Tuesday is the first milestone in the NFL off-season. Let’s jump in …
Nick Cammett / Diamond Images / Getty Images (Caserio); Winslow Townson / USA TODAY Sports (Newton); Joe Nicholson / USA TODAY Sports (Prescott)
• That’s right, starting Tuesday, teams can apply the franchise tag to players. We don’t have the official numbers yet, because they are based on where the cap ends up. But here are projections for a $ 180 million cap, a $ 183 million cap (that’s the work number for some teams), and a $ 185 million cap.
Rank by position for 180/183/185, all figures in millions:
Question: $ 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
FROM: $ 15.85 / $ 16,113 / $ 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 factored in, all those numbers will have fallen (and some significantly) from 2020. This will put candidates in different situations for the first time than those who might be tagged a second time (such as Cowboys QB Dak Prescott, Broncos S Justin Simmons, and Washington G Brandon Scherff) as those guys would be tagged per line at 120% of their 2020 tag number.
• Prescott gets the best chance of getting a repeat tag of the second timers. Both Denver and Washington want to keep their 2020 tag players for the long haul, and are confident they can do it, the question is whether another tag is the mechanism they’ll use to get it done (I assume that this would be the case if such deals were not ready by the March 9 deadline). Prescott’s tag figure for 2021 is $ 37,691 million, Scherff’s $ 15,981 million, and Simmons’s $ 13,792 million. Of the first-timer candidates, I think Bucs WR Chris Godwin and Panthers OT Taylor Moton will likely be tagged, and it wouldn’t be surprising if Lions WR Kenny Golladay found the same fate. I’m a little bit more on the air on Seahawks CB Shaquill Griffin, Packers RB Aaron Jones, and Jets S Marcus Maye.
• And while we’re here, I wouldn’t expect much news before the March 9 deadline (Tuesday is just when the window opens) to tag guys. The reason why teams wait? It allows some to keep the tag on two men (Tampa would be an example, with Godwin and Shaq Barrett set as free agents), and keeps the chance to tag a second man as the man who was earmarked for the tag initially gets a match. The caveat this year is that with the limit likely going down, it will be much more difficult for cap-strapped teams (such as Pittsburgh with Bud Dupree) to swallow the one-year lump sum that comes with franchising a player .
• Fun fact I got last week from ex-Chargers coach Mike McCoy that I’m not sure I’d heard of before: the famous Wildcat pack is actually named after ex-Northwestern quarterback Brett Basanez. When McCoy was with the Panthers a decade and a half ago, Carolina unveiled the look with DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart running the zone read. But initially, the idea was born to build in unforeseen circumstances when Basanez, an option quarterback in college, and the third stringer behind Jake Delhomme and Chris Weinke, had to come into action. Basanez’s alma mater? Northwest. Hence the Wildcat. From there, Carolina OC Dan Henning took it to Miami, and Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams put it on the front page in 2009, making the term (which is for a workforce package, more than a schedule look) a permanent part of our lexicon. And, of course, the Panthers ‘coach responsible for that was John Fox, who became the Broncos’ coach during the 2011 Tebowmania season that McCoy and I talked about, in the wake of Tim Tebow’s retirement from baseball. . “Yes, we just took advantage of what Tim did best, and that’s what it’s all about,” said McCoy. “Coaches, players, everyone turned to what we were best at, and Foxy made sure everyone showed up. Everyone bought that style, it wasn’t just Tim. And it was exciting, because it was always different, every week. “
Amid the messiness of the Texans’ situation, some NFL folks have had a certain perception of GM Nick Caserio that he is just “Bill Belichick, Scouting Edition.” And I don’t know if that is a nice picture to paint. For me, one example is that he doesn’t lie in who he chose to be his head coach – ex-Ravens assistant David Culley. Caserio has told people that he believes you need a different type of coach, more unified, to reach players and build the right culture than in previous generations. That is definitely Culley. So I think, at least in an early example in his tenure, and with the biggest decision he has made to date, he has shown that he can deviate from the path set 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 that he will be more inclusive with his scouts and coaches than New England was in the draft and free agent process. Caserio oversaw a department in Foxboro dealing with an exodus of rising stars who did not feel involved enough in working for the Patriots. And while he was there, the people around Caserio saw him evolve from a man who was tense and worried too much about acting like a patriot, so to speak, early in his day as the scouting chief (2009 to ‘ 11) to someone who was much more comfortable in his own skin and ultimately a little less Belichickian. I’ve maintained all along that for everything else that went wrong, Caserio was a really good recruit. And, given the situation around Deshaun Watson, he will of course have to prove that he was.
• My friend Ian Rapoport at NFL Network reported earlier Monday that Steelers coach Mike Tomlin had been diagnosed with COVID-19, triggering the team that shut down its facility last week as a precaution. As I understand it, it also slowed down the team’s process a bit in resolving the Ben Roethlisberger situation. Of course, the parties have time to work out an adjustment to the $ 19 million he will have to pay in 2021. But the longer it drags out, the more time Pittsburgh has to rummage through other options as well.
• Cam Newton did a very interesting interview on the I AM ATHLETE podcast with Brandon Marshall, Chad Ochocinco and Fred Taylor. And in there, Newton left the door wide open to a return to New England. When asked if he would go back to a one-year deal, Newton replied, “Hell yes.” And while explaining his struggles, he spoke of Belichick and Josh McDaniels in quite reverent terms. I would also say this: The Patriots have a full understanding of how a stripped-down skill position group and Tom Brady Newton’s schema adaptation handcuffed in Year 1. So I’ll say it again: don’t rule out Newton from going back for a second round at Foxboro. I don’t think he will come back without competition. But I do think that based on the way he worked and how he fitted into the culture, he bought enough capital for himself in the building where, if no clear upgrade is available, the patriots would look to bring him back .
• I really love this from new Lions coach Dan Campbell, via MLive.com: “I said this to Chris [Spielman] the other day I thought: ‘I love that we are only known as meatheads. I am a meathead? I have limited brain capacity? I love [that people think] Which. I’m good at that, you know what I mean? I have no problem with it. 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. Did you try it on like a glove? This thing suits me like no other, because I feel like I can relate to it. I get it, man. I think I’m a bit of a gritty man, you know? Without trying to honk my own horn, I just know who I am. “This is very much like what Campbell said to me after his press conference last month, and it fits very well with a principle that one of Campbell’s mentors, Bill Parcells, had: don’t talk to the media, talk by the media. The idea was to have a different audience in mind. And in his players and his new town, Campbell certainly did.
• And to round up where we started, here are transition tag projections for 2021, if the cap comes in at the projected $ 183 million:
QB: $ 23.08 million
WR: $ 14.38 million
RB: $ 7.24 million
TE: $ 8.20 million
OL: $ 12.69 million
FROM: $ 13.97 million
DT: $ 11.78 million
LB: $ 12.75 million
CB: $ 13.33 million
S: $ 9.08 million