Tag: Pro Football Talk

Michael Thomas trade rumor: Don’t buy into the splash reports

The New Orleans Saints should not consider moving Michael Thomas before the NFL trade deadline, no matter what Pro Football Talk speculates.

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It’s a day that ends with “Y,” so Mike Florio found a pot to stir over at Pro Football Talk. This time he’s speculating as to whether the New Orleans Saints will try to trade embattled wide receiver Michael Thomas ahead of the NFL’s Nov. 3 deadline, or whether Thomas himself wants out.

Citing sources “in league circles,” Florio raised the question on Saturday with no basis and no knowledge from anyone in a position to know anything about what’s going on behind the scenes in New Orleans. He’s making it up whole cloth.

Sure, he admitted as much in his post for PFT, and from the jump described Thomas as an unlikely name to appear in trade talks before the cutoff date. Which undercuts all of this speculation.

The proposal makes even less sense the longer you think about it. New Orleans is laser-focused on winning a Super Bowl so long as Drew Brees is its quarterback, and trading away his best receiver doesn’t do a single thing to help accomplish that. No package of draft picks to spend after Brees has retired will help the Saints reach that goal. Would a team offering a player similar to Thomas in a swap help facilitate a deal? I don’t think so.

That doesn’t even get into the financial aspect of it. Trading Thomas would make the 2021 salary cap situation even more complicated, adding $20 million in dead money onto their accounting. If Brees retires as is expected, it would mean paying more than $46 million to two players not on the team (as Florio also pointed out, poking another hole in his idea).

Maybe things look different in the offseason. The Saints have shipped their best options out of town before; Jimmy Graham and Brandin Cooks stand out, but so do lesser weapons like Darren Sproles and Kenny Stills. But if the Saints want to set Taysom Hill (or Jameis Winston, or someone else) up for success as the heir to Brees, you’d think keeping Thomas around to helm the receiving corps would be the play.

Almost every player has a price when teams talk trades, barring the highest-paid quarterbacks like Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson. It’s possible that a team could wrest Thomas away in the spring for a Jamal Adams-style trade package involving multiple first-round picks. That would sure help the Saints retool and reload for life after Brees. But “possible” isn’t the same thing as “likely,” which isn’t close to the same level as “yeah, it’s happening.” The contract the Saints paid Thomas last summer put him in place as a keystone of the offense for years to come.

So don’t spend too much time worrying about this. Maybe the situation looks different six months from now. But for now, Thomas is just as frustrated with the injuries that have kept him off the field as the Saints are. It’s what led to his scrap with a teammate and the one-game benching that all parties have moved on from. Hopefully this hamstring issue doesn’t keep him out of action much longer.

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Bills in top-10 of latest offseason power rankings

The Buffalo Bills land in the top-10 of Pro Football Talk’s offseason power rankings.

Tis the season of killing time, but we’re almost done with that. NFL training camps are inching closer and closer. The Buffalo Bills will start getting after it on Tuesday.

But we’re not exactly sure when they’ll get on the field. Testing and safety protocols for COVID-19 with the pandemic still surging are still being hammered out by the league and players union.

But football! Soon! Hopefully…

With that right around the corner, NBC Sports’ Pro Football Talk took a plunge into the power rankings polls this week. The Bills weren’t looking too bad as well. Buffalo landed at No. 9 overall:

9. Bills: Receiver Stefon Diggs gives quarterback Josh Allen an element he never has had, and it could be the ingredient that takes the team to the top of the division for the first time in decades.

Surprisingly a bit, the Bills in this power ranking are not the best team in the AFC East. The Patriots, post-Cam Newton addition, shoot way up to No. 4 overall. A pretty strong spot considering Newton’s recent struggles to stay healthy. But as they say, you’ve got to beat the best to be the best. But at minimum, there’s still a lot of distance between the rest of the pack. The Jets land at No. 24, just ahead of the Dolphins at No. 26.

As soon as football starts, we’ll really start tracking such power rankings. With no preseason to get teams on the same page this offseason, plus a less-than-normal offseason overall, who knows what could happen once the regular season comes around?

For what it’s worth, the top-three spots on this list are the Chiefs on top, edging out the 49ers and Ravens, respectively. The Bills will play both the Chiefs and 49ers in 2020.

 

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Vikings rank 13th in Pro Football Talk power rankings

This ranking might not look great, but Florio has the Vikings as the best team in the NFC North.

The Vikings are in an interesting spot after finishing 10-6 and coming away with a playoff win in 2020.

Their defense will be full of unfamiliar faces, especially at cornerback, and the offense will be without Stefon Diggs.

Where do the Vikings rank among teams as we approach the 2020 season?

Mike Florio over at ProFootballTalk has the Vikings ranked 13th.

Here’s what Florio wrote about the Vikings:

It’s a strange crossroads for a team that is sort of rebuilding and sort of reloading and sort of in the last couple of chances before a full reset to deliver a Super Bowl return for which the franchise has been waiting for 44 years and counting.

To round out the NFC North, the Packers rank 14th, the Bears rank 25th and the Lions rank 27th.

With this logic, Florio has the Vikings as early NFC North favorites right now.

Stephen Jones: Paying QBs too much ‘decreases your chances to win’

Stephen Jones virtually sat down with Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio to discuss multiple topics surrounding the 2020 Dallas Cowboys.

With the 2020 NFL Schedule released, predictions of the Dallas Cowboys having a successful first season under head coach Mike McCarthy continue to swirl. There’s still one piece missing from this pie, and that’s a long term deal with franchise quarterback Dak Prescott.

Executive vice president Stephen Jones sat down with Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio on the PFT PM Podcast to discuss some of the questions that still remain about their commitment to Prescott, along with plenty of other topics Cowboys fans could sink their teeth into.

Dak Prescott and Andy Dalton

Jones did not hesitate to say they want to pay him, and they’ve made  numerous offers but the deal has to work for the team along with working for Prescott. However he is forever negotiating in public.

He referred back to Jerry’s pie analogy in efforts to build this team with pieces around Prescott to be successful. He warns that because the salary cap is a “zero sum game”, the club has to be cautious not to sink too much into one particular position.

“There’s all sorts of analytics out there that show if your quarterback takes up too big a percentage of your salary cap, that it decreases your chances to win.”

[Editor’s Note: There’s actually analytics out there that say the opposite. Teams which pay their QBs are just as likely to win as teams with QBs on rookie deals. (The Athletic)]

Florio asked Jones about the exclusive franchise tag as July 15 is the deadline for Prescott to sign his tender.. “We’re only focussed on getting a long term deal with Dak,” Jones went on to say. Jones emphasized there was no chance of rescinding the tag.

The signing of Andy Dalton was not intended to put pressure on Prescott to sign but if July 15 comes and goes, and Prescott does not show, it will be Dalton’s job to get the 2020 Dallas Cowboys ready for this season.

2020 NFL Schedule

Jones said the Cowboys received the schedule 24 hours in advance to dissect it with the front office. He looks for the road games first to insure that there’s not too many in a row. He then looks to see when the divisional games, singling out Thanksgiving Day as Dallas will once again battle the Washington Redskins. It’s “preferred” to be a division game on this holiday for the rivalry to be polarized on the big stage for the fans.

CowboysWire nailed 4 of the 5 prime time matchups and the Thanksgiving tilt with Wash.

Continued relevancy despite not winning

Florio brought up the New England Patriots, who are entering a new era and questions if they will remain relevant post-Tom Brady. Florio said Cowboys, regardless of their up and down ways over the last 25 years, are still the center of the football world.

Jones thanked the historic figures of the Cowboys for making the team as intriguing as they’ve been despite some of their unsuccessful years. He thanked his father owner Jerry Jones, who he called “nothing short of Barnum and Bailey,” for keeping the team relevant via free agency, specifically referencing the signing of  Deion Sanders for national exposure.

Moving on from Jason Garrett

Jones addressed the shift away from Garrett, whose contract expired without renewal, stating it was time for a change. The 25-year draught was enough for them to bring in McCarthy and Jones feels they now have the opportunity to change the narrative around the Cowboys.

The younger Jones reiterated a remark from his father that Jerry would trade his Hall-of-Fame bust for another Super Bowl trophy.

FA approach, the draft and taking a WR

Jones attributed the recent years of having strong teams on paper to the coaching and scouting. He dates this back to the Jimmy Johnson days of old. Jones addressed that they prefer to pay their own players rather than make that big splash in free agency.

The draft has been a focal point of the Cowboys in recent years to build the foundation and Jones went on to say this years draft class eases the burden of not being big spenders.

Florio went on to ask Jones’ thoughts on new wide receiver Cee Dee Lamb and the feeling he got when he saw him still available when the Cowboys went on the clock.

Jones went on to say Lamb was never in the mix of their mock drafts because they truly did not feel he would get out of the top 10. Lamb had too big of grade to not take him despite the needs in other positions. Lamb’s addition will play a big role in helping Prescott develop.

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Report: Tom Brady wants to play with Antonio Brown

Could Tom Brady be throwing touchdown passes to Antonio Brown next year with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers?

Pro Football Talk reported that teams who spoke with Tom Brady believe that he wants to play with Antonio Brown. The rumor mills are always at a full churn during the off-season, and with all eyes on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the first time since 2002, expect nothing less.

Brady has been open about his support for Brown, most recently responding to a tweet by the wide receiver, who seemingly was apologetic for his recent off-field antics. When Brady took to his Instagram to thank the New England Patriots organization, Brown returned the support by simply posting a goat emoji.

Wording around the deal that was pitched to Brady was he would be receiving a “God offer” allowing him input for personnel. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that Brady hasn’t signed the contract due to difficult language, namely in getting a physical during the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving the details of the deal unknown. Schefter also said this morning that Brady has brought the LeBron James effect to the Buccaneers as a high numbers of players have called about playing for the team this season.

The Buccaneers have some areas to address before the regular season starts, and wide receiver is certainly not one of them. However, if the Buccaneers can bring in a superstar like Antonio Brown –without the drama– it’s worth taking a look. Coach Bruce Arians was on Schefter’s podcast in January 2019 and spoke about Brown, whom he coached for two seasons as the offensive coordinator with the Pittsburgh Steelers. “There’s too much miscommunication, too much…diva,” Arians said.

Failing to reach a contract agreement with the Steelers, Brown was traded to the Oakland Raiders on March 10, 2019. Ultimately, Brown signed a 3-year $50 million deal with the Raiders before it all fell apart on September 7, 2019 and he was released. Subsequently, he was picked up by the Patriots on a 1-year $15 million deal, before being released when sexual assault allegations surfaced. This has left Brown with possibly the lowest market value of his career, meaning a lower offer from the Buccaneers could be a viable option.

Whether there is any merit of truth to the reports, a hypothetical wide receiving corps of Mike Evans, Chris Godwin and Brown catching passes from arguably the greatest quarterback of all-time will be nothing short of a pick your poison for opposing defenses.

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