MONDAY MORNING QUARTERBACK

You did dammit! lol

No biggie, i was just interested in what you would do with Roquan Smith. When i first asked, you came back asking for some parameters ie the timeline for when the Bears are competing again. I said 2022 a write off, no sooner than 2023.

 

Ah shit, that's my bad. lol

Let me go back and look at what you posted in response, do a little research, and then I'll give you my take on both Roquan and Montgomery (I believe that's who dline asked about).

 

No probs my friend, be interested to hear your thoughts

 

Panthers sign P.J. Walker for 2022 season



Cam Newton‘s future may not be with the Panthers, but P.J. Walker will remain with the team for the 2022 season.

According to multiple reports, the Panthers have signed Walker to a new one-year deal. Walker was set for exclusive rights free agency, so the Panthers could have retained his rights simply by tendering him a contract this offseason.


Walker appeared in five games this season and started the team’s Week 10 win over the Cardinals. He also made one start and four appearances during the 2020 season. Walker is 68-of-122 for 730 yards, two touchdowns, and eight interceptions over those nine games.

The Panthers also have Sam Darnold under contract for next season. He’s set to make a guaranteed salary of over $18 million, but his play in 2021 would make it unsurprising if the team makes other moves at the position.

PFT

 

Kevin Stefanski: I fully expect Baker Mayfield to bounce back next year



Playing through various injuries throughout the year, Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield struggled throughout the 2021 season.

In 15 games, he completed 60.5 percent of his passes for 3,010 yards with a career-low 17 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. The Browns went 6-8 in his 14 starts, as he missed two games to injury and one while on the COVID-19 list.


Mayfield’s last two starts were particularly poor, as he tossed four interceptions in the Christmas Day loss to Green Bay. And he completed only 42 percent of his passes in the Week 17 loss to Pittsburgh.

Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski was asked multiple times during the season if the team was considering sitting Mayfield to give him time to heal. But the only game Mayfield missed due to injury while Cleveland was still in postseason contention was the team’s Week 7 Thursday win over Denver.

“Baker fought through those injuries, was medically cleared to play each of those weeks and practiced throughout those weeks and felt good,” Stefanski said Monday, via Ben Axelrod of WKYC. “I don’t think Baker’s using any of that as an excuse and not denying that guys play through injuries.”

Stefanski added that he’s seen Mayfield play at a high level and anticipates the QB having a better 2022.

“I fully expect him to bounce back next year,” Stefanski said, via Jake Trotter of ESPN.

The No. 1 overall pick of the 2018 draft, Mayfield is under contract through 2022 on his fifth-year option. But beyond that, the future is murky for Cleveland and its quarterback.

PFT

 

Tom Brady continues to re-write the NFL postseason record book in 2022



Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady already owns some of the most significant NFL postseason records, and he’ll add to those records when the Bucs host the Eagles on Sunday.

Here are a few of the postseason records that Brady owns, and some notes on how far everyone else in the league is from equaling Brady’s records:


Games played: Brady will appear in his 46th career postseason game on Sunday. His former kicker Adam Vinatieri is in second place all time, having appeared in 32 career postseason games. Another former Brady kicker, Stephen Gostkowski, is tied with Jerry Rice for third with 29 games.

Games started: Brady has started all of his postseason games, so he’ll extend that record to 46 as well. Kickers aren’t considered starters, so Rice is next with 29 starts.

Games as winning quarterback: Brady has 34 postseason wins. Joe Montana is second with 16. In third place, Terry Bradshaw, John Elway and Peyton Manning are in a three-way tie with 14 postseason wins, and Ben Roethlisberger can also earn his 14th career postseason win if the Steelers beat the Chiefs on Sunday.

Passes thrown: Brady has thrown 1,764 passes in the postseason. Peyton Manning, with 1,027 postseason passes, is the only other quarterback to throw more than 1,000.

Passes completed: Brady has completed 1,106 passes in the playoffs. Peyton Manning completed 649, and no one else even has 500 career completions in the postseason.

Passing yards: Brady is the all-time leader with 12,449 career postseason passing yards. Peyton Manning is second with 7,339, followed by Brett Favre with 5,885.

Passing touchdowns: Brady has 73 career postseason touchdown passes. Joe Montana and Aaron Rodgers are tied for second with 45.

Brady will keep adding to his records on Sunday, and maybe for quite a few postseason games after that.

PFT

 

Ben Roethlisberger set to pass Joe Montana, Brett Favre in playoff passing yards



Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is No. 5 in NFL history in postseason passing yards. By the end of Sunday night’s game, Roethlisberger should be No. 3.

Roethlisberger has passed for 5,757 passing yards in the playoffs in his career. Joe Montana is in fourth place all-time with 5,772 and Brett Favre is in third with 5,855.


That means Roethlisberger needs only 99 yards on Sunday night against the Chiefs to move into third place in NFL history. Roethlisberger has only been held to less than 99 yards four times in 271 career games, so it’s a safe bet that he’ll reach 99 yards on Sunday night.

What Roethlisberger won’t do is move any higher than No. 3 in NFL history. Tom Brady is first with 12,449 postseason passing yards, and Peyton Manning is second with 7,339. So Roethlisberger will get to third and stay at third.

And Roethlisberger may not stay at third for long. Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers is No. 6 all time with 5,669 postseason passing yards. When the Packers play their first playoff game next weekend, Rodgers may move ahead of Roethlisberger, Montana and Favre all in one game.

PFT

 

Dolphins believe in Tua Tagovailoa, expect new coach to build around QB

The Dolphins head into their search for a new coach with firm support for their quarterback.

Tua Tagovailoa is expected to be the quarterback for the 2022 season, sources say, barring some sort of unforeseen occurrence. The organization's belief in him as their starter is considered significant, and it appears the search for a flashy replacement is over.

The franchise that was in trade discussions for Deshaun Watson for much of 2021 wants to build around and support Tagovailoa, rather than move on from him.

A new head coach will, source says, have the opportunity to evaluate every facet of the football team, including the QB. But the hope is to find a candidate who believes in him and can bring the best out of him.

The former first-round pick impressed in the second half of the season after getting healthy, leading to six wins in seven games that he started. He finished 2021 with a passer rating of 90.1 and a 16:10 TD-INT ratio. In fact, he played his best after the trade deadline when Miami explored but didn't ultimately complete a trade for Watson, who requested a trade from the team last offseason and did not play in 2021 amid 22 allegations of sexual misconduct.

The Dolphins have seven known candidates, all of whom are currently in the playoffs: Rams assistant head coach Thomas Brown, Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll, Bills defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier, Cardinals defensive coordinator Vance Joseph, 49ers offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel, Cowboys offensive coordinator Kellen Moore and Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn.

Whoever gets the job will take over a team that won 10 and 9 games the last two seasons. While Brian Flores, who was fired Monday, assumed a team with bad contracts and aging players with the necessity to blow it up, the new coach will have a much better situation. Simply, improve the offensive performance and things look up.


Owner Stephen Ross said at his most recent press conference that he has "no plans" to pursue Watson again. That was truthful.

The new coach would come in with a belief in supporting Tagovailoa, not replacing him. Barring something unexpected -- some high-profile QB demanding a trade to the Dolphins, for instance -- the hire must have a plan to find a solution to the offensive issues in an organization where no one has given up on Tua.

That's one reason Daboll has emerged as an interesting name. He coached Tagovailoa at Alabama before taking over the Bills offense, and Daboll helped him become a top NFL prospect.

"I watched him grow," Ross said of Tagovailoa this week. "He's a fine young man, and he is right now our quarterback and that will be dependent upon the new head coach, but I have a lot of confidence in Tua."

NFL.com/Rapoport

 

Nick Caserio: Deshaun Watson return “more than likely would not be the case”



Last week, Texans G.M. Nick Caserio had not much to say about quarterback Deshaun Watson. On Tuesday morning, Caserio said plenty more.

Appearing on Sports Radio 610, Caserio was asked whether the potential hiring of Brian Flores to be the coach would possibly result in Watson sticking around. Via the Houston Chronicle, Caserio said “that more than likely would not be the case.”

It would be a shocker if Watson stays, regardless of whether the next coach is Flores or even Dabo Swinney. The bridge has been both burned and blown to smithereens. Beyond Watson not wanting to be there, the organization likely has misgiving about keeping Watson, given his off-field legal issues.

“I think we have to be open-minded and just take the information and process it and ultimately make the decision that we feel makes the most sense for everybody involved, whatever that looks like,” Caserio said.

They could have traded him before the 2021 deadline in early November, but they didn’t. The question now becomes whether they can get an acceptable deal as the official start of the new league year approaches, on March 16. An unofficial deal can be done at any time; chances are that the quarterback carousel will start to spin once the coaching carousel stops.

Watson has a no-trade clause, which gives him leverage. He also has a fully-guaranteed salary of $35 million, which gives him more leverage. Indeed, it’s one thing for the Texans to pay Watson $10 million to not play in 2021. It’s quite another to pay him another $35 million to not play in 2022.

At some point, Caserio needs to make a move. He can’t, however, unless Watson approves it. Watson may end up going only where he wants to go. Where that is will depend on where the new coaches land, and what the new coaches want.

PFT

 

Mike Tomlin: Steelers are proceeding with the assumption that Ben Roethlisberger is retired



Although Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger hasn’t made a formal retirement announcement, there’s little doubt that he has played his last game.

Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin acknowledged today that the plan is that Roethlisberger will not be a Steeler in 2022.


“We are proceeding with that assumption,” Tomlin said.

Tomlin said that Steelers backup quarterbacks Mason Rudolph and Dwayne Haskins will be given an opportunity to show what they can do, but he made clear that nothing will be handed to either of them.

“Both guys, Mason and Dwayne, have had their moments, but they’ll have to prove that,” Tomlin said.

Tomlin said he and General Manager Kevin Colbert will talk about finding quarterbacks in free agency and the draft.

“All options are on the table,” Tomlin said. “I enjoy working with Kevin this time of year.”

Whatever direction they go in to find a new quarterback, Tomlin and Colbert will be making perhaps the most important personnel decision the Steelers have made since they drafted Roethlisberger.

PFT

 

Joe Burrow: This is how it’s going to be from here on out



The Bengals ended a 31-year postseason victory drought by defeating the Raiders on Saturday.

While that’s nothing to outright dismiss, quarterback Joe Burrow didn’t make a big deal out of it at the time. As he explained on Tuesday, that’s because he feels like the bar has been raised for Cincinnati’s expectations.


“I think the fans were very excited, but I tried to downplay it and all that because this is how it’s going to be from here on out,” Burrow said in his press conference. “It was a great win for us, but this is the standard — the bare minimum every year going forward.”

Burrow finished the game 24-of-34 passing for 244 yards with a pair of touchdowns and no turnovers. He hasn’t committed a giveaway since Cincinnati’s Week 13 loss to the Chargers.

Burrow noted his mentality wasn’t much different for last week’s game since the Bengals needed to keep winning in December to make the postseason.

“I think I’ve just played in a lot of big games throughout my career, whether it’s this year — I mean, every game in the last half of the season was a playoff game,” Burrow said. “Or those games playing in the College Football Playoffs and the championship, I think I’ve been in that situation before.”

Burrow will face another significant test against the Titans on Saturday. But based on his track record, the young quarterback should be ready for it.

PFT

 

Baker Mayfield: Surgery on left shoulder was a “complete success”



After he dealt with a torn labrum in his left shoulder for most of the season, Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield has officially had it repaired.

Both Mayfield and the Browns released statements on Mayfield’s surgery. Mayfield put up a video on social media calling the procedure a “complete success.”


“Had a great medical team that took care of me,” Mayfield said. “I checked that box off to get this fixed and now it’s on the way to the road to recovery.”

The Browns noted the surgery occurred in Los Angeles and has a likely full-recovery timeline of 4-6 months.

“We anticipate Baker bringing light throwing in April,” the Browns’ statement said. “He should be able to participate in the offseason program on a limited basis while a full recovery is expected by the start of training camp.”

Mayfield finished the 2021 season with a 60.5 percent completion rate, 3,010 yards, 17 touchdowns, and 13 interceptions. General Manager Andrew Berry and head coach Kevin Stefanski have both said they expect Mayfield to have a bounce-back season in 2022.

PFT

 

Mason Rudolph, Dwayne Haskins excited at prospect of competing to be Steelers' QB1 next season

What's next for the Pittsburgh Steelers at quarterback is a prevailing offseason question for the first time in almost 20 years.

Ben Roethlisberger is all but retired, pending an official announcement, and head coach Mike Tomlin and the club are proceeding under the assumption that Big Ben will hang it up.

NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported Sunday that a likely scenario is current Steelers quarterbacks Dwayne Haskins and Mason Rudolph will have a shot at competing for the spot, while Pittsburgh also adds a QB in the draft.

It's an opportunity ahead that Rudolph and Haskins are each relishing.

Paramount in either emerging as the Steelers' QB1 will be exhibiting leadership and playing to their potential.

"I can maybe be a bit more myself, being the leader that I've always been at the quarterback position and not worried about stepping on the toes of a longtime Hall of Fame player," Rudolph said, via ESPN's Brooke Pryor.

Said Haskins: "I definitely feel like I could be a starter in this league. I got drafted for that reason. I definitely believe I have talent to play with the best of them, but really, I just haven't put it all together yet. And that's something I have to do this offseason in order to put myself in that position to play."


Haskins didn't play at all in 2021 for the Steelers after signing with them in the offseason.

The 15th overall selection in the 2019 NFL Draft by the Washington Football Team, Haskins proved to be a bust for Washington. He lasted just two seasons and was 3-10 as a starter with 12 touchdowns and 14 interceptions.

As a hopeful reclamation project under the tutelage of Tomlin, Haskins was signed to a reserve/futures contract last year. He's set to become a restricted free agent, but is grateful for the prospect of a second chance with the Steelers.

"They're giving me a chance to compete and I have a chance to start," Haskins said. "That's all I could ask for."

Rudolph had a chance previously to show his mettle as the Steelers' starter with Roethlisberger injured in 2019. Pittsburgh's 2018 third-round draft choice largely struggled, going 5-3 as a starter with 1,765 yards, 13 touchdowns and nine interceptions and an 82.0 QB rating.

"I'm ready to get the opportunity again to prove myself," Rudolph said. "I understand what I've put on tape in 2019, and up to this point, there's still question marks on my game, and I want to prove those people wrong. And I want to prove to myself and to my teammates. It's one day at a time."

The question – and competition – as to who will be Roethlisberger's successor is just getting started.

NFL.com

 

Patrick Mahomes: Buffalo puts a lot on Josh Allen’s shoulders and he rises to the occasion



In what could be the game of the Divisional round, Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs will take on Josh Allen and the Bills for the second time this season in Kansas City.

The first matchup featured a significant lightning delay, but Buffalo still picked up a decisive 38-20 victory back in Week Five.


Both teams have evolved since then. But in that first meeting Allen passed for 315 yards and three touchdowns while also rushing 11 times for 59 yards with a TD.

That Buffalo offense runs through Allen, which is something Mahomes respects as he gears up to face Allen for the fourth time in the last two seasons.

“Yeah he’s a tremendous player,” Mahomes said in his Wednesday press conference. “I actually know him a little bit off the field as well, great dude. They put a lot on his shoulders, and he rises to the occasion. He’s able to run the ball, he can throw the ball, he has the arm strength to throw it anywhere on the football field and he makes great decisions. Like you said we’ll probably play them a lot of times, it’ll be great competition and it’s definitely a great challenge for us as a team to compete with them.”

Allen is coming off the best game of his career, completing 21-of-25 passes for 308 yards and five touchdowns plus another 66 yards on the ground in Buffalo’s 47-17 drubbing of New England last week. Kansas City’s defense should put up more resistance, but Mahomes will also have to be at his best for the Chiefs to reach a fourth consecutive AFC Championship Game.

PFT

 

Ben Roethlisberger announces his retirement



Ben Roethlisberger has retired.

Roethlisberger posted on social media today that he is retiring after an 18-year career, all with the Steelers.


“The time has come to clean out my locker, hang up my cleats, and continue to be all I can be to my wife and children,” Roethlisberger said. “I retire from football a truly grateful man.”

Roethlisberger was the 11th overall pick in the 2004 NFL draft and won the Offensive Rookie of the Year award in his first season, won two Super Bowl rings, and was a six-time Pro Bowler. He will have a place in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Now he will head into retirement, and the Steelers will move forward on finding their next franchise quarterback.

PFT

 

So long, Ben!

 

He really wasn't the same the last two years but he managed anyway. When watching him this year it was obvious the arm was done but if they needed a scoring drive at the end of a game to win it, he seemed to find a way.

He had a great career.

 

Next stop HOF

 

one less degenerate in the NFL. Good riddance.. One more that has the credentials, but I hope never gets the “honor” of being inducted into the HOF.

 

lol... cant get rid of too many degenerates or there would be no NFL.