And it’s something that Henry seemingly “forgot” to tell Marlon Humphrey about — the Ravens’ star cornerback and Henry’s former Alabama teammate in college.
After Henry’s Baltimore signing was made official, Humphrey took to Twitter and revealed that he and the running back were literally texting a day prior. Somehow, Henry joining Humphrey on the Ravens never came up:
It’s not hard to guess why Henry would keep this news under wraps until it was official. There’s always a chance that negotiations could’ve gone haywire the moment more people knew it was happening in the background. So, Henry played it safe and let Humphrey get surprised by the great news after the fact.
Still, it’s kind of funny that Henry kept Humphrey, of all people, in the dark. It’s so perfect that now they’re reunited in pursuit of a Super Bowl together.
Goooood morning, Winners! Thanks so much for reading the Morning Win today. We appreciate you taking the time here. I hope you had an excellent Monday.
You know who definitely did? Kirk. Freakin’. Cousins. That dude struck gold. Again. I have no idea how he continues to get away with this.
Cousins signed a four-year deal with the Atlanta Falcons worth up to $180 million with a $100 million guarantee. That man is doing the Bankhead Bounce all the way to the literal bank. He cashed out. Again. Somehow, man.
Everybody in the NFL should fire their agent and hire Cousins’ at this point. Mike McCartney is a legend at this point. This man has earned $331 million (and counting!) through his 12-year tenure in the league. It’s ridiculous.
He’s played chicken with so many front offices. He was franchise-tagged by the Commanders twice and somehow survived. He parlayed that into a fully guaranteed deal with the Vikings, ending with him tearing his Achilles. Even after that devastating injury, he still rises with pockets stuffed like piñatas.
It’s inspiring, really. Especially when you consider he’s been mediocre to solid every step of the way. He’s made nearly as much as Aaron Rodgers in his career while not being anywhere near as good. Cousins has only started in four playoff games in his career. He’s won one. And he’s lost to a team with Daniel Jones on the other side.
Atlanta doesn’t care, man. The Falcons have their QB — debilitating injury and all.
“Cousins is a credible quarterback. He gets an offense capable of providing him the same caliber artillery the Vikings did in 2023. He should be able to pilot this team back to the postseason.”
Just being credible at the highest-paid position in the NFL gets you so far. Honestly, I’m rooting for him. Being just perfectly OK and getting the most money is simply the American dream.
Go, Kirk, go.
Meanwhile, in Chicago…
Mandatory Credit: Scott Galvin-USA TODAY Sports
The quarterback carousel is still going round and round.
At this point, it seems pretty clear that the Bears are planning on taking Caleb Williams with the No. 1 pick in the draft. But does anyone know what Chicago is doing with Justin Fields?
The dude is in NFL limbo right now. It’s clear his current team doesn’t want him. The two rumored suitors in the Steelers and Falcons picked up seasoned veteran options at QB in free agency. So what now? That’s the question. And, as Robert Zegklinski writes here, it’s getting pretty hard to imagine what’s coming:
“Fields had long been rumored as one of the Falcons’ top trade targets. But then Cousins — a superior player — became available, and Atlanta could not reasonably pass up on the opportunity. Throw in the Pittsburgh Steelers’ addition of Russell Wilson, and it’s starting to get really hard to imagine what Fields’ next NFL home will be.”
The Bears very clearly have a price set on what they believe Fields is worth on the trade market. But it’s also clear the rest of the NFL doesn’t see Fields in the same way.
I don’t know what happens next, but I hope this ends soon. This process has been so painful to watch.
Jamahl Mosley just cashed in with the Magic. The head coach just signed a four-year contract extension to stay in Orlando, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports, keeping him with the team through the 2027-28 season.
This is very well deserved. The Magic had been one of the laughingstocks of the NBA for years. But under Mosley, Orlando has improved its win total each year in since 2021, including this year, when the team already won 37 games. The Magic are the East’s No. 5 seed and have an outside shot at a home playoff game this year.
When Orlando hired Mosley, no one questioned whether he could be good. After being on the Mavericks bench behind Rick Carlisle, he was clearly ready to be a head coach. It was just a matter of whether the Magic were organized enough to be competitive.
We’ve got that answer now. Mosley has earned this.
Quick hits: Your big NFL free agent tracker … Our latest NBA MVP ladder … and more
Taylor Swift helped the Bears make an important announcement.
The Chicago Bears wasted no time making a splash during the 2024 NFL free agency period when they signed 2023 Pro Bowl running back D’Andre Swift. But because the new league doesn’t officially start until Wednesday afternoon, the Bears themselves cannot formally announce Swift is part of their team until then.
That led Chicago’s social media to take some creative ventures to start building hype up their fans about Swift’s addition. How, you might ask?
They took a lyric from Taylor Swift’s hit song “…Ready for it” and added a wind emoji in a clear reference to D’Andre Swift’s trademark quickness and speed.
Few things get NFL fans as excited (and worked up) as the free agency period. Buffalo Bills left tackle Dion Dawkins took full advantage of this fact on Monday.
Right after the “legal tampering” window officially opened, the three-time Pro Bowl left tackle sent a tweet seemingly confirming he would be leaving Buffalo and taking his talents elsewhere. This news naturally hit Bills fans very hard, as their team is currently smack dab in the middle of a Super Bowl contention window with Josh Allen.
As everyone is well aware, replacing an offensive lineman, let alone a franchise-caliber left tackle, is never easy.
But if one read between the lines, Dawkins’ message seemed a little good to be true. He even made a reference to Buffalo’s obsession with how to properly eat chicken wings, which probably isn’t something you’d say in a goodbye.
This was confirmed when ESPN’s Adam Schefter revealed that Dawkins signed a three-year, $60 million extension, making him the fourth-highest-paid offensive tackle in the league:
Bills three-time Pro-Bowl left tackle Dion Dawkins is signing a three-year, $60.5 million extension, per sources. The deal is expected to make Dawkins the fourth highest-paid tackle in the league. pic.twitter.com/hcOhFisJBn
But while many NFL fans fantasized about the terrific playmaker joining their squad, it seems Higgins already somewhat telegraphed where he’d like to play in the future.
In a month-old video courtesy of NBC Sports’ Lawrence Jackson Jr., Higgins built his shortlist of good NFL quarterbacks he’d like to play with who aren’t Joe Burrow. From Trevor Lawrence to CJ Stroud, the names he mentions aren’t remotely surprising:
Tee Higgins requesting a trade ain't a big shock— that's the biz
a month ago he told me some QB’s he'd like to team up with if hes not a Bengal pic.twitter.com/riomtiUyKT
I could certainly see Higgins calling Houston or Jacksonville home, considering where those still-ascending teams are in their contention windows. But I’d venture there is a virtual zero percent chance the Bengals deal Higgins away to play with Lamar Jackson or Josh Allen — considering the Baltimore Ravens and Buffalo Bills are likely considered main roadblocks in Cincinnati’s Super Bowl aspirations.
One thing is for sure: If Higgins’ request is fulfilled, it’s gonna be a fun deal that one lucky quarterback will really appreciate.
Bucs linebacker Lavonte David told WDAE a few days ago that it was either his plan to retire or come back to the Buccaneers. It’s looking more like the latter.
David was on “Good Morning Football” on Thursday, and when asked about his intentions by co-host Jason McCourty, he indicated that retirement isn’t in his immediate future — he wants to suit up.
“I mean, I’m ready to play,” David said on the show. “I still feel like I’ve got a lot left in me — I still wanna give it a shot. I’m gonna let my body tell me when it’s time to give up, but right now, I feel pretty good. I’m confident, especially after the season I just had.”
That certainly doesn’t sound like someone who wants to retire. David did, in fact, have a good year in 2023, racking up 134 combined tackles, 4.5 sacks and a forced fumble, so the Bucs will want him back, and it’s clear he wants to come back. Despite that, David said he hasn’t had talks with the Bucs just yet, but that Tampa Bay knows he wants to return.
“Communications haven’t really started up yet, but throughout the season, we all expressed how we feel about one another, and how they’d love me to be back and I would love to be back as well,” David said.
Despite what he said to WDAE, he said on “Good Morning Football” that playing for another team was in fact an option he was considering, saying that “you never know” where free agency could take you.
“I’m not naive to the fact that somebody else could probably come swoop me up,” David said. “I’m definitely open to all options, but I would love to phase out my career in Tampa Bay.”
The number is about $13 million more than estimates, which could help out the Bucs in retaining some of their numerous free agents.
Salary cap news:
The NFL announced that the 2024 Salary Cap will be $255.4M per club, with an additional $74M per club payment for player benefits, which includes Performance Based Pay and benefits for retired players. Total 2024 player costs will be $329.4M per club, or more…
The official 2024 salary cap number is here — and it’s much bigger than expected.
The NFL announced on Friday that the salary cap is set at $255.4 million dollars, largely due to the repayment of advanced and deferred money from the COVID-19 pandemic during the 2020 season. This is a pleasant surprise for NFL teams around the league, as it’s a $30 million increase from 2023 and $13 million more than Over the Cap projected to be the salary cap heading into 2024.
This is of course nice for every NFL team, but it’s definitely a bit of a boon for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Bucs have numerous free agents like wide receiver Mike Evans, quarterback Baker Mayfield, safety Antoine Winfield Jr. and linebacker Devin White, and this unexpected jump in salary cap could be the difference in keeping a player that might have departed under previous projections.
As it stands right now, Over the Cap projects the Bucs as now having $45,521,102 dollars in cap space, which could help in their quest to get some players back for 2024. This doesn’t account for incoming incentives for Mayfield and a pay bump for center Robert Hainsey, but money can (and likely will) be freed up with post-June 1 cuts to Russell Gage and Ryan Jensen.
