NFL - NEWS & NOTES

Top XFL receiver Jahcour Pearson working out for Browns

The leading receiver from this year’s XFL season is getting a look in Cleveland.

Jahcour Pearson, who led the XFL with 60 catches and 670 receiving yards while playing for the Seattle Sea Dragons this year, is trying out for the Browns, according to Jordan Schultz.

Pearson has also had tryouts with the Colts and Falcons. He so far has not landed on a 90-player roster, but he’s still hoping to as training camp approaches.

Pearson played his college football at Western Kentucky before transferring to Ole Miss for his final season.

NBC

 

What happened to the running back market? “Blame the analytics community” - By Mike Florio



Running backs are confused. They’re angry. And for good reason.

Pro football has targeted the running back position as a vehicle for saving cap dollars that can be devoted to other positions. While it has become a major point of contention in recent weeks for the league’s current veteran running backs, it has been happening for years.

At one level, it’s a basic matter of supply and demand. Every major college produces every single year a tailback capable of performing in the NFL, if: (1) the line can open holes; (2) the player can keep possession of the ball when hit by NFL-caliber defenders; and (3) the player can be trusted to pick up blitzers in pass protection.

Every year, dozens of running backs head to the draft. Some are drafted. Plenty aren’t. Some who aren’t get signed as free agents. Some of those who are undrafted (like Austin Ekeler) become great running backs in the NFL.

This guarantee of a constant flow of more players at the position makes those already playing the position interchangeable. It’s no different than kickers and punters. There are more good ones than the game needs. So, as a matter of basic NFL business, why not flip from an older and more expensive player to a younger and cheaper one?

Look at what the Cowboys did after the 2014 season. DeMarco Murray set the franchise single-season rushing record, with 1,845 yards. More than Hall of Famer Tony Dorsett. More than Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith. Murray also led the league that year.

And, in 2015, the Cowboys let him walk away in free agency.

To replace Murray, the Cowboys signed McFadden signed a two-year, $5.85 million deal. Murray inked a five-year, $40 million contract with the Eagles.

In his first year in Philadelphia, Murray rushed for 702 yards in 15 games. That same season, McFadden produced 1,089 yards.

That’s the mindset. All players are interchangeable parts in a broader football machine. Some are more interchangeable than others. Running backs fall into that category.

One source with extensive knowledge of the dynamics that have resulted in the current running back market explained it like this: “Fundamentally, people don’t think that it’s a position that leads to greater expected points and surplus value. It’s a salary cap league, with finite resources. That matters. So teams will spend on quarterbacks, receivers, pass rushers, and corner. Those are the positions that provide the most surplus.”

Surplus value is the key. When paying more to a player than most players at a given position get, what is the team getting? Is it enough to justify the investment? At key positions where the best players are so much better than the average player, it is. At positions like running back, it isn’t.

As the source added: “Blame Mike Shanahan and the analytics community.”

It was Mike Shanahan who first showed that he could plug any running back into his system and have success moving the ball on the ground. After Terrell Davis suffered a torn ACL, Olandis Gary stepped in with a 1,159-yard season. The next year, Mike Anderson had 1,489.

Mike’s son, Kyle, has done the same thing. Every year since he was hired, Kyle Shanahan’s 49ers have had a different rushing leader: Carlos Hyde (2017); Matt Breida (2018); Raheem Mostert (2019); Jeff Wilson (2020); Elijah Mitchell (2021); and Christian McCaffrey (2022).

The irony, of course, is that the 49ers currently have the highest-paid running back in football, in Christian McCaffrey on the roster. They clearly believe he has surplus value.

Surely, at least a few others in the NFL do, too. McCaffrey, while great, isn’t an outlier. Contractually, however, he is.

So that’s the problem. That’s the issue. As much as the veteran running backs want it to change, it won’t. Not in an environment with a salary cap that lumps all positions into the same bucket.

Any solution must come from some other place, whether it’s a quicker path to free agency or (our preference) a league-wide fund that pays running backs for yards and touchdowns and playing time.

The current system for playing players created the market dynamics. It’s hard to imagine the current system dramatically changing simply because older players aren’t happy about their financial situation.

Especially when there’s an annual group of young players waiting for the chance to eventually become underpaid veterans.

NBC

 

Steelers, Alex Highsmith agree to four-year extension

The Steelers have locked down one of their key defensive players for years to come.

Pittsburgh and edge rusher Alex Highsmith have agreed to terms on a four-year extension worth $68 million, according to multiple reports.

A third-round pick in the 2020 draft, Highsmith became a full-time starter in 2021, recording 6.0 sacks, 15 tackles for loss, and 15 QB hits.

But he broke out in a big way last season, tallying 14.5 sacks, 12 tackles for loss, and 20 quarterback hits. He also led the league with five forced fumbles.

Highsmith is now set to play opposite 2021 AP Defensive Player of the Year T.J. Watt for the foreseeable future.

NBC

 

My house was built in 1908. I've done plumbing, electrical, plaster, etc. I studied others a bit and just went after it.

I can't afford those guys.

 

Definitely anything you can do yourself is a huge plus. I think ive done everything but put a roof on and run the the electrical wiring. Never ever would i touch plaster or drywall... probably just replace it with wood or anything but work with that stuff.

I have run wiring to the garage from the circuit breaker box and fix/replace switches and stuff, but never fished wire throughout a house, hopefully I never have to cross that bridge.

 

I re-roofed my house about 5 years ago. My advice? Pay someone. That's work!!!

 

When I was in the USAF, I re-enlisted and used my re-enlistment bonus as a down payment on a house in Homestead, FL which made me a home owner instead of a renter. When you're making $92.00 a month, you have to learn plumbing and electrician skills or you're shit of of luck in the dark.

 

I have had to flush the toilet to get the lights to come on, but hell, I had shelter.

 

Damn . . . you're good !!!

I've never seen a flush lever or a light switch in an out house.

 

Report: Jets trading Denzel Mims to Lions



The Jets did not waive receiver Denzel Mims, because they traded him instead, Connor Hughes of SNY reports.

The Lions sent a conditional sixth-rounder for the Jets seventh-rounder in 2025, per Ian Rapoport of NFL Media.

It comes a year after Mims requested a trade.

The Jets made Mims a second-round selection in 2020, but he totaled only 42 catches for 676 yards while failing to score a touchdown in three seasons. The Jets informed Mims this week that they were cutting him if they couldn’t trade him.

Mims could help fill in for the Lions at the start of the season as Jameson Williams serves his six-game suspension. The Lions also have Amon-Ra St. Brown, Josh Reynolds, Marvin Jones and Kalif Raymond, among others, in their receivers room.

Mims becomes the second receiver the Jets have parted with this offseason after sending Elijah Moore to the Browns. Moore was a 2021 second-round pick. They signed Allen Lazard and Randall Cobb, both of whom played with Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay, as well as Mecole Hardman.

NBC

 

Bears’ Eddie Jackson vows to have one of the best seasons ever played by a safety



Bears safety Eddie Jackson has his sights set very high for the 2023 season.

Jackson wrote on Twitter that he’s going to take his game to a new level this year.

“I’m going to have one of the best seasons ever played by a safety!” Jackson wrote. “Mark my words!!!”

Jackson arrived in Chicago as a fourth-round draft pick in 2017, became a first-team All-Pro in 2018, and signed a four-year, $58.4 million contract extension at the end of the 2019 season, making him the highest-paid safety in the NFL at the time. The Bears believed he was well on his way to becoming one of the game’ elite defensive players.

Over the last three seasons, however, Jackson hasn’t played at the same level. At age 29 he has looked like he may already be on the downside of his career. He clearly doesn’t think so.

NBC

 

Patriots worked out Darrell Henderson

Leonard Fournette isn’t the only veteran running back the Patriots are looking at.

Darrell Henderson Jr. also worked out for New England on Wednesday, according to the transaction wire.

Henderson a third-round pick in the 2019 draft, spent most of his first four seasons with the Rams. He was waived midway through the 2022 season. While the Jaguars claimed him off waivers, he did not appear in a game for Jacksonville.

Henderson rushed for 283 yards with three touchdowns last year before he was let go. He recorded a career-high 688 yards rushing with five touchdowns in 2021.

The Patriots appear to be looking for a veteran running back to complement a group that already includes Rhamondre Stevenson, Ty Montgomery, J.J. Taylor, Pierre Strong, and Kevin Harris. Fournette also worked out for the club on Wednesday.

PFT
___________
______________________

They ought to kick the tires on Dalvin Cook. I think he'd make them better, but their trying to find a cheaper way to go, I guess.

 

That would be very interesting Ðalvin Cook as a member of the Patriots I could see that

 

I could see Leonard Fournette before Dalvin Cook, ONLY because he is going to cost less money.

 

You guys see this? Thats 600lbs! (Nick Chubb)

 

That's true Dalvin Cook wants the Big Money

 

Look at that bending lol

 

There’s some really good RBs just rotting away without a team.
Kareem Hunt
Dalvin Cook
Ezekiel Elliot
These 3 could improve most teams backfield immensely. The Browns, Titans and Colts are the only teams I can think of that they wouldn’t be an upgrade for. So why are teams not going to pay them? I think the union needs to push for more incentive based pay. I can’t believe teams are not willing to improve their roster. Good players help teams win. I thought the goal every season was to win the championship. Is this just a business or is it a sport?

 

Which side did you fight for when you were in the service Lym? The blue or the gray?