The Packers will bring back veteran tight ends Jimmy Graham and Marcedes Lewis in 2019, but that given that both players are over the age of 30, tight end must be a priority for Green Bay in next weekend’s draft, opines Jim Owczarski of PackersNews.com. Given that they own 10 picks and possess the fourth-most draft capital, the Packers will certainly have an opportunity to find a youthful tight end. With the 12th overall selection, Green Bay could theoretically target Iowa’s T.J. Hockenson, while fellow Hawkeye Noah Fant or Alabama’s Irv Smith Jr. could be in play with pick No. 30. The 2019 draft class is exceptionally deep at tight end, so the Packers should have plenty of chances to add to the position throughout the weekend.
Here’s more from the NFL’s two North divisions:
- Speaking of the Packers‘ draft, Green Bay recently hosted Ole Miss offensive tackle Greg Little, according to Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Twitter link). Not to be confused with the former Browns receiver of the same name, this Little is anything but at 6’6″, 325 pounds. Viewed as a potential Day 2 selection, Little could help reinforce a Packers offensive line that took a step back in 2018. While left tackle should be manned by David Bakhtiari for the foreseeable future, right tackle Bryan Bulaga is entering the final year of his contract.
- While other quarterbacks like Russell Wilson and Aaron Rodgers have recently campaign for new deals, Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has not taken the same tack, as Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk writes. Roethlisberger, 37, is entering the final year of his contract: he’s due a $12MM base salary and will count for $23.2MM on Pittsburgh’s salary cap. He’s still engaged in ongoing negotiations with the Steelers, and as Florio notes, Roethlisberger would be due more than $60MM over the next two years if the franchise tag was deployed, so that could be a starting point in talks.
- Free agent defensive end Geneo Grissom worked out for the Lions today, reports Howard Balzer (Twitter link). A former third-round pick of the Patriots, Grissom should be familiar with current Detroit head coach/former New England defensive coordinator Matt Patricia‘s scheme. Grissom, 26, never lived up to his draft billing and played in fewer than 200 defensive snaps for the Patriots before being cut last November.
- New Vikings backup quarterback Sean Mannion‘s one-year deal is a minimum salary benefit pact, tweets Ben Goessling of the Star Tribune. As such, Mannion will only carry the salary cap charge of a second-year player despite having four years of NFL experience under his belt. The former Rams signal-caller received a $90K signing bonus to become Kirk Cousins‘ understudy.
Ben isn’t worth it. HoF career, but no need to lock him down until he is 39. Let him walk and have a fresh start.
They will need him for another year or two if they are grooming Mason
Mason isn’t going to be the answer in my opinion. I think they’ll draft/sign someone else to replace Ben
Then that was a stupid pick to draft him then that high….
Typically you don’t find your franchise QB in the 3rd round or later (Excluding Tom Brady) so no, that wasn’t exactly a “high” draft pick
So then why waste a pick at 3 on a pointless backup? You just proved my point….stupid pick then if he’s never gonna play.
Genius… that’s why I literally said in the first post that they will draft or sign someone else. Smh..
Why won’t you admit it was a stupid pick then? Smh
It was a stupid pick… that’s why I literally said they’ll sign or draft someone else. I figured you’d understand that
Hof qbs don’t grow on trees. He’s getting older but he’s still easily a top 10 qb. Top 5 in my biased opinion
I’m not biased and I think that argument could at least be made. He’s been really good for a long time. Some teams struggle for years trying to draft or acquire someone even in the top 15 or 20. If you have one in place you try to get every year you can imo
Mason will QB the Steelers for many years after Ben. He is the future of the franchise.
Two years more
Why would the tag be the floor?
It should be the ceiling unless you’re going over 2 years which would be nuts.