Tag: Albert Breer

MMQB’s Albert Breer has one problem with the Bills – kind of (video)

Well–it was a position battle at #Bills camp…

Consider Albert Breer from the MMQB as a national analyst that’s on the Buffalo Bills bandwagon.

Breer recently visited the team’s training camp site at St. John Fisher University in Rochester. After taking in the sights and sounds, Breer appeared the the “Dan Patrick Show.”

He noted the one problem he sees on the Bills roster: Punter.

While making the tongue-and-cheek remark, he does have a bit of a point. Buffalo does have that as a highlighted training camp battle between rookie Matt Araiza and incumbent Matt Haack.

But the biggest takeaway was clearly how impressed he is with the team.

For more Breer on the Bills, check out the episode clip below:

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Albert Breer expects Jimmy Garoppolo trade talks to ramp up soon

Albert Breer expects Jimmy Garoppolo trade talks to ramp up in next two weeks. #49ers

Shoulder surgery for Jimmy Garoppolo put a halt on trade talks for the 49ers’ quarterback. Interest in Garoppolo could be ramping up soon though as teams wrap up their mandatory minicamps.

Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer on Tuesday in an appearance on the Pat McAfee Show said he expects interest for Garoppolo and Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield to climb as we move into the middle of June.

While the talks may ramp up, the surgically repaired throwing shoulder will still be the key to any market that forms for Garoppolo.

“Then with Jimmy it’s just about getting him to the point where he can throw again,” Breer said. “So if he can demonstrate he can throw at the end of the month, which is sort of the target, then I think the dynamic could change with him a little bit too.”

The problem that arises for the 49ers is most of the quarterback movement happened months ago prior to free agency. Teams signed and traded a slew of big-name QBs, leaving Garoppolo floating in the wind with his banged up shoulder.

With so much movement via trade, free agency and the draft, the market may have dried up. Breer did offer a few potential solutions for San Francisco though.

“We want to get a look at Sam Darnold in Ben McAdoo’s offense. We want to get a look at Matt Corral, how he comes along coming from a simplistic college offense, then we’re gonna reassess after we’re done with the offseason program,” Breer said describing the Panthers’ mindset. “So that’s why I’m saying in about a week and a half Carolina, Seattle, those teams I think are going to have probably a better idea overall of where they are at quarterback. And that’s when I think those talks resume .. whether it’s San Francisco and Carolina, Cleveland and Carolina, Seattle and San Francisco – whatever it is … I think some of those talks get rekindled at the end of next week.”

The 49ers have hung on to Garoppolo through the offseason in hopes of finding a trade partner for him. They could’ve cut him with big cap savings at any time during the offseason. San Francisco still believes there’s value in Garoppolo, and their bet may be right depending on how the QB depth charts shake out in Carolina, Seattle and Cleveland heading into July.

If a team is going to trade for a signal caller at this point they’ll want to do so as soon as possible to get that player in the building and learning the playbook. Then they can hit the ground running in training camp.

Regardless of what conclusion the Garoppolo saga has, it sounds like the end of the road is coming sooner rather than later.

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Report: Bill Belichick is working harder than ever during 2022 offseason

The 70-year-old clearly has his heart set on coaching the New England Patriots.

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Bill Belichick lost a vast amount of institutional knowledge within the New England Patriots organization over recent years.

Front office members and coaches like Nick Caserio and Josh McDaniels that have been with the Patriots for nearly two decades are gone. Along with the great coaches and front office members that have taken opportunities elsewhere, the Patriots also lost Tom Brady — their greatest recruiting tool, and obviously the greatest quarterback to ever play.

Belichick, 70, is left to pick up the pieces and put together a team that lives up to the standards that have been set. It’s an extremely high bar, but Belichick is reportedly putting in extra work to make sure the Patriots are in shape for 2022.

“I had someone there tell me that this offseason (Bill Belichick)’s actually working more than he has in the recent past, which only speaks to the fact that … there really isn’t any place he’d rather be,” Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer wrote in his Monday morning column.

Belichick has the draft to prepare for and a second-year quarterback to mentor without the help of McDaniels, or three offensive coaches that left this offseason.

There’s a huge amount of responsibility on Belichick’s plate, but he’s proven time and time again that he can handle it.

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Albert Breer explains why Trent McDuffie sounds ‘like a perfect Patriot’

“I think if he slips to the Patriots he’d be a slam-dunk at 21.”

The New England Patriots have three positional groups with a dire need for talent — cornerback, wide receiver and linebacker.

Bill Belichick has the No. 21 overall pick and there will be excellent options for all three positions in the draft. It wouldn’t be surprising if the Patriots filled a hole on the offensive line with their first-round pick, but it’s possible they fill a position of need.

J.C. Jackson’s departure left the cornerback group as likely the most depleted on the team. Stephon Gilmore was traded shortly before Jackson’s departure and it left the Patriots with Jalen Mills and Jonathan Jones as the next-best options.

Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer joined NBC Sports Boston’s Phil Perry on the Next Pats Podcast and discussed a potential replacement at corner in the draft — Trent McDuffie from Washington.

“Is he a big, long, athletic prototype like Sauce Gardner or Derek Stingley? He’s not that,” Breer said. “He’s a little shorter. He played more zone than man in college.

“But you hear the way this kid just knocked his meetings out of the park, and I’m not talking about one or two teams. It’s every single team I’ve talked to has said the guy’s Mensa level when it comes to explaining football, explaining what he was doing out there, you see the versatility. Again, didn’t play heavy man for a first-round corner in college, but has experience having played both, so you have that versatility.”

The Patriots love versatility, along with players who understand football on a deeper level.

“It sort of reminds me a little bit of the way people talked about Devin McCourty coming out of Rutgers,” Breer said. “And so, I don’t know that it’s a perfect comparison player-wise; I don’t think McDuffie’s as big as McCourty was coming out in 2010, but just as far as the mental makeup, the traits, the versatility.

“Trent McDuffie sounds to me like a perfect Patriot, and it happens to dovetail with a very real need. You need a guy who can develop into a No. 1 corner, and if you believe McDuffie can become that, I think if he slips to the Patriots he’d be a slam-dunk at 21.”

The Patriots would be astronomically better in the secondary if they could land a cornerback like McDuffie.

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Chargers HC Brandon Staley has developed effective team culture

The Los Angeles Chargers are completely bought in with the 38-year old head coach.

Despite being the third-youngest head coach in the NFL, new Chargers head coach Brandon Staley has established himself as if he’s been coaching in the league for well over 10 years.

Not only is Staley one of the best defensive minds in the NFL, but he’s up there in terms of building buy-in with the team, as has taken the necessary steps to build trust with his players since taking over.

Following their spring practices, Staley talked about how happy he was with how the team as a whole has quickly come together and are bought in with his vision and philosophy moving forward.

“They’re completely invested in what we’re doing and how we’re doing it, because they’ve been a big part of the process,” Staley said, per the team’s official website. And I think when you talk to our guys that’s what they’ll tell you, we’ve really done this together.

I know it’s early and we haven’t done anything, but I like what I see. I like how our team, our coaches, our players, the sports performance, I like how our team’s coming together. And I think that we’re going to set ourselves up for a really competitive training camp.”

To Staley, the foundation for the team starts with “relationships” and the second is “competition.” That’s something that Los Angeles didn’t seem to have with their previous head coaches.

Given Staley’s attention to detail and team culture creation, the state of the Chargers is going to look a lot in different way this upcoming season, in a positive way, that is.

You can see how Staley interacts with the players in a way that he’s able to connect with them with his positive and motivating attitude in the video below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4y2aKxWd1_E

Trading for Julio Jones could drastically help Mac Jones’ growth with Patriots

The 32-year-old could play a major role in the rookie’s development.

For the most part, Mac Jones is set up for success.

The No. 15 pick has one of the best coaching staffs along with one of the strongest team cultures in the NFL with the New England Patriots. Jones has a tremendous offensive line to play behind and his mentor is a former MVP that is widely loved by players around the league.

As it currently stands, Cam Newton will be the starter for Week 1 and Jones will have time to learn and develop. But, there’s a few different scenarios that could quickly catapult Jones into the starting role sooner than later.

The Patriots’ weakest position group on offense is wide receiver and that was one his strongest groups at Alabama. If the Patriots were to trade for Julio Jones this offseason, they’d have the perfect surrounding crew for Mac to blossom.

Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer detailed this idea in much more depth.

“With all these young quarterbacks, we talk about that window,” Breer said, transcribed by NBC Sports Boston. “To take advantage of that window, the guy’s gotta be rolling going into Year 2. Realistically, if you really hit on that pick, you’re probably paying him after Year 3. That’s what history tells us. (Deshaun) Watson got paid after Year 3, I think Josh Allen’s gonna get paid after Year 3, (Patrick) Mahomes got paid after Year 3, (Jared) Goff got paid after Year 3, (Carson) Wentz. If you hit on that pick, you’re paying him after Year 3.

“So that’s what’s interesting about it to me. That’s how I think you tie the whole thing together. If you bring in Julio, you give yourself a better chance to have Mac (Jones) really rolling going into Year 2, and now all of a sudden we can really take advantage of having that quarterback on a rookie deal window.”

Julio’s age, health concerns and large contract make trading for him a high-risk, high-reward situation. But, the Patriots have reportedly had interest and currently are one of the few teams with enough money to make the move happen.

There’s a myriad of reasons that trading for Julio would turn into a positive.

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Browns rookies’ athleticism impressing early

It is very early but a new report says that the 2021 NFL draft class the Browns brought in is impressing early with their athleticism.

The Cleveland Browns are just starting to get some players on the field with the start of rookie minicamp last week. Not only were the Browns drafted and undrafted players in Berea but a few others with NFL experience as well.

Andrew Berry and Kevin Stefanski have done a very good job of balancing bringing in new guys while incorporating players leftover from the previous regimes. Berry and company revamped the offensive line with the additions of Jedrick Wills and Jack Conklin last offseason and went about remaking the defense this year.

While the big-time veteran additions will have to wait for their chance on the field, the Browns new draft picks are already turning heads according to Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated:

But it was what I heard about the next two picks that got my attention. On defense, second-round linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah’s speed, overall athleticism and range to cover a lot of ground, in addition to his length and a big frame that could carry more weight, was enough to have coaches excited. And on offense, third-round receiver Anthony Schwartz showed smarts, better polish at the top of the route than expected, and played to his Olympic-level speed. “You can feel his speed out there,” said one staffer. And add those two to Newsome, who ran in the 4.3s, and you can see the sort of effort Berry and Stefanski are putting in to make an already-athletic roster even faster across the board. It should be fun to watch where all of that goes.

Speed, speed, and more speed.

With the Browns eyeing the Kansas City Chiefs, Buffalo Bills, and Baltimore Ravens, among others, in the AFC, athleticism is going to be key. The Chiefs have a dynamic offense with the mobile Pat Mahomes, speedy Tyreek Hill and one of the most dynamic tight ends, Travis Kelce. The Bills have the mobile Josh Allen running things with Stefon Diggs leading a versatile group of weapons.

Speed is the name of Lamar Jackson’s game as the Browns saw last year and the Ravens continued to add to that with Rashod Bateman in the NFL draft.

There are a lot of variables in trying to build a quality NFL roster but betting on athleticism, especially speed, is a good foundation. The Browns, according to Breer, did a great job of that in the 2021 NFL draft.

Albert Breer says Ravens could be looking to move up in 20s, move down from No. 31 in 2021 draft

The Baltimore Ravens could maneuver all around the draft board throughout the 2021 NFL draft. Could they move up into the 20s?

The Baltimore Ravens have plenty of enticing scenarios available to them throughout the course of the 2021 NFL draft. After trading Orlando Brown Jr. to the Kansas City Chiefs, Baltimore has nine draft picks to work with, giving them plenty of options with trades to move both up and down throughout the three days of the festivities.

In an article discussing last-minute news and rumors for the draft, Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer said that he’s heard “rumblings” that the Ravens could be looking to move into the 20s.

There are rumblings that Baltimore and Cleveland could move up in the 20s, too—and my sense is that there’s going to be a premium on corners in that range.

The Cleveland Browns are mentioned alongside Baltimore as teams who might be looking to make a move up into the 20s. He also mentions a run of cornerbacks in that range, which makes more sense for the Browns as opposed to the Ravens.

Breer also talks about what Baltimore might do with their other first-round pick at No. 31.

Speaking of the Ravens, we mentioned they could move up from No. 27. They’ve also had talks on moving down from No. 31.

If the Ravens were to make a move up from No. 27, they’d have to surrender a few draft assets. If they then traded down from No. 31, they would gain some, if not all, of those assets back. If there’s a player that Baltimore likes that they feel won’t make it to them at No. 27, it would make sense for the team to try to move up to get their guy. However, that would most likely leave them with little to no Day 2 picks.

Trading back from No. 31 is also an option that makes sense for the Ravens. The team currently has to wait from their 31st overall selection all the way until the end of the third-round at No. 94. If Baltimore wants to acquire an early second-round pick as well as another third or fourth rounder, moving off of their second first-round pick could be well worth it.

There are no shortage of options for the Ravens throughout draft weekend. What the team does in the first round will dictate how they maneuver through the rest of the draft, and there will seemingly be plenty of activity by the team over the course of the next three days.

 

Albert Breer details potential cost Patriots would pay to trade up for No. 4 pick

Would this price be worth it?

All attention is on the top 5 quarterbacks in the 2021 NFL Draft.

Trever Lawrence and Zach Wilson seem to be surefire choices in the first two selections with Justin Fields, Mac Jones and Trey Lance likely to follow close behind. The New England Patriots re-signed Cam Newton to a one-year deal, but they’ll likely add depth at the position throughout some point in the draft.

Whether that’s in the first round or later on is unknown. But, it appears the only way to get one of the top 5 guys is by trading up. Former Patriots executive Michael Lombardi gave a detailed report on why the team wouldn’t trade up — but, precedented logic also didn’t lead to Bill Belichick spending the most money in free agency.

Fox Sports’ Peter Schrager’s most recent mock draft has the San Franicisco 49ers selecting Jones at No. 3 and the Patriots trading up to No. 4 to grab Fields. The question is — what would it cost for the Patriots to make this move?

Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer gave his best guess.

The Falcons’ pick, on the old Jimmy Johnson draft value chart, is worth 1,800 points. The Patriots are sitting at 15th, and that one’s 1,050 points. Generally, you’d value a future first at a little less than the middle-of-the-round pick. A middle-of-the-first-round pick equals 975 points, which would get you well past 1,800. Thing is, if you think the Patriots are going to be good next year—and we have two decades of evidence showing Bill Belichick is plenty capable of making that happen—then you aren’t going to value the pick like that.

So, let’s say you’d value the Patriots’ 2022 first-round pick as the 28th selection. That one’s worth 660 points, and 1,050 plus 660 is 1,710. To that, add the Patriots’ two fourth-round picks, which are worth 54 and 50 points, and you’re there.

Patriots get: fourth pick.

Falcons get: 15th pick, 120th pick, 122nd pick, 2022 first-round pick.

In the past, that doesn’t seem like a price Belichick would be willing to pay. After this insane offseason of spending, anything seems possible.

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Details emerge on Josh Allen’s gathering of teammates in Florida

Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen gathered teammates together in Miami for workouts recently.

We already know that Josh Allen and the quarterback room was given credit for gathering some of the Bills’ offense together in Miami for some offseason workouts. Kudos to them because it’s been difficult to do so due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Having said that, we have some new details as to what exactly went down in South Florida, and what the schedule there was. According to MMQB’s Albert Breer, here’s how the daily rundown of activities went for the Bills in Miami:

Wednesday night/Thursday morning: Players arrived. Allen came with fellow QB Matt Barkley, on a redeye from California. Barkley snuck in a nap after landing. Allen met a bunch of the guys for breakfast.

Thursday midday: The nearly 20 skill players attended their normal Zoom meetings with the coaches, scheduled for 1-3 p.m. ET.

Thursday late afternoon: The guys piled into cars, and drove over to Pete Bommarito’s facility—as arranged by Diggs, who works out there in the offseason—and got full field work in there for a couple of hours.

Thursday night: The players ordered food through DoorDash and hung out at the hotel, playing cards. “We played hours upon hours of cards,” Allen said, “stayed up until … too late, probably.”

Friday morning: Everyone woke up around 8:30 a.m. and got back to the field for warmups at Bommarito’s around 9:30, with another two-hour session kicking off at 10 a.m.

Friday afternoon: After lunch and workouts, Allen and a bunch of guys headed to the beach.

Friday night: Allen took the whole group out for dinner at Sushi by Bou at the Versace Mansion. “It was just an incredible experience, some of the greatest sushi you’ll ever eat,” he said. “I just wanted to take care of the guys, show them I cared about them.”

Saturday: Same routine, another throwing session at Bommarito’s, with some scheduled to leave Miami later in the day. After lunch, Allen took the quarterbacks out for a round at International Links at Melreese Country Club, as a thanks for helping him put the whole thing together.

Allen also said that the workouts gave the team a sense of… exactly that, team and football.

“Mentally giving guys that feeling of, ‘Football’s here, we’re back in camp, we’re back in OTAs, we’re with the guys, we’re not worrying about anything else that’s going on in the world right now, we’re on the field with each other, focusing on one goal, and that’s to get better,’” Allen said.

 

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