Tag: nfl

Hard Knocks revealed why Giants let Saquon Barkley go in NFL free agency hard,knocks,revealed,why,giants,let,saquon,barkley,go,in,nfl,free,agency,sbnation,com,front-page,nfl,nfl-free-agency,hard-knocks,draftkings

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Odds are you are familiar with the NFL Films product of Hard Knocks, a documentary series that chronicles a team throughout the course of training camp and the preseason and ultimately ends right as the regular season begins.

Recently NFL Films has produced an in-season version of the show where they follow teams throughout the course of an NFL season. That is pretty self-explanatory.

Tuesday night saw the debut of a new version of the show. This latest HK follows the New York Giants over the initial part of this offseason and focuses on how the G-Men assembled their staff and team. It is always interesting to get these peeks behind the curtain and now we got a peek at an area that was previous off limits.

If you are a HK veteran like myself then in watching it a lot of things likely feel the same to you. Part of the challenge of this show is that there is no breaking news of any kind given that when anything massive happens it is then given to us in the next episode. There is relatively little shock value.

This is true for the Giants as we obviously know what they did throughout all of free agency and the NFL Draft; however, the debut episode was a lot about something that they didn’t do… pay running back Saquon Barkley.

New York selected Barkley with the second overall pick in 2018 and went through quite the song and dance with him once they finally got down to contractual negotiations. Barkley played on the franchise tag in 2023 so the time for a serious decision arrived this offseason and the Giants watched him walk in free agency to a division rival in the Philadelphia Eagles.

This subject is touched on throughout the episode but in the closing minutes Giants GM Joe Schoen is having a conversation with his brain trust and ultimately notes that they are not paying their quarterback in Daniel Jones what they are for him to hand the ball off.

Tim McDonnell, Director of Player Personnel: Take this a step further. We lose Saquon right… what’s our identity going to be on offense now? What’s our plan? What’s the next step of that, I guess is what I’m thinking. We’re losing… our explosiveness, our touchdowns. Quarterback, if it’s Daniel, depends on the run game.

Joe Schoen, General Manager: We’ve got to upgrade the offensive line and you’re paying the guy $40M. It’s not to hand the ball off to a $12M back. My plan is address the offensive line at some point here in free agency. We’re sitting at 6, there’s a chance there’s an offensive weapon there. This is the year for Daniel. The plan all along was give him a couple of years. Is he our guy for the next 10 years or do we need to pivot and find somebody else?”

To be clear this conversation was had before the Giants ultimately saw Saquon leave, remember that NFL Films is shooting these events in real time.

The benefit of hindsight tells us that the Giants did exactly what Schoen said in that they signed several offensive linemen in free agency (headlined by Jon Runyan) and took LSU wide receiver Malik Nabers at number 6 overall in the 2024 NFL Draft.

As someone who roots for and covers the Dallas Cowboys I have taken a great amount of joy in laughing at the Giants and their decision-making for the last 15 or so years, but if we are fair about all of this then they did absolutely nothing wrong.

I’ll acknowledge that the Giants don’t exactly have the benefit of the doubt and that Daniel Jones is not exactly someone I would strongly believe in personally, but this is still the NFL and building around the quarterback is the most logical way forward. In fact the Giants failed miserably at trying to build around Saquon Barkley for all of his Giants career.

People will laugh and roll their eyes at what the Giants did especially because Howie Roseman is the Eagles’ general manager and is regarded as being very good at his job, so it looks like the Giants made a huge mistake that the Eagles capitalized on. Again, benefit of the doubt type stuff.

But the Giants finally made the hard decision that they avoided for so long. Good for them I guess.

NFL teams don’t need a No. 1 receiver and here’s why nfl,teams,don,t,need,a,no,receiver,and,here,s,why,sbnation,com,front-page,nfl,dot-com-grid-coverage

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Jordan Love of the Green Bay Packers is one of the NFL’s most highly-regarded young quarterbacks, and that’s in part because of the performance he put on in the second half of the 2023 season. From Week 10 through the Packers’ 24-21 divisional round loss to the San Francisco 49ers, Love completed 254 of 374 passes (67.9%) for 2,904 yards (7.8 yards per attempt), 25 touchdowns, five interceptions, and a passer rating of 107.7.

Moreover, Love did all of that without the benefit of what most people would consider a true No. 1 receiver. The Packers did have estimable targets in Jayden Reed, Romeo Doubs, Tucker Kraft, and Dontayvion Wicks, but there’s nobody in that receiver/tight end group who scares opposing defenses to the point where defenses will be automatically arrayed against them.

And furthermore, that’s the way Love wants it.

“I think you don’t have to have a No. 1 receiver,” Love said on June 4. “I think it works out well when you can spread the ball out and you’ve got different guys making different plays and you can put them in different areas.

“I think it puts a lot more stress on the defense and the calls that they can get in, so I think in the long run it helps us not having a No. 1 guy, a true No. 1 guy, but I think all those guys can step up and be the one any given day.”

For Love, it gives him the freedom to hit the guy who’s open in the progression, as opposed to leaning too often on the alpha dog.

“I can just play the play.”

During an appearance on Colin Cowherd’s show on July 19, Tom Brady presented the hypothetical alternative: What if you have a No. 1 receiver, and you have to throttle your entire passing game around him?

“You always felt like you had to do something to get them the ball,” Brady said about the specter of a true No. 1 guy. “I want him to keep running hard. I want him to be ready for when the ball does come.”

“The last thing you want is your No. 1 receiver to go two-and-a-half quarters into a game and not see a ball… ‘cause he’s going to get discouraged.”

“He’s got to go out there and break the huddle, run out 25 yards to his alignment, run down the field as fast as he can and try to get open, then back to the huddle. It’s a lot of effort that he’s putting in to not getting the ball… reward that guy earlier in the game.”

It’s interesting that for the most part, Brady got his thing done at a GOAT level without the benefit of a true No.1 receiver. Yes, he had Randy Moss for a few seasons, and there was Rob Gronkowski at his best, but the best quarterback ever to play the position had as many seasons without those force multipliers as he did with them.

Brady’s comments about how that true alpha receiver affects the quarterback’s mindset are interesting in that the NFL seems to be trending away from the No. 1 receiver as a must.

How do we define a ‘No. 1 receiver’?

True No. 1 receivers aren’t always aligned outside in isolated situations, but there needs to be enough of that to make it obvious that this is the guy. They must be able to beat press coverage at the line of scrimmage, and they need to be able to run away from tight match coverage against the NFL’s best cornerbacks. If they’re bracketed by an opposing defense, they must have answers against it. And whether it’s through demon speed or incredible route acumen (ideally both), they need to be the one guy their quarterback can always go to.

Here’s the problem: It doesn’t always work. And even if it does, how many true top guys are there at any given point in the league? Justin Jefferson of the Minnesota Vikings. Ja’Marr Chase of the Cincinnati Bengals. Tyreek Hill of the Miami Dolphins. Mike Evans of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Davante Adams of the Las Vegas Raiders. Depending on how broad you want to be with the definition, there are at most maybe 10-15 receivers in the league at any time who are true field-tilters in that sense.

NFL teams are realizing this, and instead of going all in on one guy in the hope that he’s The Guy, they’re moving their resources around, and relying more on advanced schemes and concerts to get it done.

Making No. 1 receivers out of the aggregate

“It’s more about the collective unit of all those guys and just the rapport that they’re building with Jordan throughout the course of the offseason,” Packers head coach Matt LaFleur said of his receiver group, right around the time Love made his interesting proclamation. “I’m excited to get to training camp with them.

“All those guys had their moments where they were the leading receiver in a game. I feel really good about the collective unit. The hardest part is we feel so good about them, it’s hard to get everybody the amount of touches that you’d like to get, but that’s a good problem to have.”

It’s a good problem to have when you’re not dependent on one receiver, and you can scheme your receivers open to their best abilities. Last season, Jayden Reed and Romeo Doubs tied for the Packers’ lead in receptions on passes of 20 or more air yards – nine each, and on 19 targets each. LaFleur used Reed’s sneaky get-up speed to exploit opposing defenses in motion concepts, as shown on this 32-yard catch against the Bears in the regular-season finale.

Doubs got more outside targets than Reed did, and his ability to leverage his route precision against cornerbacks and safeties made him an ideal foil in that regard. Here against the Dallas Cowboys in last season’s wild-card win, the Packers ran a similar concept with Reed running motion. But in this case, Doubs ran the out-cut at 15 yards while Reed and Bo Melton ran the vertical routes. It was a great beater for the Cover-3 defense the Cowboys were running, and it resulted in a 39-yard gain. Is the lack of a No. 1 receiver a freeing component for the Packers’ offense? The tape seems to back it up.

You can win a Super Bowl (several, actually) without an alpha dog

The Kansas City Chiefs just won their third Super Bowl in the last five seasons, and without Steve Spagnuolo’s defense, they might not have even made the playoffs. Patrick Mahomes had to make a lot of chicken salad out of other things in the 2023 campaign, because outside of Travis Kelce, it could be argued that the Chiefs didn’t even have a consistent No. 2 receiver. The Chiefs tried to bring more to that equation in free agency with Marquise “Hollywood” Brown, and in the draft with Texas’ Xavier Worthy, but it remains to be seen whether either Brown or Worthy can be an alpha dog in Andy Reid’s offense.

It also remains to be seen whether Reid sees it as a priority.

Last season, per Sports Info Solutions, the Chiefs led the NFL in dropbacks with pre-snap motion with 546. Mahomes completed 336 passes in 489 attempts with motion for 3,389 yards, 1,219 air yards, 23 touchdowns, eight interceptions, and a passer rating of 109.9. Without motion, Mahomes completed 169 of 257 passes for 1,845 yards, 850 air yards, 10 touchdowns, seven interceptions, and a passer rating of 88.4. The Chiefs knew they didn’t have the kinds of receivers who could consistently separate without schematic help, so they gave them as much schematic help as possible.

Mahomes also had the NFL’s most passing attempts with three tight ends on the field – 46, of which he completed 30 for 391 yards, 115 air yards, two touchdowns, two interceptions, and a passer rating of 88.2. Not the best numbers, but the point remains: If the Chiefs didn’t have ideal targets, they were going to do their level best to transcend that with deployment and scheme.

How else do coaches work around a lack of alpha receivers?

San Francisco 49ers fans might argue the point that their team doesn’t have a true No. 1 receiver, but unless you think that Brandon Aiyuk is one, it’s a tough point to contend. I think that Aiyuk is an ideal 1A receiver – he does a ton in Kyle Shanahan’s concepts, and one of those concepts is condensed splits that allow receivers to find more room on the outside of the formation. Per Pro Football Focus, the 49ers led the league with 829 snaps in formations where receivers were tighter to the formation. The Los Angeles Rams ranked second with 730, and that’s another team where the No. 1 receiver argument becomes complicated.

285 of San Francisco’s passing plays came out of condensed formations last season, and the reasoning was clear. Brock Purdy had 20 explosive completions out of those tighter splits in the 2023 season.

Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson has been turning down head coaching jobs of late – perhaps because he realizes that as much as he’s done with his playbook to amplify Detroit’s offense, he’ll be able to pick his spot in a relative sense. Now, some might say that Amon-Ra St. Brown is a No. 1 receiver. The Lions certainly paid him that way with the four-year, $120.01-million contract extension with $77 million guaranteed St. Brown got in April, but St. Brown presents an Aiyuk-like case of a very good receiver whose efforts are amplified by scheme. That’s not to denigrate Brown at all – it’s more a realistic analysis of his attributes.

In Johnson’s offense, the Lions ran a lot of 11 personnel (one running back, one tight end, three receivers) and 12 personnel (one running back, two tight ends, two receivers). They ranked third in 3×1 formation snaps behind the Chiefs and the Washington Commanders with 515, and they ranked third in 2×2 formation snaps behind the Philadelphia Eagles and the Indianapolis Colts with 627. Factor in Johnson’s multi-faceted run game, and there isn’t one book on the Lions’ offense – making everything more difficult to read.

And in the end, maybe that’s the whole point in today’s NFL. More than ever, the league is about spacing and matchups more than this set of routes versus that kind of coverage. NFL offensive coordinators are trying everything possible to win those particular battles, and without a true No. 1 receiver, and all the advantages and limitations therein, maybe it’s that much more difficult for defenses to understand what a passing game is trying to accomplish.

In a game where milliseconds play out like minutes, any kind of hesitation is a big deal.

So yes, it’s great to have a No. 1 receiver if you can identify, develop, and keep one. But more and more, the NFL’s best offensive minds are looking for workarounds to that formerly incontrovertible ideal.

How did the NFL trade deadline end up on Election Day? how,did,the,nfl,trade,deadline,end,up,on,election,day,sbnation,com,front-page,nfl,dot-com-grid-coverage

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If you love days that are jam-packed with news, you should be EXTREMELY happy about November 5, 2024. Not only is that Election Day, but it’s also the NFL’s trade deadline.

In late June, the league sent out all the important dates for 2024 and 2025, and that’s when it became apparent that these two events would happen on the same day.

In March, the NFL owners agreed to move back the in-season trade deadline by one week, taking into account the 17-game season and the desire for another week for teams to decide whether or not to add to their rosters via trade for any postseason pushes. There was also a proposed amendment that would push the deadline past Week 10, but the proposal that was passed, proposed by the Pittsburgh Steelers, was this one, which has it after Week 9.

It remains to be seen what it will look like from a coverage perspective when teams are making those decisions at the same time the country itself is making far more impactful ones, but one should expect one’s Twitters and newsfeeds to be far past overload.

The NFL’s trade deadline ends at 4:00 p.m. EST that day, while polls will close later in the day and into the night. Which should give NFL fans just enough time to either rejoice in, or bemoan, the moves their teams did or didn’t make before hopefully voting as they see fit.

Perhaps voters in the Bay Area will be flummoxed by a Brandon Aiyuk deal. Or New York and Pittsburgh-area voters might still be shaking their heads from a Russell Wilson trade to the Jets. By that time, Aaron Rodgers will probably be somebody’s vice presidential candidate, which would bring the two stories together in a nice, chaotic fashion.

Maybe the more astute among us will consider voting by mail, so the focus can be completely on the craziest day in the NFL season. In any event, get ready for some chaos, and hydrate accordingly!

Also, if you’d like to know more about NFL Votes, a “league-wide, nonpartisan initiative that supports and encourages civic engagement among NFL players, and legends, club and league personnel, and fans,” you can do so here.

JaMarcus Russell facing lawsuit over missing donation to high school football program  jamarcus,russell,facing,lawsuit,over,missing,donation,to,high,school,football,program,sbnation,com,front-page,nfl

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Former first-overall NFL Draft selection JaMarcus Russell is facing a lawsuit over a check written to him in the summer of 2022, and allegations that the former NFL quarterback misappropriated donation funds for weight-room equipment at the school where Russell was a football coach for his benefit.

As first reported by WKRG it is alleged that Russell approached Chris Knowles seeking a donation for the football program at his alma mater, Williamson High School, where the former LSU passer was a volunteer coach. According to court documents obtained by WKRG and reviewed by SB Nation Knowles wrote a check to the retired quarterback, which he deposited at Navigator Credit Union (NCU) in July of 2022.

According to Simone Eli of WKRG, Knowles stopped payment on the $74,000 check when “ … Russell wouldn’t provide a receipt of the donation and quit returning his phone calls.” NCU then filed a Complaint against Russell in the Circuit Court for Mobile County in March of 2023, alleging that Russell breached the terms and conditions of his demand deposit account. Specifically, NCU alleges that Russell “ … breached the agreement by failing or refusing to comply with its payment terms and conditions and by specifically drawing a check on his account with [NCU] for which payment was stopped.”

The lawsuit filed by NCU against Russell — Case No. CV-2023-900559.00 — is seeking $56,826.08 in specific damages, plus “attorney fees, punitive damages, and costs.”

Russell, in his Answer to the Complaint which was obtained by WKRG and reviewed by SB Nation, generally denied the allegations set forth by NCU in the lawsuit. While admitting that he deposited the check, Russell, through counsel, asserted that he did not stop payment on the check. Russell has also demanded “strict proof” of the allegations set forth by NCU in their Complaint.

Furthermore, Russell has since filed a Third-Party Complaint against Knowles and Selwonk Enterprises, asserting that Knowles “ … stopped payment on the check causing substantial losses” to the retired QB.

The matter is set for a trial in October of this year.

According to WKRG Russell lost his volunteer position with Williamson High School last fall. “JaMarcus Russell was relieved of his volunteer coaching duties at Williamson High School during the fall of last year,” Mobile County Public School officials confirmed to WKRG.

WKRG also reports that Williamson High School “never saw any of the money.”

Why NFL fans still have to wait regarding the ‘Sunday Ticket’ lawsuit why,nfl,fans,still,have,to,wait,regarding,the,sunday,ticket,lawsuit,sbnation,com,front-page,nfl

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A jury in federal court in California decided on Thursday that the NFL and its member teams violated federal antitrust laws with the “Sunday Ticket” package. Following Thursday’s historic jury verdict against the NFL and its member teams — that could have the league on the hook for over $14 billion in damages to plaintiffs, including individual fans and commercial establishments who bought “Sunday Ticket” — many are wondering when individual team packages could hit the airwaves, as well as when they might see a check.

To quote the great Lee Corso, “not so fast my friend.”

Keeping this in football terms, the verdict is akin to the league getting sacked for a huge loss. You might even say they are facing third and long.

But they might not be punting anytime soon, and we are in the first quarter of a game that likely comes down to the final play.

And maybe even overtime.

So let’s take a moment to talk about what could happen next, and where this might all ultimately end up. But before we dive in it is important to note that while I was not the world’s greatest attorney — the fact that I’m now a sports writer and no longer practicing law speaks to that point — I did spend a decade practicing civil litigation. While I never practiced in the Ninth Circuit, I do have some appellate experience on my resume, which is lying around here somewhere …

What happens next?

NFL fans are about to get a crash course in complex civil litigation, and the associated calendar and scheduling issues associated with such matters.

At the outset, it seems worth mentioning that this case was originally filed in 2015. That’s right, it took almost a decade to get to this point.

And we might still be in the first quarter.

The next step following this verdict comes at the end of July. That is when Judge Philip Gutierrez, who was the trial judge in this matter, will hear post-trial motions. That hearing is set for July 31.

The NFL will likely file motions along various lines, including a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict (JNOV). Simply put, this is a motion arguing that no reasonable jury could have found what the jury in this case did, given all the facts that were elicited at trial.

In football terms, this is probably on par with a Hail Mary, but it is important to note that at certain points in this trial Judge Gutierrez expressed some skepticism — if not downright frustration — with the case set forth by the plaintiffs. At one point Judge Gutierrez went as far as telling plaintiffs’ counsel “[y]ou really have nothing” regarding their case, and at another point chastised plaintiffs’ counsel for overcomplicating the trial. “The way you have tried this case is far from simple,” Gutierrez told attorneys representing the subscribers. “This case has turned into 25 hours of depositions and gobbledygook. … This case has gone in a direction it shouldn’t have gone.”

Still, that does not mean that Judge Gutierrez will be inclined to completely set aside the verdict, and there are other pathways the league can explore at the post-trial hearing. They can file a motion seeking remittitur, arguing that the damages award in this case rendered by the jury is excessive.

Finally, as set forth by Michael McCann in his analysis of where the case stands, the NFL could seek to have Judge Gutierrez table any potential changes to the “Sunday Ticket” structure until the case reaches its full resolution.

Regardless of what Judge Gutierrez decides to do — whether on July 31 or sometime after if he takes matters under advisement to render decisions on a later date — the league is likely going to appeal this matter to the Ninth Circuit. In a statement following the verdict, the league indicated that they would “ … certainly contest this decision as we believe that the class action claims in this case are baseless and without merit.”

Again, they are not punting anytime soon.

Should they appeal this matter to the Ninth Circuit, we are then talking about months, if not longer, for the Ninth Circuit to weigh in on the case. As noted by McCann in his above analysis, “ … Ninth Circuit appeals often take in the ballpark of a year-and-half to nearly three years.” And the league would simply wait on making any changes to their “Sunday Ticket” structure until, as they would likely argue, the case “reaches a full-and-final resolution.”

But we might not get that from the Ninth Circuit.

Yes, this could go to the Supreme Court.

Could this really go to the Supreme Court?

An often-used joke in everyday life, when someone endures the slightest of grievances, is the line “I’m taking this to the Supreme Court.”

That might actually happen here.

The reason? As my own Constitutional Law professor Michael Gerhardt drilled into my brain the first semester of law school, the Supreme Court is the final arbiter of questions of federal law. And while the case against the league is fascinating concerning what it could mean for the NFL and its fans, there is actually a fairly interesting — if dry — federal question at issue here.

That is the current applicability of the Sports Broadcasting Act, found in 15 US Code Sections 1291-1295.

Passed in 1961 and signed into law by President John F. Kennedy, the SBA adjusted federal antitrust law to allow sports leagues to pool broadcasting rights of all their teams and sign exclusive league-wide deals with networks.

In the case at hand, Plaintiffs argued that the SBA does not apply to the “Sunday Ticket” package because the SBA applies to “over-the-air” broadcasts, and not cable or satellite packages. In contrast, the league asserted that the SBA barred the Plaintiffs’ claims, arguing that the language of the SBA enables the league to set up a service such as “Sunday Ticket.”

Judge Gutierrez previously brushed this claim by the league aside. In his earlier decision denying the NFL’s Motion for Summary Judgement, Judge Gutierrez cited earlier decisions by the Ninth Circuit in doing so:

“And the Ninth Circuit expressly distinguished between “the NFL’s collective sale of telecast rights to free, over-the-air television networks [which] was squarely covered by the SBA” with “league contracts with cable or satellite television services, for which subscribers are charged a fee,” which the SBA does not exempt from antitrust liability.”

This is the kind of federal law question that the Supreme Court might want to weigh in on, given the direction sports broadcasting is moving right now, toward more cable and satellite television services.

Which would mean an even longer delay to a final resolution.

What happens in the interim?

What happens in the interim, you might ask?

We wait.

Because the wheels of civil litigation grind slowly, there is likely a post-trial process that will play out over months if not years.

So if you are a previous subscriber to “Sunday Ticket” on DirecTV, you might not want to be running to the mailbox every day waiting for a check.

5 NFL coaches who deserve to be on the hot seat before the 2024 season even starts nfl,coaches,who,deserve,to,be,on,the,hot,seat,before,the,season,even,starts,sbnation,com,front-page,nfl,dot-com-grid-coverage

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The 2024 NFL season is nearly upon us, and it’s shaping up to be an exciting one. While we’re all looking ahead to how our teams will look and hopefully improve this year, it’s important to remember one of the constants of the NFL: While some teams will get better, others will regress. Not everyone will be taking the anticipated step forward, and some will be taking a step back.

On that note, it’s a good opportunity to check in on some of the most volatile coaching situations in the NFL. I delved through the 32 head coaches to come up with my top-five hottest seats in the league heading into 2024. Many of these names won’t be terribly surprising, as several were considered candidates to be let go this offseason, but a couple were a little more challenging than others.

Mike McCarthy

I think I speak for most NFL fans when I say that we were shocked when Mike McCarthy wasn’t fired after the Dallas Cowboys’ most recent playoff defeat. He’s back for 2024, coming off the loss of another key coordinator in Dan Quinn and a thoroughly disappointing offseason marred by a failure to take action on quarterback Dak Prescott’s contract. To put it simply, the Cowboys have been suspiciously lax in addressing veteran departures and the multiple holes on the roster.

While I think the draft class has the potential to be good, it’s a tough assignment for any rookie offensive lineman to come in and play right away. Tyler Guyton and Cooper Beebe could be thrust into the spotlight immediately to plug holes, and I’m not sure that will produce great results — at least, not right away. The receiving corps is incredibly thin after CeeDee Lamb, and the lack of urgency to address running back led to an uninspiring reunion with late-career Ezekiel Elliott.

I’m not sure any of these things are explicitly McCarthy’s fault, but we all know who will get the blame if Dallas regresses in 2024.

Matt Eberflus

Matt Eberflus is in a strange situation with the Chicago Bears. In many ways, it would’ve made sense for the Bears to make a clean break and start fresh with a new head coach in 2024. The team is very much in the midst of what feels like a perpetually ongoing rebuild, and Eberflus’ abysmal 10-24 record through two seasons doesn’t exactly inspire confidence. At the same time, the roster has been far from competitive and Eberflus can argue that he didn’t get any say in the previous quarterback decision. Sure, fair enough.

All that being said, expectations will be through the roof for Chicago in 2024 thanks to an aggressive offseason headlined by the addition of No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams at quarterback. If things don’t take off quite as fast as hoped and the Bears are once again picking near the top of the NFL Draft, the pitchforks will come out — and Eberflus will be the one on the pointy end.

Dennis Allen

Have you noticed a theme so far? The first three coaches on this list, Dennis Allen included, are all guys who were in danger of being fired at the end of the 2023 season. Allen has been a largely uninspiring coach for the New Orleans Saints, clawing his way to an under-.500 record over two seasons despite possessing one of the oldest and most expensive rosters in the NFL and playing in a division that has been pretty much wide open for the taking.

The expensive acquisition of Derek Carr was supposed to be the necessary move to get the Saints back on top in the NFC South, but the team ultimately fell short once again. Allen likely has a Week 18 Falcons collapse to thank for keeping his job heading into 2024, but things are looking considerably more dire for the Saints this season. The roster has continued to age and thin out thanks to years of cap shenanigans. New Orleans has an even tougher path to the playoffs this season, and three straight misses would almost certainly mean the end for Allen.

Robert Saleh

It seems like the signing of Aaron Rodgers, and his subsequent injury, probably saved Robert Saleh’s job in 2023. Perhaps Rodgers really would have lifted the New York Jets to playoff contention and renewed faith in Saleh’s leadership, but his injury essentially gave Saleh a free pass. While it’s clear Saleh is a great defensive mind and he’s put together a top unit in New York over the past two seasons, the offense has continuously held the team back.

Saleh is an abysmal 18-33 over his three seasons, and you’d expect pretty much any other coach to be shown the door in that situation. That means that 2024 is probably “playoffs or bust” time for both Saleh and the entire regime in New York. The Jets will obviously be better with a healthy Aaron Rodgers, but can they really compete with the top contenders in the AFC? Are they a better team than the Chiefs, Ravens, Bills, or Texans? Can Aaron Rodgers actually stay healthy? Will he retire mid-season to do ayahuasca and go on darkness retreats? A playoff berth alone may not be enough to save Saleh’s job given the expectations around the team.

Brian Daboll

It’s pretty unusual to see a coach coming off an AP Coach of Year award just two seasons prior entering the season on the hot seat, but the New York Giants are an unusual team. Brian Daboll worked magic in New York to get the team to a 9-7-1 record, playoff berth, and upset victory over the Vikings in 2022, but things completely fell apart in 2023. The Giants were among the league’s worst offenses and were near the bottom defensively as well, with Daniel Jones performing poorly coming off his extension before spending the majority of the season on IR.

New York is in a difficult spot heading into 2024, as the team chose to pass on a quarterback upgrade for another huge need, a wide receiver upgrade. That might have been the best choice for the team, but it probably wasn’t the best choice for Daboll’s job security. I still believe Daboll is a good coach and wouldn’t be shocked if he bounces back this season, but he’ll have to pull out some more of that 2022 magic to overtake the Eagles or Cowboys in the playoff race.

NFL Sunday Ticket verdict: Jury enters massive verdict against the league in class-action lawsuit nfl,sunday,ticket,verdict,jury,enters,massive,verdict,against,the,league,in,class,action,lawsuit,sbnation,com,front-page,nfl

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Following nearly a full day of deliberations, which began on Wednesday and concluded on Thursday, the jury in the federal class-action lawsuit against the National Football League and all 32 member teams involving the “Sunday Ticket” service returned with a verdict against the league.

And it is a verdict with a lot of zeros.

The jury found that the NFL and the league’s member teams violated federal antitrust law regarding the “Sunday Ticket” package on DirecTV, which required out-of-market fans to purchase the service if they wanted to see their favorite teams play.

The jury returned a verdict in favor of both classes of plaintiffs on Thursday. With respect to the commercial class of plaintiffs — which represented bars, restaurants, and taverns that purchased “Sunday Ticket” as a means of attracting customers on NFL Sundays — the NFL and the member teams were ordered to pay $96 million in damages.

Regarding the residential class of plaintiffs — individuals who purchased the “Sunday Ticket” package for use at home — the NFL and the member teams were ordered to pay $4.7 billion in damages.

Under federal antitrust laws, that damage amount is tripled, meaning the NFL is on the hook for over $14 billion in damages.

Both classes of plaintiffs, through counsel, alleged a “conspiracy” of sorts which resulted in higher prices paid by consumers. First, that the teams have agreed not to compete with each other when it comes to producing telecasts of their games, instead conveying those rights to the league, and giving the NFL “exclusive” rights to enter into broadcast agreements.

Next, the Plaintiffs allege that the NFL has entered into agreements with broadcast partners — specifically CBS and FOX — to create a “single telecast” for every Sunday afternoon NFL game. Under the agreement, according to Plaintiffs’ theory of the case, those networks are given the “exclusive” right to broadcast a limited number of games free and “over-the-air.”

The third pillar of the conspiracy, according to Plaintiffs’, is that the league then exclusively (there is that word again) licenses to DirecTV the copyrights of those telecasts, which DirecTV then bundles into NFL Sunday Ticket. This means that out-of-market fans who want to watch their favorite teams play are forced into buying the “premium offering” of NFL Sunday Ticket.

The result, according to Plaintiffs? DirecTV was able to “charge supracompetitive prices for Sunday Ticket because fans unwilling to pay for Sunday Ticket cannot, for example, purchase out-of-market games individually or by team.” Plaintiffs assert that absent this agreement — or “conspiracy” as they term it — fans would be able to access all NFL games at “lower prices.”

In a statement, the NFL indicated that they will be appealing the decision:

What might this mean for the league and its fans?

Beyond the dollar amount, which will drive the headlines, many analysts and experts theorize that this decision paves the way for single-team packages. For example, the residential class of plaintiffs, who were purchasing “Sunday Ticket” for use at home, were often fans of an out-of-market NFL team. As an example, consider a New England Patriots fan living in the Baltimore, Maryland market. The only way to watch most Patriots games is to purchase “Sunday Ticket.”

Now, that fan might theoretically have access to a “Patriots Package” as part of “Sunday Ticket.”

For the commercial plaintiffs, this could open the door to a competitive service along with “Sunday Ticket,” which could allow those establishments to pay lower prices to view broadcasts of every NFL game.

There will be more to come on this matter, including the league’s appeal and any post-trial motions, in the days and weeks to come.

What’s the Bills’ plan at receiver without Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis? what,s,the,bills,plan,at,receiver,without,stefon,diggs,and,gabe,davis,sbnation,com,front-page,nfl,draftkings

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The Buffalo Bills will roll into 2024 without their starting wide receiver tandem and team captains from last season, Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis. As head coach Sean McDermott put it on the Centered on Buffalo Podcast, the Buffalo Bills’ WR room will have a “different vibe for sure”. With superstar QB Josh Allen manning the helm, some new faces are bound to emerge as Buffalo’s top-receiving threats. As training camp approaches, fans and analysts alike are eager to see who will rise to the occasion and become key contributors in their revamped receiving corps.

Let’s set the table with where the receiver corps stands now and how it’s changed since the end of the 2023 season.

Key Departures

Stefon Diggs
Buffalo’s former bona fide number-one receiver leaves behind a massive hole after averaging 111.25 receptions, 1343 receiving yards, and 9.25 TDs during his four seasons in Buffalo. He was traded to the Houston Texans.

Gabe Davis
A former fourth-round draft pick developed into the number-two option in the Bills’ offense but never eclipsed the 1000-yard mark in any season. “Big Game Gabe” was known for his propensity to show up when it mattered most, but now he’s with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Key Additions

Curtis Samuel
The seven-year veteran was signed to a three-year contract via free agency by the Buffalo Bills this offseason. Samuel has electric speed and some big play juice that Buffalo’s offense has been searching for.

Keon Coleman
Coleman was Buffalo’s top selection in the 2024 NFL Draft. The rookie gives the Bills a new flavor in their WR room and gives Allen a big target to “play above the rim”.

Marquez Valdes-Scantling
Buffalo swiped a WR away from their nemesis by signing MVS to a one-year contract via free agency. The speedster figures to add depth and a big play threat for Allen to heave the ball to.

Key Returners

Kahlil Shakir
Shakir is the incumbent starting slot WR for the Bills, however, I would expect to see him used on the outside, as well. From Week 8 to the end of the 2023 season, Shakir outpaced Stefon Diggs in receiving yards, and he did it with half of the targets Diggs had. Shakir enters 2024 as one of Allen’s favorite options.

What’s the Bills’ game plan at receiver?

With two big names out and an influx of new faces, the Bills offense will face a significant transition this offseason as they look for solutions to revamp their passing offense. Bills general manager Brandon Beane has certainly brought in a variety of options to find the right fit, but will it be enough? Let’s explore the potential game plans for the Bills’ new-look passing offense in 2024.

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It may be concerning to some that Josh Allen doesn’t have a proven number-one WR to throw the ball to, but Beane doesn’t necessarily feel that way. In a recent interview with Go Long, he said, “Don’t get too caught up in, ‘You don’t have a No. 1 wide receiver.’ Let’s look at it as a whole, and remember that different guys bring different skill sets.”

The downside of not having a true “number one” wide receiver is that Allen won’t have a reliable security blanket to fall back on. However, the upside is equally valuable: Allen will have the freedom to go through his progressions and find the open receiver without worrying about forcing targets for Stefon Diggs.

I’m convinced that the Bills are building a receiving corps with diverse skill sets to exploit mismatches across the field. They’ve acquired special talents at wide receiver, and their pass-catching options at running back and tight end are formidable as well. Here is what some of the specialty skill sets look like when you put it all together:

  • Kahlil Shakir: Rising talent, do-it-all all guy, can be used anywhere on the field
  • Keon Coleman: Jump ball monster, big target, red zone threat
  • Curtis Samuel: Gadget guy for jet sweeps and screens, big-play threat, run after catch
  • Marquez Valdes-Scantling: Deep threat, quality depth, played in big games
  • Dalton Kincaid: Big slot, gets open over the middle, mismatch nightmare
  • Dawson Knox: Good blocker, tough to bring down, great rapport with Allen
  • James Cook: Athletic receiving asset out of the backfield, mismatch against linebackers

Tight ends need love too

“I read the rules, it’s legal to throw it to a tight end”, Beane told Go Long. The Bills boast one of the best tight end duos in the league with veteran Dawson Knox and former first-round pick Dalton Kincaid. With the wide receiver room only featuring one player who has caught a pass from Josh Allen in Shakir, the Bills will rely on their tight end duo for production due to their established chemistry with Allen. Last season, Kincaid was third in receiving yards on the team and had the second-most targets. Head coach Sean McDermott said on the Centered on Buffalo Podcast that Kincaid is, “going to be primed for a great season and that rapport with Josh is going to be critical for us”.

New top dog

With Diggs gone, someone will need to step up and take over the “top dog” wide receiver spot. While that remains to be seen, the Bills’ top draft pick, Keon Coleman, seems like a strong contender. Brandon Beane highlighted Coleman’s potential with Go Long, saying, “He’s got play speed. I saw him live at LSU. He caught a skinny post, made a guy miss, split the safeties, and took it in. And you saw his athletic ability returning punts. You don’t see 6’3, 6’4 guys that are able to track, bend, and adjust.”

The rookie receiver faces an uphill battle to become a prominent force in the Bills’ offense, but the recent success of rookie WRs in the NFL gives the Bills hope that he can contribute sooner rather than later.

While Coleman is a solid candidate to become the Bills’ number one WR, he might not be the most likely. Shakir flourished in the second half of 2023 and is a sneaky candidate for a classic third-year breakout. Plays like his playoff TD against the Steelers should be an exciting sign of things to come. Don’t overlook him when drafting your fantasy team this year, as there’s little holding him back from exploding onto the scene next season.

Wild cards

As previously mentioned, the Bills have brought in a variety of options at wide receiver through free agency and the NFL Draft, but they also have some deep sleeper options to consider. The Bills took a chance on two former second-round receivers, K.J. Hamler and Chase Claypool. Both have shown flashes of brilliance, though their careers have fizzled out.

Additionally, Justin Shorter is still lurking in the weeds. After being drafted by the Bills in the fifth round of the 2023 NFL Draft, Shorter had to sit out the entire season on IR. The former 5-star recruit looks like a WR built in a lab, but his potential has yet to translate to the football field.

These three wild cards will have their opportunity to earn a spot on the Bills’ roster, though their chances are slim. Yet, if one of these reclamation projects succeeds and contributes, the Bills’ WR room could unexpectedly surpass its 2023 performance.

The mix of seasoned veterans, a promising rookie, and potential reclamation projects will make for an exciting and unpredictable offensive dynamic. The stage is set for a reconstructed receiving corps that is poised to redefine the Bills’ passing game, ushering in a new era of success.

What did the Pope say to Tommy DeVito’s agent, Sean Stellato? what,did,the,pope,say,to,tommy,devito,s,agent,sean,stellato,sbnation,com,front-page,nfl

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Sean Stellato the larger-than-life agent for Giants quarterback Tommy DeVito was at The Vatican today to meet with Pope Francis. Why did he get an audience with the pope? Honestly, nobody really knows — but there’s photographic evidence to prove these two met.

What these two men have to discuss is beyond comprehension, but we did our best to come up with some ideas.

Let’s caption this …

“You represent DeVito? I love him in the Always Sunny in Philadelphia”

“I loved you in Jury Duty, Mr. Pauly Shore”

“They say ‘Your Holiness, someone from the NFL is here to see you,’ and I think ‘Ooh, it’s Travis Kelce. I love that guy,’ or ‘maybe it’s Tom Brady?’ But no, Tommy DeVito’s agent is much better. This is good. This is fine.”

“So if I’m hearing right Tommy got beat out by a gawky doofus who went to a methodist university?”

“No. No. Is not ‘cutlets,’ it’s ‘pollo alla parmigiana’ you peasant.”

“It’s nice of you to see me, my son. But Jamie Taco: You shouldn’t steal people’s lines.”

“I remember you! You sold me used Fiat in Buenos Aires in 1977. Good to see you again!”

“Tommy needs to get a better job of working to his third read. And there are times his footwork does not synch up with the route concepts so it throws the timing off.” — Yes there is a world in my head where Pope Francis is a huge Xs and Os guru and has taken note of where Tommy DeVito needs to improve his game.

“No I cannot do anything about a Daniel Jones trade.”

“Explain to me, my son. If you call it ‘football’ then why no kicking?”

“I’m actually a Saints fan. HAHAHAHA just kidding. I would never support those losers”

“Sorry, but we’ll need a little more than 1,101 passing yards and eight touchdowns to consider Tommy for sainthood.”

“I watched Tommy making cutlets and I was disappointed to see that he does not double bread his cutlets. You need to tell him to double bread the cutlets. He’s a nice young man but I need to see some double breading.”

“Laces out, right?”

Bo Nix, Zach Wilson, Jarrett Stidham, and Broncos’ QB depth chart, explained bo,nix,zach,wilson,jarrett,stidham,and,broncos,qb,depth,chart,explained,sbnation,com,front-page,nfl,dot-com-grid-coverage

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There has been a lot of change at the quarterback position for the Denver Broncos in 2024. In came rookie first-round pick Bo Nix and beleaguered former first-round pick Zach Wilson; out went former Super Bowl champion Russell Wilson. The lone holdover, Jarrett Stidham, was the Broncos’ starting quarterback in their final two games last season.

As with any situation involving a rookie quarterback, there will likely be talk of a competition and all that heading into training camp. However, given the Broncos long run of bad seasons, we may be safe to assume Bo Nix will be starting sooner rather than later.

Will Bo Nix land at the top of the Broncos depth chart?

Here is where I predict the Broncos depth chart lands on Week 1 and why I think each player is poised to secure their respective spots on the positional depth chart.

QB1. Bo Nix

A perennial losing team over the last eight season isn’t going to draft a quarterback 12th overall and have him sit for a year. This is Bo Nix’s time to shine… or flop.

All the rumors and reports ahead of the 2024 NFL Draft seemed to center around the Broncos being the perfect fit for Nix, but most analysts had him as the fifth or sixth best quarterback in the draft. That would suggest he would be a late first or early second-round pick at best. However, the run on quarterbacks in the top 10 forced Denver’s hand. Many called it a horrible reach, but imagine the Broncos quarterback situation right now had they risked losing out on Nix by playing the value game? It would not be good to say the least.

Despite being the sixth quarterback taken in the draft, Nix was the No. 3 guy on the Broncos’ board all along and they absolutely love the kid.

“I would say, you can feel his 61 games played in college,” offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi said of Nix after mandatory minicamp in mid-June. “With experience, a calmness comes along with it. So he certainly doesn’t feel like a rookie. He’s learning a brand-new system, so whether you’re a veteran or a rookie coming in, that’s common to all these people. He has seen a lot and doesn’t make the same mistake twice very often. There is a maturity level. I think when you draft a guy who is a little bit older, you hope that that comes with it, but he’s certainly shown that.”

Given the amount of games Nix has played and his age, it is unlikely Denver drafted him to sit for a year. They need a starting quarterback now.

Zach Wilson has been in the league for three seasons already and is just six months older than rookie Bo Nix. It just wouldn’t make sense for Bo Nix not to start Week 1. If he doesn’t, then the Broncos’ draft class is in serious doubt right out of the gate considering how little draft capital they had in the first two days of this year’s draft.

QB2. Zach Wilson

When Denver traded for Zach Wilson, I loved the idea of bringing in a project like him to potentially salvage his career. As a top draft picks, the pedigree is there and coaches will just need to work on bringing back the confidence.

The former No. 2 overall pick by the New York Jets has struggled to live up to his draft status with just a 57% completion rate and 6,293 yards with 23 touchdowns against 25 interceptions in his three-year career. It didn’t help that he was drafted by the Jets, who have struggled — like the Broncos — to field a competitive football team in recent years.

If he could get a few years under a coaching staff led by Sean Payton, I could see his later career being revitalized for a guy like Wilson.

QB3. Jarrett Stidham

At the end of the day, I do think Jarrett Stidham will likely be the better option as the Week 1 backup to Bo Nix. However, due to his contract and Wilson’s draft pedigree, I think he ends up the odd man out.

The main reason I think Wilson ends up beating out Stidham is on the money side of things. Both he and Wilson are under contract just for this year, but Wilson’s cap number is just $2.7 million compared to Stidham’s $7 million. From a pure numbers standpoint, it would seem like if they are somewhat close for that backup spot that Wilson will get the nod due to his contract and his draft pedigree.

I like Stidham as a backup a lot, and if he ends up beating out Wilson then I will not be sad about that.

What to expect from a Bo Nix-led Broncos team in 2024

There was a reason why many draft analysts had Bo Nix pegged as a top prospect for Sean Payton and his offensive system. The two seemed to be a perfect match for what Nix excels at and what Payton wants to do in his offense. We should also remember that Payton had a broken Russell Wilson in prime position to challenge for a playoff run late last season before those wheels finally came off, so perhaps the ceiling should even be raised a bit with a rookie quarterback at the helm.

As someone who watched a lot of film on the Broncos last year, Wilson left a lot of big plays out there. If Nix can begin seeing just a fraction of those wide-open receivers, then this offense is poised to make a respectable leap forward.

Obviously as a fan, I’ll be hoping for that outcome, but there will be growing pains — the kind that always come with a first-year starting quarterback. Denver will need to maintain a good defense and a strong rushing attack for Nix to excel and lead this team to the playoffs this season.

Poll

What do you think the Week 1 depth chart will be on Week 1?








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    Bo Nix, Zach Wilson, Jarrett Stidham

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    Bo Nix, Jarrett Stidham, Zach Wilson

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    Jarett Stidham, Bo Nix, Zach Wilson

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    Zach Wilson, Bo Nix, Jarrett Stidham

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    Jarett Stidham, Zach Wilson, Bo Nix

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    Zach Wilson, Jarrett Stidham, Bo Nix

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    None of the above (share in comments)

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