Bills’ Terrance Gray Turns Down Patriots Interview Request; Eliot Wolf Favorite For Job
Seeking to install someone not named Bill Belichick atop their personnel pyramid for the first time since the 20th century, the Patriots are having some issues launching a true search. A third candidate for their top front office position has turned down an interview.
The Patriots requested a meeting with Bills director of player personnel Terrance Gray, according to SI.com’s Albert Breer, who adds Gray “politely” declined the interview. Gray’s refusal to meet with the Pats follows Bengals exec Trey Brown and veteran personnel exec Quentin Harris doing the same.
Gray, who interviewed for both the Chargers and Raiders’ GM jobs in January, has been with the Bills since 2017. Bills GM Brandon Beane hired Gray upon arrival seven years ago. Gray has held the title of Bills director of player personnel since 2022. The Bills reshuffled their front office — a process that led to the team elevating short-lived Texans GM Brian Gaine to assistant GM — following assistant GM Joe Schoen landing the Giants’ GM position two years ago.
Twenty years in as an NFL staffer, Gray logged 11 years in Minnesota under Rick Spielman and previously spent time in Kansas City as well. Gray’s presence during the Bills’ rise into an AFC power — after 17 missed playoff brackets between the Music City Miracle and the first Beane-Sean McDermott year — has naturally made him an attractive GM candidate.
The Pats appear to be having a difficult time convincing candidates this position will not ultimately go to Eliot Wolf, who has been operating as the team’s de facto GM for months. The veteran exec is viewed as the expected hire, Breer adds. This will be rather interesting, seeing as Wolf already shepherded the Patriots through a draft that produced the team’s hopeful franchise quarterback in Drake Maye. Robert Kraft letting Wolf, a Patriots staffer since March 2020, make that decision and then hiring someone else to run the team post-draft would be a strange shift for a team settling in post-Belichick.
A recent report suggested the Patriots had complied with the Rooney Rule, but the Boston Herald’s Doug Kyed offers that is not currently the case. Rumored to be planning a true search for a front office boss for a while, the Patriots complied with the Rooney Rule before the draft, per Kyed, due to no singular presence being atop the FO hierarchy. Now that the Pats are planning to name a front office leader, they need to interview at least two external minority candidates for GM and HC posts. Brown, Gray and Harris are each Black, but thus far, no known interviews with any external candidates have taken place.
Lions Bring Back S C.J. Moore
The Lions encountered more gambling suspensions than any other team last year. This led to several cuts, Jameson Williams not debuting until October and some staff dismissals.
C.J. Moore was among the players jettisoned following a gambling suspension; the Lions cut the veteran special-teamer last April despite having re-signed him a month earlier. The team will give Moore a second chance, with NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport noting the sides reached an agreement on a deal Tuesday.
This comes shortly after the NFL reinstated Moore, along with four others who received bans in 2023. Moore, 28, was found to have bet on NFL games while on team grounds. While the Lions have moved on from fellow the rest of their non-Williams sect of gambling policy violators — wide receivers Quintez Cephus and Stanley Berryhill, and defensive lineman Demetrius Taylor — Moore had served as a key special-teamer under Matt Patricia and then Dan Campbell. The team will sign off on a second chance.
The Lions agreed to terms to re-sign Moore on a two-year, $4.5MM deal in March 2023. The former UDFA out of Ole Miss saw action on between 68-78% of Detroit’s special teams plays from 2019-22. This topped out with 321 snaps in 2019, though Moore also cleared 300 ST snaps in 2021. He played more than 100 defensive snaps in both the 2021 and ’22 seasons, intercepting a pass in 2021.
C.J. Gardner-Johnson left to rejoin the Eagles in free agency, and the Lions did not draft a safety. The team used its top draft resources on corners, bringing in two (Terrion Arnold, Ennis Rakestraw Jr.) in the first two rounds. The Lions still roster safety starters Kerby Joseph and Ifeatu Melifonwu; after a memorable career hiccup, Moore stands to reprise his role as a backup in 2024.
Raiders Sign WR Jalen Guyton
MAY 6: Guyton’s visit has produced a deal. The Raiders announced on Monday that the deep threat has been signed, and he thus represents the newest receiver addition brought in by Telesco. Vegas signed Michael Gallup in the wake of the draft, and he will compete for starter’s snaps alongside Adams in the team’s passing game. Guyton will look to carve out a role of his own as he aims to put together a healthy campaign.
APRIL 29: An ACL tear brought a turning point in Jalen Guyton‘s five-year Chargers tenure, leading to the deep threat tumbling out of the picture as the Brandon Staley era wore on. But the GM that brought in the former UDFA has him back on the radar.
The Raiders met with Guyton on a visit Monday, ESPN.com’s Field Yates tweets. Tom Telesco brought in Guyton as a UDFA in 2019, and the North Texas alum became a key Justin Herbert target in 2020 and ’21. A Week 3 2022 ACL tear sidetracked the 6-foot-1 pass catcher.
Guyton, 26, managed to return last season — after being re-signed — but was not activated off the Chargers’ reserve/PUP list until early November. Despite the Chargers playing most of the season without Mike Williams and losing Keenan Allen late in the campaign, Guyton finished last season with just 10 receptions for 89 yards.
He was a far more relevant option earlier in his Bolts tenure. Guyton totaled 28 receptions for 511 yards in 2020 and 31 receptions for 448 yards in 2021; he scored three touchdowns in each season. Best remembered for being on the receiving end of a Herbert laser that traveled 60-plus yards in the air against the Giants in 2021, Guyton represents a flier at this point. Though, he is now more than 18 months removed from the major knee injury.
The Raiders moved on from Hunter Renfrow this offseason but have not relented on a potential Davante Adams trade. The All-Pro weapon remains Las Vegas’ No. 1 target, and 2023 free agent pickup Jakobi Meyers — a player with close ties to the since-booted Josh McDaniels-fronted regime — is going into Year 2 of a three-year, $33MM deal. The Raiders did not draft a wide receiver this year and did not make a notable signing in free agency. Guyton, who has clear ties to Telesco and ex-Chargers front office lieutenant/interim GM JoJo Wooden, would be a low-cost auxiliary option.
Commanders Add 11 UDFAs
TODAY, 11:35am: The Commanders have made a late addition to their UDFA class. According to Nicki Jhabvala, the team has signed Notre Dame linebacker Bo Bauer. The rookie is expected to compete for a spot on defense and a spot as a long snapper.
WEDNESDAY, 9:00am: The first Adam Peters-Dan Quinn UDFA group has surfaced. Here is the result of the Commanders’ post-draft signing period:
- Chigozie Anusiem, CB (Colorado State)
- Sam Hartman, QB (Notre Dame)
- Austin Jones, RB (USC)
- Ben Nikkel, S (Iowa State)
- David Nwaogwugwu, OT (Toledo)
- Tyler Owens, S (Texas Tech)
- Norell Pollard, DT (Virginia Tech)
- Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint, WR (Georgia)
- Michael Wiley, RB (Arizona)
- AJ Woods, CB (Pittsburgh)
- Colson Yankoff, TE (UCLA)
Rated as the 12th-best QB prospect in this draft (per ESPN’s Scouts Inc.), Hartman will join a team that selected the No. 2 player at this position. The Commanders now have Jayden Daniels, Marcus Mariota, Jeff Driskel, Jake Fromm and Hartman on their 90-man roster. Neither Driskel nor Fromm is tied to any guaranteed money; Hartman outranks the two vets, with NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero indicating the team gave the Notre Dame alum a $225K base salary guarantee. Prior to transferring in 2023, Hartman put up big numbers at Wake Forest, producing 38- and 39-touchdown pass seasons to close out his Demon Deacons career. Piloting Notre Dame to a 10-3 record last season, Hartman threw 24 TD passes, eight INTs and averaged a career-best 8.9 yards per attempt.
Washington is going further to bring in Anusiem. The Colorado State product drew interest from around half the league, per Pelissero, who adds the Commanders are giving him a $300K base salary guarantee and a $50K signing bonus. This gives Anusiem a boost toward sticking around as a UDFA. After four years at Cal, Anusiem was a two-season regular with the Rams.
The team is allocating $245K to Owens, per KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson, in the form of a base salary guarantee and $25K signing bonus. Only working as a full-time starter in one of his five college seasons (spent at Texas and Texas Tech), Jones played both safety and in the slot last season. He joins a team that lost Kamren Curl from its safety depth chart in March.
Jones and Wiley join a team that lost Antonio Gibson this offseason. After signing Austin Ekeler, Washington did not draft a running back. Brian Robinson and 2023 draftee Chris Rodriguez remain on the roster. Neither Jones nor Wiley topped 800 yards rushing in a season during a combined 10 years in the Pac-12. A Stanford transfer, Jones rushed for 477 yards alongside MarShawn Lloyd for the Trojans last season. Jones, who gained 705 on the ground in Lincoln Riley’s USC debut, rejoins 2023 Trojans assistant Kliff Kingsbury in Washington.
Texans Offered Saquon Barkley Over $11MM Per Year; Team Pursued Tony Pollard, D’Andre Swift
With C.J. Stroud locked into rookie-deal money through at least 2025, the Texans have a rare opportunity. They can build around a low-cost quarterback who showed star potential as a rookie. The team made some moves to capitalize this offseason, deviating from a conservative first three years — with regards to free agency — under Nick Caserio.
The Texans added the likes of Stefon Diggs, Danielle Hunter, Azeez Al-Shaair and Denico Autry. Houston hoped to bring in a higher-salary target at running back as well, but mutual interest between the team and Saquon Barkley did not produce a deal. Despite rostering Jalen Hurts on a $51MM-per-year contract, the Eagles landed Barkley on a three-year, $37.75MM deal that includes $26MM guaranteed at signing. Barkley sits as the NFL’s fourth-highest-paid RB, cashing in after Giants negotiations produced a lesser offer and a franchise tag last summer.
Houston was willing to go into this neighborhood for Barkley, according to KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson, who reports the team offered the two-time Pro Bowler a three-year deal worth just north of $33MM. The AAV here checks in just south of Barkley’s $12.58MM Philly number, but given the guarantee at signing the Eagles authorized, it is unsurprising the 2018 Offensive Rookie of the Year made the choice he did.
The wave of RB contracts authorized in the early 2020s have led to a few high-profile releases, pay cuts or trades. Ezekiel Elliott, Dalvin Cook, Aaron Jones, Joe Mixon and Derrick Henry are no longer attached to eight-figure-per-year accords. The Browns slashed Nick Chubb‘s pay last month, as the perennial Pro Bowler is coming off two knee surgeries, and Josh Jacobs‘ Packers deal only includes $12.5MM guaranteed at signing. Given the state of the RB position, Barkley did well to score the guarantee did he going into his seventh season.
Barkley, 27, said he was drawn to the Texans before considering the Eagles. But the Penn State alum certainly has Pennsylvania ties; much of his family is from the area. Although the Texans had the Eagles beat for cap space, they stood down on Barkley. The team soon gave Hunter a near-fully guaranteed contract and made an interesting commitment to Mixon. Just before the Bengals were set to release their seven-year starter, the Texans agreed to send a seventh-round pick for the veteran back. Mixon soon agreed to new terms with the Texans — two years, $19.75MM ($13MM guaranteed).
The Texans ended up giving Mixon a better deal than they proposed Devin Singletary, per Wilson, who adds the team offered its primary 2023 starter a contract averaging $4MM per year. Singletary agreed to a three-year, $16.5MM deal (with $9.5MM fully guaranteed) to reunite with Brian Daboll in New York.
As a Wilson pre-free agency report suggested, the Texans did discuss terms with Tony Pollard and D’Andre Swift. Pollard ended up with the Titans (three years, $21.75MM) and Swift became the first UFA from this year’s class to commit to a team, signing a three-year, $24MM deal with the Bears.
Only Barkley and Swift ($14MM) scored more fully guaranteed money among this year’s free agent RBs than Mixon, who is coming off his fourth 1,000-yard rushing season but has 1,854 career touches — third-most among active backs. Charged with elevating a Texans rushing attack that ranked 22nd last season, Mixon is going into his age-28 slate.
The Texans will count on Mixon, but Caserio said (via SI.com’s Coty M. Davis) Dameon Pierce — who followed up an impressive rookie season with a down 2023 — remains a “big part” of the team’s 2024 plan. The 2022 fourth-rounder averaged just 2.9 yards per carry last season, seeing Singletary usurp him as the Texans’ lead back down the stretch. The younger back will have a chance to rebound, albeit in a now-Mixon-fronted backfield.
OL Notes: Guyton, Beebe, Cowboys, Commanders, LT, Raiders, Packers, Patriots
Tyler Smith delivering strong early returns at two positions — left tackle, left guard — gave the Cowboys options while constructing their draft board, and Oklahoma tackle Tyler Guyton became the team’s pick. The Guyton move points to Smith staying at guard. The Cowboys are set to give the ex-Sooners right tackle every opportunity to win the starting LT job, The Athletic’s Jon Machota notes (subscription required). Teams make the inverse move more often, with the college game’s top O-linemen most frequently coming from the left tackle spot. Guyton views himself as a more natural left tackle, however, and his development there will keep well-paid RT Terence Steele in place.
Trading down from No. 24 to 29, the Cowboys picked up an extra third-rounder (No. 73). Dallas used the latter pick on Kansas State’s Cooper Beebe, and Machota adds he profiles as the team’s Tyler Biadasz center replacement. Linked to Duke center prospect Graham Barton at No. 24, the Cowboys passed with the ex-Blue Devil on the board (Barton went to the Buccaneers at No. 26). Beebe vacillated between left tackle, right tackle and left guard with the Big 12 program. While Machota notes Beebe could be an eventual Zack Martin successor, he is on track to begin his career at center.
Here is the latest from O-lines around the league:
- The Raiders are making changes on the right side of their offensive line. Right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor joined the Giants, and Greg Van Roten remains a free agent. The team used Day 2 of the draft to acquire Oregon’s Jackson Powers-Johnson (Round 2) and Maryland’s Delmar Glaze (Round 3). In all likelihood, Powers-Johnson is ticketed for a starting guard role, per The Athletic’s Vic Tafur and Tashan Reed. Glaze is set to begin his career at tackle, though GM Tom Telesco said (via ESPN.com’s Paul Gutierrez) guard work could also be in his future. Glaze will likely settle in as the Raiders’ swing tackle, according to The Athletic, though it is in play he could push Thayer Munford — who lost a position battle with Eluemunor last year — for the RT post.
- Washington made three second-round picks in this draft. The Commanders acquired a defensive tackle (Jer’Zhan Newton), a cornerback (Mike Sainristil) and a tight end (Ben Sinnott) in a busy Round 2. O-line finally came up in Round 3, with TCU’s Brandon Coleman chosen at No. 67. Projected by some as a likely candidate to slide to guard, Coleman will not make that move initially. The former national championship game starter will begin his Commanders run at tackle, ESPN.com’s John Keim notes. Coleman logged extensive time at LT and LG with the Horned Frogs, playing on the blind side during the team’s banner 2022 season. He joins a Washington team that released LT starter Charles Leno. With only swingman Cornelius Lucas in place on the left side, Coleman should have a chance to move from the third round to Jayden Daniels‘ blindside protector. Lucas (47 career starts) would be in place as insurance.
- As expected, Jordan Morgan will train at left tackle for the Packers. Matt LaFleur confirmed the No. 25 overall pick will begin his career there, and while The Athletic’s Matt Schneidman notes the team liked how 2022 seventh-rounder Rasheed Walker played in relief of David Bakhtiari, the first-round Morgan investment tips the team’s hand here. The Packers have assembled some depth post-Bakhtiari, with Andre Dillard in place as a potential swing option alongside the loser of this position battle.
- Chukwuma Okorafor and third-round Patriots pick Caedan Wallace are set to vie for the New England left tackle job. Before the draft, de facto GM Eliot Wolf said (via the Boston Herald’s Doug Kyed) Okorafor — a longtime Steelers right tackle starter — stood as the Patriots’ starting LT. This will be a rather unique battle, as Wallace played all but six college snaps at right tackle. Wolf, however, views the Penn State product as a viable LT option, ESPN.com’s Mike Reiss notes. The winner will likely be protecting Drake Maye‘s blind side at some point in 2024. Mike Onwenu is staying at right tackle.
Panthers Move Austin Corbett To C; Brady Christensen In Mix At Position
Injuries disrupted the Panthers’ guard plans over the past two seasons. The Austin Corbett–Brady Christensen tandem’s two-year run involved a combined four season-ending injuries, and Carolina’s free agency plan ensured neither would be in position to start at guard again.
The team gave Robert Hunt a five-year, $100MM deal and brought in Damien Lewis on a four-year, $53MM pact. The ex-Dolphins and Seahawks blockers are in place at guard, displacing Corbett and Christensen. The Panthers’ release of Bradley Bozeman cleared a path at center, however, and Corbett is the clubhouse leader to commandeer the gig.
“You know, just scrolling in my phone, and here comes free agency, and I said, ‘Oh, there’s a guard,'” Corbett said, via Panthers.com’s Darin Gantt. “And I figured, OK, and then it’s like, ‘Oh, we got another one.’ There you go. Well, I guess it leaves me on the inside. I just talk too much anyway. So it was inevitable. I was going to end up in there at some point in my career.”
Panthers GM Dan Morgan confirmed Corbett is “progressing well” at center. The former Browns second-round pick has been a full-time guard starter dating back to the 2019 season, when the Rams moved him into their lineup following a midseason trade. Corbett, 28, has never made a snap at center in an NFL game. He was a four-year tackle starter (three years at left tackle, one at RT) at Nevada, making this an interesting “best five”-based plan from the Panthers.
Corbett signed a three-year, $26.25MM deal in 2022 — the team’s final Matt Rhule-run offseason — and has $2MM in guaranteed 2024 salary. The seventh-year veteran suffered a torn ACL during the Panthers’ 2022 season finale, leading to a reserve/PUP list stay in 2023. An MCL injury in November of last year shelved Corbett during what became the Panthers worst season in 22 years. Christensen, who sustained a broken ankle in that damaging Week 18 game in New Orleans, completed a successful rehab effort to return by Week 1 of last season. But a biceps injury sidelined the BYU alum for the Panthers’ final 16 games last year.
Moved from tackle to guard in 2022, Christensen has made 24 NFL starts. Morgan confirmed the 2021 third-rounder will see center reps, potentially creating a competition between the two supplanted guards for the pivot role.
Last season marked a rough year for Carolina’s O-line, with neither of the team’s tackles (Ikem Ekwonu and Taylor Moton) playing well. With both tackles back and the Hunt-Lewis duo entrenched, the Panthers only have room for one of the two benched guards in their 2024 lineup.
“I think he’s progressing well, and I think Dave (Canales) would say the same thing,” Morgan said (via SI.com) of Corbett. “I think him, along with Brady Christensen, you know, he’s been getting some snaps at center. You know, we feel like he has a lot of potential there as well. We feel good about it, but we are always going to be looking to challenge our roster and get better and create that competition. We’re not going to leave anything — we’re not going to close the door on bringing somebody else in as well.”
Jets Offered Pay Cut To Retain DL John Franklin-Myers
One of the Joe Douglas era’s top success stories, John Franklin-Myers went from 2019 waiver claim to a versatile regular on the Jets‘ defensive line. A higher-profile pass rusher effectively took his spot on the team’s 2024 cap sheet, however.
The Jets’ trade for Haason Reddick led to Franklin-Myers being given a chance to find a new home. The team had given Franklin-Myers a four-year, $55MM extension early in the 2021 season, and the former Rams draftee rewarded the team by becoming a regular starter over the past three years. The Reddick move led to the Jets trading Franklin-Myers to the Broncos in what amounted to a salary dump; only a 2026 sixth-round pick is coming back to New York in the swap.
Praising Franklin-Myers on the way out, Douglas confirmed this trade was strictly contract-related. Franklin-Myers, 27, had been carrying the third-highest cap hit ($16.4MM) on the Jets’ payroll. The Broncos, however, reworked the six-year veteran’s deal and now have him on more manageable numbers — two years, $15MM ($7.9MM fully guaranteed) — heading into the 2024 season.
The Jets did submit what amounted to a pay-cut proposal to convince Franklin-Myers to stay, but the inside-outside rusher said the AFC East team’s offer was not “anything close” to the Broncos’ terms. Indeed, ESPN.com’s Rich Cimini adds the Jets’ offer came in well south of his current numbers. Franklin-Myers will count $5MM on Denver’s cap this season. If this proves a shaky fit, the Broncos can save $7MM by releasing the trade pickup in 2025.
Combining for 11 sacks from 2021-22 and totaling 48 QB hits over the past three seasons, Franklin-Myers started every Jets game over the past three years. He projects as a starting D-lineman alongside Zach Allen and D.J. Jones in Denver’s 3-4 scheme. With Jones more run stuffer than three-down player, Franklin-Myers stands to see time alongside Allen as inside rushers in sub-packages. Allen tallied a career-high 24 QB hits last season and has totaled 10.5 sacks over the past two years. This makes for an intriguing combination for a Broncos team that returns its top three edge players (Baron Browning, Jonathon Cooper, Nik Bonitto) from 2023.
Reddick, of course, gives the Jets a higher-ceiling option. He joins recent first-rounders Jermaine Johnson and Will McDonald on the team’s Quinnen Williams-anchored defensive line. The Jets, who are effectively replacing Bryce Huff with Reddick, have not agreed on an extension with the Pro Bowl edge rusher. As of now, Reddick remains on his three-year, $45MM Eagles deal; that contract expires after the 2024 season. It would surprise if Reddick-Jets contract talks did not take place this offseason.
Chargers Slotting Joe Alt At Right Tackle; Trey Pipkins In Play For Guard Job
Joe Alt only played left tackle at Notre Dame, but the Chargers have a Pro Bowler protecting Justin Herbert‘s blind side. They are not moving Rashawn Slater, with SI.com’s Albert Breer indicating the No. 5 overall pick is set to compete for the team’s right tackle job.
All 33 of Alt’s Fighting Irish starts came at left tackle, and his father — John, a 1984 Chiefs first-round pick — operated as a left tackle for 13 NFL seasons. Alt is set to move to the spot Trey Pipkins has manned for the past two seasons. The Chargers have Pipkins tied to a three-year, $21.75MM deal; his $6.25MM 2024 base salary is guaranteed.
Jim Harbaugh called Pipkins “one of our best five” linemen and expects the multiyear starter to still have a place along the Bolts’ starting offensive front. This would appear to challenge incumbent right guard Jamaree Salyer, who slid from Slater left tackle replacement to starting guard in Brandon Staley‘s final season. Pipkins “could very well” move to right guard this offseason, per The Athletic’s Daniel Popper.
“I think he’s one of our five best right now, and that’s not going to change,” Harbaugh said of Pipkins. “I’ve been extremely impressed with Trey, and he also has that kind of freaky athleticism and also building the strength and power to match that athleticism. I would predict that there’s a spot in the starting five for Trey Pipkins.”
A 2019 third-round pick out of Division II Sioux Falls, Pipkins has started 41 games — including 31 over the past two seasons. The Chargers had not seen much right tackle stability in the years before Pipkins won the job in 2022. Pro Football Focus graded Pipkins 50th among tackles last season, though moving to guard at this stage of his career would figure to be a challenge. Pipkins, 27, has never played a snap at guard in five pro seasons.
Georgia’s starting left tackle during the first of its back-to-back national championship seasons (2021), Salyer filled in for an injured Slater for much of the 2022 season. The sixth-round pick did not fare especially well upon moving inside last year, grading as one of PFF’s worst run-blocking guards. Jordan McFadden could also be an option at right guard, per Popper. The Chargers chose McFadden in the 2023 fifth round. McFadden started two games as a rookie.
With Harbaugh adding he would “play five tackles” if he could, the Bolts certainly seem prepared to gauge Pipkins’ value as a guard. The Chargers are almost definitely set to ask two of their top three tackles — Alt and Pipkins — to switch positions, as Slater stays put. With Alt the Chargers’ highest-drafted O-lineman since Russ Washington in 1968 and the team having Pipkins on a $7.25MM-per-year contract, this will be a situation to monitor ahead of Harbaugh’s first season back in the NFL.
Drew Lock In Play To Win Giants’ Starting QB Job?
Giants GM Joe Schoen has repeatedly indicated Daniel Jones is on track to return by training camp and reprise his role as the team’s starting quarterback. The team also showed tremendous confidence in the rehabbing QB by using the No. 6 overall pick to draft Malik Nabers, doing so despite extensive work on this year’s passer class.
Jones’ resume doubles as an unusual one for a quarterback on track for a sixth year as a team’s starter, but the party line (and Jones’ contract) centers around that being the Giants’ path. However, more rumblings about a QB competition are coming out. NFL.com’s Daniel Jeremiah said during his Move the Sticks podcast (h/t the New York Post’s Ryan Dunleavy) Drew Lock holds a legitimate chance to win that starting job.
[RELATED: Giants Deny Daniel Jones Buyer’s Remorse]
The Giants thoroughly scouted this year’s QB class, being closely linked to both Drake Maye and J.J. McCarthy and hosting the likes of Bo Nix and Spencer Rattler on “30” visits along with the recent North Carolina and Michigan starters. The value did not align for the Giants at No. 6, with a clear line of demarcation forming between Maye and the next tier at the position. That led to the team offering the Patriots Nos. 6 and 47, along with a 2025 first-rounder for No. 3 overall. As it stands, the Giants remain a Jones-centric operation.
“Yeah, for me, I said it in January after the season. Expectation was Daniel would be our starter and we brought Drew Lock in to be his backup and Tommy [DeVito] has been the backup,” Schoen said, via ESPN.com’s Jordan Raanan. “So that’s where we are and that’s how we’ll move forward this season. Daniel is still under contract for three more years. As it sits today, that is where we are.”
Certainly not a ringing Jones endorsement, Schoen’s comments come after Seahawks GM John Schneider said the Giants dangled the carrot of giving Lock a chance to compete for the starting job. Lock could well vie for playing time when Jones is healthy, the New York Daily News’ Pat Leonard adds.
Schoen’s assessment also points to a second “prove it” year for the 2019 No. 6 overall pick. Jones, 26, responded well to such a challenge in 2022, piloting a moderately talented Giants team to a surprising divisional-round run. But he fared poorly before going down last season, doing so after receiving $81MM guaranteed at signing. That deal guarantees Jones’ $35.5MM base salary this season. After this year, the Giants can move on without too much in the way of dead money.
The Giants’ QB research project pitted this year’s class against Jones and Lock, and Jeremiah adds Maye provided the cutoff point. The team used Lock as a central comparison tool while evaluating this year’s class, per Jeremiah, who said the former second-round pick has a “really good shot” of winning the Giants’ job. Given the team’s 2023 commitment to Jones, it would be borderline shocking if Lock — who signed a one-year, $5MM deal in March — beat him out. On the whole, however, Jones has not given the Giants what they hoped for in an Eli Manning successor. And just about everything went wrong for the five-year starter last season.
A March report indicated the Giants’ QB search largely hinged on a lack of confidence Jones could stay healthy. Jones’ health history also is believed to have partially influenced Lock’s decision to sign with the Giants. Two neck injuries — one of which requiring a 2022 surgery — have hindered the scrutinized starter, and he will not be full-go until at least training camp. That will open the door to Lock offseason starter reps. Those could be important, if this is to become a genuine competition.
Chosen 36 spots after Jones in 2019, Lock lost a competition with Geno Smith in 2022 and did not threaten the latter’s job security last year. The former Broncos draftee has proven erratic when given extended run as a starter. Lock led the NFL in INTs during his last full-season starter run (2020), doing so despite only finishing 12 games. He also played the lead role in sinking the Broncos in 2021, starting the team’s final three games (all losses) after entering a Week 15 contest with the team at 7-6. Lock, 27, did play well in a start against the Eagles last year, leading a game-winning drive. Of course, the Eagles’ defense was on the brink of a full-on collapse at that point.
It would be interesting to see the Giants bail on Jones as their starter just as they have given him a No. 1-caliber wide receiver prospect; the team’s previous hopes at doing so failed miserably. But Jones has just one top-half QBR finish (2022) and one season with more than 15 TD passes (2019). He should be considered on the hot seat. The Giants also would owe an additional $12MM in injury guarantees if Jones is unable to pass a physical by the start of the 2025 league year.
Moving parts exist here, and while it would surprise if Lock received the call based on his past and the Giants’ Jones investment, this could be a storyline to monitor soon.