Free Agent LT Duane Brown Arrested
Free agent left tackle Duane Brown was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) at roughly 2pm on Saturday, per TMZ Sports. Police say that Brown tried to go through security screening with a gun in one of his bags, and he was booked on possession of a concealed firearm.
Brown, who will turn 37 in August, has long been one of the top left tackles in the game. Despite his strong 2021 performance, in which he enjoyed perfect attendance, earned the fifth Pro Bowl nod of his career, and rated as Pro Football Focus’ 37th-best OT out of 83 qualifiers, there has not been significant interest in his services this offseason.
The Seahawks had deployed Brown as Russell Wilson‘s blindside blocker since acquiring him in a trade with the Texans in October 2017, and Seattle was reportedly interested in a reunion earlier this year. However, that was when the ‘Hawks, who held the No. 9 overall pick in April’s draft, were not expected to have a chance to land a top collegiate tackle. Ultimately, the club selected Mississippi State LT Charles Cross with its first choice, and it appears that Cross will open his rookie season as the starter at left tackle.
Similarly, the Panthers were in pursuit of Brown back in March, but a deal never materialized. The door to a contract with Carolina may have closed when the Panthers drafted NC State tackle Ikem Ekwonu with the No. 6 overall pick, although the team is reportedly not committing to Ekwonu — who lined up at guard in high school and at times during his college career — as the Week 1 LT starter. Carolina could bring in Brown on a one-year pact while Ekwonu gets his professional sea legs on the interior of the line, but that is merely speculation at this point.
One way or another, it would be surprising if Brown were unable to land a starting gig at some point this summer. Quality left tackles are hard to come by, and Brown demonstrated in 2021 that he still has gas in the tank. While his arrest could theoretically complicate matters, it presently does not seem as if it will have a dramatic effect on his NFL future.
We will update this story as more news becomes available.
Extension Candidate: Marquise Brown
The Cardinals are interested in an extension for draft-day trade acquisition Marquise “Hollywood” Brown, and while Brown himself is presumably willing to talk contract, it is unclear where negotiations stand at this point, or if they have even commenced. Brown is scheduled to earn a $2.1MM salary in 2022 (the final year of his rookie deal), and a fully-guaranteed $13.4MM in 2023 under the fifth-year option of the rookie contract.
The 2019 draft class of wide receivers, which includes the likes of Deebo Samuel, A.J. Brown, D.K. Metcalf, Diontae Johnson, and Terry McLaurin, has been a key source of material at PFR in recent months, as those players became extension-eligible for the first time this offseason and either have contributed, or soon will contribute, to the booming receiver market. A.J. Brown landed a $25MM/year contract from the Eagles upon being traded to Philadelphia from the Titans, and McLaurin just agreed to a $23.3MM/year deal with the Commanders. As Joel Corry of CBS Sports recently tweeted, four wide receivers enjoyed $20MM+ AAVs when the offseason began, and there are now 12 receivers who are sitting at or above that threshold (despite the release of Julio Jones). Samuel and Metcalf seem poised to join the club at some point in the near future.
Marquise Brown, the No. 25 overall pick of the Ravens in the 2019 draft, has not yet produced at the same level as his above-mentioned contemporaries, but that can be at least partially explained by the fact that his three years in Baltimore were spent in a run-centric offense focused upon the dual-threat capabilities of quarterback Lamar Jackson. The passing scheme of offensive coordinator Greg Roman — who has served as OC since Brown’s rookie year — has been heavily criticized for being too simplistic and predictable, and Brown’s trade request was largely a function of that system.
“It was just … my happiness,” Brown said when asked about his desire for a trade. “I talked to Lamar about it after my second year. And then after my third year, leading up to the end of the season, you know, [Jackson] wasn’t playing. I let him know again, like, ‘Yeah, bro, I can’t do it.’
“You know, it’s not really on Lamar, like I love Lamar. It was just, you know, it’s just the system just wasn’t for me personally. You know, I love all my teammates. I love the guys. It was just something I had to think about for myself.”
Brown’s diminutive stature (5-9, 170) will likely prevent him from ever becoming a true “alpha” receiver, but he possesses elite speed and is a solid enough route runner. In head coach Kliff Kingsbury‘s offense, he will have a chance to shine, although it will be interesting to see if the absence of DeAndre Hopkins for the first six games of the 2022 season will allow him to earn a larger target share and thrive, or if it will make his life more difficult since opposing defenses will not have to key in on Hopkins.
At present, Spotrac estimates Brown’s market value to be a little over $17MM per season, suggesting that he could reasonably expect a four-year, ~$68MM deal if he were a free agent right now. Again, there is no way of knowing what Brown’s camp is targeting at this point, though it could be that the Oklahoma product is content to prove that he is worthy of a larger contract by living up to his potential in Kingsbury’s aerial attack.
Brown managed to crack the 1,000-yard mark for the first time in 2021, though it required 146 targets to get there, and his 11.1 yards-per-reception rate — which was the lowest mark of his career — belies his abilities as a deep threat. It stands to reason that the Cardinals, who gave up the No. 23 overall pick of this year’s draft to acquire Brown and the No. 100 overall pick, would want to extend Hollywood before he can truly break out, but Brown himself might hold off unless Arizona is willing to bet on his upside by making him yet another $20MM man.
Latest On Raiders’ O-Line Situation
Third-round rookie Dylan Parham represents the only major addition the Raiders have made to their offensive line this offseason, which makes one wonder if the unit will allow the team’s offense — which features a quality quarterback in Derek Carr and several high-end skill position talents in tight end Darren Waller and trade acquisition Davante Adams — to live up to its potential. Indeed, Carr was sacked 40 times in 2021, and Las Vegas’ 95.1 rushing yards per game was a bottom-five figure, even though the offense as a whole ranked 11th in total yardage.
In fairness, the OL suffered several key injuries last year, and in the estimation of Paul Gutierrez of ESPN.com, there are two major potential developments that will help the Raiders’ blockers perform at a “workable” level: the return of Denzelle Good to the right guard spot, and 2021 first-rounder Alex Leatherwood seizing the right tackle role.
In May, we learned that Las Vegas’ new regime was giving Leatherwood reps at RT during spring practices, and as Guiterrez recently wrote in a separate piece, head coach Josh McDaniels said Leatherwood would be given every opportunity to win the job. In his rookie season, the Alabama product — who was generally not viewed as a Day 1 talent leading up to the draft — was moved to right guard due largely to his struggles on the edge. It may be a bit much to expect him to become even a league-average starter in his sophomore year, but it seems the Raiders believe that can happen.
Good, meanwhile, was one of the above-referenced O-linemen to sustain a major injury in 2021, as he tore his ACL in the regular season opener. That shut him down for the remainder of the campaign, but even at full strength, he has not been a world-beater. The 2015 seventh-round pick of the Colts was waived midway through the final year of his rookie contract and was subsequently claimed by the Raiders. He started just five games in 2019, his first full year with the Silver-and-Black, but the club re-signed him the following offseason, and he wound up starting 14 contests in 2020. Although Pro Football Focus assigned him a middling 56.7 grade that year — good for 56th out of 80 qualified players — the Raiders authorized a two-year, $8.36MM re-up last March.
At present, Gutierrez projects a starting five of LT Kolton Miller, LG Parham, C Andre James, RG Good, and RT Leatherwood. He acknowledges that alignment is not especially exciting, but healthy and passable showings from the right side of that line could still be enough to elevate the offense to a top-five outfit given the rest of the talent on the roster.
Odell Beckham Jr.: I Played Second Half Of 2021 Season “Without An ACL”
Free agent wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. is recovering from a torn ACL that he ostensibly suffered in Super Bowl LVI in February as a member of the Rams. But on Saturday night, OBJ himself took to Twitter to say that he actually played the entire second half of the 2021 season “without an ACL.”
Beckham initially tore the ACL back in Week 7 of the 2020 campaign, when he was with the Browns. After sitting out the first two games of the 2021 season, he got back on the field for Cleveland in Week 3. He was ultimately waived in November after a turbulent and generally disappointing stay in northeast Ohio, and he signed with Los Angeles a few days after he cleared waivers. So if his claim is accurate, he either reinjured the ACL towards the tail end of his Browns tenure, or towards the beginning of his stint with the Rams.
If it was the former, it would be fair to wonder how OBJ passed his exit physical with Cleveland, or his entry physical with Los Angeles. Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk observes that such physicals rarely include an MRI unless there is a reason for it, and since there were no alarming issues with the knee from Week 3 of the 2021 campaign forward, an MRI may not have been seen as necessary.
One way or another, the ACL gave out in the midst of what was shaping up as a brilliant title game performance. And although there have been plenty of reports about Beckham’s recovery and who his next employer might be since that time, the three-time Pro Bowler remains unsigned.
It seems unlikely that Beckham’s tweet will have much impact on how other teams view him. Regardless of exactly when he reaggravated the ACL injury, the fact remains that he has undergone two major surgeries on his left knee in a span of roughly 15 months, to say nothing of the painful shoulder sprain that he sustained with Cleveland last year or the sports hernia ailment he dealt with in 2019. Plus, despite his undeniable talent, two franchises, the Giants and Browns, have now seen fit to cut ties despite having multiple years of club control over him.
The Rams remain open to a new deal, even though Beckham may be unable to suit up until late November. It is also unclear whether Beckham is targeting a one-year accord, or if he is seeking a multi-year deal from a club that may be willing to wait for him until the latter stages of the 2022 season if it can be assured of having him on the roster in 2023.
The Packers and Patriots have been connected to some degree to OBJ this offseason, but given his current timeline, there is no real urgency for him or for interested teams. Indeed, he may elect to wait until he is closer to full strength to put pen to paper, at which point clubs that may not have a place for him now could find themselves looking for a receiver to provide a late-season boost.
Packers CEO/President Mark Murphy Will Retire In 2025
Packers CEO/president Mark Murphy will retire roughly three years from now, as Murphy himself confirmed in his monthly Q&A column on the team’s official website. The Packers, of course, are the only professional sports franchise without an owner, and are run instead by a board of directors. The board’s bylaws require that a board member retire and assume emeritus status when he or she turns 70, and Murphy will become a septuagenarian on July 13, 2025.
Murphy noted that the club’s executive committee has started to lay the foundation for a succession plan, though it does not sound like there are any definitive timelines in place just yet. Perhaps whomever gets the nod in 2025 will, like Murphy himself in 2008, be ascending to the top job when the organization is at an on-field crossroads.
Murphy played football collegiately at Colgate University, and he went on to enjoy a productive eight-year run as a member of the Redskins’ defensive backfield. He became a full-time starter in 1979 and developed a reputation as something of a ballhawk, picking off 27 passes over a five-year span from 1979-83 (including a league-best nine picks in 1983, which culminated in his first and only Pro Bowl berth). He won a Super Bowl ring with Washington in 1982, and he recorded an interception and a sack in the team’s four-game postseason run that year.
Towards the end of his playing career, Murphy earned an MBA from American University, and for good measure, he earned a law degree from Georgetown University in 1988. He returned to Colgate to serve as the school’s athletic director from 1992-03, and then served in the same capacity for Northwestern University from 2003-07. He moved to the professional ranks in 2008, succeeding Bob Harlan as CEO/president of the Packers.
Franchise icon Brett Favre had announced his retirement in March 2008, several months after a bitter loss to the Giants in the NFC Championship Game. That decision seemingly opened the door to the Aaron Rodgers era, but in July 2008, the Favre unretirement saga began, which represented Murphy’s first true test in his new position. Ultimately, Favre was traded to the Jets in August 2008, and Rodgers finally stepped in as the undisputed QB1 after three years as Favre’s backup.
The pinnacle of the Murphy era came at the end of the 2010 campaign, when the Packers landed their fourth Super Bowl title. That championship made Murphy the first person to win a Lombardi Trophy as a player and as a team’s top executive.
Although Green Bay is still in search of a fifth ring, the team has been a perennial contender with Rodgers under center, winning eight NFC North titles and advancing to the NFC Championship Game five times. As he did with Favre in 2008, Murphy has seen plenty of late-career drama with Rodgers, navigating several years of contractual disputes and other acrimony — sometimes inartfully — to keep the club’s contention window open for as long as possible. He has also overseen the reassignment of former GM Ted Thompson, the subsequent revamping of the club’s power structure, and the hiring of current head coach Matt LaFleur, which has thus far proven to be a savvy move. For those who are interested in a more thorough look at Murphy’s tenure, Kris Burke of AcmePackingCompany.com provides a detailed history, including — quite importantly for a publicly-owned outfit that needs to compete with teams run by billionaire owners — the development of the Titletown District around Lambeau Field.
Much of Murphy’s legacy will be written over his final three years at the helm. Now that the team and Rodgers have a new contract in place, it seems likely that the four-time MVP will end his career in Green Bay, but the expectation is that he will retire no later than the end of the 2024 season (though it could happen sooner). So when Murphy transitions to emeritus status, he not only hopes to have at least one more Lombardi in the trophy case, he will want to leave his successor with the Packers’ next franchise quarterback on the roster.
“It has been an honor and a privilege to serve as the Packers president,” Murphy wrote. “I plan on making the last three years as successful as possible, with multiple Super Bowl championships!”
49ers WR Deebo Samuel Unlikely To Be Traded?
49ers wideout Deebo Samuel, who is set to enter a contract year, wants to capitalize on the seismic shift that the league’s receiver market has undergone this offseason. Even before draftmate A.J. Brown landed a $25MM/year deal from the Eagles, Samuel was eyeing that benchmark, and now it seems as though San Francisco will have to pony up that kind of cash if it wants to extend the 2021 First Team All-Pro.
It’s unclear where extension negotiations stand at the moment, but it still seems likely that Samuel will remain with the Niners for at least the 2022 campaign. The club rebuffed all trade inquiries in the run-up to the draft in April, and while Samuel was not present for voluntary OTAs, he did appear for mandatory minicamp (unlike another platform-year peer, D.K. Metcalf). Earlier this month, we heard that player and team were still engaged in contract talks, and the fact that Samuel should not need to be utilized as a between-the-tackles runner this season may help push the two sides closer to an accord.
Further, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com reports that there is “not a lot of league-wide chatter” about a Samuel trade at the moment (Twitter link). Samuel has not formally rescinded his trade request (as far as Fowler knows), but it sounds like rival clubs who might be interested in the South Carolina product believe there is no point in engaging the 49ers in trade talks.
Speculatively, it could be that Samuel realizes re-upping with the 49ers this summer is his best option, as long as he can get close to his current fair market value (which Spotrac estimates to be just shy of $25MM per year). If he stages a “hold-in” at training camp, the club could attempt to prevent him from accruing a fourth year of service time, which would make him a restricted free agent in the 2023 offseason. And, while the team could waive or reduce any fines he accumulates by holding out of training camp — since he is still tethered to his rookie contract — holding out obviously comes with the same service time risks as a hold-in.
If he simply rejects the 49ers’ best offer and opts to play out the final year of his rookie contract in the hopes of hitting free agency in 2023, he would be betting his future earnings to a large extent on the right arm of an unproven second-year passer in Trey Lance (to say nothing of San Francisco’s franchise tag rights). If Samuel fails to replicate his tremendous 2021 performance — 77 catches for 1,405 yards and six scores, good for a league-best 18.2 yards-per-reception, to go along with 59 carries for 365 yards and eight TDs — his market value could certainly take a dip.
Boston College G Christian Mahogany To Miss 2022 Season
Boston College guard Christian Mahogany tore his ACL while working out at his home in May, and he will miss the 2022 season as a result, per Pete Thamel of ESPN.com. Mahogany will return to BC in 2023 in an effort to rebuild his draft stock.
Had he remained healthy and performed at the level that he has established over the past several seasons, Mahogany likely would have been one of the first guards off the board in the 2023 draft. ESPN draftnik Mel Kiper Jr. had ranked the 6-3, 335-pounder as the second-best guard in his class.
Mahogany said of his decision to return to school in 2023, “I think I’m probably going to come back because it’s hard [after an injury]. I’m going to leave no doubt on my college career. Especially after an injury like this, I’m going to prove that I can still do it.”
Indeed, if he were to enter the 2023 draft after having missed all of the 2022 season, it is possible that he would be viewed as a mid- or late-round prospect, as teams would doubtlessly be wary of how he will respond to such a significant injury. But a return to form next season could put him back in the Day 1 conversation in 2024.
Mahogany became a starter for the Eagles in his redshirt freshman campaign in 2020, and he proved himself to be a top-flight player in 2021, earning second-team All-ACC acclaim. Playing opposite Zion Johnson, whom the Chargers selected with the No. 17 overall pick of this year’s draft, Mahogany missed just one run block on 371 run block plays, allowed just two pressures on 314 pass block plays, and was charged with just two penalties.
Boston College has been a fertile breeding ground for NFL offensive linemen over the years, and Mahogany still appears to have a good chance to continue that tradition despite being forced to delay his professional career. He underwent surgery on his injured knee on May 27, and he indicated his recovery has progressed well so far.
“This is the plan for me,” he said. “This is something that I have to overcome in my career. I’m going to make a full recovery and come back by any means necessary.”
Free Agent WR Golden Tate Signs With Summer Baseball League
Free agent wide receiver Golden Tate recently signed with the Port Angeles Lefties of the West Coast League, a collegiate summer baseball league, according to a press release from the WCL itself. Tate had not generated any reported interest from NFL teams this offseason.
Tate, who will turn 34 in August, did not see any regular season NFL action in 2021. From 2014-17, he enjoyed a solid run as a member of the Lions, earning his first and only Pro Bowl bid in 2014 and recording at least 90 catches per season over that four-year stretch. In the middle of the 2018 campaign, the final year of his contract with Detroit, the Lions shipped him to the Eagles in exchange for a 2019 third-rounder. He would catch the game-winning TD pass from Philadelphia QB Nick Foles in the team’s wildcard round victory over the Bears that season.
He earned a four-year, $37.5MM contract ($23MM guaranteed) from the Giants in the 2019 offseason, but his tenure with Big Blue was rocky at best. He was suspended for the first four games of the 2019 season for a violation of the league’s PED policy, and though he was a useful member of the club’s receiving corps upon his reinstatement — posting a 49/676/6 slash triple-slash in 11 games (10 starts) — 2020 was a different story. He was deactivated for New York’s Week 9 contest that year, with the team citing effort and performance issues as the reason for the move, and he publicly voiced his frustration over his lack of targets. He finished the season with a 35/388/2 slash line, his lowest totals since his sophomore season in 2011.
The Giants released Tate in March 2021, and he did not find a new home until he hooked on with the Titans’ taxi squad in November. He was cut a few weeks later without having earned a promotion to the active roster.
Given his age, his disappointing 2020 season, the fact that he was essentially out of football in 2021, and his inability to spark any interest this offseason, Tate’s NFL career looked to be finished even before his decision to reenter the baseball world. A three-sport athlete in high school, Tate was drafted by the Dodgers in the 42nd round of the 2007 MLB draft, though he did not sign, choosing instead to attend college at Notre Dame. He made his name as a football player with the Fighting Irish, but he continued to play baseball as well, and he was selected by the San Francisco Giants in the 50th round of the 2010 MLB draft (several months after the Seahawks made him a second-round choice of that year’s NFL draft). Obviously, he ended up signing with the ‘Hawks, which proved to be a wise decision.
In 2012, Russell Wilson‘s rookie year, Tate became a full-time starter for Seattle. In 15 games (all starts), he caught 45 passes for 688 yards and a career-best seven TDs, and he was a key component of the team’s aerial attack in their Super Bowl-winning campaign in 2013, hauling in 64 catches for 898 yards and four scores.
Assuming we have seen the last of Tate in the NFL, he leaves the game with a terrific resume. In addition to his Pro Bowl nod and Super Bowl ring, Tate took home over $56MM in career earnings — thanks largely to two notable free agent contracts with the Lions and Giants — and recorded three 1,000-yard seasons.
Deshaun Watson’s Disciplinary Hearing Scheduled
The disciplinary hearing for Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson is set to begin on Tuesday, June 28, as Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports. The matter will be heard by Sue L. Robinson, who served as a judge in the Unites States District Court for the District of Delaware for over 25 years. Robinson was jointly appointed by the league and the NFLPA, although commissioner Roger Goodell would handle any appeal of the discipline that Robinson imposes.
As we have learned, the league will be pushing for a lengthy suspension, and Aaron Wilson of Pro Football Network hears that an indefinite ban may be the NFL’s goal. One potential problem there is that the league was unable to speak with a significant number of the 26 women who have levied accusations against Watson, so its case will be based upon the testimony of only a fraction of those women. It’s important to note, however, that Goodell would also hear the league’s appeal if it feels Robinson’s punishment is too light.
The NFL and NFLPA, along with Watson’s advisors, attempted to negotiate a suspension before the hearing, although the parties were unable to agree to suspension length. Per Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, it is unlikely that those negotiations will be revived (Florio adds in a separate piece that the NFL was insisting upon a one-year ban in its talks with the union).
Another key piece of the Watson saga, of course, is his contract. When additional lawsuits were filed against the quarterback after he became a member of the Browns, it seemed possible that Cleveland could attempt to void Watson’s fully-guaranteed deal, though a report at the time suggested that the club had no such intentions. Andrew Brandt of SI.com, citing a league source, says that the money to be paid over first two years of the pact — 2022 and 2023 — are not subject to forfeiture anyway.
Per Brandt, the Browns could attempt to void the final three years of the contract for “new misbehavior” that triggers league discipline. And while it might seem that the lawsuits filed after Cleveland authorized the Watson deal in March would qualify as “new misbehavior,” Brandt is not so sure. The former Packers exec points out that the allegations contained in the most recent suits are consistent with those in the suits that the Browns already knew about, so if they were to try and back out of the deal, they would be facing a grievance that might prove difficult to win.
As for the more immediate disciplinary matter, Robinson’s decision is expected to be made no later than the beginning of training camp, although Schefter says it could be handed down within a week of the end of the hearing. As Mark Maske of the Washington Post tweets, if Robinson feels there was no violation of the league’s Personal Conduct Policy, then there will not only be no suspension, but the NFL could not take an appeal; Watson would simply be free to play. In light of everything we have heard to this point, such a finding seems unlikely.
Bears OL Teven Jenkins Finishes Minicamp With Second-String Offense
Bears OL Teven Jenkins began practicing with Chicago’s second-team offense towards the end of OTAs, and that continued throughout the club’s mandatory minicamp, per Kevin Fishbain and Adam Jahns of The Athletic (subscription required). Meanwhile, Braxton Jones has been operating as the first-string left tackle, with 2021 fifth-rounder Larry Borom at RT.
Jenkins, the No. 39 overall pick of the 2021 draft, was originally viewed as a future fixture on the blindside. Unfortunately, he was forced to undergo back surgery last August, and he ultimately appeared in just six games (two starts) as a rookie.
Although both Jenkins and Borom were selected by the Bears’ prior regime, the new coaching staff appeared plenty content to move forward with them as their first-stringers — Jenkins at RT and Borom at LT — just a couple of weeks ago. So it is notable that Jenkins has been demoted in favor of Jones, a rookie Day 3 selection.
Naturally, head coach Matt Eberflus downplayed the significance of the move. “We’re going to finish off the minicamp with this alignment, and then we’ll decide, ‘Hey, we like this alignment, that alignment,’ or, like I said, ‘(We) don’t like either one; let’s go with a new one,'” he said. “So we’re just assessing guys’ talents, assessing their skill level and going forward from there.”
With three unproven options vying for jobs as OL bookends in support of a second-year quarterback, Justin Fields, there is certainly plenty of logic in trying different alignments, particularly in OTAs and minicamp. But in a separate piece, Fishbain and Jahns suggest that there is more to Jenkins’ current status than Eberflus is letting on. Jahns posits that, if the Bears simply wanted to try Borom out on the right side, they could have shifted him to the second team to give him a look while keeping Jenkins with the first-team offense at RT, where he had been penciled in for months. Indeed, OL continuity is meaningful, even in spring work, and it appears that Jenkins is simply not performing at a high enough level right now.
Obviously, the alignment for the start of training camp will be particularly telling. While Eberflus was non-committal when asked if either Borom or Jenkins could see time at guard, both players lined up exclusively at tackle in practices that were open to the media.