Category: NFL News

DALLAS, Texas —  The Dallas Cowboys 2024 offseason has felt different than offseasons past for a variety of reasons.

For the first time in the their string of three consecutive 12-win seasons, Dallas was humiliated in the postseason with a 48-32 faceplant of a defeat against the seventh-seeded Green Bay Packers. The previous two years ended with one possession losses against the San Francisco 49ers. 

Another cause for a different feel around the Cowboys this time of year was of course the shift from owner and general manager Jerry Jones saying Dallas would be  “all in” to then saying they are going to “get it done with less” after letting many starters walk in free agency and mostly re-signing their own depth players. Veteran 32-year-old linebacker Erick Kendricks signing a one-year deal is the crown jewel of the Cowboys’ 2024 offseason. 

Much of the blame for the Cowboys spending an NFL-low $13.7 million in free agency and just under $20 million less than the next cheapest team — the New Orleans Saints ($32.2 million) — per OverTheCap.com, is their inability to get 2023 Second-Team All-Pro quarterback Dak Prescott and 2023 First-Team All-Pro wide receiver CeeDee Lamb re-signed to new deals to spread out their cap hits. The inability to do so and the subsequent inactivity surprises even Cowboys Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman. 

“That would probably be fair,” Aikman said Friday at the Children’s Cancer Fund’s “A Knight to Remember” gala when asked if he was surprised about the Cowboys’ offseason inactivity. “I thought they would have taken care of Dak already. You guys follow it closer than I do. I don’t know what the game plan is. I know that everyone concluded a lot about Jerry’s comments in Mobile about being all in  and what that might look like, so I think it’s caught a lot of people by surprise. … I do think there’s a lot of scrutiny every offseason with every…

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From Maye to Harrison, what Red Sox would do with Patriots’ No. 3 pick originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

If baseball players have a second sport, it’s generally football. That’s partly because so many of them hail from areas of the country where pigskin is king – Texas, Florida, anywhere in the SEC – and also because the skills overlap, but the seasons don’t.

It should come as no surprise, then, that a good chunk of the Red Sox clubhouse follows college football as religiously as New Englanders drink Dunkin’. They’re glued to their TVs on fall Saturdays, and they know their Troy Fautanus from their Taliese Fuagas in the battle of Pacific Northwest tackles.

As such, a number of Red Sox players are enjoying the same pastime as the rest of us, wondering what the Patriots might do with the No. 3 pick in next week’s draft. And they don’t lack for opinions.

From the debate of Jayden Daniels vs. Drake Maye vs. J.J. McCarthy at quarterback, to advocates for Marvin Harrison Jr., to one Georgia boy going off the board in favor of Bulldogs tight end Brock Bowers, they have thoughts on what the Patriots should do, and they don’t mind throwing on their NFL GM hats for a minute and pretending they have all the answers.

“If you get a top-five pick, you’ve got to get a guy that’s going to change the game,” said shortstop Trevor Story last month.

Here is how a few of the Red Sox would approach the draft if they were the Patriots.

Justin Slaten: J.J. McCarthy, QB, Michigan

The Rule 5 right-hander who’s off to an excellent start is a Texas native but a Packers fan with strong feelings about how the Patriots should draft and develop a QB. His first order of business would be sitting the pick behind veteran Jacoby Brissett.

“These quarterbacks at the top, Caleb Williams is the only one where you feel like he could come in on Day 1 and go,” he said. “The other guys, I feel like they’re going to have to sit and learn for a little bit. I’m a Packers fan, so I’m biased to that…

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We won’t know this right away, but despite hype that leads to prospects being picked in Round 1 of the 2024 NFL Draft, a small grouping of selections will go much too early. This happens in every single draft class. 

To warn you about who those prospects may very well be, I’m generating another “Buyer-Beware” prospect list.

While I’m not insinuating these prospects are guaranteed to bust, they’re just the most risky propositions who could still land somewhere in the first round or very early on Day 2. In my estimation, they’ll have a difficult time living up to their draft positions. These are my buyer-beware prospects in the 2024 class. 

Bo Nix, QB, Oregon

Why: Lacking standout trait(s)

Nix can be categorized as an “incomplete” grade, for two reasons. The system at Oregon was incredibly gimmicky — but incredibly effective — and he threw to an incredible amount of wide-open Duck receivers and tight ends the past two years in Eugene. 

As for the nearly 78% completion percentage, Nix isn’t nearly as accurate as that record-setting rate indicates. Does he have a ball-placement issue? No. But he’s not hyper accurate. There’s an athleticism element to his game. Without question. Will he be a major running threat in the NFL? I can’t envision it.

Now, can Nix be a quality game-manager, who operates within structure soundly? Sure. Will I trust him making challenging throws at the intermediate level or down the field in key moments? No. I didn’t see that from him on a routine basis in either of the last two seasons at Oregon. And I need that confidence from a first-round quarterback. It’s an absolute must. Because of that, and, from afar, Nix not possessing a standout trait, are why I’m placing him on this team.

Marshawn Kneeland, EDGE, Western Michigan

Why: Limited pass-rush move arsenal, high pad level, lacking collegiate production

There’s a future reality in which Kneeland…

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Several weeks ago, Colorado coach Deion Sanders said he knows where he wants his son, Shedeur, and teammate Travis Hunter to play in the NFL. Deion also said there are specific places he doesn’t want them to go.

Today, Sanders was asked about it by Romi Bean of CBS Colorado.

The clip starts with Bean asking this question: “Everybody’s saying, right, you’re only letting Shedeur and Travis go to only six teams. Is this true? Can we get some insight?”

Responded Deion: “Who said that and did you see me say that? . . . The thing about a lie, a lie is so fast. It can outrun the truth any day. That’s a bold-faced lie. That’s a stupid lie. I have more than six owners that are friends. I have more than six G.M.’s that are friends. You gotta understand I played fourteen and I worked another seventeen I believe in the NFL, NFL Network and . . . CBS. I know a lot of people. Come on. So I would never do that. Before I would disclose — if I was that stupid, I wouldn’t disclose the teams I would want them to play for, I would disclose the several that I wouldn’t.”

Here’s the clip from last month.

“I know where I want them to go,” Deion said. “So, it’s certain cities that ain’t gonna happen. , , , It’s going to be an Eli.”

Before that, Deion said he doesn’t want Shedeur to play in a cold-weather city.

While the list might not be six, he said “I know where I want them to go.” He also said that in “certain cities” it “ain’t gonna happen.”

Whatever the number of places he’ll approve, the fact remains that he’s planning a power play, the likes of which we haven’t seen since Eli Manning in 2004 and, before that, John Elway in 1983.

And to that we say, “It’s about time someone else does it.”

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One of the most surprising results of the NFL offseason was that, after the coaching carousel had finished spinning, longtime New England Patriots head coach and living legend Bill Belichick ended up without a job. Belichick is just 15 career wins shy of setting the NFL’s all-time record, and he wanted to coach in 2024. But that didn’t happen, and it apparently was not very close to happening.

Belichick, according to ESPN, finished outside the top three of the Atlanta Falcons’ finalists, and that was the closest he came to landing any of the available — or even potentially available — head-coaching positions. Belichick apparently tried to convince owner Arthur Blank and the Falcons’ front office that he was willing to just be the head coach and not have full control over the organization, but was unsuccessful and then got blindsided when the Falcons instead decided to hire former Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris.

“He was essentially voted off the island,” a Falcons source told ESPN.

ESPN also went through the list of the other available head-coaching positions this offseason and provided the apparent reasoning why Belichick was ultimately not the man for the job, even if he was willing to cede organizational power to the front office:

Philadelphia Eagles: Owner Jeffrey Lurie did not seriously consider moving on from Nick Sirianni, though he did have a conversation with Belichick where coaching for the organization did not come up. “You’ll have to start over again,” an Eagles source told ESPN. “Who would replace him? He hasn’t had a good record of developing coaches. They were afraid that he’ll have changed everything and every person, and [then] you’ll be starting from scratch again. He didn’t demand those changes, but they felt like, if we hire him, we have to give everything to him and trust how he does it.”Dallas Cowboys: Change-averse Jerry Jones decided quickly to…..

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Veteran WR Taylor returns to 49ers, signs one-year contract originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

The 49ers have brought back veteran slot receiver and return man Trent Taylor, signing him to a one-year contract, the team announced Tuesday.

The 49ers and Taylor were in talks about a reunion, a league source told NBC Sports Bay Area on Tuesday, and the conversation clearly moved quickly.

Taylor has been in the NFL since 2017, when he was a fifth-round pick in the first draft class of general manager John Lynch and coach Kyle Shanahan with the 49ers.

After four seasons with the 49ers, Taylor played two years with the Cincinnati Bengals and last season with the Chicago Bears.

Taylor, 29, has appeared in 78 NFL career games. He has 87 receptions for 834 yards and three touchdowns. He had a standout rookie season with the 49ers with 43 catches for 430 yards and two touchdowns.

Injuries sidetracked the early part of Taylor’s career, and he missed the entire 2019 season due to a foot injury and complications from surgeries.

With Taylor back in the mix, the 49ers fill two important needs, as he supplies the team with an option at slot receiver, as well as competing to handle punt-return chores.

The 49ers lost punt return Ray-Ray McCloud in NFL free agency this offseason when he signed with the Atlanta Falcons.

Taylor has a career average of 9.4 yards on 112 punt returns in his career.

Rookie Ronnie Bell struggled in the role of returning punts last season when McCloud was out of action for several games.

Download and follow the 49ers Talk Podcast

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Las Vegas Raiders coach Antonio Pierce will not be part of the negotiated resolution between the NCAA and Arizona State tied to the almost-three-year-old case that’s nearing a conclusion, sources told CBS Sports.

Pierce isn’t necessarily exonerated in the case. He’s not compelled to sit for an in-person interview with NCAA investigators looking into alleged major recruiting violations at the school, but instead, sources told CBS Sports that Pierce will be submitting a written statement to NCAA. After the statement is reviewed and compared to the NCAA’s findings, Pierce could then be penalized. Pierce’s cooperation with the NCAA is not required because he is no longer in college athletics. 

Sources previously told CBS Sports the negotiated resolution, which is expected to be made official in the near future, contains a show-cause penalty for former Sun Devils head coach Herm Edwards. Pierce, considered a central figure in the recruiting scandal, could receive a similar penalty. 

A show-cause penalty means a school could be subject to sanctions if it hires a coach during the length of that punishment. Neither Pierce nor Edwards are expected to return to college football anytime soon, however. 

This is essentially the NCAA’s scarlet letter in preventing accused coaches from getting jobs. Show-cause penalties were recently strengthened at the NCAA’s annual convention in January.

CBS Sports reported in February that Arizona State was expected to agree to major violations in the negotiated resolution process. The case began when the ASU staff allegedly entertained recruits on campus during the COVID-19 dead period, which was in violation of NCAA rules. Further postseason penalties are not expected after the school self-imposed a one-year bowl ban in August 2023 in an attempt to mitigate future punishment. 

A negotiated resolution occurs when schools, involved persons and NCAA…

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The Indianapolis Colts have spent their offseason re-signing players from their 2023 squad, and now it’s DeForest Buckner’s turn. The Colts announced Monday morning they have extended their highly-productive defensive tackle.

The Colts didn’t include any details about the extension. According to multiple reports, Buckner will be paid $46 million to stay another two years in Indy. His current deal ends after the 2024 season, so he’s tied to the Colts through 2026.

Buckner, 30, is entering his ninth season in the NFL, and his fifth in Indianapolis. He was drafted seventh overall by the San Francisco 49ers in 2016, and he has more than lived up to the expectations of that high draft slot. Over his career, he’s racked up 166 solo tackles, 32.5 sacks, 42 tackles for loss, 87 QB hits, and six forced fumbles, plus three elections to the Pro Bowl. The Colts acquired Buckner by trade in March 2020, sending their first-round draft pick to the Niners as compensation.

The Colts have signed defensive tackle DeForest Buckner to an extension reportedly worth $46 million over two years. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images)

The Colts, who have now brought back 10 players from the 2023 squad, went 9-8 in 2023, which isn’t a result most teams would willingly want to repeat. But head coach Shane Steichen and general manager Chris Ballard have a good reason to want to try again with the same group of players in 2024: Anthony Richardson. The Colts took Richardson, a quarterback, fourth overall in the 2023 draft. His start was a bit rocky, but they believed in Richardson’s ability to grow into the role.

Unfortunately, Richardson sustained a shoulder injury in Week 5 and eventually underwent surgery that caused him to miss the rest of the season, so it’s hard to blame the Colts for wanting a do-over on 2023. And by re-upping Buckner, wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr., cornerback Kenny Moore, and others, they’re setting themselves up well even if Richardson struggles a bit in his return.

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