AFC East Notes: Campbell, Milton, Jets, Bills
Likely holding the right of first refusal with this draft’s tackle class, the Patriots continue to be tied to LSU’s Will Campbell. Pats-Campbell connections have persisted for an extended stretch, as the team’s free agency activity brought in many high-profile options but did not produce a left tackle addition. While Morgan Moses is coming into play right tackle, a rookie is likely to join him. As of now, Campbell appears the frontrunner. The Patriots are believed to prefer Campbell at No. 4, Sportskeeda.com’s Tony Pauline notes. Although Pauline adds considerable in-house support for Missouri’s Armand Membou exists, he may need to wait a bit longer to hear his name called. The Pats have been high on Campbell for a while, as arm-length concerns appear to have been overblown, and Mike Vrabel pointed to the draft as a good way the team can address its LT issue. Vrabel added (via the Boston Herald’s Doug Kyed) he believes LT starters are in this draft.
Here is the latest from the AFC East:
- The Pats unloaded popular reserve QB Joe Milton in a trade, dealing him to the Cowboys for a fifth-round pick. This represented a net gain for New England, which drafted Milton in last year’s sixth round. Vrabel pointed to a lack of reps being available behind Drake Maye and UFA pickup Josh Dobbs as the main reason for Milton’s early exit. “Well, we felt like that his reps were going to be decreased as we worked through the offseason,” Vrabel said (via Kyed). “And we felt like just like every other decision, we’re going to try to do what’s best for the team, and that’s the decision that we ultimately made. And so, excited to move forward with Drake and Josh.” Three years remain on Milton’s rookie contract.
- The Jets signed Josh Reynolds and worked out a pay-cut agreement with Allen Lazard. This makes the team unlikely to also add one of the 30-something wide receivers still in free agency, per ESPN.com’s Rich Cimini. Amari Cooper, Keenan Allen and Tyler Lockett remain unsigned. The trio may need to wait until the post-draft deadline pertaining to the 2026 compensatory formula to find homes, as the draft will also provide clarity regarding teams’ receiver needs.
- Staying with the Jets, Cimini noted in a previous piece Rick Spielman‘s presence in the team’s GM hiring process, one that ended with Darren Mougey landing the job, did not sit well with some of the candidates who interviewed. Although Mougey had not previously worked with Spielman, Mougey’s former boss — Broncos GM George Paton — was Spielman’s assistant GM in Minnesota. Paton gave Mougey a strong endorsement to ex-boss, according to Cimini, and some who lost out on the job connected the dots. Familiarity often leads to hirings at the executive or coaching level, though it is interesting Spielman — who had been out of the NFL until the Jets added him to lead the HC/GM hiring process — is staying on to help Mougey in a full-time role. It is worth wondering if all the candidates interviewed would have kept Spielman on.
- Holding 10 picks, the Bills profile as a team who could move up in the draft. One scout informed ESPN.com’s Matt Miller a Buffalo move up for an impact first-round defender is a scenario to monitor. Cornerback represents a spot to follow regarding the Bills’ first-round pick, ESPN.com’s Field Yates adds. Buffalo has not re-signed Rasul Douglas, and Dane Jackson does not profile as a surefire starter opposite the recently extended Christian Benford.
- The Bills used a “30” visit on Texas A&M defensive end Nic Scourton, ESPN’s Adam Schefter adds. Our Ely Allen profiled Scourton recently, and a few teams have met with the ex-Aggies regular. The Bills added Michael Hoecht and Joey Bosa in free agency and still roster A.J. Epenesa; Bosa and Epenesa, however, are on expiring contracts.
Tyler Shough Gaining Steam; Latest On Giants, Saints’ QB Plans
APRIL 16: After their Thursday Sanders workout, Giants brass will head to Tuscaloosa and Louisville this weekend. The team will conduct its Milroe workout Friday, per SI.com’s Albert Breer, and go through its Shough session Saturday. Forming a potential path that includes a Travis Hunter or Abdul Carter selection at No. 3 before circling back to a quarterback, the team will meet with each prospect at dinner prior to the meetings.
APRIL 15: While likely the recipient of a few Tommy Boy references regarding his college duration, Tyler Shough has managed to become an intriguing prospect despite his three-school college odyssey spanning seven years. Shough’s stock may now be rising to the point where a first-round pick is not out of the question.
Not entering the pre-draft process on this level, Shough certainly appears to have gained steam as the journey nears its conclusion. Meeting with a few teams, Shough has seen multiple clubs label him this draft’s top QB prospect, according to NOLA.com’s Jeff Duncan. The Athletic’s Dianna Russini also indicated (via her Scoop City podcast) one coach told her Shough is this draft’s best quarterback.
Mentioning first-round buzz in connection with Shough, Russini adds Shough’s name is coming up in NFL circles far more than he was a few weeks ago. The former Oregon, Texas Tech and Louisville arm will be one of this draft’s most interesting players, and he enters the NFL as part of a draft crop that features a muddled QB race behind likely No. 1 overall pick Cam Ward. It would still surprise if Shough heard his name called before Shedeur Sanders, but he may be making inroads toward the Sanders-Jaxson Dart tier.
At 25, Shough would be an atypical first-round pick. Although Jayden Daniels, Michael Penix and Bo Nix all played age-24 seasons as rookies, Shough bridges the gap between this trio and the unusual Brandon Weeden/Chris Weinke NFL entrances. A 2012 Browns first-rounder, Weeden was 28 as a rookie due to a minor league baseball past. A Florida State national championship game starter, Weinke turned 29 before his rookie season. The age issue helped drop the ex-Seminoles standout to the fourth round. Shough’s profile veers closer to Weeden’s; Shough will turn 26 in September, undoubtedly creating an issue for teams eyeing a long-term quarterback solution.
This draft does not feature the depth and upside last year’s crop brought, and teams will need to weigh an investment now against waiting until 2026. Shough has met with the Browns, Saints and Seahawks, and CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones adds the Giants will work out the 2024 Louisville starter this week.
New York, which already used one of its “30” visits on Shough, is already preparing to work out Sanders this week as well. While the Giants are now viewed as unlikely to draft a quarterback at No. 3 overall, the prospect of the team trading back up for one should be considered in play — especially with Joe Schoen and Brian Daboll on hot seats. Schoen attended Shough’s pro day last month.
The Giants hold the No. 34 overall pick as well, and NewOrleans.football’s Nick Underhill notes the Saints may not see Shough on the board by the time their No. 40 overall pick arrives. Shough stands to be one of the players teams consider moving up for, and a move into the first round would give a team a fifth-year option on him. Shough’s age would make that prospect a bit more interesting, as he would be 30 for said fifth-year option season. QBs rarely reach their option year, though, and a second contract would cover Shough’s early 30s. A team may not have Shough for quite as long, but were he a true starter-caliber option, it would check a rather important box for many years.
The Saints have been tied to both Dart and Texas’ Quinn Ewers, as links to potential second- or third-round passers persist, and Russini adds the team is “on a mission” to leave this draft with a quarterback. Considering Derek Carr‘s now-uncertain status — due to a potential shoulder surgery stemming from a 2023 injury — there will be pressure on the Saints to have another answer.
Shough accompanies Ward as the most pro-ready options in this draft, longtime NFL QB2-turned-Russini cohost Chase Daniel offers. At No. 9 overall, New Orleans may well have all this year’s QB prospects except Ward on the board. That juncture appears early for Shough, but a trade-up may from No. 40 may be necessary to acquire the well-traveled passer. Though, other options figure to be available at 40, should Mickey Loomis and Co. stay put and hope to address this need there.
New Orleans will send a sizable contingent to Athens, Ga., for the Jalon Walker and Mykel Williams workout Thursday, Duncan adds. Both Georgia defenders would be options for the Saints at No. 9.
The Giants will be in the same boat as the Saints if they go elsewhere in Round 1, but New York does hold an extra third-round pick if a QB-motivated trade-up is to be strongly considered. The team’s previously reported Jalen Milroe workout will happen this week (per NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport), and Fox Sports’ Ralph Vacchiano adds Syracuse’s Kyle McCord — an Ohio State transfer — visited the Giants today. McCord would be a Day 2 option at best for the Giants, who have placeholders Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston as midlevel insurance.
Broncos, Steelers Schedule TreVeyon Henderson Visits; Latest On Omarion Hampton
As “30” visit season wraps Wednesday, the topic of where the draft’s top running backs will go resurfaces. Ashton Jeanty is viewed as this class’ top option, and a top-10 landing spot remains squarely in play for the 2024 Heisman runner-up. But the 2025 RB crop includes a host of options who could become early-season starters.
Ohio State rostered two of them, in 1,000-1,000 duo Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson, while Iowa (Kaleb Johnson) and North Carolina (Omarion Hampton) are sending two more to the draft. Hampton is viewed by most as the draft’s second-best RB option, but Henderson is a player that has gained steam since a 1,000-yard bounce-back effort after he decided to stay in school for his senior season. His combination of pass-game ability and pass protection has attracted teams, creating some late-first-round buzz.
A few teams already brought in the four-year Buckeyes contributor, but the Broncos and Steelers will beat the buzzer with meetings as well. Henderson met with the Steelers on Tuesday and is in Denver today, 9News’ Mike Klis tweets. The Steelers lost Najee Harris in free agency, while the Broncos did not bring back four-year regular Javonte Williams.
Denver is all but certain to draft a running back, while Pittsburgh has a recent history (Harris) of using a first-rounder on the position. While the Broncos have not taken a back in Round 1 since Knowshon Moreno in 2009, Sean Payton did so twice (Reggie Bush, Mark Ingram) with the Saints. Denver’s Jaleel McLaughlin–Audric Estime combo points to at worst a mid-round draft choice being en route; many mocks have the Broncos diving in earlier. The Steelers signed Kenneth Gainwell to pair with Jaylen Warren, the recipient of a second-round RFA tender. A quarterback at No. 21 may be the Steelers’ play, but they also would make sense as a team in the early-round RB mix.
Two others have emerged in connection to Hampton, who is expected to go off the board before Henderson. The Broncos are coming up around the league as a team that could draft Hampton, per Sportskeeda.com’s Tony Pauline, who adds the Chargers and Texans are viewed as candidates to add the latest Tar Heels RB standout. Hampton is considered a first-round lock, per Pauline. The two-time college 1,000-yard rusher’s 4.46-second 40-yard time at the Combine may have solidified this status.
The Steelers also met with Hampton, joining the Cowboys, Giants and Bears. The latter trio holds picks in front of the Steelers, who sit at No. 21. So do the Broncos (No. 20), who also outflank the Chargers (22) and Texans (25). Hampton ripped off 1,504- and 1,660-yard rushing seasons in 2023 and ’24. He added 373 receiving yards (9.8 per catch) last season, upping his draft stock.
The Broncos turned to Chapel Hill to fill an RB need in the 2021 second round, taking Williams in GM George Paton‘s first draft. Payton is now the lead decision-maker in Denver, but the fifth-year GM still holds considerable say after staving off firing rumors during a bleak period headlined by the Russell Wilson and Nathaniel Hackett misses. The team also used “30” visits on Johnson and Judkins.
Connected to Saquon Barkley last year, Los Angeles and Houston have RB starters — in Harris and Joe Mixon — but could use younger talent to supplement the vets at the very least. Mixon has 1,816 carries on his odometer, while Harris accumulating 1,097 as a between-the-tackles grinder in Pittsburgh undoubtedly impacted his free agent stock.
Bengals Re-Sign QB Logan Woodside
Jake Browning remains on the Bengals’ roster, but the team will make a move to ensure more continuity within its quarterback room. Logan Woodside is staying in Cincinnati.
Woodside agreed to re-sign with the Bengals, with the team announcing the move Wednesday morning. A veteran QB reserve, Woodside spent last season with the Bengals behind Joe Burrow and Browning. The veteran is looking to play an eighth NFL season.
This will continue Woodside’s reunion stint with the Bengals, who drafted him in the 2018 seventh round. A Toledo alum, Woodside had spent several seasons with the Titans before a Falcons stint. The Atlanta stay gave way to an April 2024 Cincinnati return; nearly a year later, Woodside will continue work with the Bengals.
Totaling just 14 pass attempts in seven NFL seasons, Woodside does not exactly check in as one of the better-known reserve QB options. But he has remained a regular nonetheless. The Bengals re-signed him despite initially drafting him during Marvin Lewis‘ final year in charge, and Zac Taylor will continue to work with the seldom-used passer.
Woodside has never seen regular-season game action as a Bengal, with the team initially cutting him months after the draft investment. The Titans added Woodside to their practice squad in 2018 and retained him as a Ryan Tannehill backup until November 2022. Despite Tannehill’s ankle injury that year testing Tennessee’s depth, the team lost him from its P-squad to Atlanta. Dealing with Marcus Mariota leaving the team after his late-season benching, the Falcons turned to Woodside as a Desmond Ridder backup.
Turning 30 earlier this year, Woodside will almost definitely check in behind Browning once again on Cincinnati’s depth chart. The Bengals used Browning as their Burrow replacement in 2023, when he posted an impressive 70.4% completion rate at 8.0 yards per attempt. The team extended Browning on the same day it reunited with Woodside last year; Browning is signed through the 2025 season, but he can be retained as an RFA in 2026.
Bills To Meet With CB James Bradberry
With Sean McDermott and Brandon Beane now in their ninth years in Buffalo, it would seem the Panthers-to-Bills pipeline would be on the verge of closing. One defender, however, would represent another option to join Curtis Samuel in keeping it open.
The Bills are set to meet with James Bradberry today, ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler notes. The Eagles cut the veteran cornerback last month, moving on after three seasons. Bradberry, 31, did not play for the Super Bowl-winning Philadelphia edition due to injury.
McDermott and Beane’s Panthers tenures overlapped with the team’s 2016 Bradberry draft choice, a second-round move made in the wake of then-GM Dave Gettleman rescinding Josh Norman‘s franchise tag. Bradberry became a starter that year, his first of many such seasons in a team’s lineup, before seeing McDermott and then Beane leave for Buffalo. As Bradberry’s career winds down, he will huddle up with two of the staffers that played a role in shaping his career path.
Several of Bradberry’s former teammates already stopped through Buffalo for stints. The Bills have rostered the likes of Samuel, A.J. Klein, Kelvin Benjamin, Star Lotulelei, Daryl Williams and Vernon Butler during the McDermott-Beane tenure. They also added Norman for a two-season stint. Samuel, whom the Panthers added during Beane’s final draft with the team, represents the last link to this once-fruitful pipeline. It would be interesting if a 2025 move could keep it going, and Bradberry is now likely available at a near-veteran-minimum rate.
An Achilles tear sidelined Bradberry last year, but the two-season Eagles starter was not set to hold a similar role due to the team’s CB additions. Bradberry had been working at safety after an offseason position change, but he said following Super Bowl LIX he would prefer to move back to corner. The former Giants free agent signee has only played corner, doing so as a 124-game starter in a career that included a 2020 Pro Bowl and a Super Bowl LVII start. The Eagles parted with each of their three CB regulars from that game this offseason, cutting Bradberry and Darius Slay and seeing the Lions sign Avonte Maddox.
The Bills have a need on the boundary opposite the recently extended Christian Benford. They have not re-signed Rasul Douglas, who will turn 30 this year. Douglas remains a free agent. The Bills did bring back Dane Jackson, though he does not technically qualify for the above-mentioned pipeline due to having stopped through Carolina well after McDermott and Beane’s departures. The draft will be a place to look for Buffalo at corner, but the team will see if Bradberry can be a fit first.
First-Round Grades Elusive On Shedeur Sanders; QB Unlikely To Go In Top 10?
The Giants are still doing due diligence on Shedeur Sanders, being set to conduct a private workout with the Colorado star in Boulder on Thursday. But it is undeniable that Sanders’ stock has slipped during the pre-draft process.
No longer being mocked consistently in the top three, despite the Browns and Giants‘ QB needs, Sanders now may need to be patient. The Browns and Giants are not expected to draft him, according to SI.com’s Albert Breer, who notes it could be a surprise if the Raiders, Jets and Saints (Nos. 6, 7 and 9, respectively) prevented him from falling out of the top 10.
This runs counter to a late-March report indicating Sanders was unlikely to fall out of the top 10, but the consensus appears to be changing. We heard recently a New Orleans landing may not be too likely, though that report emerged before Derek Carr‘s prospective surgery became public. Sanders and Travis Hunter dined with Browns brass before Colorado’s pro day, but Cleveland has been viewed as more likely to draft the two-way dynamo at No. 2. This would leave Abdul Carter for the Giants, even as the team rosters Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux already.
Coaches and scouts are not seeing enough to justify an early-first-round pick on tape, Breer adds, with many not grading him as a first-round talent. Although Sanders’ accuracy has drawn praise, his penchant for taking sacks offers a negation. The two-year Buffaloes starter also has not displayed high-end arm strength on tape, and despite his father being one of the greatest players in NFL history, Shedeur is not viewed as particularly athletic. That has created concerns about a QB-needy team making him its new franchise centerpiece via a top-10 investment.
Potential concerns about Deion Sanders’ involvement in his son’s career are natural for teams, but Breer and Sportskeeda.com’s Tony Pauline have attempted to explain NFL staffers’ issues with the quarterback from a strictly on-field standpoint. Despite Shedeur’s 37:10 TD-INT ratio last season, he finished with negative rushing yards — due both to taking sacks and not contributing heavily as a rusher. Sanders’ fundamentals are drawing scrutiny, per Pauline, though he adds the QB’s toughness has garnered praise.
We have heard some teams have Jaxson Dart graded higher than Sanders on this year’s board, and Breer adds it might take owner involvement to ensure Sanders becomes a first-round pick. The 2022 draft brought what was viewed at the time as a significant slide, with Malik Willis dropping from likely first-round pick to 86th overall. It would still be shocking if Sanders experienced a comparable tumble as part of the latest maligned QB class, but a top-10 investment now may be unlikely. That will create major questions as to where Sanders will wind up.
Holding the No. 21 overall pick, the Steelers have hosted Sanders on a “30” visit. Of course, a host of non-QB-needy teams picking between the Saints and Raiders opens the door to a potential trade-up move. The Browns and Giants could have a window to move back in, though if the teams do not hold Sanders in much higher regard compared to this draft’s other second-tier QBs (Dart, Quinn Ewers, Tyler Shough, Jalen Milroe), waiting on them may be the play rather than handing over notable draft capital in a Sanders-based trade. Plenty of Giants-Sanders connections emerged during the pre-draft process, but a year after Big Blue was tied closely to J.J. McCarthy only to pass on him, some are doubting the Giants like Sanders all that much.
Unless Cleveland and New York are conducting elaborate smokescreens, Sanders likely will be in for a wait next week. This would open the door to teams like the Raiders and Jets adding Sanders as a high-end developmental option behind established starters. Beyond that, this draft will become quite interesting at QB after the Titans take Cam Ward — as they are widely expected to — to open the event.
Steelers Re-Sign OL Max Scharping
While Max Scharping has not lived up to his second-round draft slot, the veteran offensive lineman has remained a viable swing player for a number of teams. The Steelers will continue to evaluate the well-traveled blocker in-house.
Signing Scharping off the Commanders’ practice squad last season, the Steelers agreed to terms to keep him around. The team announced the re-signing (on a one-year deal) Tuesday. Pittsburgh is the seventh-year guard’s fifth NFL destination.
A former Texans second-round pick, Scharping has now been claimed on waivers — by the Bengals — and signed off a practice squad during his NFL run. He also enjoyed a short non-playing stint with the Eagles. Last season, Scharping played in two Steelers games as a backup. He played in 31 contests as a Bengals reserve from 2022-23.
Chosen 55th overall in 2019, Scharping started 33 games for the Texans over his first three seasons. The GM who selected Scharping (Brian Gaine) was fired shortly after that draft, but Scharping joined Tytus Howard as early fixtures on Houston’s O-line. The Northern Illinois product played both guard spots regularly for the Texans, but the team waived him early during Nick Caserio‘s GM run. Scharping has played fewer than 100 offensive snaps over the past three seasons.
The Steelers let three-year guard starter James Daniels walk in free agency but will be eager to have rookie-contract cog Mason McCormick build on a season spent as a Daniels injury fill-in. The team also has left guard starter Isaac Seumalo back for a third season. Fifth-year vet Ryan McCollum and 2023 seventh-rounder Spencer Anderson in place as backup options. Scharping, 28, will attempt to stay in this mix for a second season.
Jaire Alexander Drawing Trade Interest; Teams Waiting For Packers To Release CB?
More than a month after the Packers let it be known they were shopping Jaire Alexander, the former Pro Bowler remains on their roster. Alexander has not lived up to his pricey extension, and Green Bay still appears ready to move on.
Brian Gutekunst said earlier this offseason the Packers wanted a reasonable return on their investment, and offers do not appear to have provided that yet. But teams are showing interest, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Tom Silverstein. Two years remain on Alexander’s $21MM-per-year extension, and it appears interested clubs are attempting to wait out the Packers.
The Packers appeared close to moving Alexander at the start of free agency, but multiple factors interfered. Alexander’s unwillingness to rework his contract to facilitate a trade has factored into this process, Silverstein adds, but the Packers also did not view trade compensation as efficient. The staring contest continues heading into the draft, where another trade window will open up.
All three days of the draft figure to keep the window open, as Alexander drawing Day 3 capital is not difficult to envision based on his contract and pattern of unreliability in recent years. Alexander, 28, has missed 20 regular-season games over the past two seasons. The Packers also suspended him for a game after a strange incident involving a coin toss against the Panthers in 2023. Trade rumors emerged shortly after, but Gutekunst shot them down. A year later, a divorce still appears imminent.
Green Bay would take on $17MM in dead money were a trade to commence during the draft or at any point before June 1. A deal after that point would defray some of that dead cap to 2026. A post-June 1 cut would create $17.2MM in cap savings for the Packers. Alexander is due a $16.15MM base salary in 2025; based on his recent attendance record, that would likely be untenable for interested teams. But it does not look like the seven-year veteran is interested in doing the Packers any favors by redoing his contract on the way out.
Although a previous report indicated the team wants this resolved by the draft, the Packers waiting until after the draft, thus gauging which teams did not sufficiently fill their CB needs, could be a play here. This will be a situation to monitor for a Packers team remodeling at corner. The Packers did not re-sign 2021 first-round pick Eric Stokes, who joined a Raiders team that lost Nate Hobbs to the Pack. Keisean Nixon remains under contract, as does third-year player Carrington Valentine.
Alexander’s likely departure, however, still appears to leave the Packers with a CB need. Green Bay also does not employ the top CB trade chip presently, as Jalen Ramsey has now been granted permission to find a trade partner — for what would be his third career trade exit — to leave Miami.
Saints’ Derek Carr Battling Shoulder Injury, Weighing Surgery
APRIL 14: With plenty of uncertainty looming over this situation, Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated reports Carr’s camp has informed the team the current issue stems from the fact his 2023 AC joint sprain never healed in full. Especially if that is the case, surgery will no doubt receive strong consideration. As the draft draws nearer, New Orleans’ 2025 outlook under center remains uncertain.
APRIL 11: As the Saints determine if they want to make a significant quarterback investment, they have another issue to deal with regarding their current starter. While coming to New Orleans as one of the NFL’s most durable players, Derek Carr has run into frequent health concerns.
His latest involves a shoulder malady, according to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport. This issue could affect Carr’s regular-season availability, Rapoport adds, as surgery is being considered. Carr missed seven games last season, seeing oblique and hand injuries lead to the low attendance number. The Saints restructured Carr’s contract recently, locking in the 11-year veteran for at least one more season and making a 2026 separation more costly.
Prior to coming to New Orleans, Carr had missed just three games due to injury in nine Oakland/Las Vegas seasons. One of those was a playoff game due to a broken leg suffered in Week 16 of the 2016 season. Carr returned in time for the 2017 campaign. With the Saints, however, the experienced starter continues to see hurdles appear. This latest comes at a rather significant time, as a Saints franchise that has not selected a quarterback in the first round since Archie Manning (1971) considers breaking that streak.
It is unclear how or when Carr sustained this injury. While “what they knew and when they knew it” questions are natural here, The Athletic’s Dianna Russini adds the possibility of shoulder surgery has not surprised the Saints. With the Saints’ massive dead money numbers tied to Carr’s contract stemming from signing bonus proration and void years, an offsite injury affecting guarantees would not matter significantly with regards to an earlier-than-expected separation. But Carr’s offseason outlook certainly looks cloudy in light of this news, with Russini noting there is curiosity around the league about there being more to this story. The 2023 signee remains signed through 2026.
Carr sustained an oblique tear in Week 5 last season; the issue sidelined him for three games. A fracture on his nonthrowing hand, sustained in Week 14, moved Carr out of the picture to close the season. While some uncertainty cropped up between the Saints’ Kellen Moore HC hire and the team’s decision to go through with another restructure, Carr had been penciled in to continue as the team’s starter for a while. As it stands, the Saints are not prepared to be without their first-stringer.
The team has resisted calls for a rebuild, with Carr the main impediment at this point. A surgery that could sideline the starter for part of the 2025 season would stand to impact the team’s thinking in the draft, though a priority of finding a long-term successor will naturally be more important during the late-April event.
The Saints have been closely tied to Quinn Ewers as a potential Day 2 option, while a recent report did not peg them as surefire Shedeur Sanders suitors. As presently constructed, the Saints would not present Sanders or another rookie with a great opportunity to hit the ground running. They are coming off a 5-12 season and did add much of note to their roster on offense. The perennially cap-strapped team is again out of those woods, but the options for adding a short-term stopgap are minimal right now. Ex-Day 3 picks Spencer Rattler, the team’s primary Carr replacement in 2024, and Jake Haener remain rostered.
Joe Flacco joined the Browns today, and the Seahawks completed a QB reunion of their own — with Drew Lock. That takes two clear options off the table, leaving Carson Wentz and a potential Ryan Tannehill unretirement as unexciting solutions. Aaron Rodgers technically remains a free agent, but he has been hesitant on any non-Vikings-based chance to continue his career.
Rodgers showing much interest in the Saints would surprise, and it is still too early to speculate on full-fledged solutions due to the lack of information about Carr’s injury. But this is obviously a concern that will need to be closely monitored. The Saints begin their offseason program Monday.
CB Patrick Peterson Retires
APRIL 14: Peterson’s retirement ceremony has indeed taken place Monday, as scheduled. During his speech, he said a meeting after the Super Bowl with owner Michael Bidwill paved the way for today’s announcement occurring at the team’s facility. Peterson noted (via ESPN’s Josh Weinfuss) he feels he could still play in the NFL but prefers to turn his attention to his post-playing days.
APRIL 11: A week after Julio Jones‘ retirement, the player chosen one spot ahead of him in a loaded 2011 draft is walking away as well. Like Jones, Patrick Peterson did not play in 2024. And the decorated cornerback is planning to retire with the Cardinals on Monday, ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter reports.
The former No. 5 overall pick did his best work in Arizona, which selected him in a first round that included Jones, J.J. Watt, Von Miller, Tyron Smith, Cameron Heyward, Cameron Jordan and several other standouts. Several Hall of Famers will come from that first round, and Peterson is likely among them.
Twice a first-team All-Pro as a cornerback and once as a return man, Peterson started his career with eight straight Pro Bowls. The first of those came for return-game work, but among DBs in NFL history, only a handful (Ronnie Lott, Champ Bailey, Steve Atwater, Jalen Ramsey) of post-merger cover men join Peterson as being named to seven Pro Bowls over eight seasons to start a career. Although a 2019 PED suspension brought a step back for Peterson, he did well to rebound upon leaving Arizona for Minnesota in 2021.
A lockdown boundary corner who would follow receivers more than his top peers of the period did, Peterson also displayed durability with the Cardinals. He did not miss a game due to injury in Arizona, going until his first Vikings season — which featured four absences — before seeing a health issue keep him off the field. Peterson helped the Cardinals to two playoff brackets, including a run to the 2015 NFC championship game, and was part of a 2010s defensive crew that featured fellow Pro Bowlers Calais Campbell, Tyrann Mathieu and Chandler Jones. That group splintered near the decade’s end, leaving Peterson as one of the stalwarts on a retooling team.
No second-team All-Pro honors are on Peterson’s resume, which is a bit unusual for a player with his reputation. He earned first-team All-Pro acclaim as a corner in 2013 and 2015. The first of those seasons helped Peterson score a monster extension (five years, $70.1MM) during the 2014 offseason, . The second came as Arizona journeyed to the NFC title game in a season that brought the most wins (13) in a season in the franchise’s 105-year history. Peterson joined Richard Sherman, Chris Harris and Hall of Famer Darrelle Revis on the 2010s’ All-Decade team at corner.
The Cardinals opted not to hand Peterson a second extension, having drafted Byron Murphy 33rd overall in 2019. This came during an early-2020s period that featured a host of quality defenders (Peterson, Jones, Watt, Murphy, Zach Allen) depart. The Vikings gave the LSU alum a one-year, $8MM deal. The 6-foot-1 corner stayed in Minnesota, despite the team changing HCs and GMs in 2022, but did so on a one-year, $4MM pact. Agreeing to a 50% pay cut, Peterson still intercepted five passes in 2022 — including a game-sealing theft of Josh Allen in a shootout win in Buffalo — and helped the team to a 13-4 season. Minnesota did not retain Peterson for his age-33 season, leading to a Pittsburgh one-off. The Steelers, who experimented with Peterson at safety in 2023, released him in 2024.
Peterson aimed to play a 14th season, but corners approaching their mid-30s have trouble landing deals. Peterson may well have received offers, but they clearly did not move the needle financially. He did quite well for himself there, amassing a career-earnings ledger of nearly $114MM. A lucrative rookie contract — the first in the rookie-scale era — and playing out that $70.1MM extension represented the lead drivers of Peterson’s earnings sheet.
The Cardinals cooled Peterson’s punt-return usage after the 2015 season, but he delivered one of this era’s premier seasons by returning four punts for TDs as a rookie. The former shutdown corner will retire with 36 career interceptions — including seven during a breakout 2012 season — and two pick-sixes. Peterson added a postseason INT but only wound up playing in five career playoff tilts. Nevertheless, the former top prospect will retire as one of his era’s top defensive contributors.