NFL - NEWS & NOTES

We used to have: Bob Hope, Johnny Cash, and Steve Jobs


Now we have: No hope, No Cash, and No Jobs

 

The Eagles have added a tight end.

Dan Arnold has agreed to a one-year deal with Philadelphia, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports.

Arnold has spent most of the last two seasons with the Jaguars. While he began 2021 with the Panthers, Carolina traded him to Jacksonville in late September of that season. He then appeared in all 17 games for the Jaguars in 2022, playing 15 percent of the team’s offensive snaps and 29 percent of special teams snaps.

Arnold finished last year with nine catches for 135 yards.

Arnold entered the league as an undrafted free agent with the Saints back in 2017. He’s also spent time with the Cardinals.

In 59 career games with 11 starts, Arnold has recorded 95 catches for 1,258 yards with seven touchdowns.

PFT

 

Giants, DT Dexter Lawrence agree to terms on four-year, $90 million contract extension

The New York Giants have locked up another one of their core stars with another colossal deal.

Giants Pro Bowl defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence is signing a four-year, $90 million extension with $60 million guaranteed, NFL Network Insiders Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo reported Thursday afternoon.

Lawrence's extension comes two months after his fellow 2019 NFL Draft first-round pick, Daniel Jones, worked out a new deal with Big Blue, signing a four-year pact for $160 million.

NFL.com

 

The other major aspect of it is tied to Dan Quinn's preferred systems. His defense of choice is known as the "4-3 Under". One of the edge rusher roles in this system is typically a somewhat undersized DE or slightly larger linebacker.

Here in Atlanta, he shifted LB Brooks Reed up to the line and also moved LB prospect Tyler Starr to DE for that same role. Atlanta later drafted 250-lb Takk McKinley for that spot (and did NOT have him bulk up).

Side note: McKinley is now back with Quinn in Dallas for 2023, trying to revive his career. Given that Quinn likes to have two players in scheduled rotations at each position up front, Parsons backed by McKinley might be the pairing for Dallas this season.

 

Jets coach Robert Saleh says that WR Corey Davis will still be with the team in 2023.

Whether this proves to be the case is another question entirely. There have been rumors throughout the offseason that he would become a cap casualty, as New York would save 10.5 million in cap space by trading or releasing him. He's in his final contract year, so the whole post-June 1 thing doesn't apply. Moving him off the roster would also make space for another preferred player for Aaron Rodgers, if in fact Rodgers would prefer someone else.

 

One more amusing twist to the D'Andre Swift trade... the Eagles also signed former Atlanta WR Olamide Zaccheaus, who had been an undrafted free agent out of Virginia. It turns out the ex-Cavalier Zaccheaus and the ex-Bulldog Swift were high school teammates.

Zaccheaus also rejoins Marcus Mariota, who was his quarterback for most of last season with the Falcons.

 

Brandon Beane: Bills want to avoid going all-in for one year and then having a tear down

Bills General Manager Brandon Beane says he’s building for sustained success in Buffalo, and not a team with a one-year peak followed by a deep valley.

Beane told Jim Rome that tactics like trading future draft picks or pushing significant cap space to future years come with a price, and the Bills don’t want to pay that price.

“There are some moves that we could do that would say we’re all in for this year and then have a tear down,” Beane said, via the Buffalo News. “We’ve been diligent with the cap to try to avoid that type of situation. It’s not easy, especially when you have a top 10 quarterback, great receiver, Tre White, Von [Miller] and some of these guys. Ultimately, we think we’ve got a plan to continue to go for it year after year and hopefully we can find a way to pull that title home for Buffalo sooner rather than later.”

The Rams, who won the Super Bowl after the 2021 season but collapsed in 2022, are an obvious example of a team that went all-in and then started tearing it down. The Chiefs, who won the Super Bowl this year, are an example of a team built for sustained success. Beane clearly would rather follow the Chiefs’ model.

PFT
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Just an opinion, but if your close to being a SB contender, you might as well go 'all-in'. I may be mis-understanding Mr. Beane, but when your close, spend... opportunities dont hang around, grab that shit when its there.

 

Nick Foles was released by the Indianapolis Colts Friday, but another one of his Super Bowl LII Philadelphia Eagles teammates has found a new home.

Safety Rodney McLeod has signed with the Cleveland Browns, the team announced Friday. McLeod will be reunited with Jim Schwartz, who was his defensive coordinator with the Eagles from 2016-2020, and now has the same position in Cleveland.

After spending the first four seasons of his career with the St. Louis Rams, McLeod signed a five-year, $35 million deal to join the Eagles ahead of the 2016 season. The Virginia product would ultimately spend six seasons in Philadelphia, racking up 347 combined tackles, 11 interceptions and four forced fumbles.

McLeod reunited with Foles and coach Frank Reich in Indianapolis in 2022, but it turned out to be a disastrous season for the Colts. Reich was fired in November and replaced by Jeff Saturday on an interim basis. The Colts continued to be unable to stabilize the quarterback position in the post-Andrew Luck Era, with Foles, Matt Ryan and Sam Ehlinger all struggling.

McLeod joins a Browns team that went 7-10 in 2022, but was without quarterback Deshaun Watson for the first 11 weeks of the season as he served a suspension. With Watson at quarterback for a full season, the Browns are hopeful they will be able to compete with the Cincinnati Bengals, Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens in a crowded AFC North.

 

Hearing about Foles' release reminded me of just how deep the QB class of 2012 really was.

Mull this over... four quarterbacks outside of the top five and taken after the second round that year (Russell Wilson, Nick Foles, Kirk Cousins, and undrafted Case Keenum) were still active NFL players in 2022, the 11th season following their draft.

As an example for comparison, we think of the 2020 draft as a very strong QB class. But it's really hard to picture four guys out of Jacob Eason, James Morgan, Jake Fromm, Jake Luton, Cole McDonald, Ben DiNucci, Tommy Stevens or Nate Stanley still playing in the league through 2030. (Latest update on them: only the first three are even on NFL rosters. Luton and Stanley are currently unsigned. Stevens is in the CFL. McDonald and DiNucci are in the XFL. )

 

Thats really remarkable, especially how no one pounce on them early on. Compare that to this years Draft where a slew of them went in the 1st. Very interesting.

 

I've been watching the USFL the New Orleans Breakers and the New Jersey Generals where are the fans it's boring to watch IMO

 

Schedule might not be ready for Thursday night

The NFL’s regular-season schedule for 2023 will be released on Thursday night. Unless it isn’t.

Peter King explains in his latest Football Morning in America column that, while the schedule is “still likely to be done” before Thursday night, he was told over the weekend that “it may not be finished in time.”

The sticking point, per King, are the various “mega-games”: Week One prime-time games, Thanksgiving Day, Black Friday, the Sunday night game on Christmas Eve, and the Monday tripleheader on Christmas.

King writes that Commissioner Roger Goodell will meet with the in-house scheduling crew on Monday afternoon, in an effort to provide more clarity to the “tentpole games.”

The best evidence that the announcement might not come on Thursday night is that we’ve yet to get the official announcement that the announcement is coming. Once we get the announcement about the announcement, we’ll know for sure that the announcement will soon be announced.

 

The NFL’s 2023 schedule will be released on Thursday night.

The league made it official this afternoon, announcing that the full schedule will be released Thursday at 8 p.m. ET with special programs on both NFL Network and ESPN.

A preview of the full schedule will come on Wednesday and Thursday mornings, with NFL Network and ESPN announcing international games, Amazon announcing the first-ever Black Friday game, and select games being revealed on Fox & Friends, CBS Mornings, the Today show and Good Morning America.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell reportedly met with the league’s schedule makers today to make the final determination on the biggest games of the season, and now the schedule is set.

 

And Friday everyone is going to be bitching about how the schedule is so unfair to their team!!

 

Laughing that's so true

 

Foster Moreau agrees to three-year deal with Saints



Findings during tight end Foster Moreau‘s physical with the Saints in March led to him being diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, but he has gotten a good prognosis from doctors and he’s moving ahead with his playing career.

A report earlier this week indicated that Moreau had an offer on the table from the Saints and Moreau will be signing with the team. Moreau’s agents at JL Sports told PFT that Moreau has agreed to a three-year, $12 million deal with the NFC South club.

The deal has $8 million of fully guaranteed money and an additional $3 million in incentives.

Moreau was a 2019 Raiders fourth-round pick and he caught 91 passes for 1,107 yards and 12 touchdowns during his time with the club.

PFT

 

Report: Steelers tell Arthur Maulet he will be released



Cornerback Arthur Maulet is set to hit the open market.

Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that the Steelers have informed Maulet that he will be released. The move is not official yet, so the Steelers could still conceivably trade Maulet rather than just let him go.

Maulet signed with the Steelers in 2021 and played in 33 games over the last two seasons. He also appeared in one playoff game after the 2021 season.

Maulet had 106 tackles, an interception, two sacks, and two forced fumbles in the regular season appearances. He had one tackle in the postseason and has also played for the Saints, Colts, and Jets since making his NFL debut in 2017.

PFT

 

Lions HC Dan Campbell sees shades of All-Pro RB in first rounder



Many considered the Detroit Lions selection of Alabama running back Jahmyr Gibbs at No. 12 overall the biggest reach of the first round of the 2023 draft.

However, Lions head coach Dan Campbell believes the team actually got a steal with the selection, stating Gibbs’ Alvin Kamara-like versatility as both a runner and receiver is what prompted the team to take him off the board so early.

"We really liked Gibbs early in the process," Campbell said during a recent appearance on “Green Light with Chris Long.” "You know, he really stood out to us and when we saw him, we thought of him, you know, it wasn't running back that we saw. We saw weaponry. And, you know, he reminded me a lot of (Alvin Kamara). Certainly, when I was at the Giants, we had played with Tiki Barber in this kind of mold of these backs that can do more than just carry the ball, you know. And so, that's how we thought of him."



Kamara, a two-time Second Team All-Pro and five-time Pro Bowler, won the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Awards in 2017 after totaling a combined 1,554 yards from scrimmage (728 rushing, 826 receiving) with 13 total touchdowns.

His 60/40 split of carries to receptions is likely what Campbell envisions for Gibbs, who will split time in the backfield with free-agent addition David Montgomery. The 25-year-old Montgomery is more of a runner than a receiver, which is where Gibbs could have the most impact as a rookie.

Gibbs did total 1,200 or more yards from scrimmage each of the last two seasons — one at Georgia Tech and one at Alabama. The 21-year-old tailback ended his college career with 2,132 yards rushing with 15 touchdowns and 1,212 yards receiving with eight more touchdowns.

For comparison, Kamara had 1,294 yards rushing with 16 touchdowns and 683 yards receiving with seven touchdowns when he was drafted 67th overall by the New Orleans Saints in 2017.

YARDBARKER

 

Something that jumped out at me about this year's RB group is the way the RBs with good receiving skills jumped up in the draft.

This year Robinson and Gibbs are both regarded as all around offensive weapons rather than pure bell-cow runners. Campbell spelled that out in the quotes above about taking Gibbs so high, and the Falcons said the same things about Robinson. Both teams clearly put a premium value on that versatility.

Charbonnet's receiving ability is the main thing that makes him stand out compared to the other RBs on the board. It's hard to imagine him being the third RB taken otherwise. But if teams really are putting more emphasis on those receiving skills (and blocking skills), he was the best available. Kendre Miller wasn't used as a receiver all that often, but he absolutely has that skill set and did show good hands (not just adequate, but GOOD hands and technique) when used in the passing game. The Saints, another team whose GM is known to like RBs that can catch and block, made him the fourth RB off the board even though he missed the entire pre-draft season recovering from his knee injury.

 

Commanders, Dan Snyder announce deal to sell team to Josh Harris-led group

Reports have said the team will sell for $6 billion