Release Candidate: Ravens OT Alejandro Villanueva
In the week before the 2021 NFL Draft, the Baltimore Ravens gave in to the wishes of Pro Bowl offensive tackle Orlando Brown Jr. and traded him away to the Chiefs. This trade left a hole on the Ravens’ offensive line opposite All-Pro left tackle Ronnie Stanley. To address this issue, the Ravens signed Alejandro Villanueva, a free agent whom the Steelers felt ready to move on from. 
After not falling in love with any of the tackles the Draft had to offer at their position in the early rounds, Baltimore opted for a stopgap solution, signing Villanueva to a two-year deal worth $14MM. Villanueva had performed admirably over his sevens years in Pittsburgh, but was never really considered an elite tackle. His best years saw him make consecutive Pro Bowls in the 2017 and 2018 NFL seasons.
As a Raven, Villanueva did his job, and then was asked to do more. After four years of starting at left tackle as a Steeler, Villanueva struggled initially when asked to fill in at right tackle. He got to go back to his more natural position after ankle surgery sidelined Stanley for the all but one game of the 2021 season.
Villanueva had an up and down year. Often Villanueva’s age showed during some rough outings, but the 33-year-old showed some resiliency, playing through some discomfort knowing that another absence for the injury-devastated Ravens could spell disaster. He seemed to find his footing with time, though, playing a pretty good stretch of football to end the season.
But was Villanueva’s performance in 2021 worthy of a $9.25MM cap hit in 2022? Likely not. The Ravens will hope for a strong return for Stanley and they signed Ja’Wuan James to a low $9MM, two-year contract knowing that he likely would be out with a torn Achilles tendon for much of the 2021 season. The likeliest scenario sees Baltimore cutting Villanueva loose to rely on a combination of Stanley and James to bookend the offensive line. The Ravens also recently signed utility offensive lineman Patrick Mekari to a three-year extension. The former undrafted free agent has started at all three offensive line positions for Baltimore and could continue to fill in at right tackle until the next franchise tackle shows up.
Baltimore could also opt to address the position in the 2022 NFL Draft. While, with the 14th overall pick, the Ravens are not in a position to take one of the Draft’s more exciting tackle prospects like NC State’s Ikem Ekwonu or Alabama’s Evan Neal, if Mississippi State’s Charles Cross were to fall to Baltimore, the Ravens, who are known for drafting for value over fit, would likely find it hard to pass on Cross’s potential. Cross, who ranks as the 8th best Draft prospect on The Athletic’s Dane Brugler’s Top 100, impresses many evaluators, but, reportedly, hasn’t convinced the entire league that he’s a top ten draft pick. If the Ravens were to trade back later into the first round, another common move by the draft-savvy franchise, they could find smaller school prospects like Northern Iowa’s Trevor Penning or Central Michigan’s Bernhard Raimann falling into their laps. They could even wait until their second-round or third-round selections come up and opt to take a flyer on Minnesota’s massive Daniel Faalele or Ohio State’s Nicholas Petit-Frere, respectively.
Regardless, most paths that make sense for Baltimore don’t entail the team stomaching a $9.25MM cap hit for a tackle that struggled much of the year for them. Turning 34 at the beginning of the 2022 season, Villanueva could save the Ravens the trouble and simply retire. Whether retired or released, it wouldn’t be a surprise if we don’t see Villanueva in purple and black next season.
NFC Notes: Bucs, Cooper, Panthers, Croom
A couple weeks ago, we wrote about the NFL finalizing plans for a regular season game to take place in Germany. Well, according to Ben Fischer of Sports Business Journal, the home team of that game will be none other than the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
No word has been announced yet on who their opponent will be, but the Super Bowl LV champions will be present at FC Bayern Munich Stadium next season. The NFL will have one more game in Munich and two in Frankfurt over the following three seasons.
The 2022 NFL season will see four other games on foreign soil. In addition to the game in Germany, England will host three games and the league will return to Mexico City for the first time since 2019.
Here are a few other notes from around the NFC, starting with a note out of the Lone Star State:
- Cowboys’ wide receiver Amari Cooper carried a $22MM cap hit in the 2021 NFL season, the highest of any receiver last year. His contract is set up to continue carrying that weight for the remaining three years of his deal. What changes is that, were Dallas to cut the free agent addition before the 2021 season, they would be left with $28MM of dead cap, whereas cutting him before March 20, 2022, would leave them with $6MM of dead cap. Michael Gehlken of The Dallas Morning News wrote about the Cowboys’ designed “escape hatch” in an article this past week.
- The Panthers mutually parted ways with director of pro personnel Matt Allen this weekend, according to Joe Person of The Athletic. Allen started as a scouting assistant in 2009 and worked his way up until he was promoted into his most recent role in 2017. Allen was one of the last few holdovers from the Jerry Richardson-era, as Allen was actually a grandson of Richardson.
- After spending the 2021 season on injured reserve, tight end Jason Croom is progressing steadily in his recovery from a torn ACL, according to Aaron Wilson of Pro Football Network. This was Croom’s second full season spent on IR as the former undrafted free agent also sat out his sophomore season in Buffalo. He is set to hit the free agent market as he works toward a full recovery.
NFL To Discuss Potential OT Changes
The NFL’s Competition Committee had their first in-person meeting of the offseason today and, according to Judy Battista of NFL Network, proposed changes to the league’s overtime rules are on the agenda. The Committee’s chair, Rich McKay, confirmed as much, claiming there was no question it would be brought up.
Battista continued her reports in a series of tweets. She claims that there will be proposals for the rules to change both for the playoffs only and for regular season and postseason games together.
The argument for changing the rule in the playoffs only are centered around the expectation that the league’s best quarterbacks will be the ones participating in these games, increasing the likelihood that the team that wins the coin toss will score on the first possession of overtime and end the game without the opponent getting a chance to touch the ball. An example of this occurred this past postseason when the Chiefs defeated the Bills on the first possession of overtime in the AFC Divisional Playoff round. Unfortunately for fans rooting for a potential rule change, an example of the opposite of the above example happened just a week later. In the AFC Championship game, the Chiefs once again won the coin toss and were granted the first possession of overtime. This time, the Chiefs were forced to go three-and-out by the Bengals’ defense, and Cincinnati went on to win the game on a walk-off field goal.
According to Battista, the Colts have submitted a proposal that would guarantee each team a possession in overtime that would apply to both the regular season and the postseason. The Colts didn’t make the postseason this year but had two regular season games go past regulation. Indianapolis lost both games. An overtime loss to the Titans on Halloween saw both teams possess the ball twice each in overtime, but an October loss in Baltimore saw Lamar Jackson and the Ravens dink-and-dunk their way to a touchdown in overtime that kept the Colts from ever seeing the ball after the fourth quarter.
Battista notes that there is still a ways to go in the discussions for a change to overtime rules. It won’t be discussed by the Committee for another two days. Even when it does come up, it’s not yet known how much support is out there for the potential change. In order for the rule to be adjusted, 24 owners would have to vote in favor of a change to the rule. That’s a high bar to pass, but something worth keeping an eye on as discussions proceed.
Bengals’ Logan Wilson Has Successful Surgery
In a Week 13 loss to the Chargers, Bengals’ linebacker Logan Wilson suffered a torn labrum in his shoulder. Wilson missed most of the remainder of the regular season, returning for a Week 17 win against the Chiefs that clinched the AFC North for Cincinnati. After toughing it out through the playoffs, as well, Wilson finally had a procedure last week, according to ESPN’s Ben Baby, and is expected to make a full recovery. 
Wilson was a third-round pick for Cincinnati in the 2020 NFL Draft. After a year as a back up, Wilson was named the team’s starting middle linebacker to start the 2021 NFL season. In 12 games before his injury, Wilson tallied 92 tackles, 5.0 for a loss, and sacked the quarterback once. He was active in coverage, too, reeling in 4 interceptions.
Wilson missed three games after sustaining his injury, returning to help his squad make the playoffs. Once in the postseason, Wilson returned to making a huge impact on defense for the Bengals, saving his best game for Super Bowl LVI. In the team’s loss to the Rams, Wilson recorded 9 tackles, including 3.0 tackles for loss, and deflected a pass attempt.
Wilson surely showed his toughness and earned the respect of his teammates after playing through an injury all the way through the Super Bowl. With an impressive sophomore season, Wilson established himself as a potential leader on the Bengals’ defense and the future of their linebacking corps. Cincinnati will be happy to have him back to 100% to start the 2022 NFL season.
Free Agent Stock Watch: Chiefs OT Orlando Brown Jr.
In November, we wrote a Free Agent Stock Watch on Chiefs’ blindside tackle Orlando Brown Jr. Three months later and the situation is starting to clear up a bit. In case you don’t feel like reading the older piece, here’s a quick recap: 
A unanimous All-American at Oklahoma, Brown was selected in the third round of the 2018 NFL Draft by the Ravens. Despite being considered a first-round pick for much of his last year in college, a poor performance at the NFL Combine plummeted the young tackle’s stock. Brown quickly made sure that the football world knew he was not going to be defined by his combine performance and became widely considered as one of the biggest steals of the draft.
Brown went to his first Pro Bowl in 2019, after his first full season as the Ravens’ starting right tackle. The next year, an injury to newly extended left tackle Ronnie Stanley pushed Brown to the left side of the offensive line for the last 10 games of the season. Brown made his second Pro Bowl that year after playing most of the year at left tackle.
At that point, Brown made it clear to the Ravens that he intended to be the best left tackle in the NFL. Brown’s determination to play on the left side of the line stemmed from his late father’s wish that he not settle for any other position in the NFL, so Brown requested a trade to an organization that would allow him to live that dream.
The Ravens honored Brown’s request and traded him to the Chiefs. It was initially thought that Kansas City would extend the young stalwart tackle and lock down their future at the position, but the Chiefs held off, allowing Brown to play out the final year of his rookie contract. Brown’s first year as a Chief ended with him becoming the only offensive tackle in the NFL to be in all of the last three Pro Bowls.
At this point, it’s not expected that Kansas City would let their blindside blocker walk away after only one year. Brown is a talented and, perhaps more importantly, young left tackle who not only dominated in the Ravens’ run-game-centered offense, where they passed the ball 44.96% of the time, but also dominated in the Chiefs’ pass-heavy offense, where they passed the ball 62.36% of the time.
Spotrac.com estimates a calculated market value for Brown at a five-year deal worth $116.58MM. That would give Brown the NFL’s highest average annual salary for an offensive tackle at $23.32MM per year, over the likes of Trent Williams ($23.01MM), David Bakhtiari ($23MM), Laremy Tunsil ($22MM), and former teammate Ronnie Stanley ($19.75MM).
In an article by Aaron Wilson of Pro Football Network, Chiefs’ general manager Brett Veach was quoted saying, “As far as Orlando, he was a guy that had a dream to play left tackle and had a small sample size of him playing left tackle at Baltimore. He’s another unique character, too, where when you talk about a culture and when you talk about a guy that does everything the right way, Orlando Brown is in the category.”
A conversation will likely need to be had with quarterback and former MVP Patrick Mahomes as his cap hit is expected to jump from $7.43MM in 2021 to $35.79MM in 2022. If the Chiefs are not able to figure out a long-term deal with Brown, they are likely to use their franchise tag to give both parties an extra year to come to an agreement. In the unlikely event that neither of those options play out, Brown will certainly become one of the top offseason priorities for any team interested in a franchise left tackle.
NFL Draft Prospect Profile: Utah LB Devin Lloyd
Devin Lloyd is what happens when hidden talent works hard to shine. Lloyd was a 3-star recruit out of Otay Ranch High School where he had to play not only offense and defense but special teams, as well. His tape at safety, wide receiver, and punter earned him one Power Five offer: Utah. He chose to make the move to Salt Lake City, committing to Utah over UNLV, Colorado State, Sacramento State, San Jose State, and Utah State. 
From there, Lloyd took the long way to the NFL. He redshirted his true freshman year and spent most of his redshirt-freshman year on special teams. As a redshirt-sophomore, Lloyd earned a starting spot at rover and led the team in tackles. Over Utah’s five-game 2020 season and full return to football in 2021, Lloyd never relinquished the title as the Utes’ lead tackler while moving to the team’s mac (middle) linebacker position. Over his last three years with the team, Lloyd tallied 249 tackles over 33 games, adding 43.0 tackles for loss and 16.5 sacks.
It’s easy to see that Lloyd lit up the stat sheet as he gained more and more experience leading the defense. It’s harder to understand when watching his film. Lloyd’s defensive approach in a bit unorthodox. Film-watchers will note his inconsistency diagnosing plays or his sometimes indirect flow to the ball. Call it luck, call it instinct, call it raw talent, but despite those technical red flags, Lloyd’s production is consistent and dominant. The best comparison for this phenomenon that comes to mind is an offensive prospect from a few years back. Between his game film and horrible performance at the NFL Combine, Orlando Brown Jr. had scouts raising questions over the tackle’s technique. He dominated at the college level, but was the switch to the big leagues going to overwhelm his poor technique? Brown is currently the only offensive tackle to make the Pro Bowl each of the last three seasons. I don’t think it’s a stretch to expect similar success for Lloyd.
Despite his inconsistencies in technique and reading the offense, Devin Lloyd dominates. He’s an incredibly physical, every down linebacker. His wide frame and aggression make him hard to shake and, if you happen to sneak by him, he has great burst to pursue. NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah called him “an angry missile with long arms.”
Lloyd tops The Athletic’s Dane Brugler’s positional rankings for linebackers. In Brugler’s updated Top 100 big board, Lloyd sits near the top as the seventh overall player available in the 2022 NFL Draft. In mock drafts, Lloyd’s gone anywhere from 7th to the Giants to 9th to the Broncos to 14th to the Eagles.
Lloyd is a sure Day One-pick that will immediately be on watchlists for Defensive Rookie of the Year. The redshirt-senior from Utah will be ready to take his experience leading the Utes’ and use it to become the focal point of one lucky franchise’s defense.
Cards’ Owner Bidwill On Kyler Murray
With everything starting to appear copacetic between the Cardinals and quarterback Kyler Murray, the team’s owner, Michael Bidwill, addressed the 24-year-old’s future in Arizona, as reported by Jeremy Cluff of The Arizona Republic. As Murray heads into the fourth year of his rookie contract, Bidwill discussed the possibility for an extension. 
“The window has just opened for a contract extension. Certainly he’s part of our long-term plan,” Bidwill said of Murray. “Most of the big ones are done further down the road, I think Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen were done in the summer time. Others were done in the summer time. So we’ve got time, but they’re complicated.”
In respect to the turmoil surrounding the quarterback, Bidwill claimed he and Murray have had “good conversations non-stop.”
While expressing the desire to give Murray an extension out of his rookie contract, Bidwill also acknowledged that the team has other priorities, as well, namely bringing back some key free agents. He recently expressed his wishes to retain two-time All-Pro linebacker Chandler Jones, which Jones appeared scoff at. Newcomers to the desert, running back James Conner and tight end Zach Ertz, have both made it known that they would be more than happy to consider re-signing.
Other Cardinals headed to free agency include running back Chase Edmonds, wide receiver Christian Kirk, veteran wideout A.J. Green, and tight end Maxx Williams. While the Cardinals’ owner is looking forward to finding a way to keep Murray long-term, he and his front office have some work to do in the meantime.
Steelers Continue Interviews To Replace GM Colbert
With the announcement that general manager Kevin Colbert will be stepping down after the 2022 NFL Draft, the Steelers have been working to find his eventual replacement. Today the team tweeted out three more names that interviewed for the position this week: Ravens’ director of player personnel Joe Hortiz, 49ers’ director of player personnel Ran Carthon, and Eagles’ vice president of player personnel Andy Weidl. 
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the team has also interviewed their vice president of football and business administration Omar Khan, someone we had mentioned as a candidate but had not yet reported as interviewed. Schefter also listed the team’s pro scouting director Brandon Hunt as a candidate who had been interviewed. This is the first time we’ve seen Hunt’s name mentioned in the conversations to replace Colbert.
To date Pittsburgh has interviewed 12 candidates, not including ESPN analyst Louis Riddick who was reportedly scheduled to interview for the position earlier this month.
With two months until the Draft, the Steelers appear in no hurry to make a decision. They will likely continue to take their time evaluating their prospects. Be sure to follow along with the latest on our 2022 NFL General Manager Search Tracker.
Saints Looking To Bring Back QB Winston
After watching four different quarterbacks start games in New Orleans last year, the Saints are looking to address the position this offseason. According to the NFL Network’s Jim Trotter, the Saints will explore the avenues of the 2022 NFL Draft, trades, and free agency. If New Orleans decides to go the free agent route, it appears Jameis Winston could find himself returning to the Saints’ offense. 
After spending a year as Drew Brees‘ back up, Winston was tabbed as the Saints’ starting quarterback to start the 2021 NFL season. In seven games, Winston put up impressive numbers passing for 1,170 yards and throwing 14 touchdowns to 3 interceptions en route to a 5-2 record. Winston’s impressive comeback year was cut short when he tore his ACL after a horse-collar tackle by Devin White in a Week 8 matchup with the Buccaneers.
Winston’s first one-year contract in New Orleans was valued at $1.1MM and last year’s deal was worth $12MM. With Winston recovering from his knee injuries, the Saints could potentially re-sign him for a bargain deal. This would allow the Saints to still possibly pursue one of the Draft’s quarterback prospects. Sitting at 18th in the Draft’s first round, New Orleans is uniquely positioned to watch the trends of the Draft early on and determine if they should utilize a Day One pick on a potential future quarterback.
With two years of the Saints’ offense under his belt, Winston should have a familiarity with Saints’ offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael that would allow him to comfortably slide back into a role at starting quarterback. Whether as a temporary filler or as the quarterback of the future, Winston provides New Orleans with an intriguing option to lead their offense.
NFL Coaching Notes: Rams, Brown, Bengals, Texans
While the Rams have lost Kevin O’Connell and Wes Phillips to Minnesota, it appears they won’t see their entire offensive staff dismantled. According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, assistant quarterbacks coach Zac Robinson is expected to stay with the team with a bit of a promotion in title.
The Rams still have an offensive coordinator position up for grabs. Currently, the favorite to land the job is University of Kentucky offensive coordinator Liam Coen. Coen worked on the Rams’ offensive staff for three years before spending last year in Lexington. He’s turned down multiple job offers recently to remain at Kentucky, but the opportunity to rejoin Sean McVay in Los Angeles may be too good to pass up.
Here are a few more coaching notes from the NFL starting with another note from the Super Bowl LVI champions:
- Rapoport also reported that Rams’ running backs coach and assistant head coach Thomas Brown is expected to return to Los Angeles. Brown received head coaching interest from Miami and was a candidate to join O’Connell in Minnesota as offensive coordinator before Phillips was announced earlier today. Brown’s presence will provide McVay with some much needed continuity to his offensive staff.
- The Bengals have hired Charles Burks from the Dolphins to become their cornerbacks coach, according to Aaron Wilson of Pro Football Network. No word yet on the status of the Bengals’ cornerbacks coach from last season, Steve Jackson.
- The Texans’ have hired Ted White with the official title of offensive assistant-quarterbacks. White had recently accepted the position of offensive coordinator at Grambling State University under head coach Hue Jackson, but Jackson will have to find someone else to fill the role. White has molded quarterbacks at Texas Southern, Southern, his alma mater of Howard, Arkansas-Pine Bluff, and Prairie View A&M. He’ll be tasked with the development of second-year quarterback Davis Mills.