Jeffrey Lurie Considering Sale Of Minority Interest In Eagles
Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie is considering selling a minority stake in the club, as Bloomberg’s Gillian Tan reported last month. Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk makes plain that the size of the stake is uncertain, and that there will be no path to a controlling interest.
As such, it is eminently possible that the sale will not happen at all. The club will be valued at $7.5 billion in any transaction (an 11-times multiple of annual revenue), so it will be a pricey endeavor for any buyer, especially since their prospective purchase would not guarantee them a chance to acquire a more significant share.
After all, it appears that the plan is to keep controlling ownership of the Eagles within the Lurie family. Jeffrey Lurie’s son, Julian, participated in the NFL’s two-year program for prospective executives upon his graduation from Harvard, he took part in the Eagles’ head coaching interviews in 2021 — ultimately advising his father as the team transitioned from Doug Pederson to Nick Sirianni — and even spearheaded the interviews for the team’s analytics department. Julian Lurie, now 29, appears poised to someday succeed his 72-year-old father at the top of the franchise.
The NFL currently does not allow private equity or other institutional investment in its clubs, and while that has not yet prevented owners who wish to sell from finding deep-pocketed buyers, the skyrocketing value of NFL teams could soon necessitate a relaxation of the rule. As Brendan Coffey of Sportico.com writes, the league recently retained an investment bank, PJT Partners, to explore the possibility of private equity partnerships.
Naturally, Jeffrey Lurie’s efforts to sell a share of the Eagles would be aided by a revised private equity rule, and as of the time of Tan’s report, those efforts were still in their early stages. Lurie is working with BDT & MSD Partners, a private banking company, to locate potential buyers.
Lurie purchased the Eagles for $195MM in 1994. Under his stewardship, Philadelphia has appeared in three Super Bowls, winning one and dropping the two others by three points. Like many owners of major sports franchises, Lurie has sometimes been accused of meddling too much in matters of on-field personnel, to the point that some saw GM Howie Roseman as a mere conduit for Lurie’s wishes. Of course, Lurie’s push to keep QB Jalen Hurts as the unquestioned starter heading into the 2021 campaign — even when Roseman had doubts about the young passer’s ceiling — turned out to be the right call.
Raiders LT Kolton Miller Expected To Be Ready For Week 1
Raiders left tackle Kolton Miller missed four games in 2023 due to a shoulder injury, which also caused him to play less than a full snap share in two other contests. However, it does not sound as if the team has any concerns about his Week 1 availability.
Per Vic Tafur of The Athletic (subscription required), Miller is making good progress in his rehab of the offseason surgery he underwent to address the shoulder issue. We had previously heard that Las Vegas will “manage” the blindside blocker this season to keep him healthy — presumably by limiting his workload in practice — so it should be expected that free agent acquisition Andrus Peat will take plenty of reps at LT in training camp and throughout the season, just as he did in last month’s minicamp.
The club has a fair amount of uncertainty at three of its five O-line positions. Dylan Parham, a 2022 third-rounder who has been a full-time starter during his first two years in the league, has taken the vast majority of his snaps at left guard (with generally middling results), but he will be shifitng to right guard for the upcoming season. Second-round rookie Jackson Powers-Johnson will be taking over LG duties, while 2022 seventh-rounder Thayer Munford is penciled in at right tackle. Veteran Andre James remains entrenched at the pivot.
It is a group that is relatively light on experience, making a healthy and productive campaign for Miller and James especially critical. Plus, while Miller is under contract through 2025 by virtue of the three-year, $54MM extension he signed in March 2021, there is no more guaranteed money left on his deal. If he can sustain the high level of play he has demonstrated over the past few seasons and handle a full slate of games, he will position himself nicely for a another lucrative extension.
Miller, who will turn 29 in September, was the first selection of the Raiders’ second Jon Gruden regime and was taken with the No. 15 overall pick of the 2018 draft. At the time, the choice was decried as a reach based on need, and Miller did indeed struggle in his rookie campaign. He showed marked improvement over the following two seasons, and after landing his big-money second contract, he reached new heights. From 2021-2023, Pro Football Focus assigned Miller stellar overall grades of 85.0, 84.1, and 80.2, all of which placed him inside or barely outside the league’s top 10 offensive tackles.
With the other question marks on the O-line and a relatively uninspiring quarterback situation, the Raiders will be counting on a similar showing.
Jacksonville Approves $775MM Renovation To EverBank Stadium, 30-Year Lease With Jaguars
The Jacksonville City Council recently approved $775MM in improvements to EverBank Stadium, the home of the Jaguars, as relayed by Ben Volin of the Boston Globe. Along with the funding comes a new lease tethering the Jags to Jacksonville for the next 30 years.
For those who are interested, more details on the agreement, including renderings of what the finished product will look like, can be found here. As Volin notes, one of the most notable components of the renovation will be the addition of a canopy over the field, which offers shade for fans and which can cool the stadium by as much as 15 degrees while still allowing for wind and other elements. SoFi Stadium, where the Rams and Chargers play their home games, has a similar feature.
For our purposes at PFR, the most important part of this development is the lease. Although the chatter had died down in recent years, Jaguars fans in particular will recall the persistent rumors connecting their team to a London relocation, and this lease will officially put that speculation to rest (for the next few decades, at least).
The NFL’s London games have generally been a tremendous success, and just last April, we heard that the creation of a four-team, all-European division was gaining steam among league ownership. The Jags are the only team to have their own international agreement, and they have played at least one game in London’s Wembley Stadium since 2013 (aside from the pandemic-altered year of 2020). As such, they were long considered to be the top candidate for relocation if the NFL’s goal of installing a permanent London-based outfit included relocation of a current club rather than expansion.
Plus, owner Shad Khan was at one time in talks to buy Wembley Stadium, and among his NFL owner peers, he had secured a right of first refusal with respect to a London relocation. So while Khan has consistently maintained that his goal is to keep the Jaguars in Jacksonville, it was always fair to wonder if the call of a move across the pond would prove to be too tempting.
Construction on EverBank will begin after the 2025 campaign, and the hope is that it will be completed before the 2028 seasons begins. The Jags will play at EverBank with reduced capacity (43,500) in 2026 but will need to play their U.S. home games elsewhere — Volin names Orlando and Gainesville as possibilities — in 2027.
In announcing the agreement, Jacksonville mayor Donna Deegan said it is “a historic day for our city,” and when the framework of the agreement was first announced last month, Khan said, “the belief and determination of Delores and Wayne Weaver to make the Jacksonville Jaguars a reality more than 30 years ago was reaffirmed today by the leadership of Mayor Donna Deegan, her team and the Jacksonville City Council. The message then, and now, should be clear. Never doubt Jacksonville!”
Patriots, Matt Judon Close To Extension?
Patriots edge rusher Matt Judon has one year remaining on his current contract. He is due to earn $7.5MM in 2024 and is angling for a new deal, although he has stated that he will not stage a hold-in during this summer’s training camp as he did last year.
The most recent reporting on this matter indicated that, despite extension talks between player and team having taken place this offseason, no agreement was imminent. Mike Jurecki of Arizona Football Daily, however, suggests that the two sides could be closer than expected, reporting that the league’s “next big contract” will not be for one of the quarterbacks known to be negotiating an extension — namely, Jordan Love, Tua Tagovailoa, and Dak Prescott — but for Judon.
That would certainly make for an interesting development, especially since Judon’s 2023 campaign was marred by injury. He was limited to just four games last season due to a biceps injury, and he tallied four sacks, his lowest total since his rookie season in 2016. And, without the threat of a hold-in or similar negotiating tactic, the Pats could simply allow him to play out the upcoming season before making a decision about his future in Foxborough.
On the other hand, the new Patriots regime, fronted by Eliot Wolf, has made it a point to lock down some of the club’s top talent this offseason. Judon, who is entering his age-32 season, does not necessarily profile as a long-term building block, but skilled pass rushers are a precious commodity regardless of their age, and Wolf does have plenty of future salary cap space to work with. Plus, if rookie QB Drake Maye should live up to his potential, an extension for Judon would keep him under club control for at least the first season or two of New England’s next competitive window.
Since he is coming off a down year, Judon does not have a ton of leverage at this point. Still, he has already made over $67MM during his playing career, and he could be amenable to a somewhat team-friendly accord that nonetheless guarantees him a notable sum of cash and gives him a little more security in the process. Even assuming Jurecki’s sources are correct, it is unclear what they mean by “big contract.”
P Marquette King Seeking NFL Opportunity
Marquette King has not punted for an NFL team since 2018. However, he still wants to get back in the league, and he is hopeful that a recent addition to his resume will assist him in that endeavor.
Now 35, King was named to the All-UFL team for his work with the Arlington Renegades this year, and in a post on X, he referenced that accomplishment and included a video of one of his recent punts (h/t Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk).
He wrote, “you can’t tell me that there are 32 punters better than me. All UFL Punter in a league where punting isn’t easy at all! I’m manifesting a call from an NFL team again soon… by the way what was the hang on this?”
King signed with the Raiders as an undrafted free agent in 2012 and ultimately spent his entire rookie season on injured reserve. The following summer, he beat out veteran Chris Kluwe for the club’s punter job, and he ended up leading the league with 48.9 yards per boot. His big leg and on-field celebrations made him one of the most recognizable figures in one of the least glamorous positions in sports, and he remained with the Raiders through the end of the 2017 campaign.
In January 2018, the Raiders hired Jon Gruden as their new head coach, and the club released King several months later due to a “personality clash.” King had racked up four personal foul penalties over the prior two seasons, and he was also assessed an unsportsmanlike conduct foul when dancing with a penalty flag that had been thrown against the Bills for roughing the punter.
In an effort to exact some revenge against his former employer, King quickly signed with the division-rival Broncos, whose high-altitude home venue also seemed to be a good fit for his abilities. Unfortunately, he suffered a thigh injury in a loss to the Chiefs in Week 4 of the 2018 season, and then-HC Vance Joseph called him out for what he perceived to be a lackluster performance in that contest, a performance that Joseph did not attribute to the injury. It was reported at the time that King would be placed on IR but would be released when healthy, and that is indeed what came to pass.
That Kansas City game is the last NFL contest in which King appeared. Over his four-game 2018 sample, his 44.1 yards-per-punt average was 22nd in the league, though he had already placed seven kicks inside the 20, which put him just outside the top-10 in that regard. While he did generate some free agent interest over the next couple of years, none of that interest produced a contract. It appears his last workout for an NFL team came in November 2020, when he visited the Cowboys.
In light of that, it is difficult to say whether he will land an opportunity with an NFL club, but he’s making his case just the same.
Latest On Falcons’ CB2 Competition
The Falcons have AJ Terrell entrenched as their top starting cornerback outside the numbers, but the competition for Atlanta’s other starting boundary CB job was one of the club’s key storylines in the spring. That battle will continue into training camp, as Josh Kendall of The Athletic details (subscription required).
One of the two primary combatants is Clark Phillips III, a 2023 fourth-rounder who flashed in his rookie campaign but who also dealt with the growing pains generally expected of a Day 3 rookie. In 11 games (five starts), Phillips yielded a fairly low QB rating of 88.8 and recorded five passes defensed, but Pro Football Focus assigned him a mediocre overall grade of 59.0, making him the 85th-best CB out of 127 qualified players. Kendall observes that Phillips’ struggles are at least partly due to his 5-9 stature, which does work against him in his efforts to earn a boundary gig.
Mike Hughes, meanwhile, is a former first-round pick of the Vikings who has never quite lived up to his draft status. He signed a two-year contract with the Falcons last March, making Atlanta his fourth team since turning pro in 2018. His first year with the club did not go particularly well, and he actually finished 21 spots below Phillips in terms of PFF grades. Most of his action came at the nickel, but with Dee Alford having impressed with his more extensive slot work last season, it seems that Hughes will have to return to a boundary role to maintain significant playing time.
Of course, the Falcons could still make an addition to the CB room, which Kendall does not rule out. He does not say that the team is actively looking to make such a move, though perhaps that will change if neither Hughes nor Phillips get out to a good start in training camp. Stephon Gilmore is one of the players who remains available on the free agent market.
Phillips got plenty of first-team reps during OTAs as Terrell dealt with a hamstring issue. As Amna Subhan of the Falcons’ official website writes, both Phillips and Hughes saw time with the starting defense during mandatory minicamp.
Hughes, now 27, is in a platform season and could position himself nicely for another multi-year deal if he can beat out his younger counterpart and perform well for what could be a playoff-bound club in 2024.
Darren Waller Discusses Decision To Retire
Former Ravens, Raiders, and Giants wide receiver/tight end Darren Waller — who was just acquired by New York via trade last March — retired earlier this month. When detailing that story, we at PFR cited a report from Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, who noted that Waller had informed the Giants of his retirement.
Around the same time, Waller also posted a nearly 18-minute video on YouTube in which he explained the reasoning behind his decision. The entire video is worth a watch, though one of the most notable segments is Waller’s revelation that he was hospitalized in November. He started to feel feverish while driving home and thought he may have contracted COVID-19 for a third time, and when he arrived at his apartment, he said be began to shake and lose consciousness.
“I kept nodding [off] and couldn’t breathe, so I ended up calling 911,” he said (h/t Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post). “I think I’m talking clearly on the phone, but they can’t make out much of what I’m saying.”
While waiting for paramedics to arrive, he said, “I’m there breathing deeply and in between each breath, I’m yelling out, ‘Help!’ So maybe I could wake the neighbors up. I don’t know how long the time was — it felt like forever — and I’m like, ‘Damn, I’m dying on this couch and nobody knows.’ It was kind of similar to my overdose — like the power plug being pulled out and I couldn’t breathe anymore.”
Ultimately, Waller said he spent over three days in the hospital, and during that time, he was unable to stand up, use the bathroom, or feed himself. His struggle with substance abuse early in his professional career is well-documented and is one of the reasons why his becoming one of the league’s best receiving tight ends was so remarkable, and he indicated that he has maintained his sobriety. Of his November health scare, he said, “it was an experience that would sober somebody up and make them think, at least.”
When speaking about his football career, Waller said that, “the passion has slowly been fading,” which echoes the sentiments he voiced when addressing a potential retirement decision in March. At that time, he said, “if you’re not fully bought into every single thing of the process, it’s going to be tough. I feel like at the end of the day, you’re doing guys a disservice if you’re not all the way in.”
Likewise, during an interview with TMZ Sports shortly after he announced his retirement, he said, “I reached a point where I don’t have that 100 percent to give to the process, I don’t think that’s fair to teammates, or fans, or organizations that are expecting me to give that. That’s why I came to the decision I made.”
Waller, who will turn 32 in September, also revealed plans for a music career, and he and WNBA star Kelsey Plum filed a joint petition for divorce in April after just one year of marriage, per Jenna Lemoncelli of the New York Post. His waning passion for football, his desire to explore other pursuits, and the upheaval in his personal life may all have been contributing factors in his decision to leave the game, with the frightening medical episode sealing the deal.
“I don’t know if I really feel like I would’ve felt great about how my life was going if I died at the time,” he said.
As such, Waller was better able to walk away from the nearly $12MM he could have earned in the 2024 season, which we referenced in our original story on his retirement and which Dan Duggan of The Athletic discussed in more detail.
As Duggan notes, if Waller had been on the Giants’ roster on Week 1 — and he surely would have been, considering his abilities and the shape of the club’s TE depth chart behind him — his $10.5MM base salary for 2024 would have become guaranteed. He could have earned an additional $200K for participating in New York’s offseason program and $75K for each game that he was active.
On top of that, Waller said in his retirement video that he believes he owes the Giants $750K in bonus money stemming from his 2023 restructure. According to Duggan, $8.8MM of Waller’s $9.8MM base salary for 2023 was converted into a bonus for cap purposes, and the remaining $1MM was paid to Waller in the form of a signing bonus. However, Duggan says the Giants are unlikely to pursue the $750K proration from that $1MM payout.
Waller, who indicated he will continue serving as a mental health and addiction advocate, said, “thank you to the Giants. Welcomed me in, making me feel like family and giving me an opportunity to reflect in this time and make a decision.”
Vikings LB Ivan Pace “Top Contender” To Serve As Defensive Signal-Caller
The defensive signal-caller in a Brian Flores-coordinated defense is especially important to the success of the unit, given how much Flores likes to rotate most of his personnel. At present, second-year linebacker Ivan Pace appears to be the “top contender” to serve in that role for the Vikings in 2024, per ESPN.
That should not come as much of a surprise. Even as an undrafted rookie, Pace took over green dot responsibilities when veteran Jordan Hicks was forced to miss four games with a leg injury last season, and he played in 100% of Minnesota’s defensive snaps during that time. In all, he appeared in all 17 contests (11 starts) and racked up 102 total tackles to go along with 2.5 sacks and an interception.
Pace’s surface-level production is impressive enough for any rookie, but especially a UDFA. Those numbers were supported by a similarly strong showing in the advanced metrics world, as Pro Football Focus considered him the 16th-best linebacker out of 82 qualifiers and thought especially highly of his work in coverage. With Hicks having signed with the Browns in free agency, Pace seems like the most logical candidate to step in as the full-time signal-caller on defense.
That said, the Vikings did authorize a notable contract for linebacker Blake Cashman in March, and they also signed Kamu Grugier-Hill, who has 115 games and 42 starts on his resume. Those acquisitions were part of a defensive overhaul that saw the team part ways with star pass rusher Danielle Hunter while adding the likes of Cashman, Grugier-Hill, Jonathan Greenard, Andrew Van Ginkel, Jihad Ward, and Jerry Tillery to the front seven. Minnesota also selected prized prospect Dallas Turner in the first round of April’s draft.
The ESPN report indicates that the team is considering Cashman and Grugier-Hill for the green dot role, but it would nonetheless seem that Pace, in light of his rookie-year performance and the fact that he handled those duties last season, would have a leg up.
Said head coach Kevin O’Connell, “[Pace] has had a very good spring, just with the type of communication [Flores] is putting on his plate.”
Pace himself said, “I know they brought in a couple linebackers that have more experience and stuff, but if they trust me enough to have the green dot, I’m ready for it.”
Undrafted free agents are signed to three-year contracts, as opposed to the four-year pacts that their drafted counterparts receive. As such, UDFAs become extension-eligible after accruing just two years of service time, so if Pace can build on his 2023 showing, he could be in line for a noteworthy pay raise next offseason.
LB Shaquille Leonard Hoping To Continue Playing Career
Things change quickly in the NFL. At the end of the 2021 season, linebacker Shaquille Leonard was at the peak of his game, having earned Pro Bowl and/or First-Team All-Pro acclaim in each of his first four seasons in the league. Several years later, it sounds like a real possibility that the decorated defender will not play another snap.
Last night, Leonard attended a fundraiser in Carmel, Indiana for his Maniac Foundation. The event was sponsored by the Colts, for whom Leonard starred for four years before back issues upended his career. Indianapolis, which had signed Leonard to a five-year, $99.25MM extension in August 2021, waived him in November 2023, and he finished out last season with the Eagles after he cleared waivers.
Speaking at his foundation’s event, Leonard said he wants to continue his playing career and is working to make that a reality, but he is also content if that does not happen.
“I’m moreso just sitting back, getting the body healthy, and whenever the opportunity presents itself, we’ll give it a try,” he said (via Kyle Smedley of the Indianapolis Star). “I just continue to be me by working hard. If it happens, it happens. If it don’t, it don’t. I think throughout my career I’ve had a great career, even if I do step away from it. … I’m enjoying life and just waiting on that opportunity.”
Although he ultimately played in 14 games (12 starts) in 2023 after seeing action in just three contests the year before, he was clearly not the same player that landed the record-setting extension. Before the Colts cut him, he had logged a 70% snap share, which was by far his lowest mark for a full campaign. He then appeared in just 47% of Philadelphia’s defensive snaps over the club’s final five games of the season, which led to questions about his ability to regain his prior form.
In addition, Pro Football Focus assigned him a middling overall grade of 62.8 for his 2023 performance, which positioned him as the 53rd-best ‘backer out of 82 qualifiers. That was a far cry from his halcyon days of 2018-21, when he consistently graded out as a top-10 LB in the eyes of PFF’s metrics. He recorded 88 total tackles without a forced fumble or pass defensed, and he yielded a career-worst 123.8 quarterback rating in coverage.
Given his pedigree and age — he will turn 29 in July — it would not be surprising to see a team take a flier on him as the summer progresses (though there has been no reported interest in his services this offseason). A longtime friend said Leonard told him that he currently feels as healthy as he did in his rookie season, and according to the same friend, the father of one-month-old Darius Shaquille Leonard, Jr. would like to see the word “Senior” on the back of his NFL jersey. It remains to be seen if he will get that chance.
Latest On Dolphins RB De’Von Achane’s 2024 Role
The Dolphins signed accomplished wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. this offseason to serve as a complement to Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, and the team may also be getting increased WR reps from a somewhat unliklier in-house source. As David Furones of the South Florida Sun Sentinel details, the ‘Fins appear to be making a concerted effort to get second-year running back De’Von Achane more looks as a wideout.
Given Achane’s remarkable rookie season in 2023, in which he accumulated 800 rushing yards on just 103 carries, it makes sense that Miami would want to get the Texas A&M product the ball as much as possible and in as many ways as possible. Head coach Mike McDaniel, who believes the “sophmore slump” is a real phenomenon, said, “a lot of times, if you have success as a rookie, you go one of two ways. You’re either starved for more or you can get kind of comfortable. … You get out what you put in, and I think [Achane is] aware of that because nobody wants to have the climax of their career be the first year.”
To that end, Achane himself said that one of his primary goals this offseason was to improve his route-running so he could get more burn in the passing game, and he spoke about his work as a receiver during the Dolphins’ spring practices.
“Just me lining up at different positions, as far as like receiver, running routes and stuff,” he said. “That’s something that we’re doing different this year, so that’s something that I’ve been doing in the offseason.”
To be clear, Achane did see a fair amount of action from receiver positions in 2023. Of the 323 offensive snaps that Pro Football Focus credited him with last season, 73 of them came in the slot and 33 came outside the numbers. Jared Dubin of CBS Sports breaks down those figures a bit further, noting that while Achane would still receive handoffs when lined up as a receiver, he was also targeted on 21 passes and caught 16 of them for 122 yards. He finished the season with 1.58 yards per route run, which is 0.6 yards more than the the league-wide average for RBs lining up somewhere other than the backfield.
It therefore stands to reason that Achane would want to continue honing his receiving abilities, especially since his size (5-9, 188) precludes him from being a bell-cow back. His explosiveness — his 7.8 yards-per-carry average is a Super Bowl-era record for any RB with at least 100 rushes — makes him a formidable weapon no matter how he gets the ball.
“He had outstanding ball production. … To find different ways to get people the ball, whether that’s different types of pass routes, whether that’s different types of run schemes that you can get comfortable with, all those things. More ways to be at the point of attack to play within this offense, that’s what this offseason really provides for him,” McDaniel said.
Achane’s other main goal this offseason was to get stronger to better withstand the physicality of the NFL. He spent time on IR last year with a knee injury, and creating opportunities for him in space on the other side of opposing defensive lines should increase his chances of remaining healthy while also allowing him and fellow RB Raheem Mostert, a dynamic back in his own right, to be on the field at the same time.