Frank Gore Joins 49ers’ Front Office
Retired running back Frank Gore has joined the 49ers’ front office. Gore recently posted an Instagram picture of himself signing an agreement with the club (via Armando Salguero of Outkick.com on Twitter).
Gore, a third-round pick of the 49ers in 2005, announced his retirement last year. During his Bay Area tenure, the Miami (FL) alum established himself as one of the best, and most consistent, backs in the league. He racked up all five of his Pro Bowl nominations during that stretch, and once he assumed the starting role in 2006, he averaged over 1,160 yards per season on a robust 4.5 yards-per-carry average.
The 49ers will employ Gore as a personnel advisor, the team announced. Gore will serve as a special advisor to GM John Lynch along with the team’s football ops department.
The 40-year-old is the franchise’s all-time leading rusher by a wide margin, and though his career also included stints with the Colts, Dolphins, Bills, and Jets, he will be best-remembered for his time with the Niners. He signed a one-day contract to officially end his playing days as a member of the team, and it stands to reason that he would begin his front office endeavors with San Francisco. In his retirement announcment, he indicated that was his goal.
“I told [49ers CEO] Jed York that I always wanted to be a Niner, so we’re working on [the one-day contract] right now, and then we’re going to also sit down with me and my agent to talk about me working in the front office,” Gore said at the time. “I love looking at talent, and I love evaluating talent, and I love ball.”
Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com says that Gore has been with the team since spring as he seeks to acclimate himself to his new role, and that he sat in on pre-draft meetings. He will work with GM John Lynch, assistant GM Adam Peters, and their staff on player evaluation.
“He’ll go out on the road with some of our road scouts to make school calls,” Lynch said. “He is a smart football mind, and we want to tap into it and he wants to learn from us, so it’s a good thing for everyone involved.”
Gore finished his career with exacrly 16,000 rushing yards, which positions him behind only Emmitt Smith and Walter Payton on the all-time list.
Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa On Contract Situation
Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is extension-eligible, but he is also under club control through 2024 since Miami exercised the fifth-year option of his rookie deal. Although GM Chris Grier suggested earlier this offseason — and before he picked up his QB’s fifth-year option — that an extension was on the table, Tagovailoa himself told reporters on Wednesday that there have been no long-term contract talks, at least not recently.
“I haven’t talked about any contract since what I’ve understood with my fifth-year [option],” Tagovailoa said (via Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk).
Fellow 2020 draftee Justin Herbert recently landed a massive new deal from the Chargers, and Joe Burrow, the No. 1 overall pick of that class, will likely score an even more lucrative pact in short order. Players like Jalen Hurts and Lamar Jackson have also put pen to paper on eye-popping extensions this offseason.
Tagoailoa, though, is content with his current status. “I don’t think that’s a worry of mine,” he said. “When things come, they’ll come because you either deserved it or it’s supposed to happen that way.”
The Fins’ apparent desire to let the 2023 season play out before committing to Tagovailoa on a long-term basis is certainly understandable. The Alabama product made great strides under rookie head coach Mike McDaniel in 2022, but his season was also marked by serious concussion issues. He displayed concussion-like symptoms in Week 3 against the Bills, and while he returned to action shortly after that sequence, an NFLPA investigation into the Dolphins’ handling of the situation led to an overhaul of the NFL’s concussion protocol. Tagovailoa entered the protocol four days later, after being stretchered off the field in Cincinnati, and he was placed in the revised protocol a day after sustaining an unspotted concussion against Green Bay on Christmas Day. He missed four full games last year, and the head injuries — to say nothing of the time he missed due to other maladies over the 2020-21 campaigns — have obviously created cause for concern. He even admitted earlier this year that he considered retirement.
Fortunately, doctors have told Tagovailoa that CTE is not a concern for him, and that no medical evidence proves that concussions are more likely eight to 12 months after suffering one (or two, or three). As such, he is back on the field and looking to build upon an otherwise promising campaign in which he led the league in quarterback rating (105.5), TD% (6.3%), and yards per attempt (8.9). If he can do that while remaining healthy, he will be a legitimate extension candidate next offseason.
“I think regardless of what it is, if [the Dolphins] wanted to do it now, if they wanted to wait, whatever,” Tagovailoa said. “I think for myself, I’m always a person that wants to prove to myself that I deserve whatever I get. So for me, I feel like this is something that I need to work for. It’s as plain and simple as that.”
In related news, two contract-year members of Miami’s roster — center Connor Williams and DT Zach Sieler — timely reported to training camp. As Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald tweets, both players are nonetheless continuing their push for new deals. Williams skipped mandatory mincamp and OTAs, and Sieler attended minicamp after missing at least some OTAs.
Luke Musgrave Likely To Open Season As Packers’ TE1
The Packers’ tight end depth chart is presently topped by two rookies, Luke Musgrave and Tucker Kraft. Per Matt Schneidman of The Athletic (subscription required), Musgrave is likely to start the season as Green Bay’s TE1.
Given that Musgrave was a second-round choice while Kraft was a third-round selection, that does not come as much of a surprise. What is perhaps more notable is the fact that the Packers are apparently content to open the year with two raw talents, particularly since the blocking acumen of both players is currently unknown.
A quality blocking TE is a key component of head coach Matt LaFleur‘s offense, which is why the team continued to employ Marcedes Lewis — one of the game’s best blockers at the tight end position — during LaFleur’s four-year tenure in Green Bay. Lewis, 39, has expressed a desire to become the first tight end to play an 18th season, but the Packers are not expected to re-sign him, Perhaps the club’s views in that regard will change if Musgrave and Kraft should struggle to find their footing as blockers.
What both players definitely have is pass-catching upside and elite athleticism. As Schneidman notes, the Packers have not had an uber-athlete at tight end since Jermichael Finley was in the prime of his career, and with a bevy of talented but unproven youngsters at the top of the wide receiver depth chart, Musgrave and Kraft will have an opportunity to make their mark in the passing game right away.
Musgrave, an Oregon State product, did not deliver prolific stats with the Beavers, with his 304 receiving yards in 2021 representing his best single-season mark. But an early-season knee injury cut his senior year short, and he impressed at the Senior Bowl. ESPN’s Scouts Inc. rated him as this year’s No. 31 overall prospect.
Kraft, meanwhile, put up terrific numbers in his final collegiate season, though that came against FCS competition, The South Dakota State alum caught 65 balls for 780 yards and six TDs en route to consensus FCS All-American and All-Missouri Valley Football Conference honors.
In addition to ushering in the Jordan Love era at quarterback and parting ways (presumbaly) with Lewis, the Packers also bid adieu to tight end Robert Tonyan and receivers Allen Lazard and Randall Cobb this offseason. The extent to which Green Bay’ youth movement succeeds will have a major impact on the Wisconsin futures of Love and LaFleur in particular.
Bears, Jaguars Interested in CB Arthur Maulet
After being released by the Steelers in May, cornerback Arthur Maulet is beginning to garner some interest on the free agent market. Per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, the Jaguars and Bears have inquired on the 30-year-old defender (Twitter link).
Fowler notes that Maulet actually requested his release from Pittsburgh, a request that was presumably made after the club signed another corner, Chandon Sullivan. Like Maulet, Sullivan primarily works in the slot.
As with most players who find themselves unattached at this time of year, Maulet has his share of flaws. Pro Football Focus assigned him a subpar 56.5 overall grade in 2022, which made him the 90th-best corner out of 118 qualifiers. He has never fared partiularly well in the eyes of PFF’s metrics, and last season, he allowed a 61.5% completion rate and a 105.5 QB rating as the closest defender (though both of those marks were actually improvements over his 2021 work).
Nonetheless, cornerbacks are always in demand. The Bears currently have 2022 second-rounder Kyler Gordon penciled into their primary slot role, but Gordon fared even worse than Maulet in PFF’s grading system, ranking as a bottom-10 corner and earning an abysmal 46.4 coverage mark. Plus, there is very little depth behind Gordon, so Chicago’s interest in Maulet is understandable.
Tre Herndon may be the Jaguars’ top slot option at the moment, but like Maulet and Gordon, he was also a liability in coverage last season. Jacksonville has designs on another playoff run, and the club may want to add some nickel depth beyond sixth-round rookies Christian Braswell and Erick Hallett.
At the very least, Maulet can offer that depth, along with special teams acumen (he led the Steelers in ST tackles in 2022). The former UDFA out of Memphis may have multiple offers on the table, as he is reportedly weighing his options and plans to sign soon.
In 2022, Maulet recorded 59 total tackles and two interceptions, both career bests.
Raiders QB Jimmy Garoppolo Passes Physical
Although a report last month indicated that Raiders quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo was expected to be medically cleared in time for training camp, there are no sure things when it comes to Garoppolo and his health concerns. Fortunately for Las Vegas and its new signal-caller, Garoppolo has passed his physical and will be on the field when camp opens this week (Twitter link via ESPN’s Adam Schefter).
Garoppolo, who was in the midst of a strong 2022 season for the 49ers, suffered a foot fracture in a Week 13 victory over the Dolphins in December. He had attempted non-surgical rehab so that he could be ready in the event that San Francisco made a deep playoff run (which it did), but that attempt was unsuccessful. Ultimately, Garoppolo went under the knife shortly after he signed a three-year, $72.75MM contract with Vegas in March.
In order to protect themselves financially, the Raiders later amended Garoppolo’s deal by converting a roster bonus of $11.25MM, which would have become due on Day 3 of the 2024 league year, into base salary. The other $22.5MM of Garoppolo’s $33.75MM in guarantees came in the form of 2023 salary, and under the amended contract, that money would only be payable if Garoppolo passed a physical. Now that he has, Garoppolo will secure the $22.5MM payout.
Counting the 49ers’ three playoff contests in January, the 31-year-old passer has missed 33 games due to injury since suffering an ACL tear in September 2018. Garoppolo played every game for the Super Bowl LIV-bound Niners a year later but suffered an ankle injury that shortened his 2020 season to six games. San Francisco’s starter battled calf, thumb, and shoulder maladies in 2021, and he ultimately required two surgeries after that season.
When he is healthy, though, Garoppolo is a quality player, and the Raiders clearly believe that he will be an upgrade over longtime starter Derek Carr, who was released in February. Garoppolo will take the reins of an offense that has a fair amount of skill-position talent in wideouts Davante Adams, Jakobi Meyers, and Hunter Renfrow, running back Josh Jacobs (assuming he ultimately signs his franchise tender), and tight ends Austin Hooper and Michael Mayer.
The Raiders did finish as a top-12 offense in 2022 in terms of both yards-per-game and points-per-game. However, Carr’s completion percentage and yards-per-attempt rate dropped considerably in his first (and only) year in Josh McDaniels‘ offense, and Garoppolo — who began his career in New England as a McDaniels protege — is viewed as a better fit.
Las Vegas did host the top five QB prospects in this year’s draft and even had trade talks with the Bears regarding the No. 1 overall pick. Ultimately, the club did not select a collegiate signal-caller until the fourth round (Aidan O’Connell), and the only other quarterbacks on the roster are Brian Hoyer, who is entering his age-38 season, and former UDFA Chase Garbers. As such, if he can stay healthy and productive, Garoppolo stands a good chance of remaining with the Silver-and-Black in 2024, and perhaps beyond.
Garoppolo led the 49ers to a 7-3 record as a starter in 2022, completing 67.2% of his passes for 16 TDs against just four interceptions. That amounted to a quarterback rating of 103.0.
ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler first reported that Garoppolo was expected to pass his physical (Twitter link).
Latest On Jets’ Center, Tackle Competitions
Despite serving as a capable starting center for the last four years, Connor McGovern — who just completed a three-year, $27MM deal that he signed with the Jets in 2020 — did not find much of a market for his services this offseason. In April, McGovern signed a modest one-year, $1.92MM contract to remain with New York, and he watched the team draft Wisconsin snapper Joe Tippmann several days later.
While Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic (subscription required) recently reported that McGovern will get every chance to retain his starting job, he ultimately believes the club will hand the reins over to Tippmann for the start of the regular season. Rich Cimini of ESPN.com likewise believes McGovern is merely an “insurance policy” for the rookie.
In the eyes of Pro Football Focus, McGovern finished as the 10th-best center out of 36 qualifiers in 2022, with solid scores for both his pass-blocking and run-blocking. PFF was similarly high on the Missouri product in 2021, but Gang Green clearly believed an upgrade was in order. As Cimini notes, McGovern ranked near the bottom of the league in ESPN’s pass- and run-block win rate metrics, and as the Jets are eyeing a deep playoff push, they are obviously trying to field the best lineup possible and will not give McGovern a boost because of his tenure with the team or the locker room respect that he enjoys.
Whichever player wins the right to snap the ball to Aaron Rodgers will be sandwiched by Laken Tomlinson and Alijah Vera-Tucker at the guard positions. As Jets fans know all too well, however, there is plenty of intrigue surrounding the OT slots.
Mekhi Becton, a former first-rounder who was initially drafted to be the team’s franchise left tackle, has been plagued by knee injuries and conditioning problems, and after playing in Week 1 of the 2021 season, he has missed the last 33 games. Becton has lost a signficiant amount of weight in an effort to get his career back on track, and he has made it clear that he wants to return to the blindside. But recent reporting suggests that veteran Duane Brown — who has five Pro Bowls on his resume and who signed with New York last August when it becamse clear that Becton would miss the entire 2022 campaign — has the inside track to remain in that role.
The problem is that Brown is still recovering from offseason shoulder surgery and is presently unable to practice. That would seem to open the door for Becton to at least narrow the gap between himself and Brown on the left tackle depth chart, but as Brian Costello of the New York Post recently tweeted, Becton is currently taking LT reps with the second team, while free agent addition Billy Turner is working with the first-stringers. Connor Hughes of SNY.tv, meanwhile, says Becton is not a full participant just yet (Twitter link).
The fact that the Jets are taking it easy with Becton does not necessarily mean that he has suffered some sort of setback; at this point, any sort of participation on his part is encouraging. Still, it appears that the only way in which Becton will open the season as the starting left tackle is if Brown is unable to play, so Becton’s quickest path to a starting gig may be at right tackle (much to his chagrin). Turner, who worked under new offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett in Green Bay and Denver, will also be in the mix for that job, and Rosenblatt believes Turner will be the team’s Week 1 RT, with Becton or 2022 fourth-rounder Max Mitchell getting the nod later on.
Assault Charge Against Titans OLB Rashad Weaver Dropped
Over two years ago, Titans outside linebacker Rashad Weaver was charged with assault. As Paul Kuharsky of PaulKukarsky.com reports, the charge against Weaver has been dropped, as the prosecution is unwilling to move forward. Although the NFL can impose discipline even in the absence of criminal charges, Kuharsky notes that Weaver is likely to avoid league sanctions.
Shortly before Tennessee selected Weaver in the fourth round of the 2021 draft, the Pittsburgh alum was accused of grabbing a woman by the throat and pushing her to the ground, causing her to hit her head. Original reporting suggested that Weaver had actually punched the woman in the head, and while there were no injuries consistent with that allegation, the player reportedly told an officer on the scene that he had no problem hitting a female if she needed it. The Titans were unaware of the incident when they drafted Weaver 13 days later.
Weaver, 25, sustained a broken fibula in the club’s third game of the 2021 campaign, which ended his rookie year prematurely. He bounced back with a solid showing in his second professional season, playing in 58% of the Titans’ defensive snaps and recording 5.5 sacks, six passes defensed, and two forced fumbles. With 2021 Pro Bowler Harold Landry missing all of last year with a torn ACL, Weaver’s performance was especially critical.
The Titans will welcome Landry back this year and also signed Arden Key away from the division-rival Jaguars in free agency. Weaver is expected to opeate behind those two as Tennessee’s third edge rusher, so he will still get plenty of action. As 2023 will be his third year in the league, he will be extension-eligible for the first time next offseason.
In a piece detailing the Titans’ overall outlook at outside linebacker, Jim Wyatt of the team’s official website says Weaver has helped himself in his pursuit of a second NFL contract, as he “has gotten noticeably stronger this offseason.” Wyatt also expresses his belief that Sam Okuayinonu, a 2022 undrafted free agent who appeared in six games with Tennessee last season, is currently in the lead for the fourth OLB spot on the depth chart.
Okuayinonu will be pushed by fellow 2022 UDFA Zach McCloud — who was originally signed by the Vikings after last year’s draft — and 2023 UDFAs Caleb Murphy and Thomas Rush.
Jaguars, TE Evan Engram Agree To Deal
JULY 17: Further details on the Engram pact are in, courtesy of Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio. The 28-year-old’s two-year base earnings will fall just short of what he would have made by playing on consecutive franchise tags this season and next, thanks to the fully-guaranteed $24MM. Incentives could push his two-year compensation slightly past that point, however, making the deal a market value one from both a team and player perspective.
As for 2025, Engram will see $1.5MM of his $14.75MM base salary vest just ahead of the league year that offseason, giving him further insurance if he remains with the Jaguars through that point. Doing so should not be in doubt given his performance last season and the resultant commitment Jacksonville has given him.
JULY 16: Franchise-tagged tight end Evan Engram has agreed to a three-year deal with the Jaguars. His agent, Mike McCartney, was the first to report the news (via Twitter), which has since been confirmed by multiple outlets.
The contract is worth $41.25MM and includes $24MM in guarantees, according to Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero of NFL.com (Twitter link). Given that the franchise tag would have paid Engram roughly $11.35MM in 2023, Engram essentially landed a two-year “extension” of about $30MM. His average annual value of $13.75MM across all three years of the pact is the fifth-highest figure among the league’s tight ends, though the $14.95MM AAV for the 2024-25 “extension” seasons is the third-highest mark, behind only Darren Waller and George Kittle. The $24MM of guaranteed money reported by Rapoport and Pelissero is fully-guaranteed, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, and it qualifies as the fifth-highest amount of full guarantees ever given to a TE.
After an up-and-down five-year tenure with the Giants to begin his career, Engram inked a one-year, $9MM contract with the Jaguars in March 2022, which turned out to be a savvy investment for a club that has historically had difficulty getting high-end production from the tight end position. In his first year in Duval, Engram set Jacksonville’s single-season tight end records with 73 catches and 766 receiving yards, and he was instrumental in the growth that quarterback Trevor Lawrence displayed in his second pro season. Engram caught 74.5% of his regular season targets, which was a personal best, and he added 12 catches for 124 yards and a touchdown in the Jags’ two playoff contests.
With Engram having signed a multiyear pact, the Jaguars have a strong core of skill-position talent under club control through at least 2025, a group that also includes Lawrence, running backs Travis Etienne and Tank Bigsby, and wide receivers Christian Kirk and Zay Jones. Plus, wideout Calvin Ridley will return to the field this season after serving a one-year gambling suspension, so there is every reason to think that the Doug Pederson-led offense can remain productive for the foreseeable future.
Tagged players have until 3pm CT on Monday to ink multiyear deals, and of the four tag recipients who were still in contract talks with their respective clubs, Engram was seen as the likeliest to come to terms on a long-term accord. On Friday, Mike Garafolo of the NFL Network suggested that there was a roughly 50-50 chance that Engram and the Jags would strike a deal, while the prognosis is not nearly as good for the Giants-Saquon Barkley and Raiders-Josh Jacobs negotiations.
Updates on Tony Pollard‘s discussions with the Cowboys have been scarce, but unlike his RB peers, Pollard has signed his franchise tender and may be content to play out the 2023 season on the tag. While tight ends might be undervalued, the fact that Engram has secured a new deal while the three tagged RBs have not reinforces the notion that running back is presently the league’s most devalued position.
Packers LB De’Vondre Campbell Dealt With Shoulder Injury In 2022
The Packers’ low-risk acquisition of inside linebacker De’Vondre Campbell in June 2021 paid huge dividends for player and team, as Campbell turned in a First-Team All-Pro performance that year and parlayed that into a five-year, $50MM deal from Green Bay last March. His first season of that new contract was marred to some degree by a knee injury that cost him four games, and Campbell recently said that he also dealt with a nagging shoulder injury for much of the year (Twitter link).
The former fourth-round pick of the Falcons returned an interception for a touchdown during the Packers’ Week 7 loss to the Commanders, and he says that he was “just hitting my stride” in that contest after playing through the shoulder pain for the first third of the season (pain that he never reported to anyone). Unfortunately, he suffered the knee injury the following week in a contest against the Bills.
Campbell, 30, returned to his full-time role in Week 13, and despite the shoulder and knee ailments, his performance did not suffer much, at least in the eyes of the advanced metrics. Pro Football Focus assigned him a 75.6 overall grade, a mark that included a particularly high 81.0 score in the all-important “coverage” category and positioned him as the NFL’s 15th-best linebacker among 81 qualifiers. In his standout 2021 season, PFF gave him an 85.0 overall grade.
Campbell says he is now completely healthy, and the Packers will need him to continue playing at a high level. Green Bay still has a puncher’s chance of winning a questionable NFC North, or to at least earn a wildcard berth, despite transitioning from Aaron Rodgers to Jordan Love at quarterback. If that happens, it will likely be because the club’s defense, a middling unit in 2022, returns to the top-10 form it displayed the year prior. Campbell, who calls the defensive signals, will be central to that effort.
The Packers were of course not going to move on from Campbell this offseason given their financial commitment to him and his importance to the defense. Still, it is notable that the team did not make any draft or FA investments at the ILB position, so it is clear that Green Bay has plenty of faith in Campbell and his running mate, 2022 first-rounder Quay Walker.
Lions TE Sam LaPorta To Have Significant Role In 2023
Fantasy football managers are well aware that rookie tight ends often face a steep learning curve, and that expectations for those players should generally be tempered. But Lions TE Sam LaPorta, a second-round pick in this year’s draft, has a real chance to make significant contributions to Detroit’s offense in his first professional season.
According to Tim Twentyman of the team’s official website, LaPorta was one of the Lions’ most impressive players during OTAs and minicamp. TE coach Steve Heiden was especially pleased with LaPorta’s instincts and feel for the game, traits that were honed during his time in a pro-style Iowa offense that gives tight ends a great deal of responsibility. In addition to those intangibles, LaPorta also offers prototypical size (6-4, 249) and athleticism and displayed considerable receiving and YAC ability at the collegiate level.
As such, Twentyman expects LaPorta to have a major role right out of the gate. He will be aided in that regard by a depth chart that, in the wake of the trade that sent T.J. Hockenson to the Vikings at last year’s deadline, is light on proven talent.
After the trade, James Mitchell, Brock Wright, and Shane Zylstra saw expanded playing time, and while those players combined for nine touchdown grabs following Hockenson’s departure, none of them offer LaPorta’s upside. Wright and Zylstra are both former UDFAs, and Mitchell was a fifth-round pick in the 2022 draft.
Nonetheless, Heiden has (predictably) spoken highly of all of his charges, and given that offensive coordinator Ben Johnson‘s scheme relies heavily on tight ends, Twentyman believes there is a good chance that Detroit’s Week 1 roster will include four TEs, just as it did in 2022. LaPorta’s ability to line up out wide will, in addition to increasing his own snap share, make it even more likely that the team keeps four tight ends. That is especially true since WR Jameson Williams‘ six-game suspension creates an immediate need for outside-the-numbers talent that LaPorta can fill, thereby opening up more in-line opportunities for the players below him in the pecking order.
Of the above-mentioned players, Twentyman believes that Zylstra’s job security is the most tenuous, while LaPorta, Mitchell, and Wright appear to be roster locks. The Lions’ TE allotment could also be influenced by the presence of Jason Cabinda, who can play both fullback and tight end.