NFC NORTH

CHICAGO

With his wife already playing and living in Chicago, the Bears seem to have a shot at EDGE J.J. WATT.  Darrelle Lincoln of TotalProSports.com:

This could be a whole lot of something, but could also be nothing.

JJ Watt is free to sign wherever he wants after he asked and was granted his release by the Houston Texans a few days ago.

The veteran defensive end has now sparked rumors to the Chicago Bears after he spent Valentine’s weekend in Chicago with his wife, Kealia Ohai Watt.

This could mean nothing since his wife was already there because she plays for the Chicago Red Stars. She had immediate success with the team after being traded there, scoring two goals and two assists in only four regular season games. She is also under contract for the 2021 season.

According to spotrac.com, the Bears rank 22nd in the league in current cap space. That could prove t be a big issue with any deal they try and offer Watt, but the love for his wife might sway him to take a friendly deal just to be in the same city as her.

While his sack numbers were down in 2020, Watt was a significant presence in pass defense. His seven pass breakups were his highest total since 2014.

He managed to play in each of the Texans’ 16 games after missing half of the 2019 season with a torn pectoral.

But the Bears are not on Peter King’s list of suitors:

I asked eight people, off the record, in NFL front offices what Watt would be worth, if the Texans had tried to trade him. I started the foraging mission thinking Watt would fetch a third-rounder in return, because of his age, his 2021 salary ($17.5 million), and his injury history. Turns out my thought was too rich. The salary is a factor, in these cap-strapped times, though most people think the signing would come with a contract extension lowering the 2021 cap number to a pittance. But no one’s sure how much they’ll get in a football sense from a player who, since turning 30, has missed eight games in two years and has nine sacks in the other 24 games. The best intel I can project, now that a signing team would have to give no draft-choice compensation: Watt’s likely to try to sign with a strong contender that could pay him his going rate over, say, the next two years. But that could change if a team he really likes needs to be financially flexible. Watch this video from my chat with him in Green Bay 18 months ago, and tell me he wouldn’t want to play for the Packers.

If I had to guess the teams that would be most interested, I’d say Buffalo, Cleveland, Kansas City, Tennessee, Indianapolis and Green Bay. This move would not really be in Packer tradition, though they did sign Charles Woodson at 30 and he had seven good years there. We’ll see.

The Bears are not on this list from Nick Shook of NFL.com:

Let’s explore some of the most likely destinations for the future Hall of Fame defensive end.

Pittsburgh Steelers

This one is all about family. Watt could join his brothers T.J. and Derek in the Steel City to make a run at a title with a team that finished 12-4 and has a defense capable of winning plenty of games in 2021.

The biggest hurdle is cap space. Pittsburgh has a lot of work to do to make this financially feasible, and even if money isn’t a big sticking point for Watt, the Steelers will still need to make a significant amount of moves to create space to add him. They’ll also have to decide on the future of Bud Dupree, who played 2020 under the franchise tag but suffered a season-ending knee injury and is headed toward free agency if Pittsburgh doesn’t make an effort to retain him.

Dallas Cowboys

Dallas added Everson Griffen in an attempt to bring additional edge-rushing effectiveness to the Cowboys in 2020, and though he didn’t last a full season, Dallas could take a similar approach with a higher-level player in Watt again in 2021. The Cowboys have the cap space to make it work as it stands right now, with Over The Cap projecting them to enter 2021 with $18.4 million in room, and Watt’s arrival could help turn around a defense that was a massive weakness for much of 2020.

He’d be able to replace Tyrone Crawford, who is headed toward free agency at 32 years old, and would make for a ferocious edge-rushing duo with Demarcus Lawrence. He’d also be able to stay in the state of Texas, a place Watt said Friday he can’t imagine not being his home after a decade spent in Houston.

Green Bay Packers

Green Bay makes sense because of its location: Wisconsin. Watt was a standout defender at the University of Wisconsin, reminding folks of his roots by wearing a Wisconsin hoodie in his farewell video to Houston. A return home would make sense, as would the defensive fit in Green Bay’s 3-4 system. Watt could take a starting job and add to a unit that is currently starting Dean Lowry and Tyler Lancaster at defensive end in its front, bringing a force to a group that also includes Za’Darius Smith.

The biggest hurdle, like other teams, will be cap space. Green Bay is just slightly ahead of Pittsburgh in current cap space, and they’re still $28 million over the cap based on a projection of $180.5 million. A significant amount of roster moves would be necessary to even consider fitting Watt into Green Bay’s current financial structure — but the pull of home might get it done.

Tennessee Titans

A familiar face patrols the sideline in Nashville in Mike Vrabel, Watt’s former defensive coordinator in Houston (2017). Vrabel coached linebackers for the Texans in two of Watt’s Defensive Player of the Year seasons (2014 and 2015), and the adjustment for Watt would likely be seamless if he becomes a Titan. Watt would also get two annual meetings with his former team, as the Titans reside in the same division as the Texans.

Tennessee needs edge-rushing help, turning to fellow former Texan Jadeveon Clowney in a 2020 season that ultimately proved to be underwhelming for Clowney. Watt isn’t quite the game-wrecker he once was, but he’s a safer bet to make a difference in a Titans defense that could use better production at the position.

Tennessee is closer to the projected cap than some of the other teams on this list, making it more likely the Titans will be able to make the moves necessary to clear space to add Watt.

Buffalo Bills

If Watt is looking to chase a ring, Buffalo provides one of the best chances of getting the veteran to the Super Bowl in his first year. The Bills were one win from the Super Bowl in 2020, falling to the Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game, and Watt would create quite a tandem with Jerry Hughes off the edge. Buffalo’s blue-collar fanbase would also be a perfect match with Watt, and would welcome him to Western New York with open arms.

The Bills have a little over a million more in space than the Titans and a clear cut in veteran Mario Addison to clear the room necessary (Addison’s release would create roughly $6.1 million in new space) to add Watt. Sean McDermott’s defensive minded team seems to be one of the best fits for Watt, with credit due to NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah for pointing out this potential marriage Friday.

Cleveland Browns

With Olivier Vernon headed toward free agency and a significant injury casting doubt on his future, Cleveland is in need of an edge rusher opposite Myles Garrett. Adrian Clayborn did a solid job in place of Vernon and is still under contract, but Watt would be an instant upgrade as a 4-3 end for the Browns, who have defensive improvement as their top offseason priority as they look to take the next step toward reaching the AFC Championship Game.

Cutting Clayborn would clear $3 million for the Browns, and Cleveland already has over $21 million in existing space with the current cap projection referenced above. Watt’s arrival would be a huge boost to a front that was already the strength of the Browns’ defense, but would create a brotherly conflict between Watt and his brothers in Pittsburgh, adding fuel to an newly rebirthed rivalry between the two midwestern opponents.

Baltimore Ravens

Baltimore hasn’t been afraid of going after productive veterans in an effort to immediately improve and pursue a title that has evaded the Ravens in each of the past two seasons. They also happen to have just slightly less cap space available than the Browns, and plenty of room to sign Watt.

Ravens defensive line coach and run game coordinator Anthony Weaver exists as another familiar face who could lure Watt to Baltimore, much like Vrabel could bring Watt to Tennessee. Weaver served as Houston’s defensive line coach from 2016-2019 before leaving for Baltimore, and could make for an easy transition for Watt with his first new team of his career.

With Derek Wolfe likely headed to free agency in March and the Ravens having enough cap space to take on Watt at a respectable number, this stands as an attractive destination for Watt, who would join a defensive front that also includes Calais Campbell.

Seattle Seahawks

Seattle is feeling the pressure from Russell Wilson‘s requests for the team to improve in 2021 and could do so by adding Watt. The Seahawks have a little over $4 million in projected cap space, meaning they’d likely have to make a move or two to create room. They could do so by cutting mid-season acquisition Carlos Dunlap, which would bring a cap savings of $14 million and instantly create the space needed to bring in Watt.

Seattle is a long way from home, but players have proven in the past they want to play for Pete Carroll and the perennial contender Seahawks. If Watt wants to chase a ring, he could make a push as a Seahawk, though they need to address their offensive line more than any other position.

Los Angeles Rams

This one is probably more fantasy than anything, but that won’t stop Rams fans from envisioning a defensive front that includes Watt and reigning Defensive Player of the Year Aaron Donald. Watt would seemingly take the place of Michael Brockers, but a simple cut-and-sign process won’t clear nearly enough space (just $4.6 million) to accommodate Watt. The Rams would still be over the projected $180.5 million cap by over $22 million, meaning a host of moves elsewhere would be necessary to bring him in.

DETROIT

New DC Aaron Glenn believed confusion reigned in Detroit the last few years, especially on defense:

“When you look at the players, I think Dan said it, that the players looked confused, I think with no confidence. What we have to do is change that narrative of their thinking so they can go out and play with confidence and play fast. What we’re going to do as a staff, that’s our No. 1 job, get the players playing fast.”

—New Detroit defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn, shade-throwing at the departed Matt Patricia.

NFC EAST

PHILADELPHIA

Like the Lions before them with QB MATTHEW STAFFORD, the Eagles thought they would get two firsts and a serviceable player when they put QB CARSON WENTZ on the market.  Not so fast.  Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com:

The Eagles still want to trade quarterback Carson Wentz. Wentz still wants to be traded. That reality, coupled with Wentz’s Goff-ic contract, is keeping the Eagles from getting the kind of trade offer they’d like to receive.

Les Bowen of the Philadelphia Inquirer, in an article explaining the delay in the trade, writes that “league sources doubt [G.M. Howie] Roseman has been offered a first-round pick of any sort for Wentz, this year or in the future.” Recently, Eagles legend Ron Jaworski said that the Colts have offered a pair of second-round picks, with the possibility of an additional third- or fourth-round selection down the round.

Two weeks after news emerged of the trade that will send Matthew Stafford to the Rams and Jared Goff to the Lions, the reality remains that Wentz compares more to Goff than to Stafford, due to Wentz’s contract. While Wentz quite possibly has a better chance than Goff of justifying the many millions still to be earned, now isn’t the ideal time to be shopping Wentz and his long-term deal, which pays out $25 million fully-guaranteed in 2021 and which has more than $15 million more become fully-guaranteed for 2022 only a few days after the start of the new league year. If the goal, as always, is buy low and sell high, the Eagles based on Wentz’s play in 2020 are selling low.

The primary potential suitors continue to be the Colts and the Bears. It continues to make little sense for the Bears to want Wentz or, more importantly, for Wentz to want the Bears. The Colts, therefore, know that they’re the only real option, which makes it very difficult for the Eagles to create real leverage.

Any leverage the Eagles currently possess instantly evaporates if the Colts address their needs elsewhere. While there’s no indication that the Colts are preparing to pivot toward another veteran quarterback, if the Eagles push too hard and wait too long, the Colts will have no choice but to make other plans.

So why not just take the offer of two second-round picks, if Jaworki’s information is correct? It gets the Eagles tnet value for a quarterback whose 2020 performance coupled with his current contract could have easily put the Eagles in Brock Osweiler mode, requiring them to give someone a draft pick to get Wentz’s bloated contract off the books.

WASHINGTON

As a sign of the times, even as his father Bill is still active, Chris Polian is now a veteran operative with a long resume.  He can add the Washington Football Team as another line.  Kevin Patra of NFL.com:

The Washington Football Team is adding another voice to its front office.

Washington is hiring Chris Polian as director of pro personnel, the club announced Monday.

Polian spent 2013-2019 in Jacksonville with the same title.

The son of Bill Polian, Chris was a member of the Indianapolis Colts front office, rising from the director of pro scouting in 1998 to VP and GM from 2009-2011. He spent one year in 2012 with the Atlanta Falcons as an executive scout.

Polian’s addition continues the influx of experienced personnel men to Washington’s front office. Polian joins new GM Martin Mayhew and executive VP Marty Hurney in DC.

NFC SOUTH

TAMPA BAY

The Buccaneers have a tough road to hoe to put the old gang back together.  Grant Gordon of NFL.com:

As the Tampa Bay Buccaneers sailed into a championship sunset, a common theme on a celebratory Wednesday was an all-star cast returning for 2021 and endeavoring to repeat as Super Bowl champions.

However, as a great many stars followed Tom Brady to Tampa Bay, they did so on a short-term basis, which does forecast some storm clouds drifting in upon the team’s sunny celebration.

After all, the Buccaneers’ title-winning team and performance was unlike any before it.

In the Bucs’ 31-9 Super Bowl victory over the Kansas City Chiefs, Tampa Bay became the first team in the game’s history to have all of its points scored by players who were not on the team the previous season, according to NFL Research.

Tight end Rob Gronkowski (two touchdowns), running back Leonard Fournette (TD), receiver Antonio Brown (TD) and kicker Ryan Succop (field goal and four extra points) accounted for all 31 of the Buccaneers’ points.

And all four players are impending free agents.

Boding well for the Buccaneers, however, is that there has never been a Super Bowl squad — the winner or loser — which lost every player that scored a touchdown in the Super Bowl the following season, per NFL Research.

Boding badly for the Buccaneers, though, is that there’s a lengthy list of free agents beyond Gronk, Playoff Lenny, A.B. and the greatest “Mr. Irrelevant” of all-time.

Wide receiver Chris Godwin, linebackers Shaquil Barrett and Lavonte David and defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh are also bound for the free agency waters.

With $28.39 million in camp space heading into the 2021 season, per Over The Cap, the Bucs have the eighth-most cap space in the league. And they’ll need it.

Their goal is to repeat as Super Bowl champions, which would end the longest drought in between back-to-back winners in NFL history, as it extends back to Brady’s 2003-04 New England Patriots.

Tampa Bay has interest in bringing Fournette back, but that could depend on the interest he gets elsewhere, which could be substantial after he tallied 135 scrimmage yards and the game-clinching touchdown in the Super Bowl. Gronkowski’s made his intentions known and that’s to return. Having played 2020 on the franchise tag, Barrett’s made it clear he wants to get paid.

Ahead of the 2020 season, the Buccaneers started with Brady and went from there with key additions. After hoisting the Lombardi Trophy, it’s fair to surmise the Bucs won the offseason, as well.

They might just have to win another offseason if they’re going to pull off winning another Super Bowl.

– – –

There was a time when a team would not have an “assistant” receivers coach.  Now with staffs of many teams around 30, it’s something you get promoted to.  Peter King:

(Antonio) Brown wants to return to Tampa Bay. Tom Brady wants Brown to return to Tampa Bay. Bruce Arians wants Brown to return to Tampa Bay, and he did something last week to help move that along. In 2020, a coaching staff assistant, Thaddeus Lewis, impressed the Bucs so that when the Lions hired Antwaan Randle-El from the Bucs as receivers coach, Arians told Greg Auman of The Athletic that Lewis would take Randel-El’s spot as assistant receivers coach. There’s a hidden benefit to that: Lewis was a childhood friend of Brown’s in Miami. So to have Lewis be one of his coaches in Tampa can’t hurt the Bucs’ cause to bring back Brown at the right price—assuming Brown doesn’t have legal entanglements from his past assault-charge behavior.

NFC WEST

LOS ANGELES RAMS

QB MATTHEW STAFFORD is in LA because he thinks the Rams are of championship caliber.  Jeff Kerr of CBSSports.com:

Stafford had one trade request from Detroit, and is very appreciative of the Lions for fulfilling his wish.

“What’s accurate is — and this is an incredible thing by (the Lions) — I asked to go to a team that was ready to win a championship,” Stafford said, via Mitch Album of the Detroit Free-Press. “And, you know, there were a few teams on that list. There were a few teams that were not on that list. And they were respectful of that and understood completely. I had thoughts and reasons for each one of them.”

While Stafford had a list of teams he wished to go to — he neither confirmed nor denied the report that he told the Lions not to trade him to the Patriots — the main goal was to compete for a championship after playing for a team like Detroit, a franchise that won just 79 games since Stafford’s rookie year (2009), tied for the sixth-fewest wins in the NFL in that span. The Rams have won 43 games since the start of the 2017 season (Sean McVay’s first year as head coach) — tied for fourth-most in the league.

Stafford did address the idea that he was unhappy with Matt Patricia, who was fired after going 13-29-1 as Lions coach and returned to the Patriots as an assistant: “He and I had a good relationship, no matter what anybody wants to say,” Stafford said.

– – –

Will a Missouri jury bring Stan Kroenke to his knees for his departure from St. Louis?  Daniel Kaplan of The Athletic:

St. Louis wants a slice of the value of Los Angeles Rams owner Stan Kroenke’s team, his real estate holdings, and oh, a part of the increase in price tags on the 31 other NFL teams over the last half-decade.

By now, nearly four years after the city of St. Louis, St. Louis County and the St. Louis Regional Convention and Sports Complex Authority sued the league and its 32 teams over the 2016 relocation of the Rams to L.A., it had been reported the suit was seeking more than $1 billion.

Lawyers for the NFL, at a marathon three-hour-plus hearing Thursday, spoke of damages claims of billions of dollars, confirming the 10-figure demands of the lawsuit.

“The plaintiffs are seeking a billion dollars in damages or more,” said Gerard “Jerry” Carmody, attorney for the NFL during the hearing in the St. Louis Circuit court, later adding, “for people who are seeking billions of dollars, I think I heard four times.”

One source added, declining to offer a specific damages number, that it’s fair to describe the figures as in the billions.

But how do the plaintiffs get there? The state-appointed task force spent roughly $20 million preparing a proposal for a new riverfront stadium, which the Rams rejected before winning approval in January 2016 from owners to leave the midwestern city. There arguably are the historic capital improvements invested in what is now called the Dome at America’s Center, and future losses from not having an NFL team (though Carmody argued the city saved money by not having the Rams).

Where does the bulk of the billions estimate come from?

“Our experts’ disclosures for damages are definitely forward-looking and not backward-looking,” said Jim Bennett, a lawyer for St. Louis during the hearing. “Our damages relate to the violation of the relocation policy. The move, the relocation fee, the minimum increase in value to Mr. Kroenke, the minimum increase in value to all the other teams or defendants, the minimum increase in value to Mr. Kroenke’s real estate empire, expenses that we incur based on their representations that they might actually think about the new stadium.”

Kroenke paid a $645 million relocation fee to his 31 colleagues, and according to Forbes, saw the value of his team rise from $1.45 billion in 2015 to $4 billion last year.  How much of this rise St. Louis is seeking is not disclosed, and Bob Blitz, a lead attorney for the plaintiffs, declined to comment.

That the case is still alive is somewhat of a surprise. The league tried to move the case to arbitration based on provisions in the long-ago expired Rams lease, running the argument unsuccessfully up to the Supreme Court.  A similar lawsuit filed by the city of Oakland over the relocation of the Raiders to Las Vegas relatively quickly went down in flames.

St. Louis has a novel argument that it is a party to the league’s relocation guidelines, which mandate teams must make a good faith effort to stay in their home markets (the city says the Rams did not abide by this mandate). But that policy is a private rule for the 32 teams, so the plaintiffs must convince a jury they are akin to a third party to the relocation guideline.

Marc Ganis, a sports consultant with deep ties to NFL owners, blamed “home cooking,” meaning provincial courts, on why the case has survived.

“These damages demands are preposterous and laughable,” said Ganis, who in 1994 advised the Rams on their relocation from L.A. to St. Louis. “It seems this lawsuit is more to assuage local raw nerves than a serious legal argument and the damages requested demonstrate that. This is one of those types of cases that we’ve seen many times before in sports where at a lower court level, things can have a life. And then when they get to the appellate court on the matters of law, they get thrown out or reversed. This happened multiple times in sports before and it’s likely to continue to happen for a while going forward.

The temperature remains high in the case — so much so that lawyers for St. Louis worried about keeping the identities of jurors secret in what is sure to be a high-profile trial locally.

“I’m more worried about the potential jurors’ confidentiality,” said Chris Bauman, a lawyer for the plaintiffs. “So I just think … confidentiality, even for those who may not be ultimate jurors, is going to be the biggest challenge. “

The hearing got testy, with lawyers for St. Louis accusing the NFL of delaying depositions to stall the case. Former NFL executive vice president of business operations Eric Grubman, who was point person for the league on St. Louis, has been tough to schedule, with Blitz saying that was by design.

“So you don’t have to have much more than a half wit, to think that the giving of those two dates that are the only times that Grubman can appear, it just happens to coincide with a week that has already (been filled with depositions),” Blitz said. “Grubman just coincidentally said, ‘I’m busy,’ except for those two weeks when the planners have so much to do.”

That drew a sharp response from Carmody, who said, “Bob, are you suggesting that we intentionally had Grubman select dates that would somehow mess you up?” Blitz replied, “I’m saying it is very coincidental those are the only two dates.”

One source defended Grubman, saying it was St. Louis that had canceled previous deposition dates. 

St. Louis also argued the NFL had stalled on depositions for Kroenke, which occurred last month, and owner Dean Spanos, whose Chargers ultimately also moved to L.A.

AFC WEST

KANSAS CITY

After the fact, Peter King has second thoughts about the Chiefs offense, which seems to mean he’s doubting the Andy Reid-Eric Bienimy-Patrick Mahomes collaboration without saying any of their names:

I think I’ve been thinking about the Super Bowl losers quite a bit this week, and this occurred to me: What if the 49ers stopped 2-3 Jet Chip Wasp last year? With 7:13 left in the Super Bowl against San Francisco, KC trailed 20-10 and had third-and-15 at its 35-yard line. This was four-down territory for Kansas City, but just imagine for a minute the Niners actually covering Tyreek Hill on that 44-yard pass play from Patrick Mahomes, and then stopped them on fourth down. I doubt Kansas City’s winning that game. And certainly the mystique of that offense doesn’t carry into this year.

 I think the numbers are stark: In 16 drives over two Super Bowls—six last year through 51 minutes, 10 this year through 60 minutes—the Chiefs scored one touchdown. Lots of ifs and buts in life and in football, but with some of the trouble KC had scoring down the stretch this year, and with those 111 shaky Super Bowl offensive minutes, I’ll hold off on the Chiefs-as-next-dynasty talk.

LAS VEGAS

The Raiders apparently have substantial interest in QB MARCUS MARIOTA.  First, there is the WFT per Dylan Mickanen of YahooSports.com:

Don’t look now, but Marcus Mariota may be a starting NFL quarterback as soon as next season.

Michael Lombardi of The Athletic, during an appearance on The Rap with Patrick Meagher, reported the Washington Football Team is “extremely interested” in trading for the former Oregon Ducks quarterback.

“There’s a lot of conversations about Mariota being traded. I know there’s one team in the NFC East, the Washington Football Team, that’s extremely interested in Mariota,” said Lombardi.

Last offseason, Mariota agreed to a two-year, $17.6 million deal with Las Vegas that had a first-year guarantee of $7.5 million with some incentives for playing time.

Per the details of his contract, Mariota’s cap number will be just above $10.7 million in 2021. That’s an expensive rate for a backup quarterback, but his salary will double

If an NFL team does trade for Mariota, Lombardi speculates it would likely come with a renegotiation of his contract terms given how many incentives are hidden on his current contract.

Then, there could be the Patriots.  Michael David Smith of ProFootballTalk.com:

The Raiders may trade backup quarterback Marcus Mariota, and New England has been mentioned as a possible destination.

Mike Reiss of ESPN sees the Patriots as a potential trading partner for the Raiders, noting that Mariota’s $10.6 million salary would easily fit under the Patriots’ cap, and the Patriots may be willing to give up a late-round pick to acquire him.

The idea isn’t necessarily that Mariota would be the Patriots’ first choice as a starting quarterback, but that they could add him as well as another quarterback. Reiss refers to Mariota as a “Plan B,” with former Patriots quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, who may be available from the 49ers, as Plan A.

The Raiders are currently projected to be about $19 million over the salary cap for 2021, so it seems safe to say they won’t be keeping both Mariota’s $11.4 million cap number and Derek Carr‘s $22.1 million cap number on their books.

AFC NORTH

CLEVELAND

A Browns superfan has passed away.  Jake Trotter of ESPN.com:

Tom Seipel, the Cleveland fan who got to see his team play one final time with the help of Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield, has died at the age of 39.

Seipel had been battling kidney cancer. His friend posted the news to Seipel’s Instagram account.

During the final week of the regular season, Seipel left hospice to see the Browns clinch their first playoff berth since 2002 with a victory over the visiting Pittsburgh Steelers. Seipel watched the game in a suite at FirstEnergy Stadium provided by Mayfield’s wife, Emily.

“You’re extremely inspirational,” Mayfield said in a video sent to Seipel at the time.

The Mayfields also met Seipel after the game.

On Saturday, Mayfield tweeted: “Rest In Peace Tom. Your pure heart will never be forgotten.”

AFC SOUTH

HOUSTON

Peter King explains why QB DESHAUN WATSON is different from recently-released J.J. WATT:

The Texans absolutely should not treat the franchise quarterback this way, granting him his wish to be traded. (Houston may eventually do that, but it should not now; no way you’d get equal value for a 25-year-old franchise quarterback.) Watt will play this season at 32; his best years, after missing 32 games due to injury over the last five seasons, are behind him. Watson is 3.5 years into what should be a 15-year run (at least) of greatness, very likely. Just as the franchise would have told Watt there’s no way they’d trade or cut him at age 25, they won’t do that with Watson. Owner Cal McNair told me Friday that Watson is a Texan and he fully intends to keep him in Houston. Which is exactly what he should say, because I wouldn’t think of trading Watson until I got a very good to great quarterback plus either three high first-round picks or a Sam Darnold-type plus four ones in return. To be clear, I would play very hard ball with Watson till September, then see where the situations stands.

JACKSONVILLE

After an outcry, the Jaguars will not be hiring Chris Doyle after all.  Jelani Scott ofNFL.com:

Chris Doyle will no longer be a part of the Jaguars’ organization.

Amid criticism of his hiring as Jacksonville’s director of sports performance, Doyle resigned from the club on Friday night, the team announced.

“Chris Doyle came to us this evening to submit his resignation and we have accepted,” coach Urban Meyer and general manager Trent Baalke said in a joint statement, which was amended Saturday morning to include Baalke’s name after the team said it had been inadvertently left off. “Chris did not want to be a distraction to what we are building in Jacksonville. We are responsible for all aspects of our program and, in retrospect, should have given greater consideration to how his appointment may have affected all involved. We wish him the best as he moves forward in his career.”

Doyle’s hiring came into question due to the manner in which he parted ways with the Iowa Hawkeyes last June following a 20-year tenure under Kirk Ferentz. His departure came on the heels of numerous former players speaking out against the ex-strength and conditioning coach, alleging racism and bullying.

Meyer adamantly defended Doyle’s addition while speaking to reporters Thursday, stating that the team “did a very good job vetting” Doyle and noted that he was “very confident” his friend of close to 20 years would not cause any issues despite his checkered past.

Thoughts from Peter King:

Credit to Meyer for recognizing that the hiring of disgraced Iowa assistant Chris Doyle was a mistake, and “accepting his resignation” two days later. I put that in quotes because I’m not sure I trust it. Meyer was fricasseed from the moment last week he announced the hiring of his staff, which included Doyle, who was accused of harassing players and using words tinged with racism with the players at Iowa.

From the moment I heard about the Doyle hire, I thought two things: Meyer doesn’t have anyone on his staff or currently employed by the Jaguars who feels free to say to him, Are you nuts? This hire is insane. How can you convince NFL players to come play for you when the controlling world of college football expelled this guy? And this is not college football. Imagine thinking you can hire Chris Doyle in the NFL when he couldn’t even work in Iowa City. As much as money rules decisions in the NFL, it’s not a cool thing when 27-year-old men talk to each other and ask what it’s like to play in Jacksonville. It’s crazy to think Meyer didn’t think something like this would be a factor when free agents are picking future employment. Meyer needs someone to be his conscience. It’s clear he doesn’t have one on the staff now.

AFC EAST

BUFFALO

Jessica Pegula, who could be an NFL owner someday, is a Grand Slam quarterfinalist.  The AP:

Jessica Pegula’s first victory over a Top 10 opponent earned the 25-year-old American her first trip to the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam tournament.

The 61st-ranked Pegula, whose parents, Terry and Kim Pegula, own the NFL’s Buffalo Bills and NHL’s Buffalo Sabres, held on to beat No. 5 seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 in Rod Laver Arena on Monday (Sunday night EST).

Pegula is on quite a breakthrough run. She has won four matches at Melbourne Park over the past week — including victories over two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka and 2011 U.S. Open champion Sam Stosur — after entering the hard-court tournament with a total of three wins at majors for her career.

Also significant for Pegula, who works with Venus Williams’ former coach, David Witt: She came into the day with an 0-6 record against Top 10 women.

NEW YORK JETS

Adam Schefter of ESPN.com on the market for QB SAM DARNOLD:

Quarterback trade talks across the league already have heated up, and multiple teams have reached out to the New York Jets to express interest in trading for Sam Darnold, the No. 3 overall pick in 2018, per league sources.

The Jets haven’t turned away the calls, sources said, but they also haven’t made any firm decisions about their future at quarterback.

They could trade Darnold, 23, use the compensation they get back in return for another quarterback, or draft a quarterback with the second overall pick. All options are being explored and are on the table, per one league source.

Contacted Saturday, the Jets would not confirm they received any trade calls on Darnold.

Looking back to the first quarterback trade agreement last weekend should provide a glimpse at the potential market for Darnold.

Teams who made calls on Matthew Stafford, who was traded from the Detroit Lions to the Los Angeles Rams last weekend, included the Washington Football Team, the Indianapolis Colts, the Carolina Panthers, the San Francisco 49ers, the Chicago Bears and others.

The Jets aren’t ready to make a trade yet, but with Stafford off to Los Angeles and the Eagles nearing a deal for Carson Wentz, they’re not expected to be far behind in making a quarterback decision that will have leaguewide ramifications.

– – –

Rich Cimini of ESPN.com ponders whether or not WR JAMISON CROWDER is worth $10 million to the 2021 Jets:

There were times last season when it looked like wide receiver Jamison Crowder was the only good thing about the New York Jets’ offense. He scored a team-high six touchdowns, twice as many as the next player, and he capped his year by throwing a touchdown in a Week 16 win against the Cleveland Browns.

Now there’s speculation he could be a salary-cap casualty. Yeah, it’s a cold business.

Crowder is vulnerable because his cap charge is a team-high $11.4 million, including a non-guaranteed $10 million in base salary — a high number for a slot receiver. Because it’s the final year of his contract, he’s considered an “easy” cut because his entire base would come off the books. Which raises the question:

Does a team with plenty of cap room (a projected $68 million, per Over The Cap) jettison its most productive offensive skill player just because his cap charge is over market?

In a vacuum, the answer is a no-brainer — keep him — but you don’t build a winning roster by operating that way. Jets general manager Joe Douglas plays hardball when it comes to maintaining a value system, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if he looks to re-invest that $10 million.

Douglas could try to upgrade at slot receiver with JuJu Smith-Schuster (Pittsburgh Steelers) or Chris Godwin (Tampa Bay Buccaneers) in 2021 NFL free agency; that would cost serious money. He also could opt for a cheaper option, Kendrick Bourne (San Francisco 49ers), who spent the past four years in the system the Jets are planning to install. There’s also the possibility of re-negotiating Crowder’s contract.

Crowder, who turns 28 on June 17, ranked seventh in receptions (91) and eighth in yards (1,094) on plays from the slot position over the past two seasons, according to ESPN Stats & Information. That’s pretty good production for a player who missed four games in 2020 because of soft-tissue injuries and dealt with inconsistency at the quarterback position. Former Jets coach Adam Gase remarked on numerous occasions Crowder was their best player on offense.

All told, Crowder finished with 59 catches for 699 yards — both team highs in 2020, but pedestrian numbers when viewed through a wider lens.

In a bottom-line sense, Crowder’s numbers aren’t commensurate with his pay. He has the third-highest cap charge among receivers who played at least 50% of their downs from the slot over the past two years, behind the Cleveland Browns’ Jarvis Landry ($14.8 million) and the Seattle Seahawks’ Tyler Lockett ($13.4 million). Full disclosure: Landry’s time in the slot was 49.5%, per ESPN Stats & Info.

The downside to cutting Crowder is it would leave the Jets with no proven players at receiver, just promising, second-year player Denzel Mims, backup slot receiver Braxton Berrios and a bunch of question marks. Berrios had a sneaky efficient season, catching 37 passes despite playing 290 snaps — a better ratio than Crowder (59 catches in 590 snaps).

Crowder would provide personnel continuity through the transition to an offense under coach Robert Saleh, but that probably won’t weigh heavily in the decision. This is a new coaching staff with a new offensive system — a total re-boot — and it will look to bring in its own players. And you can bet there will be a significant acquisition at wide receiver, whether it’s through free agency or the draft.

Another factor to consider is the role of the slot receiver in coordinator Mike LaFleur’s offense. For insight, let’s look at San Francisco, where he spent the past four years working under coach Kyle Shanahan. From 2017 to 2020, the 49ers’ wide receivers caught 258 passes out of the slot (29th), according to ESPN Stats & Info. The ranking is a bit skewed because the Niners got a lot of slot production from star tight end George Kittle. It’s also worth noting slot receiver Emmanuel Sanders was a key piece during San Francisco’s Super Bowl run in 2019.

Good coaches find ways to use good players, and Crowder is a good player. Now they have to decide if he’s good enough to pay $10 million.

THIS AND THAT

T.O. and TEREZ

It has come to light that Terez Paylor, who recently passed away at age 37, took it upon himself, as a junior member of the Hall of Fame selection board, to get a player enshrined with a passionate speech to his elders.

Amazingly, a room full of media types, didn’t report it for three years until this weekend with this from Bob Glauber of Newsday:

The debate was intense inside the conference room at a Minneapolis hotel on Feb. 3, 2018. Emotions ran high on both sides of the argument, and Terrell Owens’ Hall of Fame candidacy hung in the balance in his third year of eligibility.

The wide receiver’s statistical qualifications were irrefutable and should have made him a slam dunk for first-ballot enshrinement in pro football’s hallowed halls of Canton, Ohio. But his 15,934 receiving yards (second only to Jerry Rice) and 156 touchdowns (third among receivers behind Rice and Randy Moss) were overshadowed by a polarizing personality that had derailed his selection the previous two years.

Voices were raised. Angry words were exchanged. It looked as if the wait for Owens would continue.

And then Terez Paylor took the microphone.

A soft-spoken young African-American reporter from Kansas City, Paylor spoke for several minutes about what it was like for him and his friends growing up and watching Owens.

Paylor — who died last week at age 37 — spoke to a room of mostly older white voters how Owens was viewed through the prism of a younger generation of football, and how he and they felt while watching the All-Pro wide receiver dominate the NFL like few before him.

By the time Paylor had finished, the room was silent.

You could feel the change.

“To hear a young Black man talk about what drew him to the sport that he loved and what made an impression on him as a young man growing up was a perspective that I had personally never considered when it comes to that [Hall of Fame meeting] room,” said NBC Sports Bay Area reporter Matt Maiocco, who had presented Owens’ candidacy to the 48-member selection committee in 2017 and 2018.

“There’s the old saying that you know what a Hall of Famer is when you see him. Terez basically said that, growing up, that’s what a Hall of Famer in his community, among his friends and the people who shared the same experiences, looked like. Boom, that right there, that’s a Hall of Famer. I think that opened people’s eyes to a new perspective and a way of defining what a Hall of Famer is.”

By the time the votes were tallied later in the afternoon, Owens had made it to the Hall of Fame.

Terez Paylor made that happen with his passionate, from-the-heart speech that changed enough voters’ minds to give Owens his well-deserved place in Canton.

The former Kansas City Star reporter, who went on to become a national NFL writer for Yahoo Sports, had moved enough voters to look at Owens more as a transformative player than a divisive locker-room presence whose flare-ups with teammates and coaches made him such a lightning rod of controversy.

That story came to mind this past week when word came about Paylor’s shocking death on Tuesday. A gifted writer with a deeply felt passion for telling the story of pro football, for getting readers to know the game and to know the coaches and players, Paylor was a unique voice who added such depth and breadth of knowledge.

What he said on that afternoon nearly three years ago to convince a room filled with skeptics was just one of the many examples of his unique ability to uplift those around him by offering a different way of seeing things.

I don’t know how much longer the wait for Owens might have lasted, but I do know that Paylor was the one to change the dynamic enough to put him in Canton.

Owens himself didn’t know about that story until this past week, and he was moved to tears as he learned of Paylor’s words.

“I get glassy-eyed just thinking about it,” Owens told Newsday after he reached out to discuss Paylor’s speech. “My condolences to his family. It’s so sad. I didn’t hear anything about Terez and his perspective and how they were deliberating on me. It’s so unfortunate that I’m learning of this after this man’s passing. Honestly, I wish I could have spoken to him to say thank you for what he did.

“What he did is what I did,” Owens said. “You’re being courageous. You’re standing up, sometimes against giants. For him to be that young in a room of elders and people that have been on that committee for some time, that speaks volumes.”

Owens declined to attend the enshrinement ceremonies that year, upset that he wasn’t recognized earlier on the merits of his 15-year career. He believes he was unfairly punished for the controversies that surrounded him, all the while admitting he wasn’t blameless.

“Nobody’s perfect,” he said. “If you want to cast judgment on an individual based on a few things that you hear from coaches, I can’t stop that. What great player hasn’t gotten into an argument with their coaches or another teammate? I’m no different than anybody else. I haven’t done anything more drastic than anyone else.”

Owens frequently criticized quarterbacks he felt didn’t play up to his standards, including Donovan McNabb of the Eagles and Jeff Garcia of the 49ers. He ran afoul of the Eagles in 2005, the year after they went to the Super Bowl, and was suspended by coach Andy Reid for conduct detrimental to the team. The next year, he signed with the Cowboys.

As part of his Hall of Fame presentation, Maiocco reached out to several players, including Garcia, who vouched for Owens.

“Yes, there were teammates that didn’t like him,” Maiocco said, “but it wasn’t universal. There were a lot of guys who thought he was a great teammate. I compiled a bunch of [supportive] quotes from former teammates to give another perspective.”

“At one point, I became the villain,” said Owens, 47. “When I saw that other guys were doing similar things and looked at in a different light, I knew it was obvious as to what was going on. We talk about systemic racism, I was a part of it. I felt it. Talk to my [receivers] coaches — George Stewart, Larry Kirksey, David Culley, Ray Sherman. They said, ‘If you were doing something wrong, we would tell you.’ I thank those coaches. They know I’m indebted to them.”

Owens says he has no plans to visit the Hall of Fame and continues to believe the voting system remains flawed.

“This past weekend was a further indication of why I wouldn’t go,” he said. “No disrespect to anybody that got in, but I just don’t understand the process. Calvin Johnson got in [on the first ballot]. This has nothing to do with Calvin himself. The guy was a beast. But there’s no justification when you have [receivers Torry Holt and Reggie Wayne on this year’s ballot] that have done equal or greater things.”

While he remains bitter about the voting process, Owens does take comfort from what he learned about Paylor’s role in his induction. For that, he’ll remain forever grateful.

“For [Paylor] to have the courage to stand on the table . . . he didn’t know me personally, but I think him being a Black man and being a young guy and understanding where this generation is now, using our voice, is meaningful,” Owens said. “I just wish I could have thanked him.”

BROADCAST NEWS

Peter King’s sources says new TV deals are near.  For all the talk about a shakeup, the basics – FOX, CBS, NBC, ESPN – will be the same.

You may have noticed that the glam Super Bowl matchup of Brady vs. Mahomes didn’t deliver the TV rating the NFL would have liked. The ratings were down 9 percent from last year. That may be because ratings are the average number of people watching throughout the game, and surely people switched off the 31-9 contest when it was a snoozer midway through the second half. But the NFL isn’t too concerned. Ratings for the NBA Finals were down more than 50 percent in 2020 from 2019, even with LeBron James playing; prime-time programming across all networks is down more than 18 percent from last season. And the NFL’s streaming numbers—5.7 million Americans streamed the game eight days ago—were up more than 60 percent from last year.

Why am I telling you all this? Because the NFL is close—“within a month,” one source told me at the Super Bowl—to inking new 10-year contracts with its network partners that could result in an aggregate increase of 70 to 100 percent in rights fees from the last contract. The new contract may not be a revolution; I’m hearing most major packages will likely remain with their current broadcast partners, with the exception of a possible streaming package on Thursday nights. Amazon is the favorite there. Whether the Thursday night package, if streamed, would include a cable element like NFL Network, or simply be telecast on local channels of the two participating teams, is something I don’t know.

I’m also hearing ESPN could be an ESPN/ABC simulcast, and also could be the beneficiary of additional flexing for part of the Monday night package, if ESPN indeed wins Mondays. It’s no secret in the TV business that ESPN, which pays more for the games and for significant other highlights and programming elements than the other networks, wants a stronger Monday night schedule. That could be controlled if, say, the final few weeks of the season could allow flexing from a weak Monday matchup scheduled in May to a better matchup moved from Sunday a week or so prior to the game.

The ESPN package expires after the 2021 season, while the other deals are done after the 2022 season. Getting the deals done now could provide the league with the influx of cash it needs to not have the salary cap crush teams in March.

2021 DRAFT

QB TREVOR LAWRENCE had his Pro Day, right before shoulder surgery.  Michael DiRicco of ESPN.com:

Former Clemson Tigers quarterback Trevor Lawrence had good reason to hold his pro day on Friday, a month early. Lawrence wanted to prove to NFL teams that he’s able to handle himself well when things don’t go according to plan.

“The original plan was to have two months training out in California, then come back March 11th and put on a show and do all that, but life happens sometimes,” Lawrence said on the ACC Network/ESPN2 following his 45-minute workout at Clemson on Friday. “Just having to adjust and showing I’m able to adjust and adapt and still willing to come out here and throw and give teams a chance to see me, that was important to me and important to my team to make sure we made that happen.

“Obviously it wasn’t necessarily the ideal situation and circumstances, but I think we did a great job of just kind of maneuvering and navigating through all that.”

Lawrence moved up his pro day because he is scheduled to undergo surgery to repair damage to the labrum in his left (non-throwing) shoulder and wanted to be completely cleared before training camps open in July. He threw approximately 40 passes — mostly from under center — to receivers Cornell Powell, Charone Peake, Caleb Scott and Chris Finke at Clemson’s indoor practice facility.

Lawrence said he’s expecting to start throwing six to eight weeks after the surgery and be fully cleared after four to five months.

On Friday, Lawrence threw a variety of passes, which included some rollouts, and ended with a 65-yard throw on a broken play in which he scrambled before launching the ball. That throw drew praise from the ESPN on-air crew as well as on social media. But ESPN NFL draft analyst Todd McShay, who was at the workout, was more impressed with Lawrence’s work in the red zone.