Tag: Trade news

Report: Washington open to trading more than just a 1st-round pick for QB

In their search for a new QB, a report shows that Washington is willing to part with more than just a 1st-round pick in order to get their guy.

As the trade market for prospective quarterbacks starts to heat up this offseason, it’s becoming clear that the Washington Football Team is doing everything they can to be involved. According to a report from ESPN’s Josina Anderson, Washington is willing to deal more than just a 1st-rounder for a veteran quarterback, assuming it is the right deal.

That could mean, Deshaun Watson, or Matthew Stafford, or Matt Ryan, or Derek Carr, potentially. A lot of players are on the market and potentially looking for new teams, and we can’t rule out that Washington might not be a good landing spot for any of them.

We’ve gone over what it might take to land some top players like Watson or Stafford in the past, and it’s becoming clear that Ron Rivera and his guys are planning to be in the mix.

[listicle id=46477]

Jared Goff could get traded by the Rams, so does Washington make sense?

New reports are showing that the Rams are open to trading QB Jared Goff, so where does Washington fit in that mix, and would they even want him?

A lot of our time over the past few weeks has been focused on which quarterback the Washington Football Team is likely to end up with at the start of the 2021 season.

Many have their eyes set on guys like Deshaun Watson, or Matthew Stafford, or Dak Prescott, or Matt Ryan; all guys who could be picked up in free agency or via trade for some high-prices. However, a new name has entered the chat: Los Angeles Rams QB Jared Goff.

A report from The Athletic shows that the Rams are starting to engage in some “exploratory trade talks,” according to Jourdan Rodrigue, with the ultimate goal to bring Stafford back to LA to run Sean McVay’s offense. With a high cap number after signing a new contract within the last couple of years and an apparent regression, it seems that the Goff experience in LA might be coming to an end.

That means if the Rams deem a quarterback worth trading for and are able to execute such a transaction, they would be willing to eat $22.2 million in dead-cap money, plus the new quarterback’s salary. They also could trade Goff after June 1 (an extremely rare scenario, though there is league precedent) for a relatively small total of $6.8 million in dead money in 2021 (plus $15.4 million in 2022).

So, like we said up top, Jared Goff’s name has now entered the chat of quarterbacks who are likely to be on the move this offseason. However, does that mean that Washington should be interested? It’s clear that they need a new guy under center going forward, but is Goff the guy?

Ask that question two years ago, and the answer is definitely yes. Ask that question now, and you’ll likely get a response that ranges from slightly-timid to aggressively against. What happened?

Well, a young player with a high ceiling was seemingly exposed by the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl a couple of years back, where he was held to 229 yards and 1 INT, being held out of the endzone in a 13-3 snoozer. Since then, things have fallen off a bit for Goff, and we can’t really figure out why. Check out these stats from Goff in both 2017 and 2018, compared to what he’s done in 2019 and 2020:

2017-2018: 24-7 record, 8492 yards, 60 TD, 65.3% completion, 19 INT

2019-2020: 18-13 record, 8590 yards, 42 TD, 64.95% completion, 29 INT

With a high-flying offense like the Rams have, Goff is apparently not the guy that McVay envisions running it going forward, but that doesn’t mean he can’t still have a solid career in the NFL. If Washington were to be interested, it would cost them significantly less to acquire Goff than someone like Stafford or Watson, simply because they’d more being doing LA a favor by getting him off their books. However, a Goff acquisition would likely not sit over very well with the fanbase in D.C., as he lacks a star factor that is so desired to head up this offense.

Goff feels more like a last-resort acquisition, mainly because of his regression, and that frighteningly big contract that he brings with him. At this point, though, it feels that his name has to at least be mentioned.

[listicle id=46477]

Would trading for David Njoku make sense for Jags?

About a week ago, ESPN’s Field Yates proposed a trade involving defensive end Yannick Ngakoue and David Njoku of the Cleveland Browns. In a nutshell, the two teams exchanged both players while the Browns added in a second-round selection, and …

About a week ago, ESPN’s Field Yates proposed a trade involving defensive end Yannick Ngakoue and David Njoku of the Cleveland Browns. In a nutshell, the two teams exchanged both players while the Browns added in a second-round selection, and surprisingly, it got a lot of good feedback from Jags fans.

Now, here we are not too far removed from the article and it appears Yates was on to something. Njoku recently demanded a trade two days ago, leaving fans to speculate what teams are fits for the young tight end.

For the sake of this article, we’ll leave Ngakoue out of the picture and just look at it from a standpoint of the Jags acquiring Njoku by providing draft compensation and not players. However, to answer the question of whether the Jags should trade for him we have to look at the Jags’ current tight end group.

The organization came into the offseason with a need for a tight end after three of their tight ends went on injured reserve last season. Those players were Geoff Swaim (concussion/ ankle), Josh Oliver (back), and James O’Shaughnessy (ACL), leaving the Jags’ offense at a huge disadvantage when it came to pass-catchers. Now, two of those three will be back in O’Shaughnessy and Oliver (while Swaim was cut) in addition to another notable in veteran tight end Tyler Eifert, who is the most familiar with the offensive system.

When looking at those three names there should be concerns on the Jags part. O’Shaugnessy, a favorite target of Gardner Minshew II, will be coming off an ACL tear, which means 2020 may not be a super productive year for him. Fans aren’t exactly high on the health of Eifert either, as he’s missed over 50 regular season games in his career. As for Oliver, he only registered three catches last season and will be learning a new scheme. That ultimately makes him feel like a rookie who is still at Square 1.

Still, the team is seemingly high on what they have and I believe Oliver especially could prevent them from wanting Njoku. They were high enough on him to take him with a third-round selection in 2019, and after how last season went, they are going to want to see what they have in him. In a nutshell, it feels as though Oliver is the team’s version of Njoku — at least they’re hoping.

For me, Njoku is a talented player when healthy and could be a TE1 in time and the Jags should at least be open to it. However, when looking at it from their standpoint with Oliver and them showing confidence in Eifert by not drafting a tight end, it looks like their minds are set at the position.

Additionally, if the Jags looked into a trade for Njoku the asking price would have to be extremely friendly. If a fifth-round selection or less is all they have to give up, that’s worth the risk even though it’s unlikely that they would.

Now, we’d like to know what you all at home think about a Njoku trade. Does it make sense for the Jags? Let us know in the poll below.

[protected-iframe id=”95383e7ff9ef82131564c2f9a05a6b98-105974738-159322853″ info=”https://static.apester.com/js/sdk/latest/apester-sdk.js” height=”360″ class=”apester-media”]

NFL.com’s Gil Brandt lists Jags as the third-best trade fit for Jamal Adams

While many are looking at playoff contenders as fits for Jamal Adams, NFL.com’s Gil Brandt thinks the Jags are a top fit for him.

One of the biggest topics of discussion in the football community has been Jamal Adams demanding a trade from the New York Jets due to a contract dispute. Since taking to social media with his thoughts, many have pointed out teams he could end up with if traded, most of which were labeled as desired destinations by ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

However, as we’ve seen in the past, trades more times than not aren’t dictated by the player — and if traded — Adams could end up with a team that wasn’t named by Schefter or one many aren’t suspecting.

One team that NFL.com’s Gil Brandt at least feels are a fit is the Jacksonville Jaguars. On his list of fits, they came in at the No. 3 spot with only the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys, respectively, above them

As I wrote above, the Jets should expect at least a first-round pick in return for Adams, which might make this potential deal too rich for a Jaguars team that, on paper, looks ticketed for a top-10 draft choice in 2021. And that’s setting aside the fact that Jacksonville is the one team here that does not appear on Adams’ reported wish list. But you could argue that Adams would be worth the investment for a group looking to grow, instantly lifting a secondary that will otherwise be relying on rookie C.J. Henderson to shoulder a significant amount of the load. The Jaguars haven’t fielded a true impact safety since Rashean Mathis’ heyday.

While it admittedly feels like a long-shot, here at Jags Wire we’ve also deemed the Jags as a good fit. They have nine total draft picks waiting for them in 2021 and two of them are first-round selections thanks to Jalen Ramsey.

However, unlike Brandt, we’ve also pointed out a way the Jags could potentially land Adams without giving up a first-round pick, and that’s by trading them Yannick Ngakoue. As many have seen, the young defensive end has been in a contract dispute of his own with the Jags and has made it clear he no longer wants to play for them.

While the team could hold on to hope that he’ll have a change of heart, it’s a gamble that could hurt them in the end when they reflect on it if he doesn’t. Additionally, the Jags would come out cheaper in 2020 compensating Adams as the highest-paid safety in the league than paying out Ngakoue a salary of $18 million under the franchise tender.

Only Adam’s (and maybe his agent) knows if Jacksonville is a spot he’d be fine with playing at. However, for a new deal to be the league’s highest-paid safety in a state without income taxes, he just might be open to it.

Listen to the latest from Jags Wire’s own James Johnson and Phil Smith on their podcast “Bleav in the Jags.” Subscribe via Apple Podcasts and check out our archived episodes via Bleav Podcasts.

[protected-iframe id=”d7cb0cde732f05fbbb91019124d67279-105974738-159322853″ info=”https://art19.com/shows/bleav-in-the-jacksonville-jaguars/episodes/03826eb6-17ae-4c36-9fc8-c48f9f7c14b0/embed” scrolling=”no”]

Report: Jaguars have had discussions to potentially trade RB Leonard Fournette

The Jaguars continue to ship assets as Adam Schefter reports they are open to trading Leonard Fournette.

The Jacksonville Jaguars have already ridded themselves of several veterans from their 2017-19 squad and with the draft coming up, others could follow. Of course, the name that most are aware of is disgruntled defensive end Yannick Ngakoue but it appears he may not be alone as Leonard Fournette’s name has also been discussed on the trade block.

Adam Schefter of ESPN reported that the Jaguars are open to possibly shipping the former No. 4 overall pick, with multiple teams interested in the 25 year-old.

Fournette is approaching the final year of his rookie deal and is scheduled to make $4.16 million in 2020. That’s a figure he’ll make despite having had his guarantees voided by former front office executive Tom Coughlin following a string of disciplinary infringements.

This news concerning Fournette comes after he recently raised some eyebrows this week by publicly stating his desire for free agent Cam Newton to join the Jaguars. However, he later came out to clarify that his pitch for Newton was simply to better the team by adding competition.

Whilst he has struggled to build upon his impressive rookie season, last year Fournette managed to add a different dimension to his game, leading the team in receptions with 76. He also was able to garner 265 touches for 1,152 rushing yards (a career-high), and three touchdowns.

The Jaguars already own 12 picks in this year’s draft and have done their due diligence on the running back position, perhaps in preparation for life without their running back. If he is moved prior to the draft, Fournette would join the long list of players from the 2017 AFC Championship game to leave Jacksonville over the span of the last five months like A.J. Bouye, Calais Campbell, Jalen Ramsey, and perhaps Ngakoue.