While hundreds of NFL writers will submit mock drafts within the next two months, few are more plugged in than Peter King of TheMMQB.com, whose first mock draft of the year lends credence to the idea that the Eagles have real interest in Marcus Mariota. King’s mock has the Eagles pulling off a trade with Washington to move up to the No. 5 spot and nab Mariota — Philadelphia gives up its first- and second-round picks this year, along with its first- and fourth-round picks for 2016, in the hypothetical swap.
Here’s more miscellany from around the NFL:
- The Chiefs are expected to ask defensive lineman Mike DeVito to take a pay cut, reports Conor Orr of NFL.com. DeVito, who is set to earn a base salary of $3.75MM with a 2015 cap number of $5.4MM, could be cut by Kansas City if he decides he doesn’t want to accept a reduced salary.
- As Nathan Fenno of the Los Angeles Times reported late last night (via Twitter), Inglewood’s City Council unanimously approved Stan Kroenke‘s Hollywood Park stadium project. By approving the project, the Inglewood City Council can skip a couple steps, Curtis Crabtree of Pro Football Talk explains. City officials can now avoid putting the stadium proposal up for a public vote, and can avoid “potentially lengthy” environmental reviews. Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune (Twitter link) notes that Carson officials are expected to do the same thing with the Raiders/Chargers‘ stadium proposal.
- There have been “zero talks” about Pierre Garcon‘s contract between his camp and the Washington front office, according to John Keim of ESPN.com (via Twitter). That doesn’t mean discussions won’t happen at some point, but Keim notes there’s been nothing yet to indicate that any sort of move involving Garcon is coming.
- An already crowded field got even more crowded today, as former NFL player Sean Morey emerged as the latest candidate to become executive director of the NFLPA, per Rand Getlin of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter).
- The latest MMQB.com piece from ex-Packers executive Andrew Brandt touches on a handful of interesting topics, as Brandt explores the L.A. issue, notes the different between a contract restructure and a pay cut, and points out that salary cap flexibility can often be created fairly easily.