The NFL will not tell teams that state of the 2021 salary cap until shortly before the start of free agency in March.  Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com says one of the reasons is a hoped for cash infusion.

he NFL may be partially robbing Peter to partially pay Paul.

That’s the obvious takeaway from a new report, courtesy of CNBC’s Jabari Young, that the NFL wants to “finalize frameworks” of new TV deals before setting the 2021 salary cap.

This implies that the league could be inclined to shift some future earnings toward 2021, potentially bumping up the salary cap. It’s currently expected to land in the range of $180 million per team. It’s possible that, if the money to be earned under the next wave of contracts represents a sufficient increase in revenue, some of that money could be moved around in order to make more money available to all teams in the coming season.

The Monday Night Football package runs through 2021. The rest of the deals apply through 2022.

According to Young, the next wave of contracts is expected to be similar to the current configuration of deals, with FOX and CBS keeping Sunday afternoon packages and NBC retaining Sunday Night Football. Young calls ESPN “the wildcard,” with the possibility of adding the Sunday Ticket package to ESPN+ to Monday nights.

The destination of the Thursday night package remains unclear. FOX holds the rights for the next two years. None of the broadcast networks seem to be interested in assuming the package. Amazon could assume the rights, but that would move the game from the larger platform that a three-letter network provides.

Young notes the ESPN could purchase the Thursday rights, moving the games to ABC. ESPN/ABC/Disney would also like to infiltrate the Super Bowl rotation, currently held by FOX, CBS, and NBC.

However it plays out, there’s a strong sense that the pieces soon will be falling into place. Those new deals, worth up to $100 billion and likely extending through the end of the decade, could make it easier to offset the 2020 losses due to the pandemic.

NFC EAST

PHILADELPHIA

Tim McManus of ESPN.com on where things stand with QB CARSON WENTZ:

Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz has still not been traded, and that has people antsy.

There appeared to be momentum toward a deal over Super Bowl weekend, then it seemed to ebb, and everyone is trying to figure out what all of it means.

Deep breaths. It’s early February. A Wentz trade is still almost certainly going to get done, and there’s reason to believe it will happen in the near future.

While we wait, here are some things to consider:

Why the time is now (or at least soon)

The Eagles, technically, have a deadline of March 19 to trade Wentz. They need to get him off the books before his $10 million roster bonus triggers on the third day of the league year. That’s a month-plus out, giving the franchise plenty of runway.

The urgency stems from the fact that Philadelphia can’t really afford to lose one of its suitors. The Indianapolis Colts and Chicago Bears are considered the two primary bidders for Wentz — at least at the moment. Having multiple teams in the running is good for leverage. But it’s not as if the Colts and Bears are completely tying their hopes and fates to Wentz. It is believed both teams are looking around at other QB options.

It is expected to be a historic offseason for quarterback movement, and there has been no shortage of names in the rumor mill, from Deshaun Watson (Houston) to Marcus Mariota (Las Vegas) to Sam Darnold (New York Jets).

If the Eagles let this drag on too long, they run the risk of one of their prospective trade partners growing impatient and making a deal for another quarterback, which would leave Philadelphia in a weakened negotiating stance with the remaining team(s).

What’s the holdup?

The Eagles are looking for “a Matthew Stafford package,” a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter and Chris Mortensen. The Detroit Lions traded Stafford to the Los Angeles Rams for a third-round pick this year, two future first-round picks and quarterback Jared Goff.

It doesn’t hurt to shoot for the stars, but it’s hard to find anyone in league circles who believes Wentz can or should command multiple first-round picks based on his game film from the 2020 season. He finished 34th in completion percentage (57.4%) and first in interceptions (15) and sacks (50) in 2020, and is set to make $47 million over the next two years.

Still, Wentz, 28, has shown in the past he has an MVP ceiling. The Eagles want significant compensation in return to account for the talent they are losing and the NFL-record $34 million dead cap hit they will incur in 2021 by trading him.

If former Eagles quarterback Sam Bradford was worth a first- and a fourth-round pick, then what is Wentz’s value?

It’s all about finding the sweet spot where both teams can walk away feeling mostly good about the deal.

Assessing Wentz’s leverage

Philadelphia has to at least consider Wentz’s preference of a landing spot. If he wants to end up in Indianapolis — and it’s not a big leap to think that could be the case, particularly given his affinity for former Eagles coach, now Colts coach Frank Reich — there’s some incentive to try to accommodate the quarterback.

Allowing for a preferential team shows respect for Wentz and his agent, Ryan Tollner, who represents a number of high-profile players across the league. In turn, there’s a chance Wentz would help facilitate a trade to his desired location. And it avoids the risk of Wentz potentially torpedoing a deal to another team by saying he refuses to play for it.

Those considerations should go only so far — it’s already a pretty big organizational inconvenience that Wentz wants out of Philadelphia, and general manager Howie Roseman should prioritize getting the best return for Wentz above all else — but the easiest path forward would be if Wentz ends up where he wants and the Eagles receive fair value for him in line with what other teams are offering.

It’s also worth noting that Philadelphia would be shipping Wentz out of the NFC by moving him to Indianapolis.

Why not package Wentz and Zach Ertz together?

One solution to finding proper value could be including the Eagles’ veteran tight end, who is one of Wentz’s best friends, in the deal. Contract talks between Ertz and the Eagles came to an impasse last offseason, and it’s pretty clear at this point a split is inevitable.

Ertz, 30, was limited to 11 games because of injury in 2020 and had a down season overall, but has otherwise been a force in the league. He led the Eagles in both catches and receiving yards in each of the previous four seasons and posted more catches through the first seven seasons of his career (525) than any other tight end in NFL history.

Reich would no doubt welcome a reunion with Ertz, one of the heroes from the Eagles’ Super Bowl LII win against the New England Patriots. The Colts have the salary-cap room to absorb Ertz’s 2021 base salary of $8.25 million.

The Eagles would rightly expect to get a pretty handsome package back for Wentz and Ertz while freeing up some cash moving forward.

Maybe it proves a bit too complicated an endeavor to include both players in a package, but it’s at least worth discussing, and might get us closer to ending Wentz Watch 2021.

WASHINGTON

WFT QB TAYLOR HEINICKE made himself some serious change when he battled the GOAT head-to-head in the first playoff game.  Jordan Dajani of CBSSports.com:

The Washington Football Team locked up a quarterback who could end up starting some games in 2021. On Wednesday, Washington announced it had signed Taylor Heinicke to a two-year extension. According to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, the new deal is worth $8.75 million, and includes incentives for number of games started.

Heinicke started one game in 2020, but his performance in that game is a big reason he received a new contract this offseason. With Alex Smith banged up heading into Super Wild Card Weekend, it was Heinicke who took the field against the eventual Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Heinicke completed 26 of 44 passes for 306 yards, one touchdown and one interception against the Bucs, and also led Washington in rushing with 46 yards and a touchdown on six carries.

While Washington suffered a 31-23 loss, Heinicke was truly the player of the game. Late in the third quarter, he led a seven-play, 61-yard drive which was capped by an incredible 8-yard scramble for a touchdown that cut the deficit to two points. 

The former undrafted free agent out of Old Dominion has had stints with a couple of different NFL teams, but forged a relationship with head coach Ron Rivera. It was Rivera who gave Heinicke his first-career start with the Carolina Panthers, and a big reason why Heinicke told reporters he wanted to stay in Washington.

“I love Ron,” Heinicke told reporters, via JP Finlay of NBC Sports Washington. “I want to be back in Washington.”

Rapoport notes that while Washington has now locked up Heinicke, they aren’t necessarily done adding at the quarterback position. Last week, Rivera and new general manager Martin Mayhew, along with new executive vice president of football/player personnel Marty Hurney, spoke about how they want to be “smart and aggressive” in how they approach the future at quarterback this offseason. While Heinicke may not be looked at as the future under center, Washington has now locked up someone who has shown potential, and has quickly become a fan favorite.

Should the word “former” appear in front of “undrafted free agent.”  We would contend that once you are an undrafted free agent, that status sticks with you forever no matter what you might do in the decades that follow.

That said, we see “former first round draft choice” and don’t have as much problem with it, although we would think that “the 2014 first round draft choice” or “once chosen in the first round” is a better wording.

– – –

Some former cheerleaders for the team that must not be named are also going to get paid.  John Keim of ESPN.com:

The Washington Football Team reached a settlement with its former cheerleaders, who appeared in lewd videos made without their knowledge during swimsuit calendar photo shoots in 2008 and 2010.

Attorneys for both sides confirmed the settlement, which, one source said, was actually reached in 2020, though they declined to say exactly when. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed. The Washington Post first reported news of the settlement. There was no lawsuit filed.

There were two videos made from outtakes during those years in which some private parts were exposed. Certain props were used to shield those body parts and at times those props were insufficient.

The Washington Post detailed those shoots in August, with one former employee, Brad Baker, saying staffers were told to produce a video of this for owner Dan Snyder, who has denied that allegation. Baker worked in the franchise’s broadcast department from 2007 to ’09. The Post reported two other sources saying a similar video was produced at the behest of the team’s former vice president and play-by-play announcer Larry Michael. He, too, has denied the allegation.

The NFL continues to investigate the organization’s culture following a series of Washington Post reports last summer. The stories detailed sexual harassment allegations of 15 women against former team employees. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said last week that the investigation, headed by Beth Wilkinson is “nearing the completion.”

“To me, the important thing in the context of this is that the Washington football club has made a lot of changes already,” Goodell said. “Dan and Tanya [Snyder] are going to be done making those changes for the football club. It’s good to see that. But I expect that Beth’s recommendations will be something that will be added to that.”

Meanwhile, the franchise also announced that it had paused its cheerleader program amid their rebranding as they change the name and the logo. The move is not tied to the investigation, per multiple sources. Also, multiple sources said they anticipate the cheer program returning in some capacity.

The franchise also informed the band, formed in 1937 when the franchise relocated from Boston, that it, too, would be paused. But the expectation, a source said, is that the band will return as well.

The team wants to first pick a name and design a logo, then see how it wants to rebrand its other traditions such as cheerleading and the band.

It also needs to hire a director of game-day operations, who will have a pivotal role in shaping the fan experience at FedEx Field. Because of COVID-19, neither the band nor the cheerleaders performed at the stadium this season.

In a statement, team president Jason Wright said, “The time is right to reimagine our entire game day experience, to reinvent it in a way that reflects our modern identity and aligns with what today’s fan seeks.”

The position of cheerleading director was eliminated. Jamilla Keene, who was in that role, is weighing whether to stay with the franchise in another capacity, according to a source.

NFC SOUTH

TAMPA BAY

Tampa’s mayor, Jane Castor, allowed the Buccaneers to reprise the Lightning’s Boat Parade celebration but quashed a stadium celebration which the hockey team enjoyed.

A big crowd showed up, despite late notice.  Nick Shook of NFL.com:

Buccaneers play-by-play man Gene Deckerhoff marveled at the completion of a touchdown pass to Antonio Brown during Super Bowl LV, wondering aloud whether there was another quarterback in the NFL who could throw that pass any better than Tom Brady.

He should have seen Brady’s pass on Wednesday.

Brady stood at the stern of his $2 million boat — one he piloted for a period of time Wednesday — as it glided across the Hillsborough River during the Buccaneers’ Super Bowl LV championship parade, holding the Lombardi Trophy his team won just days earlier. A boat nearby awaited perhaps the most clutch (and risky) throw of his life.

A maskless Brady braced his feet and swung the trophy back and forth, measuring distance and strength needed to complete the pass before tossing it from his boat to the next. The Lombardi tumbled through the air, landing safely in the grasp of two eager passengers to the delight of everyone surrounding them.

The moment perfectly captured the Buccaneers’ accomplishment in the 2020 season, one played amid a pandemic with a roster assembled just months earlier and launched without the advantage of an offseason program. In the days after Super Bowl LIV, no one expected the Buccaneers to be the ones hoisting the Lombardi Trophy. And on Wednesday, few expected them to be on boats celebrating their title.

And yet, there were the Buccaneers, floating down the river – largely maskless amid the pandemic, unfortunately — with their fans joining them along the riverwalk and on their own boats, cheering what Rob Gronkowski called “one of the greatest accomplishments in sports history” on Sunday night. The parade was put on by the city of Tampa with COVID-19 protocols that included a requirement of masks on boats, except while eating or drinking, buses limited to 50% capacity, hand sanitizer and masks available on every vessel, third-party boats remaining 50 feet away from the parade boats, players and families assigned to boats, and a closed media event held outdoors at the conclusion of the parade at the cruise ship terminal. The mask requirement didn’t appear to be followed very closely, though most who were seen without masks were holding beverages.

It didn’t take long for Gronkowski, enjoying many a beverage, to lose his shirt on Wednesday. After scoring two touchdowns in the Super Bowl, can you blame him?

No, you can’t, and you certainly can’t hold his mid-week joy against him after he teamed with Brady to fly south and deliver a title to a franchise that had won just one in its existence. Gronkowski celebrated atop a boat as part of the parade, dancing in his trademark style, flapping his arms around and enjoying himself to the fullest as the Florida sunshine beamed down on him.

Receiver Scott Miller proved he had dependable hands when he caught a key touchdown in the NFC Championship Game, but he left those hands behind for the parade. Miller dropped teammate Chris Godwin’s phone into the river during the parade, per NFL Network’s Sara Walsh, Godwin’s device into the depths of the Hillsborough, plunging into the only darkness found on perhaps the brightest day in the history of the Buccaneers..

After assembling a championship caliber roster, general manager Jason Licht built his celebration the most appropriate way possible for a man with a last name pronounced “light” — he boarded a boat with a 12-pack of light beer.

Licht took the celebratory stage once his boat docked and made a proclamation that became commonplace Wednesday: “We’re going to f—— win this thing again.”

To do so, Licht will need to retain much of the roster that powered the Buccaneers to their first title since the 2002 season. To that effort, everyone involved — Lavonte David, Shaquil Barrett, Jason Pierre-Paul, Ndamukong Suh and Mike Evans, for example — declared they will be returning for another run at a title. Coach Bruce Arians drove that point home by repeatedly grabbing the microphone to tell each of them “your ass ain’t going nowhere,” to the delight of those in attendance.

They’ll have Brady at the center of it all once again, ready to lead his team in an attempt to become repeat champions for the first time since he did it with the New England Patriots in the 2004 season. Brady soaked in the moment more than usual, fully enjoying his first warm-weather Super Bowl title celebration of his career. By the time the Bucs docked and took the stage, Brady had exhausted his jovial energy, forgoing a celebratory speech.

No worries, of course. His teammates had him covered with their attire. Puffing a cigar and ad-libbing on the mic, Vita Vea and others wore T-shirts printed with Brady’s famed combine photo.

The greatest of all-time was an unassuming prospect back in 2001. But like his Buccaneers were in the moment he decided to join them, their overlooked status didn’t last long. All it took was one look at the boats on the river Wednesday to prove it.

Meanwhile at Raymond James Stadium per Kevin Patra of NFL.com:

Following the win in Super Bowl LV, Tampa Bay Buccaneers star linebacker Devin White requested a chance to ride around the stadium on his horse, Dream, with the Lombardi Trophy.

His bosses agreed.

Thursday, after the Bucs finished their boat parade, White saddled up and took his lap around Raymond James Stadium.

Following his MVP-worthy performance in the Super Bowl, gobbling up 12 tackles, two for loss, and an INT, White earned his ride with the Lombardi Trophy.

Though White has not made a Pro Bowl in his two seasons, his Super Bowl performance certainly aides his case as one of the top linebackers in the league. White took that a step further during a Thursday appearance on NFL Network’s Good Morning Football.

“I mean I respect all those guys, even the guys that’s not that much older than me,” White said, via the Tampa Bay Times. “Man, right now, as in just finishing that year, man I got to put myself No. 1 and there’s not no cockiness about it. Put on the tape.”

AFC WEST

DENVER

The shrinking cap is a factor as the Broncos dump CB A.J. BOUYE after one season.  Jeff Legwold of ESPN.com:

The Denver Broncos have released cornerback A.J. Bouye.

The move is the first of several that will have to be made at cornerback as the Broncos rebuild their depth chart at the position after a season that saw four cornerbacks, including Bryce Callahan, finish the year on injured reserve. Bouye also missed the last four games of 2020 due to a six-game suspension for violations of the league’s policy on performance-enhancing substances.

The 29-year-old will still be suspended for the first two games of the 2021 season.

The move will free up $11.7 million against the Broncos’ salary cap and the team will now have just under $31 million worth of salary-cap space overall as they begin to work through their offseason plan.

George Paton, who was hired as the Broncos’ new general manager last month, had promised the “tough decisions” on some players’ futures would begin after he met with the team’s scouting and pro personnel staffs as well as the coaches. Among the decisions to be made are option years in the contracts of linebacker Von Miller and safety Kareem Jackson as well as the near-term future of quarterback Drew Lock in the team’s offense.

The Broncos sent a fourth-round draft pick to the Jacksonville Jaguars last March in exchange for Bouye. At the time, the Broncos hoped Bouye and Callahan would give them a veteran set of cornerbacks to help their defense in pursuit of the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC West.

However, Bouye’s play was uneven as he missed four games with a shoulder injury as well as another game in the concussion protocol before he missed the final four games with the suspension.

He finished with 21 tackles and no interceptions in seven games.

KANSAS CITY

Britt Reid is no longer an employee of the Chiefs, nor is OC Eric Bieniemy.  Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com:

Britt Reid’s administrative leave didn’t last long.

A day after the Chiefs announced that Reid had been placed on leave following a Thursday night car crash that caused multiple significant injuries, a report has surfaced that Reid no longer is employed by the Chiefs.

As reported by Adam Schefter of ESPN.com and confirmed by PFT, Reid’s contract has expired. He’s currently not employed by the team.

Whether Reid will be, or would have been, re-signed is a different issue. The Chiefs may wait to re-sign Reid until after the ongoing legal investigation ends and/or the NFL concludes its review under the Personal Conduct Policy. If the Chiefs hire a new outside linebackers coach, that would suggest the team is moving on.

Implicit in this development, of course, is that (assuming offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy’s contract had the same terms), he’s also currently not an employee of the team. The Chiefs, however, intend to keep Bieniemy. Reid’s status seems far more tenuous, even though his father is the team’s head coach and has been since 2013.

More from PFT on Bieniemy:

One of the first items on their list is sorting out the contract situation of offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy. Bieniemy’s contract is up and word last week was that he’s expected to re-sign with the team.

Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said on Monday that he and Bieniemy have had some conversations about next steps and that he expects things to be wrapped up in the near future.

“We’ll get all that settled in the next week and see where it goes,” Reid said, via Herbie Teope of the Kansas City Star.

LAS VEGAS

The Raiders have been linked to WR JU JU SMITH-SCHUSTER.  Mike Florio ofProFootballTalk.com:

Of the various looming free agents in Pittsburgh, one name creates the most intrigue: JuJu Smith-Schuster.

The team’s MVP in 2018 (a vote that prompted receiver Antonio Brown to force his way out of town), Smith-Schuster’s rookie deal is expiring. Absent a new contract or the franchise tag, Smith-Schuster will hit the open market on March 17.

John Clayton of 710 ESPN in Seattle said recently on 93.7 The Fan in Pittsburgh that the Raiders are “very interested” in signing Smith-Schuster.

Smith-Schuster could fill the Nelson Agholor role in the Las Vegas offense, as the complement to speedster Henry Ruggs. Agholor becomes a free agent, too, and his decision to rip into teammates could cause the Raiders to look elsewhere.

Smith-Schuster is a tough, hard-nosed, effective receiver. He’s not a No. 1, however. The Steelers tried that in 2019. He lacks the ability to attract double coverage. Across from someone who does, Smith-Schuster can be incredibly effective.

It will be interesting to see whether the Steelers can work something out with Smith-Schuster before he hits the market, or whether they even want to. They’ve got plenty of talented receivers who are still operating under rookie contracts.

Also, between his dancing on opposing teams’ logos and his “Browns is the Browns” comment before the playoff loss to Cleveland, the Steelers may want to move forward with guys who won’t be giving extra motivation to the teams the Steelers play.

AFC NORTH

BALTIMORE

It’s not often that a player wants to separate himself from the Ravens, but T ORLANDO BROWN is that guy at the moment.  Nick Shook of NFL.com:

It only took the Ravens a little over a year to learn their selection of Orlando Brown was a wise one, but they’ve met a new challenge with the tackle that could be their last.

Brown has expressed his desire to be traded, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported Wednesday. After spending the majority of 2020 on the left side in place of the injured Ronnie Stanley, Brown has found his comfort zone and does not want to return to the right side. He’ll only play for a team that will line him up at his preferred left tackle position, per Rapoport.

Rapoport added the Ravens value Brown significantly and would need major compensation in order to do a deal.

Brown’s background is on the left side, but he ended up in Baltimore as a right tackle after a poor pre-draft showing saw him slide from a first-round projection to an eventual third-round pick of the Ravens. He blossomed in 2019 and especially in 2020 after switching to the left side to replace Stanley, earning his second straight trip to the Pro Bowl — and first as an initial selection. Thanks to Brown’s quick adjustment to the left side of the line, Baltimore didn’t lose much in offensive production following Stanley’s injury, finishing as the league’s No. 1 rushing offense for a second straight season.

Brown’s success on the left side and desire to remain there might very well also be tied to the financial ramifications of the tackle position. As it currently stands, there is a $5 million per year difference between the league’s highest-paid right tackle (Philadelphia’s Lane Johnson) and left tackle (Green Bay’s David Bakhtiari). Of the top 10 highest-paid tackles in the NFL (in terms of average salary per year), only two — Johnson and Las Vegas’ Trent Brown — are right tackles.

Orlando Brown missed out on significant money typically afforded to first-round picks right around the moment when he racked the bar after just 14 bench-press reps during a nightmarish 2018 NFL Scouting Combine. He’s made a little over $1.8 million in base salary total in his first three seasons, and though he will see a significant boost in 2021 (base salary of $3.38 million) due to the structure of his rookie deal, that’s still an incredibly far cry from where tackles of his level land in compensation ranking.

After demonstrating his ability to effectively handle the transition from right to left tackle — a return to his roots, essentially — Brown is in a prime position to capitalize financially and beyond. He’ll maximize his earning potential by remaining a left tackle, and he’ll probably enjoy playing the game a bit more in a stance and vantage point that’s more familiar to him, anyway.

AFC SOUTH

HOUSTON

Jamey Rootes is president of the Texans no more – another victim of the Jack Easterby Era.  Charean Williams of ProFootballTalk.com:

Texans president Jamey Rootes resigned Wednesday, John McClain of the Houston Chronicle reports.

Rootes helped turn an expansion franchise into one of the most profitable in sports during his 20-year association with the Texans. Hired by late owner Bob McNair, Rootes ran the business and administrative side of things.

McNair hired Rootes at the recommendation of late Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt. Rootes initially worked as the team’s senior vice president of marketing, generating interest in the startup team in the business community.

Senior vice president of corporate development Greg Grissom will oversee the business operation until a new president is hired.

Rootes’ departure was the subject of rumors for awhile.

He was believed to be upset that the work done by the search firm Korn Ferry, with Rootes’ involvement, was ignored when the Texans hired Nick Caserio as General Manager. Rootes, possibly persuaded to stay by owner Cal McNair, remained in his job for another month.

He told McClain on Wednesday that the organization is “in a great place from a business perspective,” and the timing now is right for him to go.

“I love Cal like a brother,” Rootes told McClain. “This idea [of resigning] isn’t new to me. When Bob’s health started to decline, I thought it was important for the organization to have stability during this window. When Bob passed away, I felt like I owed it to Cal to be here.”

This is what Mike Florio reported back on January 10 about the Rootes Committee being bypassed.

The hiring of Nick Caserio to be the team’s new General Manager lit the fuse on a cherry bomb of dysfunction for the Texans, reinforcing the perception/reality that executive V.P. of football operations Jack Easterby is Littlefinger (if you’re a GOT fan) or Gríma Wormtongue (if LOTR is your bag).

The Texans paid Korn Ferry somewhere between $100,000 and $1 million (word is that it was $600,000) to line up finalists for the job. Mike Garafolo of NFL Media reported that the five selected by Korn Ferry were Texans director of player personnel Matt Bazirgan, Seahawks V.P. of player personnel Trent Kirchner, Steelers V.P. of football and business administration Omar Khan, Louis Riddick, and Ravens director of football research Scott Cohen.

Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that Khan would have gotten the job, if the Texans hadn’t unexpectedly gone off the board to hire Caserio. (Schefter also mentions that his ESPN colleague Louis Riddick was the next choice after Khan, possibly for internal peacekeeping purposes.)

Schefter adds that “multiple people” within the organization, including quarterback Deshaun Watson, were upset by the decision to ignore Korn Ferry’s work and to hire Caserio. Team president Jamey Rootes, though not mentioned by name in Schefter’s story, also is believed to be extremely upset that the work done by Korn Ferry, with Rootes’ involvement, was thrown overboard. Some believe that it’s just a matter of time before Rootes leaves the Texans; at least one person believes that Rootes already has tried to resign, but that Rootes was persuaded to wait in order to avoid further reinforcement of the perception/reality of disarray within the franchise.

Frankly, the disarray traces exclusively to Easterby. He was losing power and influence. Some believed he could end up being fired. The prevailing story in league circles is that, as the team was closing in on hiring one of the Korn Ferry finalists, Easterby went to owner Cal McNair’s house and talked him into hiring Caserio.

Another source said that agent Bob LaMonte, who represents both Easterby and Caserio, made a well-timed phone call to McNair, explaining that Caserio was poised to become the G.M. of the Panthers, and that Caserio would take Easterby with him. (It doesn’t matter if it was true that Caserio was going to the Panthers; what matters is whether McNair believed it.)

The end result is that things have gotten much worse for the Texans, and the Texans have done nothing to change the narrative or to send a message that contradicts rumors that are becoming accepted (in the absence of contrary information) as fact. Easterby, who has been hiding from the media ever since legitimate questions were raised about the legitimacy of his qualifications and background, is saying nothing externally.

Internally, Easterby has managed to mesmerize his audience of one. A week after it appeared that Cal McNair was ready to follow a different path, he seems to be firmly under Easterby’s spell. Until that spell is broken, the Texans will have a hard time changing the narrative and/or repairing the relationship with Deshaun Watson.

UPDATE 3:00 p.m. ET: Per a league source, the Texans had offered Khan the job and were negotiating a contract with him when the process, at the behest of Easterby, suddenly pivoted to Caserio.

THIS AND THAT

BROADCAST NEWS

Richard Dietsch of The Athletic convenes a panel to explain the decline in Super Bowl viewership.  Will core fans being disheartened by NFL wokeness be among the reasons suggested?

While the measurement of sports viewership remains impossible to accurately procure — sports has always been historically underrepresented because of out-of-home viewership — what companies such as Nielsen provide remains an interesting metric to discuss (and one media buyers use to purchase inventory). I wanted to offer some thoughtful perspective on this year’s Super Bowl’s numbers. For that, I paneled Sports Business media writer John Ourand and Sports Business Daily assistant managing editor/digital Austin Karp. Both have written about television viewership for multiple decades. Below, is a lightly edited transcript of our conversation.

The numbers are in from CBS. The game drew 91.6 million TV-only on CBS and when you include all the platforms, it rose to 96.4 million viewers. In terms of overall viewership, that was the lowest since Super Bowl 41 on CBS in 2007. It is the lowest-rated game since Super Bowl III. Here is where I want to start. What was your viewership expectation for this game — and then what was your reaction when you saw the numbers?

Ourand: You know, I had what I thought was the most pessimistic prediction going into the game. I had it coming in around 95 million for TV-only. The CBS number that came in is much lower than that. It surprised me. The Super Bowl is such a unique event in America, the biggest event on TV. But this had just no big event feel to it. There was no Super Bowl Week whatsoever to think of. You usually have ESPN and Fox broadcasting wall-to-wall from the host city. You get the network news anchors going and hosting from there. There was nothing like that this year. The stadium itself was a third full. Usually when teams come out in the Super Bowl, you can hear the crowd and you couldn’t hear that at all. Nobody I know attended a Super Bowl party. There was nothing that got the non-football fan to watch this game. To me, the game felt like the final game of the football season as opposed to a big American holiday. I think that that was reflected in the ratings.

Karp: Think about the calendar. After last year’s Super Bowl is when COVID really started to pick up and things really got bad. This was reflective of what we’ve seen over the last year. It was the coup de grace of a muted sports scene and muted audiences for large sporting events. There was no reason to think that the Super Bowl wasn’t going to be hit in some way. I was more optimistic than John was going in. I thought it was going to be closer to 98 million viewers because I thought the NFL got the best matchup it could have imagined in Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes. I thought they would trade blows and you’d actually see a decent football game. But that game was over two hours before the last whistle and people were tuning out right after halftime. That probably killed the second half numbers and really made the overall number plummet. Just in terms of what John is talking about and this being a seminal event on the American calendar every year, there was so much less of that. The football on the field did not support it at all. It ended up being just a confluence of bad events here.

Ourand: What was your prediction going in and what was your take on that?

Deitsch: Douglas Pucci of Programing Insider asked me for a prediction. I said if the game is close, I think it breaks 100 million. If a blowout, it will go under. But I was an optimist and predicted 101.5 million viewers. So I was way off. I thought the cold weather was going to impact viewership and I also thought this was a legacy game, a game that potentially had meaning far beyond this year given Brady and Mahomes. I knew the larger trends. I know every jewel event was down. But the NFL had essentially been the one sport fairly immune to that trend. I didn’t expect 115  million viewers or anything crazy like that, but I did think we would top 100 million. I wasn’t stunned at seeing the final viewership number, but I was a little surprised.

One of the things that readers of The Athletic are going to want to know is why did this happen. Me, you and John are patron saints of repeatedly saying sports viewership is never one thing. It is always multiple factors up or down. If I had to guess, and again, this is pure guessing on my part: Clearly, the pandemic has changed sports viewership consumption dramatically. I think that’s been proven. The non-competitive nature of the game and the lack of momentum from a scaled-down Super Bowl Week meant you didn’t have the attention that prompts the casual sports fan to tune in. I’m sure there are plenty of individual reasons each person had if they opted not to watch. If you did a top-down analysis, what you would you say?

Karp: The reasons you mentioned for sure. But there is something I want to talk about that is unique to the Super Bowl. I was discussing this with somebody and they asked, “Why wasn’t the Super Bowl up? People were not at parties, but everybody’s home with nothing to do, right?” Well, all of these large gatherings drive a lot of the numbers for Super Bowl. The same with the Thanksgiving game. When you go to a Super Bowl party, if it is at a Nielsen-measured home, there are so many people there that don’t watch NFL football normally. They’re just there for the party. They’re there for the social aspect of it. There were no big Super Bowl parties. You didn’t see people posting any pictures of Super Bowl parties. I think that drove down the number of homes using televisions. People that don’t watch the NFL sometimes host Super Bowl parties. That’s how big of an event it is. There was just none of that and I think that really hurt the number way more than I thought it would. It was more of getting to the finish line than excitement for the biggest football game of the year.

Ourand:  Look, between the three of us we could probably come up with more than 20 reasons why the ratings are down. There’s a noncompetitive game. There was some fatigue. As we have talked before I think the politics on both sides, pro-Kaepernick people that are boycotting the NFL and anti-Kaepernick people that are boycotting the NFL, has had a slight effect on it. But for me the biggest reason that the numbers are down is that it simply tracks closely with what the NFL did during the regular season. Regular season ratings were down seven percent. The Super Bowl is down a little bit more than that. If you view the NFL season as sort of a TV series, when you don’t have people getting invested during the regular season or playoffs to see how the show ends, they are not invested in tuning into the Super Bowl. I think that ultimately plays a really big part in what the final number is.

Within the broader context of sports viewership we have seen jewel events drop precipitously. The Stanley Cup Final was down 61 percent in viewership, the Kentucky Derby and the final round of the Masters were down 49 percent. College football’s national championship game had its worst numbers since the formation of the BCS in 1999. The NBA Finals and World Series saw all-time lows. So within that broader context, the Super Bowl is down nine percent. There is an argument to make that decline by the NFL is kind of incredible compared to everyone else. It actually held up compared to every other mega sporting event. What do you think?

Karp: Executives from the league and the networks seeing the NFL down seven percent during the regular season, considering what they saw from their competitors and amid the continued drop for any sort of broadcast TV programing, I don’t think that they’re going to lose sleep over this at all. What you mentioned with so many of these other leagues, particularly the Kentucky Derby or NBA Finals or The Masters or Stanley Cup, that was such a unique thing where they had to shift their final to a time of year that people aren’t watching that sport normally. There is just so much time you can spend watching sports. So looking at those viewership drops from where they were last year, sure, you can compare it, but it is an apples and oranges comparison to be quite honest. The college football championship? Yeah, it got its normal spot. The Super Bowl got its normal spot and the World Series generally got its normal spot. But they also had increased competition. I want to see how they’re going to do, not just this year, or maybe even the year after, but I’m looking at 2022 and beyond to judge where they all sit in the viewership ecosphere.

Ourand: That’s a point that I really want to emphasize because I think it’s hugely important. The NBA Finals was down significantly — three of the four least watched NBA Finals games ever. They went from June where they’re going up against a couple of regular season baseball games to all of a sudden they are in October and they’re going up against college football, the NFL, big horse races and golf majors. They’re going up against everything. To compare this to last year or previous years, this was just such an anomaly. I think the takeaway that I’m getting from this is they moved all these sports to the fall so they’re all competing against the NFL. The NFL being down seven percent, well, certainly a lot of that went to the NBA and a lot of that went to the NHL, and a lot of that went to the other sports that moved in the calendar, not to mention the coverage of the Presidential election. To me that shows the strength of the NFL vis-vis every single other sport in America, which we already knew. Going up against the NFL, the NFL hurt those sports so much more than those sports hurt the NFL. The NFL being down seven percent during the regular season against all that competition from other sports and from politics is really in my mind just a phenomenal number.

Ourand sort of touched on disgruntlement with an overtly political league.

2021 DRAFT

Today’s Mock Draft comes from Erik Edholm of YahooSports.com:

The next few months will be fun, wild and unexpected. But predicting how it will all unfold is going to be even tougher than usual. Personal note: Keep this in mind before you hate-mail us about our picks. Not that we don’t love hearing from each and every one of you. That goes without saying.

1. Jacksonville Jaguars

Clemson QB Trevor Lawrence

The Jaguars’ brass will get to watch their future franchise QB throw at a special session this week before he undergoes labrum surgery in his left (non-throwing) shoulder. Then Lawrence will be shut down for a while with rehab.

But even this development won’t change a thing. This pick has been shut down since the Jags clinched the first overall selection in late December.

2. New York Jets

BYU QB Zach Wilson

The Jets are expected to take one of two routes at quarterback: make a run at a big-name veteran (you know who) or take one in the draft. Sam Darnold has been drawing trade interest, and the Jets seemingly allowed that news to leak freely, so you can wager that a change is coming.

The scenario obviously changes if the Jets move out of this slot, but we think there’s a slightly better chance of Wilson going in this slot than anyone else as things stand now.

3. Miami Dolphins (via Houston Texans)

Alabama WR DeVonta Smith

It’s not as simple as Smith showing up at the Senior Bowl to spend the week with the Dolphins, and boom, he’s the pick. There are scouts with other teams who believe that LSU’s Ja’Marr Chase or even Smith’s Bama teammate, Jaylen Waddle, might have better pro projections.

But head coach Brian Flores will take a long, hard look at Smith’s toughness, play speed, playmaking and fearlessness, and we believe he’d be a great fit for a Miami offense in need of some downfield juice.

4. Atlanta Falcons

Ohio State QB Justin Fields

With the report that Matt Ryan and Julio Jones are remaining in Atlanta in 2021, it might seem odd to see a quarterback in this spot. Believe us, we get it. But the Falcons must plan for life after Ryan, and if anyone knows this, it’s new GM Terry Fontenot, having arrived from New Orleans and witnessing firsthand the Saints’ annual offseason dance with Drew Brees and his future plans.

Backup Matt Schaub retired after the season, and the Falcons need to think long and hard about drafting Ryan’s eventual successor here. They might not get too many future cracks at landing one. A trade down or taking a defensive player or an offensive tackle could also be in play here.

5. Cincinnati Bengals

Oregon OT Penei Sewell

There has been some chatter among scouts we’ve spoken to that Sewell might not be the generational talent some have made him out to be. And there might be some truth to that.

But the 20-year old Sewell is a better prospect with a higher ceiling than last year’s No. 4 overall pick, Andrew Thomas, and the Bengals can’t afford to get Joe Burrow — who was on pace to be sacked 51 times before his season-ending torn ACL — repeatedly assaulted by a heavy rush again.

6. Philadelphia Eagles

LSU WR Ja’Marr Chase

I could see a cornerback here if the Eagles like one of them enough, and Sewell would be hard to pass if he slipped to this spot. Personally, I’d take Kyle Pitts and flourish.

But Chase is by no means a slouch and would give the Eagles a No. 1 option for Jalen Hurts and whomever the team brings in as quote-unquote competition at QB if Carson Wentz is eventually moved. There’s the matter of Chase’s opt-out season rendering him a tougher evaluation, and the Eagles have sunk a ton of assets into the WR room, but it makes sense to add more weapons.

7. Detroit Lions

Alabama WR Jaylen Waddle

Waddle limped back onto the field for the national title game, and his rare explosion was nowhere to be found that night, as he clearly was playing at less than full strength. Even still, Waddle had more receiving yards than DeVonta Smith when Waddle got hurt in the fifth game last season, and Waddle is expected to make a complete recovery.

The Lions could lose Kenny Golladay to free agency and appear to need to revamp the unit as a whole. Waddle’s yards-after-the-catch knack would be an excellent first building block for new GM Brad Holmes.

8. Carolina Panthers

Florida TE-WR Kyle Pitts

The Panthers clearly are seeking to upgrade at quarterback but might not have enough ammo to get a top prize there. If they end up keeping this pick, we could see Carolina going after the best playmaker available.

In our eyes, that’s Pitts. The Ian Thomas-Chris Manhertz duo offered little in the passing game beyond blocking, but Pitts could transform this offense with an incredibly diverse route tree for a man his size. Call him a tight end if you want, but he’s essentially a king-sized wideout — roughly the same size as Mike Evans and DK Metcalf, and Pitts moves just as well.

9. Denver Broncos

Alabama CB Patrick Surtain II

This is a position in Denver that was beat up pretty badly last season and could use an influx of talent. Surtain might not be better in the eyes of some who prefer Virginia Tech’s Caleb Farley. But Surtain is a very solid, well-built corner who can fit Vic Fangio’s system and be a safer pick for new GM George Paton, who might not care to make Farley, who sat out in 2020, his first selection in charge.

Also, don’t be shocked if Mac Jones gets some buzz in this range, high as it might seem. Carolina at No. 8 and Denver at No. 9 are two early slots to watch for the Bama QB.

10. Dallas Cowboys

Virginia Tech CB Caleb Farley

Farley’s lack of experience at corner, with only two full seasons at the position, could be a concern for some teams considering taking him in the top 10. But he’s a high-ceiling talent who is just scratching the surface of his potential after playing high-school quarterback and spending his redshirt season in Blacksburg as a wide receiver.

The Cowboys can use help on all three levels of the defense and can start at corner, where they had a top four last season of Trevon Diggs, Chidobe Awuzie, Jourdan Lewis and Anthony Brown. Farley and Diggs would give them two big outside corners with press-coverage ability, something new coordinator Dan Quinn could use in his cover-3 system.

11. New York Giants

Michigan EDGE Kwity Paye

Tricky spot here, with a run on offensive weapons prior to this. If one of the receivers or Pitts is there, the Giants should take one. I could even be talked into an offensive lineman, even after taking two in the first three rounds a year ago.

But short of that, adding a pass rusher such as Paye would really help. The Giants have some nice players up front but could use a bigger source of edge pressure.

12. San Francisco 49ers

North Dakota State QB Trey Lance

If the 49ers can’t get in on one of the veteran quarterbacks in this offseason derby, they could do a lot worse than sticking with Jimmy Garoppolo (or swapping in another veteran placeholder) and grooming Lance as the eventual successor.

Figuring out where Lance goes — it could be higher than this, trust us — will be one of the great draft mysteries this year. He’s talented enough to have a better career than Zach Wilson or Justin Fields but inexperienced enough for none of us to really know how he’ll develop. The team that selects Lance in the top half of Round 1 is going to need a bit of chutzpah.

13. Los Angeles Chargers

Northwestern OT Rashawn Slater

Just like the Bengals with Joe Burrow, the Chargers need protection for Justin Herbert — badly. The beautiful thing about Slater is that he can easily project to a starting spot inside or out; he should be considered a four-position prospect, even if we feel he’d be good playing his college position of left tackle.

The 2020 opt-out isn’t big or long, but Slater is smart, athletic, competitive, technique-driven and well-balanced as a pass blocker.

14. Minnesota Vikings

USC OT-OG Ali Vera-Tucker

Lacking a second-rounder, the Vikings might be trade-down candidates — especially with a quarterback (Mac Jones) still on the board. But in this scenario, we focused on two spots: offensive line and the pass rush.

The Vikings might need a guard or a tackle, depending on the team’s plans for Riley Reiff returning and what position they like Ezra Cleveland at best. But Vera-Tucker’s versatility, having played well the past two seasons at guard and tackle, helps make this an easier pick.

15. New England Patriots

Penn State LB Micah Parsons

I struggled with this pick, not knowing how the Patriots might attack the QB position this offseason. But Bill Belichick has never drafted a quarterback in the first 61 picks overall, even dating back to his days in Cleveland, so I am not sure about slotting one here.

Instead, we lean on the idea that the Patriots’ defensive breakdowns last season had to irritate Belichick immensely. Parsons could be brought along as an understudy to Dont’a Hightower and be used as a rusher early while he learns the finer points of playing linebacker. But he profiles as a potentially special performer in time.

16. Arizona Cardinals

South Carolina CB Jaycee Horn

Patrick Paterson is a free agent, as is soon-to-be 37-year old Johnathan Joseph, who ended up playing a lot of snaps early in the season out of need. Throw in Dre Kirkpatrick’s uneven 2020 campaign, and the Cardinals sure could use an upgrade here.

Horn’s lack of college playmaking (two career INTs, both in one 2020 game) could be a hangup for some, but the son of former Saints WR Joe Horn is a tough customer who had some shutdown performances the past two seasons. He allowed a mere eight receptions (on 24 targets) in seven games in 2020 and would give them some nice length on the outside.

17. Las Vegas Raiders

Notre Dame LB Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah

The majority of the Raiders’ needs are on the defensive side, and assuming they keep this pick, it might just be smart to take the highest-rated defender here and call it a Day 1. Maybe they find a way to deal this pick as part of a package for, say, Deshaun Watson, but let’s not hold our collective breaths on that one.

With Gus Bradley running the defense, it would make sense to grab a linebacker with some safety-like skills who can run, cover and hit. Owusu-Koramoah could be a star in this kind of system, filling a variety of roles. A pass rusher might also make sense at this spot.

18. Dolphins

Tulsa LB Zaven Collins

I thought long and hard about Najee Harris, but the Dolphins can afford to wait at running back, with three more picks coming in the next 64 selections. Collins just feels like a Brian Flores type of player — big, instinctive and surprisingly fluid for a 260-pounder.

This LB corps could use a bit more versatility and talent, and the Dolphins’ defense could be a monster in time with a few more pieces.

19. Washington Football Team

Alabama QB Mac Jones

Truthfully, I believe Jones could go higher than this, and with an extra third-round choice at its disposal, Washington could slide up into a position to grab him earlier if needed. How the team will proceed at quarterback will be interesting, as there appear to be some moving parts here with the QBs already on the roster.

Last week new GM Martin Mayhew said that “you’ve got to have football intelligence to play the position,” and it made me think they could do worse than Jones in Round 1. When we spoke to Alabama WRs DeVonta Smith and Jaylen Waddle last week, both immediately raved about Jones’ sixth sense as his QB superpower.

Jones had a strong Senior Bowl week and now appears squarely in the Round 1 picture.

20. Chicago Bears

Oklahoma State OT Teven Jenkins

Bears fans are anxious — that’s one word to describe it — to find out which direction the team goes at quarterback. But before we know how that one ends up, it’s worth reminding that Chicago really needs to address the tackle spots.

Jenkins might be best-served as a right tackle, even though he’s played the left side before. The Bears shouldn’t plan on Germain Ifedi or Bobby Massie starting at that spot in 2021. Jenkins’ lumberjack toughness and decent flexibility would be a nice addition up front.

21. Indianapolis Colts

Virginia Tech OT Christian Darrisaw

At some point, the Colts will add a quarterback — and our suspicion long has been that it will be a veteran before a rookie. And whoever that quarterback is, they’ll need a tackle in front of them, with no obvious candidates to fill the shoes of the recently retired Anthony Castonzo.

Enter Darrisaw, who reads as a good match for GM Chris Ballard. Darrisaw came from a bit off the draft radar this season to excel, and though he still needs to anchor better and play with a bit more nastiness, he has the athletic template to develop into a strong blind-side blocker for whomever they get at QB.

22. Tennessee Titans

Texas OLB Joseph Ossai

Some might peg a DB here, and we get it. But our thinking is that upgrading the front seven could help the secondary return to its 2019 form and not be the big-play sieve it was this past season. The long-armed, high-motor Ossai would be a really nice pairing opposite Harold Landry, we suspect, and give the Titans more effective rush combinations up front.

23. Jets (via Seattle Seahawks)

Georgia CB Tyson Campbell

As with the Dolphins five slots earlier, a running back could be in play here. But our thinking is, with the Jets’ next pick just around the corner at No. 34 (and zero backs gone in this simulation), the chances of them getting a good one down the line might be pretty strong.

So here we instead went for another big need at corner. Campbell isn’t without his warts, but physically speaking, he’s easily one of the more impressive athletes at the position still on the board. New coach Robert Saleh and DC Jeff Ulbrich will be seeking long, highly athletic cover men to populate the defense.

Campbell is an option, but keep an eye on two others who make sense: Syracuse’s Ifeatu Melifonwu and Northwestern’s Greg Newsome II.

24. Pittsburgh Steelers

Alabama C-OG Landon Dickerson

Another team that is likely to draft a running back but perhaps not at this point. Offensive tackle was another spot that really made me think long and hard.

Dickerson’s torn ACL is going to cloud his medical evaluation, but he just feels like a central-casting Steelers offensive lineman. The Crimson Tide’s beloved leader is big, strong, nasty, smart and surprisingly agile. If Maurkice Pouncey calls it a career, this would be an excellent replacement, but Dickerson also can play guard readily.

25. Jaguars (via Los Angeles Rams)

Alabama DT Christian Barmore

Barmore is a big-framed, high-upside player with the skill to rush the passer from the interior (a Jaguars need) and also be an effective run-stopper. We’re certain that Urban Meyer watched the national title game against his former Ohio State squad and couldn’t help but notice Barmore wrecking the Buckeyes’ blocking schemes with multiple big plays.

He’s still raw and young, but Barmore has the potential to be great in time. The Jaguars remain a team that’s still setting the table and can afford to let him develop.

26. Cleveland Browns

Miami EDGE Jaelan Phillips

This was a two-position race for me: DB or pass rusher? I couldn’t quite talk myself into any of the available corners here, and Greedy Williams’ return at least suggests that internal improvement is a possibility.

So why Phillips over his (sometimes) more touted Hurricanes counterpart, Greg Rousseau? This would all be about the Browns’ analytics-driven front office placing a higher value, we’d venture to guess, on a player with a ton of athletic promise and one who played great ball in 2020.

Phillips’ medical reports and interviews will determine whether he can crack the top 40 or so picks.

27. Baltimore Ravens

Georgia EDGE Azeez Ojulari

The young Bulldogs rusher is a quickly ascending talent who might end up being some teams’ top-rated EDGE in this class, even while his lack of size and length will be problematic for some teams and his inexperience a hangup for others. But his edge juice, twitch and freaky bend will be traits we suspect the Ravens will fall for.

28. New Orleans Saints

Florida WR Kadarius Toney

A bit later than we expected for Toney, who is an electric playmaker, but it’s an excellent fit, we believe, for a Saints team that might have to generate offense in different ways if Drew Brees retires. Toney has lined up in the backfield, in the slot, out wide and as a punt and kick returner. (He’s even taken snaps at QB, completing 3-of-6 passes for 82 yards and a TD in college.)

The Saints would have Michael Thomas to run slants, Tre’Quan Smith to run clear-outs and can let Toney and Alvin Kamara dice up opponents with a thousand paper cuts. Emmanuel Sanders turns 34 in a month, is set to hit the cap at $10.5 million and averaged 43 yards a game over his final 11 contests last season.

29. Green Bay Packers

Syracuse CB Ifeatu Melifonwu

The Packers have a knack for irritating their fans with their recent first-round picks, often deviating from the most clear, obvious void on the roster. But in this case, it would make sense for the Packers to review the tape of their playoff loss and realize how big a need this position would be.

Melifonwu has the size (nearly 6-foot-3 and nearly 215 pounds) to be a natural Kevin King replacement and lock down a starting job outside. If the Packers are going to be more of a zone-heavy defense under Joe Barry, then adding a Seattle-style corner makes a lot of sense.

30. Buffalo Bills

TCU S Trevon Moehrig

The Bills’ moves on the offensive line this offseason will tell us a lot about how they’ll approach the draft. But in the meantime, let’s assume they’ll be in better shape on the offensive line than what we saw in 2020.

What they also could use is a rangy, versatile safety who can handle some slot duty, and Moehrig fits that mold to a tee. Last year the Bills were very much in on Kyle Dugger, whom the Patriots drafted early in Round 2, and Moehrig checks off a lot of the same boxes with terrific athletic traits, ball skills and positional versatility. He played the nickel, in the box and as a deep safety, turning in a strong 2020 season for the Horned Frogs.

31. Kansas City Chiefs

Alabama OT-OG Alex Leatherwood

The Chiefs’ pass protection in the Super Bowl was atrocious without their two starting tackles in the lineup. Both could return in 2021, as could OGs Laurent Duvernay-Tardif and Keleche Osemele. But adding more layers of insurance for the best quarterback in football feels somewhat important.

Leatherwood can look a little stiff and mechanical at times, and some teams believe he’d be best at guard. But his build and skill set fit what the Chiefs seek in their linemen, and he could help bolster the depth issue as a future starter inside or out.

32. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Miami EDGE Gregory Rousseau

Perhaps a bit lower than you’re used to seeing him in mocks, Rousseau presents a really interesting draft study: What to make of a player who had tremendous production (15.5 sacks) as a redshirt freshman but who sat out in 2020 and appears to need some polish and positional development?

We figure that the Bucs are playing with house money with this pick, and the possible departure of Shaq Barrett in free agency would open a spot up front. Rousseau, a Florida native, would be a fun pet project for DL coach Kacy Rodgers.