NFL - NEWS & NOTES

That's the market though. In this case, both deserve the same contract imho. With great QB play, they are both capable of being the best WR in the league... Without great QB play, they are still top 10 WRs.

The $1 thing isn't a in your face NFL thing... It is most certainly a in your face Justin thing... They are brothers from another mother. The competition is friendly and quite frankly, JJ's contract should easily tell Cincy exactly what they need to know to get him signed. I don't know what they are waiting for.

 

One man gathers what another man spills? ("St. Stephen" - Grateful Dead)


I'd say the Bears and Falcons have now officially come out the other side of cap hell. In 2022 the two teams raised eyebrows by clearing house and taking on the most dead money in league history.

Two years later the Bears start the season with the 5th lowest amount of dead cap in the league. And the Falcons have the lowest dead money total of all - in spite of yet another overhaul of the coaching staff and schemes.

 

Did the Panthers just claim 3 CBs and 2 LBs off waivers? Damn that is not a good look for that room when you gotta keep these guys for 4 weeks.

 

x.com

 

How about we just spill the wine take that girl.

 

In case you were thinking about catching a game and were wondering how much you might get soaked...

 

New regime.

 

Wow... six players claimed off of waivers = more than 10% of Carolina's roster. And the "new" GM isn't really new - he was Assistant GM for the last three seasons, so his fingerprints are all over the other 90% of the roster.

It's truly a bad look when you have drafted, developed prospects and otherwise managed your roster so poorly that everyone else's non-vested castoffs are better than 10% of the guys you would have otherwise kept from your own preseason roster.

 

Falcons are trading QB#3 Taylor Heinecke to the Chargers, reportedly for a conditional sixth round draft pick.

 

This is a smart move for the Chargers to have a viable backup to Herbert... Stick stunk the place up in the preseason with less than 50% pass completions and 3 picks.

 

With that in mind, it also makes sense that they opted to go for Heinecke instead of signing Matt Corral, Bailey Zappe or Desmond Ridder, among others.

Heinecke is an experienced backup. He knows his role. You don't have to question how well he'll be able to come in, learn and operate an offense. There's no upside developmental potential in him like there might be in Zappe etc, but Heinecke is a legit #2.

I guess we'll find out later today what Atlanta has in mind for the #3 spot. Even if they replace him on the roster with someone at another position (possibly CB/S Kevin King, now on Atlanta's practice squad), they still need someone to operate the scout team.

The ultimate irony would be if they signed Desmond Ridder off of Arizona's practice squad. I don't think that will happen, but I do think the team has his name on their list of candidates. Trading him was about acquiring Rondale Moore, not really about getting rid of Ridder. But if I'm in Ridder's place, I wouldn't want to go back to Atlanta. There simply isn't an opportunity there anymore like there was last year. It would be a paycheck and nothing else.

(What makes the irony "ultimate" is that it brings him back while getting a sixth from the Chargers makes up for the misfire in drafting UGA guard Justin Shaffer in that same 2022 draft. Shaffer was a total bust while his fellow UGA guard Jamaree Salyer became a near instant starter. Salyer was taken a few picks later in the sixth... by the Chargers. Everyone else from the 2022 class is still with Atlanta.)

Signing Matt Corral to the practice squad might be a better fit for both sides, as it gives Atlanta a chance to try him out on an extended basis as the scout team QB while keeping Corral's options open if a roster opportunity elsewhere came along.

 

You kinda made me laugh and thats a good thing. I thought about that a couple days ago, but said, nah, they wouldnt do that. I kinda thought a while back that Ridder would be one of those mobile QB's that the NFL would thrive on, but for some reason, its just not working out with him.

There seems to be no faith in Corrral either, but he still gets around in the background (must be frustrating as hell for him, but a chance is better than no chance) and I wouldnt wanna be in his shoes, but maybe he gets a backup job that just might work out.

Being philosophical for a moment; there are a ton of players over the years and the history of the NFL that just keep hanging around to someday fulfill their dream. It must be real tough for those kinds but hats off to the ones who stick around and just dont say, fuck it.

Who do you want or see as the QB3 in Atlanta?

 

And now... Bradberry suffered a lower-leg injury in Wednesday’s practice that will keep him out for six-to-eight weeks.

 

Ya he's out until at least after the bye. At this point it's the same as a cut as the money is all the same. He's expected to be nothing more than DB depth anyways. Oren Burks was brought back for his spot. That is not surprising in itself as much as they still haven't gotten a backup center.

 

Byron Young claimed by the Eagles. Cut hasn't been announced yet.

 

Rashee Rice update: Chiefs WR eligible to play in 2024 season, unlikely to face immediate suspension

For months, all signs have pointed to Rashee Rice facing a multigame suspension for his role in a high-speed hit-and-run crash that occurred this spring. With only a week until the start of the 2024 NFL season, however, the Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver is eligible to take the field as usual, with league executives hinting Thursday that Rice will avoid immediate punishment related to the incident.

"We don't anticipate he'll be placed on [the] commissioner's exempt

• ," NFL spokesperson Brian McCarthy told reporters of Rice, "unless there is a material change in the case."
  
  The exempt list is often used for players under suspension, so that said players do not count toward their respective team's active roster. Rice has participated in all of the Chiefs' offseason programming, including spring workouts and summer training camp, while awaiting a legal resolution to his off-field transgressions. With no court date scheduled in relation to eight criminal charges filed against the wideout this offseason, that means Rice is on track to be available for Week 1 and beyond.
  
  Rice, 24, faces charges of aggravated assault and collision involving serious bodily injury after he was part of a high-speed car crash in Dallas on March 30. The 2023 second-round draft pick also faces a civil lawsuit related to the accident, and was also the subject of a separate investigation by Dallas police for an alleged nightclub assault, though he has not been arrested or charged due to that incident.
  
  On the field, the SMU product figures to play a prominent role for the Chiefs' Super Bowl-caliber offense, one year after emerging as a top downfield target for Patrick Mahomes with 79 catches for 938 yards and seven touchdowns.
  
  CBS
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  I dont understand this but oh well, good for fantasy teams.

 

I'd love it if we found out Atlanta put in a waiver claim for Jaren Hall.

Otherwise, the first big question is whether they intend to use a roster spot to have an active emergency quarterback or if they just go with someone on the practice squad to run the scout team.

If it's a practice squad player, the fallback is John Paddock, the UDFA rookie from Illinois who was with the team for most of training camp and preseason. But if no one else signs Corral, I'd be thrilled with him. He'd get an extended audition, and the Falcons would have an upgrade running the scout team. In return he'd be continuing to get reps and at least a practice squad paycheck, but more importantly he would still be a free agent able to jump into a roster spot anywhere in the league if/when something came along.

If it's a roster spot, it's harder to make it a win-win, which is important as you'd need to entice a free agent to WANT to come in. That's not easy when you have Cousins and Penix locked in the top two spots. The opportunity in Atlanta isn't as enticing as it would have been a year ago.

But... if I'm in the front office, the pitch I'd make to the agents for Zappe, Ridder and Corral is that I'd make the contract be for 2024 only. They aren't locked into a bad situation for the long term. The trick for those guys from the 2022 draft class is they'd get that third year of league tenure this year - but only if they're on actual rosters for enough games to make this year count.

Hey agent - your client would be coming in as the #3. No pressure. He'd be getting a regular roster paycheck each week instead of practice squad pay. He'd get more reps during practice each week as the #3 running the scout team than he used to get as the #2. And he'd be racking up his third year of league tenure. So sure, it doesn't seem like we're a good long term situation for your client, but we're not locking him in. You want to get him off the practice squad and onto a roster? Here's his chance.

When you're sitting on a practice squad or completely unsigned, that might not seem like such a bad deal. At least I'd sell it that way to the agents and let them pursue it with their clients.

I'll throw in that I would rather have kept Ridder instead of Heinecke the first time around. I do still see real upside in Ridder. Last year the team hurt his development by NOT having actual QB coaches, which still blows my mind. You're pushing a third rounder into the starting role in just his second season, you know he has issues with his footwork and balance that need work, but the only QB coach you have on staff is the OC trying to do double duty? Shocker... that didn't work out so well.

But we do have a QB coach now plus an assistant QB coach. If by some chance Ridder did return, we'd have people here to keep on him on those mechanics and develop him properly.

 

Aiyuk has decided to remain with the San Francisco 49ers, signing a four-year contract extension worth $120 million

 

Good for him for getting paid. He definitely deserves it considering his production over the couple of years.

 

As expected the player waived was Marlon Tuipulotu.