Chargers To Sign DT Teair Tart
Another team will give Teair Tart an opportunity. The Titans and Dolphins have now cut the veteran since December, but a new Chargers regime will sign off on another chance.
After a Wednesday workout, the Bolts are signing the veteran defensive tackle, ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter tweets. This will be Tart’s fourth NFL team. The Texans had claimed him following the Titans cut late last season. Tart did not need to clear waivers after his Dolphins exit, which will lead him to Los Angeles.
Despite the two recent cuts, Tart is coming off a season in which he registered a career-best (by a wide margin) eight tackles for loss. The former Tennessee nose tackle starter got there in just 13 games, split with the Titans and Texans, but has suddenly struggled to find his footing. The Dolphins released Tart months after he signed a one-year, $1.75MM deal. The Titans had waived him despite applying a second-round RFA tender in March 2023.
Undrafted out of Florida International, Tart started 36 Titans games from 2020-23. Shane Bowen‘s defense ranked first against the run in 2022, with Pro Football Focus ranking Tart as a top-25 interior D-lineman that season. This preceded the second-round tender, which the Titans also applied to then-center Aaron Brewer. Both players ended up in Miami, but the Dolphins — who had been pitting Tart and Benito Jones against one another for the NT gig — surprisingly moved on from the defender early and took on more than $500K in dead money.
The Chargers have not been particularly aggressive in staffing their D-line this offseason. After releasing Sebastian Joseph-Day late last season, the Bolts only added Poona Ford (one year, $1.79MM) and fourth-rounder Justin Eboigbe. Morgan Fox remains on the two-year deal he signed in 2023. Tart will attempt to carve out a role for Jesse Minter‘s defense.
Falcons Restructure Chris Lindstrom’s Deal
In March 2023, the Falcons made Chris Lindstrom the NFL’s highest-paid guard. The Pro Bowler remains second on that list, but multiple developments requiring additional funds have prompted Atlanta to adjust its top O-lineman’s deal.
The Falcons moved part of Lindstrom’s $12.5MM salary into a signing bonus, per ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler. More specifically, Atlanta created just less than $9MM via this restructure, according to Fox Sports’ Greg Auman, who indicates the team dropped Lindstrom’s base number to $1.3MM.
This is a common tactic that occurs dozens of times per year around the NFL, and the Falcons may not be done rearranging funds. They are bringing in Matt Judon‘s $6.5MM base salary and met with Justin Simmons last week. Atlanta came into Thursday with just more than $7MM in cap space, which sat 30th in the NFL. Jessie Bates‘ deal, Auman adds, could also be restructured to create 2024 cap space.
No extension is imminent with Judon, who is not planning to take Haason Reddick‘s path and stay away from his new team absent a deal. It would not surprise if Judon was a limited practice participant, however, as it is not yet known if the veteran edge rusher (32 today) received assurances his contract would be adjusted. As the Patriots went through an uncharacteristic spree of pricey extensions and re-signings, Judon’s deal went untouched. This naturally prompted frustration on the player’s part, and the Pats ended the saga — the New England part of it, at least — by collecting a third-round pick from the Falcons.
Simmons, 30, would not be expected to sign a lucrative deal. The four-time All-Pro remaining in free agency for this long effectively confirms he was unhappy with his market. Several safeties became cap casualties this offseason, with Simmons the most accomplished of the group. The rest of that lot found deals, however. It should be expected Simmons signs somewhere soon, and it probably will take more than the veteran minimum. He also visited the Saints, who are keeping tabs on the eight-year Bronco.
As for Lindstrom, he remains tied to the five-year, $102.5MM extension he signed last March. The contract runs through 2028. The two-time All-Pro will now see some money early, via this base-to-bonus conversion — one that certainly could precede other notable Falcons transactions.
Vikings’ T.J. Hockenson Could Miss Start Of Season; Latest On J.J. McCarthy
The Vikings’ big-picture plan features J.J. McCarthy targeting the likes of Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison and T.J. Hockenson. That vision is on hold, with the rookie out for the season due to meniscus surgery. Minnesota might not have all its skill-position pieces to open the campaign, either.
Hockenson sustained ACL and MCL tears in Week 16 last season. While Kevin O’Connell has classified the veteran tight end as ahead of schedule, it is far from certain he starts the season on time. The former Lions first-rounder remains on the Vikings’ active/PUP list, and ESPN.com’s Kevin Seifert indicates the team setting its initial 53-man roster without its starting tight end included is in play.
Minnesota could shift Hockenson to the reserve/PUP list, which mandates a four-game absence to open the year. This route would prevent the Vikings from needing to use one of their eight regular-season IR activations. The Vikings could also go week to week with their top tight end, activating him from the active/PUP list and declaring him out to start the season. This would allow Minnesota to deploy Hockenson before Week 4, if he is ready, but he would take up a roster spot in that scenario.
Eight months have not even passed since Hockenson’s injury, and although players have recovered from late-season ACL tears in time for Week 1 (a certain former Vikings running back-turned-MVP comes to mind), teams regularly play it safe here. Hockenson signed a four-year, $66MM extension just before last season and was on track for a 1,000-yard showing before going down. The five-year veteran finished with 960 yards and five touchdowns, despite Kirk Cousins‘ midseason injury. Hockenson, 27, will be a critical piece of Minnesota’s Darnold-led offense upon return.
Darnold was expected to start to open the season, but McCarthy was unlikely to sit a full year. The Vikings now have no choice, and even though ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler notes the rookie’s timetable could allow for a late-season re-emergence, it is unlikely the team takes this route. Given the investment in the Michigan prospect, it should be expected the team shelves him for his rookie year to protect him in the long term. McCarthy missing all of 2024 will make him the first Round 1 QB to do so in the common draft era (1967-present), per CBS Sports.
McCarthy’s timetable may not allow him to play with Aaron Jones, who signed a one-year deal worth $7MM in March. Jones’ year-to-year status may point him elsewhere by 2025, depending on how the longtime Packer’s Vikings season goes. Jones’ role will be interesting to monitor, as Green Bay consistently put him as the 1-A option in timeshares with Jamaal Williams and then AJ Dillon. Minnesota might have the same idea.
Ty Chandler is expected to platoon with Jones, per SI.com’s Albert Breer, with the team viewing this setup as an upgrade on its Alexander Mattison-dependent 2023 plan. That said, the Minneapolis Star Tribune’s Andrew Krammer adds Jones is the unquestioned starter.
One of this era’s best running backs, Jones has never eclipsed 236 carries in a season; the former fifth-round pick has passed 200 totes just three times in his seven-year run. Williams and Dillon cut into the dual-threat talent’s workload, though Jones rarely left doubt about who the Packers’ most dangerous RB was. Jones will also turn 30 before season’s end and missed six games last season, so it would not surprise to see Chandler — a 2022 fifth-round pick who impressed late last season — carve out a decent workload in a Vikings effort to conserve their new starter.
Patriots, Falcons Complete Matt Judon Trade
After their Michael Penix Jr. selection, the Falcons tried to trade back into the first round — for the purpose of acquiring a pass rusher. Atlanta is circling back here, doing so via trade. The NFC South team is set to resolve the Patriots’ Matt Judon issue.
The Falcons finalized an agreement to acquire Judon from the Pats, according to NFL reporter Jordan Schultz. As New England has gone through with several pricey deals for veterans this offseason, Judon remains in a contract year and has expressed frustration. He would stand to fill a key need for a Falcons team short on edge rushers.
Atlanta is sending New England a third-round pick for the ninth-year edge presence, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport tweets. This will bring an end to an offseason saga that had Judon at odds with the team’s new-look front office. The former Ravens draftee, who produced double-digit sack seasons in his first two Patriots years, is going into his age-32 season.
Both the Falcons’ top sack artists from last season — Bud Dupree, Calais Campbell — signed elsewhere this offseason, and the Falcons were unable to swing a deal that would have landed them one of this draft’s premier edge players. This has been an Atlanta issue for a long time now, as Thomas Dimitroff-era first-round investments Vic Beasley and Takk McKinley did not pan out. In Judon, the Falcons land a proven sack artist — albeit one coming off an injury-shortened season.
It will be interesting to see if the Falcons have a deal ready for Judon, as this otherwise could remind of the situation transpiring in New York. The Jets traded a conditional third-round pick to the Eagles for Haason Reddick but have been unable to bring him in, with a lengthy holdout transpiring due to a contract impasse. One season remains on Judon’s contract, which he attempted to upgrade during his final months in New England. No new contract is in place yet, per NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero.
We heard earlier this week teams were calling on Judon’s availability, and The Athletic’s Dianna Russini reports several teams discussed the pass rusher with the Pats. After signing off on several extensions and re-signings of Bill Belichick-era acquisitions, new Pats front office boss Eliot Wolf will move on in exchange for a Day 2 pick. This deal makes sense from both sides, as a rebuilding team will move a disgruntled 30-something in a contract year to a club suddenly readier to win thanks to Kirk Cousins‘ arrival.
A recent report indicated the Patriots made multiple offers to Judon; the ninth-year edge disputed this account. Those alleged offers were not believed to be extensions, and Judon watched the Pats pay other defenders (Christian Barmore, Kyle Dugger, Davon Godchaux) while leaving his contract untouched. The Division II product recently noted that, coming off a significant biceps injury that limited him to four games last season, he was not expecting to draw a top-market number. But he added that he is worth more than his current $6.5MM base salary.
This comes a year after the then-Belichick-led Patriots adjusted Judon’s contract, moving money from 2024 to 2023 and increasing the player’s guarantees last year. Judon could not hit the incentives included in that package, going down early. But the Pats did reward their 2021 free agent signing after he notched 12.5- and 15.5-sack seasons in 2021 and ’22.
Judon signed a four-year, $54.5MM deal as a 2021 free agent, joining the Pats as the team deviated from its M.O. and signed a host of veterans on a pandemic-affected market. The five-year Raven was by far the best of those signings, and the Falcons will bet on him bouncing back from the biceps tear.
Before attempting to trade into the middle of Round 1 for defensive help (specifically edge player Laiatu Latu), the Falcons had tried to obtain Montez Sweat at the 2023 deadline. They offered a third-round pick, but the Bears beat that by sending the Commanders a second. Dupree and Campbell each finished the season with 6.5 sacks before respectively leaving for Los Angeles and Miami. While Atlanta still rosters former second-round pick Arnold Ebiketie (six 2023 sacks), Judon offers an anchor-level presence.
Turning 32 on Thursday, Judon has four Pro Bowls on his resume. The first two came in Baltimore. In 2019, Judon compiled 33 QB hits and ahead of the Ravens franchise-tagging him in 2020. He finished with 28 QB hits during his most recent full season (2022), driving the third-round compensation for a player unsigned for 2025.
Although the Falcons famously passed on hiring Belichick as HC, they will hope one of his former finds can provide a boost for a pass rush that desperately needs it. Judon will now pair with D-line stalwart Grady Jarrett, who recently received full clearance following an ACL tear, for Raheem Morris‘ defense.
Jerod Mayo‘s team, meanwhile, is suddenly shorthanded on the edge. The Pats did, however, draft Keion White in the 2023 second round and re-signed Josh Uche this offseason. With Judon being a rare veteran Wolf did not extend, the Pats will prepare to use that third-rounder to help future squads.
J.J. McCarthy Undergoes Meniscus Surgery, To Miss 2024 Season
The Vikings did not look to be planning to start J.J. McCarthy to open the season, but their design of an extended onramp will change. After Tuesday’s news of the rookie quarterback’s meniscus injury, today’s surgery will entrench Sam Darnold atop Minnesota’s depth chart.
McCarthy underwent a full meniscus repair, according to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero. As a result, the No. 10 overall pick will miss the entire 2024 season. Viewing this through a long-term lens, the Vikings will park McCarthy for his rookie year. This, of course, changes the Michigan product’s developmental path.
A full repair loomed as a possibility, and this situation has escalated after Monday reports indicated the rookie was dealing with knee soreness. Instead of McCarthy seeing important practice reps and taking over for Darnold at some point this season, this will keep the younger passer off the practice field. After never taking a quarterback in the top 10 prior to trading up for McCarthy, the Vikings will continue a streak of never having a first-year QB start in Week 1 (h/t Ed Werder).
Coming into the offseason, Minnesota had not given up on re-signing Kirk Cousins. But the sides did not see eye-to-eye regarding a vision or compensation, leading the six-year Vikings starter to Atlanta. That development turned this Vikes offseason into a scouting mission, with the team acquiring a second first-round pick as ammo for a trade-up. The Vikings did not end up using that Texans-obtained selection to climb up for a passer, but they made McCarthy the centerpiece of their first post-Cousins offseason. Darnold’s stopgap season suddenly becomes much more important — both for the Vikings and the former No. 3 overall pick.
Still just 27 despite going into his seventh season, Darnold has received extensive run as a starter. Despite backing up Brock Purdy throughout last season, Darnold’s start count sits at 56. While the former Jets draftee is 21-35 as a starter, he was tied to two franchises that did not have much support around him. The Jets bailed on Darnold to draft Zach Wilson in 2021, and then-Panthers HC Matt Rhule turned to Baker Mayfield via trade in 2022. Darnold received a late-season batch of starts with Carolina following Rhule’s ouster, but no starting role opened for the USC product in free agency last year.
The Vikings did offer one, signing Darnold on a one-year deal worth $10MM and outflanking the Broncos and Commanders — though, it is unclear how serious the other teams’ pursuits went — to add him. Being saddled with shaky situations, Darnold has struggled. He has never ranked higher than 25th in QBR for a season in which he took enough snaps to qualify. This could well be Darnold’s last shot, but the outlook has changed; the imminent threat to his starting job no longer exists.
Kevin O’Connell communicated with the veteran — before the team chose McCarthy — he would be the team’s season-opening starter. As teams rarely give first-rounders full seasons to sit and learn anymore, McCarthy was widely expected to see action this season. It now turns into a mid-career Darnold audition, and the presences of Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, Aaron Jones and T.J. Hockenson — when the tight end recovers fully, that is — present by far the best set of weaponry the QB has enjoyed (excepting 49ers practices) in his NFL career.
Still, this doubles as a tough blow for a Vikings franchise that has been unable to see a quarterback development project enjoy sustained success. Knee injuries have intervened early in Vikings first-rounders’ careers as well. A severe knee injury sustained during a 2016 preseason practice shelved 2014 first-rounder Teddy Bridgewater for nearly two seasons. Daunte Culpepper‘s starter run abruptly ended in 2005, when a knee injury provided a clear line of demarcation in the passer’s career.
Veterans — from Cousins to Case Keenum to Brett Favre — have delivered Minnesota its most success since Culpepper went down. The team is now relying on a player who has offered glimpses but one that also has not come close to delivering on his draft status. And McCarthy will need to wait until the 2025 offseason to resume full-scale preparations for his first regular-season snaps.
QB Rumors: Dak, Cowboys, Dolphins, Tua, Titans, Rudolph, Willis, Sanders
The Cowboys continue to drag out their complex contract situation, one headlined by Dak Prescott‘s contract-year status and enormous leverage. One of the issues believed to be factoring into the quarterback’s negotiations: when the contract’s escape hatch emerges, per Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio. This would pertain to when guarantees vest. Considering Prescott’s built-in advantages stemming from no-trade and no-tag clauses, along with his lofty 2024 cap number and a $40.1MM void years-driven penalty that would go on Dallas’ cap if he reaches free agency, the ninth-year QB is undoubtedly pushing for most of this contract to be guaranteed. Rolling guarantees, which feature money locking in a year early, are also likely coming up during these talks. The Cowboys prefer five- or six-year deals, though they are not in good position to dictate term length or guarantee structure to their longtime passer.
As could be expected, a host of execs are critical of Jerry Jones for slow-playing this. Some are puzzled (via the Washington Post’s Jason La Canfora) the Cowboys owner has lost this much leverage with Dak. The Cowboys are believed to be closer on terms with CeeDee Lamb, but one GM told La Canfora that Jones “totally screwed this up” re: Prescott. A $60MM-per-year contract, or something close to it with a player-friendly guarantee structure, will almost definitely be necessary for the Cowboys to keep Dak away from free agency come March.
Here is the latest QB news from around the league:
- Tua Tagovailoa‘s Dolphins deal features a rolling guarantee structure. The Miami QB’s $54MM 2026 base salary will shift from guaranteed for injury to fully guaranteed in 2025, Florio notes. Of Tua’s 2027 base salary ($31MM), $20MM is guaranteed for injury; $3MM of that total shifts to a full guarantee by 2026 before the remainder vests in 2027. A $5MM roster bonus is also due in 2027. Tagovailoa’s 2028 base ($41.4MM) is nonguaranteed. Miami has set up a potential 2027 escape hatch, though the southpaw starter would still collect more than $150MM from 2024-26 in the event the team moved on three years down the road. Two void years are included to spread out cap hits, the Boston Globe’s Ben Volin tweets.
- Mason Rudolph has displayed accuracy at Titans camp, to the point Titans.com’s Jim Wyatt notes Malik Willis has been unable to gain ground — even though he has looked more comfortable in Year 3 — in the battle for the QB2 job. In the team’s preseason opener, Rudolph came in first and went 10-for-17 for 126 yards. Willis entered midway through the third quarter, going 5-for-7 for 38 yards (but rushing for 42). The Titans gave Rudolph a one-year, $2.8MM deal with $2.7MM guaranteed. A 2022 third-rounder, Willis is tied to a $985K base salary. Cutting the erratic third-year QB would cost the Titans only $466K, and it is certainly worth noting neither this coaching staff nor GM Ran Carthon was in Nashville when Willis was drafted. The Titans are open to carrying three QBs, but will this staff continue to develop an inherited arm given Carthon’s Will Levis investment?
- NFL evaluators are split on Shedeur Sanders‘ stock for the 2025 draft. While ESPN.com’s Jordan Reid slots him as his No. 2 quarterback (behind Georgia’s Carson Beck) for the ’25 class — though, as a late-Round 1/early-Round 2 prospect — one NFL exec tabbed the Colorado QB as a Day 2 pick. Another evaluator labeled the returning Buffaloes passer as a first-rounder based largely on what is viewed as a weaker quarterback crop. Deion Sanders‘ influence on his son’s career is certainly not lost on execs, Reid adds, as the NFL legend/Colorado HC has already said he does see a cold-weather team as a fit (despite the duo’s current Boulder, Colo., location). Sanders’ impact on his son’s value has come up in NFL circles already and will likely remain a talking point moving forward.
Bills Audition WR Corey Davis
The Bills have made some changes at wide receiver this week, moving Chase Claypool to IR and bringing in Damiere Byrd. A bigger name is also on Buffalo’s radar, albeit one that has not played in two years.
Former Titans top-five pick Corey Davis worked out for the Bills on Wednesday, ESPN.com’s Field Yates tweets. Davis left the Jets just before last season but revealed interest in returning to the league earlier this year.
The Jets released Davis from their reserve/retired list, opening the door for the six-year veteran to speak with other teams about a comeback. While Davis’ Jets deal did not pan out, the former MAC standout is still in his 20s (29) and looks to catch on somewhere as a presumptive auxiliary option or even a depth piece.
Davis attracted a nice Jets contract (three years, $37.5MM) after totaling a career-high 984 yards in 2020. Injuries slowed the big-bodied wideout in New York, leading to 12 missed games during the two years Davis was on the Jets’ active roster. The Jets were taking their time on an expected pay-cut agreement with Davis last year, but the 209-pound pass catcher instead retired. Evidently interested in resuming his career, Davis tried out for a team effectively resetting at the position.
In addition to Claypool, this Bills offseason included the additions of Curtis Samuel, Mack Hollins and Marquez Valdes-Scantling. The team is trying some free agents as ancillary weapons, with holdover Khalil Shakir and second-rounder Keon Coleman in place as the likely lead options in Josh Allen‘s seventh season. Claypool is now out of the mix, but the Bills are still kicking tires post-Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis.
Latest On 49ers, Brandon Aiyuk
Around 24 hours since a report indicating the 49ers and Steelers had agreed on Brandon Aiyuk trade compensation emerged, the fifth-year wide receiver remains with San Francisco. Aiyuk continues his hold-in.
The Steelers continue to wait on this situation, with ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler indicating the AFC North team remains motivated to acquire the dissatisfied wide receiver. But trade talks may have slowed down. Although the teams are believed to have trade parameters in place, Fowler adds talks were quiet in recent days. This note comes days after a report that mentioned 49ers extension talks had intensified following another Aiyuk meeting with team brass.
On this note, Aiyuk watched 49ers practice with teammates Wednesday and greeted GM John Lynch at one point, per the San Jose Mercury News’ Cam Inman. This has been the receiver’s usual routine, but it is notable the club continues to have a high-profile player who could be on the verge of becoming the centerpiece of a blockbuster trade still on the sidelines at practice.
Aiyuk has also continued to attend 49ers meetings during this saga, according to NBC Sports Bay Area’s Matt Maiocco. This separates the Aiyuk matter from Trent Williams‘ holdout and how the team proceeded with trade-block occupant Jimmy Garoppolo in 2022. Garoppolo threw on the side and did not attend meetings before agreeing to a late-summer resolution to stay in San Francisco.
“I trust Brandon knows what he’s got to do for this year to get ready to play,” Kyle Shanahan said, via the San Francisco Chronicle’s Eric Branch. “I have a feeling he’s finding a way to stay in shape and do those things. But there’s a football-shape element that I know he is eager to get back to — and us, too. So, hopefully, we can get to that soon. But Brandon knows what he’s got to do to be in shape for the season, and I feel confident he is doing that.”
The 49ers are believed to have upped their offer recently, and Tuesday’s update revealed San Francisco remains his preferred destination. After a report pegged both Aiyuk and the 49ers as underwhelmed by the Steelers’ offers — on the extension and trade fronts — the teams are at least in agreement. The ball is largely in Aiyuk’s court, though the 49ers do not necessarily have to move him. They are still clearly interested in seeing if common ground on numbers can be reached.
It would, then, seem odd if a team that narrowly missed out on a Super Bowl championship would go this far down a trade route — particularly at this point on the calendar, when a replacement will be difficult to obtain — but here we are. The Steelers appear to still believe, unlike the Browns and Patriots after offers did not produce deals, they can acquire the 26-year-old pass catcher — even if such a move would significantly affect the 2024 49ers’ title hopes.
Pittsburgh is believed to have submitted a trade offer including no players. Considering where they reside in the championship picture, the 49ers understandably sought veterans — a wideout, in particular — as part of an Aiyuk trade package. The Steelers, who do not have a comparable wideout they are willing to trade, are believed to have offered a deal in the $28MM-per-year neighborhood. If the 49ers have raised their offer, they may be in the same place. A $26-$27MM-AAV San Francisco price range surfaced earlier this summer.
This situation is not exactly oozing trade vibes at present. Still, the Steelers — who have certainly not been known to be on the receiving end of high-profile wideout trades — remain prepared to accommodate a big-ticket Aiyuk payment and pair him with George Pickens. This would seem incongruous to the 49ers’ immediate needs, but a trade remains a possibility. The wait continues.
Panthers To Sign S Rudy Ford
The Packers spent big for Xavier McKinney at safety. Their three primary options from 2023 are now each with other teams. Following Darnell Savage and Jonathan Owens, Rudy Ford now has a gig.
Ford agreed to terms with the Panthers on Wednesday, The Athletic’s Joe Person tweets. The veteran DB spent the past two seasons in Green Bay, starting 15 games. He will join a Panthers team that has seen some turnover at safety.
Carolina released Vonn Bell after one season, adding ex-Ejiro Evero Rams charge Jordan Fuller. The team also brought in fellow ex-Evero L.A. cog Nick Scott, whom the Bengals cut this offseason. Ford has no experience with Evero, though he did work with former Evero coworker Joe Barry in Green Bay.
The Packers turned to Ford as a regular over the past two seasons, marking a role increase compared to a nomadic start to his career. Playing five seasons split between Arizona, Philadelphia and Jacksonville, Ford started six games in that span. He worked with Savage during both Packers seasons, intercepting five passes.
Pro Football Focus graded Ford just outside the top 30 among safety regulars last season. The 49ers brought the 29-year-old defender in for a recent workout but did not sign him. He will bring more experience to a unit that also houses Xavier Woods, who is going into his second season with the team.
Packers Prepared To Use Jordan Morgan At Guard; LB Edgerrin Cooper Not Likely To Start
The Packers’ offensive line is starting to take shape, and it looks likely to include the team’s first-round pick at a new position. Jordan Morgan returned to practice after missing time with a shoulder injury, and he is on track to work at guard.
Drafted shortly after the Packers released David Bakhtiari, Morgan became only the second Green Bay first-round pick allocated to offense over the past 12 years. The Arizona product began training at left tackle during the Packers’ offseason program and would seem positioned to be a long-term answer at one of the team’s tackle spots. For now, however, the team wants to see its rookie on the field.
Despite Morgan’s arrival, The Athletic’s Matt Schneidman notes Rasheed Walker and Zach Tom are locked in at left and right tackle (subscription required). Tom returned from an offseason pectoral tear recently and has reclaimed his RT post. Morgan may be see sporadic tackle reps for preparation purposes, but the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Tom Silverstein notes the team has been using the No. 25 overall pick at right guard. It is likely Morgan remains there in what looks like a “best five” scenario for a Packers front that also carries Pro Bowler Elgton Jenkins at left guard and Josh Myers at center.
Tackle-to-guard moves from college to the pros are certainly not uncommon, and Morgan moving inside would represent yet another transition involving a 2024 first-round tackle. If Duke tackle Graham Barton counts, nine college tackles were chosen in this year’s first round. Of that group, most are changing positions. Joe Alt (Chargers) is sliding from left to right tackle, while JC Latham is moving from right to left tackle with the Titans. The Saints flipped Oregon State RT Taliese Fuaga to the blind side, while the Steelers are readying Washington LT Troy Fautanu for a Week 1 RT role. The Cowboys are shifting Oklahoma’s Tyler Guyton from right to left tackle. The Bucs are moving Barton from left tackle to center, though that was widely expected.
Walker and Tom are each under contract through the 2025 season. While two teams (the Cardinals and Steelers) have flipped 2023 first-round tackles (Paris Johnson Jr., Broderick Jones) to left tackle ahead of their second seasons, the Packers could have Morgan at guard for multiple years. Though, it is still early here. Morgan being moved inside opens the door for a swing role, and Andre Dillard — after starting at right tackle in Green Bay’s preseason opener — may be in the lead on Caleb Jones and 2023 UDFA Kadeem Telfort, Schneidman adds.
Elsewhere on the Packers’ depth chart, second-round pick Edgerrin Cooper looks unlikely to start at linebacker in Week 1. Rumored to be a candidate to take over at one of Green Bay’s ILB spots, Cooper has missed multiple weeks due to a hip injury. The Texas A&M product had not yet unseated Eric Wilson or fourth-year cog Isaiah McDuffie when he was practicing, per Schneidman. While Cooper will undoubtedly be given an extended chance to earn a starting role alongside Quay Walker eventually, he may be parked as a backup to open the season.