The Daily Briefing Monday, May 9, 2022

ESPN/ABC’s Monday Night doubleheader, this year in Week 2, is now known.  Jenna Lemoncelli of the New York Post:

ESPN’s new “Monday Night Football” broadcast team in Joe Buck and Troy Aikman dropped a surprise announcement on Monday’s episode of “Good Morning America.”

The former Fox broadcasters, who left the network for ESPN this offseason, announced the special Week 2 showcase event with a pair of primetime Monday matchups.

ESPN and ABC will air two NFL games on Sept. 19 — beginning with the Titans-Bills game at 7:15 p.m. ET on ESPN, and the Vikings-Eagles matchup starting at 8:30 p.m. ET on ABC. It is unclear which of the games Buck and Aikman will call that evening.

In recent years, ESPN had a Week 1 doubleheader with the second game starting after the first. Last season, the network moved back to a single game in the opening week of the season.

The Week 2 doubleheader differs in that both games will be on at the same time for a majority of the games. The full 2022 NFL schedule will be released on Thursday with more announcements anticipated throughout the week.

Aikman and Buck, who’ve called over 300 games together for Fox, will step into the “Monday Night Football” booth on Sept. 12.

Peter King:

One veteran club boss called the 2022 draft “rational,” which I thought was spot on. “It didn’t seem like teams acted out of desperation,” he said. Teams really didn’t like the quarterback crop and so, after the Steelers picked Kenny Pickett 20th and said they’d give him a chance to win the job as heir to Ben Roethlisberger in camp, QBs were picked as backup plans: 74th (Desmond Ridder), 86th (Malik Willis) and 94th (Matt Corral). This puts zero pressure on teams to play any of these players this year. Willis, in particular, was seen by scouts as a project. Now, he can learn the position and the pro game, and if Ryan Tannehill plays poorly this year, Willis could be in position to challenge for the job in 16 months. If Willis had been a first-round pick, the clock would tick till he played—this year.

There was one trade that showed rationality: Detroit moved up 20 spots, from 32 to 12, to take a potential number one receiver, Jameson Williams. The Lions traded the 32nd, 34th and 66th pick to Minnesota for the 12th and 46th picks. Normally, the 12th pick would fetch more. But the Vikings didn’t love a player at 12; in their estimation, four picks between 32 and 66 were better than 12, 46 and 77. Of course, we won’t know for two or three years if Vikes GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah was right in the first big trade of his GM career.

NFC NORTH

CHICAGO

Peter King:

Panthers keep chasing quarterbacks. In trading up into the low third round to take Matt Corral, Carolina dealt its third-round pick next year to New England to sweeten the deal. To me, it just continues to show the pressure from the owner to find the next quarterback. If Sam Darnold proves he’s not the guy this year and Corral is shaky in whatever 2022 opportunity he has, Carolina will be back at QB Ground Zero nine months from now—and without a ’23 third-rounder as ammo to move.

NFC EAST

NEW YORK GIANTS

Mike Sando’s gang of anonymous execs were fine with the Giants on draft day – at least the first round:

As one exec put it, no one would be shocked if the two players the Giants drafted in the first round, Kayvon Thibodeaux and Evan Neal, became the two best players in the draft. Both were such highly regarded talents. But the move that might have truly put this Giants draft over the top proved elusive for reasons the team could not necessarily control.

Alas, securing a 2023 first-round pick by trading down from either the fifth or seventh slot would have been an ideal move on paper for a Giants team that did not pick up the fifth-year option for Daniel Jones and could therefore need additional draft capital to maneuver for a quarterback in the draft next year.

“At one point, Neal and Thibodeaux were both considered potential top overall picks, and the Giants ended up with both of them,” an exec said. “They are both premier positions, so it is hard to fault them. Assuming they could not trade back, they did well with those two.”

Zero 2023 picks in the first or second rounds changed hands during the draft. The Texans and Seahawks acquired such picks before the draft but had to trade franchise quarterbacks in doing so. The Eagles also secured a 2023 first thanks to the Saints, who climbed to 16 in a deal with Philadelphia, then inched higher to 11 in a swap with Washington. No picks in the top 10 were traded during the draft.

The Giants took Thibodeaux at five because they knew they’d have one of the top tackles waiting for them at seven, whereas the top pass-rushers were nearly gone.

“The Giants should be fine with how it played out,” an exec said. “The short arms on Hutchinson were a concern. Some were concerned about the lack of production for Walker even though the guy has been moved around, can do a lot of things and is a great character kid. Thibodeaux is probably the best natural pass-rusher of the group.”

PHILADELPHIA

Mike Sando of The Athletic with thoughts on the Eagles moves:

The Eagles traded up in the first round for a defensive tackle who played limited snaps in college. They selected only five players, none at premium positions. They also traded a first-round pick with its cost-controlled contract for the right to pay a veteran receiver $25 million per year at a time when colleges are producing more pro-ready wideouts than ever.

The Eagles did all these things, and the league applauded. Thank you, Saints.

“Just by doing the trade with New Orleans where they got the future one and two, and the three this year, that by itself made their draft a win,” an exec said.

Acquiring 24-year-old receiver A.J. Brown from Tennessee was generally seen as another win because the guarantee structure was relatively favorable, the Eagles have struggled to draft wideouts in the first round and the team enjoys greater salary-cap flexibility than many others while functioning without a highly paid quarterback.

“I’ll be honest, if (GM) Howie (Roseman) takes another first-round receiver to go with Reagor and Smith and they still struggle to pass the ball?” an exec said. “I think it’s a lot easier for them to get a known commodity, a guy who has proven he works well off play-action, that has a connection with the quarterback, whose new head coach has seen up-close from his own days coaching the AFC South.”

Acquiring Brown was a win-now move if Jalen Hurts is the right quarterback for the Eagles. If not, it’s a move that could make the Eagles more attractive to a veteran quarterback next season, or it could help the next quarterback if the Eagles draft one. They do hold the Saints’ first-round pick next year plus the Saints’ second-rounder in 2024.

WASHINGTON

Mike Sando of The Athletic with insight on Washington’s first round selection, WR JAHAN DOTSON:

What you think about the Commanders’ draft could depend upon what you think of Chris Olave and Jameson Williams in relation to another receiver, Jahan Dotson.

Washington, in trading back from 11 to 16 in the first round, watched other teams draft Olave and Williams before taking Dotson. For moving back, Washington also picked up the 98th pick, used for running back Brian Robinson, and the 120th pick, which was re-traded in a deal that helped the Commanders draft quarterback Sam Howell atop the fifth round.

“The teams that trade back, who they end up drafting are usually the guys they would have taken had they stayed and picked anyway,” an exec said. “The Patriots knew they were not going to lose Cole Strange trading back eight spots. Same with the Commanders and Dotson. Some had a dropoff after four or five receivers, but others had Dotson in that mix.”

Again, how you see Dotson is the key. Some think he projects as another Tyler Lockett. Washington has speed throughout much of its receiving corps: Terry McLaurin, Curtis Samuel, Dyami Brown and now Dotson. Possession receivers, they are not.

“Dotson actually projects slightly higher than Treylon Burks in some ways, but Burks is higher because he has true outside wide receiver No. 1 potential,” another exec said. “I love Dotson, but to me receivers are like guards in the NBA — you can find them in multiple rounds, you can find them all over the place, unless it is a DK Metcalf or A.J. Brown or someone who can be a true No. 1. I see Dotson as more of a slot.”

Dotson has already missed a practice – but with the blessing of Coach Ron Rivera.  Josh Alper of ProFootballTalk.com:

Commanders rookies reported for a minicamp this weekend, but one notable member of the group was not there for all of the activities.

First-round pick Jahan Dotson didn’t take part in the team’s workout on Saturday because he was back at Penn State for graduation ceremonies. The wide receiver said graduating was a big deal for him because “many people in my family haven’t achieved this goal,” but that he wasn’t planning to take time off from minicamp until he spoke to head coach Ron Rivera.

“I was actually ready to skip the graduation and be out here at practice,” Dotson said. “But he said that’s a once in a million type of thing. He was all for me going, so I honestly hadn’t even thought about skipping practice until he kind of brought that up.”

Dotson said the combination of being drafted, starting minicamp and graduating from college made for the “most exciting, spontaneous week of my life.” Now he’ll turn all his attention toward football in hopes of making an immediate and positive impact on the Washington offense.

NFC SOUTH

NEW ORLEANS

The Saints were out “destroying” draft value, despite getting two good players in the first round.  Mike Sando of The Athletic:

Atlanta is rebuilding, Carolina is in some turmoil and the Saints are 4-0 against the Tom Brady-led Buccaneers. Perhaps that is why the Saints are behaving as if they are a player or two away from contending despite Drew Brees’ retirement and Sean Payton’s resignation. That is not how the rest of the league views New Orleans with Jameis Winston behind center.

After all their trading up, the Saints landed receiver Chris Olave and tackle Trevor Penning in the first round. Their cost: picks 18, 98, 101, 120 and 237 in this draft, plus their 2023 first-rounder and 2024 second-rounder.

“The Saints were mind-boggling, how much value they destroyed by trading up,” an exec said.

Another exec noted that when the Saints enjoyed their historically great draft in 2017, they selected Marshon Lattimore and Ryan Ramczyk in the first round without trading up (Ramczyk and third-rounder Trey Hendrickson were selected with picks New Orleans acquired in the Brandin Cooks trade, while Alvin Kamara was drafted with a high third-round choice acquired for a second-round pick in 2018).

“They got solid starters in Olave and Penning, but it’s just not worth what they gave up,” an exec said. “That is the other thing that really stood out to me is the teams who view the draft as a market and totally manipulate the market and understand how to, like Howie Roseman is great at it, compared to the teams that don’t, the teams that trade up for this need or whatever the case may be. If you are trading up for a Julio Jones, maybe I understand because certain guys are so gifted and talented, but Chris Olave, as much as I love him, is not one of them.”

Peter King crunches the numbers on Olave:

I did like the 11th pick in the draft, Ohio State wide receiver Chris Olave, selected by New Orleans after a trade-up with Washington. Olave, multiple GMs told me, is the most NFL-ready of the receiver group, a precise route-runner, tough and consistently productive, and a sub-4.4 guy.

But that was one heck of a commitment the Saints made to get him.

Per the Jimmy Johnson draft trade value chart, the 11th pick in the draft is worth about 1,250 points of trade value. And by my approximation, the Saints paid about 1,942 points for it. New Orleans used value from two trades to move up to take Olave—the one with Philadelphia in which they acquired the 16th overall pick, and then the one with Washington in which they traded up to 11. Scrape away all the fluff, and here’s what the Saints used altogether to move up to the 11th overall choice:

Picks 16, 98 and 120 in 2022

First-round pick in 2023

Second-round pick in 2024

The 11th pick on the Johnson trade chart is worth 1,250 points. The 16th is worth 1,000, with the 98th worth 108 and 120th worth 54. I counted next year’s one as being worth the least amount of points for a first-rounder (590) and the second-rounder in 2023 as being worth a mid-third-round pick (190) in today’s value. There are many ways to extrapolate the value of those picks, but I chose to decrease the value by half-a-round per year. Total value of the five picks: 1,942.

(You might wonder about the other picks involved in both trades, which is fair. I equated the two other first-round picks involved in the trade with Philly, because 18 and 19 are so close in value, and I equated the late-round picks exchanged because they too are so close in value.)

I understand why New Orleans did it. It’s a Rams-type move. Maximize your chances today, worry about tomorrow tomorrow. Three pieces to this:

1. Olave’s ready to contribute opening day, to a team very much in need of a productive wide receiver, particularly after Michael Thomas has had two straight washout seasons. Thomas should be healthy this year, but they don’t sell insurance for that, as Bill Parcells was fond of saying.

2. The Saints are ready to win now, and think they can win now. And why shouldn’t they think that? In four regular-season games against the Tom Brady Bucs, they’re 4-0, with an average victory margin of 16 points.

3. I believe some of this is GM Mickey Loomis sending a message to his team post-Brees/Payton. The message: We’re not building for 2025 here. We’re in it to win it now. With a defense ready-made to win now, the acquisition of Olave (and Tyrann Mathieu) says New Orleans thinks it can make a deep run this year. Loomis wants the players to believe it too.

NFC WEST

SAN FRANCISCO

WR/RB DEEBO SAMUEL is transcendent as a tool of Kyle Shanahan.  But not every team would utilize him the way Shanahan does and there are reports Samuel is none to thrilled with being anything other than a receiver.  One of Mike Sando’s execs further explains:

“Deebo does not transcend scheme,” an exec said. “He is elite in his niche, but there is a reason he was a second-round pick. His run-after-catch is elite, but there is some stiffness, some route limitations. If you are in a lateral zone scheme, you almost treat him as a running back with jet motion and movement to get him going. Not every team is going to do that.”

SEATTLE

QB DREW LOCK may have some rust on him, but Pete Carroll likes him better than any of the shiny, if imperfect, new QBs in the Class of 2022.

Seahawks coach Pete Carroll thinks Drew Lock is better than any quarterback who was selected in the 2022 NFL draft.

Carroll said on Sports Radio KJR that Lock — who went to the Broncos with the 42nd pick in the 2019 draft — would have been chosen ahead of first-round pick Kenny Pickett or any other quarterback in the 2022 draft.

 “I think he’d have been the first guy picked, of quarterbacks anyway. He’d have been the first guy in this draft. I don’t have any hesitation saying that,” Carroll said.

Carroll said he’s been extremely impressed with the work Lock has done since arriving in Seattle as part of the Russell Wilson trade.

“The first look at Drew, he’s really athletic, he’s really a confident athlete, you can see he’s got a lot of body control, he’s got quick feet, he’s got a quick arm, he’s got various ways he can release the football as his body’s in different positions,” Carroll said. “He’s got a real knack there. He’s got a strong arm, he can throw the ball a mile down the field. He compares to Geno, and Geno Smith has a great arm. He has a world-class arm, and all that. To match up with that, that’s saying a lot.”

Carroll said he likes what he sees from Lock, Smith and Jacob Eason.

“All three of our guys have great arms,” Carroll said. “They can rip the ball around the field. We’ve had a full week of seeing these guys out there. They’re really talented, arm talent-wise, so that’s there. They’re big, they’re sharp, they move well.”

Despite talk that the Seahawks will add another quarterback, Carroll sounds like he’s content to head into 2022 with the quarterbacks he has.

This from Mike Sando of The Athletic:

Seattle simply agreed to sell high on Russell Wilson with two years left on his contract and following the most successful decade in franchise history, even though Drew Lock was the only new alternative to Wilson on the roster.

“Maybe they are tired of being held hostage,” an exec said. “Do I think Drew Lock is the answer? No. Did Seattle do what they needed to do to cover themselves for the loss of Russell Wilson? Does any team ever do enough to cover itself for the loss of a Tier 1 quarterback? When you get a quarterback like that, you are expecting 10 wins when he walks in the building.”

Some thought Seattle would select a quarterback in the draft. The Seahawks did not, which some interpreted as misplaced faith in Lock.

“Their fascination with Drew Lock feels like a contrarian, ‘Hey, we are going to win running the ball and our evaluation of Drew Lock was right,’” an exec said. “Only a Super Bowl-winning coach who has tenure and is feeling secure can do that. This will either be the greatest ‘I told you so’ or it could be, ‘Hey, you know what, I gave it a great run and no one is going to remember this part when it is said and done anyway.’”

Yet, the picks Seattle acquired from Denver for Wilson include first- and second-rounders next year, making this a two-year rebuild. The same goes for the Texans, who did not draft a quarterback and also are loaded with draft capital in 2023.

“You don’t draft a bad quarterback for the positional value,” an exec said. “You can take a year and see what you’ve got. Do you trade everything for a quarterback next year? Yeah, if it is the right one. That is something they have to figure out.”

AFC WEST

LAS VEGAS

Mark Davis fires the Raiders president.  The now ex-president goes after Davis as a sexual harasser.  Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com:

Paging Mary Jo White.

The abrupt departure of team president Dan Ventrelle, announced by the team in a 17-word statement on Friday, has been followed with a much more detailed statement from Ventrelle. And Ventrelle has made accusations that most likely will result in the league ordering up another “independent” investigation by hardly-independent outside lawyer Mary Jo White.

Via Mick Akers of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Ventrelle has made some strong allegations in his own comment on the situation.

“Today, Mark Davis terminated my employment as President of the Las Vegas Raiders,” Ventrelle said. “I have committed almost 18 years of my life to the success of the Raiders as General Counsel and President. I take that responsibility very seriously, which is why multiple written complaints from employees that Mark created a hostile work environment and engaged in other potential misconduct caused me grave concern.

“When Mark was confronted about these issues, he was dismissive and did not demonstrate the warranted level of concern. Given this, I informed the NFL of these issues and of Mark’s unacceptable response.

“Soon thereafter, I was fired in retaliation for raising these concerns. I firmly stand by my decision to elevate these issues to protect the organization and its female employees. I remain committed to doing everything in my power to support the Raiders and the Las Vegas community I now call home. I have retained counsel and will have no further comment at this time.”

If Ventrelle files suit, it’s likely if not certain that the Raiders will try to force the case into the NFL’s secret rigged kangaroo court, which will keep Ventrelle’s claims or the facts underlying the allegations of misconduct from becoming public. Regardless of where it goes from here, Ventrelle’s statement implies that multiple female employees made complaints about owner Mark Davis. Regardless of whatever happened to Ventrelle, the underlying allegations need to be fully and adequately explored.

Peter King:

I think I don’t know who’s to blame for the Raiders’ front-office follies. I do know they’ve had enough club presidents, GMs, COOs, etc., to fill 10 Fortune 500 companies in the last two years, and I do know the Raiders have one of the most undisciplined front offices in recent NFL history. If Mark Davis wants his new GM Dave Ziegler and coach Josh McDaniels to have a real chance to challenge Kansas City in the AFC West, he’ll make sure his organization is buttoned up a lot tighter than it is now. (That’s assuming Davis’ internal behavior is clean as a whistle, which needs to be established.)

AFC NORTH

BALTIMORE

A Twitter thread from former QB Robert Griffin III:

@RGIII

Marquise Brown wanted out of Baltimore because of Greg Roman NOT Lamar Jackson. Marquise knows G-Ro’s system runs through the backs and tight ends, so it’s unlikely a WR1 will get big money. The best way to get paid was to be in a pass first offense in @AZCardinals

Throwing the ball more is not the proven recipe for success for the Ravens. In the last 3 years, the @Ravens  have only thrown the ball more than running it once. That was last year and it was the only year the Ravens had a losing record. Lamar being out didn’t help either.

Despite throwing the ball more last year the @Ravens  still averaged 90 MORE RUNS than passes over the last 3 years. The @AZCardinals  averaged 116 more passes than runs the last 3 years. For reference, the chiefs haven’t run the ball more than they have thrown it in 10 YEARS.

Marquise Brown had 146 targets last year but they weren’t all catchable targets. With Lamar being out down the stretch, Hollywood’s longest reception was 15 yards in the last 5 games. Arizona gives him an opportunity to be a star in a system he knows from college

CLEVELAND

Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com with advice for the Browns:

The Browns had a bird in the hand. They pursued the proverbial two in the bush. It worked. And yet they’re still clinging to the bird in the hand.

Chris Simms and I spent plenty of time during Monday’s PFT Live fleshing out the argument that it’s wrong for the Browns to squat on quarterback Baker Mayfield, now that they’ve gone all in on quarterback Deshaun Watson. It’s a classic sunk cost. They made a $230 million investment in getting Watson. What’s another $18.8 million (minus whatever he would earn with a new team) if they simply cut the cord on Mayfield?

The Browns think the sunk cost can be partially or maybe even completely recovered, if a trade opportunity that currently doesn’t exist materializes at some point between now and the start of the regular season, or perhaps even the trade deadline. But that hinges on a chain of events that likely won’t happen.

First, a team needs to lose its current starter. Second, that team needs to opt for an approach other than “next man up.” Third, the Browns need to be the ones to get the deal done for Mayfield before the 49ers can for Jimmy Gaoppolo.

There’s another way to recover all or part of the sunk costs. If Mayfield ultimately cries uncle and gives up part of his guaranteed salary or if Mayfield says or does something to justify cutting him for reasons other than skill, injury, or cap, the Browns can emerge with a victory.

Meanwhile, Mayfield’s ongoing presence on the roster creates yet another distraction for the Browns. And it’s definitely a distraction. Even if the Browns win this interaction with a quarterback they can’t wait to officially remove from the roster, none of it will help them win games, especially not in 2022.

Last week’s ESPN.com article regarding the current mood between Baker and the Browns shows that the bridge has been obliterated. There’s no rebuilding it, even if Watson were suspended for a year and the Browns tried to persuade Baker to stick around for one more season. If, as ESPN.comreported, Mayfield and/or those in his camp believe the Browns deliberately tried to make him look bad in a prime-time game at Pittsburgh, Mayfield is done with the Browns.

“Not if he wants his $18.8 million this year,” owner Jimmy Haslam and/or Chief Strategy Officer (who has yet to craft many effective strategies in Cleveland) Paul DePodesta might say. But that’s the kind of short-sighted, misguided thinking that results in the Browns get caught up in factors other than having a winning team.

Even though Mayfield doesn’t seem to be very popular with his teammates, it’s fair for other players to conclude that the Browns have done Baker dirty. They told him after the season that he’d be the guy for 2022. Then, they told his agents at the Scouting Combine that he’ll be the guy, unless they can get someone like Watson, Aaron Rodgers, or Russell Wilson. Then, the Browns said the Watson trade was five months in the making — even if it ended with a five-year, fully-guaranteed Hail Mary.

JuJu was right. The Browns is the Browns. Even as the team becomes more competitive, dysfunction lingers in the organization. Their handling of Mayfield proves it. Intent on treating him like property and not like a human being whose career hinges on getting himself in position to find a new home sooner than later, the Browns are sending a very bad message to current and future members of the team.

But, hey, no one should be surprised. With a Chief Strategy Officer on the payroll, there’s always a strategy, for everything. Even when the best strategy would be to ditch the strategizing and just do the right thing.

The right thing to do in this specific case is to cut Mayfield and move on. It’s in his best interests, and it’s in the team’s best interests — even if the Chief Strategy Officer fails to see it.

Unspoken here is the question of if Mayfield is gone, who will play QB for Cleveland when NFL Justice lowers the boom on Watson for at least the first part of 2022?

AFC SOUTH

JACKSONVILLE

Peter King on the selection of EDGE TRAYVON WALKER – potential over college achievement:

All-Conference teams and All-America teams are not very important when it comes to the best prospects for the draft. But I find this interesting:

• The Southeastern Conference coaches vote for all-conference first and second teams. They vote for four first-team defensive linemen and four second-team offensive linemen. Travon Walker, the first pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, did not make the first or second team on the defensive line, among the eight players chosen.

• PFF honored its 2021 All-Americans, with four defensive linemen on the first, second and third teams, and four honorable mentions. Sixteen defensive lineman. Walker was not one of the 16.

• On the traditional Associated Press All-America team, with four linemen named on each of the first, second and third teams, Walker was not one of the 12 defensive linemen selected.

Walker is a gifted athlete who played on one of the great college defenses in recent times, and he didn’t start until this year at Georgia. But he’s not going to be in shadows anymore when his pro career starts in Jacksonville. And the spotlight will also be on the man who picked him, GM Trent Baalke, over Aidan Hutchinson or some top tackle prospects to protect the franchise quarterback. It’s going to be fascinating to watch the NFL development of Walker.

TENNESSEE

Mike Sando of The Athletic, and his anonymous NFL execs, ponder the Titans predicament on draft day:

The A.J. Brown trade materialized quickly and raised questions about potential alternative scenarios. What if the Titans had decided to reconfigure their resources another way?

“Would you have been better off trading Derrick Henry, paying A.J. Brown and then drafting Breece Hall or the kid from Michigan State (Kenneth Walker)?” an exec said. “You’d just transfer the money. Now the receiver gets $20-some million and we get rid of the back. Maybe they bring back Julio Jones, have Robert Woods, maybe draft another rookie and go that route.”

Under that scenario, Henry would be traded on the thinking last season foreshadowed a decline at a position where decline can come quickly. If, say, Pete Carroll was willing to spend a second-round pick on a running back in the draft, as he did for Walker, what might he have given for a back as tough and accomplished as Henry?

“That is a great question,” an exec said. “Could Tennessee have gotten anything good for Henry? For the Titans, some of this could come down to what they really think about A.J. Brown. They were obviously more willing to move him than a lot of people ever knew.”

There is debate around the league over when to pay top receivers and how much to pay them. Every team’s circumstances are a little different.

“Tennessee should be able to replace A.J. Brown with a first-round pick, a third-round pick and $25 million,” an exec said. “It would be harder if Brown were a true game-changing talent with incredible speed like Tyreek Hill, but that is not the case.”

Of course, if it were that easy, the Eagles would already have a receiver of Brown’s caliber on their roster. They wouldn’t feel compelled to trade for a finished product.

“For Tennessee, I get it,” another exec said. “I do not like trading away who I think was the top offensive player on their team, but I do not know that I would pay him $25 million because, frankly, I don’t think every wide receiver is worth borderline quarterback money. They just are not, unless you have a rookie contract quarterback and then you have the luxury to pay that top receiver that type of money, which Philly can.”

Bottom line, if the Titans had to choose one player on each side of the ball to pay for the next five years, wouldn’t it be Jeffery Simmons on defense and Brown on offense?

“Tennessee was in a difficult situation because everything is built off the run game there,” an exec said.

This from Peter King:

Receivers might have short shelf lives with teams. In the good ol’ days, maybe like 15 months ago, Amari Cooper’s $20-millon-a-year contract was the gold standard for receivers. DeAndre Hopkins got a two-year bandaid deal in Arizona for a few dollars more in 2020, but $20 million was the long-term target for players … until Christian Kirk (who?) got $18 million a year in free agency from Jacksonville. Then seven wideouts got between $20 million and $30 million a year in the next five weeks ending with the A.J. Brown trade-and-sign deal in Philadelphia on night one of the draft.

As one GM told me: “I could see the receiver position becoming like running backs. Get as much out of the receiver in his first contract and then, after four or five years, let him go and draft another one high. There are so many good receivers now, I’m not sure they’re all going to get paid going forward.” Tennessee, for instance, simply swapped one physical 4.5-speed, 225-pound receiver (A.J. Brown) for another (Treylon Burks) and will pray that Burks can be 90 percent the player for the Titans that Brown was. That’s a very big ask. In the end, one team not paying big money to a QB (Philadelphia) could afford Brown, and one team paying a QB (Tennessee) couldn’t. Or calculated that it couldn’t.

And this from Peter King on QB RYAN TANNEHILL’s poor choice of words:

I think much has been said about Ryan Tannehill’s statement that he doesn’t think it’s his job to mentor Malik Willis, the quarterback picked in the third round by the Titans. Tannehill’s right. It’s not in his job description, the same way it hasn’t been in other quarterbacks’ job descriptions. But I know Tannehill a bit. He’s going to be a very good teammate to Willis. He’s a good person. Of course he’s right that he doesn’t have to mentor Willis. But naturally, he will.

I think the big problem with what Tannehill said is this: It sounds selfish, and it becomes a story. Why let it? Why not answer the question this way … I’ll support Malik in the quarterback room and on the field, the same way Matt Moore supported me early on in Miami. We’ll both get better through the classroom work and competing on the field.

AFC EAST

NEW YORK JETS

Mike Sando of The Athletic on the Jets draft:

The Garrett Wilson pick at No. 10 seemed to be the most popular Jets first-round selection among execs from other teams. That was the final pick the Jets acquired in the Jamal Adams trade, which also helped them land 2021 first-round guard Alijah Vera-Tucker.

“There was some thought going into the draft they might get a tackle, but it worked out great,” an exec said. “They are paying George Fant and Mekhi Becton, and it is kind of like Cincy last year: Do they take (Penei) Sewell or Ja’Marr Chase? The elite receiver does more to help you get to the Super Bowl. It’s easier getting there with the (average) left tackle, and they did.”

The Jets could have taken a tackle at four and still targeted Wilson at 10, but instead they took cornerback Sauce Gardner despite the fact they are running a defensive scheme that, in its best form with Seattle years ago, flourished without the Seahawks investing heavily in cornerbacks early in the draft. Of course, good luck finding another Richard Sherman in the fifth round, as the Seahawks did a decade ago.

“The influx of all this receiver talent could force those teams to adapt and say we need some real dudes to give us a chance, not just physical, speed-deficient corners to get by,” an exec said.

Immediately after the combine, when Denver still owned the ninth pick, a GM mocked Jermaine Johnson to the Broncos in that slot. The Jets wound up selecting Johnson, a pass-rusher from Florida State, with the 26th pick after trading into that slot from 35.

“(Jets GM) Joe Douglas put a price point on the pass-rush, a premium position, and pretty much said, ‘I’m getting a first-round talent who maybe I wasn’t as comfortable with in the top 15 for whatever reason,’” an exec said. “They had a different sense of urgency this year in the draft, and it really showed.”

Trading up from 35 to 26 included an exchange of picks with Tennessee that left the Jets with the 101st pick instead of the 69th. They took tight end Jeremy Ruckert at 101. Had they stayed at 35 and 69, the pass-rusher could have been Arnold Ebiketie or Boye Mafe, while the tight end could have become Jelani Woods, whom Indy selected 73rd. These are the sorts of tradeoffs that can linger in a GM’s mind for years.

“We thought Jermaine Johnson was more of a media creation because, while he had the 12 sacks, he didn’t pressure the quarterback as much as you’d think,” an exec said. “But at a certain point, taking him is a good value.”

Jets fans are ecstatic over the draft, at least two in the media found by Peter King are:

In the wake of the NFL’s 87th player selection meeting, catching up on the stories that resonate a week later …

“We all wear the scars,” Rich Eisen said, speaking for New York Jets fans across the universe. “The Buttfumble scar, the fake-spike scar, and the NFL Draft scar. Or scars.”

1980: Lam Jones drafted ahead of Anthony Munoz

1983: Ken O’Brien over Dan Marino

1988: Dave Cadigan over Michael Irvin

1995: Kyle Brady over Warren Sapp

2002: Bryan Thomas over Ed Reed

2003: DeWayne Robertson 12 picks ahead of Troy Polamalu

2012: Quinton Coples over Chandler Jones

2018: Sam Darnold over Josh Allen

“The greatest statistic in NFL history concerns the Jets draft,” Mike Greenberg said. “They picked Ken O’Brien over Dan Marino, Al Toon over Jerry Rice, Blair Thomas over Emmitt Smith—and when those guys retired, Marino, Emmitt and Rice were the most productive quarterback, running back and receiver of all time!”

The Lead: N.Y. Jets

I called the two biggest Jets fans in mediaville to ask about what the Joe Douglas New York Jets just did, drafting four of their top 19 players (per Douglas) and exiting the draft as the consensus biggest winners. Drafting cornerback Sauce Gardner, receiver Garrett Wilson, edge-rusher Jermaine Johnson at 4, 10 and 26 in the first round and snagging running back Breece Hall four picks into the second round sent their fans into orbit, which is a strange place for them to be in the days after the draft. Usually, Jets fans are hoarse from booing picks.

“The Jets stole the draft,” said Greenberg, the ESPN host of it. “An embarrassment of riches.”

Best Jets draft ever? I asked Eisen.

“Not a very high bar,” he said. “But yeah!”

I’m not a fan of grading drafts, as you know. For perspective, three years ago, the fourth, 10th and 26th picks in the first round were Clelin Ferrell, Devin Bush and Montez Sweat, and only Sweat had his fifth-year option exercised by his team this spring. Projecting GREAT DRAFTS!!!!! a week after they happen is fool’s gold. The 10th pick in the three drafts before Devin Bush: Eli Apple, Patrick Mahomes, Josh Rosen.

The Jets had Gardner, Wilson, Johnson and Hall rated among their top 19 prospects, so clearly they’re thrilled with the haul. Now they have to produce, and we’ll see.

I will say the more impressive thing, to me, than the players chosen was the plan GM Joe Douglas executed in the last two years to maximize resources. With the 2020 trade of Jamal Adams to Seattle and 2021 trade of Sam Darnold to Carolina, Douglas turned those picks into three offensive pieces the Jets think will be long-term keystones: left guard Alijah Vera-Tucker—who had a 15-game streak with no sacks allowed as a rookie—plus Wilson and Hall. (What I especially liked was Douglas moved up for Johnson and Hall, and he was able to keep his 2023 draft intact; he did it all with his 2022 draft picks alone.)

Add quarterback Zach Wilson, tackle Mekhi Becton and wideout Elijah Moore from the first two Douglas drafts, and tight end C.J. Uzomah in free agency this year, and you’ve got an offense Douglas has built from scratch. Becton’s worrisome, with weight and injury concerns. He needs to grow up fast and prove to Douglas he can be a long-term tackle. No one knows if he can.

Overall, the Jets have ground to make up. To compete with Buffalo, Miami and New England in the AFC East, obviously, Zach Wilson has to be good. But I think a lot also depends on Garrett Wilson being explosive and physical enough to be what Stefon Diggs is for the Bills. Douglas said working through the receiver group and prioritizing Wilson was “really tough.”

“Every single receiver brought something different and dynamic,” Douglas told me. “You had guys that could run by anybody. You had big body guys with unbelievable catch radius. You had guys that were just pure route-runners. Ultimately, we felt like the guy that had the best combination of all those traits was Garrett Wilson, a guy that had the route skills, the ball skills, the catch radius, the ability to attack the ball and make contested catches, the ability to make people miss right after catch, create explosive plays in space, and a guy that had the top-end speed to get behind defenses and threaten vertically. He had the best combination of all the traits we were looking for.”

The quarterback will be the key to it all, of course. Zach Wilson had some nice moments last year—a 28-24, turnover-free loss to Tom Brady and the Bucs sticks out—but not enough to know yet whether he can be a long-term passer for a playoff contender. “It’s all on a quarterback who still looks like he’ll be carded at every bar he walks into,” said Eisen. “We don’t know if he’s the right guy yet.”

I’m not sure I’m in league with Greenberg when he says, “Dramatic improvement is a very reasonable expectation.” But I do know this: The Jets have a plan, with a GM who’s executing it well, and they have a chance. Finally, long-term, they have a chance.

THIS AND THAT

STATE OF THE COMMISH

Peter King:

“Snyder and Jones hate Goodell … Goodell is a coward, and he is incompetent.”

—Former Papa John’s CEO John Schnatter, in an interview with Jason Whitlock onSportscasting.com, via Pro Football Talk, referencing Washington owner Dan Snyder and Dallas owner Jerry Jones.

Three thoughts:

1. Dan Snyder has to be the luckiest man on the face of the earth to still own an NFL franchise.

2. Schnatter, the Papa John’s guy, left the company after using a racial slur in a conference call, then claimed to Bloomberg his departure was a “crucifixion.”

3. Jones has had his run-ins with Goodell. I don’t doubt deep down he’d like to find a commissioner the league didn’t have to pay $64 million a year, and Jones won’t forgive Goodell for suspending Ezekiel Elliott for six games in 2017. Jones also was roaring mad at Goodell five years ago, and I believe he would have supported an effort for remove him. Today? I’m dubious that Jones is on a crusade to get Goodell fired. In fact, I know he’s not.

Schnatter would say he used the word only to describe its offensive use by someone else, not to call anyone by that name.  This from the Louisville Courier-Journal:

Schnatter uses the slur at approximately the 54-minute mark of the recording, on a tangent as he spoke about the prospect of Papa John’s, a company founded in his name and built around his image, recording advertisements that did not feature him.

“What bothers me is Colonel Sanders called Blacks ‘n——,’ ” Schnatter is heard saying on the recording (audio of the slur is edited, removed from the released audio). “I’m like, ‘I’ve never used that word.’ … Yet we use the word ‘debacle’ and we get framed in the same genre. It’s crazy. The whole thing’s crazy.”

REMAINING FREE AGENTS

Gregg Rosenthal of NFL.com looks at the post-draft free agent market:

The 2022 NFL free agency class is deeper than it is flashy. I’ve never had to leave so many quality options out of the Top 101, even if the top end of this list doesn’t have many young players in their prime. The NFL is increasingly a one-year contract league, and this ranking reflects that with a lot of familiar names.

As players agree to deals and come off the market, they will be moved to the bottom portion of this list.

NOTE: Each player’s listed age represents how old he will be on Sept. 8, when the 2022 NFL season is poised to kick off.

BEST NFL FREE AGENTS AVAILABLE

11  Odell Beckham

WR · Age: 29

It makes sense for Beckham to stay in Los Angeles and rehab with the Rams after tearing his ACL in the Super Bowl. If I was an opposing general manager, though, I’d offer Beckham a strong long-term deal with guaranteed money now, because it would pay off in Years 2 and 3. Talents like Beckham aren’t often available.

14  Duane Brown

OT · Age: 37

Brown solved the Seahawks’ left tackle problem in 2017; he probably had his worst year in Seattle last season before hitting free agency. He’ll turn 37 years old before the 2022 campaign kicks off, and he probably won’t continue to command top-tier money, but he shouldn’t be that far off.

18  Jadeveon Clowney

Edge · Age: 29

After seven seasons where his sack totals didn’t reflect his true value, Clowney’s year in Cleveland went in the other direction, with his nine sacks masking what was probably his most up-and-down campaign. It’s worth wondering if all the injuries have taken a toll.

24  Melvin Ingram

Edge · Age: 33

It was weird when the Steelers gave up on Ingram during the 2021 season. It was familiar to see Ingram become a game-wrecker for the Chiefs down the stretch.

25  Rob Gronkowski

TE · Age: 33

It’s unclear if Gronk will play again, but he could. His run-blocking is the only part of his game that didn’t come with him to Tampa, and they don’t pay you for run-blocking.

26  Jarvis Landry

WR · Age: 29

The lack of receivers in this free agent market will help Landry out. He’s a great secondary receiver that will do all the dirty work and become a quarterback’s best friend on third downs. Still just 29, he only missed one game in seven seasons before an injury-marred 2021.

31  Jerry Hughes

Edge · Age: 34

There are a lot of aging, effective defensive linemen available who can still get it done on a short-term deal. That market has proven to be among the most underpaid in free agency relative to production for years, and Hughes fits the criteria perfectly.

33  Akiem Hicks

DL · Age: 32

Hicks’ signing in 2016 was one of the best free-agent deals of the last decade. He’s down a peg from his peak and has struggled to stay on the field, but he’d be great as a role player; just don’t expect star production.

43  Trey Flowers

DE · Age: 29

Flowers was unable to stay healthy the last two seasons, but he’ll only be 29 years old this fall and had a PFF grade over 80 in every season between 2017-2020, making him one of the most consistent defensive linemen in football. He should still have good football left in him in the right scheme.

44  JC Tretter

C · Age: 31

The stalwart center barely practiced all season because of knee and ankle injuries, but you wouldn’t have known it after he logged 1,000-plus quality snaps for the fifth straight year (per PFF). He’s unquestionably still an above-average starter, which is not easy to find.

48  Will Fuller

WR · Age: 28

Fuller missed time in 2021 due to a PED suspension, a personal issue and a broken finger. It’s safe to say there are red flags, but the man sure can run fast!

49  Eric Fisher

OT · Age: 31

Fisher took his first snaps as a Colt just eight months removed from tearing his Achilles and had his worst season since his rookie year. That could make him a better value this offseason.

53  Julio Jones

WR · Age: 33

There were moments in Tennessee where Julio looked like Julio Jones. But he was only healthy enough to catch 31 passes one year after catching just 51 the year before for the Falcons. He has barely practiced in the last three years, so it’s a leap of faith, but the upside for high-level No. 2 receiver production is still there if his body is right.

59  Anthony Barr

OLB · Age: 30

The game-changing splash plays are mostly gone. Still, Barr is the rare linebacker who can rush, tackle and cover, barely leaving the field.

63  Justin Houston

Edge · Age: 33

It took Houston a while to find a job last year, and then he landed in Baltimore, where he outplayed most of his younger Ravens teammates — same as it ever was.

78  Sheldon Richardson

DT · Age: 31

Seems like no one has been on more of our Top 101 lists over the years than Richardson, who still delivers professional snaps on a year-to-year basis. Well, unless it’s this next guy …

79  Ndamukong Suh

DL · Age: 35

I admittedly have a soft spot for Suh, who was absolutely the Bucs’ best defensive player in their playoff loss to the Rams. He still shows up in big moments.

91  Kevin King

CB · Age: 27

It’s a shame King got hurt last season, because he looked at home under first-year Packers defensive coordinator Joe Barry.

93  Larry Ogunjobi

DT · Age: 28

Ogunjobi is that guy who gives up a lot while searching for his own splash plays, one reason he could be on his third team in as many years.

96  Dont’a Hightower

LB · Age: 32

It took Hightower a while to knock off the rust following his year off. His bigger issue is how the game has changed to target players like him in pass coverage, but his leadership and intelligence are both off the charts.

99  Riley Reiff

OT · Age: 33

The Bengals missed Reiff’s steady play at right tackle when he hurt his ankle in mid-December.

100  Joe Haden

CB · Age: 33

One of the great signings of the Kevin Colbert era in Pittsburgh, Haden could still provide quality snaps on a year-to-year basis.