2022 December - Pro Football Rumors

Jettisoned by the Broncos during a rather eventful week for that franchise, Michael Ojemudia will have another chance. He did not make it too far down the waiver order, either.

The Bears used their No. 2 waiver spot to pick up the third-year defender. Ojemudia’s third-round rookie contract runs through 2023, giving the Bears an offseason to gauge his fit in Matt Eberflus‘ defense. To make room on their 53-man roster, the Bears waived veteran defensive end Taco Charlton.

Ojemudia has only one season to really measure in terms of NFL performance. A Broncos team limited at corner turned to the Iowa alum for 11 starts in 2020. The 6-foot-1 corner allowed a 103.2 passer rating as the closest defender and yielded three touchdowns. Ojemudia’s 852 defensive snaps in 16 games that season were not indicative of his NFL trajectory, with injuries largely defining his next two seasons.

A hamstring injury kept him off the field for most of last season, and a dislocated elbow cost him a chunk of this year’s campaign. Ojemudia, 25, played just one defensive snap for the Broncos this season. The Bears, however, are playing out the string at corner and could use assistance. After placing safety Eddie Jackson on IR, Chicago moved corners Jaylon Johnson and Kindle Vildor to its injured list. All three are out for the season’s remainder.

Charlton, 28, played in five Bears games but did not record a sack. The former first-round pick has seen action with five teams over the past five seasons, moving from Dallas to Miami to Kansas City to Pittsburgh to Chicago.

Broncos HC Fallout: Penner, Paton, Payton, Hackett, Evero, Rosburg, Rypien, Risner

December 28th, 2022 at 3:59pm CST by Sam Robinson

George Paton‘s status with the Broncos has taken some hits this week. Although the second-year GM is set to remain in his post, it appears the decisions to hire Nathaniel Hackett and trade for Russell Wilson have cost him.

New Broncos CEO Greg Penner is set to play a major role in the team’s next HC hire, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com notes. With the Broncos still in the process of putting the team up for sale when they conducted the search that produced Hackett, Paton led the hiring process. Penner said he will rely on Paton during the team’s latest hiring effort, but with it being the new ownership’s first HC search, it should be expected the GM will not have final say.

Paton’s situation reminds somewhat of Joe Douglas‘ with the Jets, though the former has not been on the job as long. Douglas has rebuilt the Jets’ defense to the point the team is a playoff contender, and this year’s draft class has helped the team considerably. But the Zach Wilson investment has gone south fast. Paton passed on Justin Fields for burgeoning star cornerback Patrick Surtain II and landed high-end starters Javonte Williams and Quinn Meinerz in Rounds 2 and 3, while also adding outside linebacker Baron Browning on Day 2 of last year’s draft. Denver collected first- and fourth-round picks for Bradley Chubb at this year’s deadline, helping to fill the draft-capital void created by the Wilson trade. While several of Paton’s moves have worked out, the Wilson-Hackett partnership undercut them and has the former Vikings lieutenant on thinner ice.

It is not known if Paton or ownership pushed to have Wilson signed long-term before this season. Conversations ramped up once Penner arrived along with Rob Walton, and the team wanted to avoid waiting until 2023 to extend the QB. But the five-year, $245MM extension is off to a shockingly poor start. Penner announcing that the next HC will report to him and not Paton strips the latter’s power to the point Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk posits the next Broncos coach will have the chance to run the football operation. Paton, 52, has held that role since arriving last year.

The Broncos have experienced ups and downs with a coach running the show, going from Mike Shanahan in this role to the overmatched Josh McDaniels, who held de facto GM power upon being hired in 2009. Considering new ownership’s deep pockets and a potential offer to run football operations, the Broncos would present an intriguing opportunity for an experienced head coach. That is believed to be the direction Denver heads this time, after seeing first-time hires Vance Joseph, Vic Fangio and Hackett underwhelm.

“I’ve worked with a lot of great CEOs, and it starts with really strong leadership,” Penner said. “I think that’s going to be the most critical factor here in a head coach. Obviously the X’s and O’s are important, but we need a strong leader for this organization that’s focused on winning. That starts with culture, it’s instilling a sense of accountability, discipline, and we need an identity on offense. At the starting point, it’s got to be about culture and leadership, and those characteristics are what we’ve focused on the most.”

Frank Reich, Jim Harbaugh, Dan Quinn and Sean Payton are believed to be on the early radar. The Broncos could make a strong run at Payton, Fowler adds, though it is not certain the former Saints HC is interested. Harbaugh has a relationship with Broncos consultant John Elway, who ran the team’s football ops for 10 years, and minority owner Condoleezza Rice due to each’s Stanford ties. Rice worked with Harbaugh during his time with the Cardinal, per Florio, adding an interesting wrinkle to the upcoming search.

As for the team’s current setup, interim HC Jerry Rosburg said (via 9News’ Mike Klis, on Twitter) DC Ejiro Evero declined the chance to be the interim option out of loyalty to Hackett. Evero and Hackett have been friends since they were college teammates at UC-Davis. The league has also shifted away from promoting interim coaches, with Doug Marrone being the most recent such hire back in 2017. The Broncos still want to interview Evero, though the first-time DC does not profile as an experienced candidate.

Rosburg, 67, also said (via ESPN.com’s Jeff Legwold, on Twitter) it was his decision to fire special teams coordinator Dwayne Stukes and offensive line coach Butch Barry. Both were Hackett hires. Rosburg also confirmed it was Paton, not Hackett, who brought him out of retirement to be the team’s game management assistant. Hackett’s run of issues during the season’s first two weeks led to the hire. The sideline confrontation between Brett Rypien and Dalton Risner also contributed to the early Hackett dismissal, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com notes (video link), as it was a sign the first-year coach was losing the team. Penner said off-field matters led to the early firing. Randy Gregory, who threw a punch at Rams offensive lineman Oday Aboushi and faced a suspension, cited Hackett’s tenuous status as HC in his successful appeal to the league, Klis tweets.

NFC West Notes: Cards, Lance, Hawks, Akers

December 28th, 2022 at 2:33pm CST by Sam Robinson

While nothing is certain yet, the Cardinals may be on the lookout for a new GM for the first time in 10 years. Steve Keim took a leave of absence earlier this month and, as of now, is not expected to be back. The Cardinals may be considering keeping their current setup — a dual-GM partnership between Adrian Wilson and Quentin Harris — on a permanent basis, Albert Breer of SI.com notes. Arizona has promoted from within to fill its GM post the past two times it opened, elevating Rod Graves in 2003 and then Keim in 2013. Bob Ferguson (1996) represents the franchise’s past outside hire for this post.

Wilson and Harris each played safety with the Cardinals, being teammates from 2002-05, and have worked in the front office for several years. Harris, the team’s VP of player personnel, has been on staff longer — since 2008, when he became a scout — while Wilson, the VP of pro personnel, enjoyed a much longer playing career. Wilson has been a Cards staffer since 2015. Harris interviewed for the Giants’ GM gig this year; Wilson interviewed with the Jaguars. Whomever lands the Arizona GM job will have some pieces to pick up after a turbulent year, and a coaching search could commence.

Here is the latest from the NFC West:

When the Seahawks acquired Drew Lock from the Broncos, the front office viewed him as the likely starter, Brady Henderson of ESPN.com notes. Believing they knew what they had in Geno Smith, Russell Wilson‘s backup for three seasons, the Seahawks were planning on Lock taking over. Smith’s contract — one year, $3.5MM — reflects this plan, but Pete Carroll consistently kept the former Jets second-rounder in front of Lock. While the Seahawks have faded since a surprising start, Smith made one the more unlikely Pro Bowl runs in recent QB history. The Seahawks want to re-sign him to a long-term deal.
Kliff Kingsbury said the Cardinals did not know about J.J. Watt‘s retirement decision beforehand. The Cardinals signed the three-time Defensive Player of the Year to a two-year, $28MM deal in 2021. Despite Watt suffering another significant injury last season, he rebounded to re-emerge as one of the league’s top D-linemen this year. Watt will pass on a chance to join a contender in free agency next year, and it appears a near-lock he will be inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2028.
Colt McCoy cleared concussion protocol and will start for the Cardinals in Week 17, Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com tweets. Arizona faces Atlanta and San Francisco to close out its season. McCoy is signed to a two-year, $7.5MM deal.
Brock Purdy has stepped in and kept the 49ers on course. Prior to Jimmy Garoppolo‘s injury, the team was open to re-signing him. Now, the prospect of Purdy keeping the gig over Trey Lance in 2023 is starting to surface. An anonymous exec told the Washington Post’s Jason La Canfora he is growing more convinced the 49ers will trade Lance and stick with this year’s Mr. Irrelevant. With Lance on a rookie contract through 2024, that would be a wild call — even given Purdy’s early form. But teams would figure to be interested in the former No. 3 overall pick — even if he has only played one full season in his five since high school.
Although the Rams tried to trade Cam Akers, they have turned back to him as their top running back. They should be expected to retain him in 2023, Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic notes (subscription required). Akers’ career path changed when he tore an Achilles’ tendon in July 2021, but he totaled 147 scrimmage yards and three touchdowns Sunday. Next season will be a contract year for the former second-round pick.
Weeks after the Cardinals fired their offensive line coach, Sean Kugler, the dismissed assistant said he did not grope a female security guard in Mexico. Kugler is taking legal action against the Cardinals, whom he contends did not conduct a thorough investigation. The team released a statement (via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport, on Twitter) conveying confidence the firing was for cause. Kugler worked for the Cardinals from 2019 until his November firing.

Raiders To Bench Derek Carr, Start Jarrett Stidham

December 28th, 2022 at 1:13pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Raiders may be making a big-picture move. For the first time in his career, Derek Carr will be the Raiders’ backup quarterback. Josh McDaniels announced Jarrett Stidham will start in Week 17.

Carr, 31, is the longest-tenured starting quarterback in Raiders history and the team’s all-time passing leader. He has started 91 straight games. But he threw three interceptions last week and now leads the league with 14 this season. Considering the structure of Carr’s contract, this decision could have long-term ramifications.

This move is for the rest of the regular season, per McDaniels, who said (via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport, on Twitter) the Raiders will evaluate the younger quarterback as well as other younger players. The team is already shutting down Chandler Jones and Denzel Perryman; other vets could follow. This could impact the AFC and NFC playoff races; the Raiders host the 49ers in Week 17 and the Chiefs in Week 18. For Las Vegas, however, this decision may bring a major change.

Months after McDaniels took over, he and GM Dave Ziegler authorized a second Carr extension — this one a three-year, $121.4MM deal — that locked down the ninth-year quarterback through 2025. But the contract gives the Raiders an out. Three days after Super Bowl LVII, $40.4MM — Carr’s $32.9MM 2023 salary and $7.5MM of his 2024 base — will become guaranteed. The Raiders, then, have a narrow window to find a trade partner.

Carr’s market should be expected to heat up after the Super Bowl, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com tweets, though the Pro Bowl QB’s extension does include a no-trade clause. That will complicate a potential deal. If the Raiders do move him, it would free up $29.3MM in cap space, Joel Corry of CBS Sports offers (via Twitter).

Raiders brass discussed the Carr plan over the past two nights, per The Athletic’s Vic Tafur, and Wednesday’s decision increases the likelihood Carr could be on the move in February. No trade can become official until the 2023 league year begins in March, but high-profile QB swaps — such as the Matthew Stafford deal or the Alex Smith exchange — have taken place around the Super Bowl in recent years. The Raiders sitting Carr now protects against an injury affecting the longtime starter’s value, even though the 6-9 team is not technically eliminated. On the fringes of “In the hunt” graphics, however, the Raiders are effectively looking ahead to next season.

Carr trade rumors persisted during Jon Gruden’s tenure, but given his performance level, the Raiders securing a replacement who could outplay him was difficult. Thus, Carr stayed on and steadily improved under Gruden. Under McDaniels this season, he has taken a step back. The former second-round pick has thrown nine INTs over his past five games, completing 57% of his passes in that span.

Were the Raiders to make Carr available, a few teams would likely be interested. The Jets, Commanders, Saints, Panthers and Colts are teams who could upgrade with Carr. Excepting the Colts, that lot will not hold top-five draft choices. The Commanders, Panthers, Colts and Saints were in this offseason’s QB market, while the Jets are likely to enter the mix in 2023. Zach Wilson may already be on the way out, and Mike White‘s contract is up after the season. If Carr becomes available, he would join Jimmy Garoppolo, Tom Brady and Daniel Jones as the top potential targets. Other QBs, as recent years have shown, may be on the trade market. But the Seahawks are aiming to retain Geno Smith. And it will take a Deshaun Watson-level package to pry Lamar Jackson from the Ravens, who are all but certain to use their franchise tag on the former MVP.

Carr has enjoyed an up-and-down run in Oakland and Vegas but offered the Raiders QB stability for the first time since Rich Gannon in the early 2000s. The JaMarcus Russell pick and Carson Palmer trade highlighted a wayward stretch between Gannon and Carr. The team is currently sitting in the No. 9 draft slot; multiple quarterbacks will likely be off the board by that point. Of course, moving Carr would give the team more assets to potentially climb in the draft. With Stidham (zero starts in New England) unlikely to be a true option for 2023, the Raiders will seemingly join the aforementioned teams in the QB market — provided they pull the trigger on a deal.

McDaniels’ previous HC stay — an eventful Denver tenure cut short before the end of his second season — featured him moving on from the team’s starting quarterback (Jay Cutler) just weeks into the polarizing HC’s stay. Multiple quarterbacks set for free agency — Brady, Garoppolo — have extensive pasts with the former Patriots OC. The Raiders potentially preparing to move on so soon after this year’s extension/trial balloon — and months after they acquired longtime Carr friend Davante Adams — will inject more intrigue into what promises to be another action-packed quarterback market.

Eagles RT Lane Johnson To Delay Adductor Surgery, Will Play In Postseason

December 28th, 2022 at 11:32am CST by Adam La Rose

DECEMBER 28: Johnson will need surgery to address this injury, but the Pro Bowl right tackle will not undergo an operation that threatens his playoff availability. Following consultations with several doctors, the 10th-year Eagles right tackle will put off surgery on his torn adductor, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. Johnson plans to return in time for the Eagles’ first playoff game. The eventual procedure will shut down Johnson for around three months, per Rapoport (on Twitter). Rather than move in that direction now, Johnson will attempt to play through this injury after some rehab time.

DECEMBER 26: The Eagles may have their starting quarterback available to close out the regular season, but the same will likely not be true of one of their key offensive linemen. Right tackle Lane Johnson is dealing with a torn tendon in his abdomen, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter (Twitter link). Surgery may be required at some point, as noted (on Twitter) by Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Schefter adds that Johnson is expected to miss the final two weeks of the regular season. While that will make for a notable absence down the stretch, the team is hopeful at this point that he can recover in time for the playoffs. Philadelphia failed to clinch the No. 1 seed in the NFC over the weekend, but doing so at any point in the remaining stretch of the campaign would guarantee them a bye in the Wild Card round and give Johnson extra time to get healthy.

The 32-year-old was recently named a Pro Bowler for the fourth time in his career, as his standout play has continued in 2022. Johnson has generated a PFF grade of 83.2 this season, the second straight season in which he has eclipsed a rating of 80 or higher and sixth overall. He has graded out as the seventh-best offensive tackle per PFF, underlining his importance to Philadelphia’s offense during what has been a hugely successful season to date.

The Eagles have a league-best record of 13-2, and have seen plenty of production on the ground due in no small part to the strength of their offensive front. Johnson has been instrumental in Philadelphia averaging 154 yards per game on the ground, which ranks fourth in the NFL. A ground-heavy approach could be in order if QB Jalen Hurts is once again forced to sit out due to a shoulder sprain, though a return in time for Week 17 against the Saints could still be on the table.

This injury will mark Johnson’s first missed time since a three-week absence last season, the cause of which he cited as mental health. The impact on the Eagles’ pass protection in particular will likely be substantial, as the former top-five pick has yet to allow a sack since 2020.

Jack Driscoll, drafted in the fourth round that year, is expected to be Johnson’s replacement at right tackle; he has made 14 starts in his career, including one this season. But Nick Sirianni said a potential Jordan Mailata position switch — from left to right tackle — that would allow Andre Dillard to man the blindside post is on the table as well, Zach Berman of The Athletic tweets. Dillard has played both positions but has more experience on the left side. The 2019 first-rounder started five games at left tackle last season. Mailata saw time at right tackle briefly last year as well, with Dillard playing the left side during the time in which Mailata was back and Johnson out.

The Eagles enter the closing stages of the regular season with Super Bowl aspirations, but the injuries to Hurts and now Johnson cast serious doubt on their offensive upside in at least the immediate future. Their respective recoveries will go a long way in determining how deep of a playoff run the team can go in January and February.

Dolphins To Start Teddy Bridgewater In Week 17; NFL, NFLPA Launch Investigation

December 28th, 2022 at 10:40am CST by Sam Robinson

Teddy Bridgewater will return to action for the Dolphins. After indicating Tua Tagovailoa‘s latest stay in concussion protocol was indeed induced by a concussion, Mike McDaniel said Bridgewater is in line to start against the Patriots in Week 17.

This will be Bridgewater’s second start this season. The journeyman passer left his first outing after landing in concussion protocol. This is Tagovailoa’s second confirmed concussion this season, though concussion-like symptoms in Week 3 ignited a controversy and led to the NFL firing an unaffiliated neurotrauma consultant and changing its protocols.

Although Tagovailoa head injuries have been one of this season’s defining storylines, the Dolphins are not yet planning to shut down their starter. McDaniel said this will be a day-by-day process. That makes sense when considering the disparity between the team’s record in games Tagovailoa finishes (8-4) and in games featuring Bridgewater or Skylar Thompson (0-3). The Dolphins have lost four straight and have plummeted to the AFC’s No. 7 seed. Tagovailoa being ready to go in Week 18 could determine Miami’s playoff fate, but the team will also need to factor in the former No. 5 overall pick’s long-term health ahead of that decision.

Tagovailoa missed two games because of the concussion he suffered in Week 4. That scary scene in Cincinnati came four days after the seminal sequence against Buffalo, when Tua returned to play shortly after showing concussion-like symptoms. The NFL has since revised its concussion protocol, leading to more attention given to players who show symptoms of head injuries. That said, spotters did not notice Tagovailoa displaying any concussion signs during Miami’s loss to Green Bay on Christmas Day. Tagovailoa also did not report any symptoms; he was placed in the protocol Monday.

The NFL and NFLPA are also moving forward with a joint review into the circumstances behind Tua’s most recent concussion, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reports (on Twitter). This will be the second NFLPA probe into a Tagovailoa injury this year. A video that circulated on Twitter showed a possible concussion-inducing hit taking place in the first half. Tua did not leave Sunday’s game, and this inquiry will once again scrutinize the Dolphins and independent spotters’ handling of a head injury. The last inquiry did not find any violations, but changes nevertheless occurred.

Tagovailoa’s three-interception half in Week 16 did not knock him off his perch as the NFL’s leader in passer rating. The third-year QB still sits fourth in QBR as well. Miami’s Tyreek Hill–Jaylen Waddle pairing has helped Tagovailoa to an 8.9 yards-per-attempt figure. That also leads the league. Going from Tagovailoa to Bridgewater will be a step back for the Dolphins — in a crucial spot.

Bridgewater, who suffered two concussions during his 2021 season in Denver, displayed signs of ataxia when taken out of his Week 5 start against the Jets. The 30-year-old QB navigated concussion protocol ahead of Week 6, when he replaced Thompson against the Vikings. Both Bridgewater and Tagovailoa cleared concussion protocol that week, but the Dolphins made Bridgewater their emergency backup over Tua. This season, Bridgewater has completed 37 of 60 passes for 522 yards to go along with three touchdown passes and three interceptions. He led the Broncos to a 7-7 mark last season, without the benefit of the defense this year’s Denver iteration has deployed, before a Week 14 concussion ended his time with the team. Sunday will be Bridgewater’s first start against the Patriots.

FiveThirtyEight gives the Dolphins a 62% chance to make the playoffs, but Tagovailoa missing both games would stand to reduce the team’s chances of booking a postseason spot for the first time in six years. Tagovailoa also becomes extension-eligible next month, and the head injuries he has suffered this season cloud the progress he has made.

Bucs C Ryan Jensen To Practice This Week

December 28th, 2022 at 9:17am CST by Sam Robinson

Given murky timetables since his unspecified training camp knee injury, Ryan Jensen is expected to resurface at Buccaneers practice this week. The team will designate the the veteran center for return, Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times reports. The Bucs have since announced the return designation.

Jensen went down during a July 28 practice and was feared to be out for the season. That may still end up being the case, but the Bucs will see how the recently re-signed snapper looks in practice. It would certainly boost Tampa Bay’s scuffling offense to have its top interior O-lineman back, as not much has gone right for the team on that side of the ball this year.

While Jensen suffered the knee injury exactly five months ago, Stroud adds he did not undergo surgery. The ninth-year center’s timetable has been up for debate since. The Bucs carried Jensen through to their active roster after cutdown day and placed him on IR soon after. That would allow for a Jensen return from IR; he has been eligible to be activated since October. No activation will take place this week, Jenna Laine of ESPN.com tweets. Considering how long Jensen has been out, a ramp-up period — even if the Bucs are not yet a lock to make the playoffs — is logical.

Jensen, 31, was snapping the ball to Tom Brady before the Bucs’ Week 15 game against the Bengals, Stroud adds. Shortly after Brady’s decision to end his brief retirement, the Bucs began reassembling their team by signing Jensen to a three-year, $39MM deal. The other two starters on Tampa Bay’s interior O-line — Ali Marpet and Alex Cappa — were not part of the equation, with Marpet retiring and Cappa signing with Cincinnati. The team has experienced steady losses up front as well, leading to a wildly disappointing season on offense.

The Bucs lost first-string guard option Aaron Stinnie for the season in August and just placed swing tackle Josh Wells on IR. The Jensen injury moved guard Robert Hainsey to center, and second-round pick Luke Goedeke moved into the starting lineup. But the Bucs benched the rookie for veteran Nick Leverett. Tampa Bay is also uncertain either of its tackles — Donovan Smith and Tristan Wirfs — will be in uniform for Sunday’s pivotal Panthers matchup.

Removing the Jensen-Marpet-Cappa trio from the mix has undoubtedly affected Brady’s performance, and it has made a major impact on Tampa Bay’s run game. The Bucs rank last in rushing in terms of total yards and yards per carry (3.4). The Bucs rank 28th in scoring, and Brady’s numbers have nosedived since he led the league in touchdown passes and passing yards in 2021. This has opened the door to the Bucs sitting at 7-8, still needing to do more to claim victory in perhaps the worst division in NFL history. The Bucs can clinch the NFC South title with a win in Week 17, but the team would not exactly generate much confidence going into the playoffs.

Jensen, who made his first Pro Bowl last season, would help supply some. Coming into this season, the former Ravens draftee had not missed a game since 2016. The former Division II product would have three weeks from Wednesday to be activated, giving the Bucs some time to gauge his readiness.

Commanders To Start QB Carson Wentz In Week 17

December 28th, 2022 at 8:26am CST by Sam Robinson

As the Commanders attempt to turn their bounce-back stretch into a playoff berth, they will move back to their original starting quarterback. The team confirmed Carson Wentz will start against the Browns in Week 17.

Wentz has not started since going down with a broken finger nearly three months ago, and the team rallied behind Taylor Heinicke to reach this point. But as the Commanders try to become the rare team to go from 1-4 into the playoffs, it will be the QB acquired in March in charge of pushing this process past the finish line.

Wentz, who will turn 30 on Friday, is in Washington because of how poorly his finish to the 2021 season went. After contracting COVID-19, the quarterback who fetched first- and third-round picks in 2021’s Eagles-Colts trade performed poorly in his final two games as a Colt. This led to the team blowing a win-and-in opportunity as a two-touchdown favorite in Jacksonville. Jim Irsay promptly ordered his decision-makers to move on from Wentz, despite the high price the Colts paid, after one season.

The Commanders received criticism for giving up what they did for Wentz — a 2022 third-rounder, a conditional 2023 Day 2 pick and a second-round pick swap this year — and not adjusting his contract. But the former No. 2 overall pick’s injury this season will prevent Washington from sending a 2023 second-rounder to Indianapolis. The conditional choice will be a third, as Wentz will not hit the 70% snap barrier — one he did surpass as a Colt to give the Eagles a 2022 first — to move the pick into Round 2. The Commanders had Wentz on an eight-man list of possible QB upgrades this offseason, and while they made a monster offer for Russell Wilson and pursued other targets as well, the team liked Wentz’s 6-foot-5 frame and arm strength.

Despite the team activating Wentz from IR weeks ago, he returned to action as Heinicke’s backup. He spent the past two games as the Commanders’ QB2, being benched by an NFC East team for the second time in three seasons. The Eagles sat him for Jalen Hurts in December 2020, leading the 2017 near-MVP out of Philadelphia. Wentz rebounded to a degree in Indianapolis, finishing ninth in QBR despite facing steady criticism for his up-and-down play, but was quickly sent to Washington this offseason.

Prior to Wentz going down in October this year, he submitted an uneven start that had the Commanders at 2-4. But he did throw 10 touchdown passes in five games to start his Commanders season. And he fared well upon relieving Heinicke against the NFL’s No. 1-ranked defense. Wentz completed 12 of 16 passes 123 yards and a touchdown against the 49ers. Wentz will also have a chance to play with a healthy Brian Robinson and Jahan Dotson; the two promising rookies did not share the field during Wentz’s previous batch of starts.

Washington, which has not won a game since Week 12, is 7-7-1 and controls its own playoff destiny. The team faces Cleveland and Dallas to close the season. The franchise has not secured two playoff berths in a three-season span since Joe Gibbs‘ second go-round with the team, which led to wild-card spots in 2005 and ’07. The Commanders will count on Wentz — their sixth Week 1 starting quarterback in the past six years — to lead the way back to the postseason.

This will make for another high-pressure spot for Wentz, whose through-2024 contract includes no guarantees beyond this season. The Commanders can save $26.2MM in 2023 by releasing him. That would trigger another quarterback pursuit for a franchise that has not enjoyed stability here since the Kirk Cousins franchise tag saga. Heinicke is on track for unrestricted free agency in March.

J.J. Watt To Retire After 2022 Season

December 27th, 2022 at 10:33pm CST by Adam La Rose

As the Cardinals’ season winds down, the team has little remaining to play for given their collective struggles as a team. For defensive end J.J. Watt, however, the final two weeks of the 2022 regular season will mark his last action in the NFL. The veteran announced (on Twitter) that he is retiring at the end of the campaign.

Specifically, Watt called Arizona’s Christmas Day loss to the Buccaneers his “last ever NFL home game.” The Cardinals close out the season with road contests against the Falcons and 49ers, which will allow him two final opportunities to add to his illustrious career and substantial statistical accomplishments.

The 33-year-old will, of course, be best remembered for his 10-year stint in Houston after he was drafted 11th overall in 2011 by the Texans. Over the course of that span, Watt established himself as a sure-fire Hall of Famer and one of the most decorated defensive players in league history. The Wisconsin alum broke out in his second season, leading the league with 20.5 sacks. That earned him Defensive Player of the Year honors, along with his first All-Pro and Pro Bowl honors.

His production continued for years after that, as he strung together three consecutive All-Pro and Pro Bowl seasons after his 2012 performance. Watt topped the league in sacks once again in 2015, the third year in which he was named the league’s best defensive player. One season prior, he finished second in MVP voting as he was the focal point of the Texans’ defense in particular and franchise as a whole.

That 2014 year saw Watt sign a six-year, $100MM extension to keep him in Houston. He remained with the Texans through the 2020 campaign – at which point many other franchise pillars were no longer in the fold and the team’s playoff runs of the mid-2010s had begun to give way to the rebuilding phase it now finds itself in. In total, Watt racked up 101 sacks and 25 forced fumbles during his time in Houston, establishing himself as a highly-respected off-the-field pillar along the way.

The 2017 Walter Payton Man of the Year winner became one of the most sought-after free agents last offseason, as he looked for a new home to continue his career amidst turmoil in Houston. He ultimately landed in Arizona, signing a two year contract worth $31MM. Questions were raised in the aftermath of his decision with respect to his potential remaining production, in no small part due to his injury history. Watt missed considerable time in 2016, 2017 and 2019. To perhaps little surprise, then, he was limited to only seven contests in his inaugural campaign with the Cardinals.

The 2010s All-Decade member posted just one sack in 2021, which tempered expectations for him heading into his twelfth NFL season. Watt has turned back the clock this year, however; he leads the Cardinals with 9.5 sacks, his highest total since 2018, the season in which he earned his fifth All-Pro and Pro Bowl nods. Watt has been a mainstay of the Cardinals’ defense all year, missing only the season opener and logging a snap share of 77% on the campaign.

Watt’s 111.5 career sacks rank 26th all time and fourth amongst active players. He will have the opportunity to climb those lists even more in his last two games, as he is only one-half sack behind Chandler Jones and one behind Cam Jordan. Regardless of his performance over the course of the next two weeks, Watt – who has amassed more than $115MM in career earnings – will go down as one of the top defensive linemen in league history.

“My heart is filled with nothing but love and gratitude,” he wrote in his retirement announcement. “It’s been an absolute honor and a pleasure.”

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