Chiefs HC Andy Reid To Return In 2024
FEBRUARY 12: When speaking after Sunday’s victory, Reid confirmed he will indeed remain in place for 2024. As he foreshadowed last month, tight end Travis Kelce also stated he will play a 12th campaign in Kansas City, which comes as little surprise. Reid, Kelce and Co. are certainly well-positioned to contend for a third straight Super Bowl next season as they aim to continue building their respective legacies.
FEBRUARY 11: Andy Reid retirement rumors are becoming something of an annual tradition. Prior to Super Bowl LVII last February, the Chiefs’ head coach was non-committal about his future, and we heard just last month that the team had a potential Reid retirement on its radar.
However, ESPN’s Dan Graziano’s sources say they would be surprised if Reid walked away (subscription required). Now 65, Reid said in July 2020 that he would be open to coaching into his 70s, and at that time, quarterback Patrick Mahomes said Reid told him that he plans on remaining with KC for the duration of Mahomes’ thru-2031 contract.
In July 2020, Reid and Mahomes were coming off their first AFC championship and first Super Bowl victory. Since then, they have won three more AFC titles and one more Lombardi Trophy, and they will have the chance to secure their third Super Bowl ring today. Their run to Super Bowl LVIII has been perhaps their most impressive championship pursuit yet, as the offense rarely looked like its usual explosive self throughout the 2023 regular season. A top-flight defense, coupled with just enough flashes of brilliance from Mahomes — who muddled through the worst statistical season of his career — was ultimately enough to will the Chiefs to yet another title game.
Graziano does expect the Chiefs to address their HC’s contract this offseason. The belief is that Reid is presently earning $12MM per year, while AFC West rivals Sean Payton and Jim Harbaugh earn (or will earn) salaries of $17MM and $16MM, respectively. Given Reid’s tremendous success during his Kansas City tenure — he has a 128-51 regular season record and a 15-7 playoff mark to go along with his two Super Bowl wins — it stands to reason that he should not be the third-highest-paid coach in his own division.
Of course, when Reid joined the Chiefs in 2013, he did so with a reputation as an offensive mastermind and a terrific head coach who was perhaps not quite good enough to win a championship. During his stint as the Eagles’ HC from 1999-2012, Reid guided Philadelphia to the NFC championship five times but advanced to the Super Bowl just once, and that appearance ended with a difficult loss to the Patriots. After his club failed to qualify for the playoffs at all in 2011 and 2012, Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie had run out of patience, as Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer recalls.
Reid’s contract with Philadelphia was not renewed following the 2012 campaign, but if he had stayed, Reid likely would have been forced to cede his personnel authority to Howie Roseman, who had become the club’s general manager several years prior. Obviously, the change of scenery (along with the drafting of Mahomes) ultimately proved to be the right call for Reid, though the Eagles — who won their first Super Bowl at the end of the 2017 season and who nearly toppled Reid’s Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII last year — also found some success in their post-Reid era.
Patriots Reportedly Open To Trading No. 3 Pick; Team Expected To Seek Mac Jones Trade
After seeing Mac Jones regress from Offensive Rookie of the Year runner-up in 2021 to third-string quarterback by the end of the 2023 campaign, the Patriots, in the first year of the post-Bill Belichick era, are widely expected to select a signal-caller in the upcoming draft. With Caleb Williams likely to be the No. 1 overall pick, New England will have at least one of Drake Maye or Jayden Daniels to choose from when it is on the clock with the No. 3 overall selection. However, ESPN’s Dan Graziano hears that the Pats are open to trading that pick and acquiring more assets to restock a generally weak roster (subscription required).
In that scenario, New England would look to free agency for a quarterback. Kirk Cousins and Baker Mayfield presently top the free agent QB class, though both players could re-sign with their current clubs before the legal tampering period opens. If that happens, the Pats would be picking from a number of backup or bridge types like Ryan Tannehill, Jameis Winston, and Drew Lock (it should be noted that Russell Wilson is also likely to hit the open market in short order).
A team like New England that is probably at least a year away from contention may be perfectly willing to roll with a stopgap option for one season if that strategy allows them to supplement other areas of need. On the other hand, the 2025 class of collegiate QBs is not shaping up to be an inspiring one, so selecting a player like Maye or Daniels now may prove to be the Patriots’ best course of action, even if the bottom-heavy 2025 crop increases the value of the No. 3 pick in 2024.
If new personnel chief Eliot Wolf and new head coach Jerod Mayo ultimately decide that a trade down makes more sense, then Graziano expects the Falcons, who presently hold the No. 8 overall pick, and the Vikings (No. 11 overall) to have interest. Atlanta, which came close to hiring Belichick as its new HC, has plenty of non-QB talent and could be a quarterback away from being a legitimate contender (though team brass is currently undecided on how it will go about upgrading the position). Minnesota, meanwhile, has already been mentioned as a trade-up candidate, and if the team is unable to agree to a new deal with Cousins by the start of the 2024 league year on March 13, it will be saddled with a $28.5MM dead money charge. Per Graziano, there are some within the Vikes organization that are particularly keen on pairing Daniels with fellow LSU product Justin Jefferson, so New England and Minnesota could line up on a trade if the reigning Heisman Trophy winner is not selected with one of the first two picks in the draft. The Vikings having their QB1 on a rookie deal would certainly help ease the sting of a Cousins departure and his dead money parting gift.
In a piece detailing the quarterback situations of a number of clubs, the NFL.com trio of Ian Rapoport, Tom Pelissero, and Mike Garafolo believe that the Patriots will try to trade Jones in the coming weeks. The relationship between Belichick and Jones deteriorated over Jones’ first three years in the league, and although Belichick is gone, New England’s new power brokers are seemingly prepared for some sort of reset at the position. Indeed, a change of scenery may benefit both parties.
Mark Daniels of MassLive.com, in an article that is well-worth a read for Pats fans in particular, notes that Jones was (understandably) frustrated with Belichick’s decision to hire Matt Patricia as a replacement for Josh McDaniels in 2022 and to shift to an offensive system different than the one in which Jones thrived in his rookie season. Jones’ resistance to those changes angered Belichick, and the HC-QB dynamic went downhill from there.
Hiring Bill O’Brien as offensive coordinator in 2023 did not yield the results that the team hoped for, and Mark Daniels reports that New England staff did not view Jones as a strong enough leader, believing instead that the third-year passer simply “wanted to be one of the guys.” Plus, when the Pats’ offense sputtered, Jones began to freelance and play outside of O’Brien’s system, and as Mike Giardi of the Boston Sports Journal observes, Jones simply lost the locker room.
After he was benched in favor of Bailey Zappe, Jones watched every NFL game he ever played in to see what went wrong, and he ultimately acknowledged that his improvisational tactics were a major reason for the offense’s struggles. Given his status as a 2021 first-rounder and the potential he showed that season, Jones may draw some trade interest, but as Mark Daniels unsurprisingly reports, the Patriots will not exercise Jones’ fifth-year option if he is still on the club by the May 2 deadline to pick up or decline those options.
Eagles Grant Haason Reddick Permission To Seek Trade
The Eagles have given edge rusher Haason Reddick permission to seek a trade, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. Reddick is owed a $14.25MM salary in 2024, the last year of his current deal.
Reddick, 29, was selected by the Cardinals in the first round of the 2017 draft, and he had an inauspicious start to his career, struggling through several underwhelming years as an off-ball linebacker. When Chandler Jones went down with a season-ending bicep injury in 2020, Reddick convinced Arizona’s coaching staff to let him take Jones’ place as a pass rusher. After all, Reddick had thrived in that role in college, but he was considered too small for it at the professional level. The move paid major dividends, as Reddick racked up 12.5 sacks that season and parlayed his success into a one-year, $6MM deal with the Panthers in 2021.
Reddick compiled 11 sacks in his first and only season in Charlotte, at which point it became clear that his Cardinals breakout was no fluke. That convinced the Eagles to hand him a three-year, $45MM contract in 2022, and he followed up a 16-sack performance that year with another 11-sack effort in 2023. He has made the Pro Bowl in both of his first two seasons in Philadelphia.
As Eliot Shorr-Parks of 94WIP.com observes, Reddick’s contract has been an “issue” for over a year. After his tremendous 2022 campaign, in which he finished fourth in Defensive Player of the Year voting, both player and team knew that Reddick was underpaid relative to his market value. Reddick, however, did not hold out for a new contract, and the Eagles did not explore one either (which is understandable, as he was just one year into a three-year accord). Now, it is clear that Reddick wants to be paid like the elite player he is, and with 11 edge defenders enjoying AAVs of at least $20MM, that would seem like the floor in negotiations with Philadelphia or any other club.
Of course, as both Shorr-Parks and Zach Berman of PHLY observe, allowing Reddick to shop himself does not necessarily mean that his time with the Eagles is up. Ultimately, Philadelphia simply may not like any trade offers enough to deal a top player at a premium position, but if the Eagles do decide to retain Reddick, Berman believes GM Howie Roseman will authorize a new contract rather than let a disgruntled player finish out his below-market deal. Berman adds that Roseman’s decision will be influenced, at least to some degree, by the presence of Josh Sweat, who is also entering a platform year.
In addition to his production over the past four seasons, Reddick has also proven to be highly durable, having missed one game in seven professional seasons (h/t Berman). Although he will be 30 in September, it would not be surprising to see other teams pony up significant trade compensation along with a contract that would position Reddick among his highest-paid peers.
Tom Brady’s Ownership Interest In Raiders Cleared For Approval
It was first reported back in May that Tom Brady had agreed to buy a stake in the Raiders. The approval of that transaction was delayed for multiple reasons, but according to Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero of NFL.com, all systems are go.
Other league owners reportedly took issue with the bargain price at which Raiders owner Mark Davis was trying to sell a share of his club to Brady. Although minority pieces of a sports franchise are frequently sold for discounted rates — due to limited partners’ minimal contributions to franchise operations — it was rumored that Davis may have been offering Brady, one of his most-respected confidants, a 70% discount.
It sounds as if the purchase price was increased to placate Davis’ fellow owners. Per Rapoport and Pelissero, Brady’s investment was “recently altered,” and it now reflects “the proper valuation of the team.” The duo add that all other hurdles have been cleared. The league’s finance committee will meet in early March to discuss the purchase, and final approval should come during the annual league meetings in Orlando from March 24-27.
Another concern that arose during this process stemmed from Brady’s broadcasting contract with FOX, a 10-year, $375MM deal that will begin in 2024 and that will position Brady as the network’s No. 1 color commentator alongside top play-by-play man Kevin Burkhardt. Of course, teams do not want anyone with an ownership stake in a rival outfit having the access and obtaining the inside information that broadcasters often enjoy, but Rapoport and Pelissero note that Brady’s FOX plans remain unchanged without suggesting that his access wil be any different than any of his media peers.
The Raiders are valued at $5.8 billion, and Brady’s ownership group is purchasing a 10% interest (Brady himself is putting up roughly seven percent). While the legendary QB has said he intends to play a “passive role,” Rapoport and Pelissero confirm that he has operated as an unofficial advisor to Davis — he assisted in the team’s recent head coaching search and in the hiring of OC Luke Getsy — so his definition of “passive” may be a broad one.
QB Tua Tagovailoa Expects To Remain With Dolphins Long-Term
Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is under club control through 2024 by virtue of the fifth-year option on his rookie contract, but he anticipates being with the team for the foreseeable future. When asked at a Pro Bowl practice last week if he believes he and Miami will ultimately come to terms on a long-term deal, Tagovailoa said, “I believe that will happen” (via Joe Schad of the Palm Beach Post).
In 2022, Mike McDaniel‘s first year as the Dolphins’ head coach, Tagovailoa was mostly terrific, as he led the league in quarterback rating (105.5), TD% (6.3%), and yards per attempt (8.9). Unfortunately, that season was also marred by several frightening concussions, and it was reported last August that the team would be tabling contract talks with the former first-rounder.
Tagovailoa managed to stay healthy for the entirety of the 2023 campaign, and although his interception percentage increased, he did lead the league in passing yards (4,624) while posting a 101.1 QB rating en route to his first Pro Bowl nod.
“My main goal this year was to play, you know, 17-plus games and I was able to accomplish that goal and just very fortunate that I was able to do that and very happy too,” Tagovailoa said.
Following consecutive seasons of high-end play, including a 2023 season that featured perfect attendance, it makes sense that the Dolphins would want to explore a multiyear deal with the southpaw passer sooner rather than later, especially since the quarterback market continues to surge with no ceiling in sight. Indeed, as Schad notes, GM Chris Grier recently said he wants to keep Tagovailoa in the fold for the long haul.
It is worth noting that Tagovailoa struggled in last season’s most meaningful games. Although he got off to a fast start in a Week 17 game in Baltimore, a contest in which control of the AFC’s No. 1 seed was on the line, Tagovailoa and his offense soon faltered, and he ultimately completed 22 of 38 passes for two TDs against two interceptions in a 56-19 blowout loss to the Ravens. That took the AFC’s top seed off the table, but the ‘Fins still had the chance to secure the AFC East title and a home playoff game if they could defeat the Bills in the regular season finale in South Beach.
Tagovailoa struggled in that contest as well, and the Dolphins’ loss to Buffalo forced the team to open the playoffs on the road against the eventual-AFC champion Chiefs. On a frigid Kansas City night in January, Tagovailoa again failed to muster much production, completing 20 of 39 passes for a paltry 199 yards (53 of which came on one throw), one TD, and one interception.
The Dolphins’ meek exit from the playoff field and Tagovailoa’s poor performance down the stretch led to renewed questions about his future in Miami, though player and team both apparently expect to continue their relationship for some time. However, with the Alabama product due a below-market $23.17MM salary on his fifth-year option in 2024, and controllable via the franchise tag in 2025, there is not necessarily any urgency — aside from the rising QB market referenced above — to get something done right now.
Spotrac estimates that Tagovailoa could land a six-year contract worth just over $300MM if he were currently on the open market.
Ravens To Let LB Patrick Queen Hit Open Market?
Two of the Ravens’ Pro Bowl defenders, defensive lineman Justin Madubuike and inside linebacker Patrick Queen, are due to hit free agency next month. As Baltimore appears likely to put the franchise tag on Madubuike, there may not be enough cap room to give Queen the type of contract he would command on the open market, and GM Eric DeCosta recently suggested that Queen would get the chance to see what the market has in store for him.
“Patrick had an amazing season,” DeCosta said at his end-of-season presser, via Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic (subscription required). “I love Patrick. He’s one of my favorite guys on the team. He’s put himself in a great position, potentially, to hit the market and see what his value is. You never know.”
The Ravens selected Queen in the first round of the 2020 draft. While the LSU product flashed at times during his first several years in the league, he did not truly break out until Baltimore acquired fellow inside ‘backer Roquan Smith at the 2022 trade deadline. With the elite Smith as a running mate, Queen finally began living up to his draft status and excelled down the stretch of the 2022 campaign. Baltimore nonetheless declined the fifth-year option on Queen’s rookie deal, and extension talks between player and team failed to produce an agreement, which led to some frustration on Queen’s part and which turned 2023 into a platform year.
Although Queen was named a trade candidate in the run-up to last year’s draft and over the summer, the Ravens elected to let him finish out his rookie contract, to the benefit of both parties. In 17 games (all starts) in 2023, Queen set a career-high with 133 tackles and graded out as the 23rd-best linebacker in the league (eight spots behind Smith) per Pro Football Focus. In the process, he earned the first Pro Bowl bid of his career and set himself up nicely for a lucrative contract in his first foray into free agency.
Given that the Ravens committed a five-year, $100MM contract to Smith last January, it was always unlikely that they would authorize a contract for Queen commensurate with his market value (which Spotrac estimates is $18.5MM/year). That is especially true given the franchise’s penchant for drafting and developing quality ILB talent, and 2023 third-rounder Trenton Simpson is in line to take over Queen’s role should the latter find a new employer in 2024.
DeCosta obviously did not rule out a reunion with Queen, but unless his market does not develop as expected, the 24-year-old may have played his last snap for the Ravens.
Latest On Geno Smith’s Future With Seahawks
According to ESPN’s Brady Henderson, it is not certain that quarterback Geno Smith will be back with the Seahawks in 2024. After all, longtime head coach Pete Carroll — who was one of Smith’s biggest champions and who frequently deflected blame away from the veteran passer — has been shifted to an advisory role. GM John Schneider now holds final say over personnel matters, and his evaluation of Smith’s performance is not as glowing as Carroll’s was.
“I think Geno had a good season,” Schneider said last month. “It was a little bit opposite of [2022]. He started out real strong last year and things dipped a little bit the second half. And then I thought this year he started out not quite as strong as last year and then finished in a real strong manner.”
Henderson, whose piece was published before Seattle hired Mike Macdonald as its new head coach, noted that Schneider would of course discuss Smith’s future with his new HC. At his introductory press conference, Macdonald offered praise for Smith, saying that he has “great respect” for him.
“We’ve played against Geno,” Macdonald added (via the team’s official website). “He’s a really good player. I’m pretty sure he’s at the Pro Bowl right now. We’re going to build around the quarterback. You’ve got to.”
At the risk of inferring meaning where there is none, Macdonald did not explicitly commit to Smith as the quarterback around whom the Seahawks would be building, and the team is still in search of a new offensive coordinator, who will also have input into the matter. That said, Henderson suggests Smith has a good chance to return as Seattle’s QB1.
If the team chooses to go in a different direction, Henderson believes a trade is more likely than a release. Smith’s $12.7MM salary for 2024, currently guaranteed for injury only, converts to a full guarantee on February 16. That is effectively the deadline to cut Smith, but not necessarily to trade him. He is not due his $9.6MM roster bonus until March 17 — the fifth day of the new league year — and by that time, the team will have had the chance to explore the quarterback options it might have in this year’s draft (to say nothing of getting some sort of trade compensation from an acquiring club).
As Schneider observed, Smith performed well down the stretch of the 2023 season, although he was unable to match the overall production of his breakout 2022 performance. In 2022, Smith led the league in completion percentage (69.8) and threw for 30 TDs against 11 interceptions, which amounted to a 100.9 quarterback rating and 62.8 QBR. In two fewer games in 2023, the former second-round pick of the Jets completed 64.7% of his passes for 20 touchdowns and nine picks, leading to a quarterback rating of 92.1 and a QBR of 59.5. If Macdonald & Co. can help Smith marry the first half of his 2022 campaign with the second half of his 2023 season, they may be on to something.
Although he is due to hit free agency in March, Drew Lock would be the most likely candidate to assume the QB1 job — at least in the short-term — if the Seahawks were to part ways with Smith. Schneider has long been high on the 27-year-old, who was a key part of the return in the 2022 blockbuster that sent Russell Wilson from Seattle to the Broncos, but as Henderson writes, Lock being retained as the starter would indicate that the ‘Hawks view 2024 as a retooling year, which is inconsistent with Schneider’s belief that his club is “on the cusp” of serious championship contention.
As Armando Salguero of Outkick.com wrote at the end of December, Lock views himself as a starter and will seek such an opportunity if he hits the open market. In two starts in relief of an injured Smith in 2023, Lock completed 68.8% of his passes for three TDs and two interceptions. He went 1-1 in those contests, with the one victory coming on an impressive late-game drive against the Eagles in Week 15.
Smith is under club control through 2025 and is due to carry a $31.2MM cap charge this year. Henderson suggests that, if the Seahawks move forward with Smith, they could look to convert some of his salary and/or roster bonus into a signing bonus to reduce that number.
Bills GM: “I Don’t Think You’re Going To See Any Splashes” In Free Agency; Latest On Team’s Top FAs
Bills GM Brandon Beane, echoing the remarks he made in the 2023 offseason, said that his club is unlikely to hand out any especially lucrative contracts in free agency this year. As Joe Buscaglia of The Athletic (subscription required) observes, Buffalo is projected to be roughly $49MM over the 2024 salary cap, which obviously puts a damper on the team’s spending ability.
“I don’t think you’re going to see any splashes,” Beane said. “Even if I found something that was exciting to me, I don’t think it would fit within our cap parameters. I think everyone needs to understand that we’re going to be shopping at some of those same stores we were shopping last year. We’re not going to be on Main Street of New York City or whatever all those high-end shopping centers are. It’s not feasible to where we’re at.”
In Buscaglia’s view, the only surefire way to alleviate the Bills’ cap problems would be to undergo a full roster overhaul as they did in 2017 — the year before quarterback Josh Allen was drafted — and 2018. However, with a star QB like Allen in place, the team is not going to punt on a season just to get right with the salary cap, as Buscaglia opines.
As a result, Buffalo will not be able to swim in the deep end of the free agency pool, and the team may also be forced to part with some of its own top free agents. Indeed, Buscaglia expects most of Buffalo’s high-profile FAs to at least test the open market.
That list includes wide receiver Gabe Davis, who emerged as a key big-play threat for Allen after being selected by the Bills in the fourth round of the 2020 draft. Over his four-year tenure in western New York, Davis posted 27 touchdowns and a 16.7 yards-per-reception rate (though that comes with a modest 54.5% catch percentage, which is typical for a home run hitter). Unfortunately, Davis was forced to sit out the Bills’ two playoff contests at the end of the 2023 campaign due to a PCL injury sustained in the regular season finale against the Dolphins, and even before that happened, 2022 fifth-rounder Khalil Shakir had shown an ability to serve as a capable, cost-controlled complement to Stefon Diggs.
Davis, who will turn 25 in April, confirmed that he plans to test free agency next month (via ESPN’s Alaina Getzenberg). He suggested that he would be receptive to a new deal with the Bills, but he said that there were no extension talks between him and the club last season.
Notably, while Davis’ injury was originally classified as a PCL sprain, Ryan O’Halloran of the Buffalo News says that the UCF product actually suffered a torn PCL. There is presently no indication as to whether that ailment will impact Davis’ free agent prospects.
Defensive tackle DaQuan Jones, meanwhile, is one of a number of Bills defensive linemen who are out of contract, and like Davis, he said he has not had any talks with the club about a new deal (as relayed by Buscaglia). Jones signed a two-year, $14MM contract with Buffalo in March 2022, and after playing 16 regular season contests in his first year with the team, he was limited to seven games in 2023 thanks to the pectoral injury he sustained in Week 5. The 32-year-old veteran, who has been a consistently strong and mostly durable starter throughout his career, returned to play the final two games of the regular season and both of Buffalo’s postseason matchups, and he said he is looking forward to his return to the open market.
Jones’ fellow DT Jordan Phillips, on the other hand, is considering retirement, per O’Halloran. Phillips, who stepped into the starting lineup following Jones’ injury, suffered a dislocated wrist in a Week 15 win over the Cowboys and ended the season on IR as a result. Now 31, Phillips enjoyed his finest season as a member of the Bills in 2017, posting 9.5 sacks over 16 games (nine starts). He parlayed that performance into a lucrative three-year contract with the Cardinals the following offseason, but his time in the desert was marred by injury, and he was released in March 2022. He has spent the last two seasons back in Buffalo, but he conceded that “this might be it” for his playing career.
Safety Micah Hyde may also hang up the cleats, as Mark Gaughan of the Buffalo News reports. Hyde, a Packers draftee who began a long and productive stint as a member of the Bills in 2017, played in 14 games in 2023 after being limited to just two contests the year before as a result of a neck injury. In the view of Pro Football Focus, he was not quite as sharp as he had been throughout most of his time in Buffalo, though he was still an above-average defender.
Hyde, 33, said he had no issues with his surgically-repaired neck over the first half of the 2023 season, but he sustained a stinger in Week 9 and another in Week 14, and he conceded that it was a difficult year for him physically. Although he has medical clearance to play, he has not yet decided if he wants to do so.
The Bills also have several key edge rushers on expiring contracts: Leonard Floyd and A.J. Epenesa. Floyd, who signed a one-year contract with the team in June, posted 10.5 sacks in his first Buffalo season, the fourth consecutive year in which he has recorded at least nine sacks. As he prepares for his age-32 campaign, Floyd acknowledged that he will follow the money in free agency, though he still wants to sign with a contender.
Of all of the soon-to-be FAs mentioned above, it could be that Epenesa has the best chance to return to the Bills. The 2020 second-rounder has posted 6.5 sacks in back-to-back seasons, and as ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler writes in a subscribers-only piece, Buffalo — in keeping with its usual desire to retain homegrown talent — may talk extension with Epenesa before free agency opens.
Lions, QB Jared Goff Expected To Finalize Extension In Offseason
Lions QB Jared Goff is under contract through 2024, but the team remains interested in a long-term arrangement. Per Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network (video link), the Lions and Goff are expected to come together this offseason to discuss an extension that will make Goff one of the highest-paid quarterbacks in the league.
Goff was selected by the Rams with the No. 1 overall pick of the 2016 draft, and he struggled in his rookie season under then-HC Jeff Fisher. Of course, Sean McVay‘s hiring in 2017 proved to be one of the best decisions in team history, and for a time, McVay and Goff enjoyed a productive partnership.
Over the 2017-18 campaigns, Goff posted a 24-7 record while throwing for 60 touchdowns against just 19 interceptions. He earned Pro Bowl acclaim in both of those years and guided the the Rams to a Super Bowl appearance at the end of the 2018 season, which prompted Los Angeles to hand him a four-year, $134MM extension a few months later.
Unfortunately, Goff regressed over the next two seasons, and after the Rams were bounced from the playoffs at the conclusion of the 2020 season, McVay was notably non-committal on Goff’s future with the club. Shortly thereafter, the Rams traded Goff to the Lions in a blockbuster deal that brought Matthew Stafford to LA and sent significant draft capital to the rebuilding Detroit outfit.
At the time of the trade, Goff’s contract looked like something of an albatross, and many believed that Lions GM Brad Holmes agreed to assume the deal merely to squeeze an extra first-round draft choice out of the Rams. But subsequent reports made it clear that Holmes — who had just joined Detroit after spending the previous eight years in the Rams’ front office — truly believed that Goff could recapture his Pro Bowl form and was not viewed as a mere bridge option.
It appears that Holmes’ assessment was correct, as Goff posted solid numbers on an otherwise poor Lions club in 2021 and has taken his game to a higher level as the talent around him has improved. Over the past two seasons, Goff has guided the team to top-five finishes in both points per game and total offense, and two weeks ago, Detroit won its first playoff game since 1991. Of course, the Lions also won last week’s divisonal round tilt with the Bucs and are one victory away from the first Super Bowl appearance in franchise history.
In 2023, we heard rumblings that the Lions were targeting a Goff extension, though that was before the team experienced playoff success with him under center. Now, it appears there will be more urgency to that dialogue.
Sources tell Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports that there is a little doubt a deal will get done in the coming months, though Jones believes the average annual value on Goff’s next contract will be “somwhere in the 40s.” There are now 12 quarterbacks with AAVs of at least $40MM, so while Jones indicates that Goff is not overly concerned with his ranking in the QB contract hierarchy, Rapoport’s report — to say nothing of Goff’s leverage and his importance to a formerly moribund franchise — suggest that the number could check in closer to $50MM.
Raiders Interested In Klint Kubiak For OC
The Raiders are interested in Klint Kubiak for their vacant offensive coordinator position, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com writes. Since Kubiak is currently the 49ers’ pass-game coordinator, and since the Niners’ season has not yet come to an end — they host the Lions in today’s NFC Championship game — Las Vegas cannot conduct an in-person interview with him at this point.
If San Francisco should lose today, Rapoport says the Raiders might bring Kubiak in for an interview. But as the Silver-and-Black plan to hire their OC in the next several days one way or another, it sounds like Kubiak will not get the chance to meet with Vegas brass if the Niners advance to the Super Bowl.
Without Kubiak in the mix, the Raiders and head coach Antonio Pierce would be choosing from a list comprised of Luke Getsy, Thad Lewis, Kliff Kingsbury, Mike Sullivan, and Alex Van Pelt. The club was also connected to Dan Pitcher, Zac Robinson, and Shane Waldron, but all three of those candidates accepted OC jobs elsewhere.
Kubiak, 36, has enjoyed multiple NFL play-calling stints, succeeding his father, Gary Kubiak, as Vikings OC under Mike Zimmer in 2021 and taking over during the Broncos’ lost 2022 season under then-HC Nathaniel Hackett. 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan hired the younger Kubiak as his pass-game coordinator this past offseason, and the 49ers nearly became the rare team with three 1,000-yard pass catchers. Deebo Samuel, who missed two games, finished 108 yards shy of joining Brandon Aiyuk and George Kittle in the 1,000-yard club.
Although the Raiders’ decision to remove Pierce’s interim tag and name him the permanent head coach has been well-received, the team’s QB position is decidedly unsettled. Las Vegas’ free agent acquisition of Jimmy Garoppolo last offseason proved to be a poor decision, and Garoppolo looms as an obvious release candidate. Although Aidan O’Connell played well enough for a fourth-round rookie, he hardly cemented himself as the franchise’s long-term answer. The Raiders currently hold the No. 13 pick in the draft, which will prevent them from acquiring one of the top passers in this year’s collegiate class, barring a trade-up.
Kubiak has interviewed for the Saints’ and Bears’ OC jobs in this year’s cycle, as our coordinator tracker shows. Chicago ultimately hired Shane Waldron for the post, though Kubiak is presumably still in the running for the New Orleans gig.