DETROIT

RB DAVID MONTGOMERY is refreshed to be with the Lions.  Nick Shook of NFL.com:

Nobody likes losing. David Montgomery hated it so much, he changed teams.

After four seasons in Chicago, Montgomery walked away from a 25-42 career record with the Bears for a short move from the Windy City to the Motor City, joining the upstart Detroit Lions in a decision most everyone would’ve deemed inexplicable 24 months earlier. Montgomery had good reasons for his decision, though: He wanted a legitimate chance to win.

“That’s all I was used to,” Montgomery said of the Bears’ recent struggles during an appearance on the Lions’ new gaming and interview series, Lions Gaming. “And it got to a point where it sucked the fun out of the game for me because I’m a competitor. I like to compete. That’s what football’s about. It’s so refreshing to be in a place where that’s appreciated.”

WASHINGTON

The dreaded Achilles injury for TE ARMANI RODGERS.  John Keim of ESPN.com:

Second-year Washington Commanders tight end Armani Rogers, whom the team anticipated becoming a bigger part of its offense this season, suffered a noncontact Achilles injury and likely is lost for the season.

Rogers suffered the injury while running during an OTA practice Tuesday.

In 11 games, three of them starts, Rogers caught only five passes for 64 yards last season, but he missed time with various knee and ankle injuries. He had transitioned from being a college quarterback with Nevada and then Ohio University to an undrafted free agent NFL tight end.

His progress, as a blocker and as a pass-catcher, pleased Washington. The Commanders liked his athleticism.

“It’s a blow,” coach Ron Rivera said. “The young man really progressed well for us last year. But we feel confident in the group of tight ends.”

Washington still has veterans Logan Thomas and John Bates, as well as 2022 fifth-round pick Cole Turner and an undrafted free agent last year in Curtis Hodges.

“It sucks, it’s tough,” Thomas said, “especially for a guy that played good football for us last year. It’s not like you can find a guy on the street right now that played a lot of football that can come in and do things he did with his speed and athleticism. It’s definitely a hit.”

– – –

Some thought Commanders was an underwhelming choice as Washington’s new name – and now the team has suffered a setback in court as it tries to get a trademark on the name.  Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com:

Some have wondered whether the new owner of the Washington Commanders will change the team’s name. Again.

The new owner might have no choice. Via trademark attorney Josh Gerben on Twitter, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has denied the trademark application for the name “Commanders.”

The reason for the denial was: (1) the existence of a trademark for “Commanders’ Classic”; and (2) pending applications filed by a man in the D.C. area.

The Commanders’ Classic is the name of the annual college football game between Army and Air Force. Also, Martin McCaulay filed trademarks for “Washington Space Commanders” and “Washington Wolf Commanders,” at a time when he was trying to squat on the team’s potential new name.

It doesn’t end the issue. As Gerben explains, the team can fight the matter, and it can attempt to work out a deal to use the name. (McCaulay already has said he’ll surrender anything he owns to the team. That’s something he has been saying for several years now.

Gerben believes the team will eventually be able to use the name. The separate question is whether new ownership will want to. The best move could be to make a clean break from All Things Snyder, and a full rebrand could be part of that effort.

If the name was changed, would the new owners keep the burgundy and gold colors?  Is the positive value of the Joe Gibbs/George Allen association offset by the negativity of the Snyder years?

After all, no one under the age of 30 was alive when Washington last hoisted Lombardi under a name we can no longer use (and as a practical matter, no one under the age of 35 or so can remember it).

TAMPA BAY

The DB has heard that QB BAKER MAYFIELD is doing and saying all the right things so far.   “He gets it,” said the source.

This from Kevin Patra of NFL.com:

In the aftermath of the Tom Brady era, few have pegged the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as contenders in 2023.

New quarterback Baker Mayfield, who split time with the Carolina Panthers and Los Angeles Rams last season, could give a hoot about the perception of the Bucs’ chances.

“I played in this division last year, and pretty sure the Bucs won it still,” Mayfield said Tuesday. “I don’t really care what the people in Vegas are putting odds on it because it’s May. We haven’t played a real snap of football. There’s a long way to go before that. It’s just the time of year where everybody’s pretty bored and they don’t really have much to talk about. It makes it fun.

“This is a great group. It seems like a no B.S. squad that’s all about winning.”

The Bucs are an odd amalgam. There is veteran talent, like a good WR trio in Mike Evans, Chris Godwin and Russell Gage. The defense was able to retain defensive stalwarts Lavonte David and Jamel Dean. But there is little young talent that sparks intrigue and excitement.

It feels as if Tampa is running back the same 8-9 club that won the NFC South last year but swapping Brady for Mayfield. The QB downgrade is a primary reason for the lack of trust outside of Tampa in offseason projections. The lack of depth throughout the roster also is troubling.

Before he can prove the naysayers wrong in the fall, Mayfield must beat out third-year greenhorn Kyle Trask for the starting QB gig. Mayfield should have the edge over a player who has thrown nine total career passes, but coach Todd Bowles won’t make any declarations until much later this summer.

KANSAS CITY

QB PATRICK MAHOMES professes to be unfazed that inferior QBs are now making more money.  Adam Teicher of ESPN.com:

Ever since signing what at the time was the richest contract in NFL history, Patrick Mahomes has watched as his annual pay has slipped to seventh among the league’s quarterbacks.

Mahomes indicated Wednesday after the Chiefs concluded their first week of offseason practice that he didn’t find this development troubling.

“I’ve always said I worry about legacy and winning rings more than making money at this moment,” he said. “We see what’s going on around the league, but at the same time, I’ll never do anything that’s going to hurt us from keeping the great players around me. So it’s kind of teetering around that line.”

Mahomes became the NFL’s highest-paid player in summer 2020 when he signed a 10-year extension worth $450 million. No player has since topped that contract in terms of total value, but six other quarterbacks — including Aaron Rodgers, Russell Wilson and, this offseason, Jalen Hurts and Lamar Jackson — have passed Mahomes in average pay.

Mahomes could fall further down the salary list this summer if lucrative extensions are signed by Joe Burrow and Justin Herbert, who are both eligible for long-term deals for the first time.

Chiefs general manager Brett Veach said in the offseason that the Chiefs would look at sweetening Mahomes’ contract, although he gave no timetable. Mahomes’ current deal runs through 2031.

“You just want to do whatever to not hurt other quarterbacks [financially],” Mahomes said. “Whenever their contracts come up, you want to keep the bar pushing [higher].

“It’s not about being the highest-paid guy; it’s not about making a ton of money. I’ve made enough money where I’ll be set for the rest of my life. But at the same time, you got to find that line where you’re making a good amount of money but you’re still keeping a lot of great players around you so you can win these Super Bowls and you’re able to compete in these games.”

Mahomes said it was a difficult balance between the two.

“I think it is for all these guys,” he said. “I think you see the guys that are getting paid this last offseason — they’re trying to find that right spot.

“If you look at the greats in the league, they find that right spot where they’re getting paid a lot of money but at the same time keeping a lot of these great players around. … I understand you look at the team and you’ve got guys like Chris [Jones] and [L’Jarius] Sneed and even Travis [Kelce] — all these guys that you need to keep around you to have these great teams. But at the same time, you want to make sure you’re taking care of yourself.”

LAS VEGAS

WR DAVANTE ADAMS may want out of Vegas.  Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com:

Raiders receiver Davante Adams recently spoke with surprising candor regarding his concerns regarding the organization. His only gesture in response to the kerfuffle was to post a photo of himself and G.M. Dave Ziegler with the message, “The Man.”

As someone in league circles pointed out, perhaps Adams was trying to make the point that his issue is with someone else. Someone perhaps not in the photo.

Regardless, the Raiders and Adams seem on the surface to be bound together, thanks to the contract he signed last year. As noted by Vic Tafur of TheAthletic.com, an Adams trade would spark a cap charge of $31.4 million this year, or $23.6 million next year.

But let’s not forget June 1. The Raiders could, in theory, trade Adams after June 1, limited the cap charge to $7.85 million this year and $23.6 million in 2024. Alternatively, he could be traded after June 1, 2024, once again cutting the cap charge to $7.85 million, and kicking $15.7 million to 2025.

Adams has a manageable salary of $6.03 million in 2023; he already has received a $20 million roster bonus. If Adams’s agitation is enough to get the Raiders to move on, they could do so with a reasonable cap consequence this year, and a larger (but not crippling) one in 2024.

The money that makes up the $31.4 million in total cap charges has already been spent. It’s gone. Those cap dollars will count against the Raiders’ cap, sooner or later.

If the things Adams said are enough to persuade the organization to move on, it would not be impossible to do so. The question is whether that’s what the team chooses to do — and whether that’s the outcome Adams is trying to instigate.

So where would he go, if traded? The Jets surely don’t have a spot for him, not with so many solid receivers on the roster. The Saints would be an intriguing option, allowing for another reunion with Derek Carr.

Fascinating possibilities, as contenders go, include the Bills and Giants.

Regardless, a trade is not an impossibility. The cap consequence is manageable, and the current cap charge is unavoidable.

The biggest impediment to doing a deal could be the total investment made for what would be one year with Adams. They Raiders have paid him $42.75 million. They gave up a first-round pick and a second-round pick to get him.

They would need a significant haul to justify what was surrendered for a single 17-game, no-playoffs season. If they should get one, maybe they would take it. Again, a few days from now, the cap consequence won’t be nearly as bad as it would be today.

BALTIMORE

QB LAMAR JACKSON is safely at OTAs.  Josh Alper of ProFootballTalk.com:

Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson missed the team’s first OTA session of the offseason, but he doesn’t plan on missing any others.

Jackson joined the team on Tuesday and he was on the field for the first time Wednesday. Head coach John Harbaugh said the team will ramp up Jackson’s workload on that front and he will be moving ahead on getting acquainted with the offense being installed by new coordinator Todd Monken at the same time.

In a press conference, Jackson cited the need to get a handle on the scheme is the main reason why he plans to be at all of the remaining practices this offseason.

“New offense,” Jackson said. “Had to get that down pat before the season rolls in because the season’s getting there. We’ve got a couple months left, but still just wanted to learn the new offense and be with my guys.”

Jackson called the new offense “smooth” and noted that there’s more verbiage to learn than in the past, which is all the more reason why the Ravens will be happy to have Jackson on hand for the rest of the spring.

More from Jackson on the new offense.  Kevin Patra of NFL.com:

Lamar Jackson is revved-up to work in offensive coordinator Todd Monken’s new system.

“Coach is basically giving us keys to the offense. Like I said, I’m loving it,” the Baltimore Ravens quarterback told reporters following Wednesday’s practice session.

The Ravens plan to move toward a more pass-friendly offense in 2023 after a ground-first approach under old offensive coordinator Greg Roman. Baltimore added receivers Odell Beckham Jr. and first-round pick Zay Flowers to bolster the passing attack.

“Just being able to throw the ball down the field,” Jackson said of the changes in the offense he’s noticed so far. “… Running can only take you so far. I feel like with this new era of teams and offenses in the league, I feel like we need that, and coach Todd Monken, what I’m seeing in this offense so far, it’s tremendous.”

CINCINNATI

The Bengals have the lightest offseason schedule in terms of on-field work and Paul Dehner, Jr. of The Athletic tells us what they are thinking:

Veteran safety Mike Thomas turned 33 in March, weeks before arriving at his 11th NFL offseason program with four separate franchises. As a vice president on the NFL Players’ Association Executive Committee, he knows firsthand on the field and through boardroom meetings the issues that serve as points of contention with offseason practice regimens.

So, when he leans into the recorder with an ear-to-ear smile across his face, his enthusiastic tone roots in true understanding of the spring schedule Bengals head coach Zac Taylor gifted his team.

“There’s no comparison,” Thomas said. “We respect him for that and we love it. We love the schedule and any chance we get we make sure he knows and understands that.”

Across the locker room, center Ted Karras, the Bengals’ NFLPA representative, took another such chance.

“I think Zac is one of the best schedulers ever,” Karras said. “Just an amazing schedule and great culture here.”

The praise reflects a staff leaning into sports science research with an emphasis on what type of work must be done and what makes the most sense over the long haul of the season.

It also reflects a willingness to risk being an NFL outlier.

The collective bargaining agreement allows 16 true practice opportunities over the course of the spring. A team can max out with 10 organized team activities, three days of mandatory minicamp and a three-day rookie minicamp.

These come on top of the phase one portion of the offseason relegated strictly to meetings, conditioning and rehab. Phase two involves on-field work, but limited to individual and group instruction. No helmets or team-versus-team drills, strictly working on air. Any plays must be at walkthrough pace and with no live contact or working against an opposing side of the ball.

OTAs include helmets, and while there’s no live contact, the intensity ratchets up significantly with 7-on-7, 9-on-7 and 11-on-11 the centerpiece for a longer practice time.

Nobody has utilized these less than the Bengals.

Days of offseason practice    Total        OTAs         Mini camp   Rookies

Cincinnati                              7                 3                  3                1

Philadelphia                          8                 6                   0               2

Cleveland                           11                 5                   3               3

Miami                                  12                6                   3               3

Washington                        12                7                   3               2

Chargers                            13                9                   2               2

Rams                                 13               10                  3               0

Buffalo                               14                 9                  3               2

Green Bay                         14                 9                  3              2

Minnesota                          14                 9                 2              3

Dallas                                15                 9                 3               3

Jacksonville                       15              10                 3               2

San Francisco                   15                9                  3               3

Seattle                               15                9                  3              3

13 Others (Max)                16               10                 3              3

This chart extracts first-year coaches from the equation, as they max out across the board and can add an extra veteran minicamp for acclimation of the new staff.

The Bengals only took six of the 16 available opportunities with the one-hour rookie “minicamp” nothing more than stretching and a few short, non-strenuous drills.

In a league where games and championships are won in the margins, giving up 10 practices worth of reps can be viewed as disastrous. Certainly, many raised in earlier generations of brutal, relentless offseason programs would find the concept laughable. The 18 teams taking the full allotment subscribe to a different theory.

A rep unrealized means an evaluation unmade by a coach or by a scout. It’s a lesson not learned by a player or about his teammate.

A schedule for May football in shorts might seem a mundane detail, but actually requires walking a chaotic tightrope of needs and desires tugging from all corners of the building.

Taylor enjoys the luxury of having the same coordinators for an improbable five consecutive seasons and a successful veteran nucleus that’s earned trust and can self-police. He says he focuses on three priorities with his setup:

1. Refreshing systems, recall of what they do, adding tweaks.

2. Reestablishing team chemistry.

3. Bringing free agents, rookies up to speed to be ready by training camp.

“You can balance those three things with the schedule,” Taylor said. “What we focus on is the meeting time in the meeting room and on the field make sure the players understand all the techniques we are going to want.”

Instead of shifting into OTAs, the Bengals will stay in phase two for two more weeks while the vast majority of the league ramps up. Taylor sees increasing intensity now as unnecessary given technique and mental objectives.

“You can do that during these phase two practices focusing on unit work going four-on-zero, seven-on-zero, 11-on-zero,” Taylor said. “I told them this yesterday, I want you guys understanding what we want on air and the techniques we want before I ask you to do the six practices that are 11-on-11.”

Karras came from the old-school approach of Bill Belichick, a coach he’s praised repeatedly since arriving in Cincinnati, but recognizes the benefits in the efficiency of this approach.

“I always thought you never won a job in spring, but guys lost jobs in spring,” the 29-year-old said. “The way we do it here is perfect. You can evaluate how people move, how people communicate, but we’re not killing each other.”

When helmets are replaced by headbands and baseball hats with governors on speed across the field, a natural propensity among a competitive group to try to make a point changes the dynamic of practice.

“You come in with a different mindset,” Thomas said. “It if was competitive, there are different tempos and different mentality. This eliminates all that. We are still out there working and getting our work in.”

The degree of difficulty increases for a coach like special teams coordinator Darrin Simmons, in particular. It’s one thing to lose reps with players who spent their entire lives at receiver or linebacker. Often a rookie arrives in Cincinnati needing to learn the intricacies of special teams for one of the first times in their lives. Simmons, who started 20 years ago as Bengals special teams coordinator, can remember the early days of intense offseasons vividly and the advantages it provided, while still understanding how the new rules and Bengals’ unique situation do change the equation of what’s best this time of year.

“In the end, the most important part is what we do when we get to training camp,” he said. “Young guys have the hardest time getting up to speed. You want to concentrate on individual techniques in a team setting. How does my technique change with who I have next to me? What are his responsibilities? We just have a limited amount of times we can go against each other and even that is watered down from what it used to be. I think it makes it really more difficult for young players. That’s the ones I struggle with and worry about the most is the young players getting up to speed.”

Sure, young players need extra work and there was a point in time when many would have preferred the extra chances to prove themselves. Sam Hubbard, a third-round pick of Marvin Lewis in 2018, felt firsthand how that mentality can go astray. He cited a hip flexor and thumb and hamstring injuries suffered during early career OTA practices that set him back.

“Stupid stuff,” he said. “And I can’t get any better at that time.”

Taylor saw his first draft pick as a head coach, Jonah Williams, lost for his rookie season with a torn labrum suffered during OTAs, but acknowledged that wasn’t when his philosophy came into focus. It was altered after the team’s 2021 Super Bowl season.

Playing the longest season in NFL history into mid-February, plus a coaching staff staying involved in the draft process, pushed him to delay the start of the offseason program and limit the overall work. Yet, after a strong training camp, he felt the team did all the work they hoped for leading up to the season. A year in which they finished winning 10 games in a row with limited injuries before narrowly losing in the AFC Championship Game at Kansas City.

The attitude might be different if the results weren’t the same. It’s easy to repeat an offseason strategy that resulted in one of the best seasons in franchise history. Playing back-to-back long seasons does motivate a move to shortening the offseason strain.

Still, the Bengals started 2-3 before streaking into the playoffs and those early losses cost a shot at home-field advantage versus the Chiefs. Taylor wasn’t buying an argument of correlation to the easy offseason.

“Week 1 last year we lost the turnover battle 5-0 and missed a walk-off PAT,” Taylor said. An emergency appendectomy taking away much of camp for Joe Burrow didn’t help matters, either. “To me, I just look at it logically. I don’t look at 0-2 or 2-3 and they started slow, I didn’t think that was the case. I felt there were clear reasons. There was no correlation to me with how we operated in the offseason.”

Hubbard agreed wholeheartedly. As a captain at the core of decision-making he doesn’t see this schedule as taking away anything. He views Taylor’s system as shifting to trusting players and away from chaperoning them.

“I personally don’t understand why some professional staffs babysit players like that,” Hubbard said, then acknowledging every staff and organization can have unknown dynamics at play. “That you need to be here every second. Full helmets. Full 11-on-11. I feel like that is college.”

What Taylor and the Bengals lose in reps, they believe they gain in player equity. The offseason ends up an establishment of not just the coaching staff doing the players a solid, but proving they are listening to the needs and desires of the team. That they are in it together. This isn’t us versus them, it’s Bengals working with Bengals.

“If I felt like guys were just going through the motions right now, then we would ramp it up,” Taylor said. “Guys are locked in. The Sam Hubbards and Trey Hendricksons, guys who have been in this league a long time, they are taking every on-air rep like it is the Super Bowl. We are still getting really good work out of this. It’s not like we are just checking a box saying we did it. We are in here getting good work in our individual work. I feel like our players are getting better.”

Hubbard leaned over his stool, huffing and puffing Tuesday, after putting himself through a rigorous post-practice workout. The Cincinnati Kid who survived a 98-yard chase in January puts it on himself to be prepared for those moments and that concept being shared matters in the way the Bengals want to operate.

“It is the relationship and trust we have developed between the coaching staff and leaders of the team,” Hubbard said. “They listen to what we have to say. We tell them what we need to stay healthy and peak at the right time. Rather than risk injuries and get unnecessary wear and tear on our bodies this time of year when it doesn’t really translate at all to the season, they listen to us and we, in turn, when it is time for us to go come training camp we give everything we’ve got because they have taken care of us and listen to us. It’s just a great working relationship.”

Different teams require different functionality. And, while it’s hard to specifically monitor across the league, Taylor wonders how different what the Bengals are doing really is compared to those officially utilizing maximum OTAs.

“Are they glorified phase two practices like we are doing right now?” Taylor said. “You don’t have the luxury as a new coach to do it the way we do it, I wouldn’t do it that way either. I would maximize my opportunities.”

He does have that luxury. So, his pivot to take advantage produces a locker room of thrilled veterans and nearly 100 percent participation, both top priorities.

“That’s something that is probably going to be a trend moving forward throughout this league,” Thomas said. “If a vet had to choose, they would choose this over anywhere.”

Bengals benefitting from stars volunteering to put work over contract talks

For now, it’s clearly not a trend. The Bengals are living in the NFL minority. Perhaps a few more scaled-back offseasons that end with practice weeks in January and February might change the attitude in this copycat league. Taylor doesn’t concern himself with any of that.

“I don’t know what the other 29 teams do,” he said, citing his experience with the Dolphins and Rams. “You are just on your own doing it the way that makes sense to you and hoping you get good work in. And we know we are getting good work in so it makes you sleep better at night.”

NEW ENGLAND

The Patriots with a punishment for a secret violation of OTA rules.  Mike Reiss of ESPN.com:

The New England Patriots are losing two days of organized team activities due to a violation of offseason rules, league sources told ESPN.

The team had been scheduled for an OTA on Thursday, the first to be attended by reporters this offseason, but the club announced Wednesday that it had been canceled.

Thursday’s OTA, in addition to another next week, were taken away as part of the violation, according to sources. It wasn’t immediately known what the specific violation was.

This week marks the start of the third and final phase of the Patriots’ offseason program, which allows the team a total of 10 OTAs. There is no live contact permitted in OTAs, among other rules as part of Article 21 of the collective bargaining agreement.

The NFL Players Association monitors teams across the NFL for potential violations as part of its standard operating procedure.

The Patriots declined to comment.

In recent seasons, the Cowboys (2021, 2022), Bears (2022), Commanders (2022), Texans (2022), 49ers (2021), Jaguars (2021), Ravens (2018) and Seahawks (2016) have been penalized for violations of offseason rules.

THIS AND THAT

QB RATINGS

Sam Monson of Pro Football Focus offers his rankings of the 32 prospective QB starters 1 to 32 – and he has the top 6 in the AFC (there are six better than QB JALEN HURTS of the Eagles? – let’s see):

1. PATRICK MAHOMES, KANSAS CITY CHIEFS

Mahomes is the standard by which all NFL quarterbacks are now measured. With Manning and Brady now names of the past, Mahomes is the new benchmark pushing the boundaries of what we have seen previously. Since coming into the league, he has 191 big-time throws including the postseason, the most in the NFL. He has also passed for 8.1 yards per attempt, a figure only quarterbacks playing for Kyle Shanahan have surpassed over the same span.

2. JOSH ALLEN, BUFFALO BILLS

If Mahomes is the obvious starting point, the next two spots are a toss-up between Buffalo’s Josh Allen and Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow. Each player is capable of elite play and outstanding levels, but the tiebreaker is Allen’s rushing ability. It may not be a deal-breaker in every game, but there will be gotta-have-it situations where Allen is virtually unstoppable because of how many different ways he can beat a defense. Burrow can’t bring that to the table.

3. JOE BURROW, CINCINNATI BENGALS

Burrow has led the league in PFF passing grade (by fractions) in each of the past two regular seasons. He has shown that, while everybody might be chasing special athletes at the position, just putting the ball in the right place at the right time is still capable of transformative play at the position. He has a career 77.1% adjusted completion rate, and his turnover-worthy play rate has gone down in each of his NFL seasons.

4. JUSTIN HERBERT, LOS ANGELES CHARGERS

This is a big year for Herbert to justify the hype that has surrounded him since his phenomenal rookie season. We have seen glimpses of what he is capable of, but he passed for just 6.8 yards per attempt last season and finished eighth in PFF passing grade. Kellen Moore’s arrival as the Chargers’ offensive coordinator could be the key that fully unlocks Herbert, and if he is, this is where Herbert belongs.

5. AARON RODGERS, NEW YORK JETS

We are only a year removed from Rodgers coming off back-to-back MVP seasons, but at 39 years old any downturn in performance inevitably raises questions about whether this is the beginning of the end. The New York Jets should have a better supporting cast than Rodgers had last year in Green Bay, and he will know the offense, so I expect it to be a bounce-back season for the veteran.

6. LAMAR JACKSON, BALTIMORE RAVENS

Jackson is a former league MVP. He’s also coming off consecutive injury-marred seasons and is changing offensive systems for the first time in his NFL career. Greg Roman built a bespoke offense around Jackson, but now Jackson has to adapt his game to a more conventional offense under Todd Monken. How Jackson fares this season will go a long way toward cementing his position in rankings like these, one way or another.

7. JALEN HURTS, PHILADELPHIA EAGLES

Hurts was phenomenal in 2022, but the hardest part of that kind of play in the NFL is sustaining it. Lamar Jackson one spot above him is a great example of that. Hurts has taken big steps forward every season of his career, and if he has another one in the tank, then he is ranked too low at No. 7. Hurts averaged 8.0 yards per attempt last season and added almost 800 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns on the ground.

8. TREVOR LAWRENCE, JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS

Lawrence arrived last season. It took him half the year to get the Urban Meyer residue off, but from Week 9 onward, only Burrow and Mahomes earned a higher PFF grade. Billed as a truly generational talent when he was drafted, Lawrence showed that ability in 2022, and the Jaguars have continued to surround him with talent this offseason.

9. KIRK COUSINS, MINNESOTA VIKINGS

Cousins is probably at the top of the second tier of quarterbacks — those who you can win with but are unlikely to transform a team into a contender simply by their presence. Cousins has earned a PFF passing grade of at least 77.7 every season in Minnesota. He is an exceptionally accurate passer with plenty of big plays in his arsenal who maybe lacks that transcendent, intangible talent that every team chases at the position.

10. DAK PRESCOTT, DALLAS COWBOYS

Prescott has shown himself to be one of the most sensitive quarterbacks in the league to changes in his supporting cast. His overall PFF grade has ranged from 71.8 to 85.2 over his career, and those changes tend to go hand in hand with the level of receiving help and blocking in front of him. Prescott’s turnover-worthy play rate has been above 3.0% in each of the past four seasons, but when at his best he can lead one of the top offenses in the game.

11. TUA TAGOVAILOA, MIAMI DOLPHINS

Can Tua back up what we saw in 2022, or was his play beginning to be found out anyway when concussions became the overriding factor in his season? That’s the big question for him and Miami heading into 2023. Tua led the league with a massive 8.9 yards per attempt last season and also had one of the highest average depths of target, having been in the middle of the pack before that. He has elite potential within Mike McDaniel’s offense but now needs to repeat it.

12. MATTHEW STAFFORD, LOS ANGELES RAMS

Is Stafford physically able to be the player he once was? Last season was a nightmare for the Rams from start to finish, and Stafford wasn’t far different on an individual level. He went from throwing 50 touchdowns including the playoffs the season before to just 10 across nine games before being shut down for the year. The Rams and Stafford are likely on the far side of their Super Bowl window, but how much he has left in the tank is a big unknown.

13. DESHAUN WATSON, CLEVELAND BROWNS

Maybe the hardest player to rank on the list, Watson has one of the widest ranges of outcomes in the NFL. He finished 2022 with just a 55.3 overall PFF grade after returning from suspension and didn’t noticeably improve as one does if they are just shaking off the rust. In his last full season with Houston (2020), he earned a 92.5 PFF grade and was one of the best quarterbacks in the game. I have no earthly idea how good Watson will be in 2023, and neither does anybody else.

14. DEREK CARR, NEW ORLEANS SAINTS

Last year’s 66.6 PFF grade was the lowest of Carr’s career outside of his rookie season. In what was supposed to be a solid season, Carr’s big plays declined and he was notably less accurate overall. His adjusted completion rate dropped by more than 6 percentage points from the year before to his lowest level since he was a rookie. That likely represents the floor for Carr’s play, and he has typically been a borderline top-10 player over his career.

15. GENO SMITH, SEATTLE SEAHAWKS

Another difficult quarterback to rank, Smith improbably ranked as a top-five quarterback for much of last season before the wheels fell off a little late in the year. Was that the inevitable regression back to the mean, or was it a product of his pass protection suffering a similar late-season collapse? Smith had flashed before in his NFL career, but we hadn’t seen the heights he hit last season. He earned three single-game PFF grades north of 90.0 and posted a 5.4% big-time throw rate.

16. JARED GOFF, DETROIT LIONS

Goff is in an outstanding offense with one of the best coordinators in football running the show. Depending on the numbers you look at, his stats will make him look like one of the best passers in football, but it’s clear to anybody with a critical eye that that doesn’t quite match reality. Goff ranked 19th last season in PFF passing grade and 30th in big-time throw rate. He is a solid quarterback for the offense he’s in but is not as good as some of the results would suggest.

17. DANIEL JONES, NEW YORK GIANTS

In his first year with Brian Daboll as his coach, Jones saw an uptick in results, but his performance didn’t necessarily match that improvement, albeit with very little help around him in terms of a supporting cast. Jones has now posted a big-time throw rate under 2.0% for two consecutive seasons, the lowest mark in the league. His rushing threat, however, is a huge boost to that offense, and he should have more success in 2023 with better players to target.

18. JUSTIN FIELDS, CHICAGO BEARS

Fields won himself a starting job last season with almost no help around him. New general manager Ryan Poles stripped the roster of talent around him, and Fields was still able to emerge as one of the most dynamic players in the league. His passing is still very much a work in progress, but last season his primary targets were tight end Cole Kmet and speedster Darnell Mooney. This is a huge year for Fields to show what he can do with more help.

19. RYAN TANNEHILL, TENNESSEE TITANS

Tannehill is very much in the decline of his career at this point, but he is being made to look worse by the collapse of talent around him in Tennessee. The Titans ended last season with the league’s worst offensive line, and they may be entering this one with the league’s worst receiving corps. Tannehill has little chance to prove he is still capable of his best play and is coming off a 75.9% adjusted completion rate and a 2.5% turnover-worthy play rate in 2022.

20. RUSSELL WILSON, DENVER BRONCOS

Wilson ranked 26th in PFF passing grade last season and 29th in overall grade. It’s difficult to overstate how bad his first year in Denver was and how much uncertainty that paints his future in. Sean Payton has been brought in to make the best of a disastrous situation, but exactly where Wilson can land on the spectrum between last season and his best play in Seattle is pure guesswork. Given his visible decline in athleticism, it seems likely that his baseline is closer to last year than his peak, but he is a player with a wide range of outcomes.

21. MAC JONES, NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS

Bringing in real coaching on offense has the potential to be huge for Jones. As underwhelming as last season was, it’s important to remember that Jones earned an 80.0 overall PFF grade as a rookie, finishing just outside the top 10 of eligible quarterbacks that year. He doesn’t have the dynamic athleticism of Justin Fields or the arm of Trevor Lawrence, but he has already shown he can be a very high-level distributor of the football and a better player than many give him credit for.

22. KENNY PICKETT, PITTSBURGH STEELERS

The best quarterback in what was deemed an awful quarterback class, Pickett performed admirably in his rookie season even though the statistics weren’t necessarily pretty. His PFF passing grade was good enough to rank 16th in the league, but he finished the season with more interceptions (nine) than touchdowns (seven). Pittsburgh’s scheme was toothless and predictable in 2022, and that might be the biggest obstacle standing between Pickett and real improvement in these rankings.

23. BROCK PURDY, SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS

Purdy passed for 8.3 yards per attempt last season in his run as the starter — more than Patrick Mahomes and every quarterback in the league other than Tua Tagovailoa — but he attempted just 233 passes in an offense we know to be a virtual cheat code for production. It would be wrong to dismiss his success altogether — he was better than players like Nick Mullens who also had success in that offense — but it would also be crazy to overreact to such a small sample size, even outside of the risk associated with the UCL surgery Purdy had on his elbow.

24. JIMMY GAROPPOLO, LAS VEGAS RAIDERS

For his injury history alone, Garoppolo is likely capped at this kind of level in the rankings. He was outperformed by Purdy last season in the same offense and now goes to a new offensive system, albeit one he is familiar with from his stint in New England. The Raiders have a good collection of receivers to throw to, but Garoppolo has a 3.6% career turnover-worthy play rate, significantly higher than his big-time-throw rate (2.9%). Even if he stays healthy all season, he is likely a below-average starter.

25. BRYCE YOUNG, CAROLINA PANTHERS

Young was the best quarterback in this draft by a considerable margin, and the only thing that made the discussion close was his lack of size — something that becomes obvious any time he is captured on film with anything near him to show true scale. Young has elite accuracy, anticipation and decision-making (back-to-back seasons with a 2.0% turnover-worthy play rate), but success at his size in the modern NFL is without precedent.

26. JORDAN LOVE, GREEN BAY PACKERS

Love passed for 9.3 yards per attempt last season and earned a 78.7 PFF grade. On the other hand, he attempted 21 passes and was disastrous the last time he was on the field before that. We have very little idea what Love can become, with the biggest piece of evidence being that the Packers decided it was time to move on from Aaron Rodgers and turn the keys over to his successor. Countering that was the contract they got Love to agree to, which could only have started with the assumption that they were not going to pick up his fifth-year option.

27. SAM HOWELL, WASHINGTON COMMANDERS

Another almost total gamble, Howell was given one game late last season to audition for the starting job and performed well in it. He completed 11 of 19 passes for 168 yards and a touchdown while rushing for 35 yards and another score. Howell was seen as a legitimate prospect before sliding all the way to the fifth round of the 2022 draft, but expecting anything above this would be wildly optimistic.

28. BAKER MAYFIELD, TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS

It’s difficult to argue that Mayfield’s 2022 season was easily predictable, but it’s equally difficult to maintain any kind of lofty expectations for him going forward after witnessing it. His 50.6 PFF grade on the year was 13 grading points lower than his previous career-worst mark (which involved a torn shoulder), and it speaks volumes that the Rams were happy to let him walk after he led the team to a remarkable win just after stepping off the plane after they traded for him. Mayfield has very good play on his NFL resume, but it’s getting harder and harder to see it in the rearview mirror.

29. COLT MCCOY, ARIZONA CARDINALS

With Kyler Murray not likely to be ready until late in the season, if at all, McCoy will helm the Cardinals’ offense for most of the season. It would be easy to assume that’s the worst quarterback situation in the league, but the chances are that one of the better backups in the game performs better than some of the young starters. McCoy has handled more than 100 dropbacks in each of the past two seasons, completing 71% of his passes at 6.6 yards per attempt over that time.

30. C.J. STROUD, HOUSTON TEXANS

There were a lot of Stroud fans throughout the pre-draft process, but I was always a little lower on him than most. He has NFL stature and elite accuracy, but outside of the Georgia game in the college football playoffs, he had some real issues under pressure or after the play had broken down. His PFF grade under pressure last season placed him in the 18th percentile, and that only improves to the 34th percentile if you look at a two-year sample size.

31. DESMOND RIDDER, ATLANTA FALCONS

There was little we saw from Ridder last season to suggest he will approach even average play at the position. Marcus Mariota played his way to the bench with his performances, and Ridder was simply the young quarterback in line for reps. He posted a 68.5% adjusted completion rate and had two turnover-worthy plays to three big-time throws. He also recorded just 136 dropbacks, so it would be a stretch to draw any concrete conclusions.

32. ANTHONY RICHARDSON, INDIANAPOLIS COLTS

Richardson wasn’t even a particularly good college quarterback last season in the SEC. His overall PFF grade came in at 80.3, which ranked 38th in the nation and was being propped up by his rushing ability — something that will need to continue in the NFL. The good news for him is that he landed with a head coach who just executed this development arc with Jalen Hurts. Richardson will need to rely on the limitless athleticism that saw him average 7.4 yards per carry last season while he develops as a passer.

We would want Hurts ahead of the current version of Rodgers or Lamar Jackson.

BROADCAST NEWS

Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com says the Thursday Night Flex is not just about genuflecting to Amazon.

There’s a popular belief in the aftermath of a pair of offseason tweaks to the Thursday night package that the NFL has bowed to Amazon czar Jeff Bezos.

It’s popular, but it’s also inaccurate.

The NFL hasn’t taken steps to enhance the Amazon package as a favor to Bezos, expanding the maximum short weeks per team to two and adding late-season Thursday night flexing. As one high-level source with knowledge of the dynamics explained it to PFT on Wednesday, this is not about Amazon. They already have Amazon’s commitment.

This is about the future of streaming.

The NFL knows that it needs to boost the performance of streaming properties in order to ensure the appropriate return the next time rights deals are negotiated. Last year’s streaming numbers for Thursday Night Football did not compare favorably to the numbers generated in prior years by Fox. If the league is going to realize maximum revenue from streaming providers in the next deals, the streaming packages need to be viable.

Said the source in response to the notion that the changes aren’t about Amazon but about streaming generally, the source said this: “You’re not 99 percent right, you’re 100 percent right.”

For the NFL, the goal is to get streaming audiences as close as possible to 100 percent of what they were on broadcast TV. In this regard, there is plenty of work to be done. And not much time within which to do it.