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Sam Darnold agrees to one-year deal with Vikings

After losing Kirk Cousins to the Falcons, the Vikings have quickly pivoted to add a different veteran quarterback.

Minnesota has agreed to sign Sam Darnold to a one-year deal worth $10 million, according to a report from NFL Media.

The No. 3 overall pick of the 2018 draft, Darnold spent the 2023 season as San Francisco’s backup quarterback. He appeared in 10 games but started just one — the 49ers’ Week 18 game against the Rams after S.F. had locked up the NFC’s No. 1 seed. He completed 16-of-26 passes for 189 yards with a touchdown in that game, also rushing for 19 yards with a TD.

Darnold, 26, played his first three seasons with the Jets before they traded him to the Panthers during the 2021 offseason. He was 4-7 as a starter in 2021 but 4-2 with Carolina in 2022.

Overall, Darnold has compiled a 21-35 record as a starter. He’s completed 59.7 percent of his career passes for 12,064 yards with 63 touchdowns and 56 interceptions. He’s also fumbled 38 times, losing 14 of them.

Now Darnold should at least get a chance to start for Minnesota in 2024 with an offensive scheme that’s derived from the same coaching tree. Darnold’s former Jets teammate Josh McCown is also now Minnesota’s quarterbacks’ coach for an extra layer of familiarity.

PFT

 

Aaron Rodgers has himself a new backup.

Tyrod Taylor is set for his third tenure in New York, this time agreeing to terms with the Jets on a two-year deal worth up to $18 million, NFL Network Insider Tom Pelissero reported on Monday night.

 

The Browns have a new backup quarterback.

Jameis Winston has agreed to terms with Cleveland on a one-year deal, according to Jordan Schultz of BleacherReport.com.

Schultz reports that Winston’s contract is worth up to $8.7 million.

Winston spent the last four seasons with the Saints, mainly as the team’s backup. He did start the first seven games of the 2021 season before tearing his ACL, compiling a 5-2 record.

Last season, he appeared in seven games, completing 25-of-47 passes for 264 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions.

Winston is expected to become Cleveland’s backup behind Deshaun Watson. The Winston signing also appears likely to close the door to a Joe Flacco return to Cleveland for 2024.

The No. 1 overall pick of the 2015 draft, Winston compiled a 28-42 record as a starter for the Buccaneers from 2015-2019. In his last season with Tampa Bay, he led the league with 5,109 passing yards while throwing for 33 touchdowns and 30 interceptions.

 

The Commanders are expected to use the second overall pick in the draft on a quarterback and they’re set to sign a veteran to go with him on the depth chart.

Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that Marcus Mariota has agreed to a deal with the team. It’s a one-year deal with a base value of $6 million and a maximum value of $10 million.

Mariota spent last season with the Eagles and appeared in three games in relief of Jalen Hurts. He was the starter for 13 games for the Falcons in 2022 before being benched in favor of Desmond Ridder. He could fill a similar role in Washington this year, but the Commanders will be hoping that any player they draft proves to be a better fit for the job than Ridder.

The Commanders also have Sam Howell and Jake Fromm on the roster at quarterback, so there will likely be other moves to come as the team sorts out their depth chart heading into the fall.

 

Been awful quiet on the Justin Fields side of things.

 

There is a report today somewhere that they want to keep him and trade down. We'll see.

 

Daniel Jones is set to have some new company in the Giants quarterback room as he makes his way back from a torn ACL.

NFL Media reports that Drew Lock has agreed to sign with the team once the new league year is underway. Other reports indicate it is a one-year, $5 million deal.

 

Thats interesting. IF they do trade him, Im going to guess Seattle... based on absolutely nothing, because thats how I roll.

 

My question can he get the job done and can he be elite, he had Stefon Diggs Adam Thielen Dalvin Cook Kyle Rudolph and a fair to pretty good defense in 6yrs he couldn't dò it,maybe with the Falcons he ŵìll

 

lol

 

Quarterback Mason Rudolph will not be returning to Pittsburgh for 2024.

Per Mike Garafolo of NFL Media, Rudolph has agreed to a one-year deal with the Titans worth up to $3.62 million.

Rudolph, 28, had been with the Steelers since the club selected him in the third round of the 2018 draft. He took over as the team’s starter late in the 2023 season after Kenny Pickett had suffered an ankle injury and Mitch Trubisky proved ineffective.

 

With the QB signings thus far, the Bears may as well keep him as I think the market for him is rock bottom right now... what he's going to draw in a trade-down doesnt look like it would be too beneficial for the Bears either.

 

NFL investigates Falcons for tampering with Kirk Cousins

Tampering is rampant in the NFL, particularly in the days and weeks preceding free agency. Usually, the NFL overlooks it. Sometimes, it’s too blatant to ignore.

The NFL isn’t ignoring the mounting evidence that the Falcons might have violated the tampering rules as to former Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins. According to an NFL spokesman, the league is looking into the situation as part of the “standard review process.”

There’s nothing standard about what apparently happened between Cousins and the Falcons. There are four separate issues for the league to explore, depending on how thorough it is, or isn’t, inclined to be in its investigation.

First, did team officials communicate with Cousins or his agent, Mike McCartney before the start of the 52-hour negotiating window? That’s the most common type of tampering, and it usually triggers little more than a shrug from the league. It starts typically at the Scouting Combine, with communications that lay for the foundation for the formal offer made once the negotiating window opens.

Second, did Cousins or McCartney provide medical information to the Falcons before the start of the 52-hour negotiating window? Given the unique combination of serious injury, massive contract, and speed with which it was negotiated, common sense suggests that the Falcons knew something before embarking on active negotiations with McCartney.

Third, did tight end Kyle Pitts, or other players, recruit Cousins with the knowledge of or at the direction of the team? Ordinarily, the tampering rules don’t apply to players. That changes when players act as messengers for the organization. Pitts, who strongly denied rumors linking Cousins to Atlanta last week, was actively recruiting Cousins then and previously; Cousins said so himself. The effort by Pitts to conceal it suggests an awareness that the Falcons might have been doing something that breaks the rules.

Fourth, and most importantly, did Cousins speak to or meet with Falcons officials before 4:00 p.m. ET on Wednesday? Cousins admitted in his introductory press conference that he spoke with the team’s head athletic trainer on Tuesday. (He initially used the word “meeting” before stopping himself and changing it to “calling.”) Cousins also mentioned talking to director of player personnel Ryan Pace. Although Cousins didn’t specifically say the Pace conversation happened before 4:00 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Pace’s phone records will provide a simple and easy answer.

Although the league has couched the review as standard, the Vikings were surprised (we’re told) by Cousins’s admission that he spoke with the Falcons’ head athletic trainer on Tuesday. At this point, the question becomes whether the league will pursue the matter aggressively or perfunctorily.

It won’t be hard to get to the truth. Surveillance video will show when Cousins walked through the door. Phone records will show who he spoke to and when. Text messages and emails might be very revealing, too, if (as it seems) the Falcons were reckless in their apparent tampering. On that front, there could be smoking-gun communications between coaches and/or executives and Pitts regarding the things to say to Cousins.

Something clearly happened. It seems that it might have been extensive — so extensive that Cousins admitted on Wednesday that he participated in the recruitment of former Bears receiver Darnell Mooney, who agreed to terms with the Falcons on Tuesday morning.

So, yes, it looks like the Falcons committed multiple violations of the tampering rules, as to Cousins and perhaps as to Mooney. How determined will the NFL be in getting to the bottom of it?

If it was involving the team that beat the Falcons in Super Bowl LI, we wouldn’t need more than one guess.

PFT/Florio

 

Desmond Ridder is on his way to Arizona.

A report on Thursday said that the Falcons expected to trade Ridder in the wake of signing Kirk Cousins to be their quarterback was followed quickly by multiple reports that the Falcons are sending him to the Cardinals. Wide receiver Rondale Moore will be going back to Atlanta.

Ridder will slide into the No. 2 spot on the Cardinals depth chart behind Kyler Murray while the Falcons still have Taylor Heinicke on the roster to fill the same role behind Cousins.

Moore was a 2021 second-round pick in Arizona and he’s caught 135 passes for 1,201 yards and three touchdowns over his 39 regular season games. He joins Drake London, Darnell Mooney, and KhaDarel Hodge as the experienced receivers on the Falcons roster.

PFT

 

Eagles under investigation also about Barkley...

 

Happening now...

The Commanders are trading quarterback Sam Howell, a 2024 fourth-round pick and 2024 sixth-round pick to the Seahawks in exchange for a 2024 third-round pick and 2024 fifth-round pick, NFL network Insider Tom Pelissero reported Thursday.

Howell, 23, started all 17 games for Washington in 2023 but was pulled in a number of those games. He led the NFL in passing attempts (612) and interceptions (21) while throwing for 3,946 yards and 21 touchdowns.

He now gets a chance to start over and compete in Seattle's quarterback room.

NFL.com

 

I'm a little shocked because he has no chance of starting in Philly.

As far as the Steelers are concerned, he's not someone that Khan drafted so there's no investment in terms of pride. I wonder who will round out the roster at QB