NFL - NEWS & NOTES

Its been the norm for a while now. I think they do because they can. Owners condone and support it.

 

IMO the Owners need to take control but then again there's this endless supply of money it just seems out of control

 

Patriots bring back DB Jalen Mills on one-year deal worth up to $6.1M

Last week they were going to cut him.

 

Mecole Hardman to sign with Jets



Assuming a high-profile trade gets done sooner than later, receiver Mecole Hardman is set to go from one great quarterback to another.

Hardman has agreed to a one-year deal with the Jets, according to multiple reports.


A second-round pick in the 2019 draft, Hardman spent his first four seasons with the Chiefs. He had displayed strong durability through his first three seasons, but injuries limited him to just eight games in 2022. He caught 25 passes for 297 yards with four touchdowns and took four carries for 31 yards with two TDs.

The 2021 season was Hardman’s most productive, as he caught 59 passes for 693 yards with two touchdowns.

Hardman has also returned punts and kicks. He’s averaged 9.0 yards per punt return and 23.8 yards per kick return.

Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports Hardman’s contract is worth up to $6.5 million.

With the Jets adding Hardman and Allen Lazard, receiver Corey Davis’ time with New York could be coming to an end. The Jets would gain $10.5 million in cap space by releasing Davis.

PFT

 

D’Ernest Johnson agrees to one-year deal with Jaguars

1 year deal... cash money unknown

 

Anthony Walker returning to Browns on one-year deal

 

Was just coming here to post the exact same tweet. lol

 

Take control of…the league they OWN? The owners have most of the money and almost all of the control. Holding out and/or demanding trades are really the only tools the players have when their production outstrips their pay. Which is nuts when you consider they’re the labor and the product. But they have terrible leadership.it seems crazy to us regular schmoes because they make great money comparatively, but most players are underpaid, and the owners are actively conspiring against them to suppress their earning pretty much all the time.

I’m willing to bet you probably haven’t gone your entire working life without ever feeling you were underpaid relative to the value you were bringing to your employer.

 

Routine Saints physical results in Hodgkin’s lymphoma diagnosis for Foster Moreau



Free-agent tight end Foster Moreau recently visited the Saints. As a result of the visit, Moreau learned that he has Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

“Through somewhat of a miraculous process, this free agency period has been life changing for me,” Moreau said on Twitter. “During a routine physical conducted by the Saints medical team down in New Orleans, I’ve come to learn that I have Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and will be stepping away from football at this time to fight a new opponent: Cancer.

“I’m grateful for the support and thankful for people who have stood firm with me. There hasn’t been a single step I’ve taken without hundreds of people lighting the path before me, and I will continue to seek their guidance. That being said, I’ll go kick this thing’s ass and get back to doing what I love!”

A fourth-round pick of the Raiders in 2019, Moreau had been looking for a second NFL contract on the open market. He has played in 61 career games, with nine starts.

We wish Moreau the best as he commences the process of kicking cancer’s ass. And we hope his public battle will inspire others to keep fighting.

PFT
_________
_________________

I wish him the best.

 

I was just thinking its out of control it seems, I'm all for the players to get there money,it's seems like everybody's trying to break the bank this game of smoke and mirrors its a mess it just seems insane to me is it the Owners fault yes for letting this get out of hand IMO

 

Report: Cardinals struggling to get desired trade for DeAndre Hopkins

The Arizona Cardinals have made no secret of the fact that wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins is available in trade talks. However, the team might have to accept that the return they get for him will not be what they initially sought.

The Cardinals are unlikely to have their initial Hopkins asking price met, according to Albert Breer of The MMQB. Arizona had demanded a second-round pick for Hopkins, but teams are simply unwilling to give up that much.

Breer suggests that the Cardinals may have to settle for a return that is only modestly better than the fifth- and sixth-round picks the Dallas Cowboys gave up to acquire Brandin Cooks from Houston.

Teams’ concerns about Hopkins are twofold. The wide receiver has missed 17 games in the last two years, and he turns 31 in June.

Admittedly, six of the missed games were due to a suspension, but that still leaves a fair amount of missed time due to injury. It does not help that Hopkins is owed nearly $19.5M in 2023, and any trade might be contingent on a reworked contract.

The Cardinals appear to be intensifying efforts to move Hopkins, which perhaps means they are accepting that their initial asking price was unrealistic.

He still has six seasons with over 1,000 receiving yards in his 10-year NFL career, and could be a major addition for any team if he can stay healthy and perform as he has in the past.

YARDBARKER

 

I don’t blame the owners… WE, the fans, are to blame. We pay the ticket prices, we buy the over priced apparel, we watch the games on tv, internet, paid streaming services or any other method they present to us to get the most money out of contracts. The players are only trying to get their portion of the pie that we created. This is capitalism at is core.

 

Now that's true a football game at US Bank Stadium and to get some eats is very expensive, but when you step through those big ass doors its really cool but you do have a point but I still blame the owners for this craziness

 

Hopkins has a no-trade clause in his deal. I don't see a scenario where he agrees to a trade unless a nice portion of his '23 money is guaranteed. Complicates the process even further. I still think it's more likely he gets released than traded.

 

Not earth-shaking but worth mentioning just because it's a reason to laugh at the "instant free agency grades" :

Most reviewers slammed Atlanta's trade to acquire TE Jonnu Smith. The reason? He's not worth $11 million and $12 million a year. (Well, duh... it's why he was traded.)

But what the reviewers missed is that he was open to reworking the contract, which is a big part of what made the trade happen. The restructure actually happened late last week and the details have been known since Sunday. But the hits keep on coming... PFF posted an article today that knocked the deal because it didn't make much sense for Atlanta (the team that plays more 2- and 3-TE sets than anyone else in the league) to take on the $11 million contract for another TE when they already have Kyle Pitts and H-back Parker Hesse.

I'll give them props for name-dropping Hesse in such a positive way, as he's one of the unsung heroes of the roster. But PFF dropped the ball on not checking the cap details and not even knowing about the restructure nearly a week after the fact. Focus?? More like Pro Football Glaucoma on this one.

So since it obviously slipped under the radar, here's the new deal for Jonnu: his guaranteed money bumped up from $6 million to $8.5 million ($5 million signing bonus plus $3.5 million guaranteed salary), but it's now a total of $15 million for two years with the cap figures at $6 million and $9 million. There are no funky voids or other accounting shenanigans.

Atlanta's head coach Arthur Smith was his TE coach and OC in Tennessee when he had the good years that prompted New England to throw the silly contract at him in free agency, so the Falcons feel confident in the quality of player that they're getting. But even if he sucks, the cap hit will only be $2.5 million if they end up cutting him next offseason.

Even better... the trade price appears to be the seventh rounder that the Falcons got for trading Dean Marlowe. They had signed Marlowe to a cheap one-year deal in free agency last year, then passed him off to the Bills at the trade deadline. In the end, the off-the-street free agency signing has flipped to the new #2 TE.


So... a position of need (at least a need in Atlanta's system) is filled, the player is back with the coach who made him good in the first place, the cap cost this year is only $6 million (not $11 million), the team has an out next year for $2.5 million if they need it, and the trade cost was insignificant.

I see absolutely zero downside here. The team gets a grade of A from me for this one. PFF gets a D+ for not doing their homework, with the Hesse name-drop saving their grade from being an F.

 

Hollins seems like a good system fit for Atlanta. The article says he joins Zaccheaus and Byrd, but they're both unsigned free agents and I have some doubts as to whether either one of them will be back.

I still think we need one more though, either via free agency or the draft. Otherwise the depth is entirely unproven. KhaDarel Hodge is also unsigned, so the depth is now Frank Darby (late 2021 draft pick, practice squad in 2022), Jared Bernhardt (the ONLY prospect that stumped the truck in last year's draft), who made the roster but spent the year on IR, and two other practice squad guys.

 

... and I was really hoping that Mecole Hardman might end up being that other receiver for Atlanta. Nice signing for the gang in green.