The injury bug continues to bite the Jaguars, as 2016 seventh-round defensive end Jonathan Woodard will now miss the entirety of the season after tearing his Achilles, reports Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Woodard probably wasn’t going to play a significant role in a Jacksonville edge rotation that includes Malik Jackson and Dante Fowler Jr., but the injury will obviously set him back in his development. The Jaguars, of course, are waiting for a status update on fifth overall pick Jalen Ramsey‘s knee, while last year, the club missed out on Fowler’s rookie season after he tore his ACL in camp.
Here’s more from the NFL’s two South divisions…
- Falcons cornerback Jalen Collins told reporters that he “made a mistake” which led to his four-game suspension for PEDs (Twitter link via D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution). However, he did not indicate whether he will file an appeal. Atlanta had hoped the Collins would be able to become a starter on the outside, allowing fellow corner Robert Alford to move into the slot full-time. That transition can still happen, of course, but now the club will have to make do without Collins for a quarter of the season — a realization which may have precipitated today’s workout of nickel corner Brandon Boykin.
- Given that the Colts are on the lookout for veteran depth at wide receiver, the recently-released Brian Hartline could hold some intrigue for the club, as Mike Chappell of CBS4 tweets. Indianapolis currently projects to start T.Y. Hilton and Donte Moncrief at wideout, with the second-year Phillip Dorsett behind them. The Colts’ depth chart behind that trio is perilously thin, however, so Hartline could make some sense for the team.
- Drew Brees is capable of becoming the league’s highest-paid player even at age 37, writes Jason Fitzgerald of the Sporting News. Entering the final year of his deal, and playing under a $30MM cap hit in 2016, Brees holds all the leverage in talks with the Saints. Fitzgerald details exactly how Brees can use New Orleans’ poor salary management against them as he seeks one more mega-deal.
Zach Links contributed to this post.
If Brees plays the “it’s a business and not a game” game as the author suggests the Saints make a two year $36 million offer. If the Saints show some upside this year he might accept it for another shot at a playoff run with them. If they don’t show upside this year they need to move on and find the QB of the future.
Either way it’s a fair offer to a 37 year old QB. You pay for future performance, not past.