Tag: Albert Breer

Why Chargers haven’t signed any of their draft picks

For reference, all rookies were signed to their contracts around this time last year.

In the 2020 NFL Draft, the Chargers selected six players: quarterback Justin Herbert, linebacker Kenneth Murray, running back Joshua Kelley, safety Alohi Gilman and wide receivers Joe Reed and K.J. Hill.

It’s been a little less than two months since the draft, and not one of these players have been signed to their professional contract.

In 2019, Los Angeles had their whole draft class signed by June 19. A year prior to that, L.A. inked all seven members from that draft by June 1.

So as we are in the middle of June, why haven’t the Chargers signed any of their draft picks from this year’s draft yet?

According to Sports Illustrated Albert Breer, it’s not just Los Angeles. Instead, there are a handful of other teams across the league that have yet to come to agreement with their selections.

“Just 51 of 255 draft picks (20%) and only two first-rounders were signed by June 1,” Breer said. “At the same juncture last year, 204 draft picks, including 20 first-rounders were under contract. (My guess is a lot of those young guys wouldn’t mind getting paid.)”

One of the biggest reasons as to why a lot of players haven’t signed their NFL contracts is because of the coronavirus pandemic. The players not being able to come to the facilities is a major impact because that’s where physicals take place, which is key to the signing process.

Another reason could be because players aren’t in a situation to get paid right off the bat. Since everything is virtual, not many rookies haven’t made the move to their perspective cities where they will be playing, which means that payments for housing and such won’t be required yet.

Expect to see some action after June 26 and before July 28. Those dates are important because it marks the end of the virtual offseason program, as well as the expected start date of training camp.

Matt Patricia alters team meetings away from football and towards conversations on racism

The Detroit Lions were supposed to begin Phase 3 of their offseason on Monday but instead pivoted to player-led meetings surrounding racism.

The Detroit Lions were supposed to begin Phase 3 of their offseason on Monday but instead, they pivoted to player-led meetings surrounding racism and the current protests happening across the country.

Late Tuesday night, coach Matt Patricia spoke with MMQB’s Albert Breer and discussed how the team shifted their team meetings away from football in the wake of George Floyd’s murder.

After watching the video of Floyd’s death, Patricia told Breer that “Honestly, I was just disgusted, angry, sad, depressed. The range of emotion, you watch the video, someone being murdered and you’re like … I didn’t even know how to process it. And the range of emotion I know I felt in watching that was only one-tenth of a fraction of a minute percent of what my players must’ve been feeling.”

Patricia discussed how he knew he was out of his depth on this topic and that the best thing he could do for his players was to put football conversations on hold and allow them to share their thoughts, feelings, and experiences related to the current events.

“It was just about listening and making sure we tried to get on and open it up for conversation, real conversation, truthful conversation, honest conversation, heartfelt conversation,” Patricia said. “And really, honestly, credit to my players for leading that. They’re the ones that really were able to get it to where it became so powerful.”

The Lions held both large (120 people) and small (only position groups) meetings, giving players multiple ways to share depending on their comfort level.

After two days of player-led conversations, and an off day on Wednesday, it’s still a bit unclear when the Lions will get back to football but Patricia is confident his players will help him decide when it’s the right time.

“When everyone’s ready to talk and move in that direction of football, we’ll move when the team wants to move,” Patricia said. “I think the one thing to understand there—we won’t move away from the conversation. It’s just, at some point, you’re having the conversation and then you’re also working on what we do, which is football.”

The Lions have not yet made a public statement regarding the events surrounding Floyd’s death or the fallout since, but one is expected to be made soon.

Albert Breer: Broncos ‘investigating’ possibility of trading up in NFL draft

Sports Illustrated reports that the Broncos are considering trading up in the first round of the NFL draft.

The Denver Broncos are “investigating” the possibility of trading up from No. 15 overall in the first round of the NFL, according to Sports Illustrated‘s Albert Breer.

“The Bucs and Broncos, I’ve heard, could be going up for one of the top four linemen ([Mekhi] Becton, Jedrick Wills, Tristan Wirfs and Andrew Thomas), making Jacksonville’s slot, at No. 9, a potential hotspot, given the needs the Browns and Jets have at 10 and 11,” Breer wrote on Monday.

It’s hard to imagine Denver actually trading up for an offensive tackle. Garett Bolles isn’t a great left tackle but he has stayed healthy and still has a year remaining on his contract. The Broncos seem more likely to groom a mid-round left tackle prospect than to trade up for one of the top tackle candidates.

In an article looking back at John Elway’s drafts in Denver, KUSA-TV’s Mike Klis noted that trading up would “be rolling against his personal historical trend,” suggesting that the Broncos would be wise to stay put at No. 15, or perhaps trade down.

With three picks in the third round, Denver might trade back into the first round after picking at No. 15. But it’s hard to imagine the team trading up in the first round for an offensive tackle.

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Clearing up confusion on the Lions salary cap situation

Clearing up confusion on the Lions salary cap situation after some incomplete information hit Twitter on Monday

NFL.com’s Albert Breer raised a bit of a ruckus with his Tweet on Monday morning listing the Lions as having the most cap room left. There is a very important asterisk that needs to be included, one whose omission is a critical error in the Tweet.

Most of the free agent deals are not yet finalized. In fact, the only addition for the Lions that has been made official by the team is the trade for Duron Harmon from the Patriots. With Darius Slay’s trade to Philadelphia official, the cap figure doesn’t reflect the contractual commitments the Lions made to any of their free agent signings.

Aside from not taking into account signing Jamie Collins, Halapoulivaati Vaitai, Desmond Trufant or any other newcomers, it also doesn’t factor the rookie salary pool.

In his detailed breakdown and spreadsheet of the Lions spending, which includes the agreed-upon but officially unsigned free agent deals, out Erik Schlitt estimates the Lions with about $22.1 million in available cap room.

That’s still plenty to work with for GM Bob Quinn, if they truly covet more free agent signings. As Schlitt notes, Quinn typically reserves about $10 million in insurance/cushion to have some flexibility during the season.

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Tom Telesco explains what went into decision to part ways with QB Philip Rivers

General manager Tom Telesco explains when the franchise decided to part ways with quarterback Philip Rivers.

There will be a new player under center for the Los Angeles Chargers as the franchise and quarterback Philip Rivers decided to go their own ways on Monday.

General manager Tom Telesco, who was an executive with the Indianapolis Colts when they parted ways with Peyton Manning, explained the decision to move on from the 38-year old.

“Once we saw the way this was heading, it was in the forefront of my mind. I mean, he’s an icon for the organization and he’s done so much here. I wanted to make sure everything was done as respectfully and classy as possible. This can be a very difficult business for all of us to be in—head coaches, GMs, players. That was the thought in my mind,” Telesco said, per Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer.

Telesco said the decision to move on from Rivers did not take place until last week. The Chargers’ front office had their annual meeting to outline the offseason, with the team’s quarterback situation being at the top of the list.

On Friday, after coming to a decision, Telesco called Rivers’ agent, Jimmy Sexton, to inform him of the team’s decision. Telesco then called Rivers on Saturday, officially ending the 16-year marriage.

Telesco didn’t explain why Rivers wasn’t re-signed, but the assumption could be made that his age (38) and his decline in production in a contract year were a couple reasons for the split as he threw 20 interceptions, as well as 23 turnovers – which cost the team a handful of their 11 losses.

Along with that, coach Anthony Lynn has made it clear that a mobile quarterback is required in the system that he wants to run, leaving Rivers out of the equation.

The Chargers could go a few ways to fill Rivers’ shoes. One of the options could be on the team with Tyrod Taylor, who Telesco praised in an interview on Tuesday, saying the team has a lot of faith in him. But it’s speculated that L.A. will look to add another signal-caller. The outlet to acquire one remains to be seen.

When deciding who they’re going to bring in, Telesco said that they will hopefully have many of the same traits Rivers possessed during his time with the Bolts.

“It’s going to be a little bit different,” Telesco said. I spent a lot of my career with Peyton Manning as my quarterback, and one year with Andrew Luck as the quarterback, and then seven years with Philip. But we move into a new era of Charger football. And really that’s figuratively and literally, because we’re moving into a brand-new stadium. As a football team, it’s the nature of professional football. You wish players could play forever, and I know the fans hope their stars can play forever. It just doesn’t work like that.

“But there’s an excitement getting into a new era of Charger football. And you have to build this a different way without Philip here anymore. It’s not gonna be easy, I know that, because from Philip you knew year after year after year, you got consistent play, high level play and a quarterback you could count on, every single day. Not just games, but practice. He was accountable day in, day out. It’s gonna be new here.”