Patriots Reportedly Made Strong Push for WR Xavier Worthy
The Patriots, in an effort to weaponize their offense and give future starting quarterback Drake Maye some receiving talent whenever he takes the reins, selected two receivers in April’s WR-rich draft: Ja’Lynn Polk (No. 37 overall) and Javon Baker (No. 110 overall). The Polk selection in particular has been the subject of significant discussion among prominent NFL reporters and talking heads.
That has nothing to do with Polk himself. Rather, we heard early last month that New England, which originally held the No. 34 overall pick, had attempted to move up to No. 32 to acquire South Carolina wideout Xavier Legette. And on a recent episode of The Pat McAfee Show, former NFL exec Michael Lombardi said the Patriots were also targeting a different Xavier: Texas receiver and 40-yard dash record holder Xavier Worthy (video link).
The Bills, the original owners of the No. 28 pick, traded that choice to the Chiefs, allowing Buffalo’s playoff tormentors to add Worthy to Patrick Mahomes‘ arsenal. However, Lombardi says that New England was “in high-speed pursuit of Worthy” and “wanted Worthy badly.” Lombardi appears to suggest that while the Patriots made the Bills an offer for the No. 28 choice, Kansas City’s offer — the Nos. 32, 95, and 221 selections in exchange for Nos. 28, 133, and 248 — was more valuable than New England’s.
If that’s the case, one can understand why Bills GM Brandon Beane would have accepted the Chiefs’ proposal, especially since the Patriots and Bills are division rivals. That said, New England is firmly in rebuild mode while Buffalo has immediate championship aspirations and has been repeatedly thwarted by KC in its title pursuits, so handing the Chiefs a player that many believe could become Tyreek Hill 2.0 in Andy Reid‘s offense is a move that will come under plenty of scrutiny should Worthy live up to his potential.
In addition to Worthy, the Bills denied the Patriots a shot at Legette and flipped the No. 32 pick to the Panthers, who moved up one spot to nab the former Gamecock (Buffalo, which had a major WR need of its own, ended up selecting Florida State receiver Keon Coleman with the No. 33 choice that originally belonged to Carolina). After the Chiefs chose Worthy, five wideouts were drafted between Nos. 31 and 37. The Patriots had hoped to move toward the front of that wave, but after Legette went off the board, they stepped back by moving from No. 34 to 37 and landing Polk.
The receivers selected during the late first through early second rounds of the 2024 draft would be compared to each other anyway as their careers unfold, though the fact that multiple clubs were jockeying for position to select specific pass catchers within that window adds another layer of intrigue to those future conversations. At present, it looks as if the Patriots missed out on several of their top targets, but Polk has plenty of upside and may eventually make New England happy that it was unable to swing a draft-day deal with its AFC East foe.
Latest On Saints DEs Cameron Jordan, Chase Young
Saints stalwart Cameron Jordan underwent surgery earlier this year to address the significant ankle injury he sustained in November. While the eight-time Pro Bowler was able to play through the injury, he was clearly limited by it down the stretch of the 2023 season, and he ultimately recorded just two sacks (his lowest total since his rookie year in 2011).
Fortunately, Jordan is on the mend. He told reporters, including Mike Triplett of NewOrleans.Football, that he is running again and participating in walk-throughs, and he hopes to do some on-field work by the end of OTAs and minicamp (the last OTA session is on June 6, and the club’s three-day mandatory minicamp commences on June 11).
Despite the diminished sack total, Jordan still played fairly well in the eyes of Pro Football Focus, securing a solid 73.5 overall grade that positioned him as the 41st-best edge defender out of 112 qualified players. That is off the pace of his elite performances from 2015-21 but right in line with his 2022 work. His overall mark was pulled down by a middling 63.8 pass rush grade, though there is hope that a healthy ankle will at least allow him to replicate the counting stats he accumulated in 2022, when he tallied 8.5 sacks, 66 total tackles (13 TFL), and a pair of forced fumbles.
One way or another, it appears that Jordan, who will turn 35 in July, has another two years to go in his illustrious playing career. The Cal product inked an extension last August that keeps him under club control through 2025, which he expects to be his last season. In classic Saints fashion, the team restructured his contract in March to clear cap space.
Joining Jordan on the New Orleans defensive front is free agent acquisition Chase Young, who has yet to get the big-money deal that he was doubtlessly eyeing when the Commanders made him the No. 2 overall pick in 2020. Young, of course, earned Defensive Rookie of the Year honors that season but struggled with a serious knee injury thereafter, though he did manage to post 7.5 sacks between the Commanders and 49ers in 2023. While he can earn up to $13MM on his one-year pillow contract with the Saints, most of that value comes in the form of per-game roster bonuses.
Young’s market was limited in part by the fact that he required neck surgery this offseason, and while the Saints were comfortable with his prognosis, they knew he would need some time to recover. As Triplett notes, Young will likely remain in “walk-through mode” through minicamp, which is consistent with earlier reports that he would be sidelined into training camp in July.
Latest On Broncos’ Center Competition
The cap-strapped Broncos saw one of last year’s top offensive performers, center Lloyd Cushenberry, sign with the Titans in free agency, leaving Denver with a major question mark at the pivot as it ushers in yet another new era at quarterback. 2022 fifth-rounder Luke Wattenberg will certainly have a chance to become the club’s starting center, but as Ryan McFadden of the Denver Post writes, the Broncos are also high on 2023 seventh-round selection Alex Forsyth.
McFadden says that the team views Forsyth as a potential starting-caliber center, which jibes with the comments that GM George Paton made on the matter earlier this year. Forsyth’s candidacy is buttressed by the fact that he served as the snapper for quarterback Bo Nix, the No. 12 overall selection in this year’s draft, when the two were at Oregon in 2022.
Wattenberg, meanwhile, started 16 games at center while in college, but he has played sparingly in his two years in the professional ranks, with most of his reps coming at the guard positions. And though his 129 total snaps certainly qualify as a small sample size, he has not played particularly well in that limited action.
The Broncos did sign Sam Mustipher to a one-year contract in April, and he has the experience that Forsyth and Wattenberg lack, having played 52 games (42 starts) in the NFL. He served as the Bears’ full-time pivot from 2021-22, but the fact that he was non-tendered by Chicago last year and had to settle for a one-year pact with the Ravens — and the fact that he did not even crack Baltimore’s initial 53-man roster — underscores his middling performance in the Windy City. The soon-to-be 28-year-old blocker did start two games for the Ravens last season in relief of the injured Tyler Linderbaum, and he performed reasonably well as a stopgap.
As McFadden notes in a separate piece, Wattenberg was working with the first-team offense in OTAs earlier this week, while Forsyth worked with the second unit. Still, the center competition in Denver appears to be wide open, despite the fact that Forsyth did not see any action at all in his rookie campaign. Sooner rather than later, Nix will take the reins at quarterback, and there is a good chance he will have a familiar face snapping him the ball.
Latest On Falcons LB Troy Andersen
After seeing action in all 17 games (five starts) as a rookie in 2022, Falcons linebacker Troy Andersen opened the 2023 season as a full-time starter alongside Kaden Elliss in Atlanta’s defense. Unfortunately, the shoulder and pectoral injuries he sustained in Week 3 sidelined him for the remainder of the campaign, and his replacement — 2022 UDFA Nathan Landman — piled up 110 tackles, three forced fumbles, two sacks, and an interception in his stead.
As D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes, Andersen has no limitations as he participates in OTAs, with the player himself saying, “yeah, I feel good. Kind of back to normal. Hopefully, better than normal. Yeah, it’s pretty good.”
Landman has been working with Elliss and the first-team defense, while Andersen has been finding his footing with the second-team unit and fifth-round rookie JD Bertrand. But given Andersen’s draft pedigree — he was a second-round draft choice in 2022 — it is fair to assume that he will at least push for a starting role, and Ledbetter actually lists Andersen as a starter ahead of Landman on his depth chart.
The Falcons are transitioning to a 3-4 alignment under new head coach Raheem Morris, so there will be an opportunity for Elliss, Andersen, and Landman to get plenty of burn, and Morris indicated that all three players could be on the field at the same time on some occasions.
“Watching those three guys out there, man, it’s been fun to watch,” Morris said. “You’re talking about some big humans that can move really quickly and do some special things, particularly with the ball and getting in the way and getting in the way of passing lanes. They do so many good things, it’s almost like three different coaches sitting in a room at the same time. It is going to be exciting to get them on the field. Maybe all at the same time, because they have that type of ability that warrants more playtime.”
Elliss is the big-money member of the trio, having signed a three-year, $21.5MM contract with Atlanta last March. He held up his end of the bargain, recording 122 tackles and four sacks while grading out as Pro Football Focus’ 20th-best linebacker in the league out of 82 qualifiers in 2023.
Landman also fared well in the eyes of PFF’s metrics, finishing as the site’s 28th-best LB. PFF dinged him for his work in pass coverage — something many ‘backers struggle with — but he more than made up for it with his performance against the run.
As such, Morris and defensive coordinator Jimmy Lake have a good problem on their hands when it comes to finding reps for all of their linebackers, and the return of Andersen will further bolster a defense that finished 11th in total yardage last season. In his two games in 2023, the Montana State product notched 19 total tackles (including one TFL) and a half-sack.
Ravens Officially Convert Malik Cunningham To WR
When the Ravens signed 2023 UDFA Malik Cunningham off the Patriots’ practice squad in December, it was widely assumed they were doing so with an eye towards installing Cunningham as quarterback Lamar Jackson‘s backup for the upcoming season (and perhaps beyond). However, as Ryan Mink of the Ravens’ official website notes, Cunningham is now listed as a wide receiver on Baltimore’s roster.
The Ravens allowed Jackson’s former backup, Tyler Huntley, to depart in free agency while re-signing 38-year-old journeyman Josh Johnson, which appeared to set the table for a Johnson v. Cunningham battle for the QB2 role. Instead, head coach John Harbaugh anointed Johnson as the second passer on the depth chart earlier this month, and at the time, we heard that Cunningham may transition to wideout.
The transition has been made official, as the Ravens are apparently comfortable with their quarterback situation after selecting Devin Leary in the sixth round of this year’s draft (Leary and UDFA rookie Emory Jones will compete for the QB3 job). Cunningham, whose rawness as a passer is what caused him to go undrafted last spring, is nonetheless a highly-athletic talent for whom the Patriots designed a special package of gadget-type plays when he was on their roster.
While Cunningham only saw action in one game (six snaps) with New England, he will now have a chance to focus exclusively on his craft as a receiver. According to Mink, the Louisville product has shown promise in that role in the early stages of the Ravens’ offseason program.
Baltimore did not make an effort to re-sign Odell Beckham Jr., a key ancillary weapon in last year’s passing attack, and the team also saw Devin Duvernay defect to the Jaguars in free agency. Despite a re-up for Nelson Agholor, those departures left the Ravens a little thin at the WR position, especially given Rashod Bateman‘s history of injury troubles. Like the 2023 edition of Duvernay, free agent acquisition Deonte Harty is likely to see more action as a return specialist than on offense.
The club did add Devontez Walker in the fourth round of April’s draft, and tight ends Mark Andrews and Isaiah Likely have proven themselves to be terrific pass catchers, but Cunningham still appears to have a decent chance to carve out a spot for himself in the WR room. Behind Zay Flowers, Bateman, and Agholor, the rest of the Ravens’ wideouts are either unproven or ticketed for a third phase role, so if Cunningham continues to perform well as the summer progresses, he and Jackson — who were actually teammates at Louisville in 2017 — could find themselves on the field together when the regular season rolls around.
Latest On Colorado QB Shedeur Sanders’ 2025 Draft Stock
There was a historic run on quarterbacks in the 2024 draft, with six signal-callers picked in the first 12 selections. In addition to the fact that QB is the most important position in sports, the flurry of passers flying off the board was partially explained by the talent of this year’s crop and the current belief that the 2025 class of prospects is not a particularly deep one.
Of course, much can change between now and next April, and there will surely be a number of players who author standout performances in their final collegiates seasons and put themselves on the radar of teams eyeing franchise quarterbacks. One player that we already know will be a focus of such clubs is Colorado QB Shedeur Sanders.
Sanders, the son of NFL legend and Colorado head coach Deion Sanders, was eligible to declare for the 2024 draft, though he elected to remain in school for one more season. Per Jason La Canfora of the Washington Post, there is a variance of opinion as to where Sanders would have been picked if he had entered the 2024 draft, but a number of top execs believe the Buffaloes’ star will be firmly in the No. 1 overall discussion in 2025.
The GM of one club who could be in the market for an elite QB prospect next year said of Shedeur, “absolutely, he was a first-round pick [in 2024]. Absolutely. There would have been seven [QBs taken in the first round]. We obviously didn’t do as much work on him as the other quarterbacks once he announced he wasn’t coming out, but he would have been in the top three [quarterbacks] for us this year, I think, had he gone through the entire process. He probably would have been up there with [Caleb] Williams and [Jayden] Daniels.”
The Buffaloes were the talk of college football at the beginning of the 2023 season, when they stormed out to a 3-0 start with the dynamic father/son duo leading the charge. The bloom fell off the rose pretty quickly, though, as Colorado lost eight of its nine conference games to finish at the bottom of the Pac-12 standings.
For his part, Shedeur completed just under 70% of his passes for 27 touchdowns against just three picks last year. That followed an even more impressive 2022 season in which he connected on over 70% of his pass attempts and piled up 40 TDs and only six picks, although that performance came as a member of Jackson State, the FCS program that his father coached before he moved to Boulder.
An agent who recruited many members of the 2024 class of QBs told La Canfora that the Commanders would have seriously considered Sanders if he had entered in the 2024 draft, while a different talent evaluator who is employed by a team that did select a QB this year said, “I would have been stacking him right there with Daniels or [Drake] Maye. Definitely would have had him before [Michael] Penix, [J.J.] McCarthy or [Bo] Nix. If this kid comes out, he’s going in the top five or six picks. He could be the first pick of [the 2025] draft.”
Several of La Canfora’s sources said that Deion’s involvement in the process could be a complicating factor, with one such source calling him a “loose cannon,” but that will surely not deter a team who places a first-round grade on Shedeur. If the younger Sanders can put together a 2024 showing similar to his 2023 output, it sounds as if he could be the first player off the board in April 2025.
Latest On Commanders’ Nickname, Logo
The Commanders have used their current nickname for the past two seasons after spending the prior two years as the Washington Football Team and the 83 years before that as the Washington Redskins. Last summer, a group led by Josh Harris purchased the club, and although there have been rumblings that new ownership may want to change the name or even revert back to the Redskins, that is not the case, per Nicki Jhabvala of the Washington Post.
Prior owner Dan Snyder, who repeatedly insisted that the “Redskins” moniker would never change, finally succumbed to sponsorship pressure to make a switch towards the end of his tenure. Harris & Co. have said before that there is no intent to change the current name, but recent events have made some skeptical of that proclamation.
For instance, during the club’s rookie minicamp earlier this month, new head coach Dan Quinn wore an (unlicensed) T-shirt that featured the feathers that were a prominent part of the Redskins’ logo dangling from the stylized “W” that represents the entirety of the current Commanders’ logo (via JP Finlay of NBC Sports Washington).
As Eric Flack of WUSA9 wrote last week, Sen. Steve Daines (R-Montana), a key member of the Congressional committee advancing a bill that would give Washington, D.C. control of the RFK Stadium site — which would be used for a new stadium for the Commanders — is demanding that the team bring back the Redskins’ logo. To be clear, Daines is not advocating the use of the “Redskins” name, and in remarks prepared for a hearing on the proposed legislation, he wrote, “[m]ake no mistake, this logo was inspired and envisioned by [Blackfeet Tribe member Blackie] Wetzel as a tribute to Native Americans. It is not a caricature. It is a description of pride and strength. Of courage and honor.”
Additionally, the team recently posted birthday wishes to longtime linebacker London Fletcher on X, and in so doing, it used an image prominently featuring the Redskins’ helmet. As Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk observes, the team’s social media birthday wishes to Fletcher in prior years included images in which the Redskins’ logo was not visible.
As Florio opines in a separate piece, “there are no accidents,” and he believes matters like Quinn’s T-shirt are “trial balloons” to test the public response to the old name and logo (although the team had no official comment on the T-shirt). While it would be hard to imagine Harris deciding to bring back the “Redskins” name, it would be less difficult to see the team incorporate elements of the prior logo, especially in light of the merchandising sales it could generate.
Tyler Steen Front-Runner For Eagles’ RG Job
In his first NFL training camp, 2023 third-rounder Tyler Steen was supposed to compete with 2022 second-rounder Cam Jurgens for the Eagles’ starting right guard post. But Steen, a collegiate tackle, had a difficult time adapting to the interior, and Jurgens quickly beat him out.
Ultimately, Steen appeared in just 71 offensive snaps last year, almost all of which came during his one and only start, a Week 9 victory over the Cowboys. Aside from that contest, for which both Jurgens and Sua Opeta were injured, Philadelphia typically called upon Opeta when it needed a reserve guard.
However, the Eagles allowed Opeta to depart in free agency this offseason, and a recent ESPN report confirms that Jurgens will move to center to replace retired franchise icon Jason Kelce (which was the plan when Jurgens was first drafted). That means that the RG job is again there for the taking, and the same ESPN report indicates that Steen is the front-runner.
In his admittedly small sample size of work in 2023, Steen did not receive high marks from Pro Football Focus, which assigned him a poor overall grade of 53.2 and a laughably low 21.9 pass-blocking mark (PFF also charged him with six pressures allowed). On the other hand, he held up reasonably well in the run game, and in the view of Jimmy Kempski of PhillyVoice.com, Steen — whose struggles in blocking Dallas superstar Micah Parsons are perhaps forgivable — showed enough promise to earn the pole position in the right guard race.
His top competition for the job could come in the form of free agent acquisition Matt Hennessy, whom the Eagles added on a one-year deal in March. Hennessy missed the entirety of the 2023 campaign due to a knee injury, and he appeared in just 175 snaps in 2022, all of which came as a left guard for the Falcons. However, he did acquit himself well during his LG cameo, and he was a highly-effective run blocker when working as Atlanta’s starting pivot in 2021. If nothing else, he will provide useful depth at center and the guard positions.
Day 3 rookies Trevor Keegan and Dylan McMahon could also push Steen for playing time at right guard.
Odell Beckham Jr. On WR3 Role In Dolphins’ Offense
The Dolphins were first connected to Odell Beckham Jr. shortly after the first wave of free agency had passed in March, and they struck a one-year, incentive-laden deal with the 31-year-old wideout just a few days after the 2024 draft wrapped. Although the Jets were rumored as a possible suitor for the three-time Pro Bowler this offseason, it was ultimately a one-team race for Beckham’s services.
That fact is reflected in the $3MM base value of Beckham’s contract, a full $12MM less than the $15MM in guaranteed money he received from the Ravens in the 2023 offseason (a payout that was driven by the status of the Ravens’ negotiations with QB Lamar Jackson at the time). Beckham’s Miami deal also confirms that, despite his ability to stay mostly healthy thoughout his first and only Baltimore campaign, he is now viewed throughout the league as an ancillary piece rather than an offensive focal point.
For his part, Beckham is perfectly content with that. “[A]t this place in my life and my career, I haven’t been the No. 1 (WR) in a minute,” Beckham said during his introductory press conference (via Larry Holder of The Athletic (subscription required)). “You could go look at targets, you could go look at anything, that’s not really where I’ve been at.”
While virtually any player would take a backseat to Miami’s WR tandem of Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, it is still notable that Beckham — who looked every bit a future Hall of Famer during the early stages of his pro career, and who had at least two clubs willing to pony up eight figures for him in 2023 — has made peace with his new role.
Beckham caught 35 balls for 565 yards last season, a far cry from his halcyon days with the Giants and even his first season with the Browns in 2019, which was generally considered to be a disappointment. On the other hand, his Baltimore production yielded a 16.1 yards-per-reception rate, a career-best mark that supports the execs who believe that he still possesses high-end ability.
And in South Beach, even a repeat of Beckham’s Ravens output should be more than enough to help the Dolphins’ offense continue to function at a high level. Despite the fact that Miami’s nominal No. 3 wideout, Cedrick Wilson Jr., recorded just 296 yards in 2023, the club finished first in the league in total offense and second in points scored. Wilson is no longer on the team, but Beckham and a pair of Day 3 draftees (Malik Washington and Tahj Washington) have been added to the unit.
Among the 35 receivers who garnered between 40 and 74 targets in 2023, OBJ finished 10th in terms of Expected Points Added per target and third in terms of EPA per reception, which suggests that he can indeed serve as a productive complement to Hill and Waddle.
In discussing his contentment with his current status, Beckham said, “[i]t’s amazing. It gives you a huge sense of peace. I feel like I used to carry a lot of anger or resentment or whatever it was. Now I just feel at peace. You’re able to train, you’re able to play the game that you love again. You kind of get past all the business side or whatever could be holding you back. A part of me feels like this is an opportunity for it to just be football.”
Seahawks’ GM, HC Discuss Byron Murphy Pick; Team Not Expected To Trade From DL Group
MAY 8: The Rams also made an offer for the Seahawks’ No. 16 pick, according to Sportskeeda.com’s Tony Pauline. Los Angeles, which also attempted to trade up higher for Brock Bowers, is believed to have been targeting Murphy. The Eagles’ interest stemmed from a fear they would lose Quinyon Mitchell had they not traded up. Mitchell ended up falling to Philly at No. 22, while the Rams went with Florida State D-lineman Jared Verse at No. 19.
MAY 5: Going into this year’s draft, guard was arguably the Seahawks’ biggest need. And as ESPN’s Brady Henderson writes, Seattle had targeted Alabama’s JC Latham, who was selected by the Titans with the No. 7 overall pick (the ‘Hawks would have slid Latham, a collegiate tackle, to the interior of their O-line, at least in the early stages of his pro career).
[RELATED: Murphy Signs Rookie Deal]
A number of this year’s top defensive prospects fell lower than expected due to an unprecedented run on offensive talent. When the Seahawks were on the clock with the No. 16 pick, only one defensive player, UCLA edge defender Laiatu Latu, was off the board, and he went to the Colts at No. 15. That left Texas DT Byron Murphy II available for Seattle, whom the team saw as the best defender in the 2024 class. The ‘Hawks ultimately turned in the card for the former Longhorn.
As offensive players were flying off the board, the Seahawks — who did not have a second-round choice — were fielding trade offers that would have allowed them to move down the board and pick up additional draft capital in the process. Per Henderson, the ‘Hawks received offers from the Steelers, Eagles, Vikings, and Falcons (who were trying to trade back into the first round after surprisingly drafting QB Michael Penix Jr. with the No. 8 choice). The Packers were also interested in acquiring Seattle’s No. 16 selection, but Green Bay ultimately did not make an offer.
With Murphy still available but with Leonard Williams, Jarran Reed, Dre’Mont Jones, Johnathan Hankins, and several recent draftees already on the roster, GM John Schneider was tempted to trade back. However, Seattle is not in rebuild mode, and Schneider felt that Murphy was too good to pass up.
“I’d be lying to you if I said we didn’t think about [trading back],” Schneider said. “But [Murphy], he was just too good. He influences the game, like a lot. He’s got that ability to jump off the ball and get up field. He can play edges, he can play square, he can rush the passer inside, he gets up and down the line of scrimmage.”
New head coach Mike Macdonald added, “he just plays our style of football, really. And then he’s so talented. Versatility along the front, such an aggressive player, plays violently, heavy hands for a guy [of] shorter stature, flexible, pass-rush flexibility — you name it. Yeah, just really excited to have him.”
With all of the D-linemen on the roster and the Seahawks’ shortage of cap space — per OverTheCap.com, Seattle is the only team in the red as of the time of this writing — it would be fair to expect the club to deal from its DL surplus. However, Henderson said the team has no such plans, especially since Macdonald intends to rotate his players more frequently than his predecessor, Pete Carroll.
In related news, the team is expected to have outside linebacker Uchenna Nwosu back for training camp, per Michael-Shawn Dugar of The Athletic. Nwosu, who recorded 9.5 sacks in his first Seattle slate in 2022, suffered a pectoral strain in October and missed the remainder of the 2023 campaign. He is under contract through 2026 by virtue of the three-year, $45MM extension he signed in July.