Good news for Los Angeles, Chicago, and Madison Square Garden landlord James Dolan: they’re all finalists to host the 2015 NFL Draft, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. Radio City Music Hall has informed the NFL that it will not be available to host the NFL draft in April or May, because the Rockettes are more important, apparently. Here’s more from around the league…
- Cam Newton‘s next contract with the Panthers is unlikely to mirror Colin Kaepernick‘s new deal with the 49ers, writes Joseph Person of the Charlotte Observer. “I’m sure the Carolina Panthers will go, ‘Hey, we’ll give you Kaepernick’s structure,’” said Joel Corry, a former NFL agent. “But (Newton’s agent) Bus Cook is not going to be too receptive to that.” Newton, selected No. 1 overall in the 2011 draft in which Kaepernick was picked in the second round, is entering the fourth year of his rookie deal. In April, the Panthers picked up the club option on Newton for 2015 at $14.67MM.
- Eagles quarterback Nick Foles will set his own market, not Kaepernick, writes Phil Sheridan of ESPN.com. For now, Foles stands as the biggest QB bargain in the NFL, save for the Seahawks’ Russell Wilson, but the Eagles will have to give him big bucks after this season to wrap him up long term. For his career, Foles has thrown 33 touchdown passes and seven interceptions (27 TDs and two interceptions last year), completing 364 of 582 passes (62.5%) for 4,590 yards.
- The relationship between Cowboys coach Jason Garrett and quarterback Tony Romo could wind up saving Garrett’s job, writes Rainer Sabin of the Dallas Morning News. The Cowboys have bent over backwards to accommodate Romo and keeping Garrett would continue that trend.
- Former Buffalo Sabres owner Tom Golisano confirmed today that he has interest in bidding on the Bills when they are put up for sale, writes Mike Rodak of ESPN.com. “Everybody has a degree of reasonableness,” Golisano said. “If it costs way more than I’m willing to pay, then I won’t feel bad if I don’t get them. I’ll only feel bad if they move out of Western New York. If they get moved out of Western New York, I’m not going to feel very good about it. I might even feel partially responsible. Not totally, but partially responsible.”
- While the deal seems hefty on the surface, Kaepernick’s new deal with the 49ers is actually quite team-friendly, writes Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle. Branch, like Person, checked in with Corry for his take on the deal and he says that while the contract works in SF’s favor, the QB’s agents at XAM Sports didn’t necessarily get taken advantage of. It’s very possible that Kaepernick, as others have suggested, specifically wanted an under-value deal in order to make new deals possible for others on the roster.