Texans Sign Round 2 T Blake Fisher, Wrap Draft Class Deals
Trading out of the first round weeks before the draft, the Texans completing that swap with the Vikings left their second-rounders as the top prizes in their latest draft class. Houston now has both those draftees under contract.
No. 59 overall pick Blake Fisher finished out the Texans’ rookie signings, with KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson noting the tackle prospect agreed to terms on his four-year contract. Fisher will check in behind established veterans Laremy Tunsil and Tytus Howard as he begins his pro career.
Second-round picks continue to make gains on the guarantee front. Wilson reports 4% of Fisher’s 2026 base salary will be guaranteed. An incremental gain, but one that continues to move the bar for Round 2 draftees. Illustrating the progress, no player drafted past No. 49 last year received any Year 3 salary guarantees.
Houston drafted Georgia cornerback Kamari Lassiter with a pick obtained from Minnesota but added Fisher with its own second-round selection. Fisher has begun competing for a role on the Texans’ offensive line. He spent the past two years at right tackle with Notre Dame, converting from the left side. With Tunsil entrenched on C.J. Stroud‘s blind side, routes to Fisher seeing early playing time will form elsewhere — barring injury.
Injuries, however, have been an issue for the Texans up front. They played without Howard, who signed a three-year extension last July, for most of the 2023 season. Tunsil missed three games and is less than three years removed from a 2021 season in which he suited up for only five contests. The Texans also ran into durability trouble at center and guard last year, creating a need for depth at the very least.
Fisher helped the Fighting Irish to 39.1 points per game — second in the storied program’s history — and left school after his junior season, opting out of the Sun Bowl to prepare for the draft. The Texans chose Fisher four spots ahead of Roger Rosengarten (No. 62, Ravens) and Kingsley Suamataia (No. 63, Chiefs), but this trio checked in as second-tier prospects in a deep tackle class.
The Texans have 2022 first-rounder Kenyon Green back in the mix for the left guard job, and the team did not re-sign Josh Jones or George Fant this offseason. This setup would point Howard back to tackle, but the team has used the 2019 first-rounder at guard in multiple seasons — including throughout his limited 2023. That would potentially represent an option, should Fisher prove ready for early playing time.
With the full group signed, here is how Houston’s 2024 draft class looks:
- Round 2, No. 42 (from Vikings): Kamari Lassiter (CB, Georgia) (signed)
- Round 2, No. 59: Blake Fisher (T, Notre Dame) (signed)
- Round 3, No. 78 (from Seahawks through Commanders and Eagles): Calen Bullock (S, USC) (signed)
- Round 4, No. 123 (from Browns through Texans): Cade Stover (TE, Ohio State) (signed)
- Round 6, No. 188 (from Raiders through Patriots and Vikings): Jamal Hill (LB, Oregon) (signed)
- Round 6, No. 205: Jawhar Jordan (RB, Louisville) (signed)
- Round 7, No. 238 (from Saints): Solomon Byrd (EDGE, USC) (signed)
- Round 7, No. 247: Marcus Harris (DT, Auburn) (signed)
- Round 7, No. 249: LaDarius Henderson (G, Michigan) (signed)
49ers Extend WR Jauan Jennings
With the deadline for restricted free agents to sign their tenders nearing, the 49ers and Jauan Jennings will move to a different contractual phase. The parties are done with the RFA process thanks to a Wednesday extension agreement.
San Francisco’s No. 3 wide receiver agreed to terms on a two-year deal worth up to $15.4MM, ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter reports. Of that total, $10.5MM is guaranteed. This effectively represents a one-year bump for Jennings, who was tied to the 49ers via a second-round RFA tender ($4.89MM) for 2024. The team has since announced the deal.
[RELATED: 49ers ‘Past’ Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk Trade Talks]
Considering the uncertain futures of Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk, this Jennings agreement — coming after the Ricky Pearsall first-round selection — could be important in the 49ers’ post-2024 plan. This will keep a key role player in the fold beyond this season, and with rumors about an Aiyuk-or-Samuel decision beyond 2024 — when Samuel, Brock Purdy, George Kittle and Christian McCaffrey will be in contract years — Jennings is now in place on a modest deal.
A former seventh-round pick, Jennings has made some pivotal contributions to the 49ers’ cause. He caught two second-half touchdown passes from Jimmy Garoppolo to clinch a Week 18 win over the Rams in 2021, ensuring the 49ers would qualify for the playoffs. Considering what that San Francisco edition still had in the tank, those proved to be crucial regular-season sequences. Jennings is now better known for both throwing and catching a touchdown in Super Bowl LVIII. The auxiliary performer, a high school quarterback who saw some QB action at Tennessee as well, hit McCaffrey on a well-executed trick play in the first half and caught a TD from Purdy to give the 49ers a fourth-quarter lead.
Jennings, 26, plays a key role in the 49ers’ dominant ground attack as well. Pro Football Focus rated the fifth-year veteran as the league’s third-best run-blocking wideout last season. While Jennings rarely works as a starter, he has been a regular during one of the best periods in 49ers history. The 6-foot-3 performer played 489 offensive snaps in 2022 and 361 (in 13 games) last season. Jennings totaled 35 receptions for 416 yards in 2022 and added 265 yards on 19 grabs last season.
The 49ers have Aiyuk going into a fifth-year option season and Samuel signed through 2025 on a three-year, $71.55MM deal. Trade talks involving both players transpired during the draft, with teams believing the 49ers wanted a mid-first-round pick for Aiyuk. Samuel generated talks on Day 2, and the prospect of the 49ers paying the younger player and trading their 28-year-old run-after-catch dynamo has entered the equation. Though, Aiyuk talks have not progressed too far as of yet.
For now, the 49ers have an imposing quartet of receivers to throw at defenses. As Pearsall develops, the team has one of the NFL’s top duos. Jennings, as today’s agreement shows, still factors in prominently to the defending NFC champions’ big picture.
J.J. Watt Comeback Pledge Includes Steelers
J.J. Watt has made it known he considers a comeback a longshot scenario, but the future Hall of Famer continues to let DeMeco Ryans know he is available if needed. This offer appears to extend to one other team as well.
Watt reaffirmed his pledge to Ryans about rejoining the Texans in an emergency circumstance, via The Athletic’s Dan Pompei, indicating he would “absolutely” return for a 13th season if his former Texans teammate asked (subscription required). Watt’s pledge about coming out of retirement — for an in-season return — would also include the Steelers, Pompei adds in an expansive Ryans profile.
Team No. 2 on Watt’s “in case of emergency” list is unsurprising, seeing as the Steelers employ another Watt on a Hall of Fame path. J.J. Watt considered the Steelers during his free agency in 2021, but he did not want to potentially take money away from his younger brother. Months after J.J. Watt’s two-year, $28MM Cardinals commitment, T.J. Watt landed his extension. The Steelers featured a two-Watt combo for three seasons, with Derek Watt joining T.J., but J.J. closed out his career with the Cards.
The Steelers have Cameron Heyward going into his 14th season with the team, though this longtime partnership now includes a hiccup on the contract front. Heyward’s current contract runs through 2024. The team also has Larry Ogunjobi, DeMarvin Leal and the recently signed Dean Lowry on the payroll. Roster construction would not stand to matter too much here, as J.J. Watt has made it clear it would take a setback changing the Texans’ outlook to come back. That presumably applies to the Steelers as well.
Watt, who turned 35 this offseason, said earlier this month his comeback pledge will expire after the 2024 season. The likely 2028 Canton inductee retired months after a heart scare, but he remained available for the Cardinals and closed the 2022 season strong. Watt finished with 12.5 sacks and 18 tackles for loss. The latter number matches his most since a stratospheric early-career stretch that remain unapproached; this century’s single-season TFL list still starts with three Watt seasons. Although injuries dogged the all-time great in the seasons following his third Defensive Player of the Year slate, Watt remains the only player in the sack era (1982-present) with two 20-plus-sack seasons. A comeback in a part-time role would certainly be interesting.
The All-Decade-teamer remains with CBS, but this comeback storyline persists. Injuries affecting the Houston or Pittsburgh D-line depth charts will be worth monitoring as the season unfolds.
Bears Staffer Ryan Griffin Playing QB In Italy, Expected To Join Team In June
Ryan Griffin‘s lengthy career as an NFL reserve quarterback ended after the 2022 season. The Buccaneers, who had rostered Griffin as a third-stringer behind Tom Brady and Blaine Gabbert, did not re-sign the experienced practice arm last year.
This led Griffin to the coaching ranks. He joined the Bears’ staff as an offensive assistant, but the NFC North team agreed to an unusual arrangement that is allowing the longtime QB to continue throwing passes. Griffin is finishing up a season in the Italian Football League. He will join the Bears later in the offseason.
Griffin signed with Skorpions Varese of the IFL late last year and has been playing with the team since its season began in March. Matt Eberflus said the expectation is Griffin is at the Bears’ mandatory minicamp, per The Athletic’s Kevin Fishbain (subscription required). That said, Griffin’s IFL team holds the league’s top seed in the playoffs, going 8-0 in the regular season. The IFL playoffs begin with opening-round games June 8, so it should be expected the QB/rookie staffer will return overseas to finish out his season.
While this is a rather unusual schedule for a coach attempting to break into the league, the Bears did accommodate one of their players — Marquise Goodwin — in the not-so-distant past as he moonlighted in another sport. Goodwin attempted to qualify for Team USA’s long jump roster back in 2021. However, the London Olympian did not make the Tokyo team and was on the field by the start of training camp.
Griffin, 34, became the rare third-string quarterback to enjoy a lengthy tenure with a team. The Bucs claimed Griffin off waivers in 2015 and then kept him around on five additional contracts from 2017-22. The Tulane alum only saw action in 2019, throwing four passes. But he managed to play 10 NFL seasons, finishing his career in Brady’s final season. The Bears, who employed the NFL’s other Ryan Griffin (a tight end) in Ryan Poles‘ first offseason as GM, have the rookie assistant set to work with QBs and wide receivers in his debut season.
Elsewhere on Chicago’s staff, Poles is making more adjustments to his scouting department. The Bears are promoting Ryan Weese from Combine scout to Midwest area scout and hiring Nick Papagno as their new Combine scout, InsidetheLeague.com’s Neil Stratton tweets. Papagno previously worked with the Raiders. Previous Bears Midwest scout Ryan Cavanaugh will shift to the southeast on Poles’ staff.
Chargers To Sign OL Alex Leatherwood
Alex Leatherwood has barely been seen on a game field since his one-season Raiders partnership ended. The former first-round pick, however, did spend last season on the Browns’ practice squad.
Cleveland did not retain Leatherwood, but the former Alabama offensive lineman will receive another opportunity. The Chargers are bringing him in, ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter tweets. Leatherwood last saw action as a Bears backup during the 2022 season.
It is difficult for a team to fare worse in a stretch with six first-round picks than the Raiders did during the Jon Gruden-Mike Mayock drafts. Of the players chosen from 2019-21, only one (Josh Jacobs) has been a regular starter. Henry Ruggs and Damon Arnette are out of the league, while Johnathan Abram has bounced around as a backup. Clelin Ferrell stabilized his career, to a degree, as a 49ers starter on a low-cost deal in 2023. The Saints and Commanders, respectively, signed Abram and Ferrell to one-year deals this offseason. Leatherwood became the quickest of those Raider first-rounders to wash out with his original NFL team.
Criticized for what was widely labeled a reach pick by selecting Leatherwood 17th overall in 2021, the Raiders used their first-rounder as a starting guard during their playoff campaign. The team moved the tackle prospect inside quickly, but Pro Football Focus viewed the rookie as the league’s worst O-line regular that season. The Josh McDaniels-led coaching staff kicked Leatherwood back outside during the 2022 offseason and then attempted to trade him. No trade partner emerged, and the Raiders waived Leatherwood. The Bears took on the former Crimson Tide starter’s contract, but a mononucleosis bout stalled his rebound opportunity. Leatherwood played 32 offensive snaps for the Bears in 2022 and did not make Chicago’s 53-man roster last year.
It will be interesting to see if a year learning under acclaimed O-line coach Bill Callahan in Cleveland will benefit Leatherwood, who is going into his age-25 season. The Chargers hired ex-Ravens assistant Mike Devlin as their O-line coach. He will be tasked with continuing Leatherwood’s development.
The Bolts are set at tackle, having drafted Joe Alt to go with Rashawn Slater, and they are planning to see how displaced RT Trey Pipkins looks at guard. The team rosters Zion Johnson as its other guard starter. Jamaree Salyer, who worked as a starting guard last year after filling in for Slater as a rookie, remains on the now-Jim Harbaugh-led roster as well. At this stage, Leatherwood profiles as a backup candidate. He joins Foster Sarell, 2021 fifth-rounder Brenden Jaimes, 2023 fifth-rounder Jordan McFadden and a host of rookie UDFAs as Bolts backup options up front.
Jets To Bring In RB Tarik Cohen
Injuries stalled Tarik Cohen‘s career early in the 2020s. The former Bears running back and Pro Bowl return man managed a comeback opportunity with the Panthers last year, but the team ended that bid recently. The Jets will now take a flier.
Cohen is heading to New York on a one-year agreement, ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter tweets. This comes after the Panthers cut him earlier this month. Robert Saleh confirmed the deal, and the fourth-year Jets HC (via SNY’s Connor Hughes) pointed to the new kickoff rules when discussing Cohen.
With the NFL greenlighting an experiment that will reintroduce the kick return to prominence, some teams are making notable additions in preparation. The Steelers brought in Cordarrelle Patterson hours after owners approved the one-year trial for the XFL-style kickoff, and the Seahawks added Laviska Shenault Jr. with a return role in mind. Cohen has contributed on offense, but his best NFL work has come in the return game.
Cohen, 28, led the NFL in punt-return yardage in 2018, earning first-team All-Pro acclaim, and returned a punt for a touchdown as a rookie a year prior. The bulk of Cohen’s return experience has come on punts, however. The Bears removed the 5-foot-7 back from the kick-return role after his rookie season. Of course, Chicago rostered Patterson from 2019-20. Ceding a job to one of the best kick returners in NFL history did not prove detrimental for Cohen, who signed a three-year, $17.25MM extension in 2020.
Although the Panthers stashed Cohen on their practice squad last year, injury trouble — which initially cropped up not long after his extension came to pass — resurfaced. Cohen spent several weeks on Carolina’s practice squad injured list. The North Carolina A&T alum has not played in a game since the 2020 season; Cohen suffered a torn ACL in September 2020 and missed the 2021 season as well. Shortly after being released in 2022, Cohen sustained an Achilles tear.
The Jets used UDFA Xavier Gipson as their primary return man last year. That fit produced one of the most memorable special teams moments in team history, via the walk-off Week 1 punt return. Saleh confirmed Gipson remains the frontrunner for the kick-return role. Seeing as nearly four years have passed since Cohen’s last game action, the small-school product is running out of chances. But the Jets, who will have 16 practice squad spots in addition to their 53-man roster, will see what the former Bears standout has left.
Buccaneers’ K.J. Britt In Lead For Three-Down LB Role
Although the Buccaneers’ extensive offseason retention effort makes receiving contributions from rookie-contract players pivotal this year, it would not have cost the team too much to authorize a second Devin White deal. The former first-round pick fetched a one-year, $4MM accord from the Eagles.
For base value, White’s contract matches Baker Mayfield‘s 2023 Bucs agreement. The 2023 offseason brought a trade request from the former top-five pick, who sought an extension near the top of the market. Like Mayfield, White did not build momentum in a fifth-year option season. The inconsistent linebacker will attempt to bounce back in Philadelphia, as the Bucs aim to give his job to the player who pushed him late last season.
K.J. Britt is the lead candidate to play alongside Lavonte David this season, Buccaneers.com’s Scott Smith writes. Todd Bowles views the 2021 fifth-round pick as a clear option to fill the role White held for much of his first five seasons. As Britt (four career starts) enters a contract year, he will have the chance to establish himself as a dependable starter.
“Obviously, he can play all three downs but we have so many packages and guys to move around,” Bowles said. “It’s a little early to determine who will be on what [package]. In one week he could be, in one week he may not be. It depends on who we’re playing and what we have available. But he’s ready to play all three downs.
“I love the maturity. He’s grasping the mental part of the game and becoming a leader of that defense along with Lavonte and [Antoine Winfield Jr.] and Vita [Vea]. We’re kind of happy where he’s progressing right now.”
Britt logged his first career starts last season, and while he saw extended time down the stretch and began to cut into White’s playing time, the Auburn alum played just 252 defensive snaps in 2023 (after logging a combined 73 from 2021-22). Britt’s third NFL season included 29 tackles, though he closed the campaign with a 12-tackle performance in Tampa Bay’s divisional-round loss to Detroit. The Bucs used Britt as a starter in both playoff games, and he out-snapped White by a considerable margin (59-14) in the team’s Lions rematch.
The Bucs re-signed Mayfield, David and Mike Evans and extended Winfield at a DB-record number. They have Tristan Wirfs in position to command an NFL-record tackle contract as well. With Mayfield no longer tied to that “prove it” deal, the team will need low-cost starters to step up. Britt, whose starter starter stretch began as a White foot injury — which became a talking point due to an injury reporting storyline — shut him down for three weeks. Rumors about White losing his job to Britt, however, emerged. And the former Pro Bowler entered free agency to little fanfare in March.
SirVocea Dennis, a 2023 fifth-rounder, logged the fourth-most snaps among Bucs LBs last season (104). He would profile as the top challenger, with the team not adding a veteran or a replacement via the draft. With the Bucs cutting the cord on the first player they drafted in Bowles’ tenure with the team, they will first see if Britt proves capable of being David’s latest ILB sidekick. Britt proving worthy of that role in 2024 will set him up for an extended look come 2025 — should the Bucs let him reach free agency.
Latest On Patriots’ Eliot Wolf Decision
The Patriots now officially have their top post-Bill Belichick pieces in place, naming Eliot Wolf their executive VP of player personnel nearly four months after hiring Jerod Mayo to replace the coaching legend on the sideline.
Filling these two jobs involved a historically low-volume search. After language in Mayo’s contract allowed the Patriots to work around the Rooney Rule — which mandates two external minority candidates be interviewed for HC positions — the team met with only two outside candidates for its de facto GM position. And the process leading to the Wolf hire proved to be a box-checking operation, as a few candidates around the league effectively predicted.
During search that saw three executives — the Bengals’ Trey Brown, the Bills’ Terrance Gray and former Cardinals staffer Quentin Harris — decline interviews, the Patriots met with Eagles scouting director Brandon Hunt and former Panthers exec Samir Suleiman. Neither interview took place at the team facility, according to SI.com’s Albert Breer, and the two candidates who agreed to interview did not meet with anyone beyond the Krafts.
Widely expected to end with Wolf being given the keys on a full-time basis, this Patriots search brought the combined total of outside candidates interviewed for the HC and GM jobs to two this offseason. By comparison, the Panthers met with 11 outside candidates for their HC post and eight non-Carolina-based staffers for their GM gig. The Chargers spoke with nine GM candidates and met with 13 outside coaches. The Commanders’ HC-GM search covered five GM aspirants and seven outside HC interviewees. The Raiders’ search most closely resembled the Patriots’, as they only met with two non-Antonio Pierce candidates for HC and five GM candidates.
The Pats, who have not given out a GM title in more than 30 years, gave Wolf a trial run by installing him as their acting personnel chief months before the draft, Breer adds. It would have been borderline shocking to see the team allow Wolf to select its hopeful long-term quarterback (No. 3 overall pick Drake Maye), turning down Giants and Vikings trade-up offers along the way, and then go with another candidate to lead the way post-draft. Most around the league correctly predicted New England would stick with Wolf, a longtime exec who had worked as the No. 2 man in Green Bay and Cleveland. Wolf later became a finalist for the Bears and Vikings’ GM jobs in 2022.
Wolf, 42, has changed the Patriots’ scouting system by replacing Belichick’s setup with what he used with the Packers; the Patriots will also switch up their workflow by having both Wolf and Mayo report to ownership. While this format can cause division, other teams have both their HC and GM meet directly with ownership rather than use a top-down approach.
Prior to Belichick’s exit, Matt Groh worked as his top lieutenant. The Patriots have employed Wolf since 2020, but the Krafts saw enough in the second-generation personnel man to vault him past Groh and into their top front office spot. Groh remains with the organization, but it will be Wolf — likely with more input from ownership compared to the Belichick era — leading the way.
Ownership did not conduct thorough searches to reach its Mayo-Wolf endpoint. That stands to be an important footnote as the team prepares for its first post-Belichick season.
Latest On Saints, Marshon Lattimore
Dennis Allen continues to respond in the affirmative when asked if Marshon Lattimore will be part of the 2024 Saints. The third-year New Orleans HC kept this trend going from OTAs this week.
Trade rumors have persisted, after teams checked in on Lattimore earlier this offeason. This led to Allen discussing the rumors with the Pro Bowl cornerback earlier this month. Lattimore’s thrice-restructured contract — a $19.4MM-per-year deal — runs through the 2026 season.
“I just thought it was something we needed to communicate,” Allen said, via ESPN.com’s Katherine Terrell, upon noting Lattimore will be a Saint this season. “There’s been a lot of talk outside our building about trades and things of that nature. And so I just felt like it was probably time that he and I had a conversation. … It was a positive conversation and we’re looking forward to getting him out when he’s here and working with him.”
Lattimore, 28, did not show for the first batch of Saints OTAs. Allen said he has not been in the building this offseason, indicating his recent conversation with Lattimore was the parties’ first in a while. Though, missing voluntary workouts is not an atypical development for the talented defender. That said, the seven-year veteran is coming off two injury-plagued seasons.
Lattimore went down with an ankle injury and missed the Saints’ final seven games. He missed 10 due to a lacerated kidney in 2022, though the Saints did not place the former All-Pro on IR that year. While Lattimore did land on IR in 2023, NOLA.com’s Jeff Duncan notes internal frustration came about at the pace the veteran CB recovered from each injury. This concern undoubtedly rankled Lattimore’s camp.
Availability issues already severed the Saints’ relationship with Michael Thomas, though the team gave the former All-Pro wideout a few chances to bounce back. Lattimore is three years younger than Thomas and has a more recent history of playing at a high level. The Saints, however, traded up for Kool-Aid McKinstry in the draft and have rookie-contract corners Paulson Adebo and Alontae Taylor on the roster.
The Saints’ latest Lattimore restructure made his contract more tradeable, as it lowered his 2024 salary cap number (to $14.62MM) by inserting option bonuses. Rather than using a signing bonus as a conversion tool, New Orleans introducing option bonuses here would make those another team’s responsibility if Lattimore is traded. The deal now contains $13.79MM in options bonuses prorated over the next five years.
Similar to the Packers’ final arrangement with Aaron Rodgers, Lattimore’s 2024 option bonus — which is worth just $2.76MM — does not have to be exercised until a week before the season. While that structure certainly leaves the door open for a trade, nothing is imminent. If Lattimore is dealt after June 1 this year, the Saints would take on only $10.65MM in dead money.
Even as trade rumors swirl involving a boundary corner with four Pro Bowls on his resume, Duncan views a Lattimore trade as highly unlikely. Barring a monster offer, the Saints will be expected to give the Ohio State alum another shot to stay healthy and rejoin Cameron Jordan, Demario Davis and Tyrann Mathieu as veteran presences on Allen’s defense. This still may be a situation to monitor, but for now, it does not appear Lattimore is too close to being moved.
This Date In Transactions History: Raiders Sign Kerry Collins
As the Giants considered making a major quarterback move in this year’s draft, it is worth reminding the franchise has managed to avoid much turnover at the game’s premier position. The team employed Phil Simms for 15 years, Eli Manning for 16 and is set to give Daniel Jones a sixth season at the helm.
Kerry Collins stood in the Jones position 20 years ago, coming off his fifth season as the team’s starter. A former Panthers top-five pick, Collins had stabilized his career in New York, leading the Giants to Super Bowl XXXV and another playoff berth two years later. But the team had designs on upgrading after a 4-12 2003 season. Unlike this year’s Giants, the team completed a trade for its desired QB prospect. As Manning maneuvered his way to New York, being traded from the Chargers after the team he asked not pick him did so at No. 1 overall, Collins quickly made his way out of the Big Apple. Shortly after the draft, the Giants ended the suspense with their incumbent by cutting him.
One of only three primary Giants QB1s this century, Collins was given an option to stay on and groom Manning. Collins and then-GM Ernie Accorsi did not agree on an arrangement in which the veteran would accept a pay cut and be a bridge quarterback, so the Giants moved on in late April. Twenty years ago today, the Raiders came in with an offer that ended Collins’ short stay in free agency. The Raiders gave Collins a three-year, $16.82MM deal on May 24, 2004.
This mid-offseason agreement came as former MVP Rich Gannon‘s status was in question, and as the veteran Oakland starter approached 40, it would be Collins quarterbacking the Raiders for most of the next two seasons. Gannon had made the Pro Bowl in each of his first four Raiders seasons. This included a 2002 MVP award, when he piloted the Raiders to Super Bowl XXXVII, and two first-team All-Pro honors. But his 2003 season ended early due to a torn labrum. As Gannon entered his age-39 season, Collins — at 31 — became a high-profile insurance option.
Oakland needed to use that insurance early. A scary helmet-to-helmet collision with future Hall of Famer Derrick Brooks in Week 3 of the 2004 season ended Gannon’s career. Collins started the final 13 games for the Raiders in 2004 and was under center in 15 games during the ’05 season. The pocket passer’s Raiders tenure did not reach the heights his Giants run did.
Collins played with arguably the two best wide receivers in NFL history, though not at the same time. Jerry Rice‘s four-year Raiders tenure ended (via a trade to the Seahawks) in October 2004, and Randy Moss‘ two-season Oakland stay began after a Raiders-Vikings swap in 2005. While Moss fared better with Collins (1,005 receiving yards) than he did during a woeful 2006 season, the all-time great’s Raiders stretch was a major disappointment.
The Raiders went 7-21 with Collins at the controls. The veteran led the NFL in interceptions, with 20, in 2004 and completed just 53.5% of his passes — well south of his Giants work — in 2005. Firing Norv Turner after the 2005 season, the Raiders also cut Collins. They signed Aaron Brooks in 2006, using he and 2005 third-rounder Andrew Walter as stopgaps during a 2-14 season that set up the JaMarcus Russell pick.
Eventually stretching his career to 17 seasons, Collins ended up bouncing back with the Titans. The 2006 free agency pickup replaced a scuffling Vince Young in 2008 and led Tennessee team to a 13-3 record. After Collins passed on the Manning bridge gig four years earlier, Kurt Warner ended up taking it. Although the former two-time MVP was benched for a developing Manning nine games into the 2004 season, the Giants tenure helped set up the future Hall of Famer’s memorable third act with the Cardinals.