NFL - NEWS & NOTES

Demarcus Robinson is sticking around Los Angeles.

Per Ian Rapoport of NFL Media, Robinson has agreed to a one-year, $5 million contract with the Rams for 2024.

Robinson became a key contributor for Los Angeles’ offense in the second half of the 2023 season. He finished the year with 26 catches for 371 yards with four touchdowns. He also took a 23-yard carry.

Robinson, 29, was about to become an unrestricted free agent next month. A fourth-round pick in the 2016 draft, Robinson has caught 219 passes for 2,508 yards with 20 touchdowns for the Chiefs, Ravens, and Rams.

 

Wow! That is a big ass increase. Surely the cap has never jumped like that before? From what i read a cap of about $240-245mil was expected, i wonder how they got to this. Should be good news for teams struggling to get under.

The cap is now close to DOUBLE what it was just 10years ago, that is proper crazy.

 

Per NFL.com, The giant leap in the salary cap is partially the result of the full repayment of all amounts advanced by the clubs and deferred by the players during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as significant new media deals coinciding with recent regular season and playoff expansion.

Incidentally, The NFL has offered 200 employees a buyout and they have till the end of the month to accept it. So, layoffs might be the next step. Hard to imagine a League racking in the cash at a record pace that pays Goodell north of $60M laying people off... sounds kinda rotten.

 

2024 NFL All-Free Agent Team: Antoine Winfield Jr., Chris Jones help defense headline top available veterans

Which free agents are the best at their respective positions? We've sorted through all the big names to assemble a 2024 All-Free Agent Team -- a full starting lineup consisting solely of standouts with expiring deals:

OFFENSE



DEFENSE


One glaring absence: Cincinnati Bengals wideout Tee Higgins, who was the first unrestricted vet to receive the franchise tag this offseason. Barring an extended holdout resulting in a trade, Higgins is tied to his team through 2024.

FROM; Cody Benjamin - CBS

 

Personally, I'd like to see the Vikings go after, Antoine Winfield Jr. 122 TT's last year, 3 INT's and 6 FF's. Was a Golden Gopher also. Anything like his dad when he played for the Vikings is a good thing.

 

Raiders want Josh Jacobs back, but not at the $14.1 million franchise tender

The Raiders plan to make free agent running back Josh Jacobs a contract offer, but they won’t put the franchise tag on him, as they did a year ago.

Franchising Jacobs would mean offering him a one-year contract worth $14,149,200 guaranteed, and that’s something the Raiders won’t do, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.

If Jacobs did get that franchise tender he’d likely sign it immediately, as that’s the kind of money NFL running backs just can’t get anymore.

Last year Jacobs’ production declined significantly: He had a career-low 805 rushing yards, a career-low six rushing touchdowns, averaged a career-low 3.5 yards per carry and picked up a first down on a career-low 14.6 percent of his carries. He didn’t have the kind of year that would maximize his negotiating position in free agency. But he’ll hope to get one of the better contracts available to an NFL running back, whether that’s in Las Vegas or elsewhere.

PFT

 

I starting to think punters and kickers will make more than RBs soon.

 

They already do. According to Spotrac, the RB's avg pay is, $2,277,207, Kickers - $3,108,897

Go figure.

 

No franchise tags coming for running backs

A year after an offseason in which several top running backs complained they were underpaid, some of the NFL’s best-known running backs will now have the chance to find out what they’re worth in a free market.

No franchise tags are coming for running backs this offseason, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN. That means Josh Jacobs, Derrick Henry, Saquon Barkley, Tony Pollard and Austin Ekeler will all be free to shop themselves to the highest bidder.

The reality is those running backs aren’t going to find many high bidders. Even with a major increase in the NFL salary cap in 2024, teams just aren’t looking to spend a lot on the running back position. NFL teams have learned that expensive veteran running backs can be replaced with cheap young running backs without much loss of production.

So Jacobs, Henry, Barkley, Pollard and Ekeler may find that even with the ability to shop themselves to 32 teams, they’re going to remain disappointed.

PFT

 

Its official. Higgins received the FT. Zac Taylor and Joe Burrow like this a lot. Higgins has great hands and has done well for the Bengals... Higgins has 257 receptions for 3684 yards and 24 touchdowns in 58 career regular season games. He has 31 catches for 457 yards and three touchdowns in seven playoff contests.

 

I cannot for the life of me comprehend the chatter on some web-sites talking about trading Justin Jefferson. Why in tarnation is this even considered? One of the best talents to come around in a while, the face of the Vikings, with the potential to be a star for a long time... so lets trade him? No way, Jose! Build around him, create an atmosphere conducive for his talent to not only be show-cased, but effective and productive.

Some writers think that trading him (especially Connor Orr of Sports Illustrated and some others Ive read) sets the Vikings up for a 'long term solution'. Well, last time i checked, Jefferson is still young and can and should be a pivotal piece of the future, not a pawn for the unknown. Here's an excerpt from Orr - I would argue that trading Jefferson, especially as it relates to Adofo-Mensah’s background, could be a gold mine for the GM. It may finally put the Vikings on a more sensible path that could then accentuate the kind of program Adofo-Mensah is capable of building. How is this even applicable? Kwesi has no background in building an NFL Super Bowl caliber team, period. His argument is laughable. Kwesi is unproven so far, Im not bashing him, but just saying the NFL is and has always been a 'what have you done lately' League.

The future is now, work with what you have and improve on it. Im a firm believer in establishing a core on a team and bringing in pieces to enhance, improve and backup the core... make it sustainable. You dont always need to gamble on the future, because 9 out of 10 times, you lose.

 

If Kwesi-Adofo-Mensah with his crooked azz smile would fu*k it up so far his drafts have sucked and would he really trade Justin Jefferson and keep the mediocre Capt Kirk I'm so afraid he would Kwesi-Adofo-Mensah scares this Vikings fan he has not shown me a reason to trust him cause in Kwesi-Adofo-Mensah this Vikings fan does not trust him

 

Bucs to release Shaq Barrett

The Buccaneers are set to part ways with a veteran part of their defense.

According to multiple reports, the team will release edge rusher Shaq Barrett on Tuesday. Barrett has one year left on the four-year deal he signed with the team in 2021 and he had a $15 million bonus due next month.

Barrett addressed the possibility that his run in Tampa was over last month. He initially joined the Bucs on a one-year deal in 2019 and posted a career-high 19.5 sacks in his first season with the team. He was a second-team All-Pro that year, won a Super Bowl after the 2020 season and added 25.5 more sacks over his next four seasons with the NFC South club.

Yaya Diaby, Joe Tryon-Shoyinka, and Anthony Nelson remain on hand as edge rushers for the Bucs.

PFT

 

Kwesi said today...

Adofo-Mensa dismissed the idea that the Vikings could do what the club did with Stefon Diggs and trade Jefferson rather than pay his hefty price tag.

"That's not something that's once crossed my mind," the GM said on Tuesday. "You got a blue(chip) player, a blue(chip) person. You try to keep as many of those as you can."

 

JJ's new nickname = 'Chip'.

 

I don't believe him if he can get a boat load of picks for him Justin Jefferson is gone you just keep rocking the high-water laughing you got two outstanding wr keep them and find a QB that can take them to the next level cause Capt Kirk can't do it

 

*cough* streaming services deals

 

Not sure I agree with JJ being gone even if a boatload of picks are offered. I believe the trading Jefferson talk was a product of bored writers in the off-season. Even KOC said he has heard nothing on trading JJ. Im cool with giving Cousins a deal that would bring him back for a while, but they still need to draft a future, imo. Cousins isnt Mr. Primetime, he blows in Playoff big game atmospheres, but hell, maybe he gets it right this time because of the 'law of averages', blind squirrel, broken clock philosophy.

 

Lol, while I share your thoughts on JJ… Cousins is one of the most consistent top ten QBs of the past 5+ years. If he can’t do it, you might need something else added to the mix. I don’t believe you can find a better QB at the moment.

 

I HOPE I'm wrong about Justin Jefferson I just keep thinking of another so so year struggling to make the playoffs or a wild card I just keep wondering when wii he step up his game to next level