AROUND THE NFL

Peter King explains how the Combine is moving to primetime:

The difference this year: When the on-field workouts begin Thursday, Feb. 27, there will be three straight days of prime-time workouts—instead of on-field workouts and sprints being done in daytime hours.

So, for instance, if you want to watch the quarterbacks, they’ll be in the first evening of workouts (with wideouts and tight ends), on the 27th. This is an altogether rough estimate, but the quarterbacks are always divided into two groups, alphabetically. The first group of QBs will run at about 6:30 p.m. ET, and begin throwing to the first group of wideouts shortly after 7. The second QB group will begin running at 8:30 or 8:45 p.m., with the throwing beginning shortly after 9 p.m.

The event used to start at 9 a.m. daily, but now, in an effort to jack up the ratings, it’s a prime-time show.

“Point-blank, it’s about the eyeballs,” said Charlie Yook, the NFL Network VP of Production. He oversees all combine coverage. “We should get a larger consumption of the combine in all platforms. This is no different than moving the first round of the draft to Thursday primetime, and moving a weekly game to Thursday night during the season. Thursday night is a football night.”

NFL Network will likely have some current players working on the shows with their college position groups being tested. When the defensive backs perform Sunday, Jets safety Jamal Adams will be giving analysis. Same with Saints defensive end Cam Jordan on the show Saturday, when defensive linemen and linebackers work out. (Friday is kicker/punter/offensive line/running back night.)

The shows could be a little different from past shows, Yook said, because NFL Network will have to introduce these college stars to some viewers in prime time who, for instance, might not know Joe Burrow the quarterback or Burrow’s Heisman speech very well. “It’s a big change,” Yook said of the move to evenings. “We have a big responsibility to explain the drills and why they’re meaningful, and why they should care about these players they don’t really know yet. We know our core viewer is very smart, but we understand there will be new viewers as well. We’re confident this group will have a ton of star power.”

The whole scene in Indianapolis will be odd this year, with the evening workouts and daytime team interviews with players the opposite of the traditional schedule. Downtown restaurants used to be packed with scouts, coaches and GMs before 7 p.m. player interviews began, and then bars would be hopping by 10 or so, with gossip and drinks flowing till 1 or so. No idea how the new schedule will affect social lives, but Indy bars will have a very different, and probably less lucrative, combine week.

– – –

The hand-wringing about a 17-game schedule strikes the DB as overblown.  Basically, half the league – well 12 of 32 teams, play 17 games already with the playoffs.  Does anyone look at a playoff team as having a disadvantage the next year physically for playing up to 20 games, compared to 16 for the losers.

Now the difference might mean something in hockey where the Stanley Cup teams usually play up to 25 more games than the 81 of the non-playoff teams. 

A Patriots fan makes a similar point writing to Peter King:

“I have no problem with a 17 or 18-game schedule. I think the injury risks are overblown, and I don’t think we need to create all these fluffy rules about how many snaps or games each player can play. My case is the Patriots. They averaged an 18-game schedule from 2010-20 and still were among the best in the league.”

And we first thought about this after reading this from golfer and soccer fan Rory McIlroy a few years ago as covered by Bob Harig of ESPN:

McIlroy acknowledged two weeks ago that he really wanted to go to Sunday night’s NFL game between the Denver Broncos and Indianapolis Colts.

Born and bred on the other football — soccer — in his native Northern Ireland, McIlroy, 25, has come to appreciate the American version.

“Of course I can enjoy it,” McIlroy said Thursday after shooting 67 to share the lead. “I mean, I’m a huge rugby fan. So there’s obviously similarities with that. Even though you guys play with pads on, which is — I don’t understand that.

“But it’s a great game. Once you start to understand it, and I started to understand it more over the past couple of years, you really get into it, and I think the great thing about football is how short the season is. So it’s always in demand. People want it. Once the Super Bowl finishes, they can’t wait for football season to start up again. I think that’s the great thing about it.”

The NFL season runs 17 weeks regular season plus five more for playoffs for 22 total.

The other three major North American sports check in at about 26 weeks for the regular season.  With its postseason, baseball goes about 30 weeks total, hockey and basketball are more like 26 plus 9 for 35. 

European soccer is 38 weeks long, but they don’t really have a postseason as we know it.

NFC EAST

WASHINGTON

This isn’t good for TE JORDAN REED.  John Keim of ESPN.com:

Washington Redskins tight end Jordan Reed remains in the concussion protocol, nearly six months after a helmet-to-helmet hit in the third preseason game, according to coach Ron Rivera.

Rivera told The Athletic about Reed’s status at a yard sale in Charlotte, North Carolina, to benefit the Humane Society of Charlotte on Saturday. It’s long been expected that Washington would eventually cut Reed, saving $8.5 million on the salary cap. He would count $10.3 million against the cap if he remained. Reed has two years left on his contract.

The Redskins do not have to reach an injury settlement with Reed in order to release him. If the Redskins do go ahead and release him, Reed could file a grievance, but because the concussion was a 2019 injury — and he was paid — he’s not entitled to any money in 2020 because his contract is not guaranteed. But if the Redskins cut him before he’s cleared and he doesn’t play again, he could be entitled to extended injury protection because he has a contract for 2021 for around $600,000.

Reed, 29, missed all of last season because of the concussion, his seventh documented one since he started playing college football. But his career has been marked by multiple injuries; Reed has never played more than 14 games in a season.

Reed had struggled for two seasons because of ligament damage to his big toes, but he looked good in training camp this past summer. But in the third preseason game, Reed suffered a concussion after Atlanta safety Keanu Neal delivered a helmet-to-helmet hit. Reed nearly returned in Week 2, after getting cleared by the team. But after symptoms returned, an independent neurologist did not clear him. Reed did not practice after Sept. 12 and was put on injured reserve on Oct. 14.

NFC SOUTH

CAROLINA

Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic hears from that QB CAM NEWTON is expected to pass Carolina’s physical in a few weeks.

As Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton continues to rehab a surgically-repaired Lisfranc injury on his left foot, a source with knowledge of the situation told The Athletic on Monday that the team believes he is likely to pass his physical/be cleared for some football activity in March.

But because of the ambiguous and delicate nature of a Lisfranc injury, the team will be careful with his return to full team activities, and, the source said, has discussed limiting him through spring workouts in early April and May (the Panthers can begin these workouts in advance of the standard schedule because they have a new coaching staff).

That is, if Newton is still a Carolina Panther by that time.

Questions about Newton’s future have swirled since he suffered the Lisfranc injury in the 2019 preseason, and escalated after the firing of former head coach Ron Rivera, who drafted Newton in 2011 and coached him during his 2015 MVP season. Now in a rebuild, the Panthers could save $19 million against the 2020 salary cap by cutting Newton — or, they could add draft capital via a trade of Newton.

Panthers owner Dave Tepper has repeated multiple times over the past few months that no decision will be made about Newton’s future until he’s healthy — and in truth, no decision can be made until the new league year in March, anyway, which would line up neatly with Newton’s projected recovery time.

“I’ve said again and again and again about it, it’s a question of how healthy he is or otherwise,” Tepper said, during a Feb. 11 charity appearance. “And that’s still the No. 1, overwhelming thing — to see how healthy he is. And how we can figure out when he’s healthy or not. And everything comes from that.”

NEW ORLEANS

Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com tries to assess what the market might bring in terms of a contract for QB TEDDY BRIDGEWATER:

Forget TB12, at least for now. There’s another TB who will definitely be a free agent next month, and some are suggesting that Teddy Bridgewater could cash in significantly.

Via multiple accounts on Twitter and elsewhere, Jeremy Fowler said on ESPN Monday that Bridgewater will have a strong market, and that he could make $30 million per year under his next contract.

Needless to say, that would represent a gigantic bump of the one-year, $7.25 million deal Bridgewater signed a year ago to remain with the Saints, who sent a third-round pick to the Jets to acquire the 2014 first-rounder in 2018.

Ultimately, anyone is worth whatever someone will pay them. But in a market that will be full of plenty of current and former starting quarterbacks, $30 million for Bridgewater is a lot.

Bridgewater has 34 career starts, but he has started only six games since 2015. And although he went 5-0 as a starter last season in place of Drew Brees, is that enough to put Bridgewater north of players like Jimmy Garoppolo ($27.5 million) and Kirk Cousins ($28 million)?

If there were no other free-agent quarterbacks, maybe. But the 2020 quarterback class features an unprecedented number of free agents and potentially available quarterbacks who are under contract (like Andy Dalton and Cam Newton), the notion that Bridgewater and his career passer rating of 88.3 with 38 touchdown passes and 25 interceptions would get $30 million per year seems like a stretch.

I love Teddy. I hope he gets a huge contract. I hope he becomes what he seemed to be poised to become when he suffered a fluke ACL tear in late August 2016. But if really does him no favors to have a number like that out there, because whatever he gets will be viewed as a failure in comparison.

A more realistic number, all things considered, would seem to be in the range of $24 million. And if that ends up being low, good. It’s always better for a guy to get more than he was expected to get than less.

NFC WEST

ARIZONA

The Cardinals have re-signed T D.J. HUMPHRIES.  Josh Weinfuss of ESPN.com:

The Arizona Cardinals have stability at left tackle for the next few years.

They re-signed left tackle D.J. Humphries to a three-year deal worth up to $45 million with $29 million guaranteed. The deal, which was first reported by NFL Network, includes $30 million that will be committed during the first two years, a source confirmed to ESPN.

Humphries, who is coming off the fifth and final season of his rookie deal, was the Cardinals’ first-round pick in 2015, going 24th overall.

Humphries, 26, didn’t play a snap his rookie season and has battled injuries throughout his career. This past season was his first playing all 16 games. He played double-digit games in just one other season, in 2016.

Humphries made $9.63 million last year in his option season.

AFC NORTH

CLEVELAND

The Browns banish four players and $13 million cap dollars from John Dorsey’s ledger.  Jake Trotter of ESPN.com:

The Cleveland Browns terminated the contracts of cornerback T.J. Carrie, tight end Demetrius Harris, guard Eric Kush and linebacker Adarius Taylor on Monday.

Carrie started 14 games for the Browns over the past two years. Harris started six games in 2019, and finished with three touchdown receptions. Kush started seven games at right guard before losing his starting job midway through last season, while Taylor recorded eight special teams tackles.

All four players were signed by former Browns general manager John Dorsey, who was fired after a 6-10 season.

Their releases create more than $13 million in additional cap space for Cleveland in 2020.

Carrie had two years left on a four-year, $31 million contract he signed with the Browns in 2018. None of the money left on his contract was guaranteed. Harris, Kush and Taylor all signed with the Browns in free agency last year.

PITTSBURGH

Steelers coach Mike Tomlin has reached across America’s racial divide to decisively side with his QB MASON RUDOLPH over the racial epithet claim of Browns DE MYLES GARRETT and what he sees as the credulous acceptance by ESPN’s panel of woke experts.  Brooke Pryor of ESPN.com.

Two days after issuing a statement supporting his quarterback, Steelers coach Mike Tomlin appeared on First Take to defend Mason Rudolph in the wake of another allegation made by Myles Garrett in an interview with ESPN’s Mina Kimes, and to voice frustration with the coverage.

“The most recent one this past weekend, I took offense to it, to be quite honest with you,” Tomlin told ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith. “… I fully support Mason Rudolph. We, as an organization, fully support Mason Rudolph. To be quite honest with you, we were hacked off by what we saw this weekend.”

Tomlin added: “I think [Rudolph’s] reputation needs to be defended and defended aggressively.”

Not only was Tomlin frustrated by Garrett’s characterization of Rudolph in his interview with Kimes — during which Garrett said Rudolph called him “the N-word” — he was also upset with the tone of the panel discussion on Outside the Lines after the interview aired Saturday morning.

“These accusations are serious, not only in terms of Mason Rudolph’s character, but his professional pursuits,” Tomlin told Smith. “Nobody on that field, as a member of the Cleveland Browns or the Pittsburgh Steelers, corroborated what was said by Myles Garrett. … At no point during that piece this weekend was that stated.”

Tomlin said the way the situation was presented wasn’t “fair” to Rudolph, which led to him agreeing to appear on First Take — especially rare because Tomlin doesn’t typically do interviews between the conclusion of the season and league owners meetings in April.

“It was presented as a he-said/he-said situation, even to this day,” Tomlin said. “I think the National Football League office was very clear that they launched a thorough investigation among all parties involved, including interviewing the people and the analysis of technology that was on that field, and found no evidence of Myles’ allegation, and I think that should be stated.”

An ESPN spokeswoman said Monday that Outside The Lines twice mentioned that the NFL “found no such evidence” of a Rudolph using a racial slur, and ran a graphic with that quote, during the show’s presentation of the story.

In the interview with Kimes, Garrett blamed Rudolph for starting the November fight that led to $732,422 in fines and the discipline of 33 players, and said Rudolph used the slur as he was being sacked by Garrett.

Rudolph spoke out about the allegation in a tweet Saturday, calling Garrett’s claim “1000 percent false” and a “bold-faced lie.”

Rudolph initially engaged with Garrett on the ground, and then charged at him after Garrett forcibly removed Rudolph’s helmet. Then Garrett hit Rudolph over the head with the helmet.

“I don’t say the N-word, whether it’s with ‘a’ [or] ‘er.’ To me, personally, [it] just shouldn’t be said, whether it’s by family, friends, anyone,” Garrett told Kimes. “I don’t want to use it because I don’t want [people to] find that appropriate around me for anyone to use.

“When he said it, it kind of sparked something, but I still tried to let it go and still walk away. But once he came back, it kind of reignited the situation. And not only have you escalated things past what they needed to be with such little time in the game left, now you’re trying to reengage and start a fight again. It’s definitely not entirely his fault; it’s definitely both parties doing something that we shouldn’t have been doing.”

Garrett first asserted during his appeals hearing for his suspension that Rudolph incited him with a racial slur, ESPN previously reported. At the time, an NFL spokesman said the league “found no such evidence” that Rudolph used the slur.

Garrett told Kimes that he believed there was recorded audio proving what Rudolph said.

“There were guys who were mic’d up near me, near us, during that time who didn’t hear anything,” Garrett said. “And from what I’ve heard, there [might] have been audio during that game that could have heard something or could not have heard something, but they don’t want to say.”

However, a league spokesman told ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Saturday that no sound from the field was recorded. The spokesman added that linemen are mic’d up to amplify ambient sound but that the mics do not record and are shut off after the ball is snapped.

Garrett also told Kimes that he informed then-Browns general manager John Dorsey and a few others of the slur in the aftermath of the on-field incident. Dorsey confirmed Monday, in a text to the Akron Beacon Journal, that Garrett had told him of the slur.

The NFL also released a statement Saturday noting that, after checking with the officiating crew, “No player on either team came forward to say they heard [Rudolph] say it on the field.” On Monday, Tomlin said the idea that the Steelers could be involved in a cover-up was “laughable.”

Asked how culpable Rudolph should be for his role in the brawl, Tomlin admitted he struggled with the thought.

“It’s been a lot of negativity around Mason Rudolph,” Tomlin said. “He got fined $50,000 for essentially getting beat up. His reputation has been tarnished because of the allegations, none of which was founded. He was a quarterback in the losing circumstances at the end of a football game. Obviously he was an active participant in the altercation, but a lot of the things that have gone on beyond that, I struggle with.”

In a statement issued Saturday, Rudolph’s agent and attorney, Tim Younger, said the “defamatory” statements by Garrett exposed him to “legal liability.”

Tomlin wouldn’t speculate on what legal steps, if any, Rudolph and his team would pursue, but said, “I would expect him to do what was appropriate in terms of protecting his name and reputation. I would do so aggressively, and I don’t blame him.”

Lots of foul things are said during the course of some football games.  Generally, they are not treated as a license to violently swing a helmet at an exposed skull. 

Just asking, but are those promoting Garrett and his claims of a belief that this one word, if uttered, somehow levels the playing field in terms of proper punishment?  Rudolph still lost $50,000 for whatever he actually did, which barring that one word, seems to have been not taking a late hit, a helmet strip and other indignities in silence.

AFC SOUTH

INDIANAPOLIS

Peter King thinks the Colts should invest in QB PHILIP RIVERS:

I think, of all the players and all the QB-needy teams, Philip Rivers playing for Frank Reich is the most perfect fit to me.

I think this is the thing about Rivers that would have most excited if I were a Colts fan: Since opening day 2006, the Chargers have played 235 games—224 in the regular season, 11 in the postseason. Rivers started every one. In his last three years—his age 36, 37 and 38 seasons—Rivers went 27-23, with a .653 accuracy rate and plus-43 TD-to-interception differential. And he’s still throwing downfield, as his 7.9-yards-per-attempt over the past three years would attest. And here’s the biggest plus: He was not consistently well-protected for the Chargers, and he’d be playing behind one of the best lines in football with the Colts.

We feel compelled to wonder if the Chargers line has not looked to be very accomplished because it was blocking for one of the least mobile QBs in the NFL.

That said, more and more people are thinking Rivers is heading to the banks of the Wabash.  Kevin Patra of NFL.com:

One of Rivers’ former teammates of the past five seasons, Melvin Gordon, believes Indy will be the choice, but made it clear during an interview last week on CBS Sports with Aditi Kinkhabwala and Andrea Kremer that he has no inside information.

“I think he goes to the Colts,” Gordon said. “I don’t know, that’s just my thought.”

Gordon, who is also set to become a free agent, used logical dot-connecting to come to his conclusion, noting that Colts offensive coordinator Nick Sirianni previously worked as a Chargers assistant for five years. The relationship between Rivers and Sirianni would make a transition easier for a player who was with the same franchise the past 16 seasons.

“He has [connections],” Gordon said. “Nick … he came from here, we had him, and he’s the offensive coordinator there. They run the same playbook, so it’d be easy, he could come right in and he could be telling guys what to do, he knows what’s going on already.”

Gordon also noted that Colts head coach Frank Reich has a relationship with Rivers after working as the Chargers QB coach in 2013 and offensive coordinator from 2014-2015. Those three seasons under Reich, Rivers played some of the best football of his long career.

The ties between Rivers and the Colts’ coaching staff make it a logical potential destination. Indy could also provide Rivers the best offensive line he’s played behind.

While the Colts have Jacoby Brissett under contract for 2020, it’s possible the front office could view Rivers as a needed upgrade over the younger QB who went through ups and downs during the 2019 campaign. If Indy decides to bring in competition for Brissett, Rivers is a logical choice.

Actually, while the Wabash is the major river in Indiana, it does not flow through Indinapolis.  Rather the river in Indy is the White, which does flow into the Wabash along the Indiana-Illinois border near Mt. Carmel.  From there, the Wabash (which forms the state border) rolls into the Ohio west of Evansville.

Elsewhere in Indiana, the river that flows through revitalized South Bend (which indeed has the South Bend of the town’s name) is the St. Joseph River.  The St. Joseph, one of North America’s few northern flowing rivers wanders up into Michigan and out into Lake Michigan near Benton Harbor.

Another northern-flowing North American river is also is named after a saint who starts in “j”.  The St. John’s River actually starts well south of Orlando in Indian River County, then flows north through Jacksonville and into the Atlantic. 

And finally, there is a Phillips River.  But it is in Australia, in the Goldfields region of Western Australia.  Phillips River flows for only a short time each year, mostly during the (southern) winter months in the middle of the year.

AFC EAST

MIAMI

QB JUSTIN HERBERT may be higher on Miami’s board than the great QB TUA TAGOVILOVA.  Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald:

As the Miami Dolphins have been studying college talent and meeting to develop an organizational plan for the NFL Combine in Indianapolis next week, the team’s emerging view at the top of the quarterback class might surprise some.

Firstly, the club’s view of Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is not of a slam-dunk pick near the top the draft. At least not yet. The Dolphins will go through the process of vetting Tagovailoa at the Combine and beyond, as other teams will, before deciding if he’s worth the No. 5 overall selection, which Miami holds in the first round of the April draft.

Secondly, the club has an increasingly positive view of Oregon quarterback Justin Herbert.

This from sources familiar with the club’s thinking.

And this is interesting for multiple reasons.

Because Tagovailoa has generally been linked to the Dolphins more than any other NFL team, starting as early as January of 2019 when the Dolphins made finding a young franchise-type quarterback the priority for the 2020 draft.

And because Herbert, who had a good but not great college career, has not been a favorite of many Dolphins fans because his play sometimes reminds of Ryan Tannehill, who spent seven seasons in Miami and never played in a playoff game.

Bottom line: Tagovailoa to the Dolphins is not a certainty. And don’t dismiss Herbert to Miami.

One source said the Dolphins are not just concerned about Tagovailoa’s return to full health from the fractured and dislocated hip he suffered last November, but also about his durability in the long-term beyond the current injury.

Tagovailoa suffered multiple ankle and other injuries during his time as the Crimson Tide’s starter and while he has remarkable accuracy and displays other valuable gifts, including leadership, his relative smallish size (approximately 6-foot and 225-230 pounds) and only modest mobility has raised the question about his ability to remain injury free in the NFL.

Dolphins owner Stephen Ross, obviously aware of the thinking among his personnel men, hinted before the Super Bowl at Hard Rock Stadium that the club was not fully sold on Tagovailoa.

“I’ve been down there to see him. Tua is a great player. I just worry about his health,” Ross said.

He also added: “The coaches really make the decisions on the draft choices. We have to look at what his health is and everything else and see what the alternatives are.”

Herbert is the most obvious alternative and another source said that in meetings among Dolphins personnel people, he has advocates. The Dolphins generally love Herbert’s size (6-foot-6 and 237 pounds), his arm talent, and his mobility, which he displayed in the 2020 Rose Bowl when he ran for three touchdowns.

It must be noted Herbert looks the part but sometimes has fallen short of playing the part. His accuracy, especially on throws outside the numbers, is inconsistent, especially when he’s under pressure.

But that doesn’t mean there isn’t a lot to like about Herbert. One source noted how Herbert was the star of practices during Senior Bowl week and the fact he attended the game was impressive to scouts who liked what that said about his desire to compete against top competition.

It should be noted all this is a snapshot of the Dolphins’ thinking which may be adjusted or change after the Combine, Pro Days and visits with the individual players.

But to think the Dolphins are locked in on one player when they have choices is probably not wise.

Herbert played two drives in the Senior Bowl and was handed the MVP Award.

NEW ENGLAND

Tom Curran of NBCSports.com with an update on the State of Brady:

So where do things currently stand? After conversations over the past few days, this is my understanding of where things are.

Negotiations will begin “in a couple of weeks.” I interpret that as during or immediately after the NFL Combine which starts about February 26 and concludes March 1.

By that time, Brady should have back-channeled his way to an understanding of what’s out there. Last week, I wondered whether it was advantageous for the Patriots if teams did make their pitches to Brady before “legal tampering” begins on March 16.

My understanding is that the Patriots aren’t worried about other team’s financial pitches. Their business with Brady revolves around the direction of the 2020 offensive personnel,  Brady getting some input on that and Brady’s role in the team’s future. They aren’t going to be super-vigilant about tampering.

Something worth noting is there is very little rancor right now. The situation is what it is. The sides are going to work to make it work. Why they are here, what could have been done to avoid this, who’s right, who’s wrong, who’s to blame? I’m not sensing it.

There’s been plenty in the past. Now – with Brady having the freedom to say, “No thanks, it’s been great…” and the team truly being in the “year-to-year” contractual situation they wanted, nobody seems to have an active resentment. Also, I think the gravity of what may loom – the specter of a historic 20-year run ending – has added an air of solemnity.

I’ve also heard we shouldn’t be expecting TOM BRADY FREE AGENT TOUR 2020: COAST-TO-COAST WITH THE GOAT! If Brady hits free agency, he may try to set up meetings at one location instead of creating a circus. That’s a “what I’m hearing…” so take it for what that’s worth.

Reiterating what I’ve previously reported but have had again mentioned, the “Patriots are willing to go north of $30M” report wasn’t something either side loved.

For the Patriots, it created a false expectation before any negotiations began and, from the perspective of the Brady camp, it missed the point of what his main issue is.

Also, while negotiations haven’t begun, the team is plotting a course for adding players that fit Brady’s strengths to help on offense whether through free agency or trade. Tight end is a position of emphasis.

Finally, if Brady goes to another team? The people he’ll leave behind in Foxboro will be highly, highly motivated to have a 2020 season that will make Brady wonder if he made the right decision.

THIS AND THAT

2020 DRAFT

Can this be true?  From Peter King:

 I think I keep hearing Oklahoma quarterback Jalen Hurts is going to go higher than people think.