The Eagles are gearing up for Super Bowl LII tonight, but their prospects for next season got a nice boost this morning. Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports that, this Wednesday, Carson Wentz will begin weight-bearing exercises with his brace unlocked for the first time since being placed on injured reserve. That marks a big milestone in Wentz’s recovery, because when he is able to begin weight-bearing exercises, his recovery can proceed as if he had torn only his ACL instead of his ACL and LCL.
When it was revealed that Wentz tore both his ACL and LCL, concern as to whether he would be ready for next season’s opener increased, and it is still far from a given that he will be on the field for Week 1 of the 2018 campaign. But Dr. James Bradley, who performed Wentz’s surgery, said that barring a setback, Wentz should be ready to do some work in training camp and be ready to play in Week 1.
Now for more notes from the league’s east divisions:
- Mercurial Giants wideout Odell Beckham, Jr. is under club control for one more season — the last year of his rookie deal — and it was not too long ago that he was looking for a new contract worth at least $100MM. But a season-ending ankle fracture in October has thrown a wrench into those plans, and we recently learned that team owner John Mara would not engage in contract talks with Beckham until he discussed the matter with new head coach Pat Shurmur. As Anthony Barstow of the New York Post writes, though, Shurmur is seemingly in Beckham’s corner, and Beckham himself is anxious to put the matter to bed. He said during last night’s NFL Honors show, “Hopefully we get it done, just to get it over with. I really want to do it so I can move past it. It’s too much to be sitting around, thinking where I’m going to be.”
- We heard several days ago that the Patriots are likely to lose special teams coach Joe Judge and offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia this offseason — Judge to another team and Scarnecchia to retirement — but Mike Reiss of ESPN.com does not believe either departure is a foregone conclusion. Given that New England will lose top coordinators Josh McDaniels and Matt Patricia, Reiss can envision a scenario in which owner Robert Kraft gives Judge a raise to convince him to stay and head coach Bill Belichick “leans on” Scarnecchia to come back for at least one more season.
- This year’s QB market is uniquely loaded with talent, both in free agency and the draft, and if Jets GM Mike Maccagnan cannot find a permanent solution this offseason, Rich Cimini of ESPN.com says he should be run out of town. The Jets will certainly be a competitor for Kirk Cousins‘ services, but a Cousins splurge would significantly hamper the team’s ability to improve the rest of its roster. Cimini believes Gang Green should pass on Cousins if the bidding gets out of hand, as he views the longtime Redskin as a complementary piece rather than a savior. Of course, what the Jets do vis-a-vis Cousins depends on how Maccagnan & Co. view the 2018 rookie class.
- Speaking of Cousins, we heard this morning that the Redskins may put the franchise tag on him in the coming weeks with the hopes of trading him.