Patriots QB Drake Maye To Enter Camp As Backup?
Since selecting North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye with the No. 3 overall pick of this year’s draft, the Patriots have made it clear that they will take their time before giving Maye the keys to the offense. Part of that decision is due to the acquisition of veteran backup Jacoby Brissett, who, in an eight-year roundtrip that has included stops in Indianapolis, Miami, Cleveland, and Washington, has 48 starts to his name. Another factor is simply that it’s difficult to start in the NFL as a rookie, especially with a new offensive system being installed. 
Along with two new frontrunners at quarterback, the Patriots have brought in former Browns offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt to call plays for the first time in his career. After about 12 years as a position coach (mostly mentoring quarterbacks), Van Pelt got his first coordinator job in 2020 under head coach Kevin Stefanski in Cleveland. With Stefanski calling plays, Van Pelt was unable to gain that play-calling experience, calling the offense only once in a Wild Card win over the Steelers, a game which Stefanski missed.
In his first season actually getting to run an NFL offense, Van Pelt has committed to bringing the West Coast offense to New England, per Ben Volin of The Boston Globe. As a coach in the NFL, Van Pelt has had a multitude of experience working for West Coast disciples like Mike McCarthy, Zac Taylor, and Stefanski. Joined by offensive assistant Ben McAdoo (another student of McCarthy) and quarterbacks coach T.C. McCartney, who studied under Kyle Shanahan, New England is now the home of multiple offensive coaches with heaps of experience coaching West Coast offenses.
Implementing a new system is going to be a difficult undertaking for the entire offense, let alone Maye. Van Pelt claimed his goal was to make it through the entire offensive playbook in spring practices, per Volin, and to his credit, the new play caller claims that they were able to get through it twice.
Even with two run-throughs in the spring, though, Maye still has a long way to go. In addition to learning a completely new playbook, the rookie will need to make the regular adjustments required of a rookie making the jump to NFL starter. Maye will need to become accustomed to the operations of running an offense, including calling plays in the huddle and communicating audibles. He’ll also need to improve his footwork and work at reading NFL defenses, a much taller task than doing so at the collegiate level.
Because of all the work still required of Maye before he’s ready to lead an NFL offense, the return of Brissett to New England is significant. Two years ago, Brissett served as a stand-in starter while the Browns waited from Deshaun Watson to return from suspension. He also started two nearly full seasons for the Colts after an injury to and surprise retirement from Andrew Luck in two different seasons. His time with five different teams also gives him a litany of experience learning new offenses, as well. Not to mention that his 11 starts for Cleveland came under Van Pelt and Stefanski, making him already well-versed in a similar playbook.
Though the combination of the work to be done by Maye and the experience of Brissett seems to keep Maye out of the starting job for now, Maye has already impressed early. According to Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated, Maye has seemingly surpassed Bailey Zappe on the depth chart and should come into training camp as QB2. There’s still work to be done as the Patriots wisely take their time ensuring Maye is ready for the NFL, but with the work to be done, the team seems satisfied with where they’re at for now.
Latest On Patriots’ LT Plans
Just after the draft, we took a quick first look at the Patriots’ position battle at left tackle. A month ago, we did a big of a deeper dive on the candidates likely to vie for the position. With Trent Brown now in Cincinnati, New England lacks a player with NFL experience on the blindside, and according to Ben Volin of The Boston Globe, the team may have already given up on one of their replacement options. 
In our first look, we tabbed free agent addition Chukwuma Okorafor, third-year lineman Vederian Lowe, and rookie third-round pick Caedan Wallace as the likeliest options to take over the starting gig. The problem with this picture arises from the fact that both Okorafor and Wallace have exclusively played at right tackle in the past five years, while Lowe has only eight starts at the NFL level (four of them at left tackle).
It seemed early as if drafting Wallace out of Penn State was intended to address that left tackle job. Head coach Jerod Mayo claimed to be working Wallace and Okorafor at multiple positions while making it clear that there was no intention to move starting right tackle Michael Onwenu to the blindside. Since that time, though, Volin seems to be under the impression that the team has “already scrapped their plans to move (Wallace) to the left side” of the line, utilizing him mostly at right tackle during minicamp.
That leads us back to Okorafor who played only right tackle during a six-year tenure with the Steelers. Becoming a full-time starter after two seasons in Pittsburgh, Okorafor was benched last year after “acting out” before Broderick Jones seemed to take over the position for good. Okorafor did play his final two seasons at Western Michigan at left tackle before getting drafted in the third round, but he’s now six years removed from that experience against much lesser talent in the MAC Conference.
Lowe is another possibility after making eight starts for the team last year as an injury replacement. He split those starts between left and right tackle, but like Okorafor, he does have extensive left tackle experience from his college days with the Illini. As a trade acquisition last year, Lowe came up clutch for the Patriots when Brown was down, but asking him to take over the starting job for a full season is a lot more to ask of the third-year player.
The only other two options appear to be Calvin Anderson, a former undrafted free agent who has 14 starts under his belt in five years of NFL play, and Tyrone Wheatley, an undrafted player back in 2020 whose NFL experience consists of five special teams snaps last year. Anderson’s case is also hurt by an extensive injury history.
With Wallace now seemingly out of the running for the left tackle job, it’s seeming more and more likely that a veteran free agent addition might be necessary to, at the very least, bolster some depth at the position. Okorafor or Lowe may end up being the answer to start, but veteran contributions from players like David Bakhtiari, D.J. Humphries, Donovan Smith, or Charles Leno surely wouldn’t hurt.
Latest On Panthers’ Wide Receiving Corps
Veteran wide receiver Adam Thielen had an excellent 2024 campaign, reminiscent of some of his best seasons with the Vikings. Besides the 33-year-old’s standout effort, rookie quarterback Bryce Young didn’t get much help throughout a rocky first season. As a result, the Panthers made two big moves to augment the receiving corps this offseason, requiring recent high draft picks to show up soon or, perhaps, get pushed out. 
After Thielen’s 103-reception, 1,014-yard, four-score effort, the next-best receiving performances were from free agent addition DJ Chark (35 receptions-525 yards-5 touchdowns) and second-round rookie Jonathan Mingo (43-418-0). Rounding out the room, former second-round pick Terrace Marshall (19-139-0), former Jaguars second-round pick Laviska Shenault (10-60-0), Ihmir Smith-Marsette (8-51-0), and Mike Strachan (1-45-0) each provided minimal contributions in Young’s rookie year.
Besides Shenault, that entire group returns in 2024. Thielen will obviously remain a starter, though he may be challenged by trade acquisition Diontae Johnson for the WR1-role. Johnson averaged about 872 yards and five touchdowns per year over five seasons in Pittsburgh. Putting forth an average season would already provide a significant upgrade to the room.
Joining Johnson as a newcomer to the group is first-round draft pick Xavier Legette. An explosive but inexperienced weapon out of South Carolina, Legette brings an air of mystery to the Panthers. Legette spent four years with the Gamecocks before finally becoming a main contributor as a redshirt senior, totaling more in 2023 (71-1,255-7) than he did in the four prior years combined (42-423-5).
Barely making it into the first round as the 32nd overall selection in this year’s draft, Legette will be competing with the team’s two former second-round picks in his rookie season for the WR3 job. While Marshall has had trouble staying on the field since getting drafted out of LSU, missing at least three games in each year including eight last year, his second season stats (28-490-1) resembled Mingo’s rookie numbers, but he was mostly a non-factor during his other two seasons. Mingo could certainly take step forward in Year 2, but he’ll now be forced to outperform Legette in training camp to remain a starter.
One under the radar addition that could prove effective is UFL star Daewood Davis. A former undrafted free agent for the Dolphins out of Western Kentucky, Davis caught 41 passes for 446 yards and five touchdowns in 10 games with the Memphis Showboats. If he uses that pro experience to enhance his offseason performance in 2024, Davis could make a strong play for a roster spot and, perhaps, even a role in the receiver-rotation.
Regardless, Carolina’s 2024 receiving corps looks to be much improved from the group fielded by the Panthers in 2023. Thielen and Johnson figure to form a strong, experienced duo atop the depth chart. Past those two, Carolina just needs one of Legette, Mingo, Marshall, Davis, or another to step up and provide a strong WR3 for Young.
49ers Rookie Dominick Puni Could Be Future Plan At LG
Much of the focus on San Francisco’s offensive line this offseason has been on who will start the season at right guard. With Spencer Burford and Jon Feliciano the two likeliest candidates to win the job, Matt Barrows of The Athletic dove into the plan for rookie third-round guard Dominick Puni going forward. 
Though Puni did spend a season at Kansas playing left guard, the rest of his six-year tenure in college was spent at tackle. After starting three games in seven appearances at right tackle as a true freshman at Central Missouri, Puni became a full-time starter at left tackle as a sophomore. His third year was cancelled due to COVID-19, and his junior year was cut short as he missed all but two games with a knee injury. He then transferred to Lawrence, where he spent his redshirt junior year at left guard and his final season at left tackle.
While his frame and experience allow him the opportunity and ability to play tackle at the NFL-level, if needed, he was largely viewed throughout the draft process as a professional guard or center, a type of versatility that the 49ers have shown they value in players like Feliciano. Back in our last look at the team’s right guard competition, Puni’s name was thrown out as an unlikely contender for the job if he were able to display a stronger starting ability and consistency than Burford and Feliciano, a tough task for rookie offensive linemen in the NFL.
In Barrows’ recent dive, he noted that offensive line coach Chris Foerster confirmed that Puni would compete for the job at right guard, though he undercut that a bit by comparing Puni to starting left guard Aaron Banks. Banks, drafted in the second round in 2021, competed and worked at right guard as a rookie but didn’t end up making an impact on the offense until his sophomore campaign in the NFL as the starter at left guard.
While drawing this parallel seems to imply that Puni will have a minimal, reserve role in 2024, it bodes well for the 24-year-old’s future. With Banks scheduled to hit free agency at the end of his 2024 campaign and the 49ers showing an unwillingness to pay big money for interior linemen in recent years, Puni could perfectly mirror Banks’ career path by becoming the starting left guard after a rookie season of backup right guard play, replacing a departed Banks.
49ers Looking To Rookies For Returner Role
For the past two seasons, the 49ers have enjoyed the utility of veteran wide receiver Ray-Ray McCloud. While only ever providing minimal use on offense with 26 catches for 378 yards and one touchdown as a receiver in San Francisco, McCloud has provided consistency as a return man. With McCloud now on the other side of the country as a Falcon, the 49ers will be looking to fill that returner role in 2024. 
For that, San Francisco will likely look to two members of its rookie class. First-round wide receiver Ricky Pearsall and fourth-round wideout Jacob Cowing both have gotten early looks as returners.
An experienced punt returner for the Gators during his two seasons in Gainesville, Pearsall has the requisite experience to step into the role. As a fifth-year senior, he averaged 11.5 yards per return. His only kickoff return, though, came in his true freshman season with the Sun Devils in 2019. Pearsall’s allure during the draft process was his ability to play all over the offense and on special teams. Per ESPN’s Nick Wagoner, San Francisco has worked him out all over the field with the intention that he will be able to step in anywhere in case of injury.
Cowing had about the same number of returns as Pearsall in college during his two seasons at Arizona but failed to produce the same results. Still, Matt Barrows of The Athletic pegs him as the likelier candidate for a return job. Cowing is faster than McCloud was and a bit bigger, as well. His skillset with screens and end arounds would make him an ideal injury replacement for Deebo Samuel, as well.
The team still has second-year receiver Ronnie Bell, who was second on the team with 10 punt returns last year, and Samuel returned only four fewer kickoffs than McCloud in 2023. Still, Pearsall and Cowing may offer a bigger upside than Bell while allowing Samuel to remain on the sideline during special teams.
Offseason In Review: Arizona Cardinals
The Cardinals knew the 2023 season would be a challenge with quarterback Kyler Murray coming back late from a 2022 torn ACL. First-year head coach Jonathan Gannon had an offense with a backup quarterback starting the year and inherited the 31st-ranked defense of 2022. Knowing that a turnaround was not likely last season, Arizona focused on implementing its new system under new leadership.
The past few months have seen the first full offseason under Gannon and new general manager Monti Ossenfort. After spending a year seeing what does and doesn’t work, the new brain trust went to work on how best to transform the roster to best fit their needs. Riding at the bottom of the NFC West for the past two years, the Cardinals had a lot to gain and not much to lose for the 2024 season.
Trades:
- Traded WR Rondale Moore for QB Desmond Ridder
The 2023 season did not see the Cardinals generate much receiving success. Aside from the emergence of second-year tight end Trey McBride, not a single player on the offense eclipsed 600 yards receiving. Mainly, this was due to injuries at the quarterback and wide receiver positions, really all over the offense. In fact, Moore and McBride were the only skill players on the team to appear in all 17 games of the season last year. 
Moore was a second-round pick for Arizona out of Purdue back in 2021. As a rookie role player, Moore thrived in the WR4 role behind Christian Kirk, A.J. Green, and DeAndre Hopkins. He recorded career highs in receptions (54) and receiving yards (435). In his sophomore season, Moore looked to be embracing a larger role on the offense, nearly matching his rookie stats in just eight starts. However, a groin injury landed him on injured reserve for the remainder of the season, putting an early end to what looked to be a promising campaign.
Although Moore stayed healthy in 2023, the diminutive slot presence only produced 352 receiving yards. A seeming effort to retool the top end of the wide receivers room led to Moore’s shipment to Atlanta. In a rare player-for-player exchange, the Falcons provided Ridder in return. A third-round pick out of Cincinnati two years ago, Ridder competed for the honor of replacing franchise passer Matt Ryan as the new sheriff in town as a rookie. He did not beat out Marcus Mariota but ended up starting the last four games of the 2022 season after Mariota landed on IR with a knee issue.
Ridder retained the starting job heading into 2023, with the Falcons centering their offseason around him (and not pursuing high-profile QBs). Atlanta’s plan fizzled when Ridder struggled to prove effective as a full-time starter. He was benched in Weeks 9 and 10 in favor of Taylor Heinicke, though Arthur Smith claimed the move had nothing to do with his performance. An injury to Heinicke would reinstate Ridder atop the depth chart once again, but his grasp on the starting job remained a feeble one. The Falcons have since overhauled their QB room, signing Kirk Cousins and making the surprising move to draft Michael Penix Jr. in Round 1. The team dealt Ridder between these moves, keeping Heinicke on a pay cut.
In Arizona, Ridder will not be asked to start; Murray has that job locked up quite securely. But with Murray missing 18 games in the past three years, a need for a strong backup quarterback exists. Options such as Colt McCoy (3-3), Trace McSorley (0-1), David Blough (0-2), Joshua Dobbs (1-7), and Clayton Tune (0-1) have delivered only four wins in those 18 starts without Murray. It is hard to say Ridder has the talent to consistently win in a replacement scenario, but rostering a quarterback with a near-full season of starting experience is a big enough upgrade over the five players listed above, especially when all it costs is a receiver who failed to blossom in his third year of NFL play.
Free agency additions:
- Jonah Williams, T: Two years, $30MM ($19MM guaranteed)
- Justin Jones, DT: Three years, $30.17MM ($17.75MM guaranteed)
- Sean Murphy-Bunting, CB: Three years, $25.5MM ($14.2MM guaranteed)
- Bilal Nichols, DT: Three years, $21MM ($12MM guaranteed)
- Mack Wilson, LB: Three years, $12.75MM ($6.45MM guaranteed)
- DeeJay Dallas, RB: Three years, $8.25MM ($2.4MM guaranteed)
- Zay Jones, WR: One year, $2.25MM ($1.15MM guaranteed)
- Evan Brown, G: One year, $2.35MM ($1.1MM guaranteed)
- Chris Moore, WR: One year, $2MM ($750K guaranteed)
- Khyiris Tonga, DT: One year, $1.75MM ($400K guaranteed)
- Markus Bailey, LB: One year, $1.13MM
The Cardinals sustained some decent losses this year (see below), some willingly, and made reasonable efforts to upgrade at those positions where possible. The team focused heavily on the offensive and defensive lines. While Arizona’s offseason featured the departure of longtime left tackle D.J. Humphries, Williams comes in to fill his place — though, really, he fills the space of Paris Johnson Jr., who will flip from right tackle to left tackle to replace Humphries in 2024.
Williams may seem like a lateral move from Humphries is terms of talent, but the former Bengals first-rounder is 26 and should have a bit more tread left on the tires than Humphries (30). He also comes at a slight discount to what Humphries was owed should he have been retained.
On the defensive front, Nichols and Jones do not look pretty as upgrades, grading out on Pro Football Focus (subscription required) as the 97th- and 107th-best defensive tackle regulars (out of 130) last year, but they look better than the departing Leki Fotu (117) and Jonathan Ledbetter (128) and are far more productive.
Jones proved disruptive on the Bears’ interior these past two years, totaling 7.5 sacks, 22 tackles for loss, and 24 quarterback hits over that span. Nichols hasn’t been that productive as of late, but in 2020, he also showed out as supplementary rusher for Chicago with five sacks, seven tackles for loss, and 13 quarterback hits. If both of these players can tap into their Bears versions, they can form a reasonably promising starting interior.
The Cardinals brought in Murphy-Bunting as a veteran addition to what is shaping up to be a young group of cornerbacks. The team upgrades in a big way at linebacker, as well, bringing in Wilson to replace part-time starters Josh Woods and Zeke Turner. 
On offense, Jones comes in after an injury-riddled 2023 season with the Jaguars, hoping to recapture the magic of his 2022 campaign. Given a three-year, $24MM deal, Jones rewarded the Jaguars in his first Jacksonville season by smashing his career-high marks in an 82-catch, 823-yard showing. Last season, which featured PCL and femur injuries, was not as good. The former second-round pick was also arrested on a misdemeanor domestic battery charge in November, and the Jaguars cut bait as they retooled their WR room this offseason. Jones also visited the Cowboys, Chiefs and Titans. With the Cards, he should slot in as WR3 behind Marvin Harrison Jr. and Michael Wilson.
Brown joins the team after starting at center and guard for the Seahawks and Lions in the past three years. With Hjalte Froholdt taking care of business at center, the Cardinals seem to want to use Brown’s starting experience at left guard. Brown saw regular guard duty in 2022.
The addition of Dallas is an intriguing one. His contract includes rushing yards-based incentives, so it seems like the Cardinals expect him to work as a part of the offense. In Seattle, the former fourth-round pick out of Miami (Fla.) served mostly as a special teams asset, returning both kickoffs and punts, but $2.75MM per year seems like a lot for a return specialist. Dallas already had to compete with Michael Carter and Emari Demercado for running back snaps, but then the Cardinals used a third-round pick on a rusher, muddying the waters even further.
Re-signings:
- Elijah Wilkinson, OL: One year, $2MM ($1.58MM guaranteed)
- Blake Gillikin, P: Two years, $3.7MM ($1.2MM guaranteed)
- Trystan Colon, C: One year, $1.75MM ($450K guaranteed)
- Krys Barnes, LB: One year, $1.29MM ($100K guaranteed)
- Aaron Brewer, LS: One year, $1.38MM ($84K guaranteed)
- L.J. Collier, DE: One year, $1.29MM ($25K guaranteed)
- Bobby Price, CB: One year, $1.29MM ($25K guaranteed)
- Keith Ismael, C: One year, $1.11MM ($25K guaranteed)
- Jesse Luketa, LB: One year, $985K
- Carter O’Donnell, OL: One year, $915K
Arizona’s re-signings this offseason were mostly ancillary. Gillikin and Brewer obviously stand as the players most likely to occupy steady roles. Gillikin returns for a second year as the team’s primary punter, while Brewer is back as the long snapper for his ninth season in Arizona.
Wilkinson, Colon, Ismael, and O’Donnell provide reliable depth and versatility along the offensive line as backups. Barnes returns after tallying the team’s fifth-most tackles last season, though he likely takes a backseat with the addition of Wilson at linebacker.
Notable losses:
- Marquise Brown, WR
- Rashad Fenton, CB
- Leki Fotu, DT
- Antonio Hamilton, CB
- D.J. Humphries, T (released)
- Jonathan Ledbetter, DL (non-tendered as RFA)
- Geoff Swaim, TE
- Zeke Turner, LB
- Carlos Watkins, DT
- Josh Woods, LB
The biggest losses for Arizona this year come on the offensive side of the ball, though the team has done plenty in the offseason to address each. Humphries is perhaps the biggest name on this list. The 30-year-old had been a staple on the team’s offensive line since being drafted in the 2015 first round. The Pro Bowl tackle was a full-time starter from 2016-23, though he often missed significant time due to injury. Out of a possible 131 regular-season games, Humphries has missed 33. He remains unsigned.
Humphries is not too far removed from playing great football, but with the injuries mounting, the financial burden of his contract was becoming too much to shoulder. Following his torn ACL to end the regular season, Humphries became an easy target for release due to his scheduled $22MM cap hit in 2024. By releasing Humphries, the team was able to gain back $15.95MM of cap savings.
The other big departure saw Brown sign with the Super Bowl champion Chiefs in free agency. Brown finished out his first-round rookie contract in Arizona after being traded from the Ravens during the 2022 draft. Brown never quite found the same success with the Cardinals that he had in Baltimore, mostly due to missed time with injuries.
AFC East Rumors: Hall, Dolphins, Jones
Jets running back Breece Hall is now two seasons into his NFL career, and the former second-round pick out of Iowa State still doesn’t believe his full potential has been put on display as a pro. According to Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated, Hall has put a rookie-year ACL tear in the past and is looking forward to the 2024 NFL season.
Hall hit the ground running as a rookie in New York. Despite coming off the bench in his first five games before finally starting games 6 and 7, Hall was able to rack up 463 rushing yards, 218 receiving yards, and five touchdowns (four rushing, one receiving). His tremendous rookie campaign was cut short by the ACL and meniscus tears, and though he came back to play all 17 games in 2023, he failed to show that same promise. Last year, in 16 starts, Hall managed 994 rushing yards, 591 receiving yards, and nine total touchdowns: not a bad season by any means, but certainly not the delivery of the promise from his rookie season.
This offseason, though, Hall gets to take a different approach. “I ended the season on a good note,” Hall told the media. “Last season, (I was) still not feeling 100 percent all the time, but now, I had my first offseason to not just be trying to get back but to get better. And I’ve gotten better this offseason. I’m a lot leaner. I feel a lot healthier My knee feels a lot better. I just feel like I’m back to my old self.”
Here are a couple other rumors from around the AFC East:
- The Dolphins have welcomed new defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver, while former coordinator Vic Fangio has taken the same job in Philadelphia. In another Sports Illustrated piece, Breer underlined how a “one-voice approach” led to Fangio losing the respect of his defense in Miami. Fangio’s approach in meetings minimized the role of his position coaches, and that frustration allegedly bled through to the players who began to ignore defensive calls and freelance on the field. Weaver stands to resonate with his assistants and players better in 2024. A position coach in Baltimore for the last three years, Weaver saw his input magnified by head coach John Harbaugh, who awarded him the additional title of assistant head coach after his first season with the Ravens. Seeing his own input valued in that manner should encourage him to seek the same out of his own assistants in Miami this year.
- As the Bills attempted to rattle off a string of wins to close the season and make the playoffs last year, defensive tackle DaQuan Jones was activated from injured reserve with two games remaining in the regular season. Jones came back from a torn pectoral muscle to finish the season with his team but was certainly not 100 percent upon his return from injury. After deciding to re-sign to return to Buffalo on a new two-year deal, Jones is reportedly feeling much better. According to Jay Skurski of The Buffalo News, Jones is back to feeling 100 percent and should return to a crucial role on the defensive line in 2024.
Steelers, DT Cameron Heyward No Closer On Extension
Since initially contemplating retirement following an injury-riddled 2023 season, Steelers defensive tackle Cameron Heyward has made it clear that he’s looking for a two-year extension to continue playing in Pittsburgh. In an appearance today on The Jim Rome Show, Heyward didn’t have much to say regarding an update to the situation, indicating that a new contract doesn’t appear to be imminent. 
Heyward, 35, has spent all 13 of his NFL seasons with the Steelers, somehow getting better with age. Before reaching the fifth-year option of his first-round rookie contact, the Steelers extended Heyward to a six-year, $59.25MM deal. Up to that point, Heyward had showed plus attributes as a pass rusher with a career-high of 7.5 sacks in a season. After missing the team’s final 10 games of the first year of his new contract in 2016, Heyward delivered a career year with 12.0 sacks, 16 tackles for loss, and 22 quarterback hits the following season.
Since then, Heyward has perennially been considered one of the top interior pass rushers in the NFL, missing a Pro Bowl last year for the first time since that breakout season. In addition to a down year, Heyward missed more than two games with injury for the first time since 2016, sitting out six contests near the beginning of the year. That groin injury was part of Heyward’s consideration to hang up his cleats, but the Steelers are expecting Heyward to rebound strongly in 2024.
Since expressing his desires for a new contract, Heyward sat out of all spring activities for Pittsburgh. A month ago, he put forth the idea that he’d like to retire with the Steelers sometime after a new two-year deal. A week later, Heyward reeled in the line a bit, claiming that, should Pittsburgh pass up another contract, he’d be open to playing in a new city in 2025, after his current deal expires.
The only big piece of new information in today’s interview was that Heyward has already ruled out at least one destination should he hit the free agent market. Despite having attended college in Ohio with the Buckeyes and having family in the Cleveland area, Heyward doesn’t see himself in brown and orange. He claimed that he didn’t think he could play for a Steelers’ rival with “such bad blood” should he move on. That would likely rule out the Ravens and Bengals, as well, but for now, his focus remains in Pittsburgh.
Giants WR Malik Nabers Stood Out In Spring
Never is a wide receiver drafted in the top-ten without the intention that they will be a crucial part of the offense as a rookie. Three such players emerged in this year’s draft, and LSU-product Malik Nabers will surely be relied upon in New York as a result. While there are several examples of top-drafted receivers not living up to their billing, first impressions seem to indicate that Nabers will not disappoint, per ESPN’s Jordan Raanan. 
In the past few years, the Giants have become heavily invested in quarterback Daniel Jones, so much so that the quarterback’s recent extension factored into whether or not franchise back Saquon Barkley would remain in New York; spoiler alert, he did not. The struggle has been that, while investing in Jones, the team has neglected their offensive line and receiving corps.
Attempts have certainly been made to improve both position groups over the last few years, but the level of success has been negligible thus far. The Giants routinely see themselves in the top ten for sacks allowed, and the NFC’s New York squad has not seen a 1,000-yard receiver since Eli Manning was hooking up with Odell Beckham Jr. back in 2018. Since then, Darius Slayton has been the team’s leading receiver but has failed to eclipse even 800 receiving yards, topping out at 770 last year.
Enter: Malik Nabers. Nabers was drafted No. 6 overall, and the only reason he wasn’t selected any higher was because of the need for quarterbacks at the top of the draft. Many prospect rankings had Nabers as the third-best prospect in the draft, behind only Caleb Williams and Marvin Harrison Jr. LSU has produced some NFL greats at wide receiver (Beckham, Jarvis Landry, Justin Jefferson, and Ja’Marr Chase in recent years, to name a few), yet Nabers holds career records in receptions (189) and receiving yards (3,003) for the Tigers despite only three years of play.
At just over six-feet tall and just under 200 pounds, Nabers lacks ideal size but was still one of the draft’s most polished wideouts. Spending about half his time on the outside and half in the slot, Nabers can be utilized all over the field. He led college football in catches over 20 yards last year with 34, consistently shows an ability to produce on passes underneath, and claims the jet sweep as his favorite call in the playbook. With elite body control and strong top-end speed, it was hardly a surprise to see Nabers become the top pick of the year for New York.
What is perhaps even less of a surprise is hearing that Nabers has impressed in offseason work so far. With quickness, great hands, and constant playmaking, Nabers caught the attention of many at the team’s minicamp. He’s immediately become a fixture on the first-team offense, playing all over the field like he did in college, and has received rave reviews from his new quarterback.
“I think he can be a tremendous weapon for us. He’s had a good spring. He’s looked good and made a lot of plays,” Jones told reporters. “I mean, he can do everything. There is not much that he can’t do, really, from a route-running standpoint. He is dynamic with the ball in his hands and strong, fast, explosive, catches the ball well.”
All of this buildup is creating larger-than-life expectations for the rookie who has his fellow LSU-alum Beckham’s legacy to live up to. Beckham delivered on expectations, opening his career with three straight seasons of at least 1,300 yards and 10 touchdowns. Nabers may not need to reach those types of numbers to avoid the “bust” label, but New York is hoping at least to see him emerge as WR1 in his rookie year.
NFC Front Office Updates: White, 49ers, Seahawks
The Commanders recently announced all the updates to their personnel and football support staff that the team has made this offseason. We’ve already covered nearly all of the updates as they occurred throughout the past few months, but we finally got confirmation of a rumor we’d seen back in May. We saw the writing on the wall before, but Chris White has officially been announced as a member of the Commanders scouting staff, according to the team announcement.
White comes from Chicago, where he recently served as assistant director of pro scouting before being removed from the team’s website a month ago. He had served in the role for two years, getting promoted after five seasons as a pro scout for the Bears.
As predicted, White will be serving in Washington as director of pro scouting. He’s essentially filling the role left vacant by former director of pro personnel Chris Polian, who made his way to Cleveland to work as an advisor under Browns general manager Andrew Berry.
Here are a couple other updates from around the NFC:
- The 49ers are bringing on Jordan Fox to work as a player personnel analyst in 2024, according to Neil Stratton of SucceedinFootball.com. Fox debuted in the NFL as a seasonal personnel operations intern for the Jets in 2022. After two years with New York, Fox earns his first full-time NFL position in San Francisco.
- Up the coast, the division-rival Seahawks are granting a first full-time NFL position, as well. Per Stratton, the team’s player personnel intern, Azzaam Kapadia, has officially been promoted to the full-time player personnel assistant role. Kapadia interned with the Colts at one point in time and worked part-time as a film analyst for the Browns during the 2022 season.