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We can now rule out two big-name quarterbacks for the Saints. Drew Brees won’t un-retire to replace Jameis Winston, nor will the Saints consider free agent Cam Newton as a potential Jameis Winston replacement, according to a team source who spoke with PFT (Twitter link).
Newton is available and vaccinated, but the Saints seem to prefer their in-house options. Backup Trevor Siemian was solid in Winston’s stead last night while Taysom Hill could be ready to return from his Week 5 concussion.
As the Panthers’ star QB, Newton did some of his best work against the Saints. However, he finished near the bottom of the league in cumulative QBR from 2016-19 and fell flat with the Pats last year. In 2020, the former MVP threw for just 2,657 yards and eight touchdowns with ten interceptions. On the plus side, he displayed his usual rushing talent, collecting 592 yards and 12 TDs on the ground, plus a receiving touchdown.
The Saints will likely be without Winston and definitely be without Newton on Sunday when they face the Falcons. Depending on the outcome of Bucs-WFT, a win could put the Saints in the NFC South lead.
Drew Brees is not walking through that door. After Jameis Winston suffered a potentially season-ending knee injury, the former Saints quarterback told NBC broadcast partner Mike Tirico that he will not consider a mid-season return (via NOLA.com).
“Let me check [my phone],” Brees said jokingly when asked about his availability to play this week. “I’ll be there Saturday to call the Notre Dame-Navy game, and I’ll be [in the broadcast booth on] Sunday,” Brees said.
Brees, 42, seems happy in his post-football career. He’s also confident in backup Trevor Siemian, who guided the Saints to victory over the Bucs following Winston’s exit.
“I think he’s going to do well,” Brees said. “That’s exactly why he brought him in last year when I got hurt. He’s a cerebral guy who can pick up the system quickly. He can execute it. The bottom line is he has two really good running backs and a great defense. He’ll play within the system and I think Sean Payton has a lot of confidence in him.”
The Saints won’t have the 13-time Pro Bowler back under center, but they could see Taysom Hill return this week once he clears concussion protocol.
Derrick Henry suffered a potentially season-ending foot injury last night (Twitter link via Adam Schefter of ESPN.com). He’ll know more after an MRI today, but the early word isn’t promising for the Titans running back.
Doctors fear that Henry is dealing with a Jones fracture, which would require season-ending surgery (Twitter link via Schefter). Henry suffered the injury towards the end of the second half, but somehow managed to play through the pain in overtime. A Jones fracture would not allow for any further heroics in 2021.
Henry currently leads the NFL with ten rushing touchdowns and 937 rushing yards, far ahead of Browns RB Nick Chubb (584). He finished Sunday night with 28 carries for 68 yards, with some of those totes coming after the injury.
If Henry misses time, the Titans will be left with Jeremy McNichols, Khari Blasingame, and Dontrell Hilliard at RB. Of course, none of those tailbacks can replace Henry, who tallied 2,027 rushing yards last year en route to his second straight rushing title.
The Titans advanced to 6-2 after edging the Colts last night. They’ll likely be without their star running back in Week 9 when they face the Rams.
Jameis Winston‘s season could be over. The Saints believe their quarterback has suffered a torn ACL, plus additional damage to the MCL (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport).
“I think it’s significant. He felt something,” head coach Sean Payton said after the game (Twitter link). “I don’t want to say [what it might be] until I’ve had a chance to talk to the doctors.”
Winston’s leg twisted in the second quarter on a hit from linebacker Devin White. After the QB was carted off of the field, backup Trevor Siemian guided the Saints to a 36-27 win over the Buccaneers. Of course, much of the credit goes to the Saints D, which forced three turnovers from Tom Brady, including P.J. Williams‘ game-sealing pick six.
The Saints could stick with Siemian, depending on Taysom Hill‘s status. Hill has been out for the last few weeks with a concussion, so his availability for Week 9 against the Falcons is TBD.
Before his early exit, Winston completed six of his ten throws for 56 yards and one touchdown, plus four carries for 40 yards. His season will likely end with a 59% completion rate for 1,170 passing yards and 14 TDs against three interceptions.
Teams are exploring trades for Colts defensive lineman Kemoko Turay, according to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport. The former second-rounder hasn’t quite lived up to his billing, but winning clubs would be happy to have him for the right price.
Speaking of price, any GM could easily squeeze Turay’s salary under the cap. He’s in the final year of his rookie deal with just $1.19MM in total base salary. His new club would only be on the hook for roughly half of that sum, making him an attractive depth rental.
Turay, 26, has struggled with injuries throughout his career. This year, he missed the season opener and returned for Weeks 2-5, only to wind up back on the sidelines. Fortunately for him and the Colts, he managed to retake the field today against the Titans. His sack just before the two-minute warning pinned Tennessee for a 3rd-and-19, helping to force the game into OT.
The trade deadline falls on Tuesday, 4pm ET/3pm CT. If the Colts are 3-5 at that point, one has to imagine that they’ll accept a Day 3 pick for Turay.
Sounds like we should keep an eye on Kareem Jackson this week. Teams have been calling on the Broncos defensive back in recent days, according to sources who spoke with NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport.
Broncos GM George Paton fielded calls on fellow defensive back Kyle Fuller last week and it sounds like Jackson is drawing more interest as the deadline draws near. Paton isn’t necessarily inclined to deal Jackson, according to RapSheet, but the right offer could pry him loose.
Paton declined Jackson’s option on March 15, making him a free agent. Then, they brought him back roughly one week later. Originally, he was set to play out the final season of his three-year, $33MM pact. Instead, they negotiated him down to a modest one-year, $5MM contract to save about $7.1MM in cap space. That means any team acquiring Jackson would only have to budget for a couple million dollars — not bad for a lifelong starter with 12 years of pro experience.
Entering today, Jackson has 43 tackles, one interception, and one sack through seven games. Meanwhile, Pro Football Focus has assigned him an overall score of 61.5, good for 49th out of 80+ qualified safeties.
The Broncos are 3-4 heading into this afternoon’s game against the Washington Football Team. A loss would put them even deeper in the AFC West cellar and likely give them even more motivation to deal veterans like Jackson.
Dolphins wide receiver DeVante Parker is drawing trade interest, according to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport. With the trade deadline coming on Tuesday, inquiring teams have just ~48 hours to get a deal done.
Despite Parker’s underwhelming first four seasons, the Dolphins re-upped him twice. First, they locked him up through 2020 via a two-year, $10MM agreement. Then, towards the end of 2019, they inked him to a three-year extension worth up to $40MM. The jury is still out on the latest contract.
In 2020, Parker registered just 12.6 yards per catch, a sharp drop from his 2019 watermark of 16.7 yards on average. Through the first seven weeks of this season, injuries limited Parker to just four games, 17 catches, and 242 yards. However, Parker returned with a vengeance against the Bills today — as of this writing, he’s leading all ‘Fins WRs with eight catches for 85 yards.
Despite the health issues, Parker profiles as an intriguing playmaker for contenders in need of a mid-season boost. He’s also relatively inexpensive, since he’d only be owed the prorated portion of his $7.75MM base salary in 2021.
Has it been four years already? On this date in 2017, the 49ers acquired quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo from the Patriots in exchange for a 2018 second-round pick.
The deal was a stunner on multiple levels, especially since New England hadn’t expressed in any interest in moving Garoppolo despite the presence of Tom Brady under center. Bill Belichick & Co. reportedly rejected multiple trade offers in exchange for Garoppolo before the draft, and instead dealt third-string quarterback Jacoby Brissett to the Colts before the season began.
Some believed that the Patriots would use the franchise tag on Garoppolo in the spring of ’18 before trying to trade him. Instead, they dealt Brady’s heir apparent just before the deadline in a deal that raised eyebrows for many. Some wondered whether the Patriots could have gotten more, or if Belichick had truly explored every possible trade partner for Garoppolo. The Browns, for example, were keenly interested in Jimmy G, but Belichick reportedly wasn’t interested in helping his former employer.
Garoppolo offered limited NFL experience outside of two starts for New England in 2016 while Brady was serving a four-game suspension. Garoppolo played well in his time on the field, but he was injured early in his second start, so the regular season film on him was extremely limited. Still, Kyle Shanahan saw a future franchise QB in the youngster, and ownership was willing to work with him on a pricey long-term extension before he could walk in free agency.
For the Patriots, the deal signaled confidence in Brady’s vow to play for several more seasons, despite the fact that he was already 40 years old. Brady made good on his promise, though he’s now defying Father Time in Tampa Bay. Signing a backup to a top-tier, multi-year contract was never a real option and a one-year, top 5 QB salary was certainly not the Patriots’ style. There was no circumstance in which Jimmy G could have held the clipboard for Brady for another three years, but it’s fair to second guess the Patriots’ timing. Had they traded Garoppolo prior to the 2017 NFL Draft — and considered all suitors equally — they could have scored a much larger haul.
Now, Garoppolo could be on the verge of being dealt again — either this week or in the spring. The 49ers clearly prefer the long-term upside of Trey Lance, but Garoppolo’s performance against the Bears today can only serve to boost his trade value.
Houston wide receiver Brandin Cooks is no stranger to trade rumors, having been dealt three times in his career. The 1-6 Texans are obvious trade deadline sellers, and Cooks — a high-end talent who is only under club control through the 2022 season — has naturally drawn interest from other clubs.
Those clubs may have been buoyed in their pursuit by the fact that Cooks took to Twitter to voice his displeasure when Houston traded good friend Mark Ingram earlier this week. However, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com says the Texans are unlikely to trade Cooks. Rookie GM Nick Caserio reportedly sees Cooks as a foundational talent that he can build around, and it sounds as if he would demand a hefty return if he were to trade his WR1.
Cooks’ $12.5MM base salary for 2022 is reasonable for a player of his caliber, which explains both why Caserio wants to keep him around and why he is piquing the interest of contending teams hoping to acquire him. Despite catching passes from struggling rookie Davis Mills for most of the year, Cooks has tallied 45 receptions for 502 yards and a score.
Speaking of King, the former First-Team All-Pro was scratched from today’s game against the Rams for disciplinary reasons, as Aaron Wilson of SportsTalk 790 tweets. King reportedly had an unexcused absence from a team activity, and like Cooks, he may be unhappy with the current state of the Texans. Unlike Cooks, he might get a chance to suit up for a contender this year.
The Browns, currently sitting at 4-3 and in third place in the AFC North, are not expected to swing a major deal in advance of Tuesday’s trade deadline, according to Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com. Cabot does not anticipate the club acquiring a high-profile talent or trading one away.
Wide receiver Odell Beckham became the subject of trade speculation even before his first season in Cleveland was over, and those rumors have continued to crop up ever since. The Browns have done their best to quash all such rumblings, and Beckham will likely stay put at least through the end of the 2021 campaign. After all, he is dealing with a painful sprain in his right shoulder, and he is still owed $9MM over the rest of the season, so even if Cleveland were interesting in making a trade, there are obvious hurdles.
Plus, the Browns have every reason to keep Beckham around. Although he and QB Baker Mayfield have yet to develop a consistent rapport, OBJ continues to get open and remains an elite talent, so it would be surprising to see a Cleveland outfit that has postseason aspirations make that type of trade.
The same logic applies to tight ends David Njoku and Austin Hooper. Neither player has offered much production in 2021 — aside from a monster Week 5 game for Njoku that accounted for over half of his 2021 receiving yards and his only touchdown — but the hope is that the passing game will improve as the season goes on, just as it did last year. Njoku is playing on an expiring contract and requested a trade on several occasions last summer, but his most recent comments on the matter suggested that he would like to remain in Cleveland, and Cabot expects both him and Hooper to still be Browns once the deadline has passed.
Speaking of Mayfield, Cabot says the No. 1 overall pick of the 2018 draft will likely require offseason surgery on his injured shoulder. His injury has complicated extension talks, and now, if an extension is reached, it probably won’t happen until after the season. Mayfield is under club control through 2022 via the fifth-year option of his rookie deal, which the Browns exercised earlier this year.
In related news, Cleveland does have starting RT Jack Conklin back in action for today’s critical matchup with the Steelers. Conklin had missed the prior two games with a knee injury.
