Cowboys’ Sean Lee Retires From NFL
Sean Lee is calling it a career. The longtime Cowboys linebacker tells ESPN.com’s Todd Archer (on Twitter) that he will retire after eleven seasons in the NFL. 
As recently as late March, Lee was said to be in talks with the Cowboys for a return. Even though the oft-injured ‘backer is long removed from his days as an elite defender, he still could have been a solid rotational option for Dallas. Lee played in just nine games in 2020, but had perfect attendance (including 13 starts) in 2019, including two double-digit tackle games down the stretch. All in all, he had 86 stops, a sack, an interception, and four passes defensed in ’19, leading to a one-year, $4.5MM re-up for 2020.
Unfortunately, last year’s sports hernia surgery wiped out the early part of his season. Between that, his early career ACL tear, and other injuries, Lee felt that it would be best to move on from football. Without Lee, the Cowboys will move forward with Leighton Vander Esch, Jaylon Smith, and recently acquired safety/LB Keanu Neal in the group.
Despite all of the injuries, Lee was a two-time Pro Bowler and a first-team All-Pro selection in 2016. And, throughout his tenure, Lee was regarded as the leader of the Dallas’ defense. We here at PFR wish Lee a happy and healthy retirement.
“Doubtful” Steelers Will Trade Up From No. 24
Don’t expect the Steelers to move up the board between now and Thursday. In a chat with reporters, GM Kevin Colbert threw cold water on the idea that he could advance from No. 24. 
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“I’m very doubtful that we’ll trade up,” Colbert said (Twitter link via Missi Matthews of the team website). “We value our eight picks.”
Even after restructuring Ben Roethlisberger‘s deal this offseason, the Steelers need to give consideration to the future of the quarterback position. It’s a certainty that three of this year’s top quarterbacks will be taken at the top of the order, which will drive demand for the remaining first-round candidates. However, Colbert doesn’t seem to think that any of the potentially available passers will be worth the cost.
Meanwhile, Colbert indicated that he’s high on the depth of this year’s cornerback crop. He also gave a strong endorsement of this year’s center prospects, stating that several of them are capable of starting in the NFL.
Dolphins Didn’t Plan On Stockpiling Picks
The Dolphins’ have amassed an impressive collection of draft picks in recent years, but that’s not necessarily their modus operandi, head coach Brian Flores says. 
“I wouldn’t say the goal is necessarily to accumulate first-round picks. I think it’s to put the best team together,” Flores said on the Dolphins’ Drive Time podcast. “I think there’s a variety of ways you can do that. Trade, free agency, waiver-wire transactions, obviously the draft. And I think Chris and his staff have done a great job of using all those different avenues to bring in players and I think we’ve brought players in through those variety of ways — I think we’ve used them all. But it’s to put the best team together, not necessarily a team full of first-round picks…We look through those different avenues to acquire players, that’s really always at the forefront.”
The Dolphins managed to rack up three first-round picks in 2020. On Thursday, after moving around the board, they’ll have two first-round choices at No. 6 and No. 18. And, thanks to their 49ers trade, they’re on course to have two top-32 picks in 2023.
In theory, the Dolphins could keep trading down to further strengthen their future arsenal. But, if Flores is to be believed, that won’t be their focus heading into the 2021 draft.
49ers Down To Mac Jones, Trey Lance?
The 49ers’ focus at No. 3 appears to have narrowed to Alabama’s Mac Jones and North Dakota State’s Trey Lance (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero). Pelissero notes that Lance and the Niners chatted following his second pro day last week, which was specifically tailored to Kyle Shanahan‘s favorite drills. 
Previously, the 49ers were believed to have three quarterbacks in consideration with Justin Fields completing the trio. Now, it seems that the Ohio State star is no longer in the mix. This jibes with a recent report from NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport, who now seems on course to be available for the Falcons at No. 4.
Lance seems to have the most overall buzz of the three, since he’s believed to have the most upside. Jones, despite his 77% completion rate last year, seems to have garnered disproportionate attention from the Niners. Still, NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo (Twitter link) has yet to hear from an executive that thinks it’d be crazy for the Niners to take him (and mortgage future picks for him) at No. 3.
“Mac’s a stud,” said the anonymous executive. “[He has] everything you want.”
Falcons’ Julio Jones Drawing Trade Interest
The Falcons have received trade inquiries for wide receiver Julio Jones (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). The Falcons have indicated that Jones will be staying put, but teams believe that Atlanta’s cap situation could nudge them towards a deal. Peter King of NBC Sports and Albert Breer of The MMQB have heard similar buzz, noting that they wouldn’t be shocked if the All-Pro is traded.
For cap reasons, any Jones trade would have to wait until after June 1, when his dead money charge could be split between 2021 and 2022. So far, the Falcons have rebuffed inquiries on their more notable veterans, including quarterback Matt Ryan, linebacker Deion Jones, and left tackle Jake Matthews. Still, Breer believes that a first-round pick could be enough to sway the Falcons. King, meanwhile, thinks that a second-round pick sounds about right.
Jones, 32, remains an effective weapon when healthy. And, even though he missed seven games last year, his remaining salaries between now and 2023 are fairly reasonable with the Falcons eating a chunk of the dollars. Any team acquiring Jones would be on the hook for payouts of $15.3MM, $11.513MM, and $11.513MM in each season.
“We expect Julio to be a Falcon, to be playing next year at a very high level as well,” Falcons owner Arthur Blank said recently. “God-willing, taking care of his body, his hamstring will be healed up. He’ll be able to play in more games than he played last year..”
Still, if new GM Terry Fontenot gets the right offer, Jones could wind up elsewhere in June.
Larry Fitzgerald’s Decision Won’t Impact Cardinals’ Draft Plans
The Cardinals are waiting to hear whether Larry Fitzgerald will play in 2021. But, in the interim, his retirement decision will not impact the team’s board in this week’s draft, GM Steve Keim says. 
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“No matter what Larry decides, it does not affect our draft plans,” Keim said (via ESPN.com). “Again, to me, you can’t have enough good players at one position. There [are] guys on a one-year contract. So, again, as far as building your team and the type of depth that you have, you can never have enough good players and, obviously, Larry Fitzgerald is a great one, so you wouldn’t say no to him either.”
The 37-year-old hasn’t tipped his hand to anyone — including Keim. Technically speaking, Fitzgerald is a free agent, but it’s believed that he’ll either return to the Cardinals or call it a career. For what it’s worth, executives “anticipate” that Fitzgerald is going to retire.
Either way, the Cardinals have to start thinking about the future of the position beyond Fitzgerald, who turns 38 in August. With that in mind, Keim anticipates that there will be five or six receivers taken in Round 1, which would leave plenty of quality options for them at No. 16 overall.
Cowboys Won’t Trade Up From No. 10
The Cowboys may be high on Florida tight end Kyle Pitts, but they won’t trade up to land him or any other player, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter) hears. With less than one week to go until the NFL Draft, it sounds like Jerry Jones & Co. will be standing pat at No. 10. 
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Drafting Pitts would require the Cowboys to move up several spots — perhaps as high as No. 4. Of course, that’d be costly, especially after the 49ers set the market by sacrificing a 2022 third-round pick and two future first rounders in order to advance from No. 12 to No. 3. Meanwhile, the Cowboys have much more pressing needs to address in the draft including cornerback, offensive tackle, and safety.
Pitts, a quarterback in high school, moved to tight end at UF and quickly put himself on the NFL radar. Last year, he snagged 43 catches for 770 yards and 12 touchdowns in just eight games, finishing out with an eye-popping 17.9 yards per grab. Right now, it seems unlikely that the Dolphins will allow him to fall beyond No. 6. Meanwhile, many prognosticators (and PFR readers) expect the Falcons to snag Pitts at No. 4.
2021 NFL Draft Order, Pick By Pick
The 2021 NFL Draft kicks off on Thursday, April 29th in Cleveland, Ohio at 8pm ET/7pm CT. Then, Rounds 2-3 will take place on Friday, starting at 7pm ET/6pm CT, followed by Rounds 4-7 on Saturday, starting at 12pm ET/11pm CT.
Here’s the complete rundown of this year’s draft order, from pick No. 1 through pick No. 259:
Round 1
1) Jacksonville Jaguars
2) New York Jets
3) San Francisco 49ers (from Texans via Dolphins)
4) Atlanta Falcons
5) Cincinnati Bengals
6) Miami Dolphins (from Eagles)
7) Detroit Lions
8) Carolina Panthers
9) Denver Broncos
10) Dallas Cowboys
11) New York Giants
12) Philadelphia Eagles (from 49ers via Dolphins)
13) Los Angeles Chargers
14) Minnesota Vikings
15) New England Patriots
16) Arizona Cardinals
17) Las Vegas Raiders
18) Miami Dolphins
19) Washington Football Team
20) Chicago Bears
21) Indianapolis Colts
22) Tennessee Titans
23) New York Jets (from Seahawks)
24) Pittsburgh Steelers
25) Jacksonville Jaguars (from Rams)
26) Cleveland Browns
27) Baltimore Ravens
28) New Orleans Saints
29) Green Bay Packers
30) Buffalo Bills
31) Baltimore Ravens (from Chiefs)
32) Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Round 2
33) Jacksonville Jaguars
34) New York Jets
35) Atlanta Falcons
36) Miami Dolphins (from Texans)
37) Philadelphia Eagles
38) Cincinnati Bengals
39) Carolina Panthers
40) Denver Broncos
41) Detroit Lions
42) New York Giants
43) San Francisco 49ers
44) Dallas Cowboys
45) Jacksonville Jaguars (from Vikings)
46) New England Patriots
47) Los Angeles Chargers
48) Las Vegas Raiders
49) Arizona Cardinals
50) Miami Dolphins
51) Washington Football Team
52) Chicago Bears
53) Tennessee Titans
54) Indianapolis Colts
55) Pittsburgh Steelers
56) Seattle Seahawks
57) Los Angeles Rams
58) Kansas City Chiefs (from Ravens)
59) Cleveland Browns
60) New Orleans Saints
61) Buffalo Bills
62) Green Bay Packers
63) Kansas City Chiefs
64) Tampa Bay Buccaneers
49ers Split On No. 3 Pick?
The 49ers gave up a bevy of draft picks in order to move up from No. 12 to No. 3 overall. However, with days to go before the draft, ESPN’s Mike Tannenbaum hears that the Niners have yet to reach a consensus on who they’ll take (video link). 
The Niners have — or will — take a closer look at Ohio State’s Justin Fields, Alabama’s Mac Jones, and North Dakota State’s Trey Lance in the lead-up to the draft. Many prognosticators believe that Jones is the quarterback they want, but Tannenbaum hears that there’s still some debate among SF brass.
“What that says to me and what I am hearing around the league is they are not unanimous in who they want to pick, meaning [GM] John Lynch, [assistant GM] Adam Peters, and [head coach] Kyle Shanahan,” Tannenbaum said.
Even if Jones winds up as the Niners’ pick, Fields and Lance probably won’t have to wait too long to hear their names called. Between the three aforementioned passers and the presumptive top two picks (Trevor Lawrence and Zach Wilson), we’re expecting to see five QBs taken inside of the top 12.
Meanwhile, speculation continues to swirl around the Niners’ current starter, Jimmy Garoppolo. Although Lynch has said that Garoppolo is staying put for 2021, more than half of PFR’s readers anticipate that he’ll be traded between now and September.
Teams Inquiring On Lions’ No. 7 Pick
The Lions have discussed trades involving the No. 7 overall pick in next week’s draft, GM Brad Holmes says (via Kyle Meinke of MLive.com). Holmes, naturally, isn’t tipping his hand, but he’s not ruling out a move down the board if the right package comes along.
“Yes, there have been [trade] discussions with other teams,” Holmes said. “I will keep those in house, but yeah, there have been discussions.”
The Rams were active in the draft during Holmes’ tenure as the Rams’ college scouting director. That includes 2016, when the Rams went from No. 15 to No. 1 to select quarterback Jared Goff. Of course, Goff’s second contract didn’t necessarily work out for the Rams, but Holmes is hopeful that Goff can turn things around in Detroit. Meanwhile, he has an opportunity to either select Goff’s eventual successor at No. 7, move up to guarantee the availability of a preferred quarterback, or deal down to fortify other needs on the roster.
At least three of this year’s top quarterbacks will be gone by the time the Lions draft at No. 7, but Justin Fields and/or Trey Lance could be there for the taking. For his part, Holmes says he’s prepared for any scenario.
“Whenever you’re picking in the top 10, obviously it’s an extremely valuable pick, but it’s very exciting to be looking at this crop of players that would be worthy of selecting [there],” Holmes said. “Where I just came from, we weren’t really used to picking in the first round that much. So being up in the top 10 [is cool]. But at seven, we do have a cluster of players that we’re comfortable with picking. But at the same time, we would be very prepared and also willing to move in either direction. So we’re still open in those regards, but there is a cluster of players that we would be comfortable with.”
Holmes is playing it cool, but some execs sense that the Lions are eager to move down.