Tag: alex mack

55 days until Browns season opener: 5 players to wear 55 in Cleveland

55 days remain.

Our countdown to the return of Browns football continues as we have hit 55 days. Rookies report for training camp on July 19th with everyone else reporting on the 21st. In total, there have been 20 different players to wear the number 55 for the Browns including centers Ethan Pocic and potential Hall of Famer Alex Mack.

The number was first worn by John Harrington in 1946, though after that year it wasn’t worn again until 1967. Let’s take another stroll down memory lane and look at five players who have worn 55 in Cleveland.

JC Tretter and NFLPA announce new executive director

NFLPA announces Lloyd Howell is the new Executive Director.

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Former Cleveland Browns center and NFLPA President JC Tretter announced that the NFL Players Association have elected Lloyd Howell as their new executive director. Lloyd Howell will be replacing DeMaurice Smith after the season. Lloyd Howell is a seasoned businessman whose last role was Chief Financial Officer of Booz Allen, a large consulting firm in Virginia before taking over with the NFLPA.

He has also served on the board of various companies. Former Browns center JC Tretter was in charge of the search and was assisted by other former Browns players Alex Mack and Jason McCourty.

Lloyd Howell will become the fourth executive director in the NFLPA’s history. Lloyd Howell’s skills as a businessperson signal that the Players Association could pivot from their reliance on legal strategies to combat potentially unfair NFL policies. DeMaurice Smith, a former lawyer, has overseen the last two collective bargaining agreements.

The handling of the 2020 collective bargaining negotiations was very contentious between two camps of players. Soon after, Smith was narrowly elected to his fifth term. The NFLPA would begin a 16-month search for Smith’s replacement shortly thereafter. Lloyd Howell inherits the agreement for the next seven seasons. In that time he will try to build consensus among the two camps. 

In a statement, Howell said, “The opportunity to represent the players is a privilege. I look forward to building relationships and the solidarity amongst our players. The history and strength of this institution is impressive, and I look forward to driving our bold goals and achieving them together in the future,” 

Roger Goodell released a statement to congratulate the new executive director, “I want to congratulate Lloyd Howell on his election as Executive Director of the NFL Players Association and to thank DeMaurice Smith for his continued partnership and unstinting work on behalf of NFL players. We look forward to working with Lloyd and his team to continue growing the game and making it better, safer, and more accessible and attractive to fans around the world.”

While Howell and Goodell have yet to work together, watching how their partnership will shape the sport will be interesting.

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PFF shares their 10 highest-graded Browns since they began in 2006

Of the Browns top 10 highest graded players since 2006, four still play for the team.

PFF began grading players back in 2006 and has now released the top 10 highest-graded  Cleveland Browns players in that time. The top of the list should be no surprise as Joe Thomas will be enshrined in the Hall of Fame later this summer as one of the best to ever do it.

Of the top 10, there are four current Browns players on the team and a total of five players that are offensive linemen. During all the struggles they always seemed to have some decent offensive linemen. The list ends with a player that had all the talent in the world but couldn’t stay on the field in Josh Gordon.

Let’s take a look at the top 10 ranked players since 2006 according to PFF.

4 players costing 49ers more than $17 million in dead money

The 49ers have more than $17 million in salary cap space taken up by players no longer with the team.

Virtually every NFL team carries around some amount of dead salary cap space. That’s money counted against the cap for players who are no longer on the team.

How teams accumulate their dead cap varies. Sometimes a player retires with money left on their deal. Other times a player gets cut with money remaining on their contract. Restructured contracts tend to push money into the future by limiting a cap hit now, but sending money down the road where a player will have a cap hit even after they leave the team. This is the case with most of the players who hold dead cap space for the 49ers.

San Francisco will have $17,085,988 in dead money this year. While that sounds like a lot, it’s not close to the most in the NFL. That spot belongs to the Buccaneers and their $75,323,702 in dead money. The 49ers rank 20th in the NFL. The Bengals sit at the bottom of the list with just under $600,000 in dead cap.

So, who exactly is costing the 49ers more than $17 million in cap space without suiting up for them this year? Here’s the list:

The top-graded draft prospects at each position since 2004

Draft Wire’s Jeff Risdon reveals his top-graded draft prospects at each position since 2004

On a recent radio appearance, I was asked an intriguing question.

“Who was the best prospect you’ve ever graded?”

I’ve been evaluating prospects and covering the NFL draft professionally since 2004, which meant the 2023 draft was my 20th. The question and the timeframe was a nice catalyst to go back and examine some of the older evaluations.

To answer the question directly, my highest-graded player ever was Wisconsin OT Joe Thomas in 2007. The grading scales and systems I use have changed over the years, but Thomas topped any iteration.

Here are the top-graded players from my evaluations at each position since the 2004 NFL draft.

How 49ers can replace C Alex Mack

Sooo… how do the #49ers replace Alex Mack? Some internal and external options:

Alex Mack’s retirement left a sizable hole in the middle of the 49ers’ offensive line.

The team did little to address the center position in free agency and the draft, leaving them somewhat handcuffed at one of the offensive line’s most important positions with training camp quickly approaching. Having a quality center is vital not only for blocking, but for calling out protections and building a good rapport with quarterback Trey Lance.

San Francisco has leaned heavily on proven veterans at center over the last three years with Weston Richburg and Alex Mack. Now they may need to find a less-experienced answer internally.

Here are the internal options and a couple free agents still available:

Ex-Falcons center Alex Mack retiring after 13 seasons

Alex Mack, who helped the Falcons reach the Super Bowl after signing as a free agent in 2016, is retiring from the NFL after 13 seasons.

After spending four years of trying to get back to the Super Bowl, the Atlanta Falcons began to move on from their veteran core in 2021.

The team traded away star wide receiver Julio Jones, All-Pro center Alex Mack signed with 49ers in free agency, then the Falcons shipped out former MVP Matt Ryan back in March.

Jones is currently a free agent, Ryan is in Indianapolis and according to a report from Michael Silver, Mack is set to retire after 13 NFL seasons.

Mack, who helped the Falcons reach the Super Bowl after signing as a free agent in 2016, signed a three-year deal with the 49ers last season. San Francisco nearly returned to the Super Bowl in 2021 but gave up a double-digit lead to the Rams in the second half of the NFC Championship game.

Mack’s contract was adjusted Thursday morning, hinting that the announcement was coming.

Atlanta has revamped the majority of the roster since 2021. Third-year center Matt Hennessy is set to start in place of Mack for the second straight season.

The Falcons announced on Wednesday night that they are bringing back their red helmets for their Week 6 matchup against the 49ers.

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Former Browns center Alex Mack is retiring from the NFL

Mack was a 1st-round pick in 2009 and was consistently one of the NFL’s best centers

One of the Browns best draft picks of the 21st century has decided to hang up his cleats. Longtime starting center Alex Mack, a first-round pick by the Browns back in 2009, has retired from the NFL according to reporter Mike Silver.

Mack played for the Browns from 2009-2015 and quickly established himself as one of the best in the business. He earned three Pro Bowl nods in Cleveland before cashing in on free agency and moving to Atlanta. The Falcons made Mack the highest-paid interior offensive lineman in NFL history at the time to lure him away.

Crafty and freakishly agile for his size, Mack would make the Pro Bowl in each of his first three seasons in Atlanta. He spent the 2021 season playing for the San Francisco 49ers and once again repped his team in the postseason exhibition honors.

In seven seasons with the Browns, Mack was guilty of just seven holding penalties. He paired with perennial All-Pro left tackle Joe Thomas to give the Browns one of the NFL’s better offensive lines for over half a decade.

 

49ers center Alex Mack retiring after 13 NFL seasons

49ers center Alex Mack is calling it a career after 13 NFL seasons.

San Francisco 49ers center Alex Mack is calling it a career and retiring after 13 NFL seasons, according to Bally Sports’ Michael Silver.

The news doesn’t come as too much of a surprise after head coach Kyle Shanahan hinted that Mack could be contemplating retirement after not showing up for Organized Team Activities this offseason.

“I’m going to leave that up to Alex, but I’ve got a pretty good idea,” Shanahan told reporters last week. “I think you guys do too.”

Earlier today, Mack, who had two years remaining on his deal, agreed to a reworked contract that freed up over $4 million in salary cap space. That brought Mack’s 2022 base salary from $5 million to $1.12 million and his 2023 base salary from $3.35 million to $1.165 million.

Mack, a former first-round pick in the 2009 NFL draft, is a seven-time Pro Bowler during stints with the Cleveland Browns (2009-15), Atlanta Falcons (2016-20) and 49ers (2021).

Now, the 49ers have a big hole to fill at center following Mack’s retirement. Jake Brendel and Daniel Brunskill are potential candidates to fill that vacancy.

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John Lynch mum on another Alex Mack update

GM John Lynch sounds less convinced of Alex Mack’s return to the #49ers.

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Early in the offseason 49ers general manager John Lynch sounded optimistic about center Alex Mack returning. He lauded how hard the 36-year-old was working and said the club was anticipating Mack’s return. Monday in his pre-draft press conference he sounded less certain.

Lynch, instead of offering his thoughts on where Mack was in a possible return for a 14th NFL season, put the ball in the veteran center’s court.

“Not a final,” Lynch said when asked if Mack had made a decision. “We’ve been in discussions with Alex, communicating with him and I think I would say, the common theme here today, I’m not going to speak for Alex on that. I think at the appropriate time, Alex will comment on that.”

It’s hard to believe Lynch would make this turn if he was anticipating Mack’s return. Perhaps he’s going out of his way to not push the player toward returning, but leaving it up to Mack to comment makes it sounds as though there’s a big announcement coming.

The 49ers would certainly love to have Mack back for this season. He was good in 2021 and they don’t have an immediate replacement they’d be confident in putting in the middle of their line.

Lynch said they’d be okay with playing a rookie at center, but with potentially two new starting guards it’d be a significant advantage to have Mack’s experience on the interior of the offensive line.

If Lynch’s tone change is signaling Mack’s retirement, then the 49ers have some work to do in the draft to ensure they’re finding a player they’re confident can hold that spot down right away. Either that or they have to go shopping in a thin free agent market.

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