AROUND THE NFL

Daily Briefing

Peter King on the remote NFL Draft:

The other day, I was told that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell could kick off the 2020 NFL Draft in 24 days from a remote-controlled camera in his home in Bronxville, N.Y., a village 15 miles north of NFL headquarters in Manhattan. But, a source with knowledge of draft-logistics discussions told me, that would be a “worst-case scenario.”

Sounds like a “best-case scenario” to me. Rich Eisen, the NFL Network draft host, agreed. “What better way to communicate the necessity to stay inside to stop the spread of the coronavirus than the commissioner of the NFL announcing the picks, alone, from his house in New York?” Eisen told me.

It’s a stark and grand concept. And if it’s good enough in these grave times for the august Lester Holt—who hosted the NBC Nightly News from his home in New York—it should be good enough for the NFL. There’s a more likely, more traditional idea for the draft, I’m told. A working group of senior league officials and NFL Films, NFL Network and ESPN officials have been discussing draft alternatives from their homes via teleconference in recent days. With NFL Films in southern New Jersey and the NFL Network campus in Los Angeles deemed non-essential businesses and shuttered by governors in those states, the only draft-related partner still open—though with a skeleton crew—is ESPN, in Bristol, Conn. However, with President Trump saying Saturday he might establish a quarantine in Connecticut, New York and New Jersey at some point, who knows if the ESPN set, even with socially distanced hosts, would even be available for round one in 24 days?

And this:

The form it will take—the where and the how, especially—is in a nascent state. What we do know is most people normally together for the draft will be separated. It has created one interesting prospective. If you’ve done Zoom video conferencing, or you’ve watched recent nightly newscasts, maybe you’ve seen eight or 10 people on the laptop screen or the TV all ready to be called on by a host. Imagine the same thing on draft night. The NFL will send out about 50 portable camera kits with microphones to top prospects and college coaches, with better-than-FaceTime quality, so NFL draft coverage will be able to bring in, say, LSU quarterback Joe Burrow from the family home outside Athens, Ohio, when/if he’s the first pick of the Bengals. Then Burrow will be able to do his media availability with the Cincinnati press, and whatever other one-on-ones he chooses to do.

Not perfect, but necessarily different.

The draft itself will be different. The first two or three rounds shouldn’t be upset all that much because of the scouting changes; the top 100 players were poked and prodded normally for seven months of the college preseason, regular season, bowl season and combine season before everything shut down. But it’s the later rounds, as NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah said in this space last week, that could see teams trying to hit the safe singles instead of the risky triples.

“What teams will succeed?” said former Patriots and Chiefs executive Scott Pioli, now a CBS Sports analyst. “Teams that are focused and worked long and hard at the Senior Bowl and the all-star games and the scouting combine. Teams that know how to scout. Teams that have a strong system in place.”

When I pointed out how that might be a disadvantage to new coaches like Carolina’s Matt Rhule, fresh out of Baylor to the NFL, Pioli disagreed. “Not necessarily. He has a network of people he can call on in the Big 12 that not many teams will have, and he’ll have a lot of contacts back East from Temple. [Rhule is the former Temple head coach.] That could be a big advantage on some players for Carolina. In general, the good franchises rely on scouts for success in rounds five, six and seven.”

– – –

The NFLPA’s medical director is optimisitic.  This at ESPN.com:

NFL Players Association medical director Thom Mayer said he’s optimistic the 2020 season will take place but that the union and the NFL will know a lot more in late May or early June about whether playing this season is viable.

Mayer discussed the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on the NFL during an appearance Monday on a podcast hosted by ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

Mayer said the NFLPA has created a COVID-19 brain trust that includes members from Harvard, Duke, Johns Hopkins, the CDC, the White House, the state department and the office of Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. The union has consulted with that group twice, and the first consultation led to the shutdown of team facilities last week.

Mayer noted every NFL team, with the exception of the Green Bay Packers, is located near a coronavirus hotspot; he believes it won’t be until late May or early June when those hot spots begin to open up. The timing means organized team activities are unlikely this year and a return with training camp is the likeliest scenario. The NFLPA would agree to the reopening of facilities only after consulting with its COVID-19 brain trust.

“So OTAs, probably not going to happen. As you know, the clubs are closed for now and will remain closed for a while. But I’m very optimistic,” Mayer said. “You know, you look at somebody like Drew Brees and [wife] Brittany Brees gave five million dollars to New Orleans. And you may have heard Drew the other day say, ‘Hang in there, hang tough.’ And that’s what we have to do. We have to hang in there and hang tough — but we have to scenario plan for disasters in terms of the way we did it at 9/11.”

Mayer pointed out he was the command physician at the Pentagon on 9/11, so he has experience with disaster planning.

“So all that stuff on our side is going through, and obviously we’ve encouraged the league to do their side and provide a safe environment, including how do we play games and what that might look like,” he said. “So I’m optimistic by nature. We’re smart people in America, and I think we can get this done.”

Mayer wondered what games might look like if the league plays this season and if it could be similar to what “the NBA was thinking about, you could have games but not people in the stadium. How could you safely get people into the stadium? Does that involve taking temperatures, other screening procedures.”

He said a return by training camp would likely be based on a model in which the country was shut down for four months.

“Now, if that happens, you’re really great,” he said. “What will those training camps look like? You know, we’re encouraging scenario planning to say no non-essential people at training camp — including crowds, for example. There’s non-essential people from the club standpoint; then the fewer people available that might be carriers of the virus.”

The United States currently has the most coronavirus cases in the world with nearly 162,000 cases as of Monday. Close to 3,000 have died in the U.S. because of the virus.

What makes a “hotspot’?

The Tampa Bay area’s two main counties, Hillsborough (home of Carole Baskin) and Pinellas, have 2.4 million people.

So far, 400 confirmed cases of CoVid19, 87 hospitalizations, 7 deaths.  That’s about 0.02% of the citizens having a case so far.

How about the Twin Cities?

The three largest counties – Hennepin, Ramsey and Anoka – have a combine population right around 2 million.  They have 264 total confirmed cases with 8 deaths.  In the entire state of Minnesota there have been 56 hospitalizations with only 24 requiring intensive care.

If this is a hotspot, we all live in hotspots from bad drivers and common flu every hour of every day.

Is New York City a “coronavirus hotspot”, yes?

Are there some warm spots like New Orleans and Detroit?  Yes.

Will other spots warm up, perhaps to hot?  Maybe, maybe not.

– – –

According to S ERIC REID, the NFLPA and NFL have altered the language of the CBA – after it narrowly passed a player’s vote.  And he is suing, aided by the attorneys of his pal Colin Kaepernick.

Free-agent safety Eric Reid wants the NFL’s new collective bargaining agreement invalidated over language added after ratification of the pact earlier this month.

He is calling for an investigation and a revote.

In a letter to the NFLPA on Monday, Reid’s lawyers said the CBA posted on the players’ association’s website after passage of the agreement by a 1,019-959 vote on March 15 contains language different from the one that the players signed off on.

The new CBA is set to begin with the upcoming 2020 season and extend through 2030.

The letter from attorneys Ben Meiselas and Ray Genco highlights a difference in wording in the section about the league’s disability plan that affects hundreds, and potentially thousands, of ex-players who applied for Social Security disability insurance payments before Jan. 1, 2015. In the version the players received and approved, those offsets applied only to players who applied after Jan. 1, 2015.

In a series of tweets Monday, Reid, a vocal opponent of the agreement, provided screenshots of the CBA agreement that showed the language added after players approved the deal.

@E_Reid35

My lawyers @meiselasb and @markgeragos sent a letter to the @NFLPA and @DeSmithNFLPA this morning demanding answers why language in CBA was changed after vote and demanding a new vote and investigation. Read the letter and compare CBA we voted on vs. CBA posted on NFLPA website.

The NFL declined comment and the NFLPA told ESPN it is withholding comment until its attorneys have had a chance to review the pertinent information.

Meiselas told The Associated Press by phone Monday that the discrepancy was discovered when lawyers were “working with families of disabled players to guide them through the process.”

“We’ve been obviously critical of the CBA from the outset because it takes from disabled players. And so in advising them, we were looking at it and pointing out where they had issues and where they were going to be likely getting less money,” Meiselas said. “And then we saw it, and we go, ‘I don’t remember seeing this in Paragraph B.'”

Meiselas questioned why the language was added and why the NFL and players’ union weren’t transparent about the change.

“And so Eric’s letter demands the invalidation and an investigation and a revote because how do you stick in language that players didn’t know they were voting for?” Meiselas said. “It’s perplexing and concerning even if the changes were minor that there was no transparency and no explanation. But here, the changes are major and drastically and dramatically impact disability benefits to players.”

He said a revote seems like “the only logical answer.”

“When there’s a potential manipulation of the language to an agreement, what’s the alternative?” Meiselas said, adding, “We’re waiting on an explanation at this point.”

NFC NORTH

MINNESOTA

This from Peter King on how training has changed for TE KYLE RUDOLPH:

“You kind of go back to what was life like for me as an athlete before I had a world-class facility. I did a lot of pushups, a lot of situps. I ran around the neighborhood, I ran in the yard. You try to find a park or an open field. And that’s kind of what I’ve resorted to now.”

—Minnesota tight end Kyle Rudolph, on his off-season workout regimen in Minneapolis without being able to use the Vikings’ facility or a local gym in the last couple of weeks—and for the foreseeable future. All of those are closed.

On Friday, faced with the prospect of a long stretch without being able to work out typically, Rudolph had a Tonal strength-training and fitness system installed in his home. It’s sort of a Peloton of strength and conditioning, with the user being able to follow classes based on individual needs.

NFC EAST

WASHINGTON

This doesn’t sound like a “yes”.  Peter King:

“That’s what we’re going into camp believing, but they’re going to compete. We really like what we have in terms of our young quarterbacks. Kyle a young guy who has a live arm, understands the game, understands how we do things, so I’m excited about what the potential could be.”

—Washington coach Ron Rivera, to WFNZ radio in Charlotte, asked if Dwayne Haskins was his starting quarterback after the trade of a fifth-round pick for his former Carolina quarterback, Kyle Allen.

Redskins fans have seen this before with Haskins playing the role of ROBERT GRIFFIN III and Allen as KIRK COUSINS.  We’ll see how things play out this time.

NFC SOUTH

NEW ORLEANS

Peter King defends Sean Payton from a reader waving revisionist history in their faces:

Let’s not rewrite history here. From Henry Newman of New Jersey: “Although I feel bad about Sean Payton or anyone getting the Coronavirus, the directives of social distancing and quarantining seem to have been disregarded by Sean by going to the combine, Broadway shows, golfing and a horse track. I’m not saying he would have not contracted the virus elsewhere but we all need to be a little less selfish in trying to slow and (hopefully) stop the spread.”

The NFL Scouting Combine occurred Feb. 24 to March 1 in Indianapolis. There was no medical authority at the time telling Americans to not travel or that it was dangerous to gather in public. The first coronavirus death in the country occurred on the second-to-last day of the combine. Payton then went to New York the following weekend, March 5 to 7. Broadway shows were open until shutting down March 12. He golfed in Florida sometime in the week of March 9. The sports shutdown began on March 11, when the NBA stopped playing. Payton went to a horse race in Arkansas on March 14, with no fans in the stands, and began to feel ill the next day back home in New Orleans.

If you want to criticize him for traveling and attending a horse race after some shutdowns started, I understand. But the other events happened in some cases weeks (the combine workouts) and in some cases days (the Broadway shows) before people were warned about public gatherings—and in the case of golf, I doubt anyone in Florida at that time was warning people to stay away from public places around March 9-11. So other than the horse race, it’s unfair criticism, I believe.

TAMPA BAY

If the Buccaneers are to be believed, QB TOM BRADY felt compelled to sell himself to Tampa Bay, not vice versa.

It didn’t take much of a sales pitch from general manager Jason Licht and coach Bruce Arians to bring Tom Brady to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In fact, it was Brady who did most of the talking.

Appearing on ESPN’s Get Up on Monday, Licht told Mike Greenberg that in their first phone call with Brady on the first day of free agency — March 18 — Brady was actually the one selling them on why he should go to Tampa Bay. Prior to that time, during the legal tampering period, teams were only able to talk to player agents to get a feel for interest.

“We had a great conversation — Bruce and I — we talked to him for over an hour and a half. And he made it clear in the conversation that he was very, very interested,” Licht said. “It was almost like a recruitment on his part, telling us why it would make sense for him to come to Tampa Bay. The next call we made, we signed him, but it was at that phone call that we realized, that we felt like we had him.”

Not that a Brady sales pitch was needed. Early on, Arians and Licht had already identified Brady as their top quarterback option, should he become available. But at that time, it felt more like a dream scenario. So much so that at the NFL combine in February, when Arians was asked if there was one quarterback he’d pick up the phone for, he chuckled and said, “Tom Brady.”

Despite the fact that the Bucs haven’t been to the postseason since 2007, Tampa Bay made sense to Brady for a multiple reasons: the ability to collaborate with a fun coach like Arians, the weapons in receivers Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, and being on the East Coast with its proximity to family in New York.

Neither Licht nor Arians believe that Brady’s arm is declining at age 42, despite what many would consider a down year for him in New England.

“The tape showed to us that he had plenty of arm. In fact, we thought that he had an ideal arm for Bruce in his system,” Licht said, referring to Arians’ affinity for taking shots downfield. “He can still throw it deep. We felt like the mobility was still the same as he’s always had, which, he’s never been able to outrun anybody. But he certainly is good in the pocket in terms of eluding pressure and with his poise and his instincts. We did not see a decline in his arm talent whatsoever. And, in fact, we feel like he could still play for over two years for us, and hopefully that’s the case.”

Licht was also asked about Arians’ strong comments about wide receiver Antonio Brown last week, when he said of a potential signing, “Yeah, it’s not gonna happen. There’s no room. And probably not enough money. But it’s not gonna happen — it’s not a fit here. … It’s not a fit in our locker room.”

“We feel like there’s a lot of teams that are struggling to find one really good receiver. And we have two really outstanding receivers in Mike Evans and Chris Godwin,” Licht said Monday. “Right now, there is only so much money that can go around. There are no plans to sign any other receiver at this time. Antonio is somebody that Bruce has come out and had some words about, and Bruce knows him better than all of us. So right now, I would just say that we’re focused on other areas of our team.”

– – –

Buccaneers fans are mystified by the lack of great production so far from TE O.J. HOWARD.  Jenna Laine of ESPN.com on whether Brady can get the best out of him.

Perhaps no player should be more excited about quarterback Tom Brady signing with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers than tight end O.J. Howard, who found himself on the trade block last year while struggling to adjust to coach Bruce Arians’ offense.

No quarterback has thrown for more yards (16,563) or touchdowns (176) to tight ends since 2001.

When Arians was asked last week about how Brady’s signing might have an impact on Howard, he said, “[Howard’s] eyes should light up. It’s still going out on the practice field and earning that trust. I think that will be his No. 1 focus. You have a quarterback that likes to throw to tight ends — go earn it and get balls thrown to you.”

How can Howard earn more opportunities and what went wrong last year? Can Brady help him fulfill his potential?

Why did Howard take a step back in 2019?

Howard’s 7.3% drop rate led all NFL tight ends with at least 30 catches last season. It was just 2.1% in 2018. There were lapses in concentration, which sometimes happen when playing in a new system, but ideally should be resolved by Week 11. That’s when Howard inexplicably attempted to juggle a pass behind his back against the New Orleans Saints that ended up being intercepted, resulting in Howard’s benching in favor of Cameron Brate.

Howard played 745 snaps in 16 games (46.5 snaps per game) and ran 340 routes in 2019 (45%). He was targeted on 16.2% of routes run. In 2018, Howard played 419 snaps in 10 games (41.9 snaps per game) and ran 225 routes (53.6%). He was targeted on 20.9% of routes run. So Howard’s snaps did not change from playing in Dirk Koetter’s offense to playing in Arians’ offense, but what did change was the percentage of routes run and his targets — both down.

So is Howard not getting open in Arians’ system? A closer look at statistics from 2018 and 2019 says no — it’s nearly the same — that Howard was open on 35% of routes in 2018 and 32% in 2019, and wide open 12.5% in 2018 and 13.2% in 2019. What changed was that Winston struggled getting the ball to him. Winston’s 61.3% completion rate to tight ends in 2019 was 27th in the league. It was 68.3% in 2018 and 68.4% in 2017.

How can Brady help Howard?

On the surface, Brady’s and Winston’s numbers when it comes to targeting tight ends don’t look much different. Brady relied on Rob Gronkowski for years at tight end, connecting for 7,786 yards during their careers together. Brady surely missed him last season. He did have a 69.8% completion percentage to tight ends in 2019 — better than Winston’s 61.3% — although it should be noted that Brady had only 53 pass attempts to tight ends in 2019 versus Winston’s 119. And in looking at the past five years, Winston actually posted a slightly better completion percentage to tight ends than Brady — 66.5% compared to 64.4%.

Where there is a notable difference, though, is in the types of throws Brady can make to tight ends. No area of the field has given Winston more trouble when targeting tight ends than the left numbers to hash mark, where he completed 41.2% of his throws to tight ends in 2019. Last year, Brady completed 71.4% of these throws and has actually had more success with those throws than any other throw he’s made in the past five seasons (70.3%). So Howard should see more opportunities there.

You could see this against the Texans in Week 16, on second-and-10 at the Tampa Bay 34-yard line, when Winston overthrew Howard on a slant pattern. Despite having ample time to make the throw and Howard running a good route, Winston’s pass sailed high over Howard by nearly 10 yards and into the hands of Justin Reid.

Winston also struggled to hit Howard outside the left numbers, where he completed 46.7% of his passes to Howard last year (when looking at left numbers to hash, the completion percentage was 50%, while he had an even worse completion percentage to Brate at 42.9%).

Using NFL Next Gen Stats, we can track the different types of throws the quarterbacks made last year. (Data was not available prior to 2019.) Brady was significantly better at inside short passes (86% completion compared to Winston’s 64%) and outside short passes (Brady posted a 73% completion rate versus 59% for Winston). Those shorter passes typically favor tight ends in Arians’ scheme, so Howard and Brate should do better there. Where Brady didn’t fare quite as well as Winston was in vertical routes — more what you’d see from receivers in Arians’ scheme — where Winston completed 57% of his passes versus Brady’s 45%.

How can Howard help himself?

As Arians pointed out at the end of the season regarding Howard, “Measurables don’t play, players play.”

On paper, Howard has literally everything you want in a tight end. At 6-foot-6, 251 pounds, he is 20 pounds heavier than Mike Evans but ran a 4.51 at the NFL combine compared to Evans’ 4.53, and he’s coming off one of his better blocking seasons.

But he is still figuring out how to use his size to his advantage in the passing game. At times, he’s lacked field awareness or hasn’t gotten his head around quickly enough. Other times, he hasn’t planted his feet to be able to leap and make certain catches. Those are technique issues that can be solved. But that’s also where having a quarterback with exceptional timing and ball placement could help, something Winston wasn’t known for in Tampa Bay. Howard can focus more on what he’s doing and think less about when the ball is coming out and trying to get it.

NFC WEST

LOS ANGELES RAMS

Peter King on WR BRANDIN COOKS who could be on the move again:

“Free me,” Brandin Cooks Tweeted Friday night, spawning questions about his status with the Rams. Does he want to be traded? Or is “free me” referring to some sort of get-me-out-this-quarantined life?

After an earlier version of this note ran, I was told by two sources that Cooks is not on the block. If that changes, it would continue one of the oddest careers of a very good player ever. Cooks was drafted 20th overall by the Saints in 2014.

In 2016, at 23, catching passes from Drew Brees, Cooks was the Saints’ deep threat, averaging 15.0 yards a catch with eight touchdowns.

In 2017, he was traded to the Patriots for the 32nd pick in the first round. At 24, he caught passes from Tom Brady, and his 16.6-yard average resulted in Brady’s best and most consistent deep threat in years.

In 2018, he was traded to the Rams for the 23rd pick in the first round. At 25, he caught passes from Jared Goff, and his 1,204 yards were the most in his career. He was the key receiver on a Super Bowl team.

In 2020, Cooks has had concussion issues, and his production dipped to 3.0 catches per game last year, by far a career-low. An acquiring team would owe him $20 million the next two years, and then could cut him without a hurtful cap hit. For about 4 percent and then 5.5 percent of the salary cap over the next two seasons, Cooks could be the missing link to a contending team … but of course, that would mean the Rams would be willing to deal him. Which as of now they’re apparently not willing to do.

My best landing spots for Cooks, if the Rams would entertain a deal, would be Philadelphia, Green Bay, Las Vegas or Washington. Of course, the strength of the receiver group in this draft will affect any of those teams’ willingness to pursue Cooks.

Amazing, really, that one player, at 26, has already been worth the 20th, 32nd and 23rd picks in three different drafts.

– – –

One case of CoVid19 has hit the construction site of SoFi Stadium.  Kevin Modesti of the Los Angeles Daily News:

A worker on the site of the Rams’ and Chargers’ new stadium in Inglewood tested positive for the novel coronavirus, and others who were in close contact with that person are in self-quarantine, the construction companies said Sunday.

The Turner/AECOM Hunt construction team said in a statement that the infected worker is “doing well” and recovering and the number of others who could be exposed is “minimal.” The worker was assigned to a material pre-assembly area outside the SoFi Stadium building.

The firms said social distancing among crew members is being enforced, even if it means suspending some tasks, and that non-essential people are staying home.

Project executives have given no indication that the stadium won’t be completed in time for its first scheduled events, a pair of Taylor Swift concerts July 25 and 26. If the coronavirus doesn’t upset the NFL schedule, preseason games begin in mid-August, and the first regular-season Sunday is Sept. 13.

Chris McFadden, vice president of communications at Turner Construction Company, declined to say Sunday if the safety measures are slowing or delaying work on the 70,000-seat stadium on former Hollywood Park racetrack land belonging to Rams owner Stan Kroenke.

“We are looking to fulfill our commitment. And our number one commitment is to complete this work safely,” McFadden said.

SoFi Stadium, part of a planned 298-acre sports and entertainment complex, is among the construction projects exempted from California and Los Angeles County officials’ March 19 orders for residents to stay at home except for “essential activity.”

SEATTLE

Would QB JAMEIS WINSTON be a good fit as QB RUSSELL WILSON’s backup?  Andy Patton of USA Today:

The backup quarterback position for the Seattle Seahawks has been a revolving door the past few seasons, as iron man Russell Wilson has made it a near certainty that whoever wins the job won’t see the field at all – unless they are asked to do the coin toss in overtime.

Geno Smith is an unrestricted free agent and seems likely to pursue employment elsewhere, leaving Seattle once again on the hunt for a backup QB. They were known to be scouting the XFL’s P.J. Walker, who recently signed with Carolina, but otherwise there has been little info about their plan at that spot.

While budgetary constrictions may make it tough, one name the team could pursue if he is unable to find a starting job – which looks likely – is former Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston.

Winston threw for a league-leading 5,109 yards as well as 33 touchdowns last season in Bruce Arians’ air raid offense, but he also threw a whopping 30 interceptions, and his 84.3 quarterback rating was his lowest since his rookie season in 2015.

However, famous Jameis is still just 26-years-old, and learning from Wilson while spending a year as a backup would be an ideal destination for him as he looks to get himself back into a starting role in the future. Plus, for Seattle, should anything actually happen to Wilson causing him to miss time, Winston is far and away the most talented backup they could get into a Seahawks uniform – even if he has major flaws.

The contract will be the big sticking point here, as the Seahawks already need to clear some cap space if they want to re-sign Jadeveon Clowney, and adding an expensive backup quarterback is more of a luxury than a necessity considering Wilson’s history.

It only takes one play to derail a season, however, and Winston would be extremely valuable insurance if Seattle can make it work.

AFC WEST

LAS VEGAS

Daniel Jeremiah with time on his hands in lockdown:

@MoveTheSticks

Can we all agree on new nickname for Las Vegas Raiders WR Hunter Renfrow- Slot Machine. (I’ll be here all week…seriously, it’s a quarantine)

AFC SOUTH

JACKSONVILLE

Mike Garafolo with a tweet on DE YANNICK NGAKOUE:

@MikeGarafolo

The #Jaguars have heard from multiple interested teams about a possible trade for DE Yannick Ngakoue, who turns 25 today. The Jags value him and won’t give him away for little return but it’ll be interesting to see how this plays out as we draw closer to the draft.

AFC EAST

NEW ENGLAND

Peter King points out that Bill Belichick has only seen QB CAM NEWTON at his best:

I don’t believe the Patriots are likely to sign Cam Newton, but his brief history against them suggests they should think hard about it. In two career games against the Patriots, Newton is 2-0 versus Tom Brady, with a 128.2 rating (his best against any NFL foe) and a .719 completion rate.

THIS AND THAT

SCHEDULE THOUGHTS

Peter King:

Last week, I theorized the NFL might release the schedule in May. That’s really not a big deal; in a normal season, the NFL releases the schedule seven to nine days before the draft. That would put this year’s schedule-release date somewhere around April 14-16. Not saying that won’t happen this year. But for the schedule to be released in mid-April, there’s one major issue, one that likely won’t be resolved by May 7 or 8 but certainly would have some more illumination to it by then.

What if the NFL has to truncate the season, perhaps go from 16 games to 12 or 14? If so, the league would likely want most of all of its division games played in total, and the league would likely want to be sure every team had an equal number of home and road games for each team. Of course we won’t know if all of that is going to happen by the first week of May, but we will certainly have a better idea with three weeks more lead time to make the schedule official. Plus, the NFL would have to consider two more major quantifiers in the making of the schedule: Try to give each team two home games and two on the road in the first four games (or at least one home and one road in the first two weeks), and try to cram most if not all of the division games in the final 12 weeks of the season.

I was sent on the trail of thought by a reader, Mark Cohen of Gibsonia, Pa., who wrote to ask:

“As the state of the world for September is certainly unknown, should the league consider backlogging division games for November/December, so that if the first part of the season cannot be played, division champions will be settled largely by head-to-head matchups.”

Trail of breadcrumbs here, but I looked back at the last year when the season was in some doubt when the schedule was made: 2011, when players were locked out in the spring as the schedule was released. And the NFL did account for the possibility of a shortened season. The Rams had no division games in the first eight weeks of the season; Jacksonville zero in the first seven weeks. Baltimore and Buffalo had one division game in the first eight weeks, and the Bengals and Browns one in the first nine weeks. So in light of the question marks about the start of this year, the backloading of division games and a May schedule release seem likely.

BROADCAST NEWS

The new playoff schedule – with six games on the first weekend – is taking shape.  Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com:

If the owners choose to expand the playoffs by two games, those two games already have TV homes.

As reported by Albert Breer of SI.com (via Sports Business Daily), the agenda for Tuesday’s conference calls explains that the league already has negotiated deals with NBC and CBS to broadcast the extra wild-card games.

If at least 24 owners approve the notion of adding playoff teams (really, who would oppose it?), the 14-team field would become effective in 2020, with seven teams per conference and only two teams getting bye weeks.

The No. 1 seeds would sit out the wild-card round; the No. 2 and No. 7 seeds, the No. 3 and No. 6 seeds, and the No. 4 and No. 5 seeds would square off.

It’s unclear when the extra two games would be played. The easy answer becomes a two-day tripleheader, with games at or around 1:00 p.m. ET, 4:30 p.m. ET, and 8:30 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

A higher rating, and more revenue, could be generated by moving the early-afternoon Saturday game to Monday night. This would require the league to guarantee that the winner wouldn’t play until the following Sunday.

– – –

It’s unclear whether or not this is intended to happen sooner (observing the rules of social distancing, of course) or later.  Curtis Crabtree of ProFootballTalk.com:

A possible sequel to 2018’s match play contest between Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson might be in the works with an NFL twist added to the mix.

According to author and golf writer Robert Lusetich, the possibility of a second match between Woods and Mickelson could become a reality with each player having a partner this time around for the event. Two of the possibilities for the pairings include Tom Brady and Peyton Manning.

Woods and Mickelson sparred off in a special event in November 2018 at Shadow Creek Golf Course in Las Vegas in a winner-take-all format that was supposed to be via pay-per-view. Technical difficulties led to the event being streamed free instead with Mickelson winning in extra holes.

Mickelson was asked Sunday night on Twitter if he and Woods could play a match broadcast via stream to fill the void in live sports that currently exists. Mickelson replied he was “working on it” and added “I don’t tease. I’m kinda a sure thing” when asked if it was a joke.

An event like this could work, in theory, in spite of current measures to battle the spread of the novel coronavirus. While no specifics were given about when, where, or how the event would occur, a non-traditional broadcast without live spectators that had participants and crew keeping sufficient distance from one another would seemingly be possible.

Brady and Manning are both avid golfers and have participated in the Pebble Beach Pro-Am in the past. Manning played in this year’s event in February. However, their involvement is such an event seems speculative still at this point.

While the event still appears to be in the conceptual stages and may never even come to fruition, the idea of two of golf’s best from the last 20 years teaming up with two of the NFL’s best from that span for a special event could satiate a desire for live sports in a vacuum devoid of them due to COVID-19.

2020 DRAFT

Kevin Patra of NFL.com relays positive spin from QB TUA TAGOVAILOA’s camp:

Tua Tagovailoa has passed each hurdle thrown his way during recovery from hip surgery.

The former Alabama quarterback has made strides to the point that Chris Cabott, president of Steinberg Sports & Entertainment, the firm which represents Tagovailoa, is confident enough to pronounce him fully cleared.

“Tua is fully cleared and ready to compete without any restrictions,” Cabott told Eric Edholm of Yahoo Sports.

Tagovailoa passed the fourth medical checkup on his surgically repaired hip earlier this month and posted a video last week looking smooth in his movements.

Tua’s doctor, Dr. Lyle Cain, said the quarterback’s recovery nearly five months after surgery is significant.

“I am extremely pleased,” Cain told Edholm. “If you told me four, almost five, months ago now that he’d be where he is now, I think I would have been very happy. I think he’s done extremely well for where he started out.”

Everything we’ve heard and seen thus far related to Tua’s recovery has been positive. The unique draft situation unfolding this year due to the COVID-19 shutdowns and cancellation of pro-day workouts hinders the ability for the quarterback to answer every question teams might have about his recovery.

The ‘Bama signal-caller was scheduled to have a workout for teams on April 9, which was canceled. Cabott told Edholm his agency is fielding specific requests from teams but wouldn’t get into particulars as to whether clubs are seeking workout videos of drills. He noted that his agency is willing to listen to whatever teams are requesting.

With post-combine medical rechecks up in the air, Cain said one option could be for Tagovailoa to undergo another round of imaging in mid-April, which would be sent to all 32 NFL teams.

Given all the positivity surrounding Tagovailoa’s recovery, the QB’s draft floor likely sits in the top five. Whether a team like the Dolphins or Chargers is prepared to make a move up the draft board to ensure they get a player who could have been in play for the No. 1 overall slot if the injury never occurred remains to be seen.

A Mock Draft from Pete Prisco:

(After free agency) many holes have been filled by teams, which changes the way they will draft, which is why my latest mock ? mock 4.0 ? is one I feel much better about. There is no more guessing about free agency.

It’s all about the draft now.

The top two picks are easy in my mind, with Joe Burrow going first to the Cincinnati Bengals and Chase Young going second to the Washington Redskins. After that, it gets interesting.

1. CINCINNATI BENGALS

Joe Burrow, QB, LSU: This won’t change at all through the process. It’s a lock.

2. WASHINGTON REDSKINS

Chase Young, EDGE, Ohio State: They could consider a trade down, but I just don’t think they will. Young is that good.

3. DETROIT LIONS

Derrick Brown, DL, Auburn: They could go for corner Jeff Okudah here in this spot, but I think they need a power player up front to go with Danny Shelton. Brown will be a star.

4. NEW YORK GIANTS

Andrew Thomas, OL, Georgia: They have to get better up front and Thomas might be the safest of all the tackles in this draft. Personnel people like him a lot more than the draftniks do.

5. MIAMI DOLPHINS

Tua Tagovailoa, QB, Alabama: I am still not convinced he is all the way back in terms of health, which has to be concerning. But I will put him in this spot for now.

6. LOS ANGELES CHARGERS

Justin Herbert, QB, Oregon: They have to get their quarterback of the future and Herbert is a guy they are rumored to like. He would take over for Tyrod Taylor at some point.

7. CAROLINA PANTHERS

Jeff Okudah, CB, Ohio State: He would fill an immediate need for a defense that is lacking in corners. He would team with Donte Jackson for a young duo.

8. ARIZONA CARDINALS

Jedrick Wills Jr., OL, Alabama: They have a glaring hole at right tackle and Wills played there for the Crimson Tide. He would be a plug-and-play guy.

9. JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS

Mekhi Becton, OL, Louisville: He is a bit raw, but he is a big man with a ton of athletic ability and they need help at left tackle.

10. CLEVELAND BROWNS

Isaiah Simmons, LB, Clemson: They could consider a tackle here, but getting a playmaker like Simmons is too good to pass up.

11. NEW YORK JETS

Henry Ruggs III, WR, Alabama: They have a major issue at receiver and Ruggs can fly. They need to get a young player to groom with Sam Darnold.

12. LAS VEGAS RAIDERS

CJ Henderson, CB, Florida: They added Eli Apple in free agency, but is he really the long-term answer? Henderson can flat out cover.

13. SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS (from Indianapolis)

CeeDee Lamb, WR, Oklahoma: They have to get help for outside with Emmanuel Sanders signing with the Saints. Lamb will be an immediate help for Jimmy Garoppolo.

14. TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS

Tristan Wirfs, OL, Iowa: They need a right tackle in the worst way, so they would be thrilled to see him fall to them in this spot.

15. DENVER BRONCOS

Jerry Jeudy, WR, Alabama: They have to get help for Drew Lock in the passing game. Jeudy is the best receiver in this class, even if he doesn’t run as well as Ruggs.

16. ATLANTA FALCONS

Javon Kinlaw, DL, South Carolina: You can never have enough power players. Teaming him inside with Grady Jarrett would be nasty.

17. DALLAS COWBOYS

Cesar Ruiz, OL, Michigan: With Travis Frederick retiring this week, why not grab a replacement? This kid has a real chance to be special for a long time.

18. MIAMI DOLPHINS (from Pittsburgh)

Ezra Cleveland, OL, Boise State: They have to get a left tackle and this is a player scouts like a lot more than what you might think.

19. LAS VEGAS RAIDERS (from Chicago)

Justin Jefferson, WR, LSU: After taking a corner with their first pick, they have to land a receiver to go with Tyrell Williams. Jefferson ran much faster than expected at the combine.

20. JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS (from LA Rams)

Jordan Love, QB, Utah State: They have Gardner Minshew, but do they know if he’s the long-term answer? Why not take a flier on Love?

21. PHILADELPHIA EAGLES

Denzel Mims, WR, Baylor: They have to get help for their passing game. Mims impressed at the combine, and he would give Carson Wentz some much-needed help.

22. MINNESOTA VIKINGS

K’Lavon Chaisson, EDGE, LSU: The Vikings lost Stephen Weatherly in free agency and will also be losing Everson Griffen when he signs with another team. They have to get edge-rush help, which is why Chaisson makes sense.

23. NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS

A.J. Epenesa, EDGE, Iowa: He was a productive player who didn’t test well at the combine, but he’s a force who can play outside and inside. We know the Patriots love versatility.

24. NEW ORLEANS SAINTS

Kenneth Murray, LB, Oklahoma: Eli Apple is a free agent and you can never have enough corners in their division. Why not take the local kid?

25. MINNESOTA VIKINGS (from Buffalo)

Kristian Fulton, CB, LSU: They lost two corners in free agency, so this would make sense. We know how Mike Zimmer likes to pick corners.

26. MIAMI DOLPHINS (from Houston)

Tee Higgins, WR, Clemson: They have an emerging player in DeVante Parker, but the new quarterback will need even more help. Higgins is a tall receiver who can go up and get the football.

27. SEATTLE SEAHAWKS

Yetur Gross-Matos, EDGE, Penn State: They need more edge help and this is a team who has won titles based on their edge pressure. Gross-Matos fits what they need.

28. BALTIMORE RAVENS

Patrick Queen, LB, LSU: The inside of their defense was made up of guys they picked up, which is never a good thing. Queen could step in and be a nice run-and- chase player behind that big front.

29. TENNESSEE TITANS

Zack Baun, LB, Wisconsin: They signed Vic Beasley, but he isn’t the long-term answer. Plus, you can never have enough edge players.

30. GREEN BAY PACKERS

Cole Kmet, TE, Notre Dame: They have a big hole at the position and Kmet is the best of a so-so class. So why wait to take one if that’s the case?

31. SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS

Damon Arnette, CB, Ohio State: The other Buckeyes corner is a player scouts love. He isn’t in the same class as Okudah, but he’s a quality cover player.

32. KANSAS CITY CHIEFS

Noah Igbinoghene, CB, Auburn: Their corner situation isn’t good, so why not take a solid cover player from a big-time program? This kid can fly.

The DB doesn’t see Wirfs falling to the Buccaneers at #14.

And, of course, Prisco isn’t doing trades, of which there will be several.  We see the chances of the Lions sticking at #3 at about 14%.