HEADLINES

Month: September 2024

Joe Flacco Not Competing With Nick Mullens For Eagles’ Backup Job

July 1st, 2021 at 11:34am CST by Sam Robinson

The 49ers turned to Nick Mullens as Jimmy Garoppolo‘s primary backup over the past three seasons but did not tender him as a restricted free agent. The three-year veteran suffered an elbow injury late last season and has spent much of this year recovering from offseason surgery.

Mullens landed a gig with the Eagles last month, joining the team after the Jets expressed interest. The former UDFA out of Southern Miss has made 16 career starts, but the Eagles are not planning a first- or second-string role for their recent addition.

The team will not hold a Mullens-Joe Flacco backup competition, with Bo Wulf of The Athletic noting the QB2 job will be Flacco’s (subscription required). This is assuming the Eagles go with Jalen Hurts, and not Flacco, as their starter. While this is the expectation, new HC Nick Sirianni has not anointed Hurts as such yet.

Flacco joined the Eagles — his fourth team in four years — on a one-year deal worth $3.5MM in March. The 36-year-old passer’s contract comes fully guaranteed. Philly gave Mullens a one-year, $920K deal that includes $200K guaranteed. Mullens arrived after the Eagles waived rookie UDFA Jamie Newman during their offseason program. The Eagles are not certain to carry three QBs this season, Wulf adds, injecting some uncertainty regarding Mullens’ roster spot.

Last season, Flacco completed a career-low 55% of his passes during a five-game Jets run (four starts). Granted, the veteran was helming one of the league’s worst offenses. The former Super Bowl MVP did stay healthy in 2020, after a neck injury ended his 2019 Broncos tenure and a 2018 hip injury ushered in the Ravens’ Lamar Jackson era. Despite the Eagles bringing in a rather experienced third-string QB, Flacco is on track to work unchallenged as the team’s backup.

Kyle Rudolph Addresses Recovery Timetable

July 1st, 2021 at 10:30am CST by Sam Robinson

Shortly after the Giants agreed to terms with Kyle Rudolph, the agreement hit a snag due to the veteran tight end’s physical. While the Giants ended up finalizing the deal, Rudolph underwent a foot surgery that has required months of rehab.

Rudolph said he underwent the surgery shortly after his Giants contract became official in late March, and while the 11th-year pass catcher stopped short of saying he will be ready when Big Blue’s training camp begins, the plan remains for him to be available by Week 1.

“As far as football goes, I was extremely fortunate that the Giants organization and everyone involved [caught the injury during a physical], and how they were able to handle my situation, that I won’t miss any football,” Rudolph said, via Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News.

The two-time Pro Bowler missed the final four games of last season due to a foot injury but did not expect to have additional issues with the ailment this offseason. Rudolph did not miss a game from 2015-19, but foot trouble has comprised a sizable chunk of his past year.

“I felt completely fine coming out of last season. After I rehabbed, I was anticipating coming back for the last game of the year and then playing through the playoffs,” Rudolph said. “Unfortunately that didn’t work out for us as a team last year in Minnesota, so there were no playoffs. Then I continued with my offseason as if I was completely healthy.

“So I was extremely fortunate the Giants medical staff was able to find this in March and it isn’t something where I came back here all fired up for OTAs in June and then hurt myself and put myself at risk for missing football games.”

The Giants loaded up on skill-position players this offseason. Rudolph joins Kenny Golladay, John Ross, Devontae Booker and first-round pick Kadarius Toney as new options this year. While it is unclear if Rudolph will have a full workload to start the season or if he will be eased into action like Saquon Barkley, the Giants may be set to use him in a part-time capacity anyway. Evan Engram remains the team’s starting tight end.

Steelers To Sign K Sam Sloman

July 1st, 2021 at 8:54am CST by Sam Robinson

After spending time with the Rams and Titans as a rookie, Sam Sloman will have another chance going into his second season. The Steelers plan to sign him, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets.

A seventh-round Rams draftee out of Miami University (Ohio) last year, Sloman became Greg Zuerlein‘s immediate successor after winning a training camp competition. The Rams used Sloman as their kicker in seven games to start the season, but his run came to an end after the team added Kai Forbath midway through the year.

Sloman missed three field goals and three extra points with the Rams and did not catch on elsewhere until landing on the Titans’ practice squad in late November. He kicked in one game with Tennessee late last season. Sloman kicked a game-winning 37-yard field goal in overtime to give the Titans an AFC South-clinching win in Week 17. Sloman did not kick in Tennessee’s playoff game.

The Steelers have used Chris Boswell as their kicker for the past six seasons. After a down 2018, the veteran has bounced back over the past two years. Boswell made at least 93% of his field goal tries in 2019 and 2020. His 95% make rate ranked fourth in the NFL last year.

Two years remain on Boswell’s four-year, $16.8MM contract. Sloman, 23, would represent a cheaper alternative, though it would be surprising to see the Steelers make a change given Boswell’s recent performance.