Giants Sign Round 2 C John Michael Schmitz, Wrap Draft Class Deals
For the second time in a decade, the Giants chose a center in the second round of a draft. Nine years after the team’s Weston Richburg pick, John Michael Schmitz will be tabbed to take over as the starting snapper.
Schmitz will begin moving in that direction with a contract in place. The Minnesota product agreed to his four-year rookie deal Tuesday, Dan Duggan of The Athletic tweets. This wraps the Giants’ seven-man 2023 draft class. Deonte Banks‘ deal includes the customary fifth-year option; the rest of the lot is inked through the 2026 season.
In the leadup to the Giants choosing Schmitz at No. 57, Brian Daboll proclaimed he has the ability to become a Week 1 starter. With the Giants letting 2022 center starter Jon Feliciano walk in free agency, Schmitz will be positioned to take over.
The team deployed Richburg as its starting pivot from 2014-17, but instability hit in the years since the Miami product left in free agency. The Giants have used a few stopgaps — from Spencer Pulley to Jon Halapio to Nick Gates to Feliciano — in the years since Richburg joined the 49ers. A severe Gates injury in September 2021 made center a need area, leading to the Feliciano deal last year. Both Gates and Feliciano are elsewhere now — with the Commanders and 49ers, respectively. The Giants had Gates and Feliciano deals on their radar, but both ended up elsewhere in the NFC.
After doing some work on Schmitz before the draft, the Giants made the ex-Golden Gopher the first pure center off the board this year. Scouts Inc.’s No. 47 overall prospect, the 6-foot-3 lineman did use the extra year of eligibility the NCAA granted amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Schmitz turned 24 earlier this year, putting him on the older end for highly drafted rookies. He spent the bulk of the past three seasons as Minnesota’s starting center, earning second-team All-Big Ten acclaim (behind Ravens 2022 first-rounder Tyler Linderbaum) in 2021 and first-team all-conference recognition last season.
Schmitz joins Andrew Thomas and Evan Neal as highly drafted Giants O-linemen. The team has just one veteran-contract starter — right guard Mark Glowinski — in place up front, though Thomas is on track for a monster extension. Thomas may need to wait until 2024, considering the Giants just reupped 2019 first-rounder Dexter Lawrence and exercised their All-Pro tackle’s fifth-year option.
With Schmitz signed, here is a look at how the Giants proceeded in the 2023 draft:
Round 1, No. 24 (from Jaguars): Deonte Banks, CB (Maryland) (signed)
Round 2, No. 57: John Michael Schmitz, C (Minnesota) (signed)
Round 3, No. 73 (from Browns through Texans and Rams): Jalin Hyatt, WR (Tennessee) (signed)
Round 5, No. 172: Eric Gray, RB (Oklahoma) (signed)
Round 6, No. 209 (from Chiefs): Tre Hawkins, CB (Old Dominion) (signed)
Round 7, No. 243: Jordon Riley, DT (Oregon) (signed)
Round 7, No. 254: Gervarrius Owens, S (Houston) (signed)
Texans To Bring Back DE Jacob Martin
MAY 23: Martin’s deal has a maximum value of $3.5MM, per Aaron Wilson of KPRC2 (Twitter link). That falls well short of what he earned on his Jets pact, but it should allow him to earn a rotational role in his return to the Texans. Another consistent season could earn Martin a more lucrative contract next offseason, in Houston or elsewhere.
MAY 19: Not long after Jacob Martin‘s hometown team cut him, he will reunite with his longest-tenured NFL employer. The Texans intend to bring back Martin, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.
This is a one-year agreement for the veteran pass rusher, who initially played in Houston from 2019-21. Martin, who has now been part of two trades, spent last season with the Jets and Broncos.
Sean Payton said a Martin reunion was not out of the picture for the Broncos, but once the franchise moved on (to create some cap space), outside interest emerged. Martin visited the Texans a day later, and while he is obviously familiar with the organization, the former Seahawks draftee will soon learn a new system under DeMeco Ryans — the fourth Houston HC in four years.
Like No. 3 overall pick Will Anderson Jr., Martin will transition from standup outside linebacker to defensive end in Ryans’ 4-3 scheme. The Texans lost Obo Okoronkwo and Rasheem Green in free agency, seeing the edge rushers defect to the Browns and Bears, respectively, in free agency. Martin, 27, stands to supply some depth to the now-Anderson-led edge group.
The Texans initially obtained Martin in 2019’s Jadeveon Clowney trade. Martin represented one of the throw-in pieces in a Texans haul headlined by a third-round pick. Martin played a supporting role for Houston’s most recent playoff-qualifying team, in 2019, and moved into a full-time starting position by 2021. Martin’s production has remained steady regardless of role. In each season from 2018-21, he recorded between three and four sacks. In 2021, he tallied four sacks, six QB hits and a safety on a Kyler Murray rushing attempt. That effort enticed the Jets to give Martin a three-year, $13.5MM deal that included $6MM guaranteed.
Down Randy Gregory and having traded Bradley Chubb to the Dolphins on deadline day last year, the Broncos acquired Martin’s contract in a pick-swap trade with the Jets. But injury trouble slowed the Aurora, Colorado, native. Martin played in just five Broncos games before finishing the season on IR. Last season marks Martin’s first NFL instance of failing to reach three sacks; he finished with 2.5.
GM Nick Caserio has made a habit of bringing batches of middling veterans on one- or two-year deals each offseason. Martin joins Denzel Perryman, Cory Littleton, Chase Winovich, Hassan Ridgeway and ex-Jets teammate Sheldon Rankins as front-seven Houston free agency additions this spring. Winovich, Martin, Jerry Hughes and fourth-round pick Dylan Horton currently comprise the team’s Anderson support staff on the edge.
NFL Brings Back Emergency Third QB Rule
After Brock Purdy‘s injury effectively removed any drama regarding the NFC championship game’s outcome, the NFL will allow teams a notable protection measure against the kind of situation the 49ers ran into in January.
The league will now allow teams to dress an emergency third quarterback, approving a proposal to bring this rule back Monday, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets. Teams usually dress only two quarterbacks, allowing an extra roster spot for another player — one more likely to be needed — as part of their 48-man gameday contingent. A wrinkle to this arrangement will be reintroduced this coming season.
For a team to be able to use its emergency quarterback, the first two must be physically unable to play. Teams will not be able to stash a third quarterback on their roster and turn to him in a benching scenario involving either of its top QBs, Field Yates of ESPN.com adds (via Twitter).
Additionally, all emergency QBs must be on teams’ active rosters. None can be summoned from practice squads during a game. Teams will, however, be able to designate their emergency passer 90 minutes before kickoff. Should one of the team’s top two QBs be deemed healthy enough to return to a game, the emergency QB must be yanked.
Teams, of course, could have still dressed a third quarterback under the previous format. But clubs generally steered against doing so in order to better protect themselves against injuries at other positions depleting depth charts. Active rosters can include up to 55 players on gamedays, with teams being able to bump two up from the practice squad each week. Third-string quarterbacks are often part of the 55-man contingent but are regularly among the seven who do not dress for games. Some teams only carry two QBs on their active roster. That will need to change if a franchise wants to take advantage of this emergency protection measure.
This became a problem for the 49ers, who saw Purdy suffer a torn UCL during the first quarter of the NFC title game. That injury summoned journeyman Josh Johnson, whom the 49ers signed off the Broncos’ practice squad in the wake of Jimmy Garoppolo‘s December foot fracture. Johnson, who served as Purdy’s backup down the stretch, suffered a third-quarter concussion that brought a compromised Purdy back into the game. The 49ers not dressing a third QB led to them essentially playing out the string, with Purdy repeatedly handing off or throwing short passes in the Eagles’ blowout win.
The 49ers lost four QBs to injury last season. Trey Lance‘s fractured ankle in Week 2 began the team down this path, one that turned out to affect the entire NFL for the 2023 season. The league allowed teams this flexibility from 1991-2010, but the past two CBAs did not include the rule. One team’s historic injury run at the sport’s marquee position will lead to a mid-CBA amendment.
Tom Brady Agrees To Buy Stake In Raiders
Less than four months after Tom Brady‘s second retirement, the legendary quarterback is close to becoming part of a new team — as a part-owner. The rumored Raiders connection will produce an agreement.
Brady agreed to buy a stake in the AFC West franchise, according to SI.com’s Albert Breer (Twitter link). The 23-year veteran passer already went into a partnership with Raiders owner Mark Davis, buying a stake in the WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces franchise last year. This does prompt a few questions, but Brady does look set to join the ownership ranks soon.
This agreement will be subject to NFL approval, and Breer adds this piece of business will not be on the owners’ agenda at this week’s league meetings. It would seem likely Brady, 45, agreeing to purchase a presumably small stake in the Raiders will be approved, though it does raise questions about potential objectivity regarding his FOX agreement. Brady signed a 10-year, $375MM deal to become FOX’s No. 1 analyst last year, but the former Patriots and Buccaneers QB said — following retirement No. 2 — he will table that career path to 2024.
Brady’s involvement in the ownership ranks comes just more than a year after this potential foray created considerable trouble for the Dolphins. The rumored Brady path to Miami as a part-owner and presumptive quarterback, in a package deal with Sean Payton, ended up costing the Dolphins their 2023 first-round pick and 2024 third-rounder. Owner Stephen Ross incurred a suspension for his involvement in a multiyear tampering scheme involving Brady.
Monday’s agreement certainly opens the door to the possibility — however remote it might be — of Brady coming out of retirement and playing for the Raiders. This scenario could conceivably affect a potential vote on Brady’s status as a part-owner. Any rumors on this front would lead to Raiders salary cap questions — something a Brady ownership role with the team obviously would not — but Brady obviously has a longstanding relationship with Josh McDaniels and overlapped with GM Dave Ziegler during part of his New England tenure.
While this is not yet a scenario worth discussing in much detail, the Raiders signed ex-Brady backup Jimmy Garoppolo, who has become one of the league’s most injury-prone QBs since leaving the Patriots, and backstopped him with another former Brady QB2 — Brian Hoyer. Las Vegas’ backup will turn 38 this season. Fourth-rounder Aidan O’Connell is positioned as a developmental arm. Should Brady come out of retirement again, Vegas would certainly seem the venue. Unlike last year, when the Bucs held Brady’s rights, the 15-time Pro Bowler is a free agent after playing out his Tampa Bay deal.
The Raiders did pursue Brady as a player during his 2020 free agency but backed out before the finalist stage. Brady famously broached this topic during an appearance on HBO’s The Shop. They also were loosely linked to him this year, with a January report indicating they were doing homework on Garoppolo and Brady. The latter’s retirement took a big-ticket option off the table for the Raiders and other teams in free agency, and Garoppolo signed a three-year, $72.75MM deal in March.
Greg Olsen will spend at least one more season as FOX’s top analyst, and it will be interesting to see how Brady’s ownership agreement — if approved by the NFL — affects matters on that front. For now, the owners will consider Brady’s Raiders stake. But it appears the seven-time Super Bowl winner is close to returning to the league in a different capacity.
Chargers Expect Austin Ekeler At Minicamp
Austin Ekeler did not turn up for the Chargers’ initial OTA session Monday, though that is not exactly a surprise. The standout running back, as ESPN’s Lindsey Thiry notes) has made a recent habit of skipping voluntary workouts, but his offseason trade request does make this absence a bit more notable.
That said, the Chargers have long held the line they want Ekeler back this season. Unlike the murkier Dalvin Cook and Joe Mixon situations, Ekeler is firmly in the Bolts’ plans for 2023. Brandon Staley said Monday he expects the league’s two-time reigning touchdown leader to show for minicamp in June.
Players can be fined nearly $100K for not being at minicamp. While that is a drop in the bucket for a player with Ekeler’s earning history, minicamps do generally feature 100% attendance. A few players bucked this trend last year, and it will be interesting to see if Ekeler follows suit. The Chargers gave the seventh-year back permission to speak to teams regarding a trade in March, and the TD kingpin’s contract is out of step with his value.
Ekeler, who turned 28 last week, is attached to the four-year, $24.5MM contract he signed in 2020. One season remains on that deal. The Chargers have not done especially well to acquire reliable Ekeler backups during his time as the team’s unquestioned lead back. The Bolts did not make a notable addition to their backfield this offseason, either, keeping Ekeler (38 TDs from 2021-22) a vital presence for the AFC’s Los Angeles franchise.
The Bolts gave their UDFA success story his extension shortly before letting Melvin Gordon walk in free agency in 2020. At the time, Ekeler had not been a true full-time presence in L.A. A 2015 first-round Chargers pick, Gordon served as the team’s primary back — save for a 2019 holdout — during his rookie contract. The Chargers did well to lock down Ekeler to a $6.13MM-per-year deal, but that contract has plummeted to 13th at the position. Although Ekeler bizarrely has not made a Pro Bowl — his well-crafted 2022 ad campaign notwithstanding — he certainly has a case to be called a top-five running back due to his receiving contributions.
This year’s market did not treat backs well, due to the supply-and-demand issue caused by ball carriers’ diminishing status and the flood of starter-caliber players hitting free agency, but several have on extensions in the recent past. Seven eight-figure-per-year RB deals remain on teams’ books, and Josh Jacobs, Saquon Barkley and Tony Pollard received $10.1MM franchise tags in March. Tepid Ekeler trade interest is believed to have emerged following his trade ask, which came after stalled extension talks. Teams have largely stocked their backfields for 2023.
The 2020 CBA effectively deterred training camp holdouts, upping fines to a non-waivable $50K per day (for players on non-rookie deals) once camp begins. Although Ekeler does not need to worry about the accrued-season component of the CBA’s language pertaining to training camp absences, he would risk losing considerable cash by staying away once camp begins. A “hold in” measure — an increasingly popular move for disgruntled players in 2020s — could become a consideration, should this stalemate continue into August. The Chargers would certainly miss Ekeler’s presence, with few backs capable of his performance level.
The Chargers have two $20MM-per-year wide receivers (Keenan Allen, Mike Williams), and Justin Herbert is due a monster extension. Though, whopping Herbert cap numbers are unlikely to emerge until around Year 3 of his expected extension. As minicamp nears, however, Ekeler remains attached to a contract he has outplayed.
Bills Re-Sign S Dean Marlowe
The Bills’ safety retention effort continues. Dean Marlowe, who returned to Buffalo via trade at last year’s deadline, agreed to terms to stay. He signed a one-year deal Monday, according to the team.
Marlowe came back to the Bills just more than a month after Micah Hyde‘s season-ending injury and became a starter following Damar Hamlin‘s terrifying January injury. The Bills are running it back with Hyde, the recently re-signed Jordan Poyer, Hamlin and Marlowe in 2023.
Initially signed during Brandon Beane‘s first free agency period as GM, in 2018, Marlowe spent three years in Buffalo. He left for a Detroit free agency deal in 2021 and signed with Atlanta last year. But the Falcons traded Marlowe back to the Bills on deadline day, when the AFC East champions also acquired Nyheim Hines.
Marlowe, 30, played one defensive snap during his first two months back in Buffalo. But the Bills needed him following Hamlin’s cardiac arrest scene. The Bills turned to Marlowe as a full-time starter against the Patriots in Week 18 and in both their playoff contests. Marlowe intercepted a pass in Buffalo’s narrow wild-card win over Miami.
The Bills have employed their Hyde-Poyer safety tandem for six seasons now, and Poyer’s two-year, $12.5MM deal will bring a seventh season of this pair working together. Marlowe served as a top backup for the Bills from 2018-20, starting seven games during that span. Hamlin’s progress will obviously be worth monitoring as the season approaches, but the inspirational defender has received full clearance. If Hamlin indeed returns to game action as expected, he is expected to be the Bills’ top safety reserve — as he was last season. Marlowe, however, provides additional depth for an injury-plagued unit and a seasoned special teams presence. Marlowe saw action on 75% of the Falcons’ ST snaps before being traded.
Although the Bills let Tremaine Edmunds walk in free agency — via a Bears pact for top-five off-ball linebacker money — they have brought back several pieces on defense this offseason. Poyer, Marlowe, Jordan Phillips and Shaq Lawson signed deals to stay in Western New York. The Bills ranked second in points allowed last season.
Hall Of Fame RB Jim Brown Dies At 87
Jim Brown, one of football’s all-time greats, has died. He was 87. Brown’s wife, Monique, announced his passing in an Instagram post Friday.
The Hall of Fame running back dominated his era like no other ball carrier, blazing an unparalleled trail during his career at Syracuse and with the Browns. Brown’s wife revealed the legendary figure passed peacefully Thursday at his Los Angeles home.
“To the world he was an activist, actor, and football star,” Monique Brown’s post stated. “To our family he was a loving and wonderful husband, father, and grandfather. Our hearts are broken...”
From an NFL perspective, it is difficult to overstate Brown’s towering presence. The bruising back played nine seasons; he won eight rushing titles. No one else has more than four. Brown stands as one of the few with a claim to the greatest player in NFL history. A sublime blend of power and speed, the No. 6 overall pick in the 1957 draft held four of the league’s top five rushing seasons when he retired after the 1965 campaign.
While Walter Payton broke Brown’s career rushing record in 1984, the Cleveland legend retired with a 2,600-yard lead on the field. Brown’s three MVP awards place him behind only Peyton Manning and Aaron Rodgers in NFL history. In the Associated Press MVP award’s existence (1957-present), Brown is the only non-quarterback to win the honor more than once.
Lettering in football, lacrosse, track and basketball at Syracuse, Jim Brown joined Paul Brown‘s team which had struggled in its first post-Otto Graham season (1956). Brown ripped off five straight All-Pro seasons, soon teaming with a fellow future Hall of Famer — halfback Bobby Mitchell, who later finished his career as a Washington wide receiver — in Cleveland’s offense.
Brown won MVP honors as a rookie, but his second season provided a better statistical illustration of the gap between Cleveland’s back and his peers. He amassed a record-breaking 1,527 rushing yards that year; the second-place finisher in that 12-game season totaled 791. The 230-plus-pound back finished with a career-high 1,863 yards in 1963. The Browns’ most recent championship came a year later; Brown finished that 1964 finale — a 27-0 shutout over the Colts — with 151 yards from scrimmage. Brown then powered Cleveland to the 1965 NFL championship game — a loss to Green Bay in the last NFL title game during the pre-Super Bowl era — before retiring ahead of the 1966 season. Brown finished his career having never missed a game.
“It’s impossible to describe the profound love and and gratitude we feel for having the opportunity to be a small piece of Jim’s incredible life and legacy,” the Browns said in a statement. “We mourn his passing, but celebrate the indelible light he brought to the world.”
An emerging actor by the mid-1960s, Brown had not intended to wrap his career following the 1965 season. But a dispute with owner Art Modell from the set of the movie The Dirty Dozen led to the icon hanging up his cleats just before the ’66 campaign. As the film’s production ran long, Modell had vowed to fine Brown $100 for every day he was not at training camp. Rather than return to the team, as he had planned to for at least one more season, Brown sent Modell a letter apologizing for the circumstances. In that message, the then-30-year-old back informed the Browns he would retire to devote time to social issues and his movie career. Brown’s film and television credits surpassed 50.
While still active as a player, Brown helped found what later became known as the Black Economic Union. That self-help organization for Black athletes became the backdrop for “The Cleveland Summit,” which gathered a contingent of socially conscious Black athletes from multiple sports — including Bill Russell and Lew Alcindor (later Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) — to discuss then-heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali’s stance against serving in Vietnam.
A celebrated figure, Brown did leave a complicated legacy. He was arrested multiple times on charges of striking women and spent months in jail in 2000 for a refusal to attend counseling after being convicted for vandalizing his wife’s car.
On the field, Brown’s imprint is unassailable. A 2010 ranking conducted by coaches, players, executives and media members slotted Brown as the second-best player in NFL history — behind only Jerry Rice. ESPN’s ranking of the top 150 college football players placed Brown at No. 1. Brown’s 126 touchdowns and 12,312 rushing yards now sit 10th and 11th, respectively, on those all-time lists. Brown reached these totals in fewer games than the backs who eclipsed him; he played four seasons in the NFL’s 12-game era and his final five when the regular season consisted of 14 games. The nine-year veteran remains the only player to average more than 100 rushing yards per game for his career, topping that list (with 104.3) by nearly five yards.
Raiders Rumors: Adams, Renfrow, OL
Shortly after the Raiders’ plan to separate from Derek Carr surfaced, Davante Adams indicated he was not planning to make an effort to follow his ex-college teammate out the door. Adams is signed through 2026 on what is still the NFL’s second-most lucrative receiver deal. The Raiders have made some changes this offseason, most notably replacing Carr with Jimmy Garoppolo. Adams made some cryptic comments about the franchise’s direction this week.
“[The front office] thinks this is the best bet for us right now to put us in a position to be urgent,” Adams said regarding the team’s offensive vision, via The Ringer’s Mirin Fader. “We don’t see eye-to-eye on what we think is best for us right now. … I’m going to have to buy into this and try to be as optimistic as possible. It’s not what I expected to happen, but it’s something that’s the reality now.”
Rumored to be potentially kept in the loop regarding the Raiders’ big-picture decisions, Adams expressed hesitancy regarding his fit with Garoppolo. The veteran quarterback is tied to the Raiders through at least 2023, due to his $33.75MM guarantee, and may well be a multiyear Las Vegas starter, seeing as the team did not draft a quarterback.
“It all depends on the style of ball that we play,” Adams said. “If we play a certain brand of ball, I can get [Garoppolo] to conform to whatever. But if we use him a certain type of way, then it’s going to make it tough for us to maximize who we should be this year.”
For what it’s worth, Adams shared a photo with GM Dave Ziegler after that interview surfaced. Adams, who will turn 31 later this year, earned his third straight first-team All-Pro honor last season. He will team with Josh Jacobs, Hunter Renfrow and UFA addition Jakobi Meyers as Garoppolo’s lead supporting cast. Here is the latest out of Vegas:
- While Ziegler and Josh McDaniels signed off on Renfrow’s two-year, $32MM extension during the 2022 offseason, the veteran slot player delivered underwhelming early returns in McDaniels’ system. After Renfrow’s 1,038-yard 2021 showing helped drive the Raiders into the playoffs, he managed just 330 in 10 games last year. Since giving Renfrow that extension, the Raiders have signed Meyers to an $11MM-per-year deal and drafted slot target Tre Tucker in Round 3. Pegging the odds of Renfrow being elsewhere by 2024 as “90%,” The Athletic’s Vic Tafur notes he joined Darren Waller in being a poor fit for McDaniels’ offense (subscription required). McDaniels also cut down on Renfrow’s route improvisations, which were encouraged under Jon Gruden. Trading Renfrow in 2024 (when his base salary spikes to $11.2MM) would save the Raiders $8MM.
- The Raiders have surprisingly made it to mid-May without adding a starter-caliber outside free agent on their offensive line. That might not be the case by training camp. Citing the team’s potential to add a veteran guard or tackle, Tafur adds he would be “shocked” if Alex Bars remained the team’s right guard starter. Pro Football Focus rated Bars, a former Bears UDFA, as the Raiders’ worst starting O-lineman by a wide margin last season. Guard Dalton Risner remains unsigned, as do Rodger Saffold, Pat Elflein, A.J. Cann and Laurent Duvernay-Tardif. Longtime Raider Gabe Jackson, whom Gruden traded to the Seahawks in 2021, is also available. The Raiders also showed interest in Paris Johnson, per Tafur. Although the Cardinals discussed a deal with the Raiders for the No. 7 pick, Arizona moving ahead of Vegas for No. 6 (to take Johnson) makes sense.
- The team re-signed right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor but also brought back 2021 right tackle starter Brandon Parker, who missed last year with an injury. Eluemunor will also be a candidate to slide to guard, per the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Vincent Bonsignore, after having played there in the past. That would be an internal way to upgrade from Bars. Second-year tackle Thayer Munford and Justin Herron, one of many ex-Patriots in Vegas, stand to factor in for the RT gig.
D.J. Moore’s Contract Factored Into Bears’ Trade Effort
While the Panthers stood down regarding a D.J. Moore trade after firing Matt Rhule last October, they ended up unloading their top wide receiver to secure what turned out to be Bryce Young draft real estate. Moore will move to a Bears franchise that has not had much luck forging long-term partnerships with impact wide receivers.
Moore came up during the Bears and Panthers’ trade talks when other suitors drove up the bidding during the early-March sweepstakes for the No. 1 overall pick. The Texans initially were part of these proceedings, with the Bears plotting a move down from No. 1 to No. 2 to No. 9. After Houston withdrew, Chicago dealt directly with Carolina. Bears GM Ryan Poles also inquired about defensive linemen Brian Burns and Derrick Brown, but both being on rookie contracts impeded either being included in the trade.
“In the very beginning I was laughed at because I had [one of] three guys that I wanted in the trade,” Poles said, via The Athletic’s Jim Trotter (subscription required). “I did know and felt like there was more of an opportunity to get D.J. because he had a bigger contract and there would be a bigger benefit in cap space to kick back to Carolina. But it was not easy because they absolutely loved that kid. It was painful to pull him out of their arms. I really think it would have been even harder if he had been on a rookie contract.”
Carolina extended Moore in nearly a year before trading him, agreeing to terms on a three-year deal worth $61.9MM. That pact came just before the avalanche of receiver extensions drove up the market. Moore, Mike Williams and Chris Godwin settled onto the same tier, hours before Davante Adams‘ Raiders extension ($28MM per year) and days before Tyreek Hill‘s $30MM-AAV extension came to pass. The 2019 receiver class soon upped the cost for up-and-coming star pass catchers as well.
The Bears will benefit from the Panthers’ timing with Moore. They now have him tied to the 10th-most lucrative receiver deal, with the likes of A.J. Brown, Terry McLaurin, Deebo Samuel and D.K. Metcalf passing him later during the 2022 offseason. Chicago does not have another big-ticket skill-position deal on its books, with Darnell Mooney, Chase Claypool and Cole Kmet attached to rookie contracts. Justin Fields‘ rookie pact runs through 2024 but can be pushed to 2025 via the fifth-year option. The team let David Montgomery walk — for a three-year, $18MM Lions deal — and landed a replacement (D’Onta Foreman) for just $2MM.
The Bears might still be in the market for defensive end help, having finished last in sacks in 2022 and addressing their D-tackle spots early in the draft. But Burns remains on track to sign a Panthers extension. Brown became extension-eligible in January, but the Panthers picked up his fifth-year option earlier this month.
Moore, 26, posted 1,100-plus-yard years from 2019-21, doing so despite a shuffling Panthers QB situation. The Bears have experienced fairly good fortune with veteran acquisitions at receiver over the past several years. Brandon Marshall still holds the team’s single-season receiving yardage record; Allen Robinson produced two 1,100-plus-yard seasons. Neither lasted more than four years for the Bears, who did not get much from Robinson’s fourth slate (a 410-yard showing on the franchise tag).
Moore’s Chicago fit will be a work in progress, but he should have a chance to land another extension in the not-too-distant future, a contract that could keep him in Illinois for the long haul.
Latest On Cowboys’ Left Guard Situation
After another free agency period featured the Cowboys’ starting left guard leaving in free agency, the team will be faced with a decision. How Dallas goes about that will determine if the team rolls out an O-line featuring its best five blockers or a group that features more positional familiarity.
Connor McGovern followed Connor Williams to the AFC East, signing with the Bills on a three-year deal worth $22.35MM. The Cowboys have Dak Prescott tied to a big-ticket deal, and Zack Martin‘s 2018 extension remains in the upper tier at guard. They are also preparing for CeeDee Lamb and Trevon Diggs payments, making the departures of McGovern and Williams the cost of doing business.
As for how the team replaces McGovern, multiple avenues look to exist. Both involve in-house solutions, per executive VP Stephen Jones. Door A would involve a backup rising into the starting role. The Cowboys are planning to move backup tackle Josh Ball to the interior this year, and the team drafted Asim Richards in the fifth round. Former Jets third-round pick Chuma Edoga also signed with the team, after having played for the Falcons last year.
“I think we’ve got a talented group of linemen,’’ Jones said, via the Dallas Morning News’ David Moore. “I mean Josh Ball is here today. He’s certainly going to get an opportunity to compete for that spot. As we’ve said, we’re big fans of Chuma. [VP of player personnel] Will [McClay] and his pro staff did a lot of work on him. Probably the only thing holding him back in his career has been some medical challenges that he’s had. We really feel like he can come in there and help.”
A 2021 fourth-round pick, Ball has 41 career offensive snaps on his resume. Edoga 13 career starts but ahs primarily worked as a tackle. Jones also brought up Richards, North Carolina’s left tackle last season, as a potential entrant in this competition. However, he also mentioned the “best five” scenario that would bring a more intriguing configuration.
“Our top five linemen are our top five linemen. Tyron Smith, Tyler Smith, Tyler Biadasz, Terence Steele, Zack Martin,” Jones said, via The Athletic’s Jon Machota. “Really felt like if you’re gonna get your best five who have played in this league, those are our best five. We’ll see what happens from there.”
The issue with that quintet would be Steele’s lack of guard experience. The former UDFA has been a tackle with the Cowboys and at Texas Tech. But with Tyron Smith back (and expected to slide to the right tackle spot he played last season), the Cowboys do not look to have a tackle job available. The team placed a second-round RFA tender on Steele, who has made 40 starts during a three-year career, earlier this offseason. Last year’s Week 1 right tackle is also rehabbing ACL and MCL tears. That stands to delay a Cowboys decision on where to use the contract-year blocker.
A third option would be moving Tyler Smith back to left guard, where he began his career before Tyron Smith’s avulsion fracture changed the team’s plans last summer. The younger Smith played left tackle for most of last season but started two games (Week 18 and Dallas’ wild-card win) at left guard. The second-year lineman said (via ESPN’s Todd Archer) he would be fine playing anywhere on the offensive front. With Jerry Jones labeling Smith a tackle, however, the prospect of the former first-rounder playing guard at Steele staying at right tackle might be a last resort.
McGovern’s experience gave the Cowboys an easier answer to replace Williams. The team may not know its McGovern replacement for a while.