The Daily Briefing Tuesday, February 1, 2022

Nick Shook of NFL.com:

The greatest to ever do it has officially called it a career.

Tom Brady is retiring. The quarterback announced his decision via Instagram on Tuesday.

“I’ve done a lot of reflecting the past week and have asked myself difficult questions,” Brady wrote in part of his lengthy message. “And I am so proud of what we have achieved. My teammates, coaches, fellow competitors, and fans deserve 100% of me, but right now, it’s best I leave the field of play to the next generation of dedicated and committed athletes.

“To my Bucs teammates the past two years, I love you guys, and I have loved going to battle with you. You have dug so deep to challenge yourself, and it inspired me to wake up every day and give you my best. I am always here for you guys and want to see you continue to push yourselves to be your best. I couldn’t be happier with what we accomplished together.”

Brady’s official retirement comes three days after news first broke he was planning to hang up his legendary cleats. Brady had yet to publicly commit one way or another, spending his latest appearance on his podcast maintaining he was still “going through the process”. Tuesday brought the result of that process.

Brady walks away after an incredible 22 NFL seasons — 20 with New England, two with Tampa Bay — in which he achieved individual success greater than anyone in pro football’s history. Brady was a 15-time Pro Bowl selection, three-time AP MVP, three-time first-team All-Pro selection and retires as the all-time leader in passing yards, passing touchdowns and QB wins.

Brady is the winningest quarterback in NFL history in both the regular season and playoffs, and has five Super Bowl MVPs to his name. We could keep doing this for a while.

“Tom Brady will be remembered as one of the greatest to ever play in the NFL,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement. “An incredible competitor and leader, his stellar career is remarkable for its longevity but also for the sustained excellence he displayed year after year. Tom made everyone around him better and always seemed to rise to the occasion in the biggest moments. His record five Super Bowl MVP awards and seven Super Bowl championships set a standard that players will chase for years. He inspired fans in New England, Tampa and around the world with one of the greatest careers in NFL history. It has been a privilege to watch him compete and have him in the NFL. We thank him for his many contributions to our game and wish Tom and his family all the best in the future.”

Brady’s run was unprecedented in the modern era. A sixth-round pick — 199th overall — in the 2000 NFL Draft, Brady never arrived to the NFL with any serious buzz. Madden NFL 2001 didn’t even insert his name for his video game avatar, just leaving him as “QB No. 12.” Brady only received a legitimate chance to play because Drew Bledsoe suffered an injury during a game against the Jets in 2001.

From there, a legend was born.

Brady became the face of two decades of dominance for the Patriots, winning more playoff games with New England (30) than the rest of the Patriots in history had done combined. After reaching and losing the Super Bowl twice before Brady’s arrival, New England made it nine times with Brady leading the way, winning six of them.

Even as Father Time loomed, Brady paid it no mind, turning a Super Bowl victory into an every-other-year event. Brady won Super Bowl XLIX in 2014, lost in the AFC Championship Game to old rival Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos in 2015, then returned in 2016 to win Super Bowl LI. He lost Super Bowl LII in 2017, then responded by winning Super Bowl LIII in 2018. Two years later — his first with Tampa Bay — he won another one, his seventh and perhaps most impressive at 43 years old.

He was still playing at an elite level in 2021 and was in a tight race for NFL MVP at 44 years old. If he wins it, he’ll have one last piece of hardware to add to his trophy case while he basks in the glow of retirement — if he truly is finished with the game.

Good work here from Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times:

The last image of Tom Brady playing in the NFL will be of his team relying on his right arm to rally back from a 24-point deficit and tie the Bucs’ NFC division playoff game against the Rams with less than a minute to play.

Brady did everything he could but Tampa Bay eventually collapsed on defense and lost 30-27 on former Buc Matt Gay’s 30-yard field goal as time expired.

The clock has finally drained on the remarkable career of the NFL’s greatest quarterback, just when football fans — especially in Tampa Bay — were clasping their hands in prayer for another Brady comeback, if only for one more season.

Brady announced his retirement on Instagram Tuesday morning, saying he’s not going to “make that competitive commitment anymore.”

“I have always believed the sport of football is an “all-in’ proposition,” Brady wrote. “If 100 percent competitive commitment isn’t there, you won’t succeed. And success is what I love so much about our game.

“There is a physical, mental and emotional challenge EVERY single day that has allowed me to maximize my highest potential. And I have tried my very best these past 22 years. There’s no shortcuts to success on the field or in life. …

 “I have loved my NFL career, and now it’s time to focus my time and energy on other things that require my attention.”

– – –

Brady’s final touchdown pass carried 55 yards in the air and fell perfectly in Mike Evans’ arms for a touchdown against the Rams.

Rather than a well-edited video or slick movie production, Brady announced his retirement with a simple, yet thoughtful letter.

He said he enjoyed living and working in the Tampa Bay area and playing in front of the Bucs’ passionate fans. It was with the Bucs that Brady said he found his voice, speaking out on NFL labor issues and revealing a playful side of his personality that had been hidden during 20 seasons in New England. One of the most memorable moments of Brady’s career will be tossing the Lombardi Trophy in the boat parade across a swath of the Hillsborough River to tight end Cameron Brate.

“To all the Bucs fans, thank you,” Brady wrote. “I didn’t know what to expect when I arrived here, but your support and embrace have enriched my life and that of my family. I have been honored to play for such a passionate and fun fan base. What a Krewe!

“To the city of Tampa and the entire Tampa-St. Petersburg region, thank you. It has been wonderful to be a resident of such a fun place to live. I want to be invited to our next boat parade.”

Brady also thanked the Bucs’ owners for ensuring he had everything he needed to claim a world championship in Tampa Bay.

“To the Glazer family, thank you for taking a chance on me and supporting me,” Brady said. “I know I was demanding at times, but you provided everything we needed to win and your ownership was everything a player could ask for.”

Bucs coach Bruce Arians and general manager Jason Licht were in Mobile, Ala., to scout the Senior Bowl practices when news of Brady’s official retirement broke.

“Tom joined us as the greatest football player of all time and he quickly showed everyone in our organization what that meant,” Arians said in a statement. “He set a standard and helped create a culture that took our team to the mountaintop.”

Licht will have a busy offseason trying to convince at least a dozen starters who are free agents to remain in Tampa Bay without Brady. The list includes begins with Brady’s best football buddy, tight end Rob Gronkowski, who was talked out of retirement and traded from the Patriots to the Bucs, where he was reunited with the only quarterback he played with in the NFL.

Other free agents include receiver Chris Godwin, who likely will be given the franchise player tag again, running back Leonard Fournette, offensive linemen Ryan Jensen and Alex Cappa, cornerback Carlton Davis, safety Jordan Whitehead, defensive lineman Ndamukong Suh and linebacker Jason Pierre-Paul.

“These past two years, I had the privilege to see up close the way he operates and the impact he has on a franchise ― from coaches, to players to staff‚” Licht said in a statement. “He set a standard for accountability, work ethic and performance that resonated through our building and our locker room. … I wish we had more time with Tom, but I understand and respect his decision to leave the game in order to spend more time with his family. I’m grateful for the moments we had.”

Brady will remain busy off the field. He just launched his Brady clothing line that bears his last name and is already available at Nordstrom in Tampa. He has a production company and is currently serving as the executive producer of The Man in the Arena, a series that details Brady’s NFL career from his perspective.

Brady also plans to spend more time expanding his TB12 brand, a fitness and nutritional company he founded with personal trainer and business partner Alex Guerrero. Last year, he co-founded Autograph, a digital collectibles site specializing in sports and entertainment NFTs that recently raised $170 million in a funding round. Brady’s other investments include cryptocurrency exchange FTX, card-trading service Alt and creator platform SageSpot.

Mostly, Brady will now have the chance to spend more time with his wife, Gisele, and his three children: Jack (14), Benny (12) and Vivian (9). Jack lives in New York with his mother, actress Bridget Moynahan.

“Our family is my greatest achievement,” Brady wrote Tuesday. “I always came off the field and home to the most loving and supportive wife who has done EVERYTHING for our family to allow me to focus on my career. Her selflessness allowed me to reach new heights professionally, and I am beyond words what you mean and to our family.”

Brady’s story is like a movie, going from a backup on his winless freshman football team in San Mateo, Calif., to sixth on the depth chart at the University of Michigan to the 199th player taken in the 2000 NFL draft to the greatest player in the NFL.

Brady retires after 22 seasons, 365 games and 10 Super Bowl appearances, hoisting the Lombardi Trophy seven times. He was a three-time league MVP, five-time Super Bowl MVP, two-time NFL Offensive Player of the Year, three-time first-team All Pro and 15-time Pro Bowl selection, including in his final season. He also owns most of the passing records, ranking first in regular-season career passing yards (84,520), passes attempted (11,317), completions (7,263) and touchdowns (624).

Brady always said his favorite ring was “the next one,” and he will receive it from the Pro Football Hall of Fame in five years.

Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com on the curious process that led to this.

Little did we know that, when Tom Brady taped his latest episode of Let’s Go!, he was already gone.

Unless Brady had some sort of epiphany sparked by an overnight visit from the Ghosts of Football Past, Present, and/or Future, he knew what he was planning to do when he created the clear impression with his own words that he hadn’t decided what to do.

 “I’m going to take it day by day,” Brady said in an episode that debuted on Monday night. “It really is, I’ll take it by the moment and figure out when I feel really confident to allow people to, you know, I understand my decision affects a lot of people’s lives. So when that decision comes it will come.”

Unless it came out of the blue between Monday night and Tuesday morning, which is possible but far from likely, the things Brady said on his own podcast contradict the things he said in his social-media post.

That’s one of the pitfalls of athletes creating direct pathways to fans. Sometimes, the athletes may say something other than the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Sometimes, the athlete will be misquoted in his own real-time autobiography.

It shouldn’t be a surprise. Brady said in June that 90 percent of the things he says publicly aren’t true. In his latest episode of Let’s Go!, it was closer to 100 percent.

MINNESOTA

Jim Harbaugh heads to Minnesota tomorrow.  Chad Graff of The Athletic:

The Vikings are flying Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh to Minnesota on Wednesday for an in-person interview for their vacant head-coaching position, a source confirmed to The Athletic. The news comes two days after the team requested to interview Harbaugh, a request Michigan was informed of — a requirement within his contract with the Wolverines.

This makes Harbaugh a finalist for the job and the last of only four candidates expected to get an in-person interview, a source told The Athletic.

Rams offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell’s interview was completed Monday in L.A., while Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris is scheduled for later Monday in L.A. and Giants defensive coordinator Patrick Graham is scheduled on Tuesday in Minnesota, the source adds.

Wednesday is also national signing day, although Michigan signed the majority of its players last month.

Harbaugh led the Wolverines to a 12-2 record this past season, a Big Ten title, a win over Ohio State for the first time in 10 years and the first College Football Playoff appearance in program history. Michigan fell to Georgia 34-11 in the Orange Bowl.

The Athletic first reported that Harbaugh could be tempted to return to the NFL on Jan. 5, which was followed by news that Michigan has had productive conversations with Harbaugh on a new contract. A year ago, he signed a four-year contract extension to remain at Michigan through the 2025 season..

Harbaugh has prior NFL head-coaching experience, leading the San Francisco 49ers from 2011 to 2014 and taking them to the Super Bowl in 2013. Harbaugh took over the Michigan program in 2015 and boasts a record of 61-24 since.

WASHINGTON

Tomorrow is Groundhog Day, and it may be Red Hogs Day.

But Joe Theismann is talking up Commanders.

The Washington Football team is slated to reveal its new nickname on Wednesday.

One franchise great talked about a potential name on Monday as if it was a done deal. Joe Theismann discussed the topic in an interview with CBS Sports Radio.

“I think the Commanders is a name that is gonna be hopefully one people talk about moving forward,” Theismann said. “There were so many different options. Once again, it’s trademark infringement. It’s getting approval from different people. If you choose a name, is there a group out there that isn’t gonna like it? There’s so many things you have to consider.”

Was Theismann speaking on inside information or providing just his opinion on “Commanders” two days out from the reveal? After his comments fueled social media speculation, Theismann told the Washington Times via text that he didn’t know what the name is.

“Like you I’ll find out on Wednesday,” Theismann wrote, per the Times.

The franchise revealed finalists to VIPs when they narrowed the options down to three. Former defensive end Charles Mann, who won three Super Bowls with Washington, was one of those VIPs. He said last week that he’s “not happy” with any of the options and that he and others “crucified” the finalists when they were revealed. He also declined to reveal what the finalists are.

The Washington Post has an op-ed from activist Amanda Blackhorse (with help from former Post scribe Mike Wise):

It’s not the first or maybe even the 100th promise the owner of the Washington Football Team failed to deliver on. But this one best showed the kicking and screaming it took for his organization to get rid of its anti-Native mascot — and why the change feels hollow to me.

I am a Native American mother. You know what angers me most about the announcement of a new name this week? The way the franchise and its fans act like the past half-century never happened, like we’re supposed to cheer for something that should have happened decades ago.

The team might be beginning a new era, but I am far from ready to move forward. The history of how we got to this moment must not be obscured by new color schemes and jersey designs. I cannot look ahead without looking deep into the past, and I will not move on until the team and the NFL make amends to the people they harmed most — Native advocates and their children.

Team owner Daniel Snyder did not wake up one day and decide to do the right thing; he was backed into a corner during 2020’s racial reckoning — after the murder of George Floyd, after Native advocates pressured FedEx, Pepsi and Nike investors to demand Washington drop its name. The owner had nowhere to go.

The team’s fight against Native dignity stretches as far back as the 1960s, when the National Congress of American Indians first asked for a name change. Indigenous peoples’ efforts continued over the years, and in 1992, Cheyenne-Hodulgee Muscogee advocate Suzan Shown Harjo first filed suit requesting that the team’s trademarks be canceled. I joined Suzan as lead plaintiff more than a decade ago. At every turn, the Washington Football Team demonized us.

Later, Snyder tried the oldest trick in the colonialism playbook: divide and conquer. In 2013, my tribe’s World War II Navajo Code Talkers were paid to appear at a Monday Night Football game, wearing Washington’s team-logo jackets on national television. A year later, Snyder arranged a photo op in his owner’s box during an away game in Arizona with a Navajo Nation president — while his tribal members protested just outside.

I can still see dozens of Navajo children and their parents from Red Mesa High School after being bused 5½ hours to Glendale, Ariz., where they were fed lunch, decked out with Washington apparel and given free tickets to the game; Snyder had found a school on my reservation with the same name as his team’s. He meant to use those children and their families as a shield for his slur.

The Washington Football Team wants me to just move on after it “donated” playgrounds to children on our reservations so they could have fun on play sets decorated with red-pigmented heads? While psychological studies directly linked Native names and mascots to lower self-esteem in Native youth?

After they forced our people to choose between their dignity and real financial need?

Now, 18 months after the name was finally banished, it’s in Snyder’s best interest to pretend he’s been an ally all along. When I heard that the team reached out to Native groups to celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day last October, my first reaction was, “Hell no! We’re not ready to round-dance with you.” Abandoning the old name is just the first step in repairing the injury. So much more needs to happen.

Red Mesa High School is a good place to start. Tribal and team representatives must visit it and other schools influenced by the NFL to preserve offensive names, and they must correct the misinformation Washington spread. Next, Snyder and his team should sway their professional peers in the NFL and other leagues to ditch all remaining anti-Native branding. Washington ending its own Native appropriation is an empty gesture if it’s not accompanied by advocacy to end appropriation everywhere.

There also must be an acknowledgment of the thousands of Native advocates who made sacrifices to open the world’s eyes and ears, from our children to our elders to the ancestors who passed on to the spirit world before seeing the revolution their work made possible.

What we don’t need is a “sorry.” As Indigenous people, we’ve heard “sorry” too many times with not enough action to back it up. For us to really celebrate and call this new name progress, we need something different from the NFL and the Washington team. We need you to acknowledge your damage. We need you to repair it. And we need for you to never harm our communities again. It’s that simple: NEVER.

TAMPA BAY

Some folks think Bruce Arians will look for height in QB TOM BRADY’s replacement , seeing his lineage of Peyton Manning, Ben Roethlisberger, Carson Palmer and Brady.  But not well-connected Tampa Bay area radio guy J.P. Peterson:

@FanStreamJP

I think Russell Wilson would be my pick. He’s cheaper and younger than Rogers, a better fit from leadership perspective and as he did with Brady, Arians can adjust his playbook to take advantage of Russ’ mobility with bouts and RPO’s

What does Greg Auman of The Athletic say?

The first question is whether they can be taken seriously with either of their in-house options. That starts with veteran Blaine Gabbert, who has been a Bucs backup the past three seasons. He hasn’t started an NFL game since 2018, and is only 13-35 as a starter, with 50 career touchdowns against 47 interceptions. Yes, Brady won more games as a starter in the 2021 season than Gabbert has in his 11-year career. He knows Bruce Arians’ system as well as anyone, but can the Bucs be a postseason winner with a 32-year-old quarterback who has never thrown more than 12 touchdowns in a season?

The other option is former Florida Gators quarterback Kyle Trask, who was inactive for all 19 games this past season after he was drafted at the end of the second round (64th overall). The Bucs liked him enough to take him ahead of other depth needs on a potential championship team, but he hasn’t played a snap in the NFL, so it would be a considerable leap to make from the league’s winningest quarterback ever to the opposite extreme. Possible, yes, but unlikely.

That leaves the outside options, and there are plenty of them this year, both in true free agents and in top-tier quarterbacks who can be acquired via trade, though some at considerable expense.

Rather than search for this year’s Brady and set the bar far too high, let’s see who might be this year’s Matthew Stafford, a proven veteran pried loose from their team, and not necessarily cheaply. Or we could go back in time to 2013, when Arians took over at Arizona, and ask who this year’s Carson Palmer is, an established 4,000-yard passer with a few good years left who could be acquired as inexpensively as a pick swap. There isn’t an obvious answer, but here’s what is out there:

Aim impossibly high, however unlikely

Aaron Rodgers, Packers (age 38): If you’re trying to compete with a seven-time Super Bowl winner, how about an almost assuredly back-to-back league MVP? The biggest obstacle here is that he’s under contract, and the Packers won’t want to deal him to an NFC rival like the Bucs. Tampa Bay even plays host to Green Bay next season, which would make for a Brett Favre level of revenge storylines.

It will be costly to pry Rodgers from the Packers, and by comparison, the Broncos make more sense for Rodgers as a more distant exile with a familiar head coach in ex-Packers assistant Nathaniel Hackett, which he is more likely to sign off on for his own end-of-career, Brady-style final chapter.

Russell Wilson, Seahawks (33): Same deal as Brady and Rodgers, as Wilson is an iconic, Super Bowl-winning quarterback prepared to leave the only franchise he has ever played for. Again, the price will be multiple first-round picks, and even if the Bucs were willing to part with those to continue a window of contention and sustained success, we don’t know that Seattle will be willing to trade him to another team within the conference. And yes, the Seahawks will play in Tampa this fall as well.

Deshaun Watson, Texans (26): At some point this offseason, an NFL team will trade for the former Texans starter, and yes, the Bucs have a history of investing heavily in a quarterback with off-field accusations (in Jameis Winston’s case, they never yielded actual criminal charges). This still feels unlikely, going directly from Brady to a talented but somewhat radioactive successor. Bucs general manager Jason Licht is close friends with former Texans coach Bill O’Brien, who won two divisional titles with Watson at quarterback, so he’ll get more candid insights on him as a player and person than most general managers would.

Not quite as dreamy, but a bit more viable

Carson Wentz, Colts (29): Indianapolis traded a first- and third-round pick to get Wentz from the Eagles a year ago, but GM Chris Ballard hasn’t committed to him being their starter in 2022, so there’s an opportunity to acquire him.

With more relevance, Arians has had high praise for Wentz, comparing him to Andrew Luck and Ben Roethlisberger in 2017 when he was still coaching the Cardinals: “I loved him coming out. He reminded me a lot of Andrew Luck,” Arians said. “He’s big, strong, and physical. He played in a pro offense. He had that linebacker mentality playing quarterback. It shows up, his toughness.”

Would the same appreciation still exist today? The Colts gave the Bucs a tough game in November, with Wentz throwing two touchdowns early for a 17-7 lead, only to have Tampa Bay rally back for the win on a touchdown in the final minute. Wentz threw two interceptions in that game — he had seven in the entire season — and the Colts’ final touchdown drive to tie the score was fueled more by running back Jonathan Taylor than anything Wentz did; he threw an interception on the last play of the game.

Derek Carr, Raiders (30): Las Vegas has a new coach and general manager, so what if Josh McDaniels (the coach) and Dave Ziegler (the GM) aren’t sold on Carr as the Raiders’ answer. Could Arians get the same quarterback bargain from the same team that sent him Palmer? Carr turns 31 in March, and his 2021 stat line (4,804 yards, 23 TDs, 14 INTs) looks like a Palmer line — prolific, but underwhelming enough that his team could move on to a younger model. He’s due to make just under $20 million in the final season of a five-year, $125 million contract, so he’s more manageable cap-wise than some of the other trade options.

Kirk Cousins, Vikings (33): Another veteran quarterback with a new coach and GM who might seek a new direction, Cousins is expensive ($35 million salary for 2022), but Minnesota could take on some of that to facilitate a trade. Wherein Brady was synonymous with postseason success, Cousins is synonymous with prolific passing in close losses — the Vikings went 9-8 and missed the playoffs, but all eight losses were by a single score, with Cousins throwing 14 touchdowns and three interceptions in those losses.

Licht has seen what Cousins can do in person — his “you like that?” breakout was a comeback against the Bucs from a 24-0 deficit in 2015, Licht’s second year as GM. Cousins has 32,593 career passing yards but only one career playoff win, so if the Bucs are trying to find another Stafford who might benefit from a change of scenery, Cousins appears to be that guy.

Jimmy Garoppolo, 49ers (30): Like Carr, he’s in the final year of a massive contract, but San Francisco spent a high draft pick on Trey Lance, so they might want to shift their focus to his development and future. There looked to be a finality to general manager John Lynch’s hug of Garoppolo after a late interception sealed the 49ers’ loss to the Rams in the NFC Championship Game after losing a 10-point lead.

Garoppolo is due to make $24 million this fall, and his best asset is a history of winning: He’s 33-14 as an NFL starter, and whether you believe in quarterback wins as a relevant statistic, he has postseason experience and a 4-2 playoff record. We have the same caveats we did with Rodgers and Wilson — will they trade in-conference with a Bucs team they’ll host this fall? There’s a massive middle ground for the Bucs between Brady and Gabbert/Trask, so this feels like a potential compromise.

Teddy Bridgewater, Broncos (29): In a parallel universe in which the Bucs moved on from Winston two years ago but didn’t get Brady, they might have gone with Bridgewater, for whom Arians has had consistent praise.

“I’ve always loved Teddy,” Arians said in 2019, a year in which Bridgewater threw for 314 yards and four touchdowns while filling in for Drew Brees as an injury replacement in a Saints win against the Bucs. “He’s a good, solid player and should be a starter in this league.”

Bridgewater is an unrestricted free agent and should be reasonably affordable. He also has extensive NFC South experience between his time in New Orleans and a year as Carolina’s starter in 2020. He lost both starts against the Bucs that year but threw for 367 yards in one of them.

He was serviceable in Denver this season, throwing for 3,052 yards with 18 touchdowns and seven interceptions. You won’t confuse those with Brady stats, but the 18 touchdowns are also a career high. This Bucs offense, even if without the full arsenal Brady had at his disposal, could set up much better passing numbers for him as another low-turnover quarterback. Bridgewater is underwhelming, but has more upside than Gabbert without being expensive in an offseason with cap constraints for the Bucs.

By sportswriter law, we must include these guys

Ben Roethlisberger, Steelers (39): It feels like he’s content retiring after a lengthy career in one city. But if you really value first-hand familiarity, as Arians does, he knows Big Ben infinitely more than he did Brady, serving as the Steelers’ receivers coach and then offensive coordinator from 2004 through ’11. Roethlisberger turns 40 in March, but he threw for 3,740 yards this past season, with 22 touchdowns against 10 interceptions, which isn’t far from Palmer’s line (4,018 yards, 22 TDs, 14 INTs) the year before Arians acquired him. Again, whereas dipping into the age 40-plus quarterback well once might have worked, twice is unlikely to end the same.

Jameis Winston, Saints (28): We’ll say this: Winston is available, has a full year in Arians’ offense and wouldn’t be particularly expensive to sign. But the divorce wasn’t completely amicable, even if the Bucs just recognized that Brady would be a better option and then won a Super Bowl with him. Could it be the Bucs saw a more careful side of Winston this past season — 14 touchdowns and only three interceptions in seven games before tearing his left ACL — and try to replicate the same instead of the 30-interception season he produced in his last try in this offense? Winston has celebrated Saints wins over his old team with a personal joy, so even if Sean Payton’s departure makes the Saints a less obvious spot for him, he might be better with another fresh start elsewhere.

SAN FRANCISCO

This is so nice.  Michael David Smith of ProFootballTalk.com:

The 49ers traded three first-round picks to draft Trey Lance because they were eager to move on from Jimmy Garoppolo. But Garoppolo never resented Lance’s presence in San Francisco.

In fact, Lance said today that one of the reasons everyone in the 49ers locker room loves Garoppolo is that he is always nothing but supportive of teammates, including the teammate who was brought in to take his job.

 “Jimmy’s the man,” Lance said. “You’ve heard it from everyone. No one is lying about it. He’s inspired so many guys in this room, everything he’s played through this year. Everything he’s taught me, how he’s handled our whole situation. Everyone put us against each other and everything like that in the media, throughout this whole year, from OTAs and everything. But he’s been nothing but a brother to me. Whether it’s competing in practice or sitting in the meetings he’s been nothing but great to me and I’ve been nothing but thankful for him and everything he’s done. He’s going to be one of my best friends for my whole entire life.”

The 49ers’ decision-makers may not view Garoppolo as a great quarterback, but no one doubts that he’s a great teammate.

LOS ANGELES RAMS

The Bengals (see below) are hopeful about their injured TE C.J. OZUMAH and his availability on February 13.  What about the Rams and TE TYLER HIGBEE?  Brady Henderson of ESPN.com:

Los Angeles Rams tight end Tyler Higbee has an MCL sprain that puts his status for Super Bowl LVI in question, coach Sean McVay said Monday.

Higbee, the Rams’ No. 1 tight end, left the NFC Championship Game in the first half Sunday with what was announced as a knee injury. He didn’t return.

“We’re working through some different avenues,” McVay said of the injury. “He got an MCL sprain there. He’s such a tough guy. We’re going to do everything in our power to try to get this guy back and ready to go. But we are working some things.”

Higbee caught 61 passes (second on the team) for 560 yards (third) and 5 touchdowns (tied for third) in 15 regular-season games. He played 14 snaps Sunday, catching two passes for 18 yards, before leaving the game.

Backup Kendall Blanton caught five passes for 57 yards in the Rams’ 20-17 win over the San Francisco 49ers. Blanton scored a touchdown in the Rams’ divisional-round win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

McVay expressed optimism that starting safety Taylor Rapp could be available when the Rams face the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl LVI on Feb. 13 at SoFi Stadium. Rapp has missed all three playoff games after suffering a concussion in Week 18 but is “looking like he’s turned the corner in a positive way,” per McVay.

Higbee’s was the only injury from Sunday that could affect any Rams player’s status for the Super Bowl, McVay said.

“It’ll be good to kind of figure out how we want to utilize these next couple weeks to try to get some guys that have played a lot of football, that are banged up, as healthy as possible for the 13th,” he said. “But the only guy from yesterday’s game that his game status could be in doubt for the Super Bowl would be Higs, but we’re taking that a day at a time.”

McVay said it’s “definitely a possibility” that running back Darrell Henderson, cornerback Robert Rochell and defensive lineman Sebastian Joseph-Day return from injured reserve in time for the Super Bowl.

KANSAS CITY

Nick Shook of NFL.com on the Chiefs off-season to-do list:

The explosive Kansas City Chiefs are starting their offseason earlier than they anticipated.

With roster turnover around the corner, they’re not being bashful about where the Chiefs are focusing on improving: Defense.

Such efforts begin with determining how to proceed with safety Tyrann Mathieu, a key part of the Chiefs’ defense and their run to four-straight AFC Championship Games (Mathieu appeared in the last three). The safety is headed toward unrestricted free agency in March, but told reporters Sunday he was “hoping” to find a way to remain with the Chiefs in 2022.

“We love him,” Chiefs general manager Brett Veach said on Tuesday, via The Athletic’s Nate Taylor. “The offseason is long. It’s a process. The first thing we always do is try to separate the emotions from the last game.”

Mathieu isn’t the only player Veach will be focused on attempting to retain. Veteran edge rusher Melvin Ingram arrived in Kansas City via trade with the Pittsburgh Steelers and helped key a defensive turnaround that propelled the Chiefs to the No. 2 seed in the AFC after a 3-4 start. Ingram stepped up in the postseason, making a significant difference in Kansas City’s Divisional Round win over Buffalo and having a similar impact on the Chiefs’ AFC Championship Game loss to Cincinnati.

“We just stayed aggressive and kept calling (the Steelers) back and we were able to bring him here and obviously he had a tremendous impact,” Veach said. “He solidified the depth at that position and allowed Chris (Jones) to play more inside, more of his natural technique. But then his leadership and his approach elevated everyone else’s game. I don’t think it was just a fluke that the defense kind of took off from there, and we had a really good string of late-season football. I think he was a huge part of that.

“With Melvin, I think it’ll be very similar to last year, I think he’ll be a guy that will want to take his time. He’s played a lot of snaps, he’s still a productive player, he still can help a team. He’ll still be of interest to us. I think he’ll go through the process of taking some time and getting with his family and seeing where he wants to play and what makes sense for him. But I do think that if a guy like Melvin decides that he wants to come back and play, I think that we would be at the top of his list and that’s something we’ll work to keep a dialogue open with.”

Kansas City would also benefit from adding talent at cornerback and defensive line, Veach said Tuesday, though such additions aren’t exactly cheap.

As for the other side of the ball, Kansas City has one obvious candidate for a long-term extension: left tackle Orlando Brown. The Chiefs gave up significant draft capital to acquire Brown via trade with the Baltimore Ravens, and they’ll likely make a similar effort to retain him for the long run.

NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported a franchise tag is likely to keep Brown in Kansas City for 2022, with an extension possible beyond the tag. Veach told reporters on Tuesday he expects Brown to be the Chiefs’ left tackle going forward.

Kansas City is the latest powerhouse franchise to arrive at the same difficult process of keeping as much of its roster together as possible under existing salary cap constraints. The league is built to make success difficult to sustain, but it’s not impossible — it just requires effective work completed by front office executives. It will be up to Veach to get creative in fitting new deals into the team’s cap.

With key contributors and franchise players already in place, the most important part of remaining a contender comes with filling in the gaps with quality talent. The Chiefs have room to operate, owning roughly $14 million in projected available cap space entering 2022 (per Over The Cap). Veach will have his fair share of such work ahead of him this offseason.

LAS VEGAS

New Raiders coach Josh McDaniels tells the Raiders that he is a different, better man than the guy who crashed and burned in Denver.  That and other statements from his introductory news conference from Paul Gutierrez of ESPN.com:

Josh McDaniels acknowledged Monday in his introductory news conference as head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders that he wasn’t ready for the position in his first go-around, more than a decade earlier with the Denver Broncos.

And he did so after admitting something else to Raiders owner Mark Davis.

“When I went to Denver, I knew a little bit of football,” McDaniels said of his 28-game tenure with the Broncos over the 2009 and ’10 seasons. “I didn’t really know people and how important that aspect of this process and maintaining the culture and building the team was. I failed, and I didn’t succeed at it.

“Looking at that experience has been one of the best things in my life in terms of my overall growth as a person, as a coach. What do I need to do different, how do I need to handle my role, if I have another opportunity, and do better at it?”

McDaniels, who was just 33 years old when the Broncos plucked him off the New England Patriots’ staff, was fired by Denver after posting an 11-17 record. He went to the then-St. Louis Rams in 2011 as their offensive coordinator and back to the Patriots a year later before verbally accepting the head job with the Indianapolis Colts in 2018, then backing out.

McDaniels said the Raiders, who also hired his good friend and Patriots confidant in Dave Ziegler as general manager, presented the right opportunity at the right time.

“I was very impressed with how exhaustive they were, just in their evaluation of me and my fit and how I would fit into their vision, and then you come out and you spend time with them, you meet the people, you see that everything is done in a first-class manner,” said McDaniels, who has been an NFL offensive coordinator/playcaller since 2006. “Their commitment to winning is easy to feel, to see, and, to me, walking through this building and having a sense of the history and tradition of this organization and how much that impacts the day-to-day here, it really hit me.

“This is one of those iconic places, and it’s a historic organization that has unbelievable history and tradition. It’s in every hallway. Just getting to know them, feeling their commitment and understanding that that really married up with what my vision would be for another opportunity. It was easy to make the choice.”

No Raiders players attended the news conference, which was held in the team auditorium. Several high-profile players such as quarterback Derek Carr and Pro Bowl defensive end Maxx Crosby had openly campaigned for interim coach Rich Bisaccia to get the job after he led the team to a 10-7 record and the franchise’s first playoff berth since 2016, its second since 2002.

Carr will be entering the final year of his five-year, $125 million contract and is scheduled to make just over $19.8 million. Neither McDaniels nor Ziegler, who said he would have final say on personnel matters, was ready to commit long term to Carr. At least, not on Day 1 of their new regime.

“Derek has won a lot of games in this league and we’ve competed against each other a number of times, and I have a lot of respect for him,” McDaniels said. “He certainly did a good job this year leading their offense. I spoke with him yesterday. We had a great conversation. Looking forward to actually getting to meet him and get to know him as a person, as a human being, and then getting to work in terms of developing our offense this year into what it’s going to be.

“But there’s no question that we have the capacity and capability of winning with Derek here. We all know that. I look forward to the challenge of trying to grow, not only Derek, but everybody on the roster to try to reach our potential.”

Said Ziegler: “The one thing that we all understand is there’s going to be a process of us learning Derek, Derek learning us, and fitting all those pieces together … understanding what Derek does well. Derek understanding what Josh and the offensive staff is trying to build, and I think as that collaboration goes, then you kind of see how everything fits together.”

This  from Vic Tafur:

@VicTafur

One more. Davis asked each GM candidate to tell him a matching coach, and vice versa.

When Ziegler said McDaniels, Davis said, “I don’t even know if he’s available …”

Ziegler: “He will be if I come here.”

CINCINNATI

Interesting:

@PaulHembo

Sean McVay’s coaching tree yielded a Super Bowl (Zac Taylor) before Bill Belichick’s did.

– – –

They carted him off the field at Arrowhead on Sunday, but TE C.J. UZOMAH is not necessarily out of Super Bowl 56.

The Bengals played without tight end C.J. Uzomah for most of Sunday’s AFC Championship Game win over the Chiefs, but no one is ruling him out of the Super Bowl at this point.

Uzomah said after the game that he is hopeful that he’ll be well enough to play against the Rams on February 13 and Bengals head coach Zac Taylor delivered a similar message during a Monday press conference. Taylor said, via Marisa Contipelli of the team’s website, that Uzomah’s injury “looks like an MCL sprain” and that his outlook is “encouraging so far.”

With two weeks to go before the game, Uzomah has a fair amount of time to heal before any decisions have to be made about his availability.

Drew Sample and Mitchell Wilcox are the other tight ends on the Bengals active roster. Sample had one catch for four yards in Sunday’s win.

– – –

Interesting tweet from Andrew Brandt who seems to be politely looking down on the Bengals:

@AndrewBrandt

So amazing Mike Brown and Bengals are in SB .

Bengals have always been most miserly team: resisted hiring full-time scouts and spending on facilities. 

Brown and Jerry Jones would have arguments at owners meetings that were great theater, ultimate clash of styles and branding.

It seems to the DB that those days were quite a few years ago.  In recent times, the Bengals have advanced somewhat with the times, while not going overboard on analytics and flash and social theater like some franchises.

There probably is no woman now more integrally involved in the football operation of any team, and she has been for sometime, than Katie Brown Blackburn – yet you rarely see anything from the media publicity mills about her impact.  Maybe the next two weeks will change that, but since she isn’t interested in that stuff, maybe not.  We do note, that she quietly became the first woman ever placed on the Competition Committee in 2021 – and it only came to light when someone saw a list of members.

Here wikepedia page is three paragraphs long.  She played ice hockey at Dartmouth, went to the University of Cincinnati Law School, has been with the Bengals for 30 years and has been the team’s longtime chief contract negotiator among many other things.

– – –

Cincinnati schools will celebrate St. Valentine’s Day with a day off from school.  Ben Baby of ESPN.com:

Schoolchildren in Cincinnati will have something to cheer about no matter what happens in Super Bowl LVI.

Cincinnati Public Schools announced Monday that staff and students will have the day off Feb. 14, the day after the Bengals play the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LVI.

In a letter sent to parents that was obtained by ESPN, the city’s largest school district cited “celebrating” the Bengals’ first Super Bowl victory as the reason it amended the academic calendar and made Feb. 14 a day off.

“We hope that you enjoy roaring the Bengals to a win on Sunday and take this time to take pride in our incredible city and amazing football team,” the district said in the statement to parents.

CPS board member Mike Moroski told the Cincinnati Enquirer that students in the district typically are off on the Monday after the Super Bowl. However, this year, the school calendar didn’t line up with Super Bowl LVI at SoFi Stadium in the Los Angeles area. After the Bengals reached the title game by defeating the favored Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, a request was made to change that, and it was OK’d.

In the release sent to families, the district noted that an annual off day for students (but not staff) still will be observed on Feb. 7. However, because of the Bengals’ best playoff run in decades, students and staff will get Feb. 14 off, as well.

INDIANAPOLIS

With Matt Eberflus now running the show in Chicago, the Colts are going to overhaul their defensive staff as Eberflus is bringing many of “his guys” to the Bears.

According to SI’s Albert Breer, Eberflus is working on bringing several Colts defensive assistants with him to Chicago. Names like safeties coach Alan Williams, linebackers coach Dave Borgonzi and cornerbacks coach James Rowe have previously been mentioned. But Breer also noted that assistant defensive backs coach David Overstreet is also expected to join Eberflus.

Williams is expected to join the Bears as defensive coordinator, as previously reported by NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.

Kevin Hickey of Colts Wire thinks Jim Schwartz could be the guy to replace him.

The Indianapolis Colts are expected to interview Tennessee Titans senior defensive assistant Jim Schwartz for their defensive coordinator vacancy, per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.

It shouldn’t come as much of a shock considering the history that Schwartz and Colts head coach Frank Reich have from their time with the Philadelphia Eagles.

Schwartz was the defensive coordinator for the Eagles when Reich was the offensive coordinator for two seasons (2016-2017), including the Super Bowl run in 2017.

Schwartz has been in the league for a long time. He got his start in 1993 as a scout with the Cleveland Browns. He has been a defensive coordinator three separate times with the Tennessee Titans (2001-2008), Buffalo Bills (2014) and Philadelphia Eagles (2016-2020).

Schwartz has also been a head coach with the Detroit Lions (2009-2013). He took the senior defensive assistant job with the Titans in 2021.

Getting the pass rush back on track will be the biggest key for whoever comes in as the new defensive coordinator and Schwartz certainly has a history of doing so.

JACKSONVILLE

Rich Biasacchia is now a Jaguars candidate as that curious coaching search rolls on.  John Reid of the Florida Times-Union:

The Jacksonville Jaguars have turned their attention toward former Las Vegas Raiders interim head coach Rich Bisaccia in their exhaustive head coaching search that has extended for more than a month.

A person close to the situation confirmed the Jaguars had an interview scheduled for Monday with Bisaccia, who led the Raiders this season to the playoffs this season.

However, the Raiders did not keep Bisaccia as they reached an agreement Sunday with New England Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels to become their next head coach.

Bisaccia, 61, becomes the ninth candidate the Jaguars have interviewed for their vacant head coaching job. He has no previous connection with Jaguars general manager Trent Baalke, who is part of the franchise’s search team that includes owner Shad Khan and his son, Tony.

As special teams coordinator, Bisaccia’s first NFL coaching job was with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 2002-07. In 2008, he was promoted to assistant head coach, running backs and special teams coach coordinator. He was hired by the San Diego Chargers in 2011 as special teams coordinator. 

This apparently on the side of things where Trent Baalke thinks he is the GM who can hire his coach.

But, lurking on the side are Byron Leftwich and his chosen GM Adrian Wilson.  Alfie Crow of BigCatCountry.com tries to sort things out:

The Jacksonville Jaguars are still sitting in limbo as far as hiring a new head coach, now 46 days since the firing of Urban Meyer back on December 16. The head coaching search has been nothing short of a roller coaster. Last week, it appeared as if it was winding down as multiple reports surfaced, including from Big Cat Country, that the team was in the process of finalizing a deal to hire Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich.

The team had done a final interview with now current Chicago Bears head coach Matt Eberflus, scheduled a final interview with now current Denver Broncos head coach Nate Hackett and had Leftwich in the fold. There was a clear final three and it was coming to an end.

Until it didn’t. Something changed at the 11th hour.

The reality is however, nothing changed. Something stayed the same and that the was the problem.

General manager Trent Baalke was still there.

It has become increasingly clear the biggest hang up in the Jacksonville Jaguars hiring a new head coach is the presence of Baalke still on staff. Baalke has earned a reputation in league circles as someone who is a snake in the front office, will fight for his own job security while throwing others under the bus, despite his poor track record as a general manager in the NFL.

There were reports early in the process that Baalke would hinder the Jaguars coaching search, including rumors that a lot of the Jaguars top targets for head coach had reservations working with Baalke and those reports and rumors pretty clearly have some validity to them as it has played out. The team had hoped people would agree to work with Baalke in the interim, but that’s a big reason the Leftwich situation has gone radio silent and seemingly at an impasse.

There was a near 48 hour period where there was absolutely no updates to the Jaguars coaching search or the status of Byron Leftwich, from anyone. Not from the national media, not from local media, and not anything from Twitter. I can personally state my sources went dead silent.

Then suddenly on Sunday it was reported that the Jaguars were interested in interviewing Los Angels Rams offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell for their head coaching job, the first sign that the Leftwich deal was potentially dead in the water. It was also reported that O’Connell could emerge as a favorite for the Jaguars quickly, which is where it got weird.

See, the problem with O’Connell is, his team is still in the playoffs. The Jaguars never requested an initial interview with O’Connell, who is someone who reportedly could fast track as their favorite… So now that the Rams have won and are in the Super Bowl, the Jaguars can’t even conduct a first interview with O’Connell until after the Super Bowl, in two weeks time. That’s simply time the Jaguars cannot afford to sit idle, especially when O’Connell is having a second interview with the Minnesota Vikings this week.

How can someone you never interviewed be a dark horse candidate who could be the front runner? What?

Regardless of what the truth is in the coaching search for the Jaguars right now, the optics of it are an abject disaster. It appears no worthwhile candidates want to work with Trent Baalke at the top, with good reason. It also appears the Jaguars are seemingly being stubborn to a fault with keeping Baalke on hand, who’s track record as a general manager in the NFL is actually awful.

I don’t know where this is going to end, but the Jaguars are now over 40 days in their coaching search where they had a head start on everyone in the NFL, but it appears as if they’re starting over from scratch.

The coaching search is a complete disaster because of the Jaguars insistence on keeping a bad general manager with a bad reputation around the league.

NEW ENGLAND

They’ve noticed in New England:

@BillSimmons

Brady retires with a 9-part Instagram post that never mentions the Patriots, Belichick or the Krafts. INTERESTING.

Mike Florio:

Tom Brady‘s lengthy social-media post announcing his retirement mentions various persons and entities. It snubs one specific entity, along with all the persons who have worked there, currently and in the past.

Not once in Brady’s statement are the Patriots mentioned. Not once is anyone from the Patriots mentioned.

He mentions the Buccaneers. He mentions the Tampa fans. He mention the Glazer family. He mentions G.M. Jason Licht. He mentions coach Bruce Arians. He mentions his other coaches in Tampa. He thanks “every single Bucs staffer and employee.”

This statement isn’t something he thumbed on his iPhone while sitting on the commode this morning. It was drafted, re-drafted, re-re-drafted, read, re-read, re-re-read, and vetted by professionals. He said what he meant to say. He didn’t say what he didn’t mean to say.

It can’t be an accident that the entire Patriots organization was omitted.

That said, the omission is so glaring that it suggests something else is coming. Maybe he’ll do a one-day retirement contract with the Patriots, or some other New England-specific farewell.

Regardless, if there’s something that comes later, nothing will change the fact that, until it does, Patriots coaches, owners, employees, and fans are left to wonder what in the hell is happening.

THIS AND THAT

THE RATINGS KEEP GOING UP

QBs JIMMY GAROPPOLO and MATTHEW STAFFORD got better ratings than TOM BRADY-AARON RODGERS last year.  Michael David Smith of ProFootballTalk.com:

The AFC and NFC championship games both drew massive television audiences and significant increases over last year’s games.

Fox announced that the Rams’ victory over the 49ers in the NFC Championship Game drew an audience of 50.42 million viewers. That tops last year’s audience of 44.77 million viewers for the Bucs-Packers NFC Championship Game.

CBS announced that the Bengals’ victory over the Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game drew an audience of 47.85 million viewers. That tops last year’s audience of 41.85 million viewers for the Bills-Chiefs AFC Championship Game.

Viewership of the playoffs has been up across the board this year, with all six games in the wild card round and all four games in the divisional round also increasing over the viewership in the comparable broadcast window last year.

PETER KING’S HALL OF FAME PEEVE

Peter King says you can’t accurately assess any candidate’s Hall of Fame chances until you see who else is on the ballot:

Here’s one other pet peeve of mine. First-ballot Hall of Famer. I got a bunch of questions after the retirement of Ben Roethlisberger: Is he a first-ballot guy? Well, he’s certainly a Hall of Famer, in my book. But I always want to know who else will be eligible in a player’s first year. That will have something to do with who gets in, and when. Let’s just say, for instance, that the following players will be eligible for the first time in the Class of 2027:

Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski, Tyrann Mathieu, Adrian Peterson, Ben Roethlisberger, Aaron Rodgers, J.J. Watt.

It’s certainly not probable that all of those players will retire this offseason. I have no idea how much longer any of those players except the retiring Roethlisberger will play. The point is, five modern-era candidates can go in each year, max. And in 2027, do we know that there won’t be a leftover, a Philip Rivers or Eli Manning, who will get significant voter attention, to join what could be a formidable group of eligible players? I remember Cris Carter throwing a fit at not being elected in his first year, and maybe he had a point. But I wonder when Cris Carter is introduced at banquets or as a TV guest if the announcer says, “Ladies and gentleman, please welcome the sixth-ballot Hall of Famer, Cris Carter!” Of course not. No one knows. No one cares.

I have sat in the voting room for 30 years. And the emphasis on the first-ballot thing I just do not get. Is Richard Dent less of a Hall of Famer because he entered the Hall in his ninth year of eligibility? Is the bronze bust of Mike Ditka tarnished because he got in on his 11th try? When Fran Tarkenton retired in 1978, the NFL was 59 seasons old, and Tarkenton had more passing yards and touchdowns than any quarterback in history. He entered the Hall on the third ballot. So that’s what I think of all the chatter about first-ballot Hall of Famers.

The best of the best should get in the first year.  Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Lawrence Taylor.

Everyone else usually gets in line, and if a repeat Hall of Fame Finalist eventually gets in.  Five at a time.