Category: NFL News

Six quarterbacks were selected in the top 12 picks of the 2024 NFL Draft, so these rookies will be under the microscope more than ever before. Their performance will be dissected in every which way, compared with their fellow rookies, rookies across NFL history, the rest of the league this season and, of course, the quarterbacks they are replacing. 

History tells us it’s a coin flip that they will outplay their predecessors as rookies. There have been 44 qualified seasons by rookie quarterbacks drafted in the first round since 2001. Twenty-three of them outplayed (or matched) their team’s quarterback from the previous season in terms of EPA (expected points added) per play. In 2023, C.J. Stroud blew the Texans’ previous quarterback (Davis Mills) out of the water. Justin Herbert had big shoes to fill in 2020, but he still matched Philip Rivers’ level of play. 

One of the more surprising items from this list was Zach Wilson outplaying Sam Darnold. That’s how bad the Jets’ quarterback play has been I suppose. In that same vein, I don’t think the Patriots would be too encouraged by Drake Maye slightly outperforming what Mac Jones did in 2023, but hey, it would be a step forward at least.

First-round rookie QBs who outperformed signal-caller they replaced

With that in mind, I’ve ranked the rookie class by most likely to outplay their predecessor. At least two or three should do it considering how low the bar is. Five of the six quarterbacks being replaced were among the league’s worst last year.

2024 rookie quarterbacks most likely to outplay predecessor

6. J.J. McCarthy, Vikings (Predecessor: Kirk Cousins)

J.J. McCarthy is the least-likely quarterback to outplay his predecessor, mostly because Kirk Cousins was a top-10 quarterback last year before he tore his Achilles in Week 8. McCarthy also has to beat out Sam Darnold for the starting job, and we’re not exactly sure what we’ll see out of McCarthy…

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Why Breer believes there’s ‘optimism’ 49ers will extend Aiyuk originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

While Brandon Aiyuk and the 49ers currently are in arduous contract negotiations, Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer believes there is reason for optimism that the two parties will agree to terms.

Speaking to Colin Cowherd on FS1’s “The Herd,” Breer explained why San Francisco fans should be hopeful that both sides will work out a new contract sometime soon.

“I think there are two things to give you some optimism that he could still be there [in San Francisco],” Breer said. “Number one is that they did get Christian McCaffrey [contract] done aggressively. And I think they had to do McCaffrey before they did Aiyuk because if you pay Aiyuk $29, $30 $31 million a year now the price of McCaffrey goes up, so you had to take care of him first.”

Breer went on to explain why he believes San Francisco wants to keep Aiyuk given his explosive skillset as a traditional wide receiver.

“The second thing is our mutual friend Mike Silver reported that they [offered] $26 million, that’s not that far off,” Breer told Cowherd. “And a lot of times these things get ugliest towards the end and the Deebo [Samuel] thing was not clean until it was at the very end.

“And I would tell you this, and I do feel strongly about this part, I think if you fed John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan truth serum and asked them who would you rather have on the roster, Deebo Samuel or Brandon Aiyuk moving forward I think they would answer Aiyuk.

“They love Deebo, Deebo can do a lot of different things for them, but Deebo is like a supercharged gadget player. Aiyuk is more of a typical number one receiver who can beat man coverage you can build an offense around.”

However, the NFL reporter also pointed out some possible situations where the team and the wideout could end up parting ways.

“So, do I think that they’re going to go to Justin Jefferson numbers to get Aiyuk signed? No,”…

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Another notable NFL player is expected to sign somewhere before the start of the 2024 season. Connor Williams, a veteran interior offensive lineman who played previously for the Dallas Cowboys and Miami Dolphins, is currently speaking with multiple teams as he looks to pick his new team before training camp, via ESPN. 

Williams, who suffered a season-ending ACL injury in Week 14 of the 2023 season, is expected to be ready for Week 1. Williams played in nine games last season for the Dolphins. 

The 50th overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, Williams started 10 games for Dallas at left guard in 2018. Williams’ blocking helped the Cowboys capture a playoff berth in addition to Ezekiel Elliott winning his second rushing title. He suffered a season-ending ACL injury in 2019 but returned to play in each of the Cowboys’ 16 regular-season games in 2020. 

Despite a solid 2021 season (he allowed the fewest pressures of any Cowboys linemen that season), Williams was given the chance to test the open market in 2022. He ultimately signed a two-year deal with the Dolphins, where he started…

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Bears make DeAndre Carter free agent signing official originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago

The Chicago Bears have made it official, signing return specialist DeAndre Carter to a one-year contract Tuesday.

Carter is expected to compete for a roster spot during training camp, with Velus Jones and Dante Pettis likely battling for the return role at Halas Hall.

In 17 games with the Las Vegas Raiders last season, Carter had 232 punt return yards and 262 kick return yards. He also caught four passes for 39 yards for the Raiders.

This will mark Carter’s second stint with the Bears, having appeared in four games with the team during the 2020 season. In that run, he had four punt returns for 30 yards.

He has averaged 22.4 yards per kick return in his career, with one touchdown to his credit.

The Bears’ kick return game is an area they want to strengthen after Jones averaged 27.2 yards per return last season on kickoffs. Trent Taylor had 23 punt returns for 188 yards, but signed with the San Francisco 49ers during the offseason.

The Bears did not have to make a corresponding roster move to add Carter to the 90-man roster.

Click here to follow the Under Center Podcast.

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The Chargers have signed second-round receiver Ladd McConkey to his four-year rookie deal.

Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that McConkey will receive the most guaranteed money in NFL history for the 34th overall pick.

The Chargers now have signed their entire nine-player 2024 draft class.

McConkey was the final second-round NFL pick to sign his rookie deal. Only seven first-rounders and two third-rounders remain unsigned.

Los Angeles, in need of receivers after parting ways with Mike Williams and Keenan Allen this offseason, traded up from No. 37 and also sent No. 110 to the Patriots in exchange for Nos. 34 and 137.

McConkey played 39 games with 21 starts at Georgia. He was a freshman All-SEC honoree in 2021 when he caught 31 passes for 447 yards with five touchdowns. He then caught 58 passes for 762 yards with seven touchdowns in 2022.

Dealing with multiple injuries in 2023, he had 30 receptions for 478 yards with two touchdowns.

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USATSI

Kansas City Chiefs defensive tackle Isaiah Buggs’ tumultuous offseason continued Sunday in Alabama after he was arrested and charged with both domestic violence and burglary by the Tuscaloosa County Sheriff’s Office.

Buggs, who is 27 years old, had his bond set at $5,000, but it is unclear if he has been bailed out at this point. He was also charged with two misdemeanors stemming from an animal cruelty case back in May. The Chiefs signed Buggs to their practice squad in January before re-signing him to a futures contract following their second Super Bowl win in a row in February.

The 6-foot-3, 306-pound defensive tackle entered the NFL as a sixth-round pick (192nd overall) by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 2019 NFL Draft. He was a Steeler for three years before being released in January of 2022. The Las Vegas Raiders signed him to their practice squad in January of 2022 before releasing him weeks later. The Detroit Lions picked him up later that summer, and he remained in Detroit until being cut in January of 2024. 

Buggs has totaled 89 tackles, two sacks, four tackles for loss, forced and recovered one fumble and deflected four passes in 56 career NFL games, 23 of which were starts. He isn’t the only Chiefs player who has had legal issues this offseason, as wide receiver Rashee Rice also has had multiple charges levied against him stemming from a crash that occurred because of his street racing participation in Dallas. 

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Malik Nabers has been the talk of the town throughout the Giants’ offseason program. 

The superstar wide receiver has been putting his game-changing talents on full display and he’s showing his new teammates exactly what they can expect from him over the course of his rookie campaign. 

While it’s still early on and we haven’t seen him in game action at the pro level yet, Nabers looks the part of Big Blue’s biggest outside weapon since another first-round LSU wideout in Odell Beckham Jr.

His new quarterback, Daniel Jones, has certainly been impressed with what he’s seen from the 20-year-old wide receiver. 

“He can be a tremendous weapon for us,” Jones said. “He can do everything, there isn’t much that he can’t do from a route-running standpoint. He is dynamic with the ball in his hands and strong, fast, explosive, catches the ball well, yeah he does a lot well.

“I think he’s had a really good spring, he looked good out there and made a lot of plays. You know, it takes time to make it work and get the timing down, and we’ll put that in.”

And it’s not just Jones who had a positive review about Nabers’ first few workouts, as head coach Brian Daboll has also liked with what he’s seen from the sixth overall pick, while also keeping things in perspective. 

“We thought he was a good player where we selected him,” he said. “He was a productive player at LSU but he still has a ways to go. It’s kind of what we talked about with the tight ends, he has to learn multiple positions, but he is making strides every day.”

After taking a step back and missing the playoffs last season, the Giants lost a pair of key starters as Saquon Barkley went to the division-rival Eagles and Xavier McKinney went to the Packers during the offseason. 

With that in mind, outside perception around Big Blue has been relatively low heading into this season, but Jones says the players in the locker room are expecting a lot out of themselves as always.

“We…

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Tee Higgins’ holdout with the Cincinnati Bengals appears to be reaching its end. The star wide receiver is signing his franchise tag on Saturday and is expected to be at training camp, according to ESPN. Higgins had been away from the team and did not attend mandatory minicamp as he currently seeks a contract extension. While this does end his holdout, this latest report also relays that the two sides agreeing on a long-term deal is considered a long shot. 

The Bengals placed the franchise tag on Higgins in late February, holding the 25-year-old from hitting the open market in free agency. Under the tag, Higgins will make $21.816 million fully guaranteed for the 2024 season. 

This turn of events has become somewhat common for the Bengals in recent seasons. After Higgins was tagged, it led to a trade request, which was not granted by the team and ultimately led to him signing his tender. That is a similar circumstance to prior Bengals players like safety Jessie Bates III and offensive tackle Jonah Williams. Bates’ situation somewhat mirrored Higgins’ as he was tagged by Cincinnati in 2022, which led to speculation about a possible trade. In the end, he signed the tag and played that season before departing in free agency. As for Williams, he requested a trade last offseason, but ended up staying with the team and played out the year before also leaving in free agency earlier this offseason. 

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