The Daily Briefing Monday, May 15, 2023

We are used to seeing listings of how many “primetime” games a team received from the NFL, but besides those contests there are now a bunch of other standalone games – Thanksgiving and Black Friday, Christmas, Week 15 Saturday games, the International contests.  And what about the 4:25 games – called America’s Game of the Week at FOX and treated the same at CBS?

So, we have lumped them all together for our rankings.

In general terms –

Sunday NBC and Monday ESPN games are worth 1 point (.5 points for teams in the three Monday night weeks with two games).

Amazon Thursday night games – .8 points, not quite as valuable as the classic primetime games as they are not available to many fans and get lower ratings (On the other hand, Amazon has a huge investment and the NFL wants to keep them happy).

For the 9:30 games from Europe – standalones but on NFL Network which not everyone has and at an odd hour – each team gets .5 points

And – up to a full point is awarded for a team being involved in the primary game at 4:25 on FOX or CBS.  This can be subjective, we admit.

For example, Jets at Cowboys at 4:25 in Week 2 on CBS gets a full point for each team and nothing for Washington at Denver, on the same time on the same network, which will go to a very small part of the country.

On the other hand, in Week 12 late on CBS, there is both Bills at Eagles and Chiefs at Raiders.  We went with .7 for the Bills and Eagles and .3 for the Chiefs and Raiders.

We understand there will be changes if the Chargers or Bengals falter or the Saints or Seahawks get hot (to name just a few examples).

So here are the rankings –

We understand the rise of the Jets and the demise of the Buccaneers as being caused by their changed QB situations.

We note four traditional brands that don’t have distinguished QBs and don’t seem to be Super Bowl contenders – the Raiders, Packers, Patriots and Steelers – punching above their actual 2023 weight class.

Teams that seem high – the Chargers, Raiders and Bears.

Teams that seem low – the Ravens, Seahawks and Rams.

And Houston – the one team with nothing to hang their hat on.

Points by division –

AFC West               30.5

NFC East                30.4

AFC East                29.8

NFC North              22.6

AFC North              16.0

NFC West               13.9

AFC South                6.3

NFC South                5.6

So, the Cowboys (or the Chiefs) have more Exposure Points than the eight teams in the two South divisions combined.

The darker the shadings – the more pure primetime games –

Philadelphia and the Jets rise up because they are favorites of the Sunday late windows, compared to number of primetime games.

While Green Bay and Minnesota were well taken care of in primetime, they are not Sunday doubleheader favorites.

Here are the points awarded for Sunday doubleheader windows.

DAL     5.6       1

PHI      4.4       2

KC       4.1       3

NYJ     3.3       4

BUF     3.3       5

CIN      1.8       6

SF       1.8       7

NE       1.6       8

CHI      1.6       9

MIA     1.2       10

LAC     1.2       11

NYG    1.1       12

DEN    0.8       13

GB       0.8       14

LV        0.7       15

SEAT  0.7       16

MIN     0.6       17

LAR     0.3       18

ARZ     0.2       19

WASH 0.1       20

CLV     0

PITT    0

BALT   0

JAX     0

HOU    0

IND      0

TEN     0

DET     0

ATL     0

NO      0

TB       0

CAR    0

That’s 12 teams do not show up in a prominent role in any 4:25 window – most surprisingly including the Steelers and Ravens.

No doubleheader window games of prominence for any team in either South division, not even the Jaguars.

– – –

Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com on how top QBs have more value to the NFL schedule than the guy who approves it:

The NFL is a quarterback-driven league, in many ways. And the quarterbacks need to realize it.

Quarterback is the most important player on the field, obviously. He runs the show for the offense. He makes decisions and exercises a wide range of discretion, before the play and — more critically — during the play.

Off the field, the best ones act like another coach, setting an example for work ethic and/or holding teammates accountable and/or actively participating in the process of designing plays and assessing the manner in which other players could be best utilized.

The quarterback also is the drawing card, or not, for the team on which he plays.

We already knew this. It became even more clear on Friday, when the NFL conducted a conference call to discuss the new schedule. Regarding the impact of the Aaron Rodgers uncertainty on the configuration of the games, NFL V.P. of broadcast planning Mike North made it clear that quarterback movement impacts the process of picking games, significantly.

North explained that the NFL currently has the flexibility through its computer system to re-set and restart the process “on a moment’s notice.”

North mentioned that, back in 2010, the Donovan McNabb trade on Easter Sunday required “last-minute patchwork on an almost-finished schedule.” Ten years ago, Peyton Manning’s free agency resulted in the schedule-makers working on schedules while watching his private jet land in Miami, San Francisco, Nashville, Denver “and thinking about how we were gonna change our process.”

Three years ago, after Tom Brady picked the Buccaneers, it was “all systems stop, re-evaluate all your Tampa Bay games.” When he retired in 2022, it was time to “re-evaluate all your Tampa bay games.” Then, when he unretired, it became important to once again “re-evaluate all your Tampa Bay games.”

Also last year, the Russell Wilson trade to Denver made the Broncos a staple of standalone games, even though that didn’t exactly go very well for Wilson or the Broncos or the league. (The Christmas Day game still generated a huge audience.)

Is there any other player at any other position that moves the needle like this? Maybe the Tyreek Hill trade last year resulted in a closer look at Miami’s schedule. To a lesser extent, Davante Adams to the Raiders could have been impactful.

But that’s it. When defensive players change teams, it doesn’t cause 345 to start pounding keys on Harvey. The quarterbacks drive the bus, in every possible respect.

So that raises another question, not specific to any one quarterback. Should they generally get more than they do?

Perhaps not across the board, but the stars have a different sort of value than the rest of the quarterbacks. There’s a rule of thumb among agents that a player is a star if fans automatically know the number he wears. For quarterbacks, the rule of thumb should be that it your comings and goings could impact, would impact, or have impacted the scheduling process, you have value separate and apart from the effort to win games.

That’s where teams benefit. The best quarterbacks don’t want to be perceived as pigs at the trough, because it impacts their ability to win. So the best quarterbacks subsidize the rest of their own teams — and arguably the rest of the league — bringing to the broader table far more than they’re taking away.

Remember when the Commissioner’s pay was public knowledge, and he was making more $40 million annually while the highest-paid quarterback was at $20 million? Now that the league office is no longer a tax-exempt organization, we don’t know the Commissioner’s annual compensation. Whatever it might currently be ($60 million, $80 million, etc.), no one is reconfiguring a single game on the TV schedule based on whether his contract extension is, or isn’t, finalized.

Maybe there should be a separate fund to compensate quarterbacks. Maybe quarterbacks should have their own union, a la the old Quarterback’s Club of the 1990s. (Someone tried to separately unionize running backs a few years ago, and it didn’t get very far.)

Whatever is done (and chances are it will be nothing), a system that can support more than $60 million per year for the Commissioner surely supports paying the most impactful quarterbacks significantly more than they receive. That’s especially true for those quarterbacks whose potential hopscotching from city to city is enough to throw a wrench in the process of figuring out which games to put under a spotlight, and which games to tuck in the cluster of 1:00 p.m. ET kickoffs.

So the next time you’re wondering how much one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL is making (Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow, Aaron Rodgers, Lamar Jackson, Jalen Hurts, Josh Allen, etc.), here’s the real answer: Not nearly enough.

We would note that QB LAMAR JACKSON, listed in the needle-moving QBs above, did not seem to have much impact with the schedule makers if you look at the study above.  CBS (and FOX) didn’t want the Ravens anywhere near their 4:25 window and the Ravens surface before a standalone audience only once in the first 10 weeks (and that is in England).

DALLAS

A medical situation has kept Coach Mike McCarthy away from the Cowboys.  Todd Archer of ESPN.com:

Mike McCarthy’s in-person introduction to the Dallas Cowboys’ rookie class has had to wait because of a back procedure performed last week.

McCarthy has been taking part in meetings virtually as the Cowboys opened the rookie camp on Thursday. The only on-field portion of the minicamp was Saturday and was for a little more than an hour. Owner and general manager Jerry Jones briefly talked to the players before the practice.

Special teams coordinator John Fassel brought the players together at the end of the session.

“It’s easy because Mike is always so clear and, ‘hey, this is what we’re going to do,’ so we had a real vision for what we wanted to get accomplished this weekend with these guys,” defensive coordinator Dan Quinn said. “It’s mainly just taking those first steps and I think Mike would agree let’s not miss one step of their development and see what we have and how we communicate and testing them and seeing where we are at. And then we’ll begin with Mike and everybody else here this week of merging everybody together. So if there was a time to miss for him, there’s never a time he would feel comfortable but we all know we got his back and we’ll get him back soon.”

The rookies and veterans will work together for the first time Monday in Phase 2 of the offseason program. Organized team activities start in two weeks.

The return of McCarthy, who has been dealing with back issues for some time, is not clear but he’s not expected to have a long absence.

“He’s been on Zoom calls with us, third-round pick DeMarvion Overshown said. “We know what he’s going through and that he’s going to be back soon. He’s definitely been there, welcomed us like we were a vet.”

Quinn served as the Cowboys’ head coach in 2020, beating the New Orleans Saints, when McCarthy missed the game after testing positive for COVID-19.

PHILADELPHIA

It’s graduation season in the NFL – and QB JALEN HURTS has topped those who get mere bachelor’s degrees.  Tyler Greenawait at YahooSports.com:

It’s been a big year for Jalen Hurts.

The Philadelphia Eagles quarterback earned a master’s degree in human relations from the University of Oklahoma on Friday, months after he led his team to the Super Bowl and signed a massive contract extension.

Education appears to have always been important for Hurts. Both his parents are teachers, and Hurts told “Essence” in April that he was inspired by his mother during his freshman year at Alabama after he watched her go back to school to get another degree.

 “She went back to school, and she got her master’s to become a counselor,” he said. “That’s a living testimony for me.”

Hurts later earned a bachelor’s degree in communication and information sciences after only three years at Alabama before he transferred to Oklahoma in 2019.

Now, with two degrees and a Super Bowl appearance under his belt, Hurts heads into his fourth NFL season with more expectations. The Eagles have the second-best odds to win the Super Bowl (+700), per BetMGM — right behind the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs (+650). Philadelphia also had one of this year’s best draft classes after general manager Howie Roseman beefed up the defensive line with Jalen Carter and Nolan Smith.

Everything starts and ends with Hurts, though. He’s the franchise quarterback with the big contract, and the Eagles will go as far as he does in 2023.

WASHINGTON

Interesting.  The NFL isn’t all that thrilled with aspects of the bid of Josh Harris to own Washington’s football team, but they are more thrilled not to have to answer questions from the media about Dan Snyder anymore.  Mark Maske and Nicki Jhaybala in the Snyder-despising Washington Post:

The announcement Friday that a group led by Josh Harris had reached a signed, exclusive agreement to purchase the Washington Commanders from Daniel Snyder was accompanied by public statements from Harris and the Snyder family, expressions of jubilation by many Commanders fans and comments by political leaders about their eagerness to work with the franchise’s new owners.

But while Harris’s $6.05 billion deal to buy the team and end Snyder’s turbulent 24-year ownership tenure is near the finish line, it’s not quite there, at least not yet. The deal still must be vetted and approved by the NFL finance committee and then ratified by a vote of the league’s team owners. And members of the eight-owner finance committee raised issues during their meeting Wednesday in New York that threaten to delay the vote of the owners beyond their meeting this month.

“We look forward to the formal approval of our ownership by the NFL in the months ahead,” Harris said in his statement, “and to having the honor to serve as responsible and accountable stewards of the Commanders franchise moving forward.”

Some observers seemed convinced that the league’s ratification process will occur uneventfully.

“It’s really happening,” former Green Bay Packers executive Andrew Brandt wrote Friday on Twitter. “The grip of Daniel Snyder (no longer Mr. Snyder to me and you) is being taken off the Commanders’ steering wheel. Team is announcing sale, subject to owner approval (pro forma). Friend and family in the DC are seeing this as a liberation day, it’s here.”

But others are not as certain that the ratification of the deal as it’s currently configured will amount to a no-doubt-about-it rubber stamp. A person familiar with the sale process expressed the view Saturday that if not for the other owners’ strong desire to remove Snyder from the league, the Harris deal probably would not be approved without some revisions.

The finance committee met for about 2½ hours Wednesday at the NFL’s offices in Manhattan. Harris’s deal has been in front of the league for weeks. It was submitted to the NFL last month, an unusual step since the then-tentative deal was unsigned and nonexclusive at that point. But the previous confidence held by some of those familiar with the NFL’s inner workings about Harris’s ability to get the deal in order quickly for a seamless approval process was diminished to some extent by the discussions that took place during Wednesday’s meeting.

One such person acknowledged afterward a widespread desire among the owners to make the deal work and remove Snyder from the NFL’s ownership ranks with as little further rancor as possible. But that person also said there were issues about some financial aspects of Harris’s deal and complications to moving quickly in the ratification process, describing the deal as complex and including a large number of limited partners. Harris identified a dozen investors in his group in Friday’s announcement, including two families, and said that was “amongst others.”

Because of those issues, that person said, it was increasingly unlikely that the owners can take an approval vote at their meeting scheduled for May 22-23 in Minneapolis. Before Wednesday’s finance committee meeting, some people connected to the process had been hopeful that the owners might vote at the Minneapolis meeting to ratify Harris’s deal on at least a conditional basis. And while some continue to cling to some hopes of a vote of the owners occurring this month, a person familiar with the NFL’s inner workings said Friday that the owners are expected to be updated on the Commanders sale at the Minneapolis meeting and the prospective final ratification vote would be taken “in the coming months.”

The deal ultimately must be approved by at least 24 of the 32 owners. They generally follow whatever recommendation is made by the finance committee.

TAMPA BAY

In his spare time, Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles has been finishing up his college degree (he actually completed his coursework last summer).  Jenna Laine of ESPN.com:

– Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles fulfilled a promise made to his late mother, Joan, that he would earn his college degree, walking across the stage at Mount St. Mary’s University on Saturday 37 years after leaving school to enter the NFL.

Bowles missed the second day of Buccaneers rookie camp to attend the ceremony in Emmitsburg, Maryland, where he addressed the graduating class and earned a standing ovation from the students and faculty. Bowles earned a Bachelor of Science degree in youth and community development.

“This is an amazing, amazing thing for me to be in a class with you,” he told the students. “I’m more nervous now than I ever was speaking in a locker room at halftime.”

Bowles left Temple University in 1986 to enter the NFL, signing with Washington as an undrafted free agent and winning Super Bowl XXII his second season. He would play in the NFL for eight seasons before joining the Green Bay Packers’ player personnel staff from 1995 to 1996, and then beginning his coaching career at Morehouse in 1997.

He has coached at the NFL level since 2000, serving as head coach of the New York Jets from 2015 to 2018, winning a Super Bowl with the Buccaneers in 2020 as defensive coordinator, and being named head coach after Bruce Arians’ retirement in 2022, leading the Bucs to an NFC South title.

“I didn’t get my degree, and my mother never said anything,” Bowles told the audience. “She just went with it. And she let me go ahead and live my life. And she passed in 2009, and the only thing she asked me was to make sure I got my degree.

“I stuck with it, and here I am at 59. You’re never too old to stop learning. You stop learning and you get old. You get old when you stop learning. So I say to you, Class of 2023 — the future is yours, take it, grab it, run with it, be excited, be excited, every now and then, come back and thank your parents.”

Joan died of cancer in 2009. Bowles was encouraged by his agent, Tony Agnone, a Mount St. Mary’s alumnus, to return to school, and he completed his coursework in September.

“It was personal. It’s not a limelight type of deal for me,” Bowles said. “It’s more or less honoring my mother and making sure I kept a promise that I could live with when she said something. And that’s really all it was for me. And showing my kids at the same time — with one in college, one getting ready to go to college and another one on the horizon — hopefully they get some inspiration from this and it can help them as they go forward.”

His oldest son, Todd Bowles Jr., is a defensive back at Rutgers, while his son Troy is set to graduate from Jesuit High School in Tampa and attend Georgia on a football scholarship. His youngest, Tyson, is in the sixth grade.

DENVER

A positive health report on RB JAVANTE WILLIAMS from Sean Payton and Tyler King of the Denver Gazette:

One of the biggest playmakers in Denver may be ready to return sooner than expected.

After a significant knee injury ended Javonte Williams’ season in Week 4 against the Raiders last year, it was uncertain at what point he’d be able to return.

But the rehab is going well for the talented running back, Payton said, and there’s even a good chance he won’t need to go on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list at the start of training camp.

“We expect him to be ready for the start of training camp and that’s good news,” Payton said. “… In the meantime, the rest of these guys we’re looking at closely.”

The Broncos have already beefed up their running back room this offseason by signing Samaje Perine, who spent the past three seasons with the Bengals and is someone the team views as an “every-down back.”

“We signed him because we knew he was durable, reliable,” Payton said. “We felt like we got another solid runner. There’s a lot of things he does well.”

Still, there may be no bigger addition to Denver’s offense this season than a healthy Williams, who rushed for over 900 yards and four touchdowns as a rookie in 2021.

Joint practices likely before last preseason game

BALTIMORE

Jeff Zrebiec in The Athletic says the Ravens are good to go on offense now:

With the Ravens’ offseason workouts still in the voluntary stages, Todd Monken hasn’t yet had the opportunity to coach a number of the key players who will make up his offense. That hasn’t stopped Baltimore’s new offensive coordinator from imagining the possibilities.

There’s a healthy Lamar Jackson handing the ball off to J.K. Dobbins or Gus Edwards, or just keeping it himself behind Pro Bowl fullback Patrick Ricard and a physical and mobile offensive line. There’s Jackson dropping back and surveying a field that will include some combination of Odell Beckham Jr., Rashod Bateman, Zay Flowers, Nelson Agholor, Devin Duvernay, Mark Andrews and Isaiah Likely.

Ravens officials also want everyone to know they haven’t forgotten about running back Justice Hill, wide receivers Tylan Wallace and James Proche, and tight end Charlie Kolar.

“I’m excited to get started, but there is only one ball,” Monken said matter of factly last week.

It’s become a tradition in Baltimore at this time of year to fret about the state of the team’s offense. Whether it’s the guy calling the plays, the receivers running routes or the team’s offensive philosophy in general, there are typically more questions than answers.

Yet, the predominant question heading into training camp and the regular season may just be whether Monken — and for that matter, Jackson — can best utilize the team’s myriad weapons and keep everyone happy. It surely beats the alternative of not having enough viable playmakers.

Been there, done that.

“You’re paid to move the football and score, and that’s a lot easier with talented players,” Monken said. “As I always say, ‘Cookies taste better with sugar than they do with vinegar.’ So, you surround yourself with sugar.”

The optimism at this time of year is refreshing, but let’s not get carried away, at least not yet. We’re not talking about an embarrassment of riches. Beckham didn’t play at all last year as he recovered from a major knee injury. He’s 30 and hasn’t had more than 537 receiving yards in a single season since 2019. Bateman has flashed No. 1 receiver ability, but he’s essentially missed half of his team’s games over his first two seasons.

Agholor will have to rebound after back-to-back subpar seasons with the New England Patriots. Flowers is an exciting and dynamic playmaker, but he’s still a 5-foot-9, 182-pound rookie who will have to adjust to the speed and physicality of the NFL game. Duvernay and Likely haven’t yet established themselves as consistent offensive threats, although that probably has more to do with a lack of regular opportunities.

So perspective is needed. Still, it’s plenty fair to conclude that for a team that won’t suddenly abandon its productive run game — and it shouldn’t, given its personnel and the stress it puts on defenses — the Ravens now have enough quality receiving options to possess the complementary passing attack former offensive coordinator Greg Roman struggled to develop. In Monken, they also have an offensive coordinator who is known for adapting to his personnel and avoiding being one-dimensional.

“Definitely a ton of different ways to stretch the field and do things,” said Duvernay when asked about the team’s new offense last week. “A ton of different guys that can do a multitude of things, and Todd Monken, I think he’s the guy for the job, and we’ll have a lot of fun.”

It’s been a while since the Ravens’ pass game has been anything resembling “fun.” But with the signings of Beckham and Agholor, and the selection of Flowers in the first round, Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta, at the very least, has delivered on his offseason vow to upgrade Jackson’s group of pass catchers. A strong case could be made that this is the deepest and most talented group of targets the organization has had in years.

DeCosta also finally solidified his quarterback’s future in Baltimore with a five-year, $260 million extension, eliminating another potential roadblock of offensive growth. So what could hold the Ravens back?

There’s nothing you can do about injuries. Nobody is immune to them and, as we’ve seen in consecutive seasons, Jackson being sidelined changes everything. There also figures to be a learning curve with Monken’s new offense. However, there’s plenty of time to go to school on that, and the idea is to be peaking in the second half of the season anyway, not necessarily early September.

So that leaves the Ravens with no excuses. There’s absolutely no reason they shouldn’t have a dynamic and balanced offense. There’s no reason Jackson shouldn’t have one of his best years — his 2019 MVP season is hard to top — and show significant improvement as a passer. There’s no reason why the Ravens shouldn’t boast a productive receiving group.

CLEVELAND

The Browns acquired proven passrusher Za’DARIUS SMITH for a song.  Bryan DeArdo of CBSSports.com:

The Minnesota Vikings have traded three-time Pro Bowl pass rusher Za’Darius Smith to the Cleveland Browns, according to NFL Media. Along with Smith, the Browns received a 2025 sixth and seventh-round pick. The Vikings received 2024 and 2025 fifth-round picks.

Smith, 30, recorded 10 sacks during his only season with the Vikings. He was previously signed through the 2024 with the Vikings with a $9.4 million base salary with $5 million guaranteed. Now, Smith will receive $11.75 million this year as part of his reworked deal. Smith will also get a chance to test free agency next year.

In Cleveland, he will join a Browns defense that features perennial Pro Bowl defensive end Myles Garrett, linebacker Anthony Walker Jr. and defensive backs Denzel Ward, Grant Delpit and Greg Newsome II. Smith’s addition fills a previous void in Cleveland left by Jadeveon Clowney’s departure at the end of the 2022 season.

Smith’s loss is a considerable one for the Vikings, whose linebacker corps still includes Danielle Hunter and Marcus Davenport. Minnesota added to its defense via the draft when they selected cornerback Mekhi Blackmon in the third round, safety Jay Ward in the fourth round and nose tackle Jaquelin Roy in the fifth round.

The 122nd pick in the 2014 NFL Draft, Smith is familiar with the AFC North having started his career with the Ravens. A part-time starter during his four years in Baltimore, Smith hit free agency following his final season with the Ravens that saw him record a then-career-high 8.5 sacks.

Smith signed a four-year deal with the Packers the ensuing offseason. He immediately blossomed into a Pro Bowler in Green Bay, where he recorded 13.5 sacks in 2019 and 12.5 sacks in 2020 while helping the Packers advance to the NFC Championship Game during both seasons.

After an injury wiped out virtually his entire 2021 season (his final one with the Packers), Smith proved that he was still an elite player during his lone season in Minnesota. He played in 17 of a possible 18 games (including the playoffs) while earning his third trip to the Pro Bowl.

player headshot

How did each team fare in this trade? Here’s our two cents.

Browns: A+

Cleveland needed to bolster its pass rush after having just 34 quarterback takedowns in 2022. Take away Garrett’s sack total, and the Browns averaged just over one sack a game last season. That’s not going to cut it in an AFC that has a wealth of elite quarterback play.

Sure, the Browns could lose Smith after a year, but they’d get a compensatory pick for next year’s draft should Smith sign elsewhere. Regardless of what happens next year, the Browns gave up little to get a Pro Bowl caliber player who can help them win now.

Vikings: B

One would think that the Vikings would have been able to get more for a player of Smith’s caliber. Despite that fact, the Vikings were able to improve their future draft capital. Smith’s salary, the fact that he will be a free agent next year and the fact that we’re this late in the offseason surely limited the Vikings’ options.

Minnesota gets a B largely because, by dealing Smith, they achieved their main goal of saving salary cap space. Removing Smith from the payroll allows them to keep other notable players that may include running back Dalvin Cook, whose future in Minnesota has also come under question as of late.

BUFFALO

The Bills are giving an opportunity to DE SHANE RAY, a first round pick in the last decade.  Alaina Getzenberg of ESPN.com:

After being out of the NFL since 2019, defensive end Shane Ray is back in the league, signing with the Buffalo Bills after trying out at the team’s rookie minicamp on Friday and Saturday.

Ray was picked 23rd overall by the Denver Broncos in the 2015 draft out of Missouri and played four seasons for the Broncos. He played in 49 games, starting 15, with 14 career sacks, 94 tackles and 33 quarterback hits. He was on the Broncos team that won Super Bowl 50, forcing a fumble in the game. Beginning in 2017, Ray dealt with a left wrist injury and subsequent surgeries.

Editor’s Picks

“Words can’t describe the emotions I’m feeling right now. So many tears, sleepless nights, depression, everything that comes with losing the game. So many days of having nothing but hope while fighting a uphill battle,” Ray wrote Saturday on his Instagram account.

Ray, 29, added there were “times that I thought maybe I should give up, but I wouldn’t be me if I folded” and that “even in my darkest moments I believed in myself. I believed in my preparation. I believed that I would have another opportunity even if the world didn’t believe.”

THIS AND THAT

NFLPA UPDATE

Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com with an update on the search for an NFLPA Executive Director as the union moved on from DeMaurice Smith:

The NFL Players Association is moving closer to selecting a new executive director. It’s unclear how close anyone is to knowing who the candidates are.

The union hasn’t identified the finalists who will be considered when the board of player representatives gather next month, ostensibly to select a new executive director.

Earlier this year, Daniel Kaplan of TheAthletic.com identified several candidates: former NFL quarterback Matt Schaub, Hall of Fame tight end Kellen Winslow Sr., NFLPA chief operating officer Teri Patterson Smith, NFLPA senior director of player affairs Don Davis, NFLPA assistant director of external affairs George Atallah, and former NFLPA president Dominique Foxworth. Some quietly disputed Kaplan’s list at the time, but no one replaced it with a different list.

Earlier this month, Jim Trotter of TheAthletic.com reported that “each of the internal candidates to be the NFLPA’s next executive director did not make the cut to finalists.” That would eliminate Smith, Davis, and Atallah.

We’ve heard a few scattered things since then, but nothing concrete. Foxworth is not believed to be a finalist. Some wonder whether former NFL receiver and former member of Congress Anthony Gonzalez is. His name first surfaced when the union decided to current executive director DeMaurice Smith for a final term.

On one hand, the NFLPA has every right to proceed with confidentiality. On the other hand, a complete lack of transparency creates suspicion as to what’s truly happening.

However it goes, it seems to be going in the direction of a new executive director, sooner than later.

It’s a thankless job. Players like Tom Brady will complain whenever they want. But stars like Brady also won’t take true and sustained leadership on union matters — and few players are willing to give up their ability to play and to get paid for regular-season games in order to pursue the greater good.

With the nuclear option never on the table, it’s not easy to get the best possible deal when negotiating with owners who won’t hesitate to take their superyachts for extended cruises in lieu of playing a season full of football games, if that’s what it takes to shatter the union’s resolve.

BROADCAST NEWS

Matt Ryan is joining CBS Sports, although he says he is not retired.  Josh Alper of ProFootballTalk.com:

Quarterback Matt Ryan hasn’t announced his retirement, but it doesn’t look like his future will include playing football.

CBS Sports announced on Monday that Ryan has been hired as a studio and game analyst for the 2023 season.

“It is truly an honor to join this exceptional team at CBS Sports,” Ryan said in a statement. “I have been blessed to have incredible teammates throughout my career and I am fortunate that will continue here working with and learning from the very best in the industry.”

Ryan joined Indianapolis last season after 14 years with the Falcons, but played poorly before being benched at midseason. He returned to action after Jeff Saturday replaced Frank Reich as the team’s head coach, but wound up back on the bench for the final three games of the year.

Ryan reiterated that he isn’t announcing his retirement in a Twitter post about his new job and he has no reason to announce his retirement now because he’s still due $12 million from the Colts for this year. There’s been no sign that anyone wants him to play for them, however, and his move into broadcasting suggests that he’s not hearing much interest behind the scenes either.

2024 DRAFT

Chris Trapasso of CBSSports.com drops a 2024 Mock Draft wherein the Giants draft a QB at #15.

At this point, we’re all expecting Caleb Williams and Marvin Harrison Jr. to go No. 1 and No. 2 overall in the 2024 NFL Draft. But what occurs after that, especially in the top 10? Where does North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye land?

In this mock, he’s headed to the nation’s capital. And Ohio State stakes its claim as Wide Receiver U with yet another duo getting selected inside the top half of the first round.

The current draft order is using SportsLine’s Super Bowl odds but in reverse order. So don’t freak about where I have your team picking.

OK, let’s get to it.

1 – ARIZONA (from Houston) Texans

Caleb Williams QB                                      USC • Soph • 6’1″ / 215 lbs

The Cardinals move on from Kyler Murray and make the easy decision to pick the uber-talented Williams.

2 – ARIZONA

Marvin Harrison Jr. WR                                 Ohio State • Soph • 6’4″ / 205 lbs

Harrison Jr. checks every box at receiver. Yes, every one. He’s an instant star in the NFL.

3 – INDIANAPOLIS

Olumuyiwa Fashanu OL                               Penn State • Soph • 6’6″ / 308 lbs

Fashanu probably would’ve been a first-round pick in 2023. He’s crazy powerful at the point of attack and is a dynamic athlete with plus balance.

4 – WASHINGTON

Drake Maye QB                                            North Carolina • Fr • 6’4″ / 220 lbs

The Commanders go with Maye to lead the club into a new chapter with a new owner. He has all the tools to be very good, very quickly in the NFL.

5 – TENNESSEE

Chop Robinson DE                                        Penn State • Soph • 6’3″ / 239 lbs

Robinson was a nightmare to block for tackles in the Big Ten last season. The Titans have to address the position, and Robinson has the burst and bend to be a top-10 pick.

6 – TAMPA BAY

Dallas Turner LB                                            Alabama • Soph • 6’4″ / 240 lbs

Turner is a former enormous recruit who will be in the spotlight at Alabama now. With a productive season in 2023, Tuner could land this high in 2024’s draft.

7 – CHICAGO (from Carolina)

J.T. Tuimoloau DE                                           Ohio State • Soph • 6’4″ / 270 lbs

Tuimoloau looks like the next supremely clean Ohio State outside pass rusher.

8 – ATLANTA

Leonard Taylor DL                                         Miami (FL) • Soph • 6’3″ / 305 lbs

Taylor is a big but athletic and refined interior rusher who’ll rock alongside Grady Jarrett in Atlanta.

9 – PITTSBURGH

Emeka Egbuka WR                                         Ohio State • Soph • 6’1″ / 205 lbs

Egbuka could very well make 2024 the second time in three years Ohio State has two receivers in the same first round.

10 – NEW ENGLAND

Brock Bowers TE                                                Georgia • Soph • 6’4″ / 230 lbs

Bowers has looked like a future top-10 pick since his freshman season at Georgia. He’s the exact prospect Bill Belichick will love.

11 – SEATTLE

Michael Penix Jr. QB                                               Washington • Jr • 6’3″ / 213 lbs

Penix quietly had a spectacular season at Washington last year. He didn’t move around quite as much as he did at Indiana. The big-time throws were littered all over his film.

12 – LA RAMS

Kool-Aid McKinstry DB                                              Alabama • Soph • 6’1″ / 188 lbs

McKinstry was tremendous in 2022 and should parlay another lockdown season at Alabama to a top-half-of-the-first-round landing spot in next year’s draft.

13 – GREEN BAY (from New Orleans)

JC Latham OL                                                              Alabama • Soph • 6’6″ / 326 lbs

Latham is a super-strong blocker with guard/tackle flexibility who’d fit nicely in Green Bay.

14 – CHICAGO

Maason Smith DT                                                       LSU • Soph • 6’5″ / 300 lbs

The Bears need to bulk up the interior of their defensive line. Smith is a havoc wreaker on the inside for the Tigers.

15 – NY GIANTS

Bo Nix QB                                                          Oregon • Sr • 6’2″ / 213 lbs

Nix went from out-of-control Auburn quarterback to dynamic star at Oregon. He’s the type of freaky athlete with a strong arm the Giants would likely gravitate toward.

16 – MINNESOTA

Quinn Ewers QB                                                  Texas • Fr • 6’2″ / 206 lbs

Ewers could make the jump early if he has a big year at Texas. While not a finished product, he has traits galore and plenty of confidence.

17 – DENVER

Joe Alt OL                                                           Notre Dame • Soph • 6’7″ / 317 lbs

Alt is the type of franchise left tackle prospect the Broncos need to seriously consider.

18 – NEW ORLEANS

Cooper Beebe OL                                             Kansas State • Jr • 6’4″ / 322 lbs

The Saints add to the offensive line with Beebe, who probably would’ve been a Day 2 pick had he entered the 2023 draft.

19 – LAS VEGAS

Jeremiah Trotter Jr. LB                                       Clemson • Soph • 6’0″ / 230 lbs

Trotter isn’t quite as bulky as his dad but plays with similar instincts and tenacity. He’s the type of second-level defender the Raiders need.

20 – HOUSTON (from Cleveland)

Jer’Zhan Newton DL                                            Illinois • Soph • 6’2″ / 295 lbs

Newton is the premier small, disruptive force on the interior in this class. Just what the Texans need.

21 – MIAMI

Zion Nelson OL                                                    Miami (FL) • Jr • 6’5″ / 316 lbs

The Dolphins stay local with Nelson, who’s been on the draft radar forever and has slowly but surely improved in his collegiate career.

22 – LA CHARGERS

Raheim Sanders RB                                             Arkansas • Soph • 6’2″ / 227 lbs

Sanders has lightning-quick explosiveness and the home-run hitting ability to be considered later in the first round next year.

23 – JACKSONVILLE or ATLANTA

Jared Verse DE                                                       Florida State • Soph • 6’4″ / 248 lbs

Verse is an older prospect but looks like a dynamic outside rusher with All-Pro flashes.

24 – DETROIT

Michael Hall Jr. DT                                              Ohio State • Soph • 6’2″ / 290 lbs

The Lions could still use some disruptive pieces on the interior next to Alim McNeill. Hall is that.

25 – BALTIMORE

 Cooper DeJean DB                                                Iowa • Soph • 6’1″ / 209 lbs

DeJean was a ballhawk in 2022 and plays with the athletic chops to play man in the NFL.

26 – DALLAS

Kamren Kinchens S                                                Miami (FL) • Soph • 5’11” / 202 lbs

Kinchens looks like the best safety prospect heading into the college football season, and the Cowboys could use better coverage from that position.

27 – NY JETS

Xavier Worthy WR                                                    Texas • Soph • 6’1″ / 163 lbs

Worthy can absolutely scoot, and he’s in for a monster season with Quinn Ewers at Texas. More firepower for Aaron Rodgers here.

28 – CINCINNATI

Kingsley Suamataia OL                                                BYU • Fr • 6’6″ / 325 lbs

The Bengals address the offensive line to keep that unit solid for the prime of Joe Burrow’s career.

29 – BUFFALO

Amarius Mims OL                                                 Georgia • Soph • 6’7″ / 330 lbs

Mims is a monstrous, powerful tackle who’ll add more sturdiness to the right side of Buffalo’s offensive line.

30 – PHILADELPHIA

Bralen Trice LB                                                    Washington • Soph • 6’4″ / 269 lbs

Trice doesn’t have freaky traits but can teach a masterclass in hand work to beat blockers.

31 – SAN FRANCISCO

Laiatu Latu LB                                                         UCLA • Jr • 6’4″ / 265 lbs

Latu is a skilled, sleek outside rusher who’ll pair awesomely with Nick Bosa.

32 – KANSAS CITY                                                 Tyleik Williams DT

Ohio State • Soph • 6’3″ / 318 lbs

The Chiefs continue to spend first-round picks on the trenches on defense. This time it’s on the interior.