MONDAY MORNING QUARTERBACK

Tom Brady says goodbye to New England



After 20 years, Tom Brady is leaving New England.

Brady posted on Instagram today that he is planning to leave the Patriots and sign with another team in free agency.

“I don’t know what my football future holds but it is time for me to open a new stage for my life and career,” Brady wrote.

Brady thanked the Patriots’ fans for their support through the years.

“I wanted to say thank you to all of the incredible fans and Patriots supporters,” Brady wrote. “MA has been my home for twenty years. It has truly been the happiest two decades I could have envisioned in my life and I have nothing but love and gratitude for my time in New England.”

Brady said nothing that indicated he has any hard feelings toward the Patriots.

“To all my teammates, coaches, executives and staff, Coach Belichick, RKK and the Kraft family and the entire organization. I want to say thank you for the past twenty years,” Brady wrote.

What we don’t know now is what Brady’s next stop will be. He could sign with a new team as soon as tomorrow.

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Report: Panthers close to deal with Teddy Bridgewater



That didn’t take long.

Within an hour of the Panthers announcing that they had given Cam Newton permission to seek a trade, they appear to have found a replacement.

According to Chris Mortensen of ESPN, the Panthers are expected to have a deal finalized with Teddy Bridgewater when the league year opens Wednesday.

The deal would be in the three-year, $60 million range, which speaks to their desire to have him be the guy right now.

But it doesn’t seem to preclude them using a high pick (like their seventh overall one) on another quarterback for the future.

Bridgewater is familiar with Panthers offensive coordinator Joe Brady from their days together with the Saints, before Brady went to LSU and became the hot young coaching commodity of this offseason.

Bridgewater became surplus to requirements in New Orleans when Drew Brees re-upped and they used the first-round tender on Taysom Hill.

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The Carolina Panthers are moving on from Cam Newton and already found a replacement.

NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported Tuesday that the Panthers are finalizing a contract with quarterback Teddy Bridgewater to be their starter, per sources informed of the deal. The deal is expected to come in around $20 million per year, Rapoport added.

It's a quick reversal for the Panthers, who just weeks ago insisted they wanted to keep Newton in Carolina. Tuesday, the team announced it agreed to let the 2015 NFL MVP seek a trade, an announcement Newton subsequently said was forced upon him.

With the Newton drama swirling, Bridgewater steps in to fill the void.

The New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers were reported to be interested in Bridgewater, but the Panthers swooped in to secure the former Vikings and Saints signal-caller.

Still just 27 years old, the former first-round pick has rehabbed his way after a devastating knee injury that threatened to end his career in 2016.

Bridgewater spent the past two seasons in New Orleans backing up Drew Brees. He started five games in 2019 -- all wins -- proving he's fully back and can be a full-time starting quarterback once again.

The time in New Orleans was key for Bridgewater landing in Carolina. In 2018, the quarterback worked with Joe Brady, who was an offensive assistant under Sean Payton at the time. Brady then left last season to help LSU win a college national championship.

Now Brady is in Carolina as the offensive coordinator under first-year coach Matt Rhule.

Bridgewater's experience with Brady, and in the Saints system, which the new OC employed to a certain degree at LSU, should help the transition as the Panthers revamp their entire operation.

Bridgewater completed 67.9 percent of his passes last season in New Orleans, averaging 7.1 yards per attempt with nine TDs and two INTs. During his five starts, Teddy B showed an ability to get the ball out quick, which could play well with the offensive weapons in Carolina, including running back Christian McCaffrey and receiver D.J. Moore's skill sets. With Bridgewater's propensity to check down quickly, McCaffrey is in for another massive year in Carolina.

Bridgewater didn't threaten deep much last season in New Orleans, instead, working in the framework of the offense, to get targets the ball quickly. He did, however, make enough splash plays to show he can still put the ball on the money when needed. How the deep-ball works in Brady's offense -- especially with a speedy threat like Curtis Samuel on the outside -- will be something to keep an eye on in Carolina early in the campaign.

Since his 2016 injury, Bridgewater has been searching for a team to give him a chance to once again be a starting NFL quarterback.

That part of the journey is over for Teddy Two Gloves. He's found his home in Carolina.

NFL.com

 

Ain't going to lie, I saw the Patriots signing Bridgewater if Brady left. Would the Pats be interested in acquiring Newton?

 

Interesting never thought about that Cam Newton to the Pats

 

Brady is getting $30M/season... with The Buccs.

 

The Bears are beating the bushes for quarterbacks, and they may have interest in taking on one who’s a little beat up at the moment.

According to Jonathan Jones of CBSSports.com, the Panthers have discussed a possible trade of quarterback Cam Newton to the Bears.

The obvious hurdle is the fact the Bears team doctors can’t give Newton a physical right now, per league directive.

If they were willing to trust an independent doctor, and Newton has recovered from shoulder and foot problems, they’d have a relative bargain at $18.6 million for the year, and an obvious upgrade over Mitchell Trubisky.

They talked to Teddy Bridgewater before he agreed to join the Panthers, and discussed a possible trade for Nick Foles as well.

If well, there’s a reasonable case to be made that Newton’s the best of the available starting quarterback options. That’s a big if, however.

But the Bears once traded four things to move up one spot in the draft to choose Trubisky second overall, so anything’s possible.

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I don't think the Bears are ruling anyone out at the moment. Jameis probably gets a look also.

 

Around this time last year, the Jaguars were celebrating the addition of quarterback Nick Foles as a free agent but the first year of his four-year deal didn’t go as planned.

Foles broke his collarbone in the opener, rookie Gardner Minshew played well and Foles struggled once he was healthy enough to return to action. That’s led the Jaguars to reverse course and part ways with Foles ahead of the 2020 season.

Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that the Bears have agreed to trade a fourth-round pick to Jacksonville in exchange for Foles.

Foles spent 2016 with the Chiefs when Bears head coach Matt Nagy was the team’s offensive coordinator. Bears offensive coordinator Bill Lazor was on the Eagles staff during Foles’ first Philly stint and quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo were on the Philly staff for the second one. Those relationships may have helped pave the way to a deal that gives the Bears an alternative to Mitch Trubisky as their starting quarterback.

As for the Jaguars, they’ll be going with Minshew at quarterback and restocking their roster after dealing Foles, A.J. Bouye and Calais Campbell for draft picks this offseason.

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Who was it that said: There's lies, damn lies, and statistics.

 

Ben Roethlisberger: I’m throwing without pain for first time in years



Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger resumed throwing last month after last year’s season-ending right elbow injury and said it felt “amazing” to be able to throw again.

Roethlisberger has continued throwing the ball since then and the results haven’t gotten any worse in the interim. He said he plans to go from throwing twice a week to three times a week as he continues down the path to returning to the lineup.

“I have no doubts I’m going to be able to come back and play well — none,” Roethlisberger said, via Ron Cook of the Pittsburgh Post-Gaette. “I have complete confidence in that. I’m throwing without pain for the first time in years. Some games, I would have a little pain. Some games, I would have a lot of pain. But in the New England game and the Seattle game [last season], it got to be too much. To be able to throw without pain now? That feels nice. That’s a nice feeling. I know I’m not getting any younger, but I feel younger because I don’t have any pain.”

Roethlisberger said his plan was to be somewhere around “80, 90, 100 percent” by the time of OTAs and minicamp, but the change to the offseason schedule due to COVID-19 may change how quickly he pushes his rehab program along in the coming weeks.

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Mariota gets $7.5 million salary, potential for much more in incentives



Marcus Mariota has signed an incentive-laden contract with the Raiders that pays him like the backup he is — unless he can win the starting job, and play well.

The Raiders gave Mariota a two-year, $17.6 million deal that includes a $7.5 million fully guaranteed base salary in 2020, according to Mike Garafolo of NFL Network.

Where it gets interesting is in the potential for incentives: Mariota can make $2.4 million if he plays 60 percent of the Raiders’ offensive snaps in 2020, plus another $1.5 million in per-game playing time and win incentives and $2 million in postseason incentives.

In 2021, Mariota has $10 million in incentives available and a $12 million salary escalator.

What this all means is that Mariota can cash in if he does to Derek Carr what Ryan Tannehill did to Mariota last year: Unseat him for the starting job, and then play well enough to lead the team to the playoffs.

Mariota’s contract is nowhere near what most would have expected for him a year ago, when he was heading into the final season of his rookie contract. If Mariota had played well last year he would have cashed in this year, but instead it was Tannehill who got a big contract. Now Mariota has signed a backup’s contract that has the potential to get a lot better, if he plays and plays well.

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Panthers are expected to release Cam Newton Tuesday...



Cam Newton‘s run with the Panthers is set to end on Tuesday.

According to multiple reports, Newton is expected to be released before the day is out. That comes a week after the team announced they had given Newton permission to seek a trade to another team and the “expected” part of those reports may be an effort to get something for him before officially cutting the cord.

Given the uncertainty about Newton’s physical condition after missing 14 games with a Lisfranc injury last season and the impossibility of bringing him into a team facility for a medical check, it will be no surprise if the trade talk continues to be quiet.

There was word of potential interest from the Bears and Chargers in Newton last week, but the Bears have since traded for Nick Foles. Barring an unknown entry for Newton’s services, that makes it even less likely that the Chargers would offer up anything in a trade for a player they could sign a short time later without surrendering any compensation.

The Panthers would clear $19.1 million in cap space by releasing Newton. They have signed quarterbacks Teddy Bridgewater and P.J. Walker in recent days.

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Bears G.M.: Trading for Nick Foles creates “open competition”



Bears General Manager Ryan Pace — for some reason — started the offseason by insisting quarterback Mitchell Trubisky was their starter.

Now that they’ve traded for Nick Foles, the company line has changed.

At a press conference this morning, both Pace and coach Matt Nagy changed their tune considerably.

“With the addition of Nick Foles it’s exactly what we talked about from the start – we want to create competition,” Pace said. “We’ve talked to both players and it’s an open competition.”

An open competition between a former Super Bowl MVP (whom Nagy referred to as “a special person”) and the rapidly regressing Trubisky might not last long. The Bears have been careful not to commit to picking up the former No. 2 overall pick’s fifth-year option, tacitly acknowledging some degree of remorse for having traded four things to move up one spot to take Trubisky, at a time when they could have had either Patrick Mahomes or Deshaun Watson instead.

“What we’re trying to do is what’s best for the Chicago Bears,” Nagy said. “Plain and simple.”

Nagy said he’s talked about the decision with Trubisky already: “You could feel how much of a competitor Mitch is. He’s embracing it and he’s excited to get back to work.”

Nagy added that the competition was “going to be very transparent and very honest.”

If that’s the case, Trubisky could quickly become a backup.

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I was just thinking to myself how much I enjoy this mentality from a GM. “We have a very mediocre quarterback and that’s just not good enough. But one mediocre quarterback plus one mediocre quarterback equals playoff caliber quarterback! What could go wrong?...

I love it!!

 

If he was going to the eagles it would not be that way. But Foles can’t stay on the field anywhere else

 

Josh Allen: I understand how big of a year this is



Bills receiver Isaiah McKenzie declared earlier this week that it’s Buffalo’s time “to take over” the AFC East. It’s one thing for Isaiah McKenzie to say it. It’s quite another for Josh Allen to say it.

And the Bills starting quarterback didn’t say it in a conference call with beat reporters Friday.

Allen carefully worded his answer when asked about Tom Brady leaving New England. The lack of bulletin board material would have made Crash Davis proud.

“I think Bills Mafia is happy that he’s out of there and they were tired of him winning in Buffalo and, frankly, we were tired of it, too,” Allen said, via Vic Carucci of the Buffalo News. “Obviously, we understand the deal, and we know that there’s a big opportunity in front of us. But it doesn’t get there without putting the work in and going to work each and every day and trying to be the best team that we can be. I think the Jets and the Dolphins are thinking the same thing right now. It’s football; every year’s different.

“It doesn’t mean the Patriots are out of anything, as well. They’re returning a lot of guys on defense. They’ve got a great coaching staff over there, so it doesn’t mean they’re just automatically out of it just because they lost a pretty key player.”

Allen is entering his third season, and based on his talks with other first-round quarterbacks, he expects this to be the year “when things start to click and start to happen.”

“I understand how big of a year it is,” Allen said. “But I’m taking it one day at a time and I’m just trying to do my part to be the best that I can be for the Buffalo Bills.”

Allen, who turns 24 next month, took a step in his second season. He went 10-6, leading the Bills to th postseason, while passing for 3,089 yards, 20 touchdowns and nine interceptions.

The next step is winning the division — something the Bills haven’t done since 1995.

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You I told you about the swans how they live in the park

 

Kingsbury expects Murray to take 'big step' in 2020

Kyler Murray shined as his rookie season wore on, flashing traits that portend to higher heights for the young quarterback.

Murray's rookie stats were middle-of-the-pack, as he tossed for 3,722 yards with a 64.4 completion percentage on 542 attempts for a 6.9 yards per attempt average, with 20 TDs to 12 INTs, adding 544 rushing yards and four scampering TDs.

The statistics don't jump off the page, but the way he compiled them down the stretch displayed bright promise. Murray owns pinpoint accuracy, a quick-draw release, and playmaking ability when the pocket breaks down.

The production might not have been there on a weekly basis, especially during a six-game midseason losing streak, behind a sieve offensive line. Still, the traits and flashes suggest Murray's on a high trajectory in Kliff Kingsbury's offense.

With the offseason program scuttled through April, at least, however, could the strides made last season slip?

Kingsbury, for one, isn't fretting Murray devolving or the strange offseason curtailing the quarterback's improvement.

"You all saw the development, I think, throughout the season, the comfort level," Kingsbury said Tuesday, via The Athletic. "We'd love to have him back and be more hands-on for a couple more months, but everybody is facing the same challenges. I know Kyler is working really hard. He's champing at the bit to get back. He has the film to watch, he has the stuff to study, he knows what we have to get better at, so I expect him to take a big step just understanding the game more. This is the NFL, the type of preparation it takes to be that guy week in and week out. Yeah, we'd love to have him back. Do I think it's going to stunt his growth? I don't think so."

With the addition of DeAndre Hopkins and the potential to upgrade the O-line in the draft, the Cardinals have the opportunity to boast one of the most explosive offenses in NFL next season. As it always does, however, the ceiling comes back to the quarterback. If Murray continues on the path he showed last year, the Cards will be well on their way to being one of the more exciting teams in 2020.

NFL.com

 

When Tom Brady was a child, Joe Montana was his favorite football player. And Brady still puts Montana on a pedestal.

Brady was asked by Howard Stern whether he has surpassed his childhood hero, and Brady refused to say he’s better than Montana.

“I can’t say that,” Brady said. “I would never say that. That’s not how I think about myself. The only thing I care about is am I the best I can be? I’m the best I can be.”

In terms of career accomplishments, however, Brady surpassed Montana a while ago. By the end of the 2020 season, Brady will have about twice as many career passing yards and touchdown passes as Montana. Brady also has about twice as many yards and touchdowns as Montana in the playoffs. With more Super Bowl rings, more Super Bowl MVPs and more regular-season MVPs, there’s not much of a case that Brady isn’t the better quarterback.

But Brady will let other people make that case.

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