Micah Parsons Played 2021 Season With Knee Injury
The Cowboys’ original plan with the No. 10 pick of the 2021 draft was to select either South Carolina cornerback Jaycee Horn or Alabama cornerback Patrick Surtain II. Of course, both of those players were off the board by the time Dallas was on the clock, so the club traded down and ultimately landed Penn State linebacker Micah Parsons, despite its existing LB depth.
All Parsons did was put together a remarkable rookie campaign in which he posted 13 sacks, 20 tackles for loss, and 30 quarterback hits while playing both linebacker and defensive end (just one game into the season, the Cowboys were forced to move Parsons to DE due to a DeMarcus Lawrence injury and Randy Gregory‘s placement on the reserve/COVID-19 list). His efforts earned him NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year honors, and he became the first player to ever win that award by unanimous vote. He also finished second to Steelers edge defender T.J. Watt in NFL Defensive Player of the Year voting.
On top of all that, Parsons hyperextended his knee during a joint practice with the Rams in August, and he played the entire 2021 season while suffering the effects of that injury. “It was at a point where I was like, ‘I’m in a position battle,'” Parsons said. “‘I’m going against Jaylon (Smith). The first game is coming up soon.’ I was like, ‘This is the worst time for this to happen'” (via Jon Machota of The Athletic (subscription required)).
Parsons added, “[i]t’s something that just kept lingering. When you hyperextend something, it needs rest. But I was like, ‘I can’t take no rest.’ The whole season I kept rehabbing, rehabbing, rehabbing so that way I could play in the games.” The 22-year-old also noted that while medication helped, he was in significant pain after games.
A fully-healthy 2022 campaign, along with natural progression and development, might allow Parsons to secure a DPOY nod next year; he will certainly be on the shortlist of favorites heading into the season. But the Cowboys will need to supplement their LB corps just the same. That above-referenced depth at the position is no longer a reality, with Leighton Vander Esch and Keanu Neal set for free agency and with Smith having been released in October.
Fellow LB Jabril Cox, a 2021 fourth-rounder, appeared in seven games last season — primarily in a special teams role — before suffering a torn ACL, which could put the start of his 2022 season in jeopardy.
Acrimony Between Cardinals, Kyler Murray?
In a surprising development, ESPN’s Chris Mortensen suggests that there is acrimony between the Cardinals and QB Kyler Murray. The veteran reporter says that “sources” have described Murray as a self-centered, immature finger-pointer, and that Murray himself is frustrated with the franchise. Mortensen adds that Murray was embarrassed by Arizona’s playoff loss to the Rams in this year’s wildcard round and that the former Heisman winner believes he has been unfairly scapegoated for the loss (Twitter link).
Other prominent industry names take issue with the report. Pro Football Talk denounces the claims of Mortensen’s sources as a “bizarre hit job” and suggests that those claims represent an unfair characterization of Murray (Twitter link). Longtime NFL writer Gregg Rosenthal also calls the credibility of those sources into question (Twitter link).
Troy Renck of Denver 7, however, believes Murray does indeed have work to do as a leader, saying that Murray needs to do a better job of sharing credit when the Cardinals win and shouldering blame when they lose (Twitter link). Renck does say that head coach Kliff Kingsbury needs to improve as a play-caller — which is hardly an uncommon opinion — and that Murray’s frustration with the offense is understandable.
Regardless, it would be a shock if the Cardinals even considered moving on from Murray. Mortensen acknowledges (via Twitter) that the organization is committed to their two-time Pro Bowler, and that Kingsbury plans to do some “self-scouting” in an effort to provide Murray with “better alternatives” (though Arizona was eighth in the league in total offense in 2021). Furthermore, Mortensen says “select veterans” plan to reach out to Murray to help him improve on how he handles adversity.
The Cardinals, of course, jumped out to a 7-0 start in 2021 but won just four of their final 10 games. Murray missed three games due to a high ankle sprain and was generally not as effective upon his return as he was prior to the injury. His playoff performance against Los Angeles was his worst showing of the season, as he completed just 19-of-34 passes for 137 yards and two interceptions.
With three years of service time under his belt, Murray is now extension-eligible, and it will be interesting to see if player and team are willing to commence extension talks at this point. The Cardinals will have to make a decision on Murray’s fifth-year option for the 2023 season by May 2 of this year, and because he has earned multiple Pro Bowl nods, his fifth-year option salary would be roughly $28.5MM (fully-guaranteed).
In response to Mortensen’s report, the Cardinals have released the following statement (Twitter links via Pro Football Talk):
“Nothing has changed regarding our opinion and high regard for Kyler Murray. We as a team and Kyler individually have improved each year he’s been in the league. We are excited to continue that improvement in 2022 and are excited that Kyler Murray is the quarterback leading us.”
Raiders Hire Mick Lombardi As OC
The Raiders have hired Mick Lombardi as their new offensive coordinator, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Lombardi, who spent the 2019 season as the Patriots’ assistant quarterbacks coach and the past two years as New England’s wide receivers coach, will join Josh McDaniels on the trek from Foxborough to Las Vegas.
McDaniels, the longtime Patriots OC who was hired as the Raiders’ new head coach at the end of January, is expected to serve as the team’s offensive play-caller. Still, this represents quite a promotion for Lombardi, the 33-year-old son of former NFL exec Michael Lombardi. As Schefter writes, the younger Lombardi handled the Pats’ red zone game plan in 2021, and he and McDaniels are aligned in their offensive philosophies.
Lombardi will replace Greg Olson, who worked as the Raiders’ OC from 2018-21 (we recently heard that Olson is expected to rejoin the Rams’ staff in some capacity in 2022). He will inherit a unit that finished 11th in the league in total offense last season and that features a quality starting QB in Derek Carr (assuming, of course, that Las Vegas elects to retain Carr, who is entering a contract year).
Schefter adds that Patriots offensive line coach Carmen Bricillo will join the Raiders in the same capacity. With the departures of McDaniels, Lombardi, Bricillo, and Bo Hardegree — who was recently hired as Las Vegas’ new QB coach — New England is experiencing quite a brain drain on the offensive side of the ball. That is to say nothing of the expected retirement of RB coach Ivan Fears, who has been in his post since 2002. Of course, the club did recently reunite with Joe Judge, who is returning as an offensive assistant.
In related news, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets that the Raiders are adding longtime NFL scout Andy Dengler to their college scouting department. Dengler had served as the Jaguars’ assistant director of player personnel from 2013-20. As part of the continuing transition under new GM Dave Ziegler, the Raiders are also parting ways with assistant director of player personnel Trey Scott, who had been with the team for a decade (Twitter link via Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network).
Aaron Wilson of Pro Football Network offers more details on Las Vegas’ front office overhaul.
Sean McVay, Zac Taylor In Line For Extensions; Latest On Rams’ Coaching Staff
Rams HC Sean McVay and Bengals HC Zac Taylor, who will be squaring off in Super Bowl LVI tonight, will be in line for contract extensions this offseason, per Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (via Twitter).
We had already heard that Cincinnati was planning a new deal for Taylor, who has only one year left on his contract. Schefter does, however, remind us that Taylor — the former McVay disciple — is presently the lowest-paid head coach in the NFL, with a $3.75MM annual salary (Twitter link). Obviously, that will change soon.
McVay, meanwhile, was recently the subject of some idle speculation that he was contemplating leaving the coaching ranks, but he has put those rumors to bed. He is under contract through 2023 as a result of the extension he signed in 2019, a deal that elevated him from one of the league’s lowest-paid head coaches to a salary that, per Joe Rivera of the Sporting News, is believed to be in the $8.5MM ballpark. Another extension might mean an eight-figure annual income for McVay.
The 36-year-old head coach has compiled a 55-26 regular season record, three NFC West titles, and two NFC championships during his five-year run. The success that he and his clubs have enjoyed have made other teams anxious to poach his staffers, and that has happened again in 2022, with OC Kevin O’Connell set to become head coach of the Vikings and secondary coach/passing game coordinator Ejiro Evero heading to Denver to become the Broncos’ defensive coordinator.
As Schefter reports in a full-length piece, O’Connell is likely to bring Rams tight ends coach/passing game coordinator Wes Phillips with him to Minnesota to serve as the Vikes’ offensive coordinator or passing game coordinator. Schefter names Kentucky OC Liam Coen — a Rams staffer from 2018-20 — as a “prime candidate” to replace O’Connell, though RB coach Thomas Brown could also garner consideration for the soon-to-be-vacant OC job. Yet another candidate is Greg Olson, who spent the last four seasons as the Raiders’ OC but who was the Rams’ QB coach in 2017, McVay’s first season as HC.
Whether it’s to become Los Angeles’ new OC or to reprise his role as QB coach, Olson is expected to rejoin McVay’s staff in 2022.
Latest On Chiefs OC Eric Bieniemy
We learned earlier this week that Chiefs OC Eric Bieniemy, who is set to become a coaching free agent, is not a lock to return to Kansas City. This morning, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reported that Bieniemy and KC head coach Andy Reid will soon sit down to discuss Bieniemy’s future with the club.
Bieniemy, 52, spent the 2013-17 seasons as the Chiefs’ RB coach before being promoted to offensive coordinator in 2018. That, of course, was the year that Patrick Mahomes became the team’s full-time starter at quarterback, and as a result of Kansas City’s tremendous offensive success over the past four seasons, Bieniemy has become a popular figure on the head coaching interview circuit.
Still, he has yet to land a head coaching post, and although he has publicly said all of the right things about that reality, it could be starting to weigh on him. Schefter suggests that the 2021 season, which ended with a devastating loss in the AFC Championship Game and which was capped by more HC interviews that did not lead to HC jobs, was mentally and physically draining for Bieniemy. The ESPN scribe adds that Bieniemy has considered returning to the college ranks — he served as Colorado’s OC for two years before joining the Chiefs and was connected to the USC head coaching post earlier this year — listening to other offers, or even taking the 2022 season off entirely.
The Chiefs almost certainly want him back, however. He does not call the team’s offensive plays, but Kansas City has never been out of the top-six in terms of points per game or yards per game under his stewardship, and former QB coach Mike Kafka, who would have represented a potential replacement, was recently hired as the Giants’ new offensive coordinator.
Tom Brady Has Not Ruled Out Playing In 2022; Bucs Interested In Russell Wilson, Deshaun Watson
You didn’t really think that there wouldn’t be any Tom Brady “un-retirement” stories, did you? Less than two weeks after the legendary passer confirmed he would be hanging up the cleats, Tom Pelissero and Ian Rapoport of NFL.com report that the Buccaneers are leaving the door open to a Brady return, and that Brady himself is not ruling out the possibility.
Brady, 44, when discussing the prospect of playing in 2022 on his own podcast six days ago, said, “[y]ou never say never. At the same time I know that I’m very, I feel very good about my decision. I don’t know how I’ll feel six months from now” (via Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk).
It’s understandable that any retired player, let alone a player who has enjoyed the type of career that Brady has, would start to feel the itch to return to the field as summer draws to a close and the nation starts to turn its attention to Week 1 of the NFL season. Even assuming Brady gets that itch, however, Pelissero and Rapoport hear from sources close to the seven-time Super Bowl champion that chances of a return are “remote.” Still, the Bucs are willing to do whatever it takes to bring him back for his age-45 season, and they have made that clear to him.
Florio, in the same piece linked above, speculates that Brady’s retirement announcement could be his way of engineering a graceful exit from Tampa. After all, although the team was able to retain all of its starters from its Super Bowl LV run, tough decisions were always going to have to be made in 2022. As we recently pointed out, nearly half of the Bucs’ starting lineup in 2021 is eligible for free agency in March, and even without that contingent on the payroll, the club is projected to be barely $5MM under the cap. It could be that Brady realizes his chances of playing through his age-45 campaign — as he had long indicated he planned to do — and still going out on top with an eighth Super Bowl ring would be better elsewhere.
Indeed, no matter how badly the Bucs may want him back, they are going to have to turn their attention to other options at some point. Pelissero and Rapoport write that Tampa Bay is doing “extensive homework” on embattled Texans QB Deshaun Watson and are expected to explore a trade for Seahawks QB Russell Wilson. The team has also been connected to 49ers signal-caller (and former Brady protégé) Jimmy Garoppolo. If/when the Bucs make a move to replace Brady with a starting-caliber passer, it will obviously be impractical for them to keep Brady rostered.
At present, the Bucs have not made a roster move with respect to Brady and are projected to carry a $32MM dead money charge for him in 2022 if they move him off the roster. If they designate him a post-June 1 release, they could push $24MM of that total to 2023, and if they place him on the reserve/retired list after June 1, they would be able to accomplish the same thing while still retaining his 2022 rights should he decide he wants to keep playing but for another team. Or, as Florio adds in a separate piece, the team could just keep him on the roster all year, which would result in a $10.545MM cap charge — just $2.545MM more than what the post-June 1 2022 dead money charge would be — and which would allow him to return to the team at any time should he so choose. Presumably, that option would only be in play if Tampa Bay does not replace Brady with a high-level starter.
Interestingly, Florio posits that if Brady does want to play for another club in 2022, that club would be his hometown Niners. Brady reportedly wanted to play for San Francisco before signing with the Bucs two years ago, and with the 49ers boasting a roster that came up just shy of a Super Bowl appearance this year, it stands to reason that HC Kyle Shanahan would be willing to delay the Trey Lance era for one more season if it means giving Brady a chance to get that roster to the promised land. Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times agrees that Brady’s preferred destination, should all of this speculation coalesce into something more concrete, would be San Francisco (Twitter link).
CB Rasul Douglas Open To Packers Return
Cornerback Rasul Douglas was a revelation for the Packers in 2021. The West Virginia product was selected by the Eagles in the third round of the 2017 draft, but Philadelphia deemed him expendable at final cutdown time before the start of the 2020 season and placed him on waivers. He was claimed by the Panthers shortly thereafter and went on to start 11 games for Carolina in 2020.
However, he finished as a middle-of-the-road performer that year per Pro Football Focus’ advanced metrics, and he signed a one-year pact with the Raiders last April, only to be cut in August. Sensing that he might have a good opportunity with the rebuilding Texans, he signed with Houston one day after being released by Las Vegas, but he was cut again less than a week into his Texans tenure. He subsequently hooked on with the Cardinals’ taxi squad and was poached by the Packers in early October.
Douglas, 27, enjoyed a career year in Green Bay. In just 12 regular season games (nine starts), he picked off five passes, returning two for touchdowns. He had always shown solid ball skills, having averaged 8.5 passes defensed per year over his first four seasons in the league, but his ability to convert those PDs into picks in 2021 was a major asset to the Packers’ defense.
It stands to reason, then, that the club would want to bring Douglas back, and for his part, Douglas is certainly amenable to a return. When asked what it would take for him to re-sign with the Packers, Douglas said all the team would need to do is ask. On a follow-up question as to how much more money Green Bay would have to pay him above the prorated $990K veteran minimum he earned from the team in 2021, he replied “probably a little more. Nothing crazy” (Twitter link via Matt Schneidman of The Athletic).
Of course, even a modest raise will be difficult for the Packers to accommodate. The club is currently projected to be more than $45MM over the cap, and that’s before a presumptive franchise tag for WR Davante Adams. Green Bay has only three CBs under contract for 2022, and while two of those players — Eric Stokes and Jaire Alexander — are high-quality starters, retaining Douglas on something of a team-friendly deal would be especially helpful to a defense that could lose some pass rushing prowess (Za’Darius Smith and Preston Smith) in the front seven.
Douglas’ market will be interesting to monitor. In addition to his counting stats, he allowed just a 45.3% completion rate in 2021, and opposing passers had a meager 49.6 QB rating when throwing in his direction, the third-best mark in the league. So there is plenty of reason to believe that his breakthrough 2021 campaign is sustainable, and assuming rival clubs feel that way, Douglas could be priced out of Green Bay’s range.
Steelers Expected To Name Teryl Austin DC
You might have heard this before, but the Steelers are expected to name Teryl Austin as their new defensive coordinator. Per Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, a deal could be finalized today or tomorrow (Twitter link).
Austin has served as the Steelers’ senior defensive assistant/secondary coach since 2019. Just two weeks ago, it was reported that Austin would be elevated to DC to replace the retiring Keith Butler, but then Pittsburgh elected to conduct a more thorough search and do its due diligence on a few external candidates. The Steelers requested interviews with then-Giants DC Patrick Graham — who subsequently took the same position with the Raiders — Saints defensive backs coach Kris Richard, and Cowboys passing game coordinator/secondary coach Joe Whitt Jr. before circling back to Austin.
Austin actually took an outside interview himself just yesterday, meeting with the Giants as a potential Graham replacement. That position may have offered him greater responsibility than the Steelers’ gig, as Pittsburgh head coach Mike Tomlin took over as Pittsburgh’s defensive play-caller last season, but for one reason or another, it appears that Austin will remain in the Steel City.
The 56-year-old served as defensive coordinator for the Lions from 2014-17 under head coach Jim Caldwell, and during his time in Detroit, he was a regular on the HC interview circuit. His ill-fated tenure as the Bengals’ DC in 2018 caused his stock to plummet, but he is now getting a shot at some measure of redemption.
Of course, the Steelers’ D turned in an uncharacteristically poor 2021, allowing 361.1 yards per game (good for 24th in the league). Still, the unit does have some top-flight talent, and Austin’s secondary generally did a good job of limiting opposing passing games. More often than not, Pittsburgh’s run defense was the source of the club’s struggles.
Bears Hire Richard Hightower As ST Coordinator
New Bears head coach Matt Eberflus continues to fill out his first staff. Chicago has hired Richard Hightower as its special teams coordinator, the team announced.
This move qualifies as something of a surprise. Hightower had served as the 49ers’ ST coordinator since 2017, joining the Niners when Kyle Shanahan accepted the team’s head coaching post. The two men were college teammates at the University of Texas, and they also worked together on coaching staffs in Houston, Washington, and Cleveland, so it may have been difficult for Eberflus to prise Hightower away from San Francisco.
On the other hand, the 49ers’ special teams units generally struggled over the past several years and ranked 26th in the league in terms of DVOA in 2021, so Shanahan may have been more willing to let his longtime colleague depart than he might have been in years past. Still, Hightower remains a respected coach, and from 2017-19, San Francisco’s kicking unit ranked first in the NFL in made field goals (102) and fourth in field goal percentage (89.5). The club’s punt coverage ranked second in the league over that three-year span (h/t 49ers.com). Of course, Hightower’s charges also played a pivotal role in the Niners’ upset of the Packers in this year’s divisional round matchup, blocking a field goal on the final play of the first half and returning a blocked punt for the team’s only touchdown.
Rich Bisaccia was recently considered the favorite for the Bears’ ST coordinator post, and as Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune tweets, Bisaccia was indeed the first choice. It sounds as if Eberflus would have been willing to let Chris Tabor, who worked as Chicago’s special teams coordinator from 2018-21, to continue in his role, but Tabor jumped ship to the Panthers.
Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, among others, believes this move means that Bisaccia will be heading to Green Bay (Twitter link). We heard just yesterday that the Packers are in talks with Bisaccia about their own ST coordinator vacancy.
Hightower, 41, worked as Chicago’s assistant special teams coordinator in 2016. He has 15 years of coaching experience in the NFL.
Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network first reported that the Bears were hiring Hightower (via Twitter).
Bills Want To Re-Sign Mitchell Trubisky
QB Mitchell Trubisky, taken by the Bears with the No. 2 overall pick of the 2017 draft, will always be compared to draftmates Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson, who were selected that year at No. 10 and No. 12, respectively, and who obviously have enjoyed quite a bit more on-field success than Trubisky. Chicago declined Trubisky’s fifth-year option for 2021, and he ultimately had to settle for a backup job with the Bills, spending all of last season as Josh Allen‘s clipboard holder and Buffalo’s scout team quarterback.
All is not lost for the UNC product, however. Former Bears HC Matt Nagy received his walking papers last month, and Nagy’s inability to get much of anything out of his offense in his four years at the helm has reinforced the notion that Chicago’s issues may have had more to do with the coach than the QB. And as Katherine Fitzgerald of the Buffalo News recently wrote, Trubisky and the organization believe his year with the Bills has helped him grow as a player.
Brian Daboll, who spent the 2018-21 seasons as Buffalo’s offensive coordinator before recently being hired as the Giants’ head coach, said, “[Trubisky’s been] a good addition for us. I think he’s made strides in his game, both mentally and physically.” Defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier, who appreciated Trubisky’s selflessness when running the scout team offense, also saw growth, saying, “[t]he way he comes to practice every day, you wouldn’t know that he’s not a starter currently in the league or the fact that he was a former starter.”
Trubisky himself said of the Bills’ offense, “[i]t’s a lot less restricted than what I’ve been in in the past. The quarterback has a lot more freedom to make checks, go where he wants with the ball, exploiting matchups and getting the optimal play for this team. So it’s been a really fun offense to learn, and I feel like it’s really quarterback friendly once you get it down.”
Although players like Aaron Rodgers, Russell Wilson, Jimmy Garoppolo, and Watson could be available on the trade market this offseason, there are teams that might consider signing Trubisky to compete for a starting job, knowing that they will at the very least have a quality backup. Clubs like the Steelers and Daboll’s Giants could make some sense in that regard, and Trubisky has also been loosely connected to the Browns in early rumors.
Interestingly, Bills GM Brandon Beane said he received some interest in Trubisky in advance of the 2021 trade deadline, but he rebuffed those inquiries because of Trubisky’s fit on a team that had designs on making a championship run. Beane understands that Allen’s physical style of play makes him more of an injury risk than other passers, and as such, he wants Trubisky back if the right opportunity does not materialize for him elsewhere.
“If anybody calls me about Mitch on another team, I’m going to give him a great recommendation,” Beane said. “And I’ve told him and his agent, if he doesn’t get what he wants, we’ve got a spot for him.”