| NFC EAST |
| DALLASThe Cowboys have hired a skilled offensive line coach away from the Cardinals, tabbing him as their offensive coordinator. Todd Archer of ESPN.com: While Brian Schottenheimer will call plays in his first year as Dallas Cowboys coach, he hired his offensive coordinator in former Arizona Cardinals offensive line coach Klayton Adams on Friday. Adams, 41, spent the past two seasons in that role for the Cardinals and is well-regarded across the league for his run game. The Cardinals had the seventh-ranked run game in the NFL last year (144.2 YPG) and were second in yards per carry (5.3). James Conner had 1,094 yards and eight rushing touchdowns for Arizona in 2024. The Cowboys were led by Rico Dowdle, who is set to be an unrestricted free agent, with 1,079 yards and just two touchdowns. The Cowboys had only six rushing touchdowns on the season. The Cowboys are expected to hire an offensive line coach in addition to having Adams. Before joining Arizona, Adams spent four seasons with the Indianapolis Colts, working with the tight ends and serving as an assistant offensive line coach. |
| NFC SOUTH |
| NEW ORLEANSThe Saints seem to have decided to wait on Eagles OC Kellen Moore. Albert Breer: Mickey Loomis has had a good group around him helping in the search for the next New Orleans Saints coach, but it’s clear the decision is his. And that Kellen Moore is coming back in a week (or staying in New Orleans after coaching in the Super Bowl, as the case may be) is a pretty good sign that Loomis has his guy. As for who’s been involved, it’s been a pretty sizable group compared to how other teams have done it this year. Among those in the mix: senior VP of football operations/assistant GM Khai Harley, senior VP/assistant GM Jeff Ireland, VP of pro personnel Michael Parenton, senior personnel advisor Randy Mueller, and at least until he left for the Titans last week, consultant and former Raiders GM Dave Ziegler. When asked about Moore, all of those guys would tell you that it’s Loomis’s call. That said, they were all in there for the interview process, helping Loomis along. So, what was there to like about Moore? I think it’s some of the things that mirrored what Aaron Glenn brought to the table, though Moore doesn’t have the same presence that Glenn does (and, to be fair, few coaches do). Like Glenn, Moore’s a former player who’s built strong, lasting relationships with the guys he’s coached and sees the big picture of the game, beyond what’s inside the purview of his job. He’s also a really good quarterback guy and play-caller. Obviously, having played the position, his background there is beyond reproach. He played an integral part in developing Prescott into what he’s become in Dallas, coached Justin Herbert through a bit of a trainwreck year in Los Angeles and has helped the Eagles get Jalen Hurts out of a bit of a mid-career lull, maximizing Barkley’s home-run ability in Philly. And here’s what’s really interesting: Everyone I’ve talked to about that Eagles offense says what they’re doing is remarkably simple. That, to me, matches up with where the Saints were starting to go this year. Part of the belief internally has been that the offense, under Sean Payton and then Pete Carmichael Jr., had become too complex, after years and years of adding to it, because Drew Brees could handle it. Last year’s hire of Klint Kubiak was made with the vision of striking the other way, running a simplified Shanahan-style offense. Going to Moore would be doubling down, and allowing Loomis, Ireland, Harley and the team-builders in New Orleans to cast a wider net for talent going forward, while ensuring that the quarterback, whoever it is, is well taken care of. It’s a plan that makes sense, and good on Loomis for leaving his comfort zone—which probably would’ve been hiring McCarthy—to make this call. |
| TAMPA BAYThe Buccaneers stay in-house and promote Josh Grizzard to offensive coordinator. Scott Reynolds of Pewter Report on why it could/should be a fine choice. The Bucs have certainly had success at the offensive coordinator position since firing Byron Leftwich after the 2022 season. Now, pass game coordinator Josh Grizzard has the chance to be the next great Bucs offensive coordinator after Dave Canales and Liam Coen did it so well that they were hired as NFL head coaches after just one season calling plays in Tampa Bay in 2023 and 2024, respectively. Here are five reasons why Grizzard was the right hire by the Bucs organization to replace Coen in a new SR’s Fab 5 column. FAB 1. Josh Grizzard Helps Bucs Keep Continuity On OffenseIt was clear from the candidates the Bucs chose to interview for their vacant offensive coordinator position that continuity on offense was a priority. Head coach Todd Bowles and general manager Jason Licht wisely recognized that the team’s success on offense last year was a function of the entire offensive staff and not just play-caller Liam Coen. To that end, Bowles and Licht wanted to keep the Rams-based system, which includes the verbiage from last year and the concepts that Coen imported, such as heavy use of motion and bunch formations, intact as much as possible moving forward. While there were plenty of candidates who were interviewed who had ties to the Rams organization and were Sean McVay disciples, Bucs pass game coordinator Josh Grizzard was here to witness the team’s success and be part of the reason why Tampa Bay had so much success offensively in 2024. Promoting Grizzard, who is a Yale graduate and considered to be incredibly bright and full of ideas, makes a lot of sense despite the fact that he has no play-calling experience. He already has a working relationship with the staff, and it’s clear that the Bucs wanted to hang on to their current assistants rather than bring in an outside offensive coordinator who would want to bring in his own staff to work with. That was clear with Tampa Bay blocking Coen from hiring offensive line coach Kevin Carberry away to be Jacksonville’s offensive line coach on Wednesday and did the same with blocking assistant offensive line coach Brian Picucci on Thursday. It seems like Grizzard will carry on with most of – if not all of – the Bucs offensive assistants from last year. The fact that Bowles and Licht spent a full offseason and season with Grizzard also helped give him the edge over Rams tight ends coach and pass game coordinator Nick Caley because Grizzard is a known commodity within the building. The Bucs offense was incredibly unpredictable because each week was a different game plan designed to attack the weakness of opposing defenses. Some weeks saw Tampa Bay use 11 personnel and pass the ball more to the wide receivers, while other weeks saw the offense use more 12 and 13 personnel groupings with multiple tight ends and run the ball more. The diversity of the run package from wide zone to gap made Tampa Bay’s rushing attack incredibly effective, and Baker Mayfield was able to spread the ball around to receivers, tight ends and backs because of the diversity of the passing attack, too. These are concepts that the Bucs want to continue to deploy under Grizzard. Bowles issued this statement in the team’s press release announcing Grizzard’s hire. “Josh is bright and innovative and was instrumental in our game planning and play design over the last year,” Bowles said. “After interviewing several outstanding candidates throughout this process, it ultimately became clear that our best option was here in our building. We had a lot of success offensively last season and during our conversations, Grizz provided some great ideas on how we can build on that. His familiarity with our offense, our players and the staff will ensure the continuity that is crucial for sustained success.” FAB 2. Josh Grizzard Spent Time Working With The Entire Bucs Offense In 2024Josh Grizzard served as Liam Coen’s sounding board on offense last year as the pass game coordinator, in addition to doing some advance scouting work for the upcoming opponent each week. As the pass game coordinator, Grizzard was not just working with quarterback Baker Mayfield. He would spend different portions of each practice working with the different position groups on offense. “I move around a good amount,” Grizzard said during his lone Bucs press conference in the spring. “I’ve been in the receiver room. I have been in the quarterback room the last couple of weeks. I do have the history of coaching the receivers, so it might be on the field where we’re helping with drills and things like that. Even with the tight ends or could be the backs, as well. But it does allow me to move around to different spots.” The knowledge gained from being exposed to every position group on offense gave Grizzard some insight into every player on offense where he observed their level of focus as well as their practice habits and what makes them tick up close. That’s a lot of insight that will help him understand the strengths and weaknesses of each Bucs player on offense from firsthand observations – not just asking other position coaches for their opinions. FAB 3. Josh Grizzard Proved Himself Within The Organization On Third DownsFormer offensive coordinator Liam Coen gave each one of his assistants a game plan role for the 2024 season, and Josh Grizzard’s role was Tampa Bay’s third down package. The fact that the Bucs offense finished first in the league on third downs with a 51.1% conversion rate was not lost on head coach Todd Bowles and general manager Jason Licht. The Bucs even converted 55% on third downs in the team’s 23-20 playoff loss to Washington in the NFC Wild Card round. In some organizations, the pass game coordinator role is simply an assistant to the offensive coordinator. It’s someone who is just above a quality control coach and is responsible for personnel substitutions and cutting up film. But that wasn’t the case in Tampa Bay. Coen empowered his assistants in Tampa Bay to take part in the game plan, and gave Grizzard a big responsibility with the third down package. Other assistant coaches were responsible for the four-minute offense, the two-minute drill and red zone. Grizzard certainly excelled in his role and Todd Bowles and Jason Licht took notice. FAB 4. Collaboration Is Key On OffenseBucs Pass Game Coordinator Josh Grizzard And Former Oc Liam CoenBucs pass game coordinator Josh Grizzard and former OC Liam Coen – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR One of the best things about Liam Coen’s success as a play-caller in Tampa Bay last year was the fact that it was a collaborative process. On several occasions, Coen noted how little time he spent in his own office and how much time he spent in the offensive meeting room working with the entire staff in concert together. Coen was a big believer in collaboration, and that was good exposure for Josh Grizzard. Coen’s collaborative style helped the offensive assistants get to know each other better and form a stronger bond due to all of the meeting time spent together in one room. It also helped the assistants become more accountable to each other and to the offense as a whole. The Bucs hope this practice continues with Grizzard, and with the team focused on continuity on offense, it likely will. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Look for Grizzard to continue to work in collaboration with his offensive assistants and carry on that practice that started last offseason during the OTAs and continued throughout the regular season. FAB 5. Experience From Working For 4 Head Coaches, Numerous NFL Play-CallersDespite being just 34 years old, Josh Grizzard has 13 years of coaching experience, including eight years in the NFL – the first seven of which occurred in Miami where he was an offensive quality control coach (2017-18), quality control coach (2019), wide receivers coach (2020-21) and offensive quality control coach again (2022-23). Perhaps the most impressive thing about Grizzard’s stint with the Dolphins is that it spanned three coaching regimes. Grizzard began coaching at Yale, his alma mater, in 2012 before moving on to Duke where he was a grad assistant and quality control coach from 2013-16. He was then hired by Adam Gase and made such an impression on the Miami organization that he was held over by not just Brian Flores, who coached the Dolphins from 2019-2021, but also Mike McDaniel, who was hired in 2022. To cross over three different regimes is incredibly rare for any assistant coach, but it speaks to the value Grizzard brought to the organization. Todd Bowles makes the fourth NFL head coach that Grizzard has worked for. And he’s had exposure to a number of different offensive coordinators and play-callers, including Gase, four different coordinators who worked for Flores in Chad O’Shea, Chan Gailey, George Godsey and Eric Studesville, and McDaniel in addition to Liam Coen in Tampa Bay. Grizzard has had exposure to the system that Peyton Manning ran when Gase was his offensive coordinator in Denver, in addition to Kyle Shanahan’s system, of which McDaniel was a disciple. And through Coen, Grizzard has had his share of Sean McVay’s influence with the current Bucs playbook, which worked so well in 2024. Simply put, Grizzard has a wealth of experience to draw from – and from a lot of different offensive systems as he takes over the reins as Tampa Bay’s offensive play-caller. |
| NFC WEST |
| LOS ANGELES RAMSBill Barnwell of ESPN.com on what the Rams need to do in free agency: Los Angeles Rams (5)Projected cap space: $41.1 million (15th) Notable unrestricted free agents: WR Tutu Atwell, QB Jimmy Garoppolo, DL Michael Hoecht, OT Alaric Jackson, S John Johnson, OT Joe Noteboom, LB Troy Reeder, WR Demarcus Robinson, LB Christian Rozeboom, CB Ahkello Witherspoon Top priority: Jackson. Replacing a legend is tough. The Rams got more than they could have ever expected when they signed Andrew Whitworth as a free agent in 2017, but it hasn’t been quite as easy to replace the retired left tackle. Noteboom got first crack at the role in 2021, but he hasn’t been the same caliber of player after tearing an Achilles in 2022. (He has been an injury fill-in and swing tackle since.) Jackson has been the full-time starter the past two seasons outside of a two-game suspension for violating the league’s personal conduct policy. According to NFL Next Gen Stats, he allowed just two sacks in 2024 while blocking one-on-one 82% of the time, rates that were both above the league average. On the other hand, he allowed pressures 9% of the time and 10 quick quarterback pressures, which was closer to league average for a left tackle. Jackson is an excellent athlete, and there aren’t many tackles hitting free agency in their mid-20s with several years of experience at the most important position on the line. There also isn’t the sort of chatter around Jackson as an upper-echelon left tackle in NFL circles that there is for other players at the position. Then again, what can the Rams do? They’re trying to win now with quarterback Matthew Stafford, and there’s no other left tackle ready to step in for Jackson. Sean McVay & Co. deserve credit for molding Jackson from an unrestricted free agent into a starter, but it’s tough to ask them to do that again at such a critical position in the twilight of Stafford’s career. The $25.6 million franchise tag seems too rich for Jackson, but it might be a realistic option for L.A. to buy itself some time to get another look at him in 2025. Potential candidates for release: TE Tyler Higbee, G Jonah Jackson, WR Cooper Kupp, QB Matthew Stafford There’s a lot to unpack here. Let’s start with the obvious one: The only reason the Rams would “release” Stafford would be if he retired. If that happens, they would ask him to reduce his $23 million base salary to the league minimum and carry him on the roster through June 1, at which point he would officially file retirement paperwork. The Rams would pay him a $4 million bonus in March, but they would spread the $50 million in dead money for his deal over the next two seasons, freeing up $23 million on next season’s cap, though the money wouldn’t be available until June. Kupp wants to continue playing, but it probably won’t be with the Rams unless he takes a pay cut. The organization tried to trade him before the deadline and didn’t find any takers. The former Offensive Player of the Year has clearly taken a step back from being the No. 1A wideout alongside Puka Nacua. He averaged a solid 2.1 yards per route run this season, but from Dec. 1 onward, that fell to a below-average 1.4. Kupp is still an excellent blocker and useful player, but he’s 32 and has repeatedly battled injuries since a high ankle sprain in 2022. Crucially, he’s owed $20 million in 2025, $7.5 million of which is already guaranteed as a bonus March 15 (the remaining $12.5 million base salary is not). The Rams moved on from Todd Gurley in 2020 and paid him a $7.5 million bonus to avoid triggering any future guarantees on his deal, which they could do with Kupp as well. L.A. could also try to find a trade partner for Kupp, but it’s tough to see any team paying him $20 million next season. Reducing that base salary to $1.5 million and adding incentives would make sense for everyone involved, but if the two sides can’t come to an agreement, his eight-year career with the Rams would be over. Jonah Jackson’s situation might be even more difficult to resolve. After the Rams signed the former Lions guard to a three-year, $51 million deal last offseason, he got injured and then lost his starting job. While the Rams could start over and find a role for him in 2025, they seem content on the interior with Steve Avila and Kevin Dotson at guard and Beaux Limmer playing center. Like Kupp, Jackson has a guaranteed roster bonus in 2025 ($8.5 million). He’s also owed a $9 million base salary. The Rams would likely be thrilled to get out of all of those obligations, but that doesn’t seem likely, even with a spike in the guard market. It’s more plausible they could find a team to take on his salary. As was the case with Allen Robinson in 2023, though, they might need to eat some money to get a deal done.– – -Albert Breer of SI.com on QB MATTHEW STAFFORD: Matthew Stafford’s future in Los Angeles is uncertain, and that’s one offseason domino that few are talking about. The Los Angeles Rams renegotiated Stafford’s deal a year ago. He’d pressed them on it all offseason, to the point where they weren’t sure if he’d show at camp in early July. And just as the Rams reported, it got done. Essentially, the Rams gave him a $5 million raise and guaranteed all his money, a tick over $36 million, for 2024. That $5 million was moved from the two years left on the deal after 2024, with $4 million coming out of his ’25 total and $1 million coming out of ’26. The giveback, on Stafford’s end, is he removed all future guarantees from the deal—with the agreement that the sides would revisit the whole thing after the season. Since then, Stafford put together another Stafford year, through which he helped the team navigate through offensive line issues, receiver injuries and a 1–4 start. The Rams finished 10–7 and NFC West champions. Los Angeles thumped the 13-win Vikings in the wild-card round and went to the wire with the Eagles in a Philly snowstorm in the divisional round, coming back from a two-touchdown deficit with less than five minutes left, largely on the back of Stafford. So now, Stafford, who turns 37 this week, goes to the table holding the cards. Is the strain of last year’s negotiation still there? Is he going to look for another contract adjustment or, with just two years left on his deal, a brand-new extension? I know how his coaches feel about him and the job he’s done, and clearly, the goal is to work this all out. But these are fair questions. And teams like the Pittsburgh Steelers or Giants certainly will pay attention to how this plays out. As they should. |
| AFC WEST |
| KANSAS CITYAdam Teicher of ESPN.com doesn’t mention the officiating in discussing Kansas City’s uncanny knack for winning one-score games: Moments before the Houston Texans were to attempt a field goal in the fourth quarter of their divisional round playoff game, Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Leo Chenal approached special teams coordinator Dave Toub on the sideline and told him he was going to block the kick. Chenal did just that. In doing so, he kept the Chiefs’ lead at two scores and 11 points rather than a precarious eight points and one score ahead of the Texans. It’s the kind of play the Chiefs made many times this season in close games to run their record to 17-2 (including playoffs) and advance to Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans, where they will face the Philadelphia Eagles (Feb. 9, 6:30 p.m. ET, Fox). “That’s kind of the attitude that these guys have and it’s not just him,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said of Chenal. “It’s all these guys. When given an opportunity, they’ve stepped up in those situations and as a coach, you love that part and you know that’s a rare thing. These games could’ve gone either way [and] they take so much pride in stepping up and they don’t shrink in those situations.” The Chiefs have won an NFL record with 17 consecutive games decided by one score. The streak includes five games from the 2023 season (DB community note – including all three postseason wins), 11 in the 2024 regular season and the Chiefs’ 32-29 victory over the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Championship Game. At times, the Chiefs benefited from some luck. Baltimore Ravens tight end Isaiah Likely stepped on the end line by an inch rather than got his foot down in the end zone on the final play of the season opener, preserving Kansas City’s seven-point win. Quarterback Aidan O’Connell dropped a snap without being hit when the Las Vegas Raiders were in field-goal range late in the fourth quarter in Week 13 against the Chiefs. The Chiefs recovered the fumble to win by two points. Chiefs kicker Matthew Wright banged a field goal off the upright but then through the goalposts for the winning points on the last play of a two-point win over the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 14. In many other cases, it’s been the Chiefs making a play to save a game. The Chiefs stopped two Atlanta Falcons drives on downs inside the 20 late in the fourth quarter in Week 3 to preserve a five-point win. They blocked a field goal — also Chenal — on the final play to claim a two-point win over the Denver Broncos in Week 10. They ran out the game’s final 3:41 by gaining two first downs to beat the Texans by eight points in Week 16. “It takes everybody and we’ve done it so many different ways now that we just have full trust and the coaches have trust in the players, players trusting the coaches and we go out there and execute our jobs,” Patrick Mahomes said. “When you’ve done it over and over again and it becomes habit.” |
| LAS VEGASThe Raiders have wooed Chip Kelly away from The Ohio State University with a considerable amount of cash. Tashun Reed of The Athletic: Four days after hiring a defensive coordinator (retaining Patrick Graham), the Las Vegas Raiders are continuing to fill their coaching vacancies. The team is adding Ohio State offensive coordinator Chip Kelly as their OC on a deal averaging $6 million per year, according to team sources. Kelly, who is now the NFL’s highest-paid coordinator, is making triple what he did at Ohio State. In his lone season with the Buckeyes, Kelly helped lead them to 2024 College Football Playoff National Championship. Now, he’s teaming up with head coach Pete Carroll in the NFL. Kelly was a finalist for the Raiders OC job last year after Kliff Kingsbury withdrew from the opening, but team sources said Kelly wanted to bring too many staffers with him from UCLA for Antonio Pierce’s liking. The Raiders also interviewed former Seahawks offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell and Texans quarterbacks coach Jerrod Johnson for the position, according to the source. Kelly, 61, coached the Philadelphia Eagles for three seasons and San Francisco 49ers for one season and will look to help revamp the offense in Las Vegas. Is Kelly’s departure from Ohio State a surprise?Kelly’s departure for the NFL shouldn’t come as a major surprise to those in Columbus. He joined Ohio State’s staff last offseason after flirting with the NFL, but never locking down a job. Now, after helping lead Ohio State to a national championship he is joining the Raiders. Ohio State’s offense wasn’t perfect this season. It struggled with injuries along the offensive line and looked lost in a few big games, especially the Michigan loss, which was one of Kelly’s most confusing game plans of the season. But the Buckeyes were dominant in the postseason, mixing Kelly’s prowess in the run game and Ryan Day’s passing attack as Will Howard’s was given the reigns to spread the ball out to their plethora of playmakers. One thing Kelly did show this year was the ability to adjust as a coordinator. Instead of the tempo he’s been known for in the college ranks, Ohio State made the conscious decision to huddle more with Howard at quarterback. Ohio State wanted to use his experience in the huddle to its advantage and it ended up paying off for the Buckeyes as they were much more efficient this season than last. |
| AFC NORTH |
| BALTIMOREThe Baltimore Banner, which we had not previously heard of, is after PK JUSTIN TUCKER. They have “new” allegations over behavior at least nine years old, bringing to nine the number of massage therapists who say he did something untoward. Jamison Hensley of ESPN.com: Ravens kicker Justin Tucker faces more allegations of sexually inappropriate behavior, as three additional massage therapists have accused him of misconduct, The Baltimore Banner reported Saturday. In total, nine massage therapists in the Baltimore area have accused Tucker of inappropriate behavior. All the incidents reportedly occurred from 2012 to 2016, which were Tucker’s first five seasons in the NFL. In the latest accusations, one woman produced what she said was an internal report from 2015 about her experiences with Tucker. She told the Banner that Tucker stroked her inner thigh during a massage, would expose himself, and left what she believed to be ejaculate on the table. She had reached out to a reporter about her allegations in 2015 but didn’t continue over fears of retaliation. The latest allegations come from three massage therapists who worked at the same downtown Baltimore men’s spa. Through an attorney, the owner of the spa told the Banner that he was unaware of any complaints against Tucker. In response to the new accusations, Tucker’s lawyers told the Banner to refer to the kicker’s social media post Thursday, when Tucker called the allegations “unequivocally false.” Tucker wrote that the Banner article “takes innocuous or ambiguous interactions and skews them so out of proportion that they are no longer recognizable. … This is desperate tabloid fodder.” The Banner first reported allegations of misconduct against Tucker on Thursday after it spoke to six massage therapists about Tucker’s behavior. Tucker’s conduct, according to the article, caused some therapists to refuse to work with him again and resulted in two spas banning him from returning. Tucker could be subject to discipline under the NFL’s personal conduct policy. More from Steven Ruiz of The Ringer: The publication began an investigation into Tucker after receiving a tip in early January, and its report details the experiences of six massage therapists from spas around the Baltimore area who said that Tucker exposed his genitals during sessions—and in two cases made unwanted sexual contact with the therapists. Representatives for two local spas told the Banner that Tucker was banned from their establishments for inappropriate behavior. According to a spokesperson for the local spa chain Ojas, Tucker was “immediately terminated as a client” in 2014 when a massage therapist reported what occurred during a massage session with him. Tucker’s attorneys have denied the accounts—saying they are “impossible to prove”—and the Ravens kicker also released a statement on Thursday calling them “unequivocally false” and accusing the Banner of “misconstruing events as nefarious” to “generate clicks.” The Ravens released a statement saying the team is aware of the story and “will continue to monitor the situation.” NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy made a similar statement, saying the league “will look into the matter.” The accounts detailed in the Banner are horrifying, and in some cases are reminiscent of those from the dozens of women who filed civil lawsuits against Deshaun Watson in the early 2020s, which ultimately resulted in an 11-game suspension for the Browns quarterback in 2022. Five of the massage therapists interviewed by the Banner said that Tucker requested treatment on his pelvis or inner thigh while he had an erection and that he’d “repeatedly wiggled” his pelvis to shake off the sheets covering his genitals. Two of the women said that Tucker brushed up against them with his exposed penis. Three of the women said they believed Tucker ejaculated on the massage table after the sessions. Several women said they tried to take extra steps to keep the massages appropriate—putting heavy heating pads over Tucker’s pelvis or using one hand to keep him covered with a sheet or using a tightly wrapped “diaper drape” technique. “He was continuously moving his hips,” one woman told the Banner. “Moving his penis, wiggling it, making it bounce, undoing the drapes.” Another said, “We can tell if it’s intentional or just an accident, and this was intentional.” None of the women interviewed in the story contacted the police after their interactions with Tucker, which, according to Kimberly Alexander, the president of the Alliance for Massage Therapy Education, is common in situations involving high-profile clients. That’s largely because of fear of public backlash and ridicule—and because cases like these are very difficult to prosecute. “They’re worried about their license; they’re worried about their reputation in the community; they’re worried about their family’s response to it,” Alexander told the Banner. At least one of the women who spoke out against Watson said she received death threats after she went public. When the news of Watson’s initial six-game suspension broke in August 2022 (it was later increased to 11 games after a settlement between the NFL and the NFL Players Association), Ravens head coach John Harbaugh told the media that he was not at liberty to directly reveal his thoughts on the matter. But it wasn’t difficult to read between the lines. “I respect what [Ravens owner] Steve Bisciotti has created here—and [team president] Dick Cass—really 10 years ago,” Harbaugh said after a training camp practice. “And basically, what we decided—what Steve and Dick decided, we’re all still here: Ozzie, Eric, Pat Moriarty, that were involved with that—we’re kind of a zero tolerance. You gotta know the truth, you gotta try to understand the circumstances, but we’ve stayed away from that particular situation when we draft players [and] when we sign them as free agents. “That’s Steve’s decision, and I’m glad we have that policy.” Harbaugh’s comments were widely celebrated at the time. Though the coach didn’t directly condemn the league or the Browns for employing Watson after an NFL-sanctioned investigation found that the quarterback had made “unwanted sexual contact” with multiple women during massage sessions, he made it clear that the Ravens would not have rostered a player in a similar situation—and was one of the few NFL coaches or executives to voice the sentiment. Harbaugh’s strong stance on that situation again became relevant on Thursday after the Tucker news broke. And the team’s handling of this, as the case evolves, should reveal whether the Ravens actually do have a zero-tolerance policy for player misbehavior—or if it’s just “kind of a zero-tolerance” policy, to use Harbaugh’s exact wording. It will also show whether this franchise, which is now 11 years removed from its shameful handling of Ray Rice’s domestic violence case, has learned from its past mistakes. Before video emerged of Rice knocking out his then-fiancée in a hotel elevator in 2014, the Ravens kept Rice on the roster and released a statement saying, “We know there is more to Ray Rice than this one incident.” Following a joint press conference between Ray and Janay Rice, the team’s official Twitter account posted a tweet that read, “Janay Rice says she deeply regrets the role she played the night of the incident”—and deleted it only after months of ridicule. The NFL initially handed Rice a two-game suspension after conducting its own investigation but suspended him indefinitely when the footage from inside the elevator was published by TMZ shortly after the 2014 season began. The Ravens immediately released the star running back—with Harbaugh saying that “[the footage] is something we saw for the first time today … it changed things, of course”—and Rice didn’t play another snap in the NFL. Bisciotti later admitted that the team didn’t do enough work investigating the case before the footage of Rice striking his fiancée was released and apologized to fans for his handling of the situation. The complete mishandling of the Rice case created a mess for the NFL, but it did lead to an overhaul of the league’s personal conduct policy, including how the commissioner’s exempt list could essentially serve as a paid suspension for players facing criminal charges or under an NFL investigation for domestic violence, sexual assault, or child abuse. Now it will be up to Roger Goodell to decide whether the NFL will investigate and whether Tucker will eventually be placed on the exempt list. (Watson never landed on the exempt list because he wasn’t criminally charged, and the Texans held him out of games during the 2021 season, though he remained on the active roster.) The team could look to recoup some of Tucker’s salary bonuses if the league does find that he violated the personal conduct policy. But that will be a drawn-out process, likely involving lawyers and independent arbiters. Tucker is Baltimore’s all-time leading scorer and has been one of the most visible players in the area since breaking out as the league’s top kicker in the 2010s, signing various endorsement deals with local businesses over his 13-year career. He was a member of the Super Bowl–winning team during the 2012 season and represented the Ravens in seven Pro Bowls. If the Ravens want to part ways with Tucker immediately, they’ll likely have to release him. Cutting the 35-year-old, who’s coming off the worst season of his career, would result in a $7.5 million dead cap hit and would cost Baltimore an additional $445,000 in 2025 cap space, per Spotrac. The team could make Tucker a post–June 1 cut, which would spread out his dead cap charge over two years and save the team $4.2 million in 2025 cap space. That may make more financial sense for the team, but Harbaugh’s suggestion that the Ravens may have a “zero tolerance” policy would imply their decision won’t be dictated by the league’s salary cap structure. This is just the beginning of this story. More facts will be revealed over the coming months. But as things stand, six separate women and two spas say that Tucker engaged in reprehensible behavior. The Ravens will have to respond in more than a two-sentence statement at some point. And once again, we’ll all be watching to see what they do. Lindsey Ok is an NFL media maven (not sure if she has a gig though) who is Baltimore based. This from her twitter thread: @lindseyyokSo I’m out with people… friend of a friend used to bartend in Baltimore. She worked with a girl who was also a massage therapist. I mentioned that I had heard about —— in 2021. Said she told her T— was a “bad man” in 2014. 2014!!!! A decade of (allegedly) covering this shit up is WILD. @lindseyyokShe said “no one’s gonna do anything! He’s loved around here.” And man that hits hard.lindsey ok @lindseyyokIdk if people outside Baltimore realize how loved this person is unless they live or have lived here. Hes like on every local commercial! Goes to Orioles games! He’s the quirky kicker who sings opera! He’s like an unofficial spokesperson for the city. Mike Florio: Allegations against Ravens kicker Justin Tucker of improper conduct during massage therapy sessions first surfaced on Thursday. (Tucker strongly denies the claims.) However, hints of a potential issue have lingered online for multiple years. Eric Blum of the Daily Mail has posted an item linking three tweets from 2021 regarding Tucker being banned from one or more spas in Baltimore. There’s also a seemingly prescient comment on Reddit from a year ago. (We won’t quote it here. You can click the link if you want to see what was said.) While these items have no direct relevance to whether the allegations are, or aren’t, accurate and credible, they tend to show that this isn’t some sudden or new thing. Someone apparently knew something about the accusations that first surfaced a day ago in The Baltimore Banner, a while ago. An edited version of the Reddit comment Florio referred to: Hell a girl I went to high school with is a massage therapist and put on Facebook a few months ago that Justin Tucker is no different than Deshaun Watson and she wouldn’t cave into Tucker’s demands of xxxxxxxxxx so she was told to leave basically. The massage studio told her they go with it because of the money involved and that’s how they can actually make a good living… If Justin Tucker is getting weekly xxxxxxxx, then I’m sure there’s even worse with these NFL guys– – -Bill Barnwell of ESPN.com on what the Ravens need to do in free agency: Projected cap space: $9.3 million (24th) Notable unrestricted free agents: WR Nelson Agholor, LB Chris Board, LB Malik Harrison, OL Patrick Mekari, FB Patrick Ricard, CB Brandon Stephens, OT Ronnie Stanley, DL Brent UrbanTop priority: Stanley. After taking a pay cut to stay with the team in 2024, he had his best season since suffering a career-altering ankle injury in 2020. NFL Next Gen Stats data credited him with 3.5 sacks allowed all season, and crucially, he stayed healthy and played a full 17-game schedule. The Ravens rotated Stanley at times last season, but outside of a few moments when he sat out in garbage time, the 2019 All-Pro was an every-down left tackle. Stanley’s market will be tough to gauge. There will be teams with serious reservations about his health, and there are organizations that likely don’t want to make a serious commitment to a soon-to-be 31-year-old player who has struggled to stay on the field. Tyron Smith landed only a one-year, $6.5 million deal in free agency a year ago, and that turned out to be a disappointment for the Jets. On the other hand, there are more teams that need left tackles than viable options out there. Terron Armstead had a track record of struggling to stay healthy and landed a five-year, $75 million deal from the Dolphins just before his age-31 season. The Ravens just replaced three starters on their line a year ago, and while they have Roger Rosengarten locked in at right tackle, there’s no clear left tackle of the future on their roster. General manager Eric DeCosta has hinted at the possibility of moving Rosengarten to the blind side, but given that all of the second-round pick’s starts in college came at right tackle, I would suspect that comment is more negotiating leverage with Stanley than anything else. The Ravens could also choose to let Stanley leave, bring back Mekari to solidify the interior and find a left tackle in April’s draft. Potential candidates for release: TE Mark Andrews, S Marcus Williams. Williams is a lock to be released after losing his spot in the lineup. He already had agreed to reduce his 2025 base salary to $2.1 million, which is a tactic teams usually use before designating players as a post-June 1 release. (The only exception I know of is wideout Michael Thomas with the Saints.) Doing so would free up $2.6 million in cap space for the Ravens, although that move would leave $9.4 million in dead cap on the books for Williams in 2026. Andrews is entering the final year of his four-year, $56 million extension, and while I don’t think the drop that ended their playoff loss to the Bills will matter much in Baltimore’s thinking, he hasn’t come close to matching the 1,361 yards he posted in his breakout 2021 campaign. He finished the season with 11 touchdowns but only 673 receiving yards across 17 games. The three-time Pro Bowler averaged 2.2 yards per route run last season, which ranked third among tight ends, behind George Kittle and Trey McBride. I think it’s more likely the Ravens choose to let Andrews play out the final year of his deal, which would amount to $11 million. Given Isaiah Likely’s production (477 yards, six scores), though, they could consider moving on and using that money elsewhere. |
| CINCINNATIWR Ja’MARR CHASE is looking for a “fair” contract – probably fairly close to $150 million. Jared Dubin of CBSSports.com: Ja’Marr Chase is one of the best receivers in the NFL. You know this. I know this. The Cincinnati Bengals know this. Chase is also extension-eligible this offseason, and he’s looking for a new contract. What does he want in such a deal? “At the end of the day, I just hope I get what’s fair,” Chase told ESPN on Friday at the Pro Bowl Games. “Hopefully I don’t put too much pressure on anybody, but I just want it to be fair, that’s all.” And what does Chase consider “fair?” “Fair is what I deserve,” he said. “I can’t really say everything I want to say. It’s what I deserve, it’s what I’ve worked for, how hard I worked for. It’s a written story already. It should be fair change.” Coming off a season where he led the NFL in catches, yards and touchdowns (and a four-year span where he caught 395 passes for 5,425 yards and 46 scores), the only “fair” way for Chase to be paid is at the very top of the market. The largest wide receiver deals at the moment belong to CeeDee Lamb and Justin Jefferson. Lamb got $136 million over four years, for an average annual value of $34 million. He also got $67 million in guarantees. Jefferson, meanwhile, got $35 million per year and $88.7 million guaranteed. Anything south of those contracts should be a total non-starter for Chase. And considering his production and the year-to-year rise in the salary cap, he should be looking to eclipse Jefferson’s deal. The Bengals have notoriously been fairly stingy when it comes to paying players, but Joe Burrow has been advocating for the team to extend Chase and re-sign Tee Higgins. Only time will tell whether they do so, but it would be a historic mistake to allow Chase, in particular, to ever leave the organization. |
| PITTSBURGHQB RUSSELL WILSON professes not to be thinking about a re-union with Pete Carroll in Las Vegas. Christian Gonzales of NFL.com: As Russell Wilson prepares to enter free agency for the second straight offseason, the 10-time Pro Bowl quarterback has reiterated that he would like to stay with the Pittsburgh Steelers. After Pittsburgh’s playoff loss to the Baltimore Ravens, Wilson said his “plan” was to return with the Steelers, adding that there was “a lot more to do” after his first season with the team ended. Wilson, who is at the 2025 Pro Bowl Games, reiterated his interest in staying in the Steel City this week. “I’m looking forward to hopefully going back to the Steelers and we’ll see what happens with the rest,” Wilson told The Associated Press on Saturday. “I love it in Pittsburgh.” Wilson, who signed a one-year deal with the Steelers, went 6-5 as the starter this last season. He missed the first six games of the season due to a calf injury, but when he took the starting job from Justin Fields, Wilson gave the offense more punch with his ability to launch the ball deep. However, the Steelers’ offense went cold in mid-December, with Pittsburgh failing to score over 20 points in its final five games, including the postseason, all of which resulted in losses. This week, Steelers owner and president Art Rooney said that it’s “probably unlikely” the team will keep both Wilson and Fields on the roster in 2025. With Wilson’s former Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll taking the head coaching job with the Las Vegas Raiders, the coach said on Wednesday that it was too early to tell if Wilson could be an option at QB for the Silver and Black. A couple days after Carroll’s comments, Wilson didn’t want to talk about a potential reunion as he repeated his desire to be with Pittsburgh. “Pete’s going to be a great coach, obviously,” Wilson said. “He’s great at what he does. But I’m focused on the Steelers.” Brooke Pryor of ESPN.com says Wilson is only behind one of three “adventures” the Steelers could pursue: – The Pittsburgh Steelers are back at the quarterback crossroads. Neither Russell Wilson nor Justin Fields is under contract for the 2025 season, leaving the Steelers’ quarterback cupboard bare. With a weak quarterback draft class and lackluster free agency class, the options to replenish it are limited. Earlier this week, team owner and president Art Rooney II said he would prefer to sign Fields or Wilson, and he acknowledged it’s unlikely the team signs both. “I think both of them see themselves as starters, and I don’t know that they want to share the same job again next year,” Rooney said. “So, I would say most likely we probably don’t wind up bringing them both back.” He also said the team would look to the 2025 or 2026 drafts for a quarterback. Poised to enter the offseason without a clear-cut starter for the third time in the four seasons since Ben Roethlisberger’s retirement, the Steelers are authoring the latest installment of a “Choose Your Own Quarterback Adventure” series that no organization wants to write. Adventure 1: Re-sign Fields, draft a mid-round QBBased on the Steelers’ history and reading between the lines of Mike Tomlin’s and Rooney’s end-of-season news conferences, this seems the most likely outcome. Though Fields went 4-2 in his six-game stint as the Steelers’ starter, there appears to be plenty of untapped potential in the former first-round pick. Fields operated in a system designed largely for Wilson, one that didn’t fully unlock Fields’ best qualities as a runner. The Steelers played conservatively with Fields under center, often opting to limit turnover possibilities instead of throwing the ball more. “He handled the situation, I think, as a young quarterback who wants to come in and learn and grow, and I think he did grow and I think he does have that mindset that he wants to get better,” Rooney said. “That makes you feel like you want to potentially work with him again in the future.” Fields, 25, is a decade younger than Wilson. Tomlin and Rooney acknowledged age is a factor. “I thought that the way that he managed his professional circumstance was really impressive,” Tomlin said. “I thought he brought an urgency to his day-to-day work regardless of his role. I thought he got continually better within our system of ball throughout the process. I thought the way he conducted himself makes that a legitimate thought or idea at this juncture.” Because Fields doesn’t have Wilson’s experience or résumé, he’ll also likely cost less, fitting more in line with the Steelers’ track record of business decisions. Prior to drafting Kenny Pickett, the team signed Mitchell Trubisky, also a former Chicago first-round pick, to a two-year, $14 million deal. With a thin quarterback draft class and free agent group, Fields’ price could be higher out of demand, but he could still command between $10 million to $15 million per year. By comparison, Sam Darnold played the 2024 season on a one-year, $10 million deal in Minnesota, while Gardner Minshew signed a two-year, $25 million contract with the Raiders in 2024. Rooney said Monday he preferred to sign the quarterback to a multiyear deal. By not overspending in cap space or draft capital at the position, the Steelers can address other areas of need, beginning with the offense. Before signing a quarterback, the Steelers are poised to enter the 2025 season with roughly $37 million in cap space. With George Pickens, Calvin Austin III and Roman Wilson the only wide receivers under contract for the 2025 season, the Steelers have a glaring hole. The cap space saved by going with Fields instead of Wilson could allow them to compete in a free agent class that includes Tee Higgins, Keenan Allen, Amari Cooper and Chris Godwin. Signing Fields, though, solves just half of the equation. The second piece involves selecting a quarterback with one of the team’s mid-round picks to be the 2025 backup. The Steelers have eight selections in the draft, beginning with the No. 21 overall pick. They have one pick each in the first five rounds, no sixth-round selection and three seventh-round picks. Rooney said Monday that he wanted to build a quarterback room of players with similar skill sets, making Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe the most obvious fit to mirror Fields’ abilities. Milroe, though, could ascend to be a first-round pick, and the Steelers have too many other needs to justify using a first-round pick on a quarterback with Fields already under contract in this scenario. If Milroe goes early, the next-best option is Ohio State quarterback Will Howard, provided he also doesn’t move up draft boards. Though he added just 226 rushing yards in his lone season with the Buckeyes, Howard is an experienced dual-threat talent and a more productive runner than his numbers suggest. He rushed for 57 yards on 16 carries in the national championship win against Notre Dame in addition to completing his first 13 pass attempts. There’s no consensus on Howard’s draft projection, but he checks a lot of boxes in a world where the Steelers stick with Fields. Adventure 2: Re-sign Wilson, draft a mid-round quarterbackThere’s more to it than swapping Fields for Wilson in this hypothetical. Because of his Super Bowl experience, Wilson would likely command a larger contract than Fields. Though Wilson’s production drastically dropped off over his final five starts, he showed an ability to elevate the offense with a more robust passing game in his first six starts. And though he bears responsibility for some of the most glaring errors, such as the fumble against the Baltimore Ravens, the mismanagement of the final drive against the Cincinnati Bengals and a handful of interceptions, Wilson’s shortcomings didn’t exist in a vacuum. Not only did Wilson play without Pickens in two of those final five losses, but the Steelers lacked the wide receiver depth to replace Wilson’s favorite target. With Wilson’s cap hit likely eating up more space than Fields’, it would be more difficult for the team to pursue the top-tier free agent receivers. Instead, the Steelers could add a first-round wide receiver in the draft such as Ohio State’s Emeka Egbuka or they could target slightly more affordable free agents such as Darius Slayton or Stefon Diggs, who is coming off an ACL tear. They could also re-sign Williams with a clearer plan to integrate him into the offense. The offensive line, which allowed 33 sacks in Wilson’s 11 starts, also never played at full strength in the 2024 season. First-round pick Troy Fautanu, who was competing with 2023 first-round pick Broderick Jones for the starting right tackle job, battled a training camp injury and played just one game before landing on season-ending injured reserve. With Fautanu out, Jones spent another season at right tackle despite Steelers general manager Omar Khan expressing a desire to move him to left tackle. Instead, Dan Moore Jr., a pending free agent, continued to start at left tackle and gave up a league-worst 16.5 sacks. Wilson, therefore, could be more successful in a second year with the Steelers if the offensive line starts its 2023 and 2024 first-round picks as intended with Jones at left and Fautanu at right. The Steelers could further help Wilson by either drafting a guard or signing one in free agency to shore up the interior of the line with guard Isaac Seumalo entering the final year of his contract and Mason McCormick having an inconsistent rookie season. Should the Steelers stick with Wilson, they would also need to marry him with a mid-to-late-round pick with a similar skill set to avoid repeating some of the issues that stemmed from having quarterbacks with different strengths in 2024. With that in mind, the Steelers could look at Ole Miss product Jaxson Dart. Though Dart has a bigger frame than Wilson, he has similar arm talent and a knack for throwing the deep ball. He threw for 4,279 yards in 2024 and led all FBS quarterbacks with 10.8 yards per attempt and 11.53 air yards per attempt. He could be an option in the third or fourth round. Adventure 3: Draft a first-round quarterback, re-sign Kyle AllenIn this scenario, perhaps the most unlikely, the Steelers swing big this year. With a void at quarterback and a weak draft class at the position, the Steelers were in a similarly tough spot entering the 2022 season. That year, the Steelers not only signed Trubisky on the first day of free agency, but they also took the first quarterback off the board with Kenny Pickett at the No. 20 spot. Two years later, neither player is on the roster. Earlier this week, Rooney said there wasn’t much to be learned from the experience of drafting Pickett, whom the team traded to the Eagles after signing Wilson. “Obviously, it’s disappointing that Kenny didn’t work out to be our long-term quarterback here, and I’m not sure there’s a lot to be learned from that,” Rooney said. “We just have to look at the next opportunity and make sure we do a good job evaluating it the next time around.” The Steelers, though, could stand to learn a few things from the failed Pickett experiment. Even before they selected Pickett, they put their quarterbacks in an awkward position by signing Trubisky. The veteran was privately treated as the team’s QB1 from the day he signed, but in drafting a first-round quarterback and publicly keeping the door open for him to start, the Steelers made Trubisky a lame duck. Though he started the first four games after winning a pseudo-training camp competition, Trubisky played conservatively and the offense was stagnant as he aimed to limit mistakes rather than risk a big play. That resulted in Pickett being hastily thrust into the starting job at halftime of Week 4 without spending an offseason with the first-string unit. Should the Steelers draft a first-rounder this year, they can position themselves for a better outcome by clearly — and publicly — defining the roles in the room. Allen, a seven-year veteran, is the backup and mentor to the rookie. The sooner the rookie can take over the starting job, especially behind a capable offensive line, the better. Milroe could fall to the Steelers at No. 21, and though he has a high ceiling and Lamar Jackson-like traits, inconsistencies in his passing game make him a risky pick with other pressing needs to address. To land a more NFL-ready player, the Steelers would have to make a far riskier move in giving up significant assets to jump quarterback-needy teams at the top of the draft. That would likely mean parting with a combination of T.J. Watt, Pickens or another impact player in addition to a package of picks that includes next year’s first-rounder. Teams with the first three picks — the Tennessee Titans, Cleveland Browns and New York Giants — all need quarterbacks. Giving up a king’s ransom to snag one of the first two picks this year could land the Steelers either Miami product Cam Ward or Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders. With his calm demeanor and electric playmaking, Ward is projected to be the best quarterback in this year’s class. Not only did he record an FBS-best 39 touchdown throws, but he also had just seven interceptions and threw for more than 4,000 yards. He also posted a 93.3 fourth-quarter QBR and helped his team to a pair of comeback wins. Like Ward, Sanders’ poise was also impressive with 11 go-ahead touchdown passes in his final season. Sanders was right behind Ward in on-field production, throwing for 4,134 yards and 37 touchdowns. Dan Graziano on what the contract math for re-signing Wilson might look like: Russell Wilson, QB, Pittsburgh SteelersAge: 36 | 2024 stats: 2,482 passing yards, 16 TD throws, 5 INTsLast contract: One year, $1.2 million, fully guaranteedPittsburgh has two free agent quarterbacks — Wilson and Justin Fields, who started the first six games of the season while Wilson recovered from a calf injury. The Steelers have a tough decision to make. Wilson started out hot once he got the job but fizzled toward the end of the season. After averaging 8.4 yards per attempt and posting a 59.3 QBR over Weeks 7-14, Wilson dipped to 6.4 yards per attempt and a 38.4 QBR over his final five starts, including the playoffs. Pittsburgh lost all five of those games. The coaching staff liked the progress Fields was making while he was the starter, but they still benched him for Wilson and didn’t use him a ton late in the season. Could there be an outside market for Wilson? Possibly, but the Steelers were the only interested team one year ago, and he didn’t do a ton to improve his marketability. This isn’t like last year, either, when the money he made from the Steelers was offset against the guaranteed money the Broncos were still paying him. The Broncos don’t owe him any more, so Wilson won’t be available for a minimum salary as he was last season. The Giants took a cursory look at him before he went to Pittsburgh last year, and his old coach Pete Carroll just got the head coach job in Las Vegas, so there are some potentially intriguing options for Wilson if the Steelers don’t bring him back. But let’s say Pittsburgh does bring him back on a short-term deal while it continues to look for a more sustainable long-term solution. Prediction: Two years, $50 million, $35 million guaranteed — which would tie for 19th among quarterbacks in average annual value. |
| AFC EAST |
| NEW YORK JETSAaron Glenn has assembled an interesting cast of offensive assistants, with a known commodity (to Glenn) in his new OC: If he’s back with the New York Jets in 2025, Aaron Rodgers’ new offensive coordinator will be former Detroit Lions assistant Tanner Engstrand. Engstrand, 42, was hired by the Jets on Friday, the team announced. He is familiar with newly hired coach Aaron Glenn, as they spent the past four seasons together on Dan Campbell’s staff. Engstrand was the passing game coordinator for an offense that scored a league-high 564 points in 2024. Then he got a QB coach: Charles London, who served as the Seattle Seahawks quarterbacks coach in 2024, will have the same job with the Jets, a source confirmed to ESPN’s Brady Henderson. Josh Alper of ProFootballTalk.com on the pass game coordinator: The Jets are set to hire another experienced offensive assistant coach. Tom Pelissero of NFL Media reports that they will hire Scott Turner as their pass game coordinator. Sunday also brought word that they are expected to hire Charles London as their quarterbacks coach. Turner was the pass game coordinator for the Raiders when the 2024 season started, but he wound up calling the team’s offensive plays after offensive coordinator Luke Getsy was fired during the season. Head coach Antonio Pierce was fired at the end of the season and Turner will move on with Pete Carroll taking over in Las Vegas. Prior to joining the Raiders in 2023, Turner spent three seasons as the offensive coordinator in Washington and he also spent time as a quarterbacks coach for the Panthers and Vikings. He’ll draw on that experience to help Jets offensive coordinator Tanner Engstrand navigate his first season in that role. His defensive coordinator is well-traveled Steve Wilks. Mike Luciano of The Jet Press sees some other connections with possible free agents. The NY Jets are finally starting to finalize some new additions to their coaching staff after Aaron Glenn’s introductory press conference. Detroit Lions tight ends coach Steve Heiden will coach the offensive line, longtime player and Denver Broncos assistant Chris Banjo will be in charge of special teams, and Steve Wilks was hired as defensive coordinator. Wilks, who has past head coaching experience with the Arizona Cardinals and Carolina Panthers, spent his last two pro seasons in charge of Carolina’s secondary and putting up respectable numbers as San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator. While Glenn and GM Darren Mougey will have final say over what this roster looks like, Wilks will undoubtedly bang the table for some of his guys from previous stops in Carolina and San Francisco in 2025. These three free agents might be down for a reunion with Wilks in New York. 3 free agents who could follow Steve Wilks to the NY Jets 3. EDGE Clelin FerrellFerrell has bounced back nicely after his shocking No. 4 overall selection, as he has morphed from a huge bust to a respectable edge-setting lineman. Ferrell, who started all 17 games for Wilks during his lone season in San Francisco, tallied 16 pressures and 3.5 sacks with the Washington Commanders in 2024. Due to Will McDonald’s poor run defense and Jermaine Johnson’s unknown status coming off an Achilles injury, the Jets will need to bring in one more edge setter. Ferrell will never be TJ Watt, but he has been able to establish himself as a role player that Wilks will lean on in his four-down linemen scheme. 2. LB Shaq ThompsonThe last few years of Thompson’s career have been brutal, as he has played just six games in the last two seasons due to injuries. Anyone who brings him in needs to know that he is nothing more than a one-year lottery ticket. Wilks, who helped draft Thompson and coach him as a veteran, might be willing. As far as veteran backups go, someone who was as prolific a tackler and coverage star as Thompson was in his prime could be much worse. With C.J. Mosley likely biting the dust as a cap casualty, having Thompson aid Jamien Sherwood in his transition to a full-time starter could be invaluable. 1. CB Donte JacksonJackson may not have evolved into the star that Carolina expected, but he was always a respectable starting corner in the NFL and put on more of the same after being traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers this past season. If D.J. Reed doesn’t stay, Jackson could be a solid CB2 alternative. Jackson has some of the best long speed of any outside corner in the league, and he may have had his best individual season in Pittsburgh. Wilks, a former defensive backs coach, could once again pick up one of his more prized pupils in Jackson. |
| THIS AND THAT |
| CONCUSSIONS DOWNThe NFL seems to be making some progress towards player safety. This from RJ Kraft of The Athletic: Concussions decreased to a record-low in the NFL in the 2024 season, the league announced Thursday. That data dates back to 2015 when the NFL moved to using a league-wide Electronic Medical Records (EMR) system for its injury surveillance. The injury data was shared Thursday by the league and compiled by health research company IQVIA. On-record concussions decreased 17 percent when compared to the 2023 season — there were 182 total concussions combined in the preseason and regular season (games and practices) in 2024, compared to 219 total concussions combined in the preseason and regular season in 2023. This decrease comes on the heels of a preseason that saw only 44 concussions in games and practices — the only year lower was in 2020 when 30 concussions occurred during practices and there were no preseason games that year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “This year had a notable decrease over last year as the result of improved equipment, continued rules changes and enforcement, culture change around head injuries and so in many ways this was a milestone year with the fewest number of concussions on record. That is not to say that there is not a lot more work for us to do,” Jeff Miller, the NFL’s executive vice president overseeing player health and safety, said on a media call. “We believe that the game while safer is no less exciting than it has ever been,” Miller said. Dr. Allen Sills, who is the NFL’s chief medical officer, outlined one way that the league is hoping the concussion numbers will continue to go down. “We’ve spoken very publicly about our desire to see head contact continue to get out of the game — avoidable head contact,” Dr. Sills said. “That is something that we’ll continue to spend a great deal of time focusing on and something that we’ll be talking a lot about with our competition committee.” Concussions have been a longstanding issue in the NFL. The impact of concussions and repeated traumatic brain injuries have cut short players’ careers and have also led to long-term health issues long after their playing days are over with CTE and dementia among several of the conditions faced by retired players. In 2012, a lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court against the NFL regarding its handling of concussions and the long-term effects that retired players experienced. The NFL reached a settlement in that lawsuit, which saw the league agree to contribute $765 million to provide medical help to more than 18,000 former players. The settlement protects retired players for 65 years from the time of the settlement agreement in June of 2014 and compensated former players who were injured and in need of medical help. Baseline assessments and medical benefits for those that are symptom free or starting to show signs of neurological problems were also include in the settlement. Retired players who had neurological conditions such as Alzheimer’s and ALS were eligible to apply for medical help through the settlement. Funds were also put aside for brain injury research as well as safety and education programs as part of the settlement. Via the Official NFL Concussion Settlement Website (as of Jan. 27), $1.43 billion has been awarded with more than 20,581 individuals registered as settlement class members. Regarding concussion-prevention measures, Dr. Sills noted the significant improvement in helmets worn this season was a big contributor in improving on-field safety in 2024. This was also the first season that players could wear soft shell helmet covers called Guardian Caps. Twenty players wore them, and no negative effects were seen from their use. In addition, the NFL shared data from the new dynamic kickoff rule that was instituted for the 2024 season. The new rule led to a lower concussion rate (down 43 percent vs. the 2021-2023 average) with more kicks being returned — a 57 percent increase that saw 332 kicks returned. Seven kickoffs were returned for touchdowns, the most since 2021. Despite more kicks being brought back, the league saw the same number of concussions on kickoffs (eight) from year to year. The injury rate with the dynamic kickoff is on par with a run or pass play. Previously, kickoffs had an injury rate that 2-to-4 times higher than a run or pass play. The dynamic kickoff also led to the fewest lower extremity strains on kickoffs since at least 2018 due to slower average player speeds. The shorter distances and fewer high-speed efforts covered on kickoffs reduced the amount of lower extremity strains by 48 percent on kickoffs. That data is being shared with the league’s competition committee as the dynamic kickoff was initially established as a one-year rule and is being reviewed this offseason. The league also documented that lower extremity injuries remain the cause of the greatest amount of time lost by players. The league has looked to reduce those injuries through the use of a training camp acclimation period, and the use of different digital monitoring tools have helped to continue the decrease in this type of injury. Lower extremity strains that resulted in lost time were down 14 percent compared to 2021, which was the last season before the acclimation ramp-up time was introduced. As the league’s medical staff looks ahead, hip-drop tackles are something that will be examined closely, as well as looking at the rise of shoulder injuries, high-speed helmet impacts and expanding replay assist on health and safety fouls. Sills also noted that similar to the kickoff last year, the punt play is one that will be examined as well. |
| 2025 DRAFTAfter the Senior Bowl, Albert Breer hears there are two names at the top of the draft, neither one a quarterback: We have a long way to go, but the two names to know for the 2025 NFL draft are, clearly, Abdul Carter and Travis Hunter. With three months until draft day, the Penn State edge rusher and Colorado two-way anomaly have emerged as the prospects in pole position, with teams heading into pre-combine meetings and the 2025 offseason starting to simmer. That says two things. The first is that both are excellent prospects. The second is that this draft isn’t great at the top. While those guys are notable, the dropoff from great to very good will come earlier on the first night than it normally does. “It’s a weak draft,” said one AFC college scouting director, who’d just gotten home from Senior Bowl week in Mobile, Ala. “I think that those [two] guys are certainly the best overall players in the draft, I think that it’s pretty clear cut. … After those two guys, you’re totally done with the consensus. There are a lot of talented players. But those two guys are in a league of their own.” Another AFC exec took it a step further. “I’d actually argue that it’s just Abdul,” he said. “Travis is a very good player, I just don’t know if he has the generation qualities Abdul has.” Asked to expound on that, the exec explained that while Hunter is unique, he didn’t see him as the same caliber of receiver or corner that Carter is an edge rusher. It’d almost certainly be too much to ask him to come close to playing the number of snaps he did in college—all of which is very fair. “Abdul’s Micah Parsons 2.0—maybe not as strong, but a little more flexible, and can take over a game the same way,” he continued. “And he’s still not refined as a rusher. He’s so physically gifted, he might be an All-Pro [off-ball] linebacker, too. Travis’s football skill is high-end, but he’s not as freaky. He’ll jump well, and maybe won’t run as fast, he’s probably 4.4, not 4.3, and that’s at like 180 [pounds]. He’s more [Stefon] Diggs than Calvin Johnson.” Some disagree, and regard Hunter as the draft’s best player over Carter. But the larger point remains that after these two, there is a sizable drop-off. In fact, once those two guys are gone, how the rest of the top 10 will fall could be determined by position, not skill. “It’ll really come down to need, then,” said the second exec. “I don’t think there’s another player where you’ll be like, ‘We need, say, a D-lineman, but this guy is too good to pass up.’” In that next cluster, you’ll likely see names like Michigan DT Mason Graham, Arizona WR Tetairoa McMillan, Michigan CB Will Johnson, LSU OT Will Campbell, Penn State TE Tyler Warren, Georgia OLB Jalon Walker and Jeanty. That there is no consensus on the order in which those guys will come off the board is great for building draft drama over the next few months, but, perhaps, not as good for the teams picking up that high. |
