Latest On Giants’ Tommy DeVito Plans
The Saints pumped the brakes on Tommy DeVito‘s recent run, sacking him seven times in a one-sided Week 15 loss. Absorbing a concerning number of sacks is nothing new for DeVito, but the Giants had entered their Superdome date on a three-game win streak.
Brian Daboll confirmed DeVito remains the team’s starter over Tyrod Taylor. The Giants activated Taylor from IR before their Week 14 win over the Packers but will continue to evaluate DeVito for 2024. With Taylor in the final weeks of his two-year Giants contract, NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo notes (video link) the team is using this window to see if DeVito can be its backup next season.
DeVito’s recent stretch has complicated matters for the Giants. Following Daniel Jones‘ ACL tear, Taylor suffered four broken ribs. This left a UDFA rookie — one Daboll kept on a tight leash in an ugly loss to the Jets that featured almost nothing but handoffs on the Giants’ part — piloting a team that hovered near the top of the 2024 draft board. The ensuing three DeVito-quarterbacked wins leave the Giants at 5-9. The NFL has five 5-9 teams, creating a pivotal stretch — for draft positioning, at least — over the final three weeks. But the team is no longer a realistic candidate to land a top-two pick. This gives Jones a smoother runway toward a return as the Giants’ unquestioned starter.
DeVito is not a serious threat to supplant Jones, Garafolo adds, and the recently re-signed starter is aiming to return from his ACL tear by training camp. That would solve some problems for the Giants, who did not exactly see encouraging work from their $40MM-per-year passer before his injury. But GM Joe Schoen said the team would look to add a quarterback in the offseason. DeVito’s improvements may have adjusted the team’s thinking here, but with Taylor heading toward free agency, the team would at least need another arm for 2024. DeVito’s final games may determine if the Giants target a true backup option or a third-stringer-type presence.
Taylor has now been benched by four teams since 2018. The Browns sat their trade pickup for No. 1 pick Baker Mayfield, while the pregame injection snafu in Los Angeles introduced the NFL world to Justin Herbert in 2020. The Texans began their Deshaun Watson healthy-scratch year with Taylor under center, but Davis Mills eventually replaced him. Taylor had operated as Jones’ backup, but the rib injury brought in DeVito. Taylor expressed disappointment about Daboll’s decision, and the journeyman QB is expected to depart soon.
DeVito, who admittedly has just one 200-yard passing performance in five starts, showing enough to be considered a long-term QB2 would help the Giants a bit; he is tied to a league-minimum deal. DeVito’s extended look as a starter has also cost Taylor a bit of dough. Taylor carried $1MM in 2023 playing-time and performance incentives. Reaching the 40% and 50% snap thresholds would have provided him $250K apiece, per The Athletic’s Dan Duggan. A Taylor 92.5 passer rating and 65% completion rate would also lead to $250K apiece. The 34-year-old veteran, however, has only attempted 91 passes this season.
This surprising DeVito storyline came to fruition in part because he turned down opportunities to join the Commanders (as a UDFA) and the Patriots (as a practice squad arm post-training camp). The New Jersey native transferred from Syracuse to Illinois in 2022 and had hoped the NCAA would grant him a waiver to play in 2023, which would have made him a rare seventh-year senior. Once that did not go through, Illinois HC Bret Bielema — a Giants assistant under Joe Judge in 2020 — helped convince DeVito to turn down multiple other opportunities after the Giants waived him following training camp, the New York Post’s Ryan Dunleavy notes.
DeVito’s decision to stick around on the Giants’ practice squad could result in him becoming a long-term part of the team’s future, but he will probably need to impress over the team’s final three games to both hold off Taylor and show team brass he can be a true backup to Jones.
Bills To Place DT Jordan Phillips On IR
Suffering a dislocated wrist in the Bills’ dominant win over the Cowboys, Jordan Phillips expressed hope he could return for a playoff run. If the team is to qualify for the postseason, Phillips will not be available to start that journey.
The Bills are placing the veteran defensive tackle on IR on Thursday, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport reports. Phillips will be sidelined for the final three regular-season games and Buffalo’s playoff opener, should the team continue its recent form into a postseason berth.
Injuries continue to hinder the Buffalo defense, with Rapoport adding Micah Hyde is not expected to play Saturday against the Chargers. But the Bills received good news this week; starting defensive tackle DaQuan Jones is back at practice despite suffering a torn pectoral muscle earlier this season. Phillips has been the team’s starter in place of Jones, opening the past nine games with the first-stringers. Suffering a neck stinger, Hyde has gotten in two limited practices this week. But the Bills will be cautious with a key veteran who missed almost all of last season with a neck injury.
Phillips became part of a Bills D-tackle plan involving only experienced veterans. This offseason, the three-time reigning AFC East champs brought back Phillips on a one-year, $3MM deal. The team also extended Ed Oliver and signed Poona Ford to be part of a group featuring 2022 UFA additions Jones and Tim Settle. While Settle and Ford have starting experience, the Bills have turned to Phillips — who is on stint No. 3 with the team — in Jones’ place over the past two months.
A former second-round Dolphins pick, Phillips reignited his career in Buffalo during the late 2010s. The Bills claimed Phillips in 2018, and re-signed him on a one-year, $4.5MM deal for the ’19 season. That proved pivotal. Phillips parlayed a career year (9.5 sacks) into a three-year, $30MM Cardinals deal. Injuries marred the Arizona pact, but after the team cut him in 2022, the veteran made his way back to Buffalo. Phillips, 31, is now on his fourth Bills contract.
The team’s continued interest in extending this partnership aside, Pro Football Focus has viewed Phillips as one of the NFL’s worst D-tackles this season. Citing Phillips’ run defense as a concern, PFF grades him as the league’s second-worst DT regular this year. Phillips has registered 2.5 sacks, two tackles for loss and five pass batdowns this year. Settle has played the third-most snaps among Bills DTs this season, while Ford — a Seahawks starter from 2019-22 — has not seen much playing time.
Jones returning would certainly help the Bills, but they still have an experienced interior D-line contingent without him. The Bills have until Jan. 9 to activate Jones, who was off to a strong start before going down in early October.
Jaylon Johnson Aiming To Stay With Bears
Jaylon Johnson has put together one of the best contract years in recent memory. The fourth-year Bears cornerback has placed himself on the radar to become one of the top free agents in 2024, but the sentiment he expressed during this past offseason remains.
The former second-round pick wants to stay with the Bears. The difference from Johnson’s June stance to now: a second contract will be much costlier for the team. The 24-year-old corner has been one of the best cornerbacks in the game this season.
“I want to stay here,” Johnson said, via the Chicago Sun-Times’ Jason Lieser. “I definitely want to get something done [here] first, but if something doesn’t get done, I’m not opposed to any other options. I would love to stay here.
“Couldn’t see myself anywhere else. It’s easy to say you want out of somewhere until you get it and then it’s like, ‘Ah, this may not be quite what I want.’”
Since the Bears allowed Johnson to see if a viable trade offer emerged just before the deadline, he has continued to submit a top-flight CB season. Pro Football Focus slots Johnson as this season’s No. 1 cornerback, and Pro-Football-Reference’s coverage metrics indicate the Ryan Pace-era draftee has allowed a paltry 49.7 passer rating as the closest defender in coverage. That number is miles ahead of Johnson’s figures from 2020-22. Teams could conceivably be skeptical of Johnson sustaining this form, but he is well past a “prove it” deal.
Johnson, who has intercepted four passes in 2023, acknowledged he has “definitely added some money” this season. Following Johnson’s eventful deadline day, GM Ryan Poles said the team wants to retain the ascending perimeter corner. The team held out for a first- or second-round pick in exchange. The Bears have already signed off on a big-ticket extension for deadline-day acquisition Montez Sweat, and while Johnson once said it would be an issue if the team extended Sweat before him, that has not ultimately swayed his pro-Chicago stance.
The Bears have paid up for a cornerback’s strong contract year in the recent past. After the team declined Kyle Fuller‘s fifth-year option in 2017, Pace and Co. circled back and transition-tagged him a year later. The Packers submitted Fuller an offer sheet, and the Bears matched it. The Bears may be in position to unholster their franchise tag to keep Johnson, though no team has tagged a corner since the Rams cuffed Trumaine Johnson for a second time back in 2017. OverTheCap projects a 2024 CB tag will come in just north of $18MM. A transition tag is projected to cost more than $15MM, but the Bears would receive no compensation if they did not match an offer sheet. The franchise tag would effectively keep Johnson in Chicago, as teams would not be willing to fork over two first-round picks for an unmatched offer sheet.
Poles already took care of 2020 draftee Cole Kmet, and Darnell Mooney has not enjoyed a good contract year. With Kmet and Sweat signed, Johnson profiles as Chicago’s clear-cut top priority. Even after the Sweat re-up, the Bears are projected to hold the seventh-most cap space (more than $63MM) in 2024. But it will undoubtedly take a monster offer to keep the 6-foot defender off the market. It certainly sounds like Johnson would be amenable to re-signing before free agency, should Poles and Co. view him as a cornerstone piece.
“I feel like we’re building something special, too, especially the guys in the locker room,” Johnson said, via ESPN.com’s Courtney Cronin. “It’s something that I don’t think I can get anywhere else. I would like to stay in that and continue to build, make it better.”
Panthers Likely To Fire GM Scott Fitterer; Team Open To Retaining DC Ejiro Evero
There will likely be more GM openings compared to the 2023 cycle. After the Raiders and Chargers fired their respective GMs in-season, the Commanders are expected to follow suit after the season. Given the turmoil in Carolina, it should also be viewed as likely the Panthers clean house.
Scott Fitterer is probably in his final weeks on the job in Carolina, with The Athletic’s Joe Person indicating many around the league point to the third-year GM being canned soon (subscription required). While Fitterer is well liked around the league, the Panthers have struggled during his tenure. Considering how quick David Tepper was to pull the plug on Frank Reich, Fitterer’s 2024 ouster has been rumored for a bit.
The longtime Seahawks exec loomed as a GM candidate for a stretch before his 2021 hire, and he signed on to work alongside Matt Rhule. The latter ran the show in Carolina during his three-year HC tenure, but Fitterer’s solo run has produced roster fireworks. The Panthers traded Christian McCaffrey shortly after Rhule’s firing, and they turned down a monster Rams offer (two first-round picks and a third-rounder) for Brian Burns. Bears negotiations in the winter included Burns and Derrick Brown, but Fitterer and Ryan Poles came to an agreement on a deal that sent D.J. Moore and a host of draft picks to Chicago for the No. 1 overall slot.
Tepper has widely been viewed as leading the charge for Bryce Young, but that swap has burned the Panthers early. Because of Carolina’s 2-12 record, Chicago is close to obtaining the No. 1 pick for a second straight year. It looks like Fitterer will pay the price. The Panthers sport a .292 win percentage since 2021, which matches the Bears for the NFL’s lowest during that span. The next Panthers power structure will be tasked with rebuilding Young, who is believed to have suffered from a complicated offensive approach built on combining Reich and OC Thomas Brown‘s visions.
As the Panthers remain connected to an offense-oriented coach — one who will be OK working with Tepper given the run the sixth-year owner is on — they look to be considering pairing that to-be-determined leader with DC Ejiro Evero. The Panthers are intrigued by the idea of Evero staying and working alongside the team’s next HC, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler notes.
A sought-after HC candidate this offseason, Evero ended up as the Panthers’ DC after the Broncos let him out of his DC contract. Evero interviewed for the Vikings and Panthers’ DC jobs, after meeting with Carolina about the HC job that went to Reich. Bolstering his reputation on Nathaniel Hackett‘s sinking Broncos ship last year, Evero became the rare in-demand coordinator from a 5-12 team. The Broncos also expressed interest in keeping Evero to team with Sean Payton, but the sides determined it was not a fit. Denver rehired Vance Joseph, while Evero’s stock has not dropped much despite Carolina’s 2023 futility.
A wide disparity exists between the Panthers’ points and yardage rankings on defense; Carolina ranks 29th in scoring defense but third in yards yielded. The Panthers’ pass defense also ranks third. DVOA leans toward the scoring number as more indicative of the defense’s true performance; Carolina’s defense sits 27th here. The Panthers have, however, played much of this season without top corner Jaycee Horn and linebacker stalwart Shaq Thompson.
It will be interesting to see if Tepper would consider forcing Evero upon his new HC. That seems like a stretch, considering the team’s unraveling after Steve Wilks‘ admirable interim effort and the owner’s own reputation likely to make a hire more difficult this year. But this scenario does look to be in play. If so, Evero would be on the verge of developing an interesting reputation for garnering praise despite being a DC for bad teams.
Dolphins Meet With DT Ndamukong Suh
Ndamukong Suh showed last year he was fine waiting well into a season before signing with a team. The Eagles added Suh in November 2022 and used him for the rest of the season. Suh expressed interest this offseason in playing a 14th NFL slate, and one of his former teams is open to taking him up on it.
The Dolphins brought in Suh for a free agency visit Wednesday, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets. Suh played for the Dolphins from 2015-17, coming to Miami after the team authorized a then-defender-record contract during the ’15 free agency period. Miami has also been busy in adding pieces up front this year, recently signing Jason Pierre-Paul off New Orleans’ practice squad and bringing back Melvin Ingram. While the Dolphins waived JPP on Tuesday, Ingram is readying for a return. No Suh deal is imminent just yet, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport tweets.
Moving Suh’s $19MM-per-year contract off the payroll in 2018, the Dolphins have changed power structures since. Chris Grier is in place as the top decision-maker, while the team has twice changed HCs (from Adam Gase to Brian Flores to Mike McDaniel) since Suh’s time in Miami. Suh, however, does have extensive experience in a 3-4 defense from his time with the Rams and Buccaneers. That would help regarding a fit with new DC Vic Fangio.
Named to the 2010s’ All-Decade team, Suh is past his prime. But the former No. 2 overall pick has been one of the most durable defenders in NFL history. Suh has never missed a game due to injury, playing in 199 regular-season contests and 15 playoff games over the course of his career. Last season marked Suh’s first stretch as a backup, with the Eagles bringing him in as a midseason reinforcement during a Jordan Davis IR stay. Suh played in eight regular-season games and all three postseason contests for the NFC champions, logging a 35% snap rate.
Suh made the Pro Bowl and picked up his fifth All-Pro nod while a Dolphin in 2016. After teaming with Aaron Donald to help the Rams reach Super Bowl LIII, Suh worked alongside Pierre-Paul and Shaquil Barrett to produce a Buccaneers Super Bowl win two years later. The Bucs did not re-sign Suh last year, and he waited until November to return to an active roster. Suh spoke with the Ravens earlier this year about a deal and was not concerned about waiting well into the season to catch on somewhere.
Christian Wilkins spearheads the Dolphins’ defensive line, while the recently extended Zach Sieler operates as a quality sidekick. Raekwon Davis sits as Miami’s third D-line starter. Although the team lost edge rusher Jaelan Phillips last month, it still has the services of its top interior D-linemen.
The 49ers pursued Suh along with the Eagles last year. Although the NFC-leading team played Week 15 without starting D-tackles Arik Armstead and Javon Hargrave, Kyle Shanahan said this week the team had not discussed anything with Suh. With three weeks left in the regular season, time is running out for Suh to find a home and attempt an acclimation effort before the playoffs. But the menacing DT still represents an interesting piece for a contender to add ahead of a Super Bowl push.
Updated 2024 NFL Draft Order
The Panthers’ Week 15 win over the Falcons brought the Patriots and Cardinals, who each lost, one game closer to the No. 1 overall pick. New England’s weaker strength of schedule provides keeps Arizona in the No. 3 spot, while Washington — weeks away from a likely full-scale reboot — has lost five straight to move into position for its first top-five pick since 2020.
Early reports have the Bears more likely to draft Justin Fields‘ replacement than trading a top pick once again, but the Patriots and Cardinals are still in the running for what could well be the Caleb Williams draft slot. Much less drama would emerge if New England claimed the top pick, as the Patriots would be expected to draft the top QB prize. Arizona landing atop the draft for the second time in six years could produce a derby, with Kyler Murray‘s contract difficult (but not impossible) to move for new GM Monti Ossenfort. QB-needy teams may well be hoping the Cardinals land one of the top two spots, however, providing a potential gateway to a trade-up for Williams or Drake Maye.
The Raiders’ 63-21 demolition of the Chargers slid them down six spots compared to their position last week. The Packers also climbed eight spots from their slot going into Week 15. Green Bay has not held a top-11 draft choice since it drafted B.J. Raji in the 2009 first round; that came on the heels of Aaron Rodgers‘ first season at the helm. Jordan Love‘s QB1 debut season could still produce a playoff berth, however, and the rest of the NFC and AFC wild-card races remain tightly bunched.
Here is how the 2024 draft order looks with three regular-season games to play:
- Chicago Bears (via Panthers)
- New England Patriots: 3-11
- Arizona Cardinals: 3-11
- Washington Commanders: 4-10
- Chicago Bears: 5-9
- New York Giants: 5-9
- New York Jets: 5-9
- Los Angeles Chargers: 5-9
- Tennessee Titans: 5-9
- Atlanta Falcons: 6-8
- Green Bay Packers: 6-8
- Las Vegas Raiders: 6-8
- New Orleans Saints: 7-7
- Denver Broncos: 7-7
- Seattle Seahawks: 7-7
- Pittsburgh Steelers: 7-7
- Arizona Cardinals (via Texans)
- Buffalo Bills: 8-6
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 7-7
- Minnesota Vikings: 7-7
- Los Angeles Rams: 7-7
- Indianapolis Colts: 8-6
- Jacksonville Jaguars: 8-6
- Cincinnati Bengals: 8-6
- Kansas City Chiefs: 9-5
- Houston Texans (via Browns)
- Detroit Lions: 10-4
- Philadelphia Eagles: 10-4
- Miami Dolphins: 10-4
- Dallas Cowboys: 10-4
- Baltimore Ravens: 11-3
- San Francisco 49ers: 11-3
Multiple Teams Attempted To Sign Joe Flacco Off Browns’ Practice Squad
Joe Flacco‘s Browns stay has doubled as a late-career re-emergence. The 16th-year veteran, despite spending more than half the season out of the NFL, has given the Browns a solid option amid the team’s difficult season at the quarterback position.
To start Flacco’s tenure, the Browns parked him on their practice squad. They kept the ex-Ravens mainstay there in Week 12, when Dorian Thompson-Robinson and P.J. Walker played during a loss to the Broncos, but changed up their starting lineup once again a week later. Flacco has started the past three Browns games, but only one of those — Week 15 against the Bears — came with the former Super Bowl MVP a part of Cleveland’s 53-man roster.
Amid their spree of QB transactions since trading for Deshaun Watson, the Browns made Flacco a gameday elevation ahead of games against the Rams and Jaguars. During a season featuring a number of significant quarterback injuries, Flacco’s agent said (via NBC Sports’ Peter King) two or three teams attempted to sign his client off Cleveland’s practice squad.
The Browns signed Flacco to their 53-man roster last week, giving him some incentives based on regular-season and postseason wins. Flacco cashed in a $75K incentive for leading the Browns to a comeback win over the Bears. Upon being signed to the Browns’ 53-man roster, Flacco confirmed he was not interested in leaving. Players can be poached from other teams’ P-squads, with the club that signs the player forced to keep him on the active roster for three weeks. But P-squad cogs can also decline such overtures, as Broncos P-squad QB Ben DiNucci did when the Saints extended an active-roster offer earlier this season.
Flacco seeking stability makes sense. After his Ravens run ended via a 2019 trade to the Broncos, he has been in a number of offensive systems. The Delaware alum left the Jets for the Eagles in 2021, but after Gardner Minshew became available in trades that summer, Philadelphia made Flacco expendable. When Flacco returned to the Jets via an in-season trade, a new OC — Mike LaFleur — was in charge. Flacco reached out about returning to the Jets, who had transitioned to Nathaniel Hackett as their play-caller, this year but did not generate interest from his former team. It is not known if the Jets, amid another run of QB struggles, reached out to Flacco while he was on the Browns’ taxi squad.
Since expressing interest in playing next season, Flacco has perhaps generated his most momentum since his Baltimore days. He is 2-1 as the Browns’ starter, piloting the team to wins despite a depleted offensive line. The Browns do not exactly have a top-tier QB situation right now, but the 9-5 team is on solid ground in a crowded AFC wild-card race thanks largely to Flacco.
Jets To Activate Aaron Rodgers From IR
After a few reports indicated Aaron Rodgers‘ comeback bid would fall short, the Jets quarterback also poured cold water on his long-rumored effort to return from a Week 1 Achilles tear. But the Jets will still keep their preferred starter at practice.
The Jets will activate Rodgers from IR today, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport reports. This is somewhat of a procedural move, with no game action expected. But it will also allow Rodgers to keep practicing with the team to close out the season. Robert Saleh confirmed Wednesday that Rodgers will be moved back to the 53-man roster, noting the team considers more practice work part of the QB’s rehab.
With the Jets designating Rodgers for return on Nov. 29, Wednesday marked the activation deadline. Had the team not activated Rodgers, he would have reverted to season-ending IR and been shut down. Saleh said (via NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo) Rodgers will not play again this season, confirming what the 40-year-old passer said during his latest Pat McAfee Show appearance. But the third-year HC added that Rodgers would have undoubtedly pushed to come back had the Jets not been eliminated from playoff contention.
Rodgers’ activation leaves the Jets with two IR-return moves remaining, but with the team’s eye on 2024 already, it will use one of the spots to keep its expected ’24 starter at work with teammates. Rodgers expects to not only play in 2024 — his long-held goal upon being traded to the Jets — but to stay for the ’25 season as well. Even though this has been a historically woeful season for the Jets’ offense, Rodgers practice work looks likely to be relevant for next year.
The Jets look unlikely to make major changes to their staff in 2024. This is due in large part to Rodgers’ preference for the Saleh-Joe Douglas–Nathaniel Hackett group. The four-time MVP endorsed each Tuesday. While staying the course will be unpopular with many Jets fans, Rodgers undeniably has tremendous sway in how the organization functions at present. Rodgers was “90% retired” weeks before being traded, and the Packers QB had flirted with retirement during his final Packers years. The Jets may not want to risk rocking the boat here. Keeping Hackett around will ensure Rodgers returns to the same offense in 2024.
Hackett being set to keep his job due to a close relationship with Rodgers (from their three years together in Green Bay) might be a difficult sell for many, considering this season comes on the heels of a historically bad Broncos HC tenure. Hackett has offered a brutal two-year sample as a play-caller, after a successful run as a non-play-calling OC with the Packers. Though, the Jets’ dependence on Zach Wilson doomed Hackett this season. That said, the Jets are worse offensively than they were before Mike LaFleur‘s exit. The Jets rank last in offensive DVOA, holding back another strong defense. After refusing to upgrade on Wilson during the offseason or once Rodgers went down, this fate was not difficult to envision.
Wilson remains in concussion protocol, but the disappointing third-year QB will remain the starter if he is cleared in time for Week 16. Trevor Siemian replaced Wilson against the Dolphins. Wilson is unlikely to be with the Jets beyond this season.
Arthur Blank Addresses Arthur Smith’s Status; Falcons HC’s Seat Warming?
Prior to the Falcons’ Week 15 matchup with the Panthers, Arthur Smith appeared more likely than not to be given a fourth season in charge. The ugly loss in Charlotte may have changed the situation.
As the Falcons prepare for a crucial matchup with the Colts, they have fallen behind the Buccaneers and Saints in another mediocre NFC South race. With three games remaining, the heat on Smith’s seat appears to be increasing. Although the Falcons have not made a decision on Smith, CBS Sports’ Josina Anderson notes “sentiments of dismay” are rising within the building.
The Falcons finished 7-10 in each of Smith’s first two seasons. While that marked an improvement in 2021, the team is stuck at the game’s premier position. Atlanta, which has held back on quarterback investments since trading Matt Ryan in March 2022, has pivoted once again to Taylor Heinicke. Desmond Ridder, whom the team chose in last year’s third round after narrowly losing the Deshaun Watson sweepstakes, has now been benched twice this season.
Arthur Blank, who backed Ridder along with Smith this offseason, did not confirm the former Titans OC would be back for a fourth year. While the owner is expressing support for his HC, that hardly qualifies as a true endorsement at this point on the calendar.
“We are committed to coach Smith,” Blank said, via Georgia Public Broadcasting’s Jeff Hullinger. “We are going to play these last three games; we are committed to win. We will let the season play out and go from there. Obviously, this has not been the kind of year we expected; you would hear that from coach Smith, you would hear it from our fans and our players. We understand that; we understand the challenges. At the end of the year, we will assess where we are and go from there.”
Blank denied the Falcons need to make the playoffs in order for Smith to preserve his job but indicated Ridder’s lack of progress has been an issue. The Falcons fully committed to Ridder by March (as Lamar Jackson was free to negotiate with teams after receiving the nonexclusive franchise tag). The Falcons were hardly alone in refusing to pursue the tagged Raven, but Ridder sits 24th in QBR and has lost his job for a second time.
“That was never really a requirement,” Blank said of a playoff run being necessary for Smith. “The requirement was we have more of a competitive team this year. I think through this part of the season, it’s been mixed, quite honestly, that’s what I think. … It has been tough; we certainly had high hopes for Desmond Ridder. He has done some good things for us this year. He would be the first to tell you, he hasn’t been the kind of consistent performer we’d like him to be.”
Failing to reach double-digit points against Carolina, Atlanta has seen its playoff odds (per ESPN’s FPI) plummet to 11%. Despite improving to eighth in points allowed, Smith’s team sits 26th offensively. Being in that position after spending three straight top-10 picks on skill-position players under Smith and GM Terry Fontenot is not optimal. Based largely on their ground attack, the Falcons ranked 15th during Marcus Mariota‘s lone season at the controls.
Although the Jets look likely to bring back Robert Saleh after three straight losing seasons, the Aaron Rodgers matter is being viewed as a mulligan. With no such issue impeding the Falcons, they are close to completing a sixth straight sub-.500 season. Modern HCs are rarely allowed to stay on the job after three straight losing seasons, and based on Blank’s comments, it is safe to say Smith is coaching for his job to close out the season.
Aaron Rodgers Expects To Play Beyond 2024
The Jets have one more day to activate Aaron Rodgers from injured reserve. With the team officially out of playoff contention and Rodgers having torn an Achilles tendon barely three months ago, a comeback always seemed unrealistic.
After multiple reports placed the future Hall of Famer returning this season as unlikely, Rodgers confirmed he does not expect medical clearance this season. Rodgers said during his latest Pat McAfee Show appearance he would still be pushing the Jets to play had he been 100% (h/t NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport), but even after the speed-bridge surgery he underwent, the 40-year-old passer does not view himself as fully healthy.
That said, the Jets can still expect the recent trade acquisition to be back in 2024. Not only does Rodgers — who was close to retirement before the trade — expect to be back next season, the 19th-year veteran said he does not anticipate the ’24 campaign being his last. Rodgers hinted at playing beyond his 20th season this summer, but he had taken a year-to-year approach in his final seasons with the Packers.
Rodgers reaffirmed Tuesday he wanted to play two seasons with the Jets. One of those seasons would officially be in the books once the ex-Packers great reverts to season-ending IR on Wednesday, but he now views 2023 as a lost season (via Cimini) that will not count in this evolving equation. Hence Rodgers now wanting to play through the 2025 slate.
More pertinent for the Jets’ plans regarding their power structure, Rodgers said he believes in the Joe Douglas–Robert Saleh–Nathaniel Hackett trio. Referring to Saleh as a “fantastic” coach (via ESPN’s Rich Cimini), Rodgers has delivered what is expected to be a pivotal endorsement of a leader who will finish with a third straight sub-.500 season in New York. Jets ownership, however, has been viewed as being fine with writing off this season due to Rodgers’ injury and giving Saleh another shot.
Rodgers’ proclamations could represent great news for a coaching staff that has been unable to generate consistency — particularly on offense, where the Jets have submitted a historically woeful effort — following their quarterback’s season-defining injury. Not many modern-era HCs have been given a chance to return after starting a tenure 0-for-3 in winning seasons, but it is looking like the Jets will lean on Rodgers’ views here and stay the course. Saleh and Douglas would certainly enter the 2024 season on hot seats, while Hackett will be coming off two dreadful seasons as a primary play-caller. But the superstar QB’s injury is pointing to a mulligan.
In reworking Rodgers’ contract this offseason, the Jets convinced the four-time MVP to take a pay cut. Rodgers agreed to an unprecedented reduction in guaranteed money — from nearly $110MM to $75MM — through the 2024 season, and his ’23 campaign ended abruptly. No guaranteed money remains on this adjusted contract in 2025, but Rodgers is due a $35MM option bonus at that point. While the Jets will want to see how their high-profile pickup performs in 2024 after this late-career injury, their run of QB issues would not exactly point to nixing a Rodgers 2025 return.
One of the players to have rejoined Rodgers after a Green Bay stay, Allen Lazard said recently (via Cimini) Zach Wilson looks to understand he only has a few weeks left with the team. The Jets have been considered likely to separate from the disappointing No. 2 overall pick in 2024, but despite a number of benchings over the past two years, the team is hoping Rodgers’ backup can start the rest of this season. The Jets would take on an $11MM-plus dead-money hit by moving Wilson off the roster in 2024, but given his role in this disastrous season, it certainly looks like the team is finally ready to cut bait. Wilson presently resides in concussion protocol, but Saleh confirmed he will start in Week 16 if cleared.
Wilson appears to be on his way out of New York, but Rodgers endorsing the team’s GM-HC-OC trio may well lead to it remaining in place. Hackett will be attempting to come off one of the modern NFL’s worst HC stays (in Denver last year), though Rodgers has long endorsed the former Packers non-play-calling OC. Douglas is now the GM overseeing the longest active playoff drought in major North American sports. Douglas was obviously not in town for the Jets’ entire drought, but he has been in place since 2019.