with offseason workouts starting, his teammates have already seen a different QB.

"My guy came back with a little more swag," offensive tackle George Fant said of Wilson on Wednesday, per the Associated Press. "He's ready to go, man."

Wilson started 13 games after being selected No. 2 overall, completing just 55.6 percent of his passes for 2,334 yards with nine TDs and 11 INTs. He was as inefficient as he was inaccurate, at times trying to find a big play and coming up with dust.

In Year 2, Wilson knows he must play within the offense and make the proper reads.

"For me, it's just how efficient can I be?" Wilson said. "How can I get the ball out of my hands quickly? How can I help out our O-line with my pocket presence, my ability to step up and get the ball out of my hands to our running backs, go down the field to our receivers and let those guys make plays? How can I just be confident within the pocket, be accurate?

"I think everything takes care of itself once everyone starts doing their own job -- I think it's perfect."


From general manager Joe Douglas to coach Robert Saleh to offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur, the Jets have attempted to put the right pieces around Wilson for him to thrive. That should continue tonight, where Gang Green boasts the Nos. 4 and 10 picks in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft.

"I'm extremely excited about the plan," Wilson said. "I feel like the organization as a whole, everybody is very tied together as far as being on the same page with everything. I know my trust with the ownership and Joe D. as well and what they're doing, I feel like they have a really good plan."

NFL.com

 

If the Jets play their cards right, they should be much improved if not down-right competitive.

 

Yeah... Baker had enough swagger to fill the Browns and Jets locker room, 3 years after his rookie season he was replaced with a $230M man... I'll hold off thinking the Jets are going to be on the most improved list until I see it. The Browns actually did improve and it didn't matter.

 

Valid point. Im a 'show me' kinda person and Wilson hasnt done much at all yet. IF he has a better second year and the draft goes well and with those receivers, they ought to be better... but, like I said; a lot has to be proven.

 

Giants decline fifth-year option on Daniel Jones


The Giants have made a pair of key decisions on their two 2019 first-round draft picks.

According to multiple reports, New York has declined quarterback Daniel Jones‘ fifth-year option for 2023. But the club announced that it’s picked up defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence‘s fifth-year option.


The Giants’ announcement on Lawrence made no mention of Jones.

New York was widely expected to decline Jones’ option. If they had exercised it, Jones would have been guaranteed a $22 million salary for the 2023 season. If Jones starts in 2022 and plays well, he’ll certainly be a candidate to be franchise tagged before hitting the open market. But if not, then he’ll become an unrestricted free agent next March.

At quarterback, the Giants currently have only Tyrod Taylor under contract for 2023.

In 11 games last season, Jones completed 64.3 percent of his passes for 2,428 yards with 10 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He missed the backend of the season with a neck injury, but has said he expects to be ready for the upcoming year.

Lawrence was the 17th overall pick in 2019 and is now set to make $10.8 million guaranteed in 2023. He recorded 54 total tackles last year with five tackles for loss, 11 quarterback hits, and 2.5 sacks. In 48 games over three seasons, he has 9.0 sacks, 14 tackles for loss, and 30 QB hits.

PFT

 

Well, I’m going to eat crow. The Jets got better tonight. Improved their defense to give Zach Wilson more opportunities on the field. The offense was improved with Garrett Wilson. We are going to get to see if Zach Wilson is worthy of being a starter in this league.