The Daily Briefing Thursday, March 31, 2022

MINNESOTA

Saying the Vikings are “stacked”, CB PATRICK PETERSON is back on a one-year deal. Chris Tomasson in the St. Paul Pioneer-Press:

Patrick Peterson wanted to return to the Vikings, and that’s what will happen.

The veteran cornerback revealed on his “All Things Covered” podcast Wednesday night that he will re-sign with Minnesota on a one-year deal that a source said could worth as much as $5 million and includes $3.5 million in guaranteed money. The Vikings later announced that they had agreed to terms with Peterson.

“I’m going to stay put right there in Minnesota and run it back with the guys,” Peterson said on the live broadcast. “Keep it in the (NFC) North. … It feels great. … There’s a good group of guys in the locker room, (safety) Harrison (Smith) being one of the ones that I’m very, very close to. … I just felt it was right just to be there and then grind with those guys and try to all come together for that common goal.”

A source said Peterson will get a one-year, $4 million deal, with his $2 million base salary guaranteed and with a $1.5 million signing bonus. He also has $500,000 in roster bonuses for games played. And he has additional incentives in his contract for playing time and making the playoffs that could be worth as much as $1 million.

Peterson, who turns 32 on July 11, said he wants to play three more seasons. He played for the Vikings in 2021 on a one-year, $8 million and indicated on his podcast he was willing to take less in 2022.

“I’m not trying to back up the Brink’s truck anymore because I know I’m not 26, 25 anymore,” he said. “So, I just want to be able to have a respectable contract.”

General manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah said last week the Vikings had interest in re-signing Peterson but that the salary cap made it a challenge.

Peterson, who made eight Pro Bowls in his first 10 seasons with Arizona before joining the Vikings in 2021, had said on previous podcasts he wanted to return to Minnesota. The plan all along was for Peterson, who co-hosts the podcast with his cousin and former NFL cornerback Bryant McFadden, to break his free agency news on “All Things Covered.”

Peterson doesn’t have his past Pro Bowl form, but is still considered a solid NFL starter. He said he also drew interest from Buffalo, Chicago, Indianapolis and Washington and to a lesser extent from Tampa Bay. But he reiterated that his desire was to return to the Vikings and that “the “ball (was) in their court.”

“I’m excited about it,” he said. “My family is excited about it. I can’t wait to get back up there. I just texted all the guys (on the team), and all the guys are excited that I chose to stay put. It’s going to be a fun year. It was a fun year last year. It wasn’t the outcome obviously that we wanted, but we got another crack at it.”

The Vikings went 8-9, missed the playoffs for a second straight year, and were ranked 30th in the NFL in total defense. Head coach Mike Zimmer was fired and replaced by Kevin O’Connell. There is a new defensive coordinator in Ed Donatell and the Vikings have made a number of moves on defense, including signing free-agent pass rusher Za’Darius Smith.

“The team is stacked,” Peterson said. “We got even better I believe in the offseason by adding a great offensive mind in Kevin and a pass rusher to help Danielle (Hunter), with Ed coming in.”

Peterson said his “body feels great” and that he now weighs 197 pounds. Peterson said he weighed 205 as an LSU freshman in 2008, and “this is the leanest I’ve been for the longest period of time.”

Peterson is expected to be one Minnesota starter at outside cornerback. The other one could be Cameron Dantzler, but the Vikings might take a cornerback with their No. 12 pick. Peterson is pushing for LSU’s Derek Stingley Jr.

“I think he can be another Patrick Surtain II and come in and be able to have a force … out of the gate,” Peterson said of Surtain last season as a Denver rookie. “He has that type of potential, if he’s there (at No. 12). I think it will be a perfect match. He has the total package. He reminds me a lot of myself when I was in school. He’s a special one.”

CAROLINA

GM Scott Fitterer sounds like he is preparing for the first round QB selection that will go a long way to defining his tenure.  Myles Simmons of ProFootballTalk.com:

Panthers General Manager Scott Fitterer sounds like he’s strongly considering a quarterback in the first round of the NFL draft.

Fitterer told Darin Gantt of Panthers.com that although he thinks the strongest position group in the draft is offensive tackle, the Panthers could go quarterback with the sixth overall pick.

 “This will be interesting because the tackles will be the best players on the board,” Fitterer said. “But we do need a quarterback, and at some point you have to take a shot, especially in the top 10. You hate to force it, because when you force it, you could make a mistake. It’s a unique quarterback class, because there’s not a clear number one, number two, number three. Like, who’s the proven starter who can come in and play for you? That’ll be the conversation we have for the next month — quarterback or left tackle.”

Sam Darnold is currently penciled in as the Panthers’ starter, but he has done nothing to this point in his NFL career to give anyone any hope that he’s going to develop into a franchise quarterback.

Most draft observers consider Malik Willis of Liberty, Kenny Pickett of Pittsburgh and Matt Corral of Ole Miss the top quarterbacks in this year’s draft. If the Panthers want one of them, at least one will almost certainly be available at No. 6.

But the Panthers can’t afford to miss at No. 6, because they’ve traded away their second-, third- and fourth-round picks. After No. 6, they don’t pick again until No. 137. And they’re not getting a franchise quarterback there.

– – –

Matt Rhule opines on how to use RB CHRISTIAN McCAFFREY properly.  David Newton of ESPN.com:

Carolina Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey didn’t hesitate.

Asked in January if there would be any benefit to him playing more in the slot to cut down on injuries that have sidelined him for 23 games the past two seasons, he deadpanned, “No.’’

Then there was silence.

That question hadn’t been answered by the staff since coach Matt Rhule and general manager Scott Fitterer worked to revamp the offense around new offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo. The question seemed more pertinent after former Tennessee Titans back D’Onta Foreman signed with the Panthers this offseason.

Foreman is more of a power back, and McAdoo wants a more physical running game.

Rhule finally answered the question Tuesday at the NFL owners meeting in South Florida, even though the idea of putting McCaffrey in the slot more has been kicked around Bank of America Stadium.

“We can always move him around and utilize him, but at the end of the day, he’s a back,’’ Rhule said. “You can do a lot of things with Christian, but to take him out of the backfield, to me, is taking him out of what he does best. We’ll keep him at tailback.’’

TAMPA BAY

On Wednesday, Peter King broke the story that the Buccaneers had a new coach.

Add this to the craziest, newsiest NFL offseason in modern league history: Bruce Arians, who coached the Buccaneers to a Super Bowl LV victory less than 14 months ago, is stepping aside to take a front-office role with the team effective immediately.

Tampa Bay will install Arians’ preferred successor, defensive coordinator Todd Bowles, as the new head coach. Bowles, 58, previously coached the Jets to a 24-40 record in 2015-18, his only full-time head-coaching job. Bowles, who is Black, would become the sixth minority head coach in the league, joining Mike Tomlin (Pittsburgh), Ron Rivera (Washington), Robert Saleh (Jets), Mike McDaniel (Miami) and Lovie Smith (Houston).

Arians, 69, said his new job would be as “senior consultant for football,” and that gig will start with Tampa Bay’s 2022 draft prep.

Surprise Not Shock

The move comes as a surprise but perhaps not a shock. Arians, the most colorful coach in a buttoned-up pro game, said he started thinking about stepping aside at the NFL Scouting Combine a month ago. He is a prostate-cancer survivor and was hospitalized due to an illness late in his first head-coach tenure in Indianapolis in 2012. He’s suffering from a torn Achilles today. But when he explained his reasons, health wasn’t the big thing.

He said he’s relinquishing the Tampa job because “succession has always been huge for me. With the organization in probably the best shape it’s been in its history, with Tom Brady coming back … I’d rather see Todd in position to be successful and not have to take some [crappy] job. I’m probably retiring next year anyway, in February. So, I control the narrative right now. I don’t control it next February because [if] Brady gets hurt, we go 10-7, and it’s an open interview for the job … I got 31 [coaches and their] families that depend on me. My wife is big on not letting all those families down.”

Arians explained his reasoning in a telephone interview with NBC Sports and the Los Angeles Times.

He was scheduled to inform his coaching staff in an 8 p.m. Zoom call Wednesday, and he planned to send a message to his players explaining his decision concurrent with telling his coaches.

In a way, Arians said, Brady coming out of retirement encouraged him to move on. In a 25-minute conversation, Arians explained the reasons for this decision dated back to February 2021.

“It hit me after the Super Bowl,” he said. “I thought really hard about going out on top. Then it was like, nah, let’s go for two. [The 2021 season] was a grind with all the injuries but still winning and getting to where we got. Immediately after, two to three weeks afterwards [I thought] … if I quit, my coaches get fired. I couldn’t do it then.

“Tom was kind of the key. When Tom decided to come back … and all of these guys back now, it’s the perfect timing for me just to go into the front office and still have the relationships that I love.”

Arians said he has wanted Bowles, the architect of the Bucs’ suffocating 2020 defense that held Kansas City to zero touchdowns in a 31-9 Super Bowl win, to succeed him whenever he chose to step down. Arians also wanted Bowles to have the benefit of a great quarterback on the roster to give him the best chance to win. The Bucs’ owners, the Glazer family, agreed. The Bowles hire would be the fourth full-time minority coach hired by the Glazers (Tony Dungy, Raheem Morris, Lovie Smith, Bowles), which is the most in NFL history. No other team has had more than two non-interim minority head coaches.

Four times during a discussion about why now, Arians kept coming back to his coaching staff: “I know my guys are going to be taken care of. I couldn’t leave them hanging.”

Unusual Timing

What complicated the latter stage of this transfer from Arians to Bowles was the unusual timing of the move. Arians and the Bucs wanted Bowles to get the job, and so they went to the league and said, essentially, Let’s not go through sham interviews when we know we’re hiring Bowles, who will improve the league’s bottom line for minority hires.

It is customary for teams to follow the Rooney Rule in coach searches, mandating that at least two minority coaches be interviewed for every head-coach opening. Because this situation happened after the start of the league year in mid-March, and the NFL allows coaching interviews only after the regular season, it would have been precedent-setting for the league to allow coaching interviews now. The communication between the Bucs and the league on this issue is unknown, but the franchise feels comfortable enough after discussions with the league to confirm the Bowles hire.

The Bucs are expected to hold a news conference Thursday in Tampa, with Arians and Bowles discussing the transition.

The timing brings up what will surely be an internet-fueled round of speculation. It was rumored that Brady had problems with Arians and the supposed lax nature of how the team was handled at times in his first two years with the team, and that factored into Brady’s 40-day retirement at the end of the 2021 season. Brady announced his return to the Bucs on March 13.

The logical question, with Arians’ odd timing about stepping down, will be: Is there a connection between Brady’s return and Arians quitting coaching?

“No,” Arians said. “No. Tom was very in favor of what I’m doing. I mean, I had conflicts with every player I coached because I cussed them all out, including him. Great relationship off the field.”

If there was any conflict, maybe friction is a good thing. In his last two seasons, at ages 43 and 44, Brady had the most explosive offensive performances, back to back, of his 22-year career. In those two seasons, he threw 83 touchdown passes and 9,949 passing yards—his all-time highs for a two-year period. Brady seems set this year to have another productive season at 45.

Arians certainly wasn’t the control freak that Brady had in coach Bill Belichick in his first 20 NFL seasons in New England. But the Arians/Brady combination resulted in a Super Bowl title and a 29-10 record in the quarterback’s first two post-Patriot years. 

‘No Risk It, No Biscuit’

Arians has a 47-year coaching history, dating back to his grad-assistant days in 1975 at Virginia Tech. He was Alabama’s running backs coach on Bear Bryant staff in his last two seasons (1981-’82) as a coach, and he speaks reverentially of his days as a kid working for Bryant. “I always remembered Coach Bryant’s best advice: Coach ’em hard, hug ’em later,” he said.

He was Peyton Manning’s first quarterback coach in 1998 in Indianapolis, Ben Roethlisberger’s mentor in Pittsburgh till 2011, and was hired to be Andrew Luck’s first pro offensive coordinator in 2012 in Indianapolis. That’s where Arians got his first chance as a head coach at age 60. Early in the 2012 season, Colts coach Chuck Pagano had to take a leave for leukemia treatment. That’s when the Arians star began to shine. He won coach of the year twice—going 9-3 in 2012 in that interim role with the Colts, and then in 2014 with the ascending Cardinals. His 95 coaching victories is a lot for a man who wasn’t a head coach till he turned 60. He coached Arizona to the 2015 NFC title game, and then the Bucs to the 2020 Super Bowl title with Brady.

He’d prefer his legacy to be at least as much about color- and gender-blindness as the wins and the offensive schemes he taught that were heavy on the deep ball. His last coaching staff in Tampa included a league-high 11 Black coaches (including all three coordinators) and two women.

Arians said he was actually energized thinking about staying on the job and entering the season with veteran backup Blaine Gabbert and Kyle Trask, last year’s unproven second-round pick. “Part of me,” he said, “was excited to coach Blaine Gabbert as the quarterback and prove to everybody, ‘Kiss my ass. He’s good.’ You know?”

He said his son and agent, Jake Arians, has told him it’s not too smart to be stepping away from a potential Super Bowl team. “I don’t really feel like I’m stepping away,” Bruce said. “I’m not retiring. I’m just moving to the other side of the building. I’ll be at practices. I’ll be in the office. Whatever they need me to do.”

The move to Bowles likely will increase the influence of offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich and Brady on game plans and play-calling. Although Arians often credited Leftwich with doing everything in game-planning and running the offense, the philosophy was Arians-based. Take chances, he preached. No risk it, no biscuit was a refrain of his.

Lots of coaches say they’re finished. But they find reasons to come back. In recent years, Pete Carroll has shown no desire to leave coaching (he’s 70), and Bill Belichick, who looks like he’ll coach forever, turns 70 on April 16. Arians is in their age bracket but doesn’t sound like Carroll or Belichick.

“No,” Arians said, “this is it. This is it. I’m gonna be 70 in October. I just look forward to helping the Bucs because they’ve been so great to me and my family.”

There’s one other benefit, Arians pointed out, to making this call now.

“I don’t have to worry about how many cocktails I have on Saturday night,” he said.

There are those who think that Arians’ departure was a condition of QB TOM BRADY’s return.  The move has certainly been in the works for a while as Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times reports:

@NFLSTROUD

#Bucs QB Tom Brady was informed Bruce Arians planned to step down and Todd Bowles would succeed him as head coach either the same day or a day after the QB announced he was ending his retirement, the @TB_Times  has learned. Team insists it was not related to Brady’s decision.

Count Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com among the suspicious:

So Brady learned Arians was leaving the same day Brady unretired, or Brady found out about it the next day. Either way, the prospect of a coaching change gave Brady no pause about playing for the Buccaneers. And all that that implies.

Consider that for a moment. No one is suggesting that Brady is even remotely upset that, just as he’s coming back, the head coach is leaving. This only fuels the notion that Brady wanted the coaching change as a condition of his return to the team.

Per Stroud, the Buccaneers insist that the Arians’s departure was not related to Brady’s decision. What else will they say? Of course they’ll deny a connection, regardless of whether there is one.

Still, the notion that Brady is barely even shrugging at the Arians-for-Todd-Bowles swap says plenty. Either Brady wanted this outcome or he has zero qualms about it happening. Regardless, it seems to confirm the notion that, after two years together, Brady was ready for a change.

Bowles becomes the 4^th Black head coach in Buccaneers history, joining Hall of Famer Tony Dungy, Raheem Morris and Lovie Smith.  No other team has had more than two per Adam Schefter.

SAN FRANCISCO

QB JIMMY GAROPPOLO may not be going anywhere.  Myles Simmons of ProFootballTalk.com:

The 49ers have made it clear that they would like to trade Jimmy Garoppolo. But at this point, the quarterback’s shoulder surgery appears to have put that on hold.

So now San Francisco is carrying Garoppolo on its roster, despite the fact that trading him or cutting him would clear $25.5 million off the team’s salary cap. As head coach Kyle Shanahan said on Tuesday, the 49ers aren’t going to get rid of Garoppolo just to get him off the books.

So while the club is clearly preparing to move on to Trey Lance as its starter in 2022, there’s still a possibility Garoppolo could remain on the roster. At the annual league meeting on Tuesday, 49ers CEO Jed York said he’d be fine with keeping Garoppolo around as a backup — even at the quarterback’s current salary.

“I’m not the coach. I’m not the General Manager,” York said, via Nick Wagoner of ESPN. “They have my authority to put the roster together as they see fit. If that’s what it is, then as long as we’re competing and we’re winning football games, they have the ability to do what they think is best to help us win. We’ve made trades and we’ve had guys that are making a lot of money who haven’t been on the field. It’s easy to say your hypothetical question, like it’s easy to go to that one but it’s not about what is one individual piece. It’s, what’s the collective?

“If we think it’s the best decision to have two guys that we think are very, very capable of winning football games and giving us a chance to win the Super Bowl, there’s no position [that’s] more important than that in all of sports. So, if we’re going to over-invest in something, I’d rather over-invest in the quarterback position than anything else.”

Keeping Garoppolo around as a backup could create an awkward situation for the 49ers, as the quarterback has taken the team to the NFC Championship Game in two of the last three seasons. But the team traded up to get Lance for a reason. And at this point, it doesn’t appear San Francisco would like to hinder Lance’s development by making him play second fiddle to Garoppolo for another year.

Daniel Kelly of SI.com looked at all of QB TREY LANCE’s rookie film and was underwhelmed:

Trey Lance did three things consistently well as the quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers: he ran the ball, he handed it off and he completed short passes.

That’s it.

This is what game film revealed against Seattle (7-10), Arizona (11-6) and Houston (4-13) during the 2021 regular season. These are the three games Lance saw the bulk of his playing time.

The study of game film is about identifying patterns and tendencies to develop a big-picture evaluation. It excludes the “one-off’s,” whether they end in a positive or negative result.

During these three games, Lance ran the ball 31 times (5.19 yards per attempt), handed it off 48 times, and threw 27 short range passes. That equates to Lance running, handing it off or throwing a short pass 71% of the time (106/150 plays). That was Lance’s comfort level in this offense, and 49ers’ coach Kyle Shanahan’s comfort level in play calling when Lance was in the game.

Lance proved to be dangerously erratic when he was attempting to throw the ball further downfield into the intermediate to deep route ranges.

Lance was extremely concerning in these four areas:

1. Intermediate route completion percentage

50% accuracy (15/30) completions in the intermediate route range. However, Lance did show steady improvement in this area incrementally. Against Seattle (1/6), Arizona (5/10) and Houston (9/14).

2. Ball placement at the intermediate route levels

Lance showed a tendency to deliver his passes either too high or too low at the intermediate route level. He delivered the ball too high seven times and too low six times. That equates to 13/30 throws. Passes delivered too high or too low can hinder receivers picking up additional yardage after the catch.

3. Deep accuracy

Lance was 33% accurate (2/6) when throwing the ball deep. On the two touchdowns he completed to receiver Deebo Samuel against Seattle and Houston, Samuel had to noticeably wait on both passes.

4. Ball Protection

In these three games, opposing defenses touched his passing attempts 11 times. That works out to almost four times (3.66) per game.

BALTIMORE

QB LAMAR JACKSON takes to Twitter to dispel rumors that he wants out of Baltimore. Jamison Hensley of ESPN.com:

Lamar Jackson wants to end all speculation that he is looking to leave the Baltimore Ravens.

Amid stalled negotiations on a long-term contract and uncertainty over whether Jackson has his sights set on free agency in 2025, the star quarterback tweeted Wednesday that he loves the Ravens and cited a “false narrative” that he is considering leaving the franchise.

@Lj_era8

I love my Ravens I don’t know who the hell putting that false narrative out that I’m having thoughts about leaving stop tryna read my mind🙄

The tweet comes at a time when Jackson has shown no interest in engaging in contract extension talks.

Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti and general manager Eric DeCosta have both said this offseason that the team is committed to signing Jackson long term, but the 2019 NFL MVP has expressed no urgency to talk about a new deal. DeCosta indicated on March 2 that he had communicated once with Jackson via text over the past month.

Jackson, 25, is entering his fifth-year option, which will pay him $23.016 million this season. If the sides are unable to reach a contract extension by next offseason, Baltimore would have to place the franchise tag on Jackson to keep him from becoming a free agent.

Bisciotti said Tuesday that he doesn’t foresee Jackson signing an extension before the start of the 2022 season “unless he has a change of heart” and described Jackson’s decision to wait as “unique as hell.”

“We’ll pay him when he’s ready,” Bisciotti said.

Bisciotti, who hasn’t spoken to Jackson about his contract, wondered whether Jackson will take the same route as Kirk Cousins, who became the first quarterback in NFL history to get the franchise tag in consecutive years before leaving to sign with the Minnesota Vikings in free agency.

“And that gives me three years to win the Super Bowl so you can make me a $60 million quarterback, because that’s where it will be four years from now,” Bisciotti said.

Bisciotti then added that Jackson “is a unique cat, and what are you going to do with a guy who wants to be unique?”

“You don’t browbeat him into being a conformist,” Bisciotti said. “We’re taking him as we take him. We appreciate him. All I know is that his teammates freaking love him and the front office loves him. It’s like, ‘You just keep doing you Lamar, and we’ll make it work somehow.'”

Bills quarterback Josh Allen, who was in Jackson’s 2018 draft class, signed a six-year, $258 million extension last summer that averages $43 million per season and includes $100 million guaranteed.

INDIANAPOLIS

Owner Jim Irsay on why QB CARSON WENTZ was one-and-done in Indy.  Zac Keefer of The Athletic:

His fury reached a boiling point after 0-2 became 0-3, so Jim Irsay summoned all of them — his entire coaching staff, every scout still in town — for a “Come to Jesus” meeting in which the Colts’ longtime owner laid bare his bubbling frustrations with his club’s inability to beat the team it most needs to beat.

It was late September. Indianapolis had stumbled out of the gate — again — and Irsay was irate, fuming over a 25-16 Week 3 loss in Tennessee, the Colts’ third straight loss to open the year. He saw a season slipping away, and worried that his franchise was blowing yet another opportunity to do what it hadn’t in six long years: reclaim the AFC South.

But to do so, the Colts needed to beat the Titans. They’d lost three of four to their division rival dating back to 2019.

“You guys are getting your ass kicked,” Irsay said he told the room. “Who’s going to do something about it? We’ll get them next time? Not good enough. Who’s going to stop it? Who’s going to stand up and stop it?”

From 0-3, the Colts fell to 1-4. They climbed back over the next three months into the AFC playoff picture, ripping off nine wins in 12 games, but they dropped their second contest against the Titans on Halloween, blowing a 14-0 first-half lead before crumbling in overtime. The division was effectively over before the calendar flipped to November.

That made four losses in five games against the Titans.

The owner hasn’t forgotten.

“I don’t hide from the clear facts that are out there competitively,” Irsay said Tuesday during a break in the NFL owners’ meetings in Palm Beach. “I want to know. I want to put them right in front of us because, you know, that’s just the way it is … you have to know where your nemeses lie … and that (this) is just completely unacceptable.”

The Titans had earned their second straight division title by season’s end, and the Colts were left to pick up the pieces from the most unimaginable late-season collapse in franchise history. Indianapolis hasn’t won an AFC crown since 2014 and has been forced to watch all three division foes — Houston, Jacksonville and Tennessee — win at least one in that seven-year span.

It’s a sticking point with Irsay, he said, because “if you have someone that’s dominant in your division, you’re in big trouble. Big trouble.”

But the owner’s ire doesn’t end there — this was about more than the AFC South. Much more. The wounds of 2021 are still fresh, even if the Colts have found ways to move on in the last few weeks and upgrade at the most important position on the field. For Irsay, this most recent season was his most challenging in years, one that ended so horrendously that he felt compelled to do what he rarely does: step in on personnel matters. While he always has a say when it comes to the starting quarterback, this instance, he decided, required more.

He wanted to make sure the Colts moved on from Carson Wentz.

“I wish Carson well, I think he has a chance to go into a different environment and play great in Washington,” Irsay said. “It’s just, for us, it was something we had to move away from as a franchise. It was very obvious.”

Even two months later, Irsay remains mystified over his team’s late-season collapse, the Week 17 loss to Las Vegas followed by the Week 18 debacle in Jacksonville. A win in either contest would’ve clinched a playoff berth.

Instead, the Colts fell apart.

“No disrespect to Jacksonville, but I mean, they’re the worst team in the league,” Irsay said of the Jaguars, who for the second straight year own the No. 1 overall pick in the draft. “I mean, if you play well for the first quarter, you know, they’re (probably) looking to go to the locker room, you know?

“I can’t emphasize how shocked and disappointed (I was),” Irsay continued. “I don’t have the words to describe the level of that letdown … I mean, I’ve never seen it in my life.”

From there, once the shock slowly began to wear off, Irsay began to look for answers, hard as they were to come by. He met with general manager Chris Ballard and head coach Frank Reich for a lengthy sitdown — an “ass-chewing,” Ballard would later call it — the night of the loss to Jacksonville. He met with a handful of veteran players in the following weeks, desperate to ensure what happened in 2021 wouldn’t repeat itself in 2022.

What Irsay learned, he said: “(Jacksonville) clearly wasn’t an accident.”

He explained: “You search for the right chemistry with any team. Football is as important as any sport there is. If that chemistry is off, if it isn’t there, it can be extremely detrimental and lower performance to a degree that is stunning, you know, and shocking.”

What Irsay gleaned from the conversations he had with some veteran players, he said, “was very concerning.”

His conclusion, in his words: “Oh my God, there’s something wrong here … and it needs to be corrected.”

The Colts sent Wentz to Washington in exchange for a pair of third-round picks earlier this month, one of which can become a second if Wentz plays most of the season. Irsay confirmed Tuesday that they would have considered cutting him — and eating his $15 million guarantee — if they hadn’t found a trade partner.

But they didn’t have to. Ballard, in the weeks that followed, sent one of those third-round picks (No. 82 this spring) to Atlanta in exchange for 36-year-old Matt Ryan, who’ll become the Colts’ fifth different starting quarterback in as many years come September.

“Carson is not the scapegoat,” Irsay clarified. “It simply didn’t work out for us and what we are trying to accomplish. I mean, he’s a good man, a good father and a guy who put a lot of effort into the year and worked really hard and wanted to have success. It just didn’t work out. And sometimes you feel like you have to move on because you can’t always persuade people to do things differently if they don’t want to do them differently.”

Irsay admitted that at times, like in late January, it felt like the Colts “were in a long, dark tunnel” when it came to quarterback, determined to move on from Wentz but without a viable solution to replace him.

The options, he said, appeared limited.

But when they learned Ryan would become available, Irsay was on board. On a late-night call with Ballard the day before the Colts agreed to terms with Atlanta, he urged his general manager to wrap it up, reminding him how much a quarterback impacts a franchise. Irsay said the right QB can “affect a team competitively around 35-45 percent.”

He wanted to ensure the Colts didn’t miss their chance.

“We gotta get it done, let’s get it done,” Irsay told his GM that night. “We can’t mess around with something like this.”

Ballard listened, sealing the deal 12 hours later.

“I don’t have regrets about (the trade for Wentz last year),” Irsay said. “I mean, you try to make the best decision you can from the position you were in, and it’s a tough league and it’s tough being right. And you know, I think the worst thing you can do is have a mistake and try to keep living with it.”

The Colts’ top decision-makers — Irsay, Ballard and Reich — all seemed relieved this week in Palm Beach, grateful that they’d found their answer at quarterback after an initial week-long stretch that looked pretty dim. Irsay oozed optimism, like he always does, about the coming season and the talent Ryan will get to play with. Special players, he called Jonathan Taylor and Michael Pittman Jr., and he mentioned tight end Kylen Granson was a talent the Colts hope and expect will take the next step in 2022.

“Time will tell, but I really feel good about things,” the owner said, looking back on the road that led the Colts from no quarterback on March 9 to Matt Ryan on March 21. “Extremely grateful to the football gods, so to speak, on where we were compared to where we are, you know, and I don’t underestimate that. You’re always greedy looking to complete the puzzle perfectly.”

A disappointing season, Irsay determined, required some painful questions. He sought out the answers, then he made certain changes were made.

“This business,” he said, “calls for you to be at your best when it’s tough.”

TENNESSEE

The idea is growing that Nashville is just a spectacular stadium away from being a prime Super Bowl destination.  Sandy Mazza and Cassandra Stephenson in The Tennessean:

Gov. Bill Lee’s representatives will meet with members of the state Legislature on Tuesday morning to request a $500 million increase in debt to help fund a professional football stadium in Nashville, two officials said.

The new bill will expand the state’s general-obligation debt ceiling by $500 million, according to sources close to the deal who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The funding is expected to be contingent on a new stadium being built with a roof, which would make the new venue more viable to host a Super Bowl.

Last year, Nashville and Tennessee Titans officials planned $600 million in Nissan Stadium renovations before engineering reports revealed more than $1 billion in repairs and maintenance are needed to maintain a “first class” stadium.

The state also committed a portion of its future sales tax proceeds in the stadium redevelopment area to paying for construction.

The Titans then pivoted to building a new, state-of-the-art stadium on the East Bank of the Cumberland River. Both ideas officially remain under discussion, however.

NEW YORK JETS

Flush with picks, the Jets say they are open for business. Connor Hughes of The Athletic:

They’re rumors, but Jets general manager Joe Douglas has heard every one of them. They’re intriguing, interesting.

A.J. Brown is among the more physically imposing receivers in the league, and the Titans are interested in trading him? DK Metcalf is among the most dominant pass catchers, and the Seahawks are willing to listen to offers for him? That’s juicy. Very, very juicy.

Right now, though, that’s all they are: Rumors. Nothing more. Nothing less.

But if there ends up being some fire underneath all that smoke?

“If the right player presents himself,” Douglas said from the NFL owners’ meetings at The Breakers resort, “We’re going to strike.”

This offseason has been solid for the Jets. They had holes — as most teams coming off 2-14 and 4-13 seasons do — and have spent much of the last few weeks plugging them. Guard Laken Tomlinson, cornerback D.J. Reed, safety Jordan Whitehead and tight end C.J. Uzomah are four new starters. They’re solid players. What they’re not, though, is what this offseason has lacked: the big splash that only comes when you add a true game-changer.

The Jets and Douglas have tried to make that wave in recent weeks and months. They contacted the Falcons about wide receiver Calvin Ridley, but Atlanta shut down conversations knowing of his impending suspension. They went after Amari Cooper, but the Cowboys weren’t willing to make a deal contingent on a reworked contract. Then, last week, they came up just short in a two-horse race for Kansas City’s Tyreek Hill.

Read the tea leaves: The Jets want a No. 1 receiver for quarterback Zach Wilson. They prefer the established player over the draft-and-groom route. They believe adding one will change the complexion of their offense, open up the playbook for coordinator Mike LaFleur and unleash Wilson. Brown, in just 13 games last season, caught 63 passes for 869 yards and five touchdowns. Metcalf, playing part of the season with Geno Smith, caught 75 passes for 967 yards and 12 touchdowns.

You can’t double-team Corey Davis or Elijah Moore with one of those guys on the other side. You can’t stack the box to stop running back Michael Carter with those three split wide. It alleviates pressure on the offensive line because you know the odds one of those three gets open within three seconds are favorable.

The problem: Neither the Titans nor Seahawks have made Brown and Metcalf available yet. Actually, the two organizations have done the opposite. Titans GM Jon Robinson spoke from West Palm Beach and said Tennessee’s plan is to “keep A.J. a Titan.” Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll said he “can’t imagine” not having Metcalf on the Seahawks, adding the team “intends” to keep him.

But the Chiefs didn’t intend to trade Hill last week, either. It wasn’t until the sides started talking and Kansas City realized it couldn’t afford him that a trade became possible. That shouldn’t be an issue for the Seahawks, who have more than enough financial flexibility after sending Russell Wilson to Denver, but the Titans are bogged down by the contracts of Ryan Tannehill, Derrick Henry and others.

Remember: It was former Giants GM Dave Gettleman who once told reporters he “didn’t sign” Odell Beckham Jr. “to trade him,” only to trade him to Cleveland a month later.

So, for now, Douglas is waiting.

“We weren’t expecting the opportunity to pop up that happened last week (Hill), but when it came available, we were ready,” he said. “Again, in a situation that may be another player or another position, I feel like our pro staff and personnel staff do a great job of keeping everyone prepared — personnel and coaches — to get the evaluations in so that when those opportunities happen, we can jump right in and be aggressive.

“We feel good about the receiver corps we have. If we have an opportunity to keep adding to it — if the opportunity is right and the price is right — we’re going to strike.”

The Jets find themselves in an interesting situation, as more so than other teams, they are able to pursue just about any player they believe can help. They’ve been among the more active teams in free agency, but Douglas and his staff structured all the contracts in a way that pushes the meaty cap hits to 2023. The goal: If they want to add a big-number veteran in 2022, they can.

The Jets are also among the more draft-pick-rich teams in the NFL. They have the Nos. 4 and 10 selections in the first round, Nos. 35 and 38 in the second round, No. 69 in the third round, and Nos. 111 and 117 in the fourth round. This gives them the luxury to not only put together as competitive an offer as any other team but also keep enough draft capital to continue to round out the roster.

Case in point: the trade package they had for Hill. The Chiefs accepted an offer that involved the Jets giving up the Nos. 35, 38 and 69 selections and getting back Hill and the Chiefs’ No. 103 pick. In that alternate reality, the Jets not only got Hill but also did so while retaining their two first-round picks.

Douglas said his two first-round picks aren’t off the table in any trade. He’d prefer to keep them, obviously, but for the right player, the Jets would “consider any package.”

The key now is some team making that player available.

Right now, one hasn’t.

But you never know what tomorrow might bring.

THIS AND THAT

PEYTON vs. BRADY

Is this a fair linkage for Mike Florio to make?

During the non-stop craziness of NFL weekdays in free agency, some of the things that land on my list of items to write get kicked to the curb. Saturdays and Sundays become the days to look back on things that fell through the cracks and that still seem interesting, two or three or four days later.

Here’s one. From Colts quarterback Matt Ryan‘s introductory press conference. He was asked about his relationship with former Colts quarterback Peyton Manning. Ryan answered be telling a story. A story that is very telling about Peyton’s relationship with another quarterback.

 “When we won the NFC Championship [in Atlanta],” Ryan said, “we left the stadium, we went to dinner. And I was at dinner with my family, we were kind of celebrating. The first call I got was from Peyton. And he was like, all right, here’s how you’re gonna map out your two weeks. And I’m like, man, we just won this game, right? I’m just trying to enjoy it.”

When this clip aired during Wednesday’s PFT Live, Chris (some have asked that I always use his first name when mentioning him here) Simms and I hadn’t previously seen it. For both of us, we had the same immediate reaction.

This wasn’t about Peyton helping Matt Ryan. It was about Peyton keeping Tom Brady from winning another Super Bowl.

They act friendly for the benefit of the media and fans, but Peyton and Brady were (and probably still are) bitter rivals. Remember the Brady emails from Deflategate? Brady apologized to Peyton once they came to light, and Peyton aw-shucks’d his way through the topic, explaining that Brady’s email “was amateur night compared to some of the things that were said about me” by others. (Peyton got the last laugh in 2016, during a Comedy Central roast of Rob Lowe, who had inaccurately “reported” in 2012 that Peyton was retiring: “You tried to take the air out of my retirement announcement so fast, you can probably get a job as Tom Brady’s ball boy.”)

Bottom line? Peyton and Brady competed, intensely. And each wanted to be remembered as a better quarterback than the other. Although Brady ultimately won their head-to-head battle of who’s the better all-time quarterback, when Peyton made that call to Ryan five years ago, Brady had four rings and Peyton had two.

Peyton, at one level, may have been trying to help Matt Ryan get his first. At a deeper (and more important) level, Peyton was desperately trying to keep Brady from getting his fifth.

2022 DRAFT

Chris Trapasso of CBSSports.com looks at the negative of the top prospects.  It’s enough to get you trading down in a hurry:

Below are the top 10 most highly regarded prospects in the 2021 class and their most glaring weakness. No sugarcoating.

Michigan EDGE Aidan Hutchinson

Biggest weakness: Overall athleticism

For nearly 6-foot-7 and 260 pounds, Hutchinson is a high-caliber athlete. But his massive size does naturally reduce the ceiling of his athleticism. At that height and weight, a defensive end is simply just not going to be as explosive, twitchy, and bendy as a rusher that’s shorter with less weight on his frame.

And it’s not as if Hutchinson is drastically larger and stronger than the vast majority of NFL defensive ends. Offensive tackles at the professional level deal with 6-5, 255 pounds and up on a regular basis. Being athletic “relative to your size” only takes you so far in the NFL. Hutchinson checks the athleticism box, no doubt. Does he rush like he’s shot out of cannon before tightly wrapping the corner on a regular basis? Not exactly. If there’s one nitpick about his overall game, it’s that.

Alabama OT Evan Neal

Biggest weakness: Occasional lunging tendency

Neal is a ridiculous specimen. I mean, seriously, he makes 337 pounds look like 227 pounds and has Hall of Fame length. His hips are unlocked on every snap, and he knows where he needs to be for the run game. At times, though, it’s almost as if he’s moving too quickly to his assignment, gets a tick impatient, and lunges at his target, for the run game or in pass protection.

And even in the SEC, that led to problems for Neal against, of course, defenders much smaller than him. In the NFL, getting overzealous as a blocker almost always is a recipe for disaster. Understanding when he should attack, and doing so in an under-control manner will be vital for Neal to meet the justifiably high expectations set for him early in his pro career.

Notre Dame S Kyle Hamilton

Biggest weakness: Block-defeating skills

The layup here would be to write “lack of speed” after some scouts had Hamilton in the low 4.70s at his pro day. I did not see anything that made me believe this is a 4.7 player on the field. In fact, Hamilton is a blur on the field at 6-4 and 220 pounds. However, at that size, Hamilton should, in theory, be more assertive and effective taking on and shedding blockers on his way to the football.

It’s an area of his game that will need refinement because, despite his insane athletic fluidity, he’s not going to be able to beat every blocker en route to the ball-carrier in the NFL like he mostly did during his time at Notre Dame.

Oregon EDGE Kayvon Thibodeaux

Biggest weakness: Effectiveness in his hands

Thibodeaux is a rare cat. He looked like a future top 10 pick as an 18-year-old freshman in 2019. Seriously. Unreal talent. And who of all people understands how athletic Thibodeaux is? Thibodeaux himself, right? It led him to leaning heavily on his burst, bend, and closing speed more so than any other rushers I’ve scouted since Myles Garrett. Yes, more than Chase Young.

All that leads me to is this — Thibodeaux’s hand work has to get better. He flashes a pass-rushing move on occasion. It’s not as if he has no plan at the snap. But when you’re as overwhelmingly athletic even against top-tier talent in college, you simply don’t have to be a fundamentally sound technician. In the NFL, you have to be.

Thibodeaux isn’t quite Garrett athletically — and he’s about 20 pounds lighter — so the advantage he had in college on the physical front won’t be as staggering as it was in the Pac-12. That’s when the calculated pass-rush maneuvers need to be deployed.

Cincinnati CB Ahmad Gardner

Biggest weakness: Lack of elite twitchiness

The same concept here as to what I wrote about Hutchinson. For Gardner’s size, he’s an amazing athlete. You know who else was a tremendous athlete for his size? Former Ohio State superstar Jeff Okudah. He went No. 3 overall in the 2020 draft at 6-1 and 205 pounds then had a dismal rookie season. Why?

Because when you’re that big at the cornerback spot, chances are you aren’t going to be as twitched up as a smaller, lighter cornerback, and NFL wideouts today are incredibly quick and nuanced when getting off press coverage and separating at all levels of the field.

Gardner’s nearly 6-3, and he does look bendier and more sudden than Okudah was. I just have a concern that the sheer quickness he’ll face on an island in the NFL will take some getting used to once he’s playing on Sundays.

NC State OT Ikem Ekwonu

Biggest weakness: Dealing with counter moves

Ekwonu’s highlight reel is of No. 1 overall-caliber. For real. As a run-blocker, he’s going to mash people in the NFL out of the gate. Burst, balanced mobility, torque, it’s all there.

As a pass protector, the same completeness and confidence isn’t quite as apparent with Ekwonu. Because he’s such a capable athlete, his recovery skills are tremendous. Flat out, though, Ekwonu is a little susceptible to a quality inside pass-rushing move, which is strange, given how impressive his lateral quickness is. In general, his pass protection is behind his run-blocking, which is not ideal in today’s NFL.

Georgia EDGE Travon Walker

Biggest weakness: Limited pass-rushing moves, bend

Walker is a bit of cautionary “workout warrior” to me. At 6-5 and 272 pounds, he did the three-cone drill in 6.89 seconds. That, on paper, indicates he’s the bendiest, most intimidating outside speed rusher ever. On film, he’s the polar opposite of bendy or flexible around the corner.

Does he move well for his size? Ab-so-lutely. I would’ve guessed his three-cone would’ve been closer to 7.40 than under 7.00 seconds. On top of that, I didn’t see a legitimate pass-rushing move besides him rushing well up the field, beyond the quarterback, then stopping and trying to peel back to the passer. Walker is an all-upside prospect, which may appeal to some. I like my “upside” prospects to have some technically sound flashes.

Liberty QB Malik Willis

Biggest weakness: Pocket management

To the point here — Willis either holds the football too long or runs into pressure too frequently. More so than his ability to read and react to coverages, his pocket management is the reason he probably shouldn’t start immediately as a rookie. Because, bad pocket management leads to more under-pressure drop backs, and the more of those early in a quarterback’s career, the more likely it is bad habits are formed.

Contrary to popular belief, Willis is a naturally accurate quarterback who does read coverages pretty well. He’s behind when it comes to staying in the pocket and surveying the field, although that attribute is becoming less and less important for (the highly athletic) quarterbacks today.

Mississippi State OT Charles Cross

Biggest weakness: Lack of nastiness

Cross glides, man. I wrote in my scouting gradebook “the most natural/comfortable pass protector I’ve evaluated since Jonah Williams.” And that’s massively important. At the combine, Cross proved, beyond his film, he has the measurables and athletic profile to be a franchise left tackle in the NFL.

Is he a mauling, mean streak, pancake blocker? No. Definitely not. I believe that doesn’t really matter as long as an offensive lineman is handling his responsibilities on every snap. But there are smart football people out there who believe overt physicality is crucial for blockers at the NFL level. That’s one area Cross needs to improve upon once he’s a pro.

LSU CB Derek Stingley

Biggest weakness: Not as long as we all thought

Stingley looks like a super-long, gigantic pass-breakup radius type on film. At the combine, he was barely above 6-0 and his arms were under 31 inches, when the threshold many teams have had for years is 32 inches at the outside cornerback spot. Interesting.

In that spectacular 2019 campaign, when Stingley was the best, most productive cornerback in college football at 18 years old, Stingley looked like Spiderman contorting his body to repeatedly get his hands on the football. Length didn’t look like a weakness, it looked like arguably the most impactful trait he possessed. Now we know some clubs will actually view Stingley as a corner with some length deficiency.