NFL - NEWS & NOTES

No disrespect to the Buccaneers just can't see another SB in 2022

 

This has all the elements needed to be some shady shit.

A low pick given up for what could be the immediate back up to the newly drafted passer that the Broncos tried to make you think they weren’t taking by making this trade, and Lock is now rapping on the sidelines in a new jersey come Saturday afternoon.

I can’t express enough how much I love this time of year. lol

 

By getting Bridgewater management covers their asses no matter what happens draft night.

 

Be carful now. I didn't see them going to this Super Bowl. They go to NOLA, beat the Saints and then to Green Bay and beat the Packers. How does Brady do that? Now I know how the people in the AFC North felt. The guy just won't go away.

 

I was just wondering the cards just fell right for the Buccaneers will they again maybe they will or won't....WHO KNOWS

 

Be carful now. I didn't see them going to this Super Bowl. They go to NOLA, beat the Saints and then to Green Bay and beat the Packers. How does Brady do that? Now I know how the people in the AFC North felt. The guy just won't go away.


I agree SCS..........is he GOAT for the NFL ???

I think Joe Montana....But Brady sure deserves Major credit.

 

A different source says Denver is paying him 4.5 million, of which 3 million is guaranteed.

Interesting deal in that I think it was done by Teddy B signing a new contract with Carolina before the trade. Trades being contingent upon the player signing a new deal are common, but it's usually a new contract signed with the acquiring team, not the team trading the player away.

The mechanics here appear to be that Teddy agreed to a 1-year contract with a 7 million signing bonus and 4.5 million salary, with 3 million of that guaranteed. Since Carolina is the team signing him to this new deal, they pay the signing bonus and take the cap hit for the 7 million. Denver pays the 4.5 million base salary for the season.

 

Brady is the greatest by accomplishments. But if you do not necessarily believe greatest equals best then there are a handful of other QBs that you could say were better.

 

Dont get carried away you can argue they beat Green Bay inspite of Brady and his 3 interceptions. Vs the saints he didnt evn put up 200 yards and it was the defense feasting on a devestated KC line that won the super bowl for the bucs. There is also the multiple times the chiefs D aided the bucs with very costly penalties. TB was the team of destiny last year as crazy as that sounds how else do you explain taking a 15 yard loss then nailing a 52 yard field goal.

 

Najee Harris held draft party at homeless shelter where he spent time

Najee Harris is never going to forget where he came from to get here, a national champion and the 24th overall choice in Thursday’s NFL draft.

The new Steelers running back lived in a small room at a Bay Area homeless shelter with his parents and four siblings some eight to 10 times during 2010. He returned Thursday to sponsor a draft party at the Greater Richmond Interfaith Program, bringing a food donation with him.

“There was a time I needed a helping hand,” Harris said, via Kylen Mills of KRON 4. “They gave us an opportunity to get back on our feet. So it is my job to give back.”

Harris serves as an example of someone who didn’t let his situation dictate his future. He graduated from Antioch High School and broke Alabama’s rushing record before the Steelers drafted him.

Harris celebrated his success by returning to one of the places where his journey started, giving thanks while providing hope.

“Doing this really makes me and my family feel better, just giving appreciation and everything,” Harris said. “It’s a subject, especially in the Bay Area, that needs to get shed light on. The more that we are together, the more we can make everything happen, especially in good ways. You know for me moving up, I’m getting more attention, more cameras and stuff, that’s good, because it’s shedding more light on the situation.”

NBC
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Nice move!

 

Arthur Smith: Falcons hired wrong guys if they want a rebuild

The Falcons were 4-12 last season, they fired their coach and General Manager during the season, and they were in a tough spot with the salary cap, which led many people to think that they were set to rebuild their roster in their first year with Arthur Smith and Terry Fontenot in those roles.

Moves this offseason have sent a different message. The Falcons restructured Matt Ryan‘s contract to make it less likely he’ll be going anywhere anytime soon and used their first-round pick on tight end Kyle Pitts, who figures to become a popular target for Ryan right off the bat.

Smith told Peter King that they think Ryan has several years left in him and that the Falcons plan to maximize their chances of winning right now.

“They hired the wrong guys if they thought we were going to lower expectations, take our time, and rebuild,” Smith said, via Football Morning in America. “That’s just not who we are. The expectation is to win now, build for the future, have plans.”

Wide receiver Julio Jones‘ place in the Falcons’ plans has been the subject of conversation. They didn’t rework his contract and Fontenot said the team will listen to trade offers for him. Falcons owner Arthur Blank told King that the team is “not required to make a move with him,” but having Pitts on hand could make it less of blow to winning now if they do part ways before September.

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Brad Holmes: We would’ve considered a QB if one was graded higher than Penei Sewell



Though the Lions acquired Jared Goff and the Rams’ 2022 and 2023 first-round picks in exchange for Matthew Stafford, they still considered selecting a QB at No. 7 overall in last week’s draft.

General Manager Brad Holmes and head coach Dan Campbell did attend many of the Pro Days for the top passers to evaluate them in person.

But with Justin Fields and Mac Jones still available at No. 7 overall, Detroit chose offensive tackle Penei Sewell — setting up the team with what could be one of the league’s best offensive lines. Quarterback was still on the table for the Lions, but their draft room’s reaction makes it clear how excited they were to add Sewell.

“If there was a quarterback that was just like graded way higher over Penei we would have had to strongly consider that,” Holmes said, via Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. “But it unfortunately for our sakes, it wasn’t — Penei was the highest-rated guy when we took him.”

Detroit will have to see Fields twice a year for the foreseeable future, as Chicago traded up to select him at No. 11 overall. But if Goff doesn’t work out in 2021, the Lions should be able to use those Rams’ picks as draft capital to find their quarterback of the future.

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Keith Butler liked Steelers draft, “best defense” is watching offense run the football



The Steelers used their first four picks in this year’s draft on offensive players for the first time since 1984, but their defensive coordinator doesn’t have an issue with that.

Keith Butler said he agreed with General Manager Kevin Colbert’s focus on the other side of the ball because he’s “not just for us being great at defense.” The team’s first-round pick was running back Najee Harris and they added a pair of offensive linemen as part of an effort to juice a run game that Butler says would make life much better for his unit.

“I’ve been here a long time,” Butler said, via Joe Rutter of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “I’ve been fortunate enough to coach in three Super Bowls, and I think in all three of those Super Bowls, we had a good running game. So I’m not going to gripe and complain about us picking Najee in the first round and staying on offense the first day or two. That doesn’t bother me because the best defense to me is always sitting on the sideline watching your offense run the football.”

The Steelers did give Butler some pieces with their next four picks, but it’s clear that the feeling in Pittsburgh is that a renewed run game will put the team back where it wants to be in 2021.

NBC

 

Alejandro Villanueva agrees to two-year deal with Ravens



Baltimore has landed a right tackle.

According to multiple reports, former Steeler Alejandro Villanueva is signing a two-year, $14 million deal with $8 million guaranteed with the Ravens.

The move was expected after Baltimore traded Orlando Brown Jr. to Kansas City last month. The signing did not happen until May 4 so that it would not count in the compensatory draft pick formula.

After starting at left tackle for the last six seasons in Pittsburgh, Villanueva is slated to play right tackle for Baltimore. The club’s left tackle, Ronnie Stanley, signed a five-year extension with last October, prior to suffering a season-ending ankle injury. Brown filled in for Stanley at the position for the rest of the season. His insistence on wanting to play left tackle was one factor in why the Ravens traded him to the Chiefs.

Villanueva was No. 58 on PFT’s list of top 100 free agents. He’s started 90 consecutive games since Week 7 of the 2015 season.

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Quinnen Williams broke foot during workout; Jets hopeful he's ready for training camp

The cornerstone of the New York Jets defense under new coach Robert Saleh is dealing with a small break in his foot.

NFL Network's Mike Garafolo and Tom Pelissero reported Tuesday morning that Quinnen Williams will likely have surgery to repair the break, which is expected to be sideline him 8-10 weeks, per sources informed of the situation.

The injury took place last week while doing on-field work at the Jets facility, Garafolo added. Williams will miss OTAs and minicamp, but the Jets are hopeful the 23-year-old will be ready to go by training camp in mid-July.

If that timeline holds, there should be no issues for the young defensive lineman, who has proven in two seasons he can be a menace in the backfield. As with any injury to the feet of a 300-pound big man, the concern is what kind of shape he could enter training camp in this year. In the early stages of a potential star career, Williams has proven there should be zero concerns about his work ethic or training habits.

In 2020, Williams compiled 55 tackles and seven sacks to go along with 14 QB hits and 10 tackles for loss. On a better team, Williams adds a Pro Bowl to his resume last year. On the Jets, he was snubbed.

Williams put up 39 total pressures last season, per Pro Football Focus, on a line that offered him little pass-rush help. GM Joe Douglas set about changing that, adding stud Carl Lawson on the edge, along with productive veterans Sheldon Rankins and Vinny Curry.

Add in a Saleh defense that schemes up free pass rushers, and it was all looking up for Williams to make his first Pro Bowl in 2021. To do so, he'll have to overcome a broken foot that has his campaign off to a wonky start.

NFL.com

 

Kevin Stefanski: We’d be thrilled to bring Sheldon Richardson back



The Browns have signed two defensive tackles over the last two days. But that apparently has not closed the door on a reunion between the team and recently released defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson.

During a Tuesday interview on 92.3 The Fan, head coach Kevin Stefanski reiterated his desire to get Richardson back on the roster.

“I’d definitely say he’s on our radar and I’m hopeful,” Stefanski said on the “Bull and Fox” show. “I know Andrew [Berry] and his agent have kept an open dialogue. Sheldon knows how I feel about him. Really good player. From our end, we’d be thrilled to bring him back.”

Richardson has spent the last two seasons with the Browns, starting all 16 games last season. He had 4.5 sacks, five tackles for loss, and 10 quarterback hits for Cleveland last year. But releasing Richardson last month cleared $11 million in cap space for the team.

The Browns signed defensive tackles Malik McDowell on Monday and Damion Square on Tuesday.

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Broncos offensive tackle Ja'Wuan James is expected to miss the entire 2021 NFL season after suffering a torn Achilles today.

James experienced the injury while working out on his own, away from the team facility, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN. That he got hurt on his own — and not at the voluntary team workouts that many players are choosing not to attend this offseason — means the Broncos are not obligated to pay his $10 million salary for 2021.

One of the risks inherent in the NFL Players Association’s strategy of encouraging players not to report to offseason work was that a player would suffer a serious injury on his own, and James appears to be the first player to suffer a serious injury while taking that risk.

A first-round draft pick of the Dolphins in 2014, James signed with the Broncos in 2019. He managed to play just three games in Denver that year because of a knee injury, and then he opted out of the 2020 season because of COVID-19. Now it will likely be at least another year before he’s ready to return to the field.

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