NFL - NEWS & NOTES

NFL plans to have 58 prospects involved in draft broadcast

NFL will have two cameras in prospects’ homes for draft night



The stay-at-home draft will include plenty of prospects participating in the draft from their homes.

Per a league source, the NFL plans to distribute technology kits to prospects who will be participating in the draft (the league has announced that 58 will be involved) for the purposes of joining the broadcast of the 2020 draft. And the goal will be to have prospects participate over all three days of the draft.

Each prospect’s home will have an “always on” camera aimed at creating a virtual green room, along with a separate interview camera. The camera will record the celebration upon selection, with the prospect then making his way to the camera by “simulating his walk tl the stage” at the draft.

Once at the camera, the prospect will interact with the Commissioner.

The NFL also has advised prospects to comply with relevant guidelines regarding the persons in the house for the draft, with the league “strongly” discouraging the presence of anyone who hasn’t been living in the same household with the prospect.

So what happens if the always-on camera reveals the prospect has a full house of people who haven’t been living in the house, with fewer than six feet between the bodies? Although the NFL hasn’t addressed that issue, last year the league made it clear that players wouldn’t be shown on camera if sponsorship or brand logos appear anywhere in the shot. If the league will take those kinds of measures to protect its corporate relationships, here’s hoping the league will choose to protect the general population by not showing images of gatherings that demonstrate an increased risk of the virus spreading.

NBC

 

Dalvin Cook sees himself as NFL’s best RB, seeks long-term deal with Vikings



Dalvin Cook considers himself “the best back in the game.” So it stands to reason the Vikings running back wants to be paid like it.

Cook missed more games (17) than he played (15) his first two seasons. But in 14 games last season, the former second-round choice ranked seventh in yards from scrimmage with 1,654 and scored 13 touchdowns on 303 touches.

“The things I do coming out of the backfield, the things I do in between the tackles, I block, I pretty much do it all,” Cook told Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press. “I don’t have to come off the field. I think some guys just don’t do as much as I do, and I think that’s why I’m today’s [top] back.”

Cook enters the final year of his rookie deal scheduled to make $1.331 million in base salary. He hopes for a long-term deal from the Vikings, telling Tomasson he wants “to be in Minnesota long term.”

Cook said his agent is talking to the Vikings about a contract extension.

Giving running backs mega contracts does not always work out for the team.

The Rams cut Todd Gurley only two years into a contract extension that guaranteed him $45 million and made him the highest-paid running back at the time. Ezekiel Elliott‘s six-year, $90 million deal last summer then made him the highest paid at his position, but he didn’t play like the best running back in football in 2019.

The Cardinals benched and then traded David Johnson after giving him a three-year, $39 million extension with $30 million guaranteed in 2018.

“It’s all a risk when you give any guy a contract in the league,” Cook said. “He could get hurt the next day in practice. So it’s all a risk. But what if the guy doesn’t get hurt, and he goes out there and helps contribute to the Super Bowl and he goes out there and balls out? . . . It’s all about what the person believes in, what the owners believe in, the G.M. believes in, and I firmly think the Vikings believe in me.”

NBC

 

Brandin Cooks is traded to the Texans



Brandin Cooks is on the move, again.

The 2014 first-round pick of the Saints, traded to the Patriots for a first-rounder then to the Rams for a first-rounder, has now been traded to the Texans for a second-round pick. The Rams also are sending a 2022 fourth-round pick to the Texans.

John McClain of the Houston Chronicle reports that the Texans are sending their own second-round pick, selection No. 57, to the Rams for Cooks. The Texans will keep the 40th pick, from the Cardinals, if/when the DeAndre Hopkins deal is finalized.

Cooks already has earned a $4 million roster bonus this year. He’ll receive an $8 million base salary in 2020. His salaries in 2021, 2022, and 2023 are $12 million, $13 million, and $14 million respectively.

After generating a career-high 1,204 receiving yards in his first season with the Rams, Cooks had only 583 yards in 14 games last season. He also has a troubling concussion history.

So it’s hardly a wash for the Texans, who gave up one of the best receivers in football for one who has plenty of questions marks. Which means it may not be nearly enough to placate quarterback Deshaun Watson, who has seemed to be a little salty about the Hopkins trade.

NBC

 

If i'm Deshaun Watson i would be a lot salty not just a little,what's going on with this Chris Johnson murder for hire is this true? saw it on the google website

 

John Lennon said cold turkey had him on the run
I say Wild Turkey has me with the runs

 

Reasonable minds apparently can differ on whether it’s OK for guys like Dak Prescott and Dez Bryant to go out (despite an order to stay home) and work out at a public gym (despite an order that it should be closed). It’s hard to imagine reasonable minds differing on this.

According to TMZ.com, Prescott hosted a birthday party for a friend on Friday night. At one point, thirty people attended. And one of the photos posted at TMZ.com shows in the background a cluster of bodies far closer than six feet apart. The photos also include a table set for a meal that would have entailed everyone sitting elbow to elbow.

Also present for the antisocially-distanced birthday party was Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott.

States and counties throughout the country have implemented stay-at-home orders aimed at limiting the footprint of the coronavirus, which can spread easily and be passed by asymptomatic persons to others they encounter, leaving a Russian-roulette trail of illness and death in its wake. As with the recent workouts, it’s both the act of defiance and the failure to keep the evidence under wraps that combines to send a horrible message to those who are tempted to disregard the orders and YOLO or FOMO or whatever it is they’re ultimately doing when they necessarily extend the amount of time it will take to get the virus under control.

NBC
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I suppose they can afford the fine if one is leveled.

 

Oh, no. Now I've got a reason to actively root against these guys. I didn't want to. But... can't support stupid.

 

You needed a reason?

 

How bout them cowboys

 

Former NFL quarterback Tarvaris Jackson, a second-round pick of the Vikings in 2006, has died in a car accident. He was 36.

Jackson’s Camaro struck a tree on Sunday night causing the car to overturn. No other vehicles were involved.

Jackson played college football at Alabama State. He started twice as a rookie and 12 times in 2007. Jackson lost his starting job early in the 2008 season to Gus Frerotte. Jackson ended up back on the field in December after Frerotte was injured, and he played well enough to get the Vikings to the playoffs. Still, Jackson was supplanted in 2009 by Brett Favre.

Jackson stayed in Minnesota through 2010. He played for Seattle in 2011, starting 14 games. Jackson then spent 2012 with the Bills before returning to the Seahawks, winning a Super Bowl ring as a backup before ending his career after the 2015 season.

Most recently, Jackson served as quarterbacks coach at Tennessee State.

We extend our condolences to Jackson’s family, friends, teammates, and colleagues.
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RIP

 

Panthers give Christian McCaffrey big extension



Panthers coach Matt Rhule said last week he considered Christian McCaffrey more than just a running back.

It’s a good thing, because he’s now paying him like a couple of players.

PFT has confirmed that the Panthers are signing their versatile back to a four-year extension worth $16 million a year, which makes him the highest-paid back in the league.

Ezekiel Elliott previously held that claim with 14.5 million per year on the new four years of his extension with the Cowboys last fall.

In addition to securing one of their top players (2,392 combined yards from scrimmage last year), it’s also a statement of intent for a Panthers team largely viewed as rebuilding under their first year coach.

“To label him a tailback, that’s not respectful to him. He’s a tailback-slash-wideout. He can do it all — returner,” Rhule said last week. “So I’m anxious to get him out there, I’m anxious to continue to build this thing around him. I think he’s going to be a special player for us. But contracts and all that stuff, Marty [Hurney, their General Manager], I know he handles those things.”

With McCaffrey, wide receivers D.J. Moore and Robby Anderson, and new quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, the Panthers have a chance to have a competent offense.

The other side of the ball is another question, and Rhule may need to rely on his Big 12 background in high-scoring games.

NBC

 

Kyle Rudolph draws comparison to lockout in preparing for an unknown start to season



Minnesota Vikings tight end Kyle Rudolph was barred from talking with his new coaching staff and practicing with his new teammates when he was drafted by the team in 2011. The owners had locked out the NFLPA amid a lengthy battle over a new Collective Bargaining Agreement that didn’t allow rookies to truly join their new teams until a new agreement was ratified in late July.

While the circumstances are different in significant ways, Rudolph drew a comparison to his experience in the lockout as he prepares for a 2020 season that may or may not begin as scheduled.

“I can just magnify it to the point where I have to do everything I can to prepare myself, both physically and mentally, to be ready for things to open back up tomorrow,” Rudolph said, via Ben Goessling of the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

In 2011, Rudolph would have been permitted to meet up with new teammates at off-site workout sessions and continue to train at a gym with specialty trainers with restrictions on contact with team personnel. Currently, distancing restrictions have put a damper on many such endeavors with an exception this time around being that contact with the coaching staff is permitted and voluntary virtual classroom sessions are available for players this offseason.

What is the same is the necessity to find ways to be self-sufficient and the need to prepare for the unknown moment when the all clear to resume normalcy is given. Since Rudolph has been through a similar scenario previously, he’s being asked for advice from younger players more often than normal on how to manage current circumstances.

“For the first time in the course of [coach Mike Zimmer’s] seven years here, we’re going to have a lot of new faces on our team,” Rudolph said. “It would be great to have these workouts in Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3 of our offseason to come together as a team, because there are going to be so many new faces. But we can’t control the circumstances. For us, it will put that much more of an onus on the veteran guys who have been here before, who know the standard we operate at, and bring those new guys in as quickly as possible.”

NBC

 

President plans to consult with Commissioners, some owners on return of sports



President Trump said Tuesday that he’s tired of watching 14-year-old baseball games. So he wants sports to return, and he plans to consult with several key figures from the sports world to make it happen.

Trump explained that he’ll assemble a team of advisors from the sports world to assist with the process of restarting the American sports machinery. He mentioned the Commissioners of the four major sports, UFC president Dana White, WWE owner Vince McMahon, and others including Patriots owner Robert Kraft, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban.

It can’t hurt to talk to experts, but the virus continues to set the schedule — and the governors of the various states continue to have the power to relax and/or to rescind stay-at-home orders that would prevent sports from occurring.

We all want sports back, but we all want (or at least we all should want) to do it in a way that promotes public health. The challenge is striking the right balance, along with having the creativity necessary to identify ideas and to brainstorm all of the potential pros and cons associated with each option.

NBC

 

Report emerges of potential OBJ trade to Vikings



Odell Beckham Jr. could be on the move again.

Marc Malusis of WFAN, one of the top local radio stations in the country, has tweeted this: “Source has told me that the Browns and Vikings are in discussions on a trade that would send [Beckham] to the Vikings for a 2nd and 5th round pick next year. Trade is not done, but the deal is being discussed.”

It’s a fascinating possibility, but it seems far-fetched, for several reasons.

First, the cap-strapped Vikings don’t have the luxury of taking on Beckham’s base salary of $14 million. Sure, they could find a way to make him fit, but it wouldn’t be as easy for them as it would be for other teams.

Second, Beckham made a little noise about wanting a new deal from the Browns after last year’s trade from the Giants. If traded again, his desire for a new contract could increase.

Third, the Vikings recently unloaded Stefon Diggs, who had some OBJ tendencies when it comes to not getting the ball often enough.

Fourth, the Vikings are led by quarterback Kirk Cousins, who doesn’t have quite the personality needed to rein in OBJ, if/when he needs to be reined in.

Fifth, the Vikings Offense is built around the running game. While Diggs had a career high last year in receiving yards, patience was required to get through the games that didn’t entail as many balls thrown his way. Diggs didn’t always have it; Beckham has done little to show that he has it.

Sixth, this draft has plenty of quality receivers. Why not draft one or two and pay them low salaries and develop them? Maybe the Laquon Treadwell experience has the Vikings reluctant to roll the round-one dice again.

So the prospect of trading for Beckham becomes a head scratcher from Minnesota’s perspective. But it’s no surprise from Cleveland’s point of view. Beckham never really bought into the Browns’ approach in 2019, with his non-stop desire to get the ball in his hands putting too much pressure on second-year quarterback Baker Mayfield to throw it Beckham’s way.

Besides, Beckham seems to want to play for the Patriots or with Tom Brady. The Browns surely have figured that out, and the Vikings would quite possibly do the same. Quickly.

Thus, while it’s fun to think about the possibility of what No. 13 could do in purple, there’s a chance that it will blow up on the Vikings, like it blew up on the Browns and, eventually, blew up on the Giants.

NBC

 

Browns unveil new uniforms



Meet the Browns’ new uniforms, same as the Browns’ old uniforms.

The Browns today unveiled new uniforms that echo the uniforms from their past, which the team said is meant to evoke their glory years from the 1950s and 1960s, as well as their playoff teams of the 1980s.

“We wanted to get back to the roots of who the Browns are,” Browns Executive Vice President JW Johnson said in a statement. “We’ve heard it from our fans and from our players. We needed to get back to our roots. As you look at iconic franchises like the Browns, the Bears, the Packers, the Cowboys — they’re true to who they are. They’re not doing a lot of changes and trying to make a lot of flashy moves with their uniforms. I think when we went through the process, it just felt right that we got back to who we are and who we’ll always be.”

The Browns are donating the net proceeds from new jersey sales to coronavirus relief in the Cleveland area.

NBC

 

Nike: "So, we've screwed up a lot of uniforms. We're now going back to the old ones, but selling it as progressive and new".

Nike taking over NFL uniforms exclusively has been such a nightmare. They've made them look awful whenever possible.

 

The more you change them the more people run out to buy one so they are up to date. It’s more about money than looks

 

The blockbuster trade sending DeAndre Hopkins from Houston to Arizona can finally become official.

David Johnson, who is going to the Texans in the deal, has passed his physical, according to Mike Garafolo of NFL Network. That comes on the heels of a report earlier this week that Hopkins passed his physical.

Trades don’t become official until all players involved have passed their physicals, and both teams needed to get their physicals done before the draft or else the draft picks couldn’t change hands.

Now the trade can finally get finished. Hopkins and a 2020 fourth-round draft pick go to Arizona for Johnson, a 2020 second-round pick and a 2021 fourth-round pick.

NBC

 

Report: NFL’s contingency plans include shortened season, empty stadiums

The NFL’s official position is that it’s planning to play a full season in full stadiums. It’s unofficial position is far more pragmatic.

According to the Washington Post, the NFL’s contingency plans include a shortened schedule and playing games in empty or partially empty stadiums.

“As we have said, we are committed to protecting the health of our fans, players, club and league personnel, and communities,” the NFL said in a statement issued to the Post. “We look forward to the 2020 NFL season, and our guidelines and decisions will be guided by the latest advice from medical and public health officials, as well as current and future government regulations. We will continue to plan for the season and will be prepared to adjust as necessary, just as we have done with free agency, the draft, and now the offseason program.”

Beneath that thin patina of confidence, the NFL is planning for playing without fans at all to playing with some fans to playing fewer games.

As a result, the NFL’s schedule — which will be released by May 9 — is being structured to provide maximum flexibility.

That’s an important approach, and it’s critical that the league anticipate every possible outcome, and that the league have a predetermined plan for every potential permutation. Apparently, the league does.

NBC

 

I wonder if they will pipe in fans cheering. Show old panoramic views of the stadium full of fans to make it seem real