Tuesday is the first milestone in the NFL season. Let’s jump into it …
Nick Cammett / Diamond Images / Getty Images (Caserio); Winslow Townson / USA TODAY Sports (Newton); Joe Nicholson / USA TODAY Sports (Prescott)
• That’s right, from Tuesday teams can apply the franchise label to players. We do not yet have the official figures, as they are based on where the cap ends up. But here are projections for a $ 180 million limit, a $ 183 million limit (that was the working number for some teams) and a $ 185 million limit.
Position for position for 180/183/185, all figures in millions:
QB: $ 24.76 / $ 25.17 / $ 25.45
WR: $ 15.76 / $ 16.03 / $ 16.02
RB: $ 8.54 / $ 8.68 / $ 8.78
TE: $ 9.47 / $ 9.63 / $ 9.73
OL: $ 13.57 / $ 13.79 / $ 13.94
DE: $ 15.85 / $ 16,133 / $ 16.29
DT: $ 13.70 / $ 13.93 / $ 14.08
LB: $ 14.59 / $ 14.83 / $ 14.99
CB: $ 14.85 / $ 15.10 / $ 15.27
S: $ 10.47 / $ 10.64 / $ 10.76
Because the limit will be lower, and even if inflation is taken into account, all the numbers are lower (and some significantly) from 2020. This puts candidates who are in different situations for the first time, in different situations than those for a can be tagged second time (like Cowboys QB Dak Prescott, Broncos S Justin Simmons, and Washington G Brandon Scherff), as the guys will typically be 120% of their 2020 number.
• From the second time, Prescott is likely to get a repeat code. Both Denver and Washington want to keep their players with long-term 2020 labels and are confident they can do so. The question is whether another label is the mechanism they will use to get it done (I assume it would be if such transactions did not exist). (by March 9). Prescott’s 2021 mark is $ 37.691 million, Scherff’s $ 15.981 million and Simmons’s $ 13.792 million. Of the first candidates, I think Bucs WR Chris Godwin and Panthers OT Taylor Moton are likely to be tagged, and it would not be surprising to see Lions WR Kenny Golladay find the same fate. I’m a little more in the air on Seahawks CB Shaquill Griffin, Packers RB Aaron Jones and Jets S Marcus Maye.
• And while we’re here, I would not expect much news before the March 9 deadline (Tuesday is just when the window opens) to tag guys. The reason teams wait? Some people may hold the label over two guys (Tampa would be an example, with Godwin and Shaq Barrett as free agents), and hold the chance to mark a second man as the man who was initially earmarked for the label an agreement . The caveat this year is that with the cap-strap teams (like Pittsburgh with Bud Dupree) it will be much harder to swallow the one-time lump sum that comes with a player’s franchise.
• Fun fact that last week I learned from Mike McCoy, coach of the Chargers, that I was not sure I had heard before: the famous Wildcat package is actually named after Brett Basanez, the former Northern Cape back player. When McCoy was with the Panthers a decade and a half ago, Carolina revealed the look with DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart reading the zone. Initially, the idea of building in unforeseen circumstances was carried out when Basanez, an option full-back in college, and the third player behind Jake Delhomme and Chris Weinke, were forced into action. Basanez se alma mater? Northwest. Hence the Wildcat. From there, Carolina OC Dan Henning went to Miami with it, and Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams put it on the front page in 2009 and made the term (which for a staff package looks more like a scheme) a permanent part. of our lexicon. And of course, the Panthers coach in charge was John Fox, who was the Broncos coach during the 2011 Tebowmania season, after which McCoy and I spoke by telephone, in the wake of Tim Tebow retiring from baseball. “Yeah, we just used what Tim did best, and that’s what it’s about,” McCoy said. ‘Coaches, players, everyone adapted to what we did best, and Foxy made everyone buy. Everyone bought in that style, it wasn’t just Tim. And it was exciting because it was always different, every week. ”
Amid the turmoil in the Texans’ situation, a certain perception of GM Nick Caserio has emerged among some NFL people that he’s just ‘Bill Belichick, Scouting Edition.’ And I do not know if it’s a good picture to paint. For me, one example that he does not lie in who he has chosen to be his head coach – the former Ravens assistant David Culley. Caserio has told people that he believes you need a different kind of coach, more of a unifier, to reach players and build the right culture, than you did in previous generations. That’s certainly what Culley is. So I think, at least in one early example in his tenure, and with the biggest decision he has made so far, he has shown that he can deviate from the path that was laid out for him during his first few decades in the NFL.
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• And while we’re there, here’s another point: Caserio has shown signs of being more inclusive of his scouts and coaches than New England was in the draft and free agent process. Caserio oversaw a division in Foxboro that dealt with an exodus of rising stars who were not involved enough to work for the Patriots. And while he was there, those around Caserio saw how he developed from a man who was sincere and hyper-concerned about carrying himself as a Patriot, so to speak, early in his time as the scout chief (2009 to ’11) to someone who was much more comfortable in his own skin and a little less Belichickian, in the end. I kept insisting that Caserio was really good for all the others who went wrong. And of course, given the situation surrounding Deshaun Watson, he’ll have to prove he was.
• My partner, Ian Rapoport, at NFL Network reported earlier Monday that Steelers coach Mike Tomlin was diagnosed with COVID-19, which was the driving force behind the team that closed last week as a precaution. As I understand it, it also slowed down the process of the team a bit to resolve the Ben Roethlisberger situation. The parties, of course, have time to work out an adjustment to the $ 19 million he would pay in 2021. But the longer it lingers, the more time Pittsburgh also has to look for other options.
• Cam Newton gave a very interesting interview about the I AM ATHLETES podcast with Brandon Marshall, Chad Ochocinco and Fred Taylor. And in it Newton left the door wide open for a return to New England. Asked if he would go over a one-year deal, Newton replied, “Hell yes.” And while explaining his struggle, he spoke quite reverently about Belichick and Josh McDaniels. I would also say this: The Patriots have a full understanding of how a stripped-down skill position group and Tom Brady Newton’s scheme adaptation captivated in the first year. So I will say it again: Do not exclude Newton going back for a second turn in Foxboro. I do not think he will come back without competition. But I think based on the way he worked and how he fit into the culture, he bought him enough capital in the building, where the Patriots would want to bring him back if a clear upgrade is not available.
• I love the new Lions coach, Dan Campbell, via MLive.com: ‘I told Chris [Spielman] the other day I was like, ‘I love the fact that we’re just known as meat heads. I’m a meatloaf? I have a limited brain capacity? I like [that people think] that. I’m good at it, do you know what I mean? I have no problem with that. That whole press conference was literally for our team and our fans and community and people who want the Lions to succeed. … I want to be in Detroit. I want this job because I identify with this job. Are you talking about it fitting like a glove? This thing suits me like no other because I just feel like I can relate to it. I understand, man. I think I’m an avid guy, you know? Without trying to pull out my own horn, I just know who I am. It’s very, very similar to what Campbell told me last month after his press conference, and it fits very well with a principle that one of Campbell’s mentors, Bill Parcells, had: Do not talk to the media, talk by the media. The idea was to keep another audience in mind. And in his players and his new city, Campbell certainly did too.
• And to round off where we started, here are projections for 2021 transition plaques, if the cap is $ 183 million:
QB: $ 23.08 million
WR: $ 14.38 million
RB: $ 7.24 million
TE: $ 8.20 million
OL: $ 12.69 million
DE: $ 13.97 million
DT: $ 11.78 million
LB: $ 12.75 million
CB: $ 13.33 million
S: $ 9.08 million