Category: Around the League

Every pick made in Round 2 and Round 3 of the 2024 NFL draft

Here’s a complete recap of every pick from the second and third rounds of the draft.

Round 1 of the 2024 NFL draft saw a historic number of offensive player taken, including the first 14 overall picks in the draft. As expected, when Round 2 picked up tonight the opposite happened, with defensive prospects dominating the early picks.

When the Seahawks finally got their turn to pick at No. 81 overall, they did the responsible thing and picked the best guard available. That happened to be UConn’s Christian Haynes, who should be their right guard of the future. Let’s see how the other 31 teams made out tonight. Here’s a complete recap of every pick from the second and third rounds of the draft.

Twitter reacts to Seahawks picking Christian Haynes at 81

Every pick made in the first round of the 2024 NFL draft

Here’s how all 32 picks went down on the first night of the draft.

The first round of the 2024 NFL draft played out exactly as expected… for about seven picks. When the Atlanta Falcons came on the clock at No. 8 overall all hell broke loose as they made an all-time stunning pick, selecting Washington QB Michael Penix Jr. despite already having signed veteran Kirk Cousins to a lucrative four-year deal just last month.

From there, the offensive picks continued all the way up to No. 15, which helped set the Seattle Seahawks up to land the top defensive line prospect in this class. Here’s how all 32 picks went down on the first night of the draft.

2024 NFL draft: Updated order of picks going into Day 2

Quandre Diggs impressed by Texans trading for Stefon Diggs

If the Texans weren’t already a serious AFC contender, they certainly are now.

No NFL team has improved nearly as much as the Houston Texans over the last calendar year. Since they avoided the landmine that is Bryce Young and landed rookie superstar C.J. Stroud in last year’s draft, the team’s fortunes have done a dramatic reversal. At the end of free agency, we had Houston ranked among the league’s top-10 teams. They just got a whole lot better, too.

This morning news broke that the Texans have pulled off a trade for Buffalo Bills star wide receiver Stefon Diggs. Apparently they’re sending a second-round pick to Buffalo and the Bills are sending back a fifth and a sixth.

This deal is grand larceny. Diggs is one of the league’s best wide receivers and he dramatically boosts what was already an underrated WR room for Houston.

One guy who approves of the trade is former Seahawks free safety Quandre Diggs. Here’s what he shared on Twitter after the news broke.

This is coming off a sharp free agency period where they added Denico Autry and Danielle Hunter up front and Jeff Okudah to the back end of their defense. If the Texans weren’t already a serious AFC contender, they certainly are now.

As for Buffalo, it’s another body blow for a roster that’s taken a ton of them this offseason. Adam Schefter shared a recap of all the key pieces that they have shed the last few weeks:

Josh Allen is admittedly an alien, but it’s tough to compete in this league without a strong supporting cast, no matter how talented your QB is. Consider the Bills just outside the list of AFC heavyweights for now.

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Former Panthers OL reuniting with Sean Payton in Denver

Former Panthers G Calvin Throckmorton is rejoining a familiar coach for 2024.

Some of Calvin Throckmorton’s best playing days in the NFL came under head coach Sean Payton. So, he’s looking to run it back with his old pal.

As announced on Monday, Payton and the Denver Broncos have added Throckmorton on a one-year deal. In addition to the Saints, the 27-year-old offensive lineman was also a member of the Carolina Panthers in 2023.

The Bellevue, Wash. native attended the University of Oregon from 2015 to 2019, where he earned AP Third-team All-American honors in his final season. He’d then be signed by New Orleans as an undrafted free agent in 2020.

Throckmorton appeared in 31 games for the Saints between 2021 and 2022. He recorded 12 starts over that time—with 12 coming at left guard, seven at right guard and one at left tackle.

Carolina kept Throckmorton in the NFC South at the beginning of the 2023 campaign, claiming him off waivers from the Saints on Aug. 30. He went on to start four games at right guard and three at left guard before his release on Nov. 15.

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Panthers’ signing of Jadeveon Clowney caused Jets to target Haason Reddick

Carolina’s addition of Jadeveon Clowney played a factor in determining the future of an old friend.

The Carolina Panthers just helped determine the fate of an old friend.

On Friday, the New York Jets struck an agreement to acquire two-time Pro Bowl pass rusher Haason Reddick from the Philadelphia Eagles. The 2017 first-round pick, who will be joining the fourth different organization of his eight-year NFL career, played in Carolina for the 2022 campaign.

Well, according to NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport, the Panthers’ ability to beat the Jets to the punch on another all-star edge defender proved to be the domino that pushed Reddick to New York:

The Panthers, of course, just signed Rock Hill, S.C. native Jadeveon Clowney to a two-year, $20 million pact that could be worth up to $24 million. And before Carolina was able to nab the former No. 1 overall pick with the hometown feels and that pretty sweet deal, New York was proving to be some stiff competition for Clowney’s services.

But, at the end of the day, both the Panthers and the Jets were able to add some serious pass-rushing power to their defenses.

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NFL plans on playing 2 games on Christmas this coming season

Lord knows that there isn’t enough #content in the world, so the NFL will be giving us some extra helpings on the biggest holiday of the year.

Lord knows that there isn’t enough #content in the world, so the NFL will be giving us some extra helpings on the biggest holiday of the year.

One of the many headlines coming out of the league meetings in Orlando is that the league will once again be playing games on Christmas – in fact there will be two games. The catch is that this year the holiday falls on Wednesday.

In an ideal world, the four teams who will be forced to play that day won’t have to do so on either the Sunday before or the Sunday after their Christmas games – but to give the NFL the benefit of the doubt there would be willfully ignorant. Compared to profits player safety is extremely low on their list of priorities. Hopefully the Seahawks won’t be one of them.

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Watch: What new NFL kickoff rules will look like this season

Here’s a clip of what the new kickoffs will look like in 2024:

As is the case every year, the NFL is adopting several new rules that will take effect this coming season. For one thing, they have outlawed the “hip-drop” type of tackle that injured Geno Smith during the Seahawks’ Monday night game against the Giants and put Ravens tight end Mark Andrews out for the season, as well – notably over the objections of the NFLPA.

The league is also changing the kickoff rules, taking a page out of the playbook of the spring leagues. Here’s a clip of what the new kickoffs will look like in 2024 – on a trial basis.

Here’s how teams will line up on the field for these kickoffs:

And here’s a more detailed explanation of the rules.

The Seahawks were apparently one of 29 teams that voted in favor of the new kickoff rules. The 49ers, Packers and the Raiders voted against it.

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Steelers HC Mike Tomlin: Diontae Johnson will be a ‘big asset’ for Panthers

New Panthers WR Diontae Johnson got quite an endorsement from his former HC Mike Tomlin.

If you want to know what the Carolina Panthers are getting in wideout Diontae Johnson, there’s probably no better person to ask than the one who’s served as his only head coach in the NFL.

Well, Joe Person of The Athletic did precisely that at the Annual League Meeting on Monday—asking Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin about the 27-year-old receiver.

“You’re gettin’ an awesome route runner, a guy that can create separation at the top of routes, a guy that’s tough to stay with,” Tomlin replied. “He can win in non-vertical route-running and vertical route-running. So you get a guy with a complete skill set in that regard and I just think he’s gonna be a big asset to ’em.”

As part of their offseason mission to surround soon-to-be second-year quarterback Bryce Young with as much help as possible, the Panthers acquired Johnson from the Steelers two weeks ago. Carolina sent Pittsburgh cornerback Donte Jackson and agreed upon a pick swap, shipping the 178th overall pick of the 2024 draft for the 240th, in exchange for the former Pro Bowl pass catcher.

In his five years under Tomlin, Johnson reeled in 391 receptions for 4,363 yards and 25 touchdowns. And while that may be fine for some wideouts, the longtime Steelers coach knows his former receiver still wants more.

“Make no mistake, he wants the football,” Tomlin said. “But I think they all do.”

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Former Panthers coach Duce Staley ended up getting D’Onta Foreman after all

After wanting D’Onta Foreman with him in Carolina last season, new Duce Staley will finally get his chance to work with the veteran RB in 2024.

The union of Duce Staley and D’Onta Foreman was over a year in the making—and it was finally made on Wednesday.

As first reported by Bleacher Report NFL insider Jordan Schultz this afternoon, the former Carolina Panthers running back is expected to sign with the Cleveland Browns. And over in Cleveland is Staley, Carolina’s former assistant head coach and running backs coach.

Staley and Foreman never got to work together in Charlotte. Soon after the former was hired to the staff last offseason, the latter walked off to the Chicago Bears in free agency.

But before Foreman went out north, Staley made his feelings about Foreman very clear during his introductory press conference for the Panthers on Feb. 23, 2023.

“Super high, for me,” Staley replied when asked how high of a priority re-signing Foreman was to him. “But my name ain’t Fitterer.”

Welp.

Since then, Staley and former general manager Scott Fitterer have been relieved of their duties by the organization. Foreman, meanwhile, rushed for 425 yards and four touchdowns as a Bear this past season.

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NFC West Watch: Rams sign former 49ers QB Jimmy Garoppolo

Rams sign QB Jimmy Garoppolo

After one year away, an old foe of the Seattle Seahawks returns to the NFC West. Former San Francisco 49ers and Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo has just signed a one-year contract with the Los Angeles Rams. Released one year into his three-year deal with the Raiders, Garoppolo is leaving Sin City for the City of Angels and returning to the Golden State.

Garoppolo’s short stint in Vegas was a bet that did not hit. He only started six games (resulting in a 3-3 record) with 1,205 passing yards, seven touchdowns against nine interceptions. After head coach Josh McDaniels was finally fired, Garoppolo found himself squarely on the bench for the remaining eight games.

Now that he is with the Rams, Garoppolo is widely expected to sit behind Matthew Stafford as his backup. Given Stafford’s constant injury history and penchant for missing at least a few games, it makes sense why Los Angeles would want a legitimate backup. Garoppolo may not be good, but he inexplicably finds himself on the winning side of games when he plays.

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