NFC Notes: Hill, Saints, Giants, Herbert, Long, Falcons, Reiff, Vikings

The Saints used a first-round RFA tender on Taysom Hill. However, the gadget player/backup quarterback is not expected to sign it in the near future, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reports. Hill will, however, participate in New Orleans’ virtual offseason program, per Florio. RFAs have until June 15 to sign their tenders or teams can rescind them and pay 120% of their 2019 salaries. No noise on a potential Hill offer sheet surfaced this offseason, but Drew Brees‘ backup did say he was open to leaving New Orleans if he felt the Saints would not give him an opportunity to start. Despite coming into the league in 2017, the BYU alum will turn 30 this year. It’s been widely reported that the Saints intend to have Hill take over whenever Brees hangs up his cleats. Hill stands to make $4.7MM this year on the first-round tender.

  • An NFL exec called the Giants‘ belated (and somewhat bizarre) Justin Herbert interest “a smokescreen that isn’t working,” Matt Lombardo of NJ.com notes. A report surfaced Monday indicating the Giants had done a lot of work on the Oregon product, but another pointed to the obvious: the team will not use its No. 4 overall pick on a quarterback. Only twice in the past 38 years has a team drafted QBs in back-to-back first rounds — the 1982-83 Baltimore Colts and the 2018-19 Cardinals. Instead, the Giants are believed to want to trade down, per the anonymous exec, but are not finding enough interest.
  • Had Chris Long not signed with the Patriots in 2016, the Falcons would have been his choice, the recently retired defensive end said during an appearance on FS1’s First Things First (via NBC Sports Boston). Chris Long visited the Falcons during an offseason that saw other teams pursue him as well. However, Long’s father, Hall of Famer Howie Long, advised him to choose the Patriots because of their winning pedigree. The Patriots ended up beating the Falcons in overtime in Super Bowl LI. Chris had spent his first eight seasons with the Rams and never been to the playoffs. With the Patriots in 2016 and Eagles in 2017, Long ended up winning two Super Bowls.
  • Rumored as a potential cap casualty, Riley Reiff remains on the Vikings. However, the team could look to find another left tackle early in this draft, Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press writes. Former Vikings coach Mike Tice does not think much of Reiff at left tackle, his primary NFL position. Reiff did, however, play guard at Iowa before moving outside during his Hawkeyes tenure. The Vikings have an opening at right guard, having released Josh Kline earlier this offseason. Minnesota holds two first-round picks — Nos. 22 and 25 — but without a trade-up will not be in range to land a top-tier left tackle. The team also features bigger needs at cornerback and wide receiver.
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