After surveying seven NFL coaches and personnel men, Adam Schefter and Chris Mortensen of ESPN.com say the results were unanimous, with those sources suggesting the Lions would be “foolish” to part with Matthew Stafford in 2016. Although Stafford could net a nice haul of draft picks for Detroit, the fact that there’d be no obvious replacement in free agency or the draft makes it unlikely that the Lions make a move.
Here’s more from around the NFC:
- With Carson Palmer having another strong season in Arizona, the Cardinals now firmly believe that the veteran can be the team’s quarterback “for years to come,” according to Schefter and Mortensen. Assuming Palmer doesn’t run into any serious health problems, the Cards believe Palmer can play out his current contract – which voids after the 2017 season – and may want to retain him beyond that.
- Defensive back DeShawn Shead wasn’t the only player to receive a $25K signing bonus from the Seahawks this week — according to Field Yates of ESPN.com (via Twitter), Seattle did the same thing for wide receiver Ricardo Lockette. While $25K isn’t a huge amount for an NFL player, teams don’t often simply give a player a mid-season bonus without making any other changes to his contract, so it’s a commendable move by the Seahawks — particularly if it happened after Lockette underwent season-ending neck surgery.
- With a game against the Bears on tap this weekend, Rams head coach Jeff Fisher admitted to reporters that he viewed Jay Cutler as the top quarterback prospect in the 2006 NFL draft, as Jeff Dickerson of ESPN.com writes. Of course, Fisher – who was coaching the Titans at the time, and didn’t yet have final say on draft decisions – ended up with Vince Young, the third overall pick in that draft.
- The Giants will work out former Eastern Washington tackle Jake Rodgers next Tuesday, a source tells Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter link). Rodgers was selected by the Falcons in the seventh round of this year’s draft, but was cut prior to the regular season.
While I think it’s entirely possible that Tom Brady (as one example) can play for years to come, I have my doubts about Palmer. In Arizona’s current offense, at least, he takes a lot of deep shots, which necessitates him staying in the pocket for quite a long time, and therefore taking more hits. I just wonder if he can keep taking such hits and still stick around.