Category: NFL News

After nine years with the Raiders, Derek Carr went through his first season on a different team with the Saints in 2023.

The club finished 9-8, winning four of its last five games to challenge for a postseason berth.

Carr started all 17 games, completing 68 percent of his passes for 3,878 yards with 25 touchdowns with eight interceptions. But while Carr was available for every game, it wasn’t necessarily easy for him to get through those contests, as G.M. Mickey Loomis noted in a recent interview with SiriusXM NFL Radio.

“Look, one thing that’s been understated — it’s on purpose — is Derek had a pretty tough year last year, physically,” Loomis said. “He got rocked pretty good in the Green Bay game and it took a number of games for him to get feeling like himself. And, look, he played through it. He’s as tough as they come. But it affected him, particularly in the middle part of our season.

“I thought he played really well toward the end. He got comfortable with the receivers and the skill position guys we have. And we’ve got to do a better job of protecting him as well.”

Loomis added that like anyone would be, Carr appears more comfortable as he enters his second year in the building. Though the Saints brought in a new offensive coordinator in Klint Kubiak, the Saints have plenty of continuity for Carr to fall back on.

“[T]he surroundings are more familiar, the coaches are more familiar, the environment that we have in our building is familiar,” Loomis said. “So, I think the arrow is up and we’re excited about what Derek brings to the table. And I know he’s excited.

“Look, it’s hard to take that leadership role when you first come into a building — no matter how good you are, no matter what position you have. So now a year in, he’s going to feel more comfortable about the leadership that you need from the quarterback and we’re expecting great things.”

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No reason to get cute here. Like that other figurehead of a recent dynasty, Mahomes has adapted according to circumstance, going from big-play striker to methodical sharpshooter in a Tom Brady-esque domination of the game. He is the current and indefinite standard at the position.2

Let’s give the kid the respect he deserves. Two seasons, two NFC title games, one valiant Super Bowl effort. Does he have a sterling setup in San Francisco? Yep. Does he operate like a 10-year vet, managing the pocket as both an efficient and mobile gunslinger? Also yep.3

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Patriots GM search: Tracking news, rumors about open position originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

The New England Patriots have begun their search for the next leader of their football operations department.

Director of scouting Eliot Wolf has operated as New England’s de facto general manager since Bill Belichick’s departure in January. Wolf was the primary decision-maker during NFL free agency as well as the draft, which saw the Patriots select the potential next face of the franchise in quarterback Drake Maye third overall.

Unsurprisingly, our Phil Perry reports that Wolf is the “overwhelming favorite” to be officially named the Patriots’ next primary football executive. However, the Patriots must abide by the Rooney Rule, which states that all NFL teams must interview at least two minority candidates for head coach, general manager, and executive positions.

Until the Patriots announce their next front-office leader, you can stay up to date on all of the rumored candidates with our tracker below:

🔊 Patriots Talk: Patriots have opened their head-scratching GM search | Listen & Subscribe | Watch on YouTube

May 7: The MMQB’s Albert Breer reports the Patriots are interviewing Philadelphia Eagles director of scouting Brandon Hunt for the position.

The Patriots are interviewing Eagles director of scouting Brandon Hunt for their primary football executive position tomorrow in Foxboro, per sources. It’s the first known external interview New England has conducted for the job.

— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) May 7, 2024

May 7: Buffalo Bills director of player personnel Terrance Gray turned down the Patriots’ offer to interview for the primary football executive position, per The MMQB’s Albert Breer.

The Patriots reached out to interview Bills director of player personnel Terrance Gray for their primary football executive position, per sources, and Gray politely turned them down.

Eliot Wolf’s the expected hire, but New England still has to satisfy NFL rules on…

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The 2024 NFL Draft was stacked with offensive talent, but initial impressions of next year’s class suggest that the pool may be more shallow. The first defensive prospect to be taken will not have to wait until No. 15 overall to hear their name called as they did this year. 

Here are 10 of the best prospects on the offensive side of the ball:

1. QB Carson Beck, Georgia

Georgia was one of the better teams in college football during the first half of last season but no one was crediting their success to Beck. As the season progressed, it was clear that Beck was becoming more comfortable in the offense post-Stetson Bennett and taking his game to another level. He could have slipped into the first round of last month’s draft, but there is a higher ceiling for him to reach with another year of experience under his belt. 

Beck (6-foot-4, 220) completed 72.4% of his passes for 3,941 yards, 24 touchdowns and six interceptions. The Florida native had the 10th-highest third-down conversion percentage on passes (46.2), per TruMedia. His running style is more so survival instincts rather than dynamic ability. 

2. OT Will Campbell, LSU

Campbell’s quarterback, Jayden Daniels, may have gone on to be the No. 2 overall selection in the 2024 NFL Draft, but his obligations to the program will carry on for another season. The bayou left tackle is patient in pass protection and possesses tremendous strength. He does a good job with hand placement. Campbell struggled against the outside hand from the game’s best pass rushers like Jared Verse and Dallas Turner, but another season of experience will serve him well. 

3. OT Kelvin Banks Jr., Texas

Banks has total control of his body in that he adjusts his hands and feet when engaged in pass protection. The former 5-star recruit from Texas has good foot quickness to get out of his stance and onto the front side of run schemes. There are moments when Banks will…

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PHILADELPHIA — Mekhi Becton is getting a chance to resurrect his career with the Philadelphia Eagles. Could the former first-round pick be learning a new position?

The Eagles solidified their tackle depth when adding Becton, but have an opening at right guard. Philadelphia isn’t committed to anything regarding the vacancy. 

“We obviously have a lot of time to figure out who the top five guys are,” Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni said at the NovaCare Complex. “He’s played tackle, obviously, as everybody knows. He’ll start there and then we’ll see what happens.”

The Eagles didn’t rule out the possibility of Becton moving to guard — or learning the position — this offseason. The franchise didn’t select an interior offensive lineman early in the draft nor have they made a commitment to a starter like they did with Cam Jurgens last offseason.

Even though Nick Sirianni wouldn’t publicly admit Jurgens was the right guard, Jurgens took all the first-team reps in training camp and stayed at the position all year. With Jurgens moving over to center in the wake of Jason Kelce’s retirement, there’s an opening at right guard.

Who are the candidates to play right guard in 2024? 

The 2023 third-round pick is the front runner for the job this offseason. Steen didn’t have a great debut at guard last season, allowing five pressures in 39 pass-blocking snaps (12.8% pressure rate per dropback). In his one start at right guard (Week 9 vs. Cowboys), Steen allowed a 15.6% pressure rate per dropback. 

A full offseason should help Steen, but expect him to rotate with other candidates in right guard during minicamp and training camp. 

Hennessy has starting experience at center and was supposed to be the starting left guard for the Atlanta Falcons last season before a knee injury sidelined him for the year. The versatile Hennessy provides good interior offensive line depth, but will be in…

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Ravens General Manager Eric DeCosta knows the value of trading down in the NFL draft and getting additional picks, but he saw more value in cornerback Nate Wiggins.

The Ravens turned down eight trade offers from teams trying to move up before they stayed at No. 30 and drafted Wiggins with their first-round pick, according to Jamison Hensley of ESPN.

DeCosta said Wiggins was a player the Ravens identified early in the draft process, and that they weren’t expecting him to still be on the board after 29 picks. When he was, picking him was an easy choice.

“For us, it was always, ‘If Nate [is] there, we [are] going to pick,’” DeCosta said. “In our opinion, [he’s] a guy that can be a true shutdown-type corner.”

Wiggins was First-Team All-ACC at Clemson last year and was the fastest cornerback at the Combine, but at 6-foot-1 and 173 pounds, some questioned whether he’s too skinny for the NFL. Ravens defensive coordinator Zach Orr, however, has no questions.

“On tape, I didn’t see anything about him being undersized as anything that we critiqued,” Orr said. “He flew up, set the edge in the run game, played physical with receivers at the line of scrimmage, came up, tackled, getting the ball off people. So he played like a Raven. We have no concerns about that at all.”

If the Ravens had any concerns, they would have accepted one of those trade offers and moved down. But with Wiggins available, they wanted to stay right where they were.

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Tom Brady made plenty of history on the field during his NFL career, and now, it looks like he’s going to be making some history off the field. 

The seven-time Super Bowl winner is going to be roasted on Netflix on Sunday night in what the streaming company is calling “The Greatest Roast of All-Time.” The difference between this roast and other roasts is that it will be airing live and uncensored, which will make it the first time in history that a roast has aired live and unedited on television or streaming, according to Netflix. 

Here’s what you need to know: 

Time: 8 p.m. ETDate: Sunday, May 5Location: Los Angeles ForumStreamer: Netflix

Although Netflix hasn’t announced the full list of people who will be roasting Brady, several names have been leaked out. Randy Moss, Julian Edelman, Drew Bledsoe and Rob Gronkowski will all be their to roast their former quarterback, according to ESPN.com. Former Patriots coach Bill Belichick is also expected to be roasting Brady, according to NFL.com. That should be fun to watch. 

Netflix has also revealed that Kevin Hart will serve as the host.

It’s also worth noting that Jeff Ross is producing — and he appears in the trailer above — so it obviously won’t be surprising if he takes part in the roast. The special will include “a surprise team of roasters from the comedy, sports and entertainment world,” so you can expect a lot of people to be making fun of Brady. 

“I played in the NFL, so I’m not worried about a bunch of comedians, trust me,” Brady said Monday during an interview with TODAY. 

If you want the full list of names of who will be roasting Brady, you’ll have to watch the show because Netflix is keeping most of it under wraps so that it’s a surprise for Brady when he takes the stage on May 5. 

The roast is a part of Netflix’s annual “Netflix Is A Joke Fest,” which will be running from May 2 thru 12 this year….

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The UFL is struggling to put fans in the stands in seven of the cities where it plays. In one, the stands are packed.

For the third time in three home games, the St. Louis Battlehawks attracted more than 30,000 fans.

Via Mike Mitchell of SI.com, 32,969 showed up for Saturday’s 22-8 win over the Houston Roughnecks. It was the fifth win in a row for the Battlehawks.

Separately, 38,559 went to a Cardinals game at Busch Stadium on Saturday.

It raises the question of whether St. Louis should have an NFL team again. In 1960, St. Louis attracted the Cardinals from Chicago. After the Cardinals left for Arizona in 1988, St. Louis got the Rams to come to Missouri in 1995. Twenty years later — after persistent lying by the Rams and the NFL regarding the team’s intentions — the Rams went back to L.A. And St. Louis secured a $790 million settlement due in part to the tangled web of untruths.

More time might need to pass before the NFL would ever want to return to St. Louis, because anyone that ever has to pay that kind of money finds a way to blame someone other than themselves for the outcome. In turn, St. Louis might not yet be in the mood to welcome back the NFL, given its experience in the final days with the Rams.

At some point, St. Louis should be an option. Especially if St. Louis loves football enough to support the devotion of taxpayer money to the construction of a stadium.

They were willing to do it with the Rams, but owner Stan Kroenke was hellbent on moving to L. A. They might not be willing to do it again, in part because no city currently seems to be willing to do it.

Regardless, if the NFL wants to play in a place where asses will be in seats, it needs to be taking St. Louis seriously.

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