THE DAILY BRIEFING

NFC NORTH

 

MINNESOTA

Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores still is in the process of suing at least three NFL teams for their failure to hire him or keep him employed.  But two teams have hired him since the law suit was fired and he’s participating in a program to let other teams know what a wonderful employee he would be.  Courtney Cronin of ESPN.com:

Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores will be among the 27 participants in the NFL’s fifth accelerator program, an event hosted by the league to strengthen the pipeline of diverse candidates for front office and coaching positions, at the league meetings in Nashville, Tennessee, next week.

 

Flores, a longtime New England Patriots assistant before becoming the head coach of the Miami Dolphins from 2019-21, filed a lawsuit in 2022 against the NFL and several teams alleging racial discrimination in its hiring practices. After being fired by the Dolphins, Flores spent a season with the Pittsburgh Steelers as a senior defensive assistant and linebackers coach before taking the Vikings defensive coordinator position in 2023.

 

Last July, a federal judge ruled that Flores can proceed to trial with his claims against the league and three teams: The Denver Broncos, New York Giants and Houston Texans. The judge ruled last March that Flores must pursue his claims against the Dolphins through arbitration.

 

Flores wasn’t an official participant in the program at last year’s spring meetings, but with the event taking part in Minneapolis he walked over to see a few people who participated. Last year, he called the program “great” and added that “exposure leads to expansion. That’s a real and true statement.”

 

The Coach Accelerator program, which began in 2022, follows the Front Office Accelerator program held at the December league meetings in Dallas. Next week’s event will also include college coaches for the first time.

 

“Developing diverse coaching talent through the Accelerator program is a key priority,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement. “In its fifth iteration, this program continues to be an effective avenue for club owners and executives to be exposed to the skillset and unique backgrounds of highly qualified coaching candidates, and for the program’s participants to network with one another and engage in professional development sessions.”

 

The event aims to introduce and familiarize candidates from diverse backgrounds with the league’s decision-makers. Thanks in part to his participation in the inaugural 2022 accelerator program, Ran Carthon was hired last year as the Tennessee Titans’ general manager from his post as the San Francisco 49ers’ director of player personnel.

 

None of the participants of the 2023 coaching accelerator program landed head coach positions in the most recent hiring cycle, but several accepted new coordinator positions, including former Buffalo Bills defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier, who was hired this year to be on Mike Macdonald’s Seattle Seahawks staff as assistant head coach.

 

Here are the rest of participants:

 

2024 Coach Accelerator Participants

 

COACH                        TEAM

Terry Braden                 Chiefs

Marcus Brady<<            Chargers

Mike Caldwell<<            Raiders

Michael Clay                 Eagles

Brian Flores                  Vikings

Pep Hamilton<< –

Al Holcomb                   Bills

Shawn Jefferson            Jets

Jerrod Johnson<<         Texans

Mike Kafka                    Giants

Thaddeus Lewis<<        Buccaneers

Charles London<<         Seahawks

Brandon Lynch               Browns

T.C. McCartney             Patriots

Ron Middleton<<           Jets

Scottie Montgomery<<  Lions

Nate Scheelhaase         Rams

Karl Scott                     Seahawks

David Shaw                   –

DeAndre Smith               Colts

Eric Washington<<        Bears

Lunda Wells                 Cowboys

Michael Wilhoite            Broncos

Marquice Williams         Falcons

Rod Wilson                   Chiefs

Dennard Wilson              Titans

Israel Woolfork               Cardinals

>>Previous participant.

 

Interesting to see former Stanford coach David Shaw on the list.

And also interesting to see that Giants OC Mike Kafka is deemed to qualify.  He’s Puerto Rican on his mother’s side:

Kafka came by his modesty and work ethic honestly, the product of an American dream realized. His maternal grandparents, factory workers in Puerto Rico, moved to the Bronx to own a bodega, eventually relocating it to Chicago, where he grew up.

NFC WEST

 

SAN FRANCISCO

An update on LB DRE GREENLAW, who could have PUP in his future.  Matthew Washington of The Score:

The San Francisco 49ers may have to begin the regular season without one of their star defenders in the lineup.

 

Niners linebacker Dre Greenlaw recently revealed that he’s still on the mend after tearing his Achilles in the second quarter of San Francisco’s Super Bowl LVIII loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in February.

 

“It’s a long, slow process, I’m feeling really, really good though,” Greenlaw said earlier in the week at a fundraising event, according to NBC Sports Bay Area’s Jordan Elliott.

 

“I’m happy to be able to walk on the stage, actually. It’s been about three months since the injury; I just recently got out of the (walking) boot. Just slowly every day rehabbing, getting the strength, getting the mobility, and doing whatever it takes to get on the field as soon as possible.”

 

The 49ers prepared for Greenlaw to potentially miss the start of the 2024 campaign as he continues his rehab, signing linebacker De’Vondre Campbell to a one-year contract in March. General manager John Lynch said adding the veteran serves as an insurance policy if Greenlaw isn’t ready to take the field in September.

 

“(Greenlaw) will tell you he’s going to be back Week 1, but we have to be smart,” Lynch said, per the San Francisco Chronicle’s Eric Branch. “That may be a PUP situation. De’Vondre gives us an opportunity to fill in for Dre if he’s not there.”

 

The timeline to recover from a torn Achilles is typically 9-12 months. If placed on the PUP list, Greenlaw would miss at least the first four games of the regular season.

AFC WEST

LAS VEGAS

QB AIDAN O’CONNELL says he has been told that he starts camp as QB1 ahead of incoming QB GARDNER MINSHEW II.  Brendan Deeg of The Score:

Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Aidan O’Connell praised head coach Antonio Pierce for giving him the chance to win the starting quarterback job in training camp.

 

“Since really AP started, he’s put a lot of confidence in me. He’s given me a great opportunity,” O’Connell said Saturday, per Vincent Bonsignore of the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

 

“I’m just trying to make the most of the opportunity. It really is a privilege and an opportunity to get to play on the team and get reps at the quarterback position.”

 

Before the draft, Pierce said the 25-year-old O’Connell had earned the right to start training camp as the team’s top signal-caller. The club didn’t draft a quarterback but had previously signed veteran Gardner Minshew to a two-year, $25-million deal in free agency. Minshew has started 37 games in his career, 13 of which came with the Indianapolis Colts last season.

 

The 28-year-old took over Indy’s starting job in Week 6 after then-rookie Anthony Richardson went down with a season-ending shoulder injury. He went 7-6 while throwing for 3,305 yards, 15 touchdowns, and nine interceptions. Indianapolis’ offense ranked 22nd in passing success rate during Minshew’s time as the starter.

 

O’Connell was thrust into the Raiders’ lead signal-caller job in Week 9 of last season after Pierce replaced the fired Josh McDaniels. He went 5-6 in 11 starts, totaling 2,218 passing yards with 12 scores and seven picks.

 

“I’m not gonna be perfect,” O’Connell said. “I have to remind myself that. I so badly wanna be perfect every time I go out there … trying to find that balance, I think, is something that’s really hard but also a challenge I enjoy.”

 

Las Vegas selected O’Connell in the fourth round of the 2023 NFL Draft out of Purdue.

AFC SOUTH

 

HOUSTON

WR TANK DELL does not appear to have been slowed down by his bullet wound. Michael David Smith of ProFootballTalk.com:

Just three weeks after suffering a gunshot wound, Texans wide receiver Tank Dell appears to be fully recovered and is going through a typical offseason workout routine.

 

Dell’s trainer posted video of him running routes and looking 100 percent healthy during a workout.

 

Dell was in a Florida bar when he was one of 10 people who were shot on April 27. All 10 people survived. A 16-year-old boy is facing charges, including multiple counts of attempted murder, for opening fire in the bar. Police say Dell had no connection to the boy and was simply unlucky to get caught in the crossfire.

 

But it appears that Dell was lucky not to be seriously injured. His outstanding rookie season ended early when he broke his leg, but as he prepares for his second season he’s able to do everything he needs to do and looks like he’ll be ready to practice without limitation in training camp.

We don’t know where Dell was shot.  Here is more on what happened in Sanford, Florida, near Orlando and famous for the George Zimmerman-Trayvon Martin incident:

None of the 10 people who were wounded in a shootout at a Florida restaurant over the weekend, including Houston Texans wide receiver Tank Dell, suffered life-threatening injuries, authorities said Monday.

 

The shootout happened early Sunday during a party at the Cabana Live restaurant in Sanford, north of Orlando. More than 200 people were at the restaurant when a 16-year-old opened fire after an altercation, followed by an unidentified male also opening fire, Seminole County Sheriff Dennis Lemma said Monday.

 

The shootout could have been much worse if not for an unnamed security guard who tackled the 16-year-old shooter, Lemma said at a news conference.

 

“The heroic actions of this security officer took a very dangerous situation and made it less significant than it potentially could have been. He tackled this guy from behind and brought him to the ground,” Lemma said. “We are incredibly lucky that nobody is dead and there aren’t more injuries.”

AFC EAST

 

MIAMI

QB TUA TAGOVIALOA is the next QB in line for a payday of $50+ million per year.  Diana Russini of The Athletic says he has showed up for OTAs:

Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa arrived for the start of Miami’s organized team activities, a team source said.

 

Tagovailoa is slated to become the next quarterback to receive a big payday. The two sides are negotiating, but Tagovailoa skipped much of the voluntary offseason work in protest of the stalled contract discussions.

 

The 26-year-old quarterback is under contract through next season and is set to play under a $23.17 million, fifth-year option if the two sides can’t come to an extension.

 

Despite not having an agreement in place, Tagovailoa arrived for the start of OTAs on Monday. Just a few weeks ago he told local media he was planning on attending the workouts, where he was a regular in seasons past.

 

Tagovailoa said he was “just letting my agent deal with that and talk to the team about that. For me, my focus is when OTAs come, go to OTAs, show up and be the best teammate I can be.”

 

Last season, Tagovailoa recorded 4,624 yards for 29 touchdowns with 14 interceptions. The Dolphins went 11-6 and lost to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC wild-card game.

 

NEW YORK JETS

Undeterred by last season’s disaster, the NFL has bet on the health and proficiency of QB AARON RODGERS.

The New York Jets landed a record number of prime-time games over the first three months of the 2024 season because the appeal of four-time MVP Aaron Rodgers was too great to ignore, the NFL acknowledged Thursday.

 

“Yes, it’s an awful lot of prime-time games early in the season, but, obviously, I feel like Jets kind of owe us one,” Mike North, the NFL’s vice president of broadcast planning, said on a video conference with reporters.

 

The Jets have six night games in the first 11 weeks, the most for any team since the 1970 merger, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The NFL and its TV networks went big on the Jets last season — five games in prime time — but it backfired when Rodgers suffered a season-ending Achilles tear in Week 1.

 

DATE                OPPONENT            TIME

Mon, Sept. 9     @49ers                   8:20 p.m., ESPN

Thu, Sept. 19    Patriots                    8:15 p.m., Prime

Mon, Oct. 14     Bills                         8:20 p.m., ESPN

Sun, Oct. 20      @Steelers               8:20 p.m., NBC

Thu, Oct. 31      Texans                    8:15 p.m., Prime

Sun, Nov. 17     Colts                       8:20 p.m., NBC

 

“When we had this conversation a year ago, we were — all of us — all-in on the Jets, and for that guy to last four plays was disheartening for many of us,” North said. “I feel like we could run it back, and certainly our broadcast partners, when they came to us early in the process talking about what storylines they want to focus on early in the season, obviously Aaron Rodgers’ return was a key one for everybody.”

 

North said the Jets were a “feisty” team even without Rodgers — they finished 7-10 — adding that they improved their roster this offseason. The 40-year-old quarterback, eight months removed from surgery, is healthy and participating in offseason drills with no restrictions, according to the Jets.

 

The Jets have two games Monday night (ESPN/ABC), two games Sunday night (NBC) and two games Thursday night (Prime Video). They open the “Monday Night Football” schedule, facing the San Francisco 49ers on Sept. 9. They could get more prime-time dates on the back end of the season because of flex scheduling, North said.

 

“Hopefully, he stays healthy and, hopefully, they’re relevant,” North said.

The Jets also have a 4:25 game with the Cardinals in Week 10 on CBS, but it will be subordinate to Philadelphia at Dallas.

 

THIS AND THAT

 

HARRISON BUTKER

Chiefs PK HARRISON BUTKER gave a commencement address at a Catholic college that touched on a number of topics that the Woke found offensive, most prominently a defense of traditional motherhood.  CNN with a summary from the side of those opposed to Butker:

In front of the crowd of about 485 male and female graduates, Butker suggested that a woman’s accomplishments in the home are more valuable than any academic or professional goals.

 

“I want to speak directly to you briefly because I think it is you, the women, who have had the most diabolical lies told to you,” he said.

 

“How many of you are sitting here now about to cross this stage and are thinking about all the promotions and titles you are going to get in your career? Some of you may go on to lead successful careers in the world, but I would venture to guess that the majority of you are most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world.”

 

Butker also praised his wife Isabelle, saying she “would be the first to say her life truly started when she began living her vocation as a wife and as a mother.”

 

Judging from the hundreds upon hundreds of critical comments on Butker’s Instagram posts and about him on X and TikTok, his remarks did not sit well with many people.

 

“This wasn’t a case of foot-in-mouth. It was a well-prepared speech,” wrote columnist Sam McDowell in the Kansas City Star. “Women listening in the audience, rather than being rewarded with a diploma on graduation day, were made to listen as he promoted the role of homemaker — not as an acceptable choice, but as their duty as a husband’s servant.”

 

It also didn’t sit well with many people that Butker invoked Swift, the pop star who is dating Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce and who was a frequent sight at Chiefs games this past season, including the Super Bowl.

 

Butker likely became the first person in history to quote a Taylor Swift song while criticizing Catholic priests for catering too much to the feelings of their parishioners. “As my teammate’s girlfriend says: ‘Familiarity breeds contempt,’” Butker said at one point, quoting Swift’s song “Bejeweled” (and, by extension, a common turn of phrase).

 

Conservative voices have praised Butker’s speech for being “100% correct” and for reflecting his self-professed deep Catholic faith. However, his reference to Swift — a childless, unmarried superstar and feminist figure who by Butker’s own definition is not living up to her potential — has prompted additional outcry.

 

Feminists and Taylor Swift fans have fired back

Butker, 28, has been with the Chiefs for seven seasons. He kicked four field goals as the Chiefs edged the San Francisco 49ers, 25-22, in February to win the Super Bowl.

 

Before his speech, Butker’s Instagram account was rather innocuous: Mostly photos of his gameday outfits paired with Bible quotes, posed shots next to conservative figures and bits of Christian wisdom, all met with generally hospitable commentary from fans.

 

Now, nearly every recent post on his account has been overrun with insults, some questioning how Butker feels about women like Swift, who have found success outside of marriage and motherhood:

 

“I feel bad for those poor women who looked forward to their graduation and had you inflicted upon them.”

 

“Have a talk with Travis about how you can be successful, masculine AND still incredibly supportive of your girlfriend’s career.”

 

The deluge of criticism reached almost every corner of social media, and people took notice.

 

“As a woman, does watching Harrison Butker get cooked online count as being in the kitchen,” reads one popular post on X.

 

“I’ll let the Swifties handle Harrison Butker,” reads another.

 

Commenters and social influencers also picked up on another piece of information that appears at odds with Butker’s worldview. His mother, Elizabeth Keller Butker, is a medical physicist at Emory University’s Winship Cancer Institute in Atlanta and holds, among other academic accolades, a degree in chemistry from Smith College, a private women’s liberal arts college in Massachusetts.

 

“What does your mom think about your little speech, Harrison?” asked Vicki Chan, a doctor and TikTok creator with more than 500,000 followers.

 

CNN has reached out to Benedictine College, where Butker gave his address, and is awaiting a response.

 

The backlash comes as the NFL is trying to court female fans

While the fallout from Butker’s address is messy enough already, there’s another complicating detail to consider.

 

The NFL has tried to woo female fans for years. When Swift began appearing at Chiefs games last fall to support her boyfriend Kelce, female interest in the NFL skyrocketed. Super Bowl LVIII, in which the Chiefs beat the San Francisco 49ers and the superstar couple shared picture-perfect embraces after the victory, was the most-watched Super Bowl ever. Even NFL commissioner Roger Goodell acknowledged the “Taylor Swift effect” on the season.

 

To many, Butker’s comments are a kick in the face to a burgeoning, and valuable, demographic of NFL fans.

 

“Hey NFL. If you want to continue to grow your female fan base and any other marginalized group (straight white men are already watching your product), come get your boy,” tweeted former “Monday Night Football” reporter Lisa Guerrero.

 

Some commenters also asked the Chiefs to issue a response to Butker’s remarks in the interest of their female fans. So far, the Chiefs have not made a public comment.

 

Butker’s speech contained other polarizing comments

While Butker’s remarks about women and Taylor Swift inspired a very specific sort of backlash, critics had plenty to say about the other parts of his speech, too. A few details in particular have stirred up discontent:

 

• Butker criticized President Joe Biden, who is Catholic, and other unnamed Catholic leaders for “pushing dangerous gender ideologies onto the youth of America” — an apparent reference to transgender rights.

 

• In a swipe at LGBTQ communities, Butker encouraged graduates to have Catholic pride, but “not the deadly sin sort of pride that has an entire month dedicated to it.”

 

• Butker also waded into the DEI debate, saying, “The world around us says that we should keep our beliefs to ourselves whenever they go against the tyranny of diversity, equity and inclusion.”

 

In response to his comments about diversity, Tennessean reporter Andrea Williams pointed out Butker shares the field with Patrick Mahomes, who is considered one of the best players of his generation and is one of only a handful of Black quarterbacks to win a Super Bowl.

 

“Harrison Butker doesn’t have three Super Bowl rings without Patrick Mahomes,” she wrote. “And without those Super Bowl rings, he doesn’t have the aforementioned praise or platform.”

The most prominent women in the family that owns the Chiefs have come out on his side.  FOX4C.com:

Following the petition, Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones tweeted out in support of Butker on Thursday.

 

“I love you @buttkicker7! My brotha,” Jones tweeted out on X Thursday evening.

 

Jones was the first Chiefs representative to make any statement on Butker after Saturday’s speech.

 

Gracie Hunt, daughter of Chiefs owner Clark Hunt, voiced her support on Friday morning for Butker as well.

 

“I can only speak from my own experience,” she began on FOX & friends. “I’ve had the most incredible mom who had the ability to stay home and be with us as kids growing up. I understand that there are many women out there who can’t make that decision but for me and my life, I know it was really formative in shaping me and my siblings to be who we are.

 

“I really respect Harrison and his Christian faith and what he’s accomplished on and off the field.”

 

On Thursday evening, Gracie’s mother, Tavia, posted on Instagram stating how much she believes finding a spouse and raising a family is “one of the greatest blessings this world has to offer.”

 

“I’ve always encouraged my daughters to be highly educated and chase their dreams,” Tavia said in the post. “I want them to know that they can do whatever they want (that honors God). But I also want them to know that I believe finding a spouse who loves and honors you as or before himself and raising a family together is one of the greatest blessings this world has to offer.”

 

“Studies show that committed, married couples with children are the happiest demographic, and this has been my experience as well,” Tavia said. “Affirming motherhood and praising your wife, as well as highlighting the sacrifice and dedication it takes to be a mother, is not bigoted.”

 

Tavia posted pictures of her with her daughters Gracie and Ava in the post. Tavia is also the Director of the Kansas City Chiefs Women’s Organization.

 

“It is empowering to acknowledge that a woman’s hard work in raising children is not in vain. Countless highly educated women devote their lives to nurturing and guiding their children. Someone disagreeing with you doesn’t make them hateful; it simply means they have a different opinion.”

 

“Let’s celebrate families, motherhood and fatherhood,” she said, citing Bible verse Proverbs 31:28. “Our society desperately needs dedicated men and women to raise up and train the next generation in the way they should go. Embracing the beautiful roles that God has made is something to celebrate.

 

“We need more dialogue (and VALUES IMO) in this country and less hate.”‘

And we note that Whoppi Goldberg did not condemn.  EI Online:

“I like when people say what they need to say—he’s at a Catholic College, he’s a staunch Catholic,” she said during the May 16 episode of The View. “These are his beliefs and he’s welcome to him. I don’t have to believe them, right? I don’t have to accept them. The ladies that were sitting in that audience do not have to accept them.”

 

She also compared the situation to Colin Kaepernick’s taking a knee during the national anthem, explaining, “The same way we want respect when Colin Kaepernick takes a knee, we want to give respect to people whose ideas are different from ours.”

 

But while she expressed her belief that Harrison is entitled to his views, the 68-year-old noted that doesn’t mean those in the audience—at the graduation and now beyond—have to take what he said to heart.

 

“I’m okay with him saying whatever he says and the women who are sitting there if they take his advice, good for them, they’ll be happy,” she added. “If they don’t go for them, they will be happy a different way. That’s my attitude.”

And Bill Maher:

The backlash has been intense and unrelenting, and it almost all centers on Butker’s comments suggesting being a homemaker is what will bring peak happiness for a married woman – a belief many feel.

 

Well, Bill Maher has no interest in piling on. In fact, he’s not sure what Butker did to even get people all spun up.

 

“I don’t see what the big crime is. I really don’t, and I think this is part of the problem people have with the left. Is that lots of people in the country are like this. Like, he’s saying, ‘Some of you may go on to lead successful careers, but a lot of you are excited about this other way that everybody used to be.’ And, now, can’t that just be a choice too? And I feel like they feel very put upon. Like, there’s only one way to be a good person, and that’s to get an advanced degree from one of those a**hole factories like Harvard,” Maher told his audience Friday night on “Real Time with Bill Maher.”

Butker seems to have no shortage of supporters, albeit not the kind that post on social media.  Austin Nivison of CBSSports.com:

Harrison Butker currently has the top-selling jersey on the Kansas City Chiefs following the controversial statements he made during a recent commencement speech at Benedictine College. As of Friday afternoon, sales of the veteran kicker’s jersey are even outpacing those of teammates Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce, according to the official NFL Shop.

 

Listed among the “Top Sellers” on the official website, Butker’s No. 7 jersey has gotten quite a bump after the kicker’s polarizing remarks. CBS Sports has reached out to the NFL about the specific sales numbers.

Clay Travis:

Not one single NFL player has criticized Harrison Butker for what he said. You know why? Because almost all of them agree with him. The gap between what players — and coaches — believe and what the sports media who covers them believes is seismic.

 

BROADCAST NEWS

As a pending minority owner of the Raiders, Tom Brady can call the games of all 32 teams.  But the NFL has been cagey about what happens when and if he is approved.  Shanna McCairston of CBSSports.com:

After retiring, unretiring and then retiring again, quarterback Tom Brady has officially hung up the cleats, but he is far from done in the football world. The seven-time Super Bowl champion’s retirement ventures have kept him heavily involved in the league.

 

This season, Brady is moving to the Fox broadcast booth where he will serve as a color commentator. He is simultaneously looking to become a minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders, seemingly causing a conflict of interest.

 

Being an owner of a team and having non-bias commentary behind the microphone don’t seem to mix, but for right now all 32 teams could have Brady calling their games. This may change if and when the deal with the Raiders goes through.

 

“Right now, Tom’s not an owner of the Raiders, and as we go into this year, Tom’s able to call any game on the schedule,” NFL executive vice president of media distribution Hans Schroeder said, via NBC Sports.

 

The quote suggests that if Brady becomes an owner, there could be limitations on which games he is assigned. The Raiders’ AFC West rivals may be hesitant in allowing No. 12 to get too close to the team the week he is set to broadcast one of their games. 

 

The first game of Brady’s broadcast career is set to be the Dallas Cowboys against the Browns in Cleveland in Week 1 at 4:25 p.m. ET.

 

Brady and Raiders owner Mark Davis agreed on the future Hall of Famer to become a majority owner last May. The process has taken a while and is more involved than just the team owner giving their approval. In order for the deal to go through, the NFL and three-fourths majority of team owners need approve the transaction.

 

One reported reason the deal has been delayed is due to the low price. Brady is attempting to purchase around 5-10 percent of the team. Other reports state his broadcasting job is another reason to deny him from owning part of a team.

 

At the NFL annual league meetings, commissioner Roger Goodell gave an update, saying he “wouldn’t say it’s a delay.”

 

“We go through a very thorough process on all initial transfers, so we’re just going through that process. We’ve been in touch with their side and the Raiders. I think it’s making progress,” Goodell said.

 

Just how much longer it could take to get approved is not known.

 

THE UPCOMING QB MARKET

Jeff Howe of The Athletic on where things are headed:

Will the NFL quarterback market eventually stabilize or keep skyrocketing toward $60 million annually?

 

A new wave of massive NFL quarterback contracts is on the horizon, and this pack of pacts will shed unique light on the future finances of the position.

 

The Jacksonville Jaguars’ Trevor Lawrence, Green Bay Packers’ Jordan Love and Miami Dolphins’ Tua Tagovailoa are seeking the first nine-figure deals of their careers. Meanwhile, the Dallas Cowboys’ Dak Prescott is amid discussions for a big-money extension. It’s also not inconceivable to think the Buffalo Bills’ Josh Allen will eventually rework his contract to elevate his standing on the salary scale.

 

All will thank Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff who firmed up the market Monday when he agreed to a four-year, $212 million contract that included $170 million guaranteed, according to a league source. Goff’s deal will surely be used as a starting point for the others’ negotiations, as it followed a seismic shift in the market in 2023 when four QB contracts exceeded $50 million in average annual value and two more hit $40 million per year.

 

The market began to tilt in 2018 when Matt Ryan signed a five-year, $150 million contract with the Atlanta Falcons to become the first quarterback in history to earn $30 million annually. Now such a deal would rank 17th at the position.

 

And if Lawrence, Love and Tagovailoa earn their new contracts this year, there will be 19 quarterbacks making at least $30 million annually, including 15 topping $40 million.

 

It’s easy to credit the rising salary cap, which jumped from $177.2 million in 2018 to $255.4 million this year, but the surge in QB salaries goes deeper than that. Strictly by average annual value, Ryan’s deal would have consumed 16.9 percent of the 2018 salary cap. Now 10 quarterbacks have AAVs exceeding that percentage of the cap. (Average annual value does not equate to a player’s salary-cap hit. These numbers were used to quantify the rise in quarterbacks’ salary against the team cap.)

 

More than anything, as quarterbacks have become more important in the passing era, they’ve played a game of leapfrog at the negotiating table. The recent history is important to understand before projecting the next set of deals.

 

The one-upmanship was evident last year when four of the NFL’s elite quarterbacks were up for extensions. Philadelphia Eagles QB Jalen Hurts signed a record deal worth $255 million over five years, or $51 million annually. Ten days later, the Baltimore Ravens’ Lamar Jackson hit $52 million (five years, $260 million). Three months after that, Los Angeles Chargers QB Justin Herbert signed for $52.5 million (five years, $262.5 million). And six weeks later, the Cincinnati Bengals’ Joe Burrow hit the $55 million mark (five years, $275 million), which still stands as the benchmark.

 

Before those deals, the league was still in a tricky spot in the wake of Deshaun Watson’s fully guaranteed five-year, $230 million contract with the Cleveland Browns. Quarterbacks such as Jackson pushed for fully guaranteed packs of their own — who could blame them? — but teams resisted, citing Watson’s unique circumstances on a sign-and-trade with a team and owner who was starved for a star at the position.

 

As much as the Denver Broncos will rue it for years, Russell Wilson’s five-year, $245 million extension in 2022 stabilized the market because the full guarantees comprised only about 50 percent of the total dollars. The pacts for Jackson, Herbert and Burrow closer resembled that model, furthering teams’ prognostications that Watson’s deal was an outlier.

 

It’s fair to wonder whether a similar reset happened in March when Baker Mayfield re-signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for three years and $100 million ($33.3 million annually) a day before Kirk Cousins joined the Atlanta Falcons for four years and $180 million ($45 million per year).

 

Though neither player was viewed as a candidate to hit the $50 million tier, it was at least believed Mayfield could match Daniel Jones’ four-year, $160 million pact with the New York Giants. Cousins had free agency as his leverage, but he is coming off a torn Achilles and will turn 36 in August, which tempered his value as the best QB to hit the open market in several years. (The Athletic previously detailed the negotiations between Mayfield, Cousins and their respective teams.)

 

Make no mistake, Mayfield and Cousins maximized their earnings in the market. But in a league so desperate for proven commodities at quarterback, teams remained relatively prudent. Each QB landed in a fair contractual tier, not wholly unlike the return to normalcy after Watson’s guaranteed deal.

 

This trend suggests those tiers are more likely to stick than the idea of the never-ending game of leapfrog, but there’s still some mystique to the matter.

 

Trevor Lawrence

Lawrence had a breakthrough season in 2022 before the Jaguars dealt with a collective setback during their tailspin finish to 2023. The Jaguars have prepared for a max-value-style contract for a couple of years, but the numbers will hinge on Lawrence’s urgency to sign.

 

If Lawrence is the next QB to ink a contract, he’d likely slot in the neighborhood of $51 million to $55 million annually, perhaps for five years and $265 million, including $135 million fully guaranteed. That’d sandwich Lawrence between Burrow and Herbert as the second-highest-paid quarterback in the league.

 

But what if Lawrence waits? Even if there’s a wider range of variables with future deals for Love and Tagovailoa, it’s not entirely out of the realm of possibilities that one or both raise the bar. Or if Allen swoops in and signs an extension for something closer to $60 million annually, that’d surely help Lawrence’s case to trump the Burrow financials.

 

In the not-so-distant past, teams wanted to sign quarterbacks early to avoid messy holdouts and the backlash from their fan bases. They also hoped the player would take a little less to mitigate the injury risk.

 

However, quarterbacks now generally bounce back quicker than ever from major injuries, and Prescott set a precedent in 2021 when he signed his four-year, $160 million extension five months after a gruesome ankle fracture and dislocation. Quality quarterbacks no longer need to rush to the negotiating table because there’s far less of a risk the money will disappear.

 

Jackson also pushed the envelope. His playing style had been scrutinized since entering the NFL, even after winning the MVP award in 2019, and he suffered season-ending injuries in 2021 and 2022. Jackson also appeared prepared to go year by year on the franchise tag until signing his extension; he then won his second MVP in 2023.

 

Tua Tagovailoa

Tagovailoa could conceivably follow a similar path. He’s been very good in two seasons under coach Mike McDaniel but dealt with concussion issues in 2022 before playing a full season in 2023.

 

Now entering his fifth-year option, would Tagovailoa consider going year to year if the Dolphins aren’t interested in crossing the $50 million threshold? Conversely, the Dolphins might also prefer to see more out of Tagovailoa before locking him into a long-term agreement. Hypothetically, if they view him as a $45 million player but Tagovailoa won’t take less than Goff’s contract — along with all the guaranteed money that would lock him in for three years — the Dolphins might see the benefit of waiting until next offseason. The risk would be a bloated tag figure in 2025 with the leverage swinging in Tagovailoa’s direction.

 

Jordan Love

Love isn’t all that different. Though he was undeniably among the best quarterbacks down the stretch last season, the sample size remains limited. And although the Packers have more than just game film to project Love’s true trajectory, they also sought in 2023 to give him a one-year, $13 million extension for the 2024 season rather than exercising a $20.3 million fifth-year option. So even they weren’t sure how he’d handle the full-time job.

 

Love won’t be in such a rush to leave anything on the table this time. Right now, the Packers have the leverage because Love is set to be the 22nd-highest-paid QB in 2024, just between the Las Vegas Raiders’ Gardner Minshew and Minnesota Vikings’ Sam Darnold, according to Over the Cap. However, if Love plays out the season under the current terms and proves the 2023 stretch run was no fluke, he’ll have a case to become the NFL’s top earner.

 

These quarterback cases aren’t all the same, but the common denominator is always the timing of the deal.

 

Josh Allen and Dak Prescott

Just look at Allen, who signed a six-year, $258 million extension in 2021. His $30.4 million cap figure in 2024 is a luxury for the Bills, but it jumps to $43.2 million in 2025 and skyrockets to $63.9 million in 2026. Not only will the Bills need to rework the figures by then, but Allen also ranks ninth now with an average annual value of $43 million. Since he’s under contract through 2028, this is a rare case when the team and player should be incentivized to revise the deal. He’ll very likely be the NFL’s highest-paid player when that happens.

 

Prescott, who turns 31 in July, also holds the leverage in his case. He’s set to earn $29 million in cash in the final year of his contract, but the Cowboys are on the hook for a $55.1 million cap hit. Financially for both sides, it appears more likely Prescott would hit free agency in 2025 before securing his next deal, whether it’s in Dallas or elsewhere.

 

Prescott would be the market’s prized quarterback, assuming Love and Tagovailoa are tagged or extended by then. The longtime Cowboy should then easily surpass Goff’s new deal in that scenario.

 

Quarterback Jared Goff just scored a four-year, $212 million contract extension from the Detroit Lions. (Patrick McDermott / Getty Images)

Jared Goff

Goff’s contract will be celebrated by his quarterback peers. While he ranked in the top six in passing yards and touchdowns in each of the past two seasons — a career revival that has mirrored the Lions’ collective ascension — the 29-year-old has rarely been mentioned among the league’s elite.

 

Now ranked second in average annual value ($53 million), there might be a new benchmark for the game’s best to start their contractual discussions. Goff may have raised the floor in a similar manner to the way Daniel Jones shaped the second-tier QB market with his $40 million annual package last offseason.

 

It’s an important stretch in the quarterback business because there’s a path for most of these deals to be settled within the next year. And though there’s always room for extensions to boost existing deals, drama with franchise tags or the so-called underdog who deserves a life-changing raise — such as the San Francisco 49ers’ Brock Purdy or perhaps the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Justin Fields in 2025 — this could be the final wave of market-altering contracts before the Houston Texans’ C.J. Stroud is eligible for his second pact in 2026.

 

The market has changed so rapidly over the past six years that it’s become a challenge for teams to keep up. After the biggest surge yet in 2023, the trend might be reducing speed, with the elite quarterbacks still in line to break financial barriers with others slotting into lower tiers behind them.