Vikings Notes: Adofo-Mensah, GM, Brandel
It looked like business as usual for the Vikings’ front office early in the winter. On the heels of a disappointing 9-8 campaign, general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah met with the media on Jan. 13 to discuss the upcoming offseason. At the time, sources inside and outside the organization believed his job was safe, according to an ESPN report. But Vikings owners Zygi Wilf and Mark Wilf were discussing Adofo-Mensah’s future behind the scenes, and they elected to fire him on Jan. 30.
Almost four full months since they moved on from Adofo-Mensah, the Vikings have not named a replacement. That was the plan all along, as they indicated upon firing Adofo-Mensah that a search would begin after the draft in late April.
Executive vice president of football operations Rob Brzezinski led the Vikings’ front office through the most important parts of the offseason as their interim GM. He is now one of five finalists for Adofo-Mensah’s old job, joining outside assistant GMs Reed Burckhardt (Broncos), Terrance Gray (Bills), John McKay (Rams) and Nolan Teasley (Seahawks).
The Vikings are likely to hire someone within a “couple of weeks,” per The Athletic’s Alec Lewis, who leaves the door open for the team changing its power structure. That is something the Wilfs have been reluctant to do. If it happens, though, it may mean promoting Brzezinski to a president of football operations-type role and hiring, in Lewis’ words, a “personnel guy” to work under him. The Falcons did that earlier in the offseason when they created a president of football position for Matt Ryan and brought in Ian Cunningham as their GM.
If Minnesota takes a similar tack, it is worth pointing out Burckhardt and Gray are former Vikings employees who have past working experience with Brzezinski. That might give either a leg up if the plan is to keep Brzezinski, who has been in the Vikings’ front office since 1999. Sources believe Brzezinski will stick around in some capacity, Lewis reports.
Turning to on-field matters, Brzezinski and head coach Kevin O’Connell saw starting center Ryan Kelly retire before free agency began in early March. Kelly had another season left on his two-year, $18MM deal, but the longtime Colt walked away in the wake of a concussion-filled 2025. The Vikings considered addressing the position in free agency and the early rounds of the draft, Lewis notes, but nothing came together. The inactivity at center is a positive development for holdover Blake Brandel, who is the favorite to take over for Kelly.
A Viking since they selected him in the sixth round of the 2020 draft, the versatile Brandel has played all over the line and picked up 31 starts in 73 appearances. He hasn’t missed a game since 2022, but last year was the first time Brandel primarily lined up at center. With Kelly out for most of the season, Brandel made nine starts and finished as Pro Football Focus’ 23rd-ranked center among 37 qualifiers. The Vikings seem confident in Brandel’s chances of holding down center on a full-time basis. Otherwise, they would have done more than add Gavin Gerhardt, whom they drafted in the seventh round.
Dolphins S Dante Trader Jr. In Lead For Starting Job
Minkah Fitzpatrick, Ashtyn Davis and Ifeatu Melifonwu logged the most playing time among Dolphins safeties last year, but all three are now off the roster. The rebuilding Dolphins traded Fitzpatrick to the AFC East rival Jets a couple of days before the new league year began in March. Davis and Melifonwu hit free agency the same week, but both remain unsigned two-plus months later.
With Fitzpatrick, Davis and Melifonwu out the door, rookie head coach Jeff Hafley and defensive coordinator Sean Duggan have to find new regulars at the position. While training camp is still two months away, Dante Trader Jr. looks like the frontrunner for a starting job, according to Omar Kelly of the Miami Herald. Trader has taken “significant” snaps at OTAs and impressed in practice, per Kelly.
In what turned out to be his last draft as the Dolphins’ general manager, Chris Grier took Trader in the fifth round (No. 155) in 2025. The former Maryland Terrapin was fourth in the Dolphins’ safety pecking order in a three-start rookie season, but he got into all 17 games, combined for 681 snaps (419 on defense, 262 on special teams) and made 55 tackles.
Trader finished as Pro Football Focus’ 68th-ranked safety among 91 qualifiers, wedging him between Melifonwu (53rd) and Davis (82nd). As Kelly notes, a shoulder injury hampered Trader for a portion of his rookie campaign. That is no longer an issue, evidenced by Trader’s three-interception performance in a recent practice.
Previously the Packers’ defensive coordinator, Hafley turned to safeties Xavier McKinney and Evan Williams as full-time starters last season. There is far less certainty on the back end of Miami’s defense, but it looks as if Trader will seize a starting role. He is not competing against a particularly strong group of contenders.
The Dolphins’ other options include safety/linebacker Jordan Colbert and newcomers Lonnie Johnson Jr., Zayne Anderson, Omar Brown, Michael Taaffe and Louis Moore. Johnson, Anderson and Brown were all inexpensive free agent pickups. The Dolphins made an NFL-high 13 picks in last month’s draft, but they did not prioritize safety. Taaffe, a fifth-rounder, was their lone selection at the position. They added Moore as an undrafted free agent.
Chargers Announce Coaching Promotions
The Chargers announced a number of staff promotions this week, including coordinator titles for three senior coaches.
Defensive line coach Mike Elston has added defensive run game coordinator to his title, and defensive backs coach Steve Clinkscale has taken on defensive passing game coordinator responsibilities. Both have been with Jim Harbaugh for at least four years having held similar roles at Michigan before coming to Los Angeles in 2024.
Clinkscale interviewed for the Chargers’ defensive coordinator job this offseason but was passed over for Chris O’Leary. His new title bump is somewhat of a consolation prize that could help him get attention for other teams’ DC vacancies next year, should he have such ambitions. Elston certainly does not. He revealed this week that he turned down an interview to replace outgoing DC Jesse Minter and prefers to remain a defensive line coach for the foreseeable future.
The Chargers gave quarterbacks coach Shane Day an offensive passing game coordinator role. He was considered for a promotion to offensive coordinator in Los Angeles was well as the same job on John Harbaugh‘s inaugural staff in New York. Day was a senior offensive assistant in Houston during C.J. Stroud‘s 2023 breakout season and oversaw Justin Herbert‘s career-best efficiency in 2024. Last year, of course, was greatly impacted by the team’s offensive line injuries, which dragged down Herbert’s numbers significantly.
The Chargers also promoted Mike Hiestand from defensive assistant to defensive run game specialist. He will continue his work with the team’s front seven in that role. Additionally, offensive assistant Josh Hammond is now Los Angeles’ assistant wide receivers/assistant special teams coach.
No Timeline For Steelers’ Broderick Jones
Steelers offensive tackle Broderick Jones is facing plenty of uncertainty as he enters the final season of his four-year rookie contract. While Jones was the Steelers’ starting left tackle for the first time in 2025, a neck injury ended his season in November and limited him to 11 games. The 6-foot-5, 311-pounder is now working back from spinal-fusion surgery, but he is unsure when he will return.
“They didn’t really give me a timeline,” Jones said (via Chris Harlan of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review). “They’re just monitoring it day by day, and we go from there.”
Jones’ surgery has been a major part of an eventful offseason for the former first-rounder. The Steelers traded up to select Jones 14th overall in 2023, but they have not seen enough to commit to him for the long haul. The team declined his $19.07MM fifth-year option for 2027 in April, the same month it drafted yet another first-round offensive tackle.
The Steelers were so confident they were going to pick receiver Makai Lemon 21st overall that they called the ex-USC star before they were on the clock. But the Eagles suddenly swooped in for Lemon in a trade-up to No. 20, dashing the Steelers’ plans. Pittsburgh then pivoted to former Arizona State right tackle Max Iheanachor.
The Steelers took Iheanachor after deploying Jones as a starter for most of his first three seasons. He logged perfect attendance in his first two years and racked up 27 starts on the right side along the way. The Steelers lost left tackle Dan Moore Jr. to the Titans in free agency after 2024, and they decided to shift Jones to the blind side as his replacement. It wasn’t a seamless transition, as Pro Football Focus ranked Jones’ performance an unimpressive 66th among 84 tackles and charged him with six sacks allowed. That continued a disappointing trend for Jones, who has never cracked PFF’s top 60 in a season.
Along with Jones and Iheanachor, the Steelers have Troy Fautanu in the fold as another recent first-round tackle. Fautanu, the 20th pick in 2024, took over as the club’s starting right tackle last year. He was a standout left tackle during his college career at Washington, though, and has gotten work on that side this offseason. A full-time shift is “up in the air,” according to Fautanu, but if it happens, it could relegate Jones to a backup role. That would depend on whether the Steelers are confident Iheanachor (or Dylan Cook) can start in Week 1. At the latest, Iheanachor should emerge as a full-time starter by 2027. It’s fair to say Pittsburgh didn’t draft him in the first round to sit the bench for multiple years.
To Jones’ credit, he has welcomed Iheanachor with open arms.
“I’m down to help Max wherever he needs me,” Jones told Harlan. “Because at the end of the day, all of us got to be ready.”
In a best-case scenario, Jones will be ready for training camp. That would give him a chance to retain a starting gig in what may end up as his last season as a Steeler. If the soon-to-be 26-year-old wins a job on either side and performs well in the wake of a significant injury, he could earn a nice second contract in free agency next March.
Steelers QB Aaron Rodgers’ Incentives Based On Playing Time, Playoff Success
Aaron Rodgers‘ new contract with the Steelers includes $22MM in fully guaranteed money with an additional $3MM available via incentives and other bonuses, per
Rodgers is almost certainly going to receive his two roster bonuses, worth $250K each. The first is due on August 7 for being on the 90-man roster, per Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer; the second will be earned if he is on the roster for Week 1 of the regular season.
The rest of Rodgers’ potential earnings can come via a set of four incentives worth $625K apiece for winning playoff games. For all of them, he must have played at least 75% of Pittsburgh’s regular-season snaps. The first incentive is for winning a wild-card game or receiving a first-round bye and going up through the divisional, championship, and Super Bowl rounds of the playoffs. He must play 50% of the snaps in all of those games, with an obvious exception for a first-round bye.
The structure of Rodgers’ 2026 deal is very different than last year’s $13.65MM deal that included a $10MM signing bonus and almost $6MM in incentives. The 42-year-old did not receive any signing bonus this time around with his $22MM salary instead making up his guaranteed money.
In 2025, Rodgers’ incentives were based on playing at least 70% of the Steelers’ offensive snaps during the regular season with $500K available for making the postseason and escalating incentives for each playoff win. Another $1.5MM was available for winning the MVP, which would have been the fifth of his career.
Rodgers only hit the first incentive, which was considered ‘Likely To Be Earned’ and therefore counted against Pittsburgh’s salary cap in 2025. None of his incentives in 2026 are LTBE, so any that he earns will count against the 2026 cap.
Examining Fallout From Matthew Stafford’s Fourth NFL Extension
For a third straight offseason, the Rams have adjusted Matthew Stafford's contract. Unlike the past two years, the latest move represents a full-on extension rather than a rework. The 2024 and '25 changes provided some extra security for Stafford, but this one-year, $55MM pact will set him apart in NFL contract history.
The reigning NFL MVP is no longer in a contract year, and he has now become the rare player to sign four extensions (two with the Lions, two as a Ram). This was a long-expected conclusion, though the new timeline will create some questions. Once viewed as a player Los Angeles was open to trading -- after a concerning 2022 season -- Stafford boosted his leverage with strong mid-2020s showings. A year after the Rams balked at authorizing a $50MM-per-year contract, Stafford secured one -- albeit a deal structured differently than any other in this NFL salary bracket.
Several short- and long-term components are part of this negotiating endpoint, one that provides the first construction of the Rams' Ty Simpson onramp.
Stafford breaks new contractual ground
The NFL has now seen 14 $50MM-per-year contracts designed (15 if Patrick Mahomes' 2023 rework is included). Multiple facets separate Stafford from the pack. All but three of those contracts covered at least five years in length. Dak Prescott, armed with historic leverage, managed a four-year extension in 2024. That came two years after the Packers started the $50MM-per-year club with a three-year Aaron Rodgers extension. The Texans just gave Will Anderson Jr. a three-year, $150MM pact to make the edge rusher the first non-QB in this exclusive contingent. None of the previous $50MM-AAV players even scored a two-year deal.
Jacoby Brissett, Cardinals Far Apart In Contract Talks
The Cardinals signed Gardner Minshew and drafted Carson Beck in the third round, but the team still views Jacoby Brissett as its starter. Contract negotiations are ongoing, but they aren’t in a great place.
Brissett and the Cardinals are “significantly” apart on terms as the sides discuss a reworked deal, ESPN.com’s Josh Weinfuss reports. Brissett, Arizona’s primary 2025 starter, is tied to a two-year deal worth $12.5MM. Just $1.5MM guaranteed remains on that pact, however. That number trails projected backup Minshew’s $5.14MM guarantee at signing.
As Cardinals OTAs began this week, Brissett has been absent with negotiations ongoing. The journeyman passer has been seeking a starter-level extension. While Brissett is tied to backup money — after he signed to be the 2025 Cards’ QB2 behind Kyler Murray — Arizona is in a clear transitional phase. Brissett is prepared to miss more OTA time during these talks, according to ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler.
The Cardinals will likely be connected to the 2027 quarterback class in the near future, and Brissett and Minshew are in place as bridges. The Beck pick is unlikely to stop the Cardinals from a high-stakes QB research project before the 2027 draft, but it stands to reason Mike LaFleur‘s team will want to see the Miami prospect in action as a rookie to gather more information.
Trading either Brissett or Minshew before the deadline would make sense, as the Cardinals may not need two veteran bridge options this season. As PFR’s Ely Allen noted recently, Beck was viewed by some evaluators as this draft class’ most pro-ready QB prospect. He will turn 25 before season’s end. With Minshew signing with the Cardinals after LaFleur’s hire, Brissett could well become the team’s preferred trade chip. But tepid interest has emerged thus far.
Brissett, 33, has not been tied to a deal worth more than $8MM per year since his Colts tenure ended in 2021. He has since played for five teams, with the Cardinals the only club authorizing a two-year pact in that span. Brissett played with the Colts from 2017-20, yoyoing between the starter and backup levels, but stopped through Miami, Cleveland, Washington and New England between 2021-24. He started 12 games last year, after Murray went down with an injury, and went 1-11 in those starts. Brissett did sport a 23:8 TD-INT ratio and finish with a career-best 64.9% completion rate, and his camp will surely emphasize these points in this renegotiation.
For now, the Cardinals have Minshew and Beck taking reps in the voluntary portion of their offseason program. While Arizona OTAs will continue past this week, the next notable chapter here may be mandatory minicamp in June. Brissett may be costing himself by not taking reps in LaFleur’s offense before that point, but for the time being, he is viewed as the Cardinals’ starter. Team and player, however, have differing views on how much that should cost in 2026.
Assessing Steelers’ QB Hierarchy Under Aaron Rodgers
After much ado, veteran quarterback Aaron Rodgers returned to the Steelers on a new deal last weekend then, shortly after, announced his plans to retire following the 2026 NFL season. Both bits of news could influence the makeup of the quarterbacks room moving forward in Pittsburgh, and the possibilities of who might be the odd man out are extremely interesting.
Rodgers is clearly the starter, as he returns for his 22nd season of NFL play, but in his return, he joined an existing three-man group. New head coach Mike McCarthy is surely thrilled to be reunited with his longtime quarterback from the pair’s time in Green Bay together, but he has routinely carried no more than three quarterbacks on the active roster in any given year, sometimes going with two but sticking with three a majority of the time. With Rodgers in tow, it now becomes a question of which of the other three will be the odd man out.
The three likely competing for two spots are veteran backup Mason Rudolph, 2025 sixth-round pick Will Howard, and rookie third-round pick Drew Allar. While a couple of combinations seem like obvious favorites, there are several arguments that make this an intriguing battle to watch.
One seemingly obvious conclusion would be that Rudolph must be one of the two backups; in fact, it would be a reasonable presumption to say that he should be the primary backup. Since being taken in the third round out of Oklahoma State eight years ago, Rudolph has appeared in 34 games, starting 19 but never functioning as QB1 for a team. He’s shown over time that he can keep a team afloat, but a limited ceiling is likely going to keep him from being the man to eventually take the reins from Rodgers.
According to Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Rudolph believes Rodgers’ presence bodes well for him. With Rodgers, he sees the Steelers as a “win now” team that could ride Rodgers off into the sunset on top. If they’re going all in on this one season to “win now,” they would need an experienced backup, in case Rodgers can’t make it all the way from start to finish. Fortunately for Rudolph, Howard and Allar have combined for zero NFL snaps as of today, and it’s hard to imagine the team would feel comfortable with either youngster coming off the bench right now in place of Rodgers.
Bucking against the obvious presumption, McCarthy, who has a penchant for developing quarterbacks, has expressed his preference for molding younger, less experienced arms. “I love the young guys, especially when you get them when they’re just starting out,” McCarthy said at rookie minicamp (per ESPN’s Brooke Pryor).
If that’s the case, then the argument could be made for holding on to the younger pair of backups. Howard has a slight advantage over Allar, having been on the team for a year longer, but Howard’s rookie-year redshirt was essentially a medical redshirt, keeping him away from many of the things that would’ve provided him a familiar edge over Allar. If McCarthy likes passers who are “just starting out,” Allar may be his perfect canvas. The Penn State-product didn’t even start playing the position until high school, and though he oozes potential, a lot of production failed to make it to the field in Happy Valley.
A Steelers correspondent on The Pat McAfee Show, Mark Kaboly seemed pretty of convinced of how things might shake out. He started with the obvious route, slotting Rodgers in at QB1 and Rudolph in as his experienced backup. Then, when choosing between Howard and Allar for the third spot, Kaboly opted for the higher-drafted Allar, who also has more years of team control remaining on his contract. Kaboly thinks this route also gives Pittsburgh its strongest chance to retain all four guys. Either young player would be placed on waivers, if cut, and be at risk of any team claiming them. Howard stands the best chance of clearing waivers to land on the practice squad, while Allar would likely draw a decent number of claims as a third-round pick with potential.
In a surprising update from just a couple days ago, though, Pryor reported that, at early practice activities, Howard has been taking QB2 reps over both Allar and Rudolph. As a third-round pick this year under McCarthy, it seems highly unlikely that Allar would be going anywhere, so Rudolph may just end up being the odd man out. We’d likely need to see this stack with much more consistency before truly believing that Howard has surpassed Rudolph on the depth chart, but it’s great experience for the Ohio State-product regardless.
To see where Rodgers’ retirement plans come into effect, one must fast forward a year. Further supporting the potential hierarchy Pryor noted, the notion Pittsburgh might move forward with Rudolph as the starter next year is highly unlikely. If it turns out the Steelers are not as competitive as they hope to be in Rodgers’ final year, McCarthy and Co. may be interested in seeing what they have in their younger arms.
There is so much time that will transpire before anything definitive decisions need to be made. Injuries or trades may make the team’s decision for them, or one of the three contenders could start to steal the show and run away with the job. While Rodgers is obviously the star of the room, it will be very interesting to see how the battle behind him plays out.
Jimmy Haslam Played ‘Active Role’ In Browns’ 2022 Deshaun Watson Trade
No NFL transaction has defined a team’s 2020s on a level in which the Deshaun Watson trade/extension sequence shaped the Browns’ decade. The catastrophic misstep has produced nothing resembling Watson’s Texans form and is poised to clog Cleveland’s cap sheet through 2028.
Although Watson is only under contract for one more season, the Browns’ spree of restructures on the QB’s deal have them positioned to designate the high-priced player as a post-June 1 cut in 2027. That is projected to spread $86.2MM in dead money between 2027 and 2028, running the Watson contract’s time on Cleveland’s payroll to seven years.
Not long after the Browns made the decision to part with three first-round picks, two third-rounders and a fourth for Watson and a sixth, Jimmy Haslam said GM Andrew Berry devised the plan to give the quarterback a fully guaranteed contract. That offer rocketed the Browns back in the Watson sweepstakes, after he previously eliminated them during a process that appeared set to produce a Falcons commitment from the Georgia native. But the five-year, $230MM pact swayed the embattled passer.
That became a massive mistake on the Browns’ part. The team’s decision to part with the assets it did — as the first team to trade three future firsts for a QB since the 1976 49ers (Jim Plunkett) — and sign off on the fully guaranteed deal has made it widely viewed as the worst transaction in NFL history. Haslam even said last year the Watson trade was a “swing and miss,” though the owner walked that back a bit this offseason — as an interesting push for the QB to start again has taken place.
Although Berry was the front office point man at the time Watson was acquired, an ESPN.com report indicates Haslam played an “active role” in doing background work that led to the trade. Haslam, who famously pushed for the Browns’ Johnny Manziel pick in the 2014 first round, obviously needed to approve the historic transaction. But the owner being part of the process that led to it offers an interesting wrinkle in this seminal move, even if he credited/blamed Berry for hatching the scheme to convince Watson to commit to Cleveland.
Haslam doing background work is also not especially surprising, considering Watson had been hit with dozens of sexual misconduct allegations over the previous year, but this piece of information does shine a light on ownership influence in the NFL. Two of the Browns’ three playoff berths since respawning in 1999 have come during the Haslam era, but the organization also completed an astonishing 4-44 stretch during Haslam’s first decade in charge — a period that brought a run of GM and HC changes. The Browns have followed their 2023 playoff berth with an 8-26 record.
The Browns had not extended a head coach or general manager under Haslam until he authorized re-ups for Berry and Kevin Stefanski in 2024. Haslam has since fired Stefanski, making the interesting move to keep Berry at the helm despite his fingerprints being on the Watson disaster. It is worth wondering how active the owner was in bringing Watson to Ohio; Berry remaining on the job four-plus years after that trade would seem to suggest the GM was not solely responsible for the decision.
Berry said in 2024 Browns brass was aligned on the Watson trade. Stefanski had said earlier that season, before Watson’s first Achilles tear, he was not being forced by ownership to keep starting the wildly ineffective QB. Watson spent the 2025 season, after a second Achilles tear, out of the picture but has moved back to the forefront in Cleveland thanks to his competition with Shedeur Sanders for the Browns’ QB job. Haslam’s fingerprints on the team’s 2026 QB plan make for an interesting storyline to follow as the Browns enter what is likely their final year with Watson on the roster.
AFC West Notes: Chiefs, Mahomes, Broncos, Coleman, Bolts, Raiders, Gruden
Brett Veach has been given considerable credit for the Chiefs‘ plan to acquire Patrick Mahomes during the 2017 draft, though John Dorsey pulled the trigger on the trade-up move that gave Kansas City access to the future superstar. The Chiefs traded a 2017 third-round pick and their 2018 first-rounder to move from No. 27 to No. 10 (via the Bills) for the Texas Tech prospect. Plenty has changed about the organization’s trajectory since. During the process that produced the momentous K.C. trade-up, CEO Clark Hunt watched film of the prospect — then viewed as a high-variance raw talent — and deviated from his stance against trading future firsts, according to ESPN.com.
The Chiefs had not traded a future first-rounder since acquiring Trent Green from the Rams just before the 2001 draft. As Mahomes’ trajectory became clear early in his career, however, Hunt has signed off on two such trades. The team sent the Seahawks its 2019 first in the Frank Clark deal and included its 2021 first in the package to land Orlando Brown Jr. After waiting behind Alex Smith as a rookie, Mahomes zoomed to MVP honors after his best statistical season before powering the Chiefs to five Super Bowls and three titles during his 20s.
Here is the latest from the AFC West:
- The team that ended the Chiefs’ nine-year run of AFC West championships did not make a pick until the third round this year. The Broncos did make two fourth-round choices, the first being Washington running back Jonah Coleman. A key reason the Broncos tabbed the 5-foot-8, 220-pound back at No. 108 stems from his pass-protection skills. Denver brass viewed Coleman as this draft’s top pass-pro back, ESPN.com’s Jeff Legwold notes. Coleman drew interest from other teams, including the Chiefs, but fell to Round 4 because of concerns about his knee. The Broncos acknowledged Coleman’s knee injected risk into the proceedings but deemed it one worth taking. Coleman will develop behind J.K. Dobbins and RJ Harvey as a rookie.
- Three picks later, Denver drafted offensive lineman Kage Casey. Starting three seasons at left tackle at Boise State, Casey looks to be making his Broncos-to-Broncos transition at a different primary position. Denver lined Casey up at left guard during its rookie minicamp, The Athletic’s Nick Kosmider notes. Sean Payton said Casey could also help at center, but his LG placement is notable due to both Ben Powers being in a contract year and the team re-signing Powers backup Alex Palczewski to a two-year, $9.5MM deal. Casey also should be expected to cross-train at tackle, as the Broncos have two 30-somethings — Garett Bolles and Mike McGlinchey — at those spots.
- The Chargers carried nearly $100MM in cap space into free agency but did not spend wildly. That restraint should be expected in future offseasons, with third-year GM Joe Hortiz indicating (via ESPN.com’s Kris Rhim) the Bolts are unlikely to be big spenders on outside talent under this regime. “I just believe in building through the draft and I believe in paying the players you know,” Hortiz said. Considering Hortiz’s extensive Ravens past, his ideology adds up. The Ravens are not typically big FA spenders, and they hoard compensatory picks. The Chargers did authorize three eight-figure-per-year deals in free agency (for Khalil Mack, Teair Tart and Tyler Biadasz), but only Biadasz was an outside addition.
- The Raiders are partially in the state they are because of free agency and draft misses during Jon Gruden‘s second run as head coach. One of those misses came on Clelin Ferrell, whom Gruden and then-GM Mike Mayock chose fourth overall despite most mocks having the defensive end going several picks later. The Raiders’ initial plan was to trade down and grab Ferrell later, per then-DC Paul Guenther (via The Athletic’s Zak Keefer), but the team “panicked” and went with the Clemson product at 4. The Raiders soon saw fourth-rounder Maxx Crosby outplay him. Two years later, the Raiders missed badly on first-round tackle Alex Leatherwood. Ahead of that draft, Keefer notes the Raiders had a strange setup in which Gruden’s staff and Mayock’s scouting group were each siloed and produced separate draft boards. The coaches’ board won out on Leatherwood, with Keefer indicating then-O-line coach Tom Cable talked Gruden into the Alabama blocker (whom Las Vegas cut in 2022).