Extra Points: Joseph, Eagles, Bengals

Karl Joseph is back with the Raiders. The safety agreed to a deal earlier this week to return to the team that drafted him in the first-round back in 2016, and as he tells it, he never wanted to leave. “I never wanted to leave,” Joseph said, via Vincent Bonsignore of the Las Vegas Review Journal. “This is my home. I was drafted here. I feel like I was born to be a Raider.” Joseph would’ve still been a Raider in 2020 if the team hadn’t declined his fifth-year option.

Instead, he ended up signing a one-year contract with the Browns. Clearly there were no hard feelings about the option getting declined, because he’s back with Jon Gruden now. “It felt like the right decision was to come back and help finish what I started here and be a part of that,” he explained. “All the pieces are there,” Joseph raved. “I think we’re ready to win. So whatever I’m going to need to do to help us win, that’s what I am going to do.” We still haven’t gotten the financial terms on Joseph’s new Raiders deal, so those will be interesting to see.

Here’s more from around the league on a quiet Sunday night:

  • Two members of the Eagles’ offensive line seem to be progressing well from major injuries. Tackle Lane Johnson had ankle surgery in December, and is apparently almost back to full strength. “Going good. Still in rehab,” Johnson said, via John McMullen of SI.com. “I’m running, moving around well so probably a month out from being cleared fully.” Johnson made three straight Pro Bowls from 2017-19, and his absence was sorely felt last year. Guard Brandon Brooks, also a Pro Bowler from 17-19, missed all of 2020 with a torn Achilles, and Johnson said he’s making good progress as well. “I know he’s excited coming off that injury last year,” Johnson explained of his line-mate. “As far as being cooped up and ready to go, man, he’s a ball of energy.” Whether it’s Jalen Hurts or someone else under center, the Eagles’ pass protection should be a lot better than it was in 2020.
  • The Bengals are bringing back a familiar face, but not a player. The team is hiring Louie Cioffi as a defensive quality control coach, via Josh Alper of ProFootballTalk.com. That’s significant since Cioffi was in the building as a defensive assistant and defensive backs coach from 1997-2010. His tenure with the team preceded that of even Marvin Lewis, and continued through much of Lewis’ time there. He’s been a DBs coach for numerous teams around the NFL since leaving the Bengals, and is one of few people who can say they spent time in both the recent ill-fated spring leagues, the AAF and XFL.
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