Category: NFL News

New York Giants general manager Joe Schoen addressed many of the team’s personnel deficiencies this offseason but a few remain. Among them is depth along the edge, where Kayvon Thibodeaux and Azeez Ojulari serve as the 1-2 punch.

Behind Thibodeaux and Ojulari there is very little. The Giants re-signed Oshane Ximines this offseason and he has flashed a time or two but hasn’t fully realized his potential. They also have Elerson Smith, who has been plagued by injury during his young career, and Tomon Fox, who was an undrafted free agent a year ago.

They also re-signed veteran Jihad Ward, but he’s more of a run-stopper than a pass rusher.

With that edge depth lacking, ESPN has listed the Giants as an ideal landing spot for free agent linebacker Justin Houston.

Houston could fit with multiple teams in search of a veteran pass-rusher, but let’s get him back under former Baltimore defensive coordinator Wink Martindale, who joined New York in 2022. Houston, who has 14 sacks over the past two seasons, played for Martindale in 2021, posting 4.5 sacks and 35 pressures. And we know the fit works for a Giants defense that can use him as a situational pass-rusher in pressure fronts.

Martindale’s defense led the NFL last season with a blitz rate of 42%, which will create more one-on-ones for Houston with schemes that manipulate protection counts.

The 34-year-old Houston may be on the downside of this career but could fill a role as an experience edge rush option. At the very least, he could join the team’s rotation, allowing Thibodeaux and Ojulari to cut back on their snap counts a bit.

The Giants are tight on cap, so if they were to sign Houston, it would have to come on a deal near the veteran minimum.

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In one of the closest races, with one of the most obscure finishes in NFL history, Jets wideout Garrett Wilson won Offensive Rookie of the Year over Seahawks running back Kenneth Walker in 2022 despite the Seattle ball-carrier receiving more first-place votes than the Gang Green pass-catcher. 

Either way, both were the most dynamic first-year pros in football a season ago. 

Ja’Marr Chase ran away with Offensive Rookie of the Year award in 2021. Justin Herbert and Justin Jefferson battled for the NFL OROY in 2020, with the electric Chargers passer ultimately winning in large part because he set the NFL record for touchdown passes thrown by a rookie.

Let’s rank the likely Offensive Rookie of the Year candidates for the 2023 season. 

Before I begin, I felt compelled to make the proclamation that I’ve smartened up with these rankings. Only five of the last 21 Offensive Rookie of the Year winners were not picked in the first round of the draft. It’s been six consecutive years in which the OROY was a first-round pick. Before that, Alvin Kamara and Dak Prescott — who were selected in third and fourth rounds, respectively — took home the trophy in back-to-back seasons (2016 and 2017). Also, neither an offensive lineman nor a tight end has ever won the award.

While a small, average athlete, Addison does have uncanny ability to get open at all levels of the field — particularly underneath and at the intermediate level — and he’s rather nifty after the catch. He won the Biletnikoff as a 19-year-old in 2021 when he caught 100 passes for nearly 1,600 yards from Kenny Pickett at Pitt. In 2020, I was far, far too low on Justin Jefferson. For as much I learned my lesson on his exquisitely complete game, his superstar presence is the reason Addison is lower on the list than you probably expected. 

Jefferson saw 184 targets and led the NFL in catches and receiving yards in 2022. Of course,…

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Joe DeCamillis was one of the many assistant coaches the Rams did not bring back this offseason, making big changes to Sean McVay’s staff before the 2023 campaign. He was their special teams coordinator for the last two years after spending four years with the Jaguars, his second stint in Jacksonville.

DeCamillis wasn’t hired by another team but he did just land a new job at the college level. According to Chip Brown of Horns247, the Texas Longhorns are hiring DeCamillis. He’ll join the staff as a special assistant to the head coach.

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DeCamillis leaves the Rams with a Super Bowl ring on his finger, helping them win a championship in his first season in 2021. This will be his first job at the collegiate level after coaching in the NFL since 1991.

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Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett experienced quite a scary situation this week, as his SUV, which contained his Steelers playbook, was stolen Wednesday, per Action News 4. Police reportedly recovered the SUV and the playbook not long after, and arrested the alleged perpetrator. 

Pickett was participating at a local event at a car dealership when his 2023 Genesis was stolen. The police found the suspect after running the plates on his personal car, which he left at the dealership after stealing Pickett’s ride. Christopher Carter, a 60-year-old man, was arrested and charged with theft, receiving stolen property and unlawful use of a motor vehicle. 

The No. 20 overall pick out of Pittsburgh last year went 7-5 as the starter for the Steelers in his rookie season, completing 63% of his passes for 2,404 yards, seven touchdowns and nine interceptions. Pickett struggled early, but improved as the year went on. He won his final three starts of the season, as Pittsburgh rebounded from a 2-6 start to finish 9-8. He is one of seven players CBS Sports has tabbed as a breakout candidate in 2023. 

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The Chicago Bears lost one of their offensive leaders in running back David Montgomery, who signed with the NFC North rival Detroit Lions in free agency. While many believed it to be an amicable exit, it sounds like Montgomery still harbors a grudge.

During an appearance on the Lions’ gaming and interview series, Lions Gaming, Montgomery shared that all of the losing that happened with the Bears in his four years “sucked the fun” out of football.

“That’s all I was used to,” Montgomery said. “And it got to a point where it sucked the fun out of the game for me because I’m a competitor. I like to compete. That’s what football’s about. It’s so refreshing to be in a place where that’s appreciated.”

When a team wins just three games and goes on a 10-game losing streak to end the season, there are going to be frustrations. But it is surprising to hear Montgomery, once considered a leader in the locker room, to be dissing his time with Chicago.

Perhaps Montgomery’s comments stem from the fact that he didn’t get the contract offer he wanted from the Bears, which prompted him to sign a three-year, $18 million deal (with $11 million guaranteed) with the Lions.

After going 25-42 during his time with the Bears, Montgomery is looking to be on the winning side of things. While the Lions are the favorites to win the NFC North this season, it wasn’t long ago when Detroit was in a worse losing situation than Chicago. In fact, they’ve lost the second-most games in the entire league since 2000.

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EAGAN, Minn. — The NFL finally forced Thursday night flex scheduling into its broadcast window. Let’s hope the league never has to use it.

On Monday, 24 owners voted in favor of a scheduling mechanism by which the league will be able to flex into (or out of) “Thursday Night Football” games. The games are limited only to Weeks 13-17, the decision must be made no later than 28 days in advance of the game, there’s a maximum of two Thursday night games that can be flexed out of the five options and, of course, the game has to warrant being flexed out of.

It’s a heavy set of conditions that set a high bar for this ever coming to fruition. And the league makes the tacit admission that it could be a bad idea by noting this is a “one-season trial of modified scheduling policies for flexible scheduling in connection with the Thursday Night Football package.”

The league badly wanted this to pass during the annual meetings in March in Arizona. Then, the league had to give teams 15 days’ notice instead of 28. I’m told the room was fairly evenly split on the resolution before Giants co-owner John Mara stood up and called the idea “abusive.”

He is, of course, correct. I’ve yet to speak to one NFL player who will publicly or privately say they like playing football on a Thursday night. The NFLPA certainly isn’t in favor of this.

But beyond that, the NFL encouraged fans to buy tickets as soon as its heavily produced schedule release took place a few weeks ago. Fans make their plans well in advance, and a primetime game late in the season is one a fan of the home or away side will want to lock in.

Travel costs money. Airfare is expensive. The cost of a hotel room spikes when the city is hosting an NFL game. To tell fans of either of the teams playing in the five contests who could be impacted that their plans may be worth nothing in a few months seems to go against the Football Is Family ideal the…

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The Denver Broncos are set to go into the 2023 season with four holdover running backs from last year and four new arrivals. By the time the 53-man roster is set, the new arrivals will likely outnumber the holders.

The Broncos signed Samaje Perine during free agency and he will serve as a fill-in starter if Javonte Williams (knee) is not fully recovered by Week 1. Denver also signed Tony Jones, a former New Orleans Saints backup who might be the early favorite for RB3 duties this season.

“I feel really good about our group of veterans that are here in the building,” coach Sean Payton said on May 13. “When we signed Samaje, this is a guy that gave us flexibility. We know that he can play and be an every-down back. Our current starter [Javonte Williams] is doing extremely well. I would tell you that we expect him to be ready for the start of training camp and that’s good news.”

In addition to Williams, Perine and Jones, the Broncos also have veteran Jacques Patrick, holdovers Damarea Crockett, Tyreik McAllister and
Tyler Badie, plus undrafted free agent signee Jaleel McLaughlin.

It wouldn’t be surprising to see Denver carry four running backs on the initial 53-man roster, and the team will likely carry two more on the practice squad. Right now, Payton is pleased with how the depth chart stacks up.

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Former 49ers fullback Bruce Miller has been reported to Capitol Police after allegedly sending a threatening message to Eric Swalwell on social media. 

The California congressman shared the contents of the message on Wednesday. 

“Almost time!!!. Would you rather Guantanamo or just execution f—- traitor,” the message said. 

The threat came in a direct message, which was sent to Swalwell from Miller’s personal Twitter account. The message was threatening enough that Swalwell reported the matter to Capitol Police, according to NBC Bay Area. 

“My family and staff are deeply disturbed by the threat of execution … apparently by former 49er Bruce Miller,” Swalwell told NBC. “Threats of political violence are unacceptable.”

The 49ers actually reached out to Swalwell on Thursday, although the congressman didn’t offer any details on what was said. Swalwell has been a member of the House of Representatives since November 2012 when he was first elected. His district in California includes the Bay Area, which is where Miller spent nearly five years of his life as a member of the 49ers. 

Miller sent out a tweet on Thursday where he attempted to downplay the nature of his message to Swalwell. 

“I was content with trolling corrupt politicians in my DM’s, but since you want to make a story out of it then that’s what we’ll do,” Miller wrote. “That was in no way a threat to you or you family.”

The former NFL fullback, who was a seventh-round pick in 2011, spent five full seasons with the 49ers, but got released just before the start of his sixth season in 2016. The team dumped Miller just days after he was charged with seven felonies after he allegedly assaulted a 70-year-old man….

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