Commanders Hire Mark Clouse As Team President
Jason Wright is on his way out as Commanders president, with word coming this offseason the veteran exec would make this season his last with the team. The franchise has a successor lined up.
Mark Clouse will take over in the role, the organization announced Tuesday. Like Wright, Clouse will oversee the business side of the Commanders. GM Adam Peters will still have control over the football side, as he will continue to report to owner Josh Harris.
A report this offseason indicated Wright would leave the team at season’s end, but he vacated the president role and has been working as a senior advisor. Clouse is an outside hire, coming over from the The Campbell’s Company. He had previously worked as CEO for Campbell’s and will be set to take over with the Commanders in late January. In addition to running Campbell’s, Clouse was in charge of a company portfolio that included Goldfish, Rao’s and Pepperidge Farm. Moving to overseeing an NFL team will, then, make for an interesting transition.
Wright had been in place as Washington’s team president from August 2020 until his offseason role change. Dan Snyder had hired the young exec, making him the NFL’s first Black exec to work as a team president. Remaining in place while the team changed owners, Wright moved out of the picture less than a year into Harris’ tenure. Wright interviewed for the Packers’ president role, a wide-ranging race Ed Policy eventually won.
Unlike Green Bay’s presidential gig, Washington’s does not feature football-side work. Clouse’s resume, which also includes a 15-year stint with Kraft Foods, would not support such a role. But he will join Peters as the other organizational pillar to close out Harris’ first full year at the helm.
AFC South Notes: Colts, Harris, Jaguars
Given a historically quick hook based on his draft status, Anthony Richardson has continued to struggle as a passer upon being reinserted into the Colts‘ lineup. He has only bumped his completion percentage up to 47.5, remaining on pace to become just the seventh QB to finish south of 50% (min. 200 attempts) this century. Still, Richardson has guided Indianapolis to two wins since returning.
The benching also came partially because of Richardson’s preparation issues. Adding more on that, ESPN.com’s Stephen Holder indicates the Colts believed their quarterback needed to invest more time into his job. This was a bigger organizational concern than Richardson’s accuracy issues, Holder notes. The benching provided a wakeup call, per NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport, and Richardson’s literal wakeup calls have come earlier since. The QB, per Holder, is believed to be showing up at the facility around 5:30am to begin preparation.
Richardson may not be out of the woods yet regarding assurances the Colts stick with him in 2025. While the benching certainly garnered his attention, ESPN.com’s Dan Graziano notes the quarterback may well be tied to the fates of GM Chris Ballard and HC Shane Steichen. It would seem a bit unlikely Jim Irsay would fire Steichen if the team misses the playoffs, but Ballard is in Year 8 and would be 2-for-8 in postseason berths if the 6-7 Colts miss out this season. This nugget would point to a new GM not being tied to Richardson, which would place the raw talent on shakier ground. The Ballard-Steichen-Richardson trio still has four games to prove it deserves a third season together.
Here is the latest from the AFC South:
- Richardson may soon have a Pro Bowl center snapping to him once again. Steichen said (via CBS4’s Mike Chappell) Ryan Kelly will have a good chance of returning to practice before the Colts’ Week 15 game against the Broncos. Kelly landed on IR due to a knee injury, one that was not expected to be season-ending. With Kelly playing out an extension he signed in 2020, this Colts homestretch will be pivotal to his 2025 market. Kelly is a four-time Pro Bowler who would be a free agent — barring a deal before the legal tampering period — ahead of an age-32 season. The Colts have been a retention-heavy team under Ballard, but they have seen fourth-round rookie Tanor Bortolini hold his own in Kelly’s stead.
- Staying on the subject of IR returns, the Texans have been without linebacker Christian Harris all season. The AFC South leaders placed Harris on IR with a return designation August 27, devoting one of their injury activations to the third-year defender in advance. Harris, however, has lingered on IR (with a calf injury) since. But GM Nick Caserio pointed to a near-future return. Harris has not seen his practice window opened, but KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson adds that is likely to happen soon. With Azeez Al-Shaair appealing a three-game suspension, Houston could certainly use Harris — a 23-game starter from 2022-23 — back in action.
- Doug Pederson is following in Ron Rivera‘s footsteps as a second-chance HC playing out the string. The Jaguars are all but certain to fire the former Super Bowl-winning coach at season’s end. This will leave Pederson’s staff in limbo, and one of the staffers — running backs coach Jerry Mack — is getting out early. Kennesaw State hired Mack as head coach, the school announced. A former HC at North Carolina Central and RBs coach at Tennessee, Mack spent nearly 20 years in the college ranks before joining Pederson’s staff this year. The 44-year-old assistant will return to the college ranks months after arriving in Jacksonville.
Broncos Planned To Trade Jerry Jeudy Regardless Of WR’s Request
Preying on a Broncos team that sorely missed its No. 2 cornerback (Riley Moss) during a historic revenge game, Jerry Jeudy‘s return to Denver went quite well — for the wide receiver, at least. Although the Browns were unable to hold on for an upset win, the fifth-year wideout’s 235-yard performance marked the most receiving yards anyone has compiled against a former team.
The Broncos sent Jeudy to the Browns for fifth- and sixth-round picks in March, cutting the cord after the talented but unreliable receiver had come up in trade rumors since the 2022 deadline. Jeudy said later in the offseason he requested to be dealt, but the Denver Post’s Troy Renck indicates the Broncos would have moved on regardless of the WR’s wishes.
Denver dropped its asking price considerably from 2023 to ’24. The team had hoped for a first-round pick in exchange for the wideout during the 2023 offseason, setting a second-round asking price for Courtland Sutton last year as well. The best offer that came in for Jeudy last year involved a package believed to include third- and fifth-round picks. The Broncos fielded that at the 2023 deadline but stood pat, doing so despite sitting 3-5 at the time.
Denver was midway through a five-game win streak at that point, and the team did not opt to sell. That midseason recovery (after a 1-5 start) dropped the Broncos out of the Caleb Williams–Jayden Daniels–Drake Maye sweepstakes, but the team has seen immediate promise from No. 12 choice Bo Nix, who has launched an Offensive Rookie of the Year campaign despite a receiving corps that has seen a drop-off from Jeudy at WR2.
Drafted during John Elway‘s final year at the controls, Jeudy showed high-end route-running chops but struggled to make a consistent impact in Denver. He topped out at 972 receiving yards in a season — a 2022 campaign that featured a wildly disappointing Russell Wilson–Nathaniel Hackett partnership. Much of Jeudy’s consistency issues can be traced to quarterback problems the Broncos experienced during the Alabama alum’s tenure. Jeudy said as much last week before lighting up a Moss-less secondary, albeit not faring especially well against Patrick Surtain when the two matched up. Jeudy (880 yards, three TDs) is on track for his first 1,000-yard season, one restrained early by the Browns’ refusal to bench Deshaun Watson despite woeful play.
The Broncos also may have received a better offer than what the Browns proposed this offseason, as the Jets are believed to have proposed a deal including a Day 2 pick for Jeudy, who was heading into his fifth-year option season at the time. During an offseason in which Woody Johnson is believed to have impeded then-GM Joe Douglas on a few occasions, the Jets owner reportedly nixed the AFC East team’s proposal. That led to the Broncos selling low, and the Browns now have Jeudy on what looks like a team-friendly contract. Days after the trade, Cleveland gave Jeudy a three-year, $52.5MM deal that came with $41MM fully guaranteed.
Jeudy’s issues in Denver aside, the team would appear to have finally found a quarterback capable of meshing with his skillset. The Nix-Jeudy partnership never was, of course. The Broncos opted to move on early — rather than wait to see how their QB plan shook out — by trading Jeudy before free agency and then assembled a low-cost WR corps alongside Sutton.
The Broncos have seen seventh-round rookie Devaughn Vele show early promise, with ex-Nix Oregon teammate Troy Franklin also integrated into the offense. The team added Josh Reynolds on a two-year, $9MM deal but saw him land on IR with a finger injury; Reynolds suffered minor injuries in a shooting soon after. The team had hoped Marvin Mims would rise into the Jeudy role, but the 2023 second-round pick has been more gadget player than regular starter. That said, Mims has displayed recent improvement — as evidenced most recently by his 93-yard score Monday night.
It can be argued the Broncos would have been wise to give Jeudy another chance, but the relationship had certainly soured by then. The Browns traded Amari Cooper in October, clearing the way for Jeudy to be their lead wideout to close this season. Denver will likely seek to upgrade its pass-catching group this offseason, as Sutton — who joined Jeudy as a trade-rumor mainstay — is 29 and set for a 2025 contract year while Vele is one of the older rookies in recent NFL history; the Utah alum will turn 27 this month.
Jets Sticking With Aaron Rodgers; Woody Johnson Wanted QB Benched On Multiple Occasions?
In the final stage of a wildly disappointing season, the Jets have dropped to 3-9. They have not seen their Aaron Rodgers trade come close to meeting expectations, and the now-41-year-old quarterback is not believed to be in the team’s plans beyond this season.
It would then be understandable if the sides reached a resolution of sorts, as Rodgers has played through injuries separate from his Achilles — an injury that defined his 2023 season — for much of this year. An IR placement or outright benching emerged as a potential solution here, but interim HC Jeff Ulbrich pushed back on that coming out of a bye week. After a loss to the Seahawks, the Jets are not changing course.
Ulbrich announced Monday (via ESPN.com’s Rich Cimini) that Rodgers will remain the team’s starter for its Week 14 game — and for the season’s remainder. Ulbrich was less definitive when asked about his starter following the Jets’ Week 13 loss but returned to form today by indicating Rodgers can still play at a “high level.” The interim boss also indicated Rodgers’ decorated resume is part of the conversation here.
Rodgers said in mid-November he wanted to keep playing beyond 2024, comments in line with his previous New York-era stances, but walked that back last week by noting he was not yet sure. The increasingly outspoken QB also said he wanted to play for Ulbrich in New York again next season, though he stopped short (via Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio) of ruling out playing for another coach in 2025. Considering how poorly the Jets have fared, Ulbrich has next to no chance of returning as their HC. The team has already brought in The33rdteam.com’s Mike Tannenbaum and Rick Spielman to run the upcoming searches, one that will undoubtedly tab outside HC and GM hires.
This is potentially the least amount of leverage Rodgers has held in his NFL career. After being given considerable power upon being traded to New York, Rodgers has not shown much of his MVP-level form. That continued Sunday, when the 20th-year veteran missed a wide-open Garrett Wilson for a score and then threw a pick-six to Leonard Williams on the ensuing play. Likely on his way out after two Jets seasons, Rodgers profiles as a lame duck.
The Jets appear prepared to eat the second-most dead money for a single player in NFL history ($49MM) next year to start fresh. For what it’s worth, Ulbrich attributes (via SNY’s Connor Hughes) much of Rodgers’ struggles this season to the injuries he has sustained. Rodgers has battled hamstring, knee and ankle maladies this season. Though, he was off Gang Green’s injury report in Week 13.
Rodgers’ Achilles tear and spate of nagging issues this season will naturally affect his chances of playing in 2025. Interest may well emerge for a diminished version of the four-time MVP, but a free agency foray is highly unlikely to approach the level of interest Tom Brady did when he hit the market ahead of an age-43 season in 2020. That and maybe Warren Moon‘s 1997 free agency bid (when the former Oilers and Vikings starter joined the Seahawks before his age-41 campaign) are about the only parallels to what a Rodgers FA effort may look like.
As for this season, ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler adds Woody Johnson may not have confined his calls for a Rodgers benching to merely the post-Week 4 effort. Johnson making another push for the high-priced passer to be benched for Tyrod Taylor would obviously be notable, as it certainly increases the likelihood Rodgers is off the Jets’ roster next year. It also could point to ownership again intervening at QB late this season.
Although a recent report attempted to pour cold water on the drama between Johnson and Rodgers, the 77-year-old owner has taken considerable heat for impeding former GM Joe Douglas during the final year of his run. Johnson’s outsized role figures to be a key topic when interviews for the Jets’ GM and HC positions begin.
49ers To Open S Talanoa Hufanga’s Practice Window, Place RB Jordan Mason On IR
As injuries once again define a 49ers NFC title defense, the team still has some silver linings in the form of defenders reentering the equation. Talanoa Hufanga is on his way back.
Down with a wrist injury for months, Hufanga is set to practice this week, Kyle Shanahan said. After rehabbing the ACL tear sustained on Thanksgiving night last year, Hufanga suffered a significant wrist malady that limited him to just two games thus far this season. The 49ers, however, had not ruled him out. Now in the IR-return window, the All-Pro safety has three weeks to return.
With Hufanga joining Dre Greenlaw in a return window from an injured list, Jordan Mason is heading to IR. The Christian McCaffrey backup suffered a high ankle sprain Sunday night, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport tweets. The 49ers lost McCaffrey to another injury — a PCL issue — that is expected to shut him down. Mason is now out until at least Week 18, leaving rookie Isaac Guerendo as the 49ers’ lead back for the foreseeable future.
Hufanga, who is in a contract year, will not be 100% if he returns to action. Shanahan said (via the Bay Area News Group’s Cam Inman) the standout DB still needs support for his injured wrist. With a potential free agency run coming, Hufanga will attempt to give it a go. Counting last season’s three playoff games, the former fifth-round pick has missed 20 of the 49ers’ past 22 contests.
Conflicting reports emerged earlier this season about whether Hufanga would return. An October offering suggested the 49ers were not counting on him to return, but the team had not ruled it out. San Francisco will at least see how he looks in practice. The injuries to Hufanga and Greenlaw played a key role in the 49ers falling just short in an overtime Super Bowl loss last season; for the first time since Hufanga’s November 2023 ACL injury, both will be back at work. Though, this comes at a dire point for a team in one of the worst Super Bowl hangovers in recent memory. A three-game losing streak has dropped the 49ers to 5-7.
The 49ers already played without All-Pros Nick Bosa, Trent Williams and Brandon Aiyuk on Sunday night. All-Pro linebacker Fred Warner, who is playing through an ankle fracture, left the game as well. Recently extended cornerback starter Deommodore Lenoir missed Week 13, while Brock Purdy returned after missing Week 12 due to injury. McCaffrey joins Mason in heading to IR, and Shanahan said defensive tackle Kevin Givens suffered a pectoral tear and will join the RBs on the injured list.
Beating out Elijah Mitchell for the backup running back job, Mason became a vital piece for the 49ers during McCaffrey’s Achilles rehab. The former UDFA held the NFL rushing lead for a short span this season, producing three 100-yard games over his first four. He paces the 49ers with 789 rushing yards and three TDs. Mason can be retained beyond this season, as the Georgia Tech alum is eligible for restricted free agency next year. Mitchell is on season-ending IR.
He of a sub-4.4-second 40-yard dash at this year’s Combine, Guerendo has shown flashes as a Mason backup. The third-round pick is the only healthy back on San Francisco’s 53-man roster right now, a situation that will see changes made soon. Patrick Taylor is the only RB on the team’s practice squad.
Givens has been with the 49ers for six seasons, working as a rotational player for most of that time. He has a career-high 3.5 sacks this season but will join DT Javon Hargrave among the expanding 49ers’ IR contingent. Playing out a $2MM deal, Givens is among the many 49ers defenders headed toward free agency.
49ers To Place Christian McCaffrey On IR
DECEMBER 2: Shanahan said Monday that McCaffrey did suffer a PCL injury in his right knee, an issue that will require a six-week recovery timetable. As it stands, it would be quite surprising if the NFL’s reigning rushing champion returned this season. He is heading to IR.
DECEMBER 1: This has been a forgettable season for Christian McCaffrey. The reigning NFL Offensive Player of the Year missed nearly half the season due to a lingering Achilles injury; weeks after debuting, the star running back joined a few of the 49ers’ other standouts in being out of the mix.
McCaffrey left Sunday’s blowout loss in Buffalo with a knee injury, and Kyle Shanahan was quick to rule him out. Postgame, Shanahan said McCaffrey sustained a potentially season-ending PCL malady. An MRI is scheduled for Monday, ESPN.com’s Nick Wagoner notes.
This would be a tough blow for the eighth-year back while underscoring the importance of securing guaranteed money. The 49ers authorized a two-year, $38MM extension this offseason, with the deal coming with $24MM at signing. McCaffrey, 28, played the lead role in powering San Francisco’s offense last season. With the former top-10 pick missing most of this season, the 49ers are in danger of falling out of the playoff mix. The defending NFC champs are now 5-7.
After a grim 2023, the running back position has seen a resurgence of sorts — in a macro sense. Saquon Barkley, Josh Jacobs, Derrick Henry and Joe Mixon are thriving on third contracts after changing teams. McCaffrey beat his peers in doing so, dominating between his October 2022 trade and Super Bowl LVIII. McCaffrey had shaken his Panthers-years injury trouble during the 2022 and ’23 seasons, not missing a game due to injury in that span. This season brought a regression for the dual-threat dynamo, and it has coincided with a brutal run of health for the 49ers.
San Francisco did not place McCaffrey on IR to start the season, but the Achilles issue did lead to such a move before Week 2. McCaffrey had been in play to suit up in Week 1, but the 49ers scratched him for that game. He then drifted out of the picture, going as far as making a trip to Germany for treatments that could potentially accelerate his recovery. McCaffrey did not debut until Week 10, but he immediately returned to a near-full-time workload. He logged 88% of the 49ers’ offensive snaps in Week 10 and then posted 82% and 94% snap rates over the past two 49ers games.
The 49ers had established a productive run game amid tonight’s Western New York snowstorm, and McCaffrey drove that effort during the early part of the game. He totaled 53 yards on seven carries, though his seventh tote brought lost yardage after a quick tumble to the turf. McCaffrey hobbled to the sideline, and the 49ers proceeded to fall behind 28-3. Both McCaffrey and Fred Warner exited the game due to injury, reminding of how far off track this 49ers season has veered.
Shanahan’s team played without Trent Williams and Nick Bosa tonight. Neither All-Pro is on IR or has been ruled out for Week 14, but the team has also battled numerous longer-term issues. San Francisco has missed Dre Greenlaw throughout the season, with the Achilles tear sustained while the veteran linebacker trotted onto the field for a first-half Super Bowl possession sidelining him throughout this season to date. Warner has played through a broken bone in his ankle. The 49ers lost recently extended wideout Brandon Aiyuk and high-priced defensive tackle Javon Hargrave for the season, and Talanoa Hufanga has joined McCaffrey in battling two significant injuries during the campaign. The All-Pro safety was still on the mend early due to the ACL tear sustained in November 2023, and he only squeezed in two games before a wrist injury shut him down.
This season reminds of the team’s previous NFC title defense, as the 2020 slate featured Bosa sidelined most of the way and then-QB1 Jimmy Garoppolo missing 10 contests. Both Deebo Samuel and George Kittle missed extensive time that year as well. The 49ers went 6-10 in 2020 but resurfaced by surging to the next three NFC championship games. The nucleus from San Francisco’s Super Bowl LIV team is still mostly intact. Bosa, Kittle, Warner, Greenlaw and Samuel are still rostered. But the group is obviously much older now. This season suddenly runs the risk of draining a year from several standouts’ primes.
McCaffrey became a hired gun to form a nucleus that featured four All-Pros at the skill positions, with Aiyuk earning second-team recognition last season. McCaffrey has burnished his credentials as a top-tier running back upon returning to the Bay Area; the Stanford alum won the rushing title last season (1,459 yards) and added 564 more through the air despite resting in Week 18. McCaffrey added 160 scrimmage yards in Super Bowl LVIII, a game that provided the most painful of the 49ers’ Shanahan-era big-game losses.
As McCaffrey appears likely to see his missed-games count balloon to 14 by season’s end, his career number would sit at 37 in that scenario. San Francisco’s top skill player would have been headed into a contract year in 2025, via his previous Carolina extension, but the offseason redo locks him in for 2025. No guarantees remain on McCaffrey’s deal beyond next season, but he did well to secure a guarantee that trails only Barkley’s among RBs this year, effectively ensuring he will be back in the 49ers’ plans in 2025.
Rams Claim CB Emmanuel Forbes
Despite being tied to a mid-first-round contract, Emmanuel Forbes will not clear waivers. The Rams are ensuring the 2023 first-round cornerback will remain tied to that deal.
Forbes is heading to Los Angeles via waiver claim, ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter tweets. The Commanders’ Adam Peters-run regime moved on despite the 2023 No. 16 overall pick being signed through 2026. The Rams are bringing that contract onto their payroll, illustrating considerable interest on the NFC West team’s part. The Rams waived rookie UDFA cornerback Charles Woods to make room on the roster.
As significant changes occurred in Washington this offseason, Forbes was unable to secure steady playing time. This reached the point of the Commanders attempting to gauge his trade value before the deadline last month. The team ended up cutting bait, resulting in dead money this year and next. The Commanders are on the hook for all of Forbes’ prorated signing bonus ($8.2MM); that will leave a $4.1MM dead money hit in 2025 as well.
As our Ely Allen pointed out, Forbes is the only cornerback to be drafted after weighing in under 170 pounds at the Combine since 2000. Elite ball production led to the Commanders preferring the 166-pound defender to Christian Gonzalez, who went off the board one spot later to the Patriots. Forbes intercepted six passes in 2022 at Mississippi State, returning three for touchdowns. For his career, the 6-foot cover man intercepted a staggering 14 passes and totaled six pick-sixes. That enticed the Commanders to dive in, but neither last year’s nor this year’s coaching staffs liked enough about his game to deploy him as a full-time starter regularly.
Forbes has started seven games as a pro; six came last season. After allowing a 60.7% completion rate as the closest defender last season, Forbes ceded a whopping 75% number in limited duty this year. The Rams will still give him a second chance, pulling the trigger on a waiver claim to do so. They will be on the hook for guaranteed base salaries ($2.15MM in 2025, $2.85MM in 2026), which the Washington Post’s Nicki Jhabvala adds will save the Commanders $5.3MM, but the NFC East team is still responsible for the bulk of the contract. On the Rams’ 2025 payroll, Forbes will only carry a $2.15MM cap number.
The Forbes pick came during one of the many Sean McVay-era first rounds in which the Rams did not hold a selection. This transaction will give the team a look at a player it clearly liked coming into the 2023 draft. The Rams have seen some issues form at corner, having already benched and traded Tre’Davious White this season. Pro Football Focus has no Rams CBs ranked inside the top 65 at the position; the team has given its most CB snaps to Cobie Durant and Darious Williams. PFF slots Durant and Ahkello Witherspoon 70th among corners this season, tabbing Williams — re-signed after two years in Jacksonville — 73rd.
Forbes, 23, will join an L.A. secondary that acquired more experience this year via the Williams and Witherspoon re-signings. The team also has a rookie UDFA (Josh Wallace) joining Quentin Lake in rounding out its CB group. Forbes will attempt to mix in for the 6-6 team.
Dallas Goedert Expected To Miss Time
Dallas Goedert has been one of the NFL’s best all-around tight ends for a few years now, and he has certainly been a central part of the Eagles’ surge to 10-2. But the veteran continues to struggle with injuries.
The seventh-year pass catcher’s latest setback is expected to key an absence. Goedert is now battling a knee injury that will sideline him on a week-to-week basis, per the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jeff McLane. While this is not expected to be a season-ending issue, a short-term IR stay may be in the cards. That would be familiar territory for Goedert.
Set to turn 30 next month, Goedert has landed on IR twice in his career. Ankle and shoulder injuries previously moved the former second-round pick off Philadelphia’s 53-man roster (in 2020 and ’22). A forearm fracture sustained last year did not, but Goedert still missed time. Goedert has already missed three games this season, with a hamstring injury sidelining him. Altogether, Goedert has missed 17 games as a pro. He has not seen any of his ailments require more than a five-week in-season recovery, however, and this one should be no exception.
The Eagles’ trade for Jahan Dotson notwithstanding, they still feature a well-defined target tree. Goedert operates as the third pillar alongside A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith. Through nine games, Goedert has 38 receptions for 441 yards and two touchdowns. One of those scores came Sunday in Baltimore. While injuries have impeded him from producing eye-popping stats as a pro, the South Dakota State alum has been integral to Philly’s passing and rushing attacks.
Philly released Albert Okwuegbunam earlier this season, doing so despite using one of its IR-return activations on him, but the team also added veteran C.J. Uzomah. Grant Calcaterra remains the team’s backup tight end. The Eagles used Calcaterra as an eight-game starter; he has 17 catches for 216 yards. An extended Goedert absence would hurt the Eagles’ passing attack, especially considering both Brown and Smith have missed time this season.
Smith has missed the past two Eagles games, though the now-Saquon Barkley-powered team has motored to an eight-game win streak anyway. Were Goedert to land on IR, he would not be able to return until Week 18. This would stand to impact the team’s push for its second NFC No. 1 seed in three years.
Chiefs Considered Donovan Smith Reunion; Marquise Brown December Return In Play?
DECEMBER 1: NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reports Brown has an appointment with his surgeon scheduled for Week 15. It is at that point he could receive full clearance, paving the way for a return to practice. Brown could be an option to play late in the regular season, but at a minimum he appears to be on track to be available during the playoffs.
NOVEMBER 27: Bolstered by a strong interior O-line trio for the past four seasons, the Chiefs have seen their tackle situation deteriorate. The perennial contenders have not exactly presented stability at either tackle spot since left tackle Orlando Brown Jr.‘s free agency defection, with 2023 free agency addition Jawaan Taylor not panning out at right tackle, either.
Tied to a $20MM-per-year deal that features a guaranteed 2025 salary, Taylor continues to start at RT. The Chiefs may be on the verge of using a third LT starter soon. They signed longtime Cardinals blindside blocker D.J. Humphries last week, shortly after the 10th-year veteran was cleared from ACL rehab, passing on a reunion with Donovan Smith in doing so.
[RELATED: Isiah Pacheco, Charles Omenihu Expected To Play In Week 13]
The Chiefs turned to Smith shortly after the 2023 draft, adding him as a plug-and-play left tackle. Kansas City considered bringing Smith back to help its tackle situation, according to The Athletic’s Nate Taylor, but ended up preferring Humphries (subscription required). Describing the two-time defending champs’ LT move as a “close call” between Humphries and Smith, Taylor adds the Chiefs are hoping the former will be ready to start either in Week 14 (against the Chargers) or Week 15 (vs. the Browns). Smith remains a free agent.
No talk of Humphries being a high-profile insurance policy for the ineffective Wanya Morris–Kingsley Suamataia tandem appears taking place, as it certainly looks like Humphries was signed to start. Patrick Mahomes has been sacked 15 times over the past four games, including five times by a Panthers team that did not exactly invested much in its pass rush post-Brian Burns. While OC Matt Nagy said (via ESPN.com’s Adam Teicher) Humphries will not be thrown into the fire immediately, the expectation will be the soon-to-be 31-year-old tackle will become the Chiefs’ blindside starter before the regular seasons ends.
Injuries have been a problem for Humphries throughout his career. Prior to the ACL tear sustained in Week 17 of last season, the eight-year Cardinals starter missed nine games in 2022 (with a back injury). He missed 11 games in 2017 and seven in 2018 as well. A productive midcareer stretch — one that booked him two Arizona extensions — followed, but Kansas City is effectively rolling the dice here. Smith, 30, missed five starts last season and four in 2022; the former Buccaneers LT bastion also only missed two combined games over his first seven seasons.
Holding a Suamataia-Morris position battle throughout the offseason, the Chiefs had not planned to bring back Smith, who played out a one-year, $9MM deal in 2023. It will certainly be interesting to see how much Humphries can help, as inexperience will no longer be an issue at that position once the rehabbed LT is ready to play.
On the subject of players returning from injury, the Chiefs continue to express optimism on Marquise Brown. Rumored to be sidelined throughout at least the regular season, the free agency addition has generated hope he will play before the season ends. Now, Taylor adds the Chiefs are aiming for Brown to begin practicing by mid-December. This would not look to mean Brown will be playing in games by then, as it sounds like the Chiefs will attempt to take advantage of the three-week IR-return window.
If Brown returns by mid-December, the Chiefs could aim to slow-play his comeback from shoulder surgery until the divisional round. Given the Bills’ momentum and two-score win over the Chiefs in Week 11, the latter’s threepeat bid involving a bye is far from a lock. But the Chiefs remain the AFC leaders, at 10-1, and could give Brown a month to ramp up before a Round 2 return. Granted, Kansas City would surely be interested in the former first-round pick coming back sooner to establish some semblance of a rapport with Mahomes, but considering the reports of how long Brown would need to be out, the organization holding out hope for a playoff re-emergence would line up with the timeline.
The Chiefs have featured uneven receiving situations in each of the past two seasons. While DeAndre Hopkins has provided some support, the potential Hall of Famer has been inconsistent early in his Chiefs run. The team had aimed to have a Brown-Rashee Rice–Xavier Worthy trio, but Brown and Rice’s injuries nixed that. Rice is out for the season, while Worthy has proven unreliable thus far. Brown coming back would add a proven veteran to the mix, which would stand to help a team that has seen Travis Kelce show glaring signs of a decline this season.
49ers’ Brock Purdy To Return In Week 13; Trent Williams Still Out
DECEMBER 1: Purdy will suit up for the 49ers’ Week 13 game against the Bills today, as Cam Inman of the Bay Area News Group reports. Per Inman and Schefter, Purdy was a full participant in practice over the last two days and did not experience any setbacks. As ESPN’s Dan Graziano notes, the Niners were surprised that Purdy’s shoulder injury was serious enough to keep him out of game action last week (subscription required), but the team was obviously correct in its belief that its QB1’s absence would be brief.
The news is not so good for Williams. Matt Barrows of The Athletic reported earlier this week that the left tackle was using a scooter to move around the locker room, and that even walking has been painful for him. Williams has been ruled out for Week 13.
NOVEMBER 24: A successful UCL rehab led to Brock Purdy not missing any time due to injury last season, but the 49ers’ starting quarterback is out for the team’s Week 12 matchup with the Packers today. It is not yet certain Purdy will return in Week 13, but the team views it as likely.
An injury to the blossoming passer’s throwing shoulder will keep him out in Green Bay, though no IR stint should be expected. The 49ers believe Purdy will be ready to play against the Bills next week, ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter notes, as a high level of concern is not present. While a return after one absence would help put Purdy back on track — as offseason extension talks are expected — the 49ers are in a difficult spot presently.
Also hopeful (per Schefter) Trent Williams will play today, the 49ers will face the 7-3 Packers without their other two most important players. Nick Bosa is also out, dealing with hip and oblique injuries. The 49ers will face the 9-2 Bills on Sunday night next week. Although the defending NFC champions have two more NFC West games left, they also host the surging Lions in Week 17. Williams is battling an ankle injury and did not practice this week. One of five All-Pros on San Francisco’s offense, the future Hall of Famer certainly would be vital to protecting Purdy’s backup.
As Brandon Allen prepares for his first start since Week 17 of the 2021 season — when Bengals HC Zac Taylor rested starters — ESPN’s FPI gives the 49ers just a 21.5% chance to make the playoffs. Allen, 32, has not made more than one start in a season since 2020. The 49ers added him shortly after the 2023 draft, and Sam Darnold beating out Trey Lance for the backup job last year keyed the trade with the Cowboys and Allen rising to the No. 3 role. Darnold’s offseason Vikings defection bumped him to the No. 2 job, and Josh Dobbs will back up the former sixth-round pick today.
Following Jalen Hurts in going toe-to-toe with Patrick Mahomes in a Super Bowl, Purdy has established himself as the 49ers’ unquestioned starter. He ranks fifth in QBR this season and in 2023 became the first passer to average at least 9.6 yards per attempt over a full season since the 1950s. Although some rumblings around the league have suggested a Kirk Cousins trade as a contingency plan in case the 49ers become leery of giving a former seventh-round pick a contract at or near the Dak Prescott rate, Purdy is expected to secure a top-market salary in 2025.