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Front Office Updates: White, Pats, Steelers

May 29th, 2024 at 10:00pm CST by Ely Allen

Former Bears assistant director of pro scouting Chris White has reportedly been removed from the team’s website, per Neil Stratton of SucceedinFootball.com. White had been promoted to the role two years ago after five years as a pro scout for the team.

While nothing official has been announced yet, rumors have it that White is heading to Washington, where he’ll serve as the Commanders‘ new director of pro scouting. White would essentially be filling the role vacated by former director of pro personnel Chris Polian, who is an advisor now in Cleveland.

Here are a couple of other rumors in NFL front offices from around the league:

  • Stratton also tells us that the Patriots are adding a new member to their pro scouting staff in Bob Kronenberg. Kronenberg has had an interesting career path following the end of his playing career in the Arena Football League. Kronenberg spent five games as head coach of the former AFL’s Georgia Force in 2004. Eight years later, he joined the Falcons’ front office as a pro scout. After six years working in the team’s scouting department, Kronenberg accepted a role as Atlanta’s assistant offensive line coach, a role he’s held since 2019. Kronenberg will now find his way back to the front office in New England.
  • Lastly, the Steelers are reportedly bringing on Jim Noel as a new area scout, according to Stratton. Noel has plenty of NFL experience, starting as a scouting intern for the Chiefs in 2015 and working his way up to pro scout after two years. He then spent three years as the northeast area scout for the Browns before heading to the collegiate ranks to work recruiting staff roles at Army and Nebraska.

Latest On Patriots’ QB Battle

May 29th, 2024 at 9:25pm CST by Ely Allen

The Patriots hoped that they had the answer to replacing franchise quarterback Tom Brady when rookie first-round pick Mac Jones made the Pro Bowl while taking New England to the playoffs only two years after Brady’s departure. Unfortunately for them, the spark Jones showed in his rookie season quickly fizzled out as he found himself relegated to the bench last year and traded to the Jaguars. Once again, the Patriots have dedicated significant draft capital to the position, but perhaps they have been scared away from depending on their drafted talent in Year 1.

According to Doug Kyed of the Boston Herald, No. 3 overall pick Drake Maye is currently running third on the depth chart in New England, behind Jacoby Brissett and Bailey Zappe. While we’re still early into the offseason, and Maye has plenty of time to work his way past Brissett and Zappe, the Patriots seem to be making him earn his role instead of gifting it to him based on his draft stock.

Technically, all four quarterbacks on the roster were drafted by New England, a feat not seen often in the NFL. Brissett, though, is returning to the team that drafted him for the first time since his rookie season. The 31-year-old veteran is the one currently taking first-team snaps in organized team activities, which makes sense, considering he has the most starting NFL experience of the youthful group.

After starting two games as a rookie, Brissett was traded to the Colts just prior to the start of his sophomore campaign. A week later, Brissett unseated Scott Tolzien as the starter filling in for an injured Andrew Luck and took over as full-time starter once again two years later after Luck announced his retirement two weeks before the 2019 season. Since then, Brissett has served mostly backup duty, starting five games in Miami for an injured Tua Tagovailoa in 2021 and starting the first 11 games of the Browns’ 2022 campaign as Cleveland waited out Deshaun Watson‘s suspension for sexual misconduct.

As a starter, Brissett is 18-30 in his career. Despite failing to consistently stay in the win column, the veteran has been efficient, completing 61.3 percent of the passes over his career for 51 touchdowns and 23 interceptions. Not once has Brissett thrown more picks than touchdowns despite a career reputation as a backup. Now, returning to New England as a Patriot for the first time in eight years, Brissett seems to have been handed the reins and will attempt to hold off Maye as the offseason moves on.

Zappe has an intriguing case for the job, as well. New England took a flyer on Zappe as a fourth-round pick out of Western Kentucky two years ago. Filling in for an injured Jones and Brian Hoyer, Zappe showed promise after two starts, both of which were wins and one of which saw him throw for 309 yards and two touchdowns. Last year, despite starting the season on the practice squad, Zappe ended up taking the starting job from Jones down the stretch of the season as Jones’ struggles peaked. The 25-year-old has made the last six starts for the team under center, but his final two outings saw him throw zero touchdowns and five interceptions while failing to breach the 100-yard mark in Week 17 despite 30 pass attempts.

Zappe’s struggles led to the offseason acquisition of Brissett, thanks to the veteran’s known ability to start during bridge seasons when a starter is only needed for about one year. They also led to the team drafting two quarterbacks in this year’s draft: Maye and Tennessee-product Joe Milton. Milton spent the first three seasons of his collegiate career in Ann Arbor, serving as a backup for two years at Michigan before starting five games of the team’s COVID-19-shortened, six-game season in 2020. Going 2-3, completing only 56.7 percent of his passes, and only throwing four touchdowns to four interceptions, Milton progressively lost playing time to Cade McNamara at Michigan and eventually transferred to Tennessee.

Initially entering the 2021 season as the starter for the Volunteers, an injury opened the door for Hendon Hooker, who took over as starter until tearing his ACL 11 games into the 2022 season. Finally, in 2023, Milton got his opportunity to start for a full-season and didn’t disappoint. As Tennessee went 9-4 with Milton, the collegiate veteran completed 64.7 percent of his passes for 20 touchdowns to only five interceptions, adding seven more scores on the ground.

While one should never say never concerning Milton’s chances of earning the Patriots’ starting job as a rookie, the real draw of the 2024 draft class is the third-overall pick out of North Carolina, Maye. After redshirting in 2021 behind Sam Howell, Maye exploded onto the scene as a redshirt freshman in Chapel Hill, completing 66.2 percent of his passes for 4,321 yards, 38 touchdowns, and only seven interceptions, adding 698 yards and seven touchdowns on the ground.

Last year, the Tar Heels were expected to make a large leap alongside Maye, who many considered to be the top option to go second-overall after Caleb Williams, but the team remained stagnant in their success as Maye failed to come anywhere near his numbers from 2022. In two fewer games, Maye completed 63.3 percent of his passes for 3,608 yards, 24 touchdowns, and nine interceptions. He rushed for 449 yards and nine additional scores last year, as well. While Maye’s status as a consensus first-round pick never quite waned, his stock fell quite a bit until a bidding war for passers forced many of the draft’s quarterbacks into the top 12 picks.

Maye clearly has the highest ceiling of the quarterbacks on the roster. The 21-year-old is the youngest arm on the roster by three years, and despite failing to improve in his second year as a starter, he’s shown a lot of pro-ready traits that prove the stage isn’t too big for him this early. The failure to get better also points to the possibility of a low floor for the rookie. If the Patriots are looking for the highest floor, Brissett is the likely pick to start under center.

Realistically, getting Maye’s feet wet and starting his professional development as an NFL starter is more important than avoiding a bad rookie season. The Patriots are a longshot to go from fourth in the AFC East to a division-title contender in 2024, so they likely won’t be in a win-now mindset.

While he has yet to earn the role just yet, expect Maye to be taking first-team reps in New England by training camp. Brissett provides an upgrade as an emergency starter in the worst-case scenario, and Zappe has proven he can be effective in small doses as a backup. Meanwhile, Milton will likely find his well to a practice squad where he can serve as an effective scout team quarterback. The team recently stated their plan to narrow the field of competition to three guys by the end of spring, so Zappe or Milton will likely find themselves off the roster or on the practice squad come September.

Patriots, QB Drake Maye Agree To Terms

May 28th, 2024 at 1:34pm CST by Adam La Rose

As expected, three quarterbacks came off the board to begin the 2024 draft. Neither Caleb Williams nor Jayden Daniels have inked their rookie contracts, but that is now the case for Drake Maye.

New England came to terms with the latter on Tuesday, Mike Garafolo of NFL Network reports. Maye will now be under contract for the next four years, with the Patriots having the ability to keep him place for 2028 via the fifth-year option. This deal is worth $36.64MM, and KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson confirms it will include a signing bonus of just under $23.5MM.

Williams spent the pre-draft process as the presumptive No. 1 pick, and the Bears provided no surprise on draft night. Debate existed regarding the next tier of signal-callers, but by the time the Commanders were on the clock, Daniels was understood to be the team’s preference. That left the Patriots with a key decision at No. 3: select Maye, add a different prospect (quarterback or otherwise) or trade down.

In the lead-in to the draft, it became clear the Patriots were willing to listen on trade offers but the organization’s desired outcome (particularly on the part of owner Robert Kraft) was to stand pat and draft Maye. That ended up being New England’s ultimate choice, and as such the team has its next potential Tom Brady successor. Of course, all parties involved will be aiming for a better outcome than the Mac Jones era under center.

New England turned down considerable trade interest – specifically from the Giants and Vikings – to retain the No. 3 slot. Maye will therefore enter the league with considerable expectations, although he may not start right away. In anticipation of drafting a Jones replacement later in the offseason, the Patriots inked Jacoby Brissett to a one-year deal including $6.5MM guaranteed. He and Maye are set to compete for the No. 1 gig this summer.

The latter had a strong sophomore campaign at North Carolina, throwing for 4,321 yards and 38 touchdowns that year. Maye’s production regressed last season, though, and his accuracy (66.3% completion percentage), yardage (3,608) and TD (24) totals dropped while his interceptions jumped slightly (from seven to nine). One of the younger signal-callers in a class which produced six first-rounders, Maye could begin his rookie campaign on the sidelines as he develops. He will nonetheless be expected to start relatively soon.

Here is an updated look at the Patriots’ draft class:

Patriots’ Matt Judon Won’t Hold Out At Minicamp

May 26th, 2024 at 8:23pm CST by Ely Allen

Last offseason, Patriots star pass rusher Matt Judon embarked on negotiations for a new contract knowing that he was one year away from a contract-year. He even staged a bit of a “hold-in” to start camp, participating in a limited capacity to presumably send a message about his dissatisfaction with the progress of the negotiations. Once again, Judon plans to be in attendance, as he refuses to sacrifice current money for future money, per Karen Guregian of MassLive.

Last year, the result of Judon’s restricted protest was a restructured deal that included several incentives. Unfortunately, he fell short of many of those incentives due to injury. Regardless, the compromise was reached with the understanding that the two sides would return to the table for negotiations this offseason.

Reaching a deal in the past few months has been difficult for both sides, though. After seeing him miss significant time, the Patriots are likely to once again focus much of Judon’s future money on incentives that he must earn by being available. Judon, on the other hand, will be seeking a deal heavy in guarantees after missing out on a good deal of money from last year’s deal.

As a result, the two are still far from a reaching a deal. While it can’t be said for certain until either party confirms, it seems that Judon’s sparse attendance in team activities recently has been a result of continued dissatisfaction with his contract situation. Judon was seemingly not in attendance for much (if any) of the team’s voluntary offseason program and missed the portion of OTAs open to the media last week. New head coach Jerod Mayo claims Judon has been “in and out” of the team facility, though it’s unclear how much of that is contract- or football-related.

Regardless of the lack of clarity on the recent situation, Judon has made one thing clear: he does not plan to give away money in pursuit of a new deal. If Judon were to miss the team’s mandatory minicamp from June 11-13, he would be subject to $101K of fines. When asked if he would be there, Judon told Guregian, “Hell yeah, I ain’t giving no money away.”

We’re still a ways off from training camp and the regular season, so there’s still plenty of time for Judon and the Patriots to come to an agreement that works for both sides. In the meantime, though, Judon seems willing to be there only so much as is completely required. The potential is there for these negotiations to foment enmity. As both sides continue to play hardball, they may run out of time and see the situation end up in free agency.

AFC East Rumors: Patriots OL, Saleh, Milano

May 26th, 2024 at 6:38pm CST by Ely Allen

With veteran left tackle Trent Brown departing in free agency, the Patriots are looking to fill his old role this offseason. As organized team activities have opened, free agent addition Chukwuma Okorafor has been taking first-team snaps at the position, according to Mike Reiss of ESPN.

Okorafor, a former third-round pick for the Steelers, has spent the first six years of his NFL career in Pittsburgh. His first two seasons only saw the Nigerian find starting time as an injury replacement. After Okorafor finished out his rookie contract with two straight seasons as a starter, the Steelers rewarded him with a three-year, $29.25MM extension. After losing his starting job to first-round rookie Broderick Jones last year, though, the Steelers released Okorafor to free agency.

Now in New England, Okorafor will have the opportunity to re-earn a starting job and fill in for the departed Brown. Okorafor’s competition for the job will be Vederian Lowe, who started eight games in injury relief for the Patriots last year, and third-round rookie Caedan Wallace out of Penn State.

In additional offensive line news out of New England OTAs, second-year lineman Atonio Mafi was seen taking snaps at center behind starter David Andrews. Mafi, a former fifth-round pick who converted from defensive line to guard at UCLA, had yet to seen time at center while making five starts at left guard as a rookie. New offensive line coach Scott Peters and assistant offensive line coach Robert Kugler seem to have some interest in expanding his role on the line.

Here are some other rumors coming out of the AFC East:

  • We had reported previously that Jets head coach Robert Saleh had explored the idea of reducing the role of offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett. This exploration came after the seeing Hackett seemingly lost for options after the loss of starting quarterback Aaron Rodgers early in the season. A more recent report from ESPN’s Rich Cimini claims that Saleh is now taking a deeper role in the offense himself. The former defensive coordinator seems to be keeping a close eye over the shoulder of Hackett as their jobs both heat up in 2024.
  • Long-time Bills starting linebacker Matt Milano missed 12 games after suffering a season-ending knee injury last year. The team is looking to pair Milano back up with last year’s emergent starter Terrel Bernard, but that won’t be happening in OTAs. According to Alaina Getzenberg of ESPN, Milano is on schedule with his recovery, but “it’s probably going to be more closer to training camp until” he sees the field again.

Latest On Patriots’ Eliot Wolf Decision

May 24th, 2024 at 10:15pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Patriots now officially have their top post-Bill Belichick pieces in place, naming Eliot Wolf their executive VP of player personnel nearly four months after hiring Jerod Mayo to replace the coaching legend on the sideline.

Filling these two jobs involved a historically low-volume search. After language in Mayo’s contract allowed the Patriots to work around the Rooney Rule — which mandates two external minority candidates be interviewed for HC positions — the team met with only two outside candidates for its de facto GM position. And the process leading to the Wolf hire proved to be a box-checking operation, as a few candidates around the league effectively predicted.

During search that saw three executives — the Bengals’ Trey Brown, the Bills’ Terrance Gray and former Cardinals staffer Quentin Harris — decline interviews, the Patriots met with Eagles scouting director Brandon Hunt and former Panthers exec Samir Suleiman. Neither interview took place at the team facility, according to SI.com’s Albert Breer, and the two candidates who agreed to interview did not meet with anyone beyond the Krafts.

Widely expected to end with Wolf being given the keys on a full-time basis, this Patriots search brought the combined total of outside candidates interviewed for the HC and GM jobs to two this offseason. By comparison, the Panthers met with 11 outside candidates for their HC post and eight non-Carolina-based staffers for their GM gig. The Chargers spoke with nine GM candidates and met with 13 outside coaches. The Commanders’ HC-GM search covered five GM aspirants and seven outside HC interviewees. The Raiders’ search most closely resembled the Patriots’, as they only met with two non-Antonio Pierce candidates for HC and five GM candidates.

The Pats, who have not given out a GM title in more than 30 years, gave Wolf a trial run by installing him as their acting personnel chief months before the draft, Breer adds. It would have been borderline shocking to see the team allow Wolf to select its hopeful long-term quarterback (No. 3 overall pick Drake Maye), turning down Giants and Vikings trade-up offers along the way, and then go with another candidate to lead the way post-draft. Most around the league correctly predicted New England would stick with Wolf, a longtime exec who had worked as the No. 2 man in Green Bay and Cleveland. Wolf later became a finalist for the Bears and Vikings’ GM jobs in 2022.

Wolf, 42, has changed the Patriots’ scouting system by replacing Belichick’s setup with what he used with the Packers; the Patriots will also switch up their workflow by having both Wolf and Mayo report to ownership. While this format can cause division, other teams have both their HC and GM meet directly with ownership rather than use a top-down approach.

Prior to Belichick’s exit, Matt Groh worked as his top lieutenant. The Patriots have employed Wolf since 2020, but the Krafts saw enough in the second-generation personnel man to vault him past Groh and into their top front office spot. Groh remains with the organization, but it will be Wolf — likely with more input from ownership compared to the Belichick era — leading the way.

Ownership did not conduct thorough searches to reach its Mayo-Wolf endpoint. That stands to be an important footnote as the team prepares for its first post-Belichick season.

NFL Draft Pick Signings: 5/24/24

May 24th, 2024 at 6:47pm CST by Ely Allen

Friday’s only mid- to late-round draft pick signing:

New England Patriots

Baker transferred to Orlando after two unproductive years of minimal use at Alabama. Immediately upon arrival, Baker became a major weapon for the Knights. In 2022, he led the team in receiving yards with 56 catches for 796 yards and five touchdowns. This past season, he improved on two of those numbers, leading the Knights in receptions (52) and receiving yards (1,139) while also nabbing seven touchdowns.

In New England, Baker and second-round rookie Ja’Lynn Polk out of Washington, join a Patriots receiving corps that lost DeVante Parker to retirement but returns leading receivers Demario Douglas, Kendrick Bourne, and tight end Hunter Henry. While Polk will likely get an opportunity to start with Douglas and Bourne, Polk will try to make an impact as a rotation receiver with veterans JuJu Smith-Schuster and K.J. Osborn. He’ll attempt to avoid falling into the blackhole of young receivers who have failed to live up to their draft potential like Tyquan Thornton and Jalen Reagor.

Poll: Which Team Is Chiefs’ Top AFC Threat?

May 23rd, 2024 at 9:59pm CST by Sam Robinson

Representation in Super Bowls has not stretched wide in the AFC over the past decade. Since 2013, all of four franchises — the Broncos, Patriots, Chiefs and Bengals — have represented the conference in Super Bowls. The NFC in that span has produced seven Super Bowl entrants.

Since 2001, QB-driven graphics regarding Super Bowl participation primarily feature four faces — those of Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Ben Roethlisberger and Patrick Mahomes. An AFC team employing a QB outside that quartet has only reached the Super Bowl three times (2002 Raiders, 2012 Ravens, 2021 Bengals) in 24 seasons. As the NFC has rolled out 21 Super Bowl QB starters since Brady’s first appearance, it has been quite difficult for outsiders to forge a path in the AFC.

This space used to ask which team was best positioned to KO the Patriots in the AFC. The Chiefs ended up getting there, first loading up around Mahomes’ rookie contract before assembling a low-cost (but highly effective) defense to help a team suddenly limited — beyond the Mahomes-Travis Kelce connection’s enduring brilliance — following the Tyreek Hill trade. As the Chiefs aim to become the first team since the mid-1960s Packers to threepeat (part one of Green Bay’s offering occurred before the Super Bowl era), which conference challenger is best built to disrupt their path back?

The AFC North appears a good place to start. The Ravens open the season with an Arrowhead Stadium trek and held the AFC’s No. 1 seed last season. Lamar Jackson skated to MVP honors, and Mike Macdonald‘s defense led the league in scoring. But familiar issues resurfaced for the team in the AFC championship game. An oddly pass-focused Baltimore effort ground to a halt, as Jackson committed two turnovers. Macdonald has since departed — the first Ravens coordinator to leave for a head coaching job since Gary Kubiak in 2015 — and ex-Baltimore linebacker Zach Orr moved into the DC post. The team also lost three starters up front. Although quiet in free agency (in terms of outside hires) beyond the splashy Derrick Henry addition, the Ravens added likely cornerback starter Nate Wiggins in Round 1 and kept Justin Madubuike off the market via the franchise tag and a quick extension.

Cincinnati has shown superior mettle against Kansas City since Joe Burrow‘s arrival, beating the Chiefs thrice in 2022 before falling as both teams battled key injuries in the January 2023 AFC title game. The Bengals losing Burrow in November removed a key obstacle in the Chiefs’ path, but the NFL’s highest-paid player is back. The team also retained Tee Higgins, being the only team left to have a player on the tag, and added new tackles in Trent Brown and Amarius Mims to join Orlando Brown Jr. The team revamped its safety corps by bringing back Vonn Bell and adding ex-Raven Geno Stone. Not many glaring issues are present in Cincinnati’s lineup, with longer-term matters — the receiver situation chief among them — the top roster storylines here.

Creeping into the playoffs despite a host of high-profile injuries on offense, the Browns showed their roster strength by shrugging off the injuries to Deshaun Watson, Nick Chubb and their tackles. Cleveland acquired Jerry Jeudy via trade and then extended him, and other than adding some Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah supporting pieces at linebacker, returns the starters from a No. 1-ranked pass defense. Watson’s struggles, for the most part, since arriving via trade will continue to define where the Browns can venture.

Although the Bills parted with Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis, looking past Buffalo — a four-time reigning AFC East champion that defeated the Chiefs in three straight seasons in Kansas City — would probably be a mistake. The Bills made some cost-cutting moves, most notably disbanding its seven-year safety duo of Micah Hyde and Jordan Poyer (though Hyde remains in play to return), and saw concerning form from Von Miller following his second ACL tear. The Bills also lost Leonard Floyd in free agency. Focus will understandably be aimed at Buffalo’s WR crew, which now houses Curtis Samuel, second-rounder Keon Coleman and ex-Chief Marquez Valdes-Scantling (who certainly places a premium on QB talent). The Chiefs’ issues staffing their wideout spots last year provided a lingering problem; will the Bills make a higher-profile addition down the line?

With their backs to the wall, the Joe Douglas–Robert Saleh regime will count on Aaron Rodgers belatedly delivering. The duo may or may not have attempted to strip power from OC Nathaniel Hackett, who is coming off a brutal two-year stretch. The Jets effectively replaced Bryce Huff with a more proven rusher in Haason Reddick and added Mike Williams as a supporting-caster on offense. The team will hope its pair of 33-year-old tackles — Tyron Smith, Morgan Moses — holds up, while Olu Fashanu looms as a long term tackle piece and potential short-term guard. Can the Jets do enough offensively to capitalize on their defensive nucleus of the past two seasons?

The Texans sit as a fascinating piece of this puzzle, given their outlook going into the first three seasons of Nick Caserio‘s GM tenure. After low-key offseasons from 2021-23, Houston added Diggs and a few notable defenders to the DeMeco Ryans-led roster. Danielle Hunter and Denico Autry join ex-Ryans 49ers pupil Azeez Al-Shaair as key defensive additions. Although Diggs struggled down the stretch in his final Bills season, he certainly played a lead role in elevating Josh Allen‘s stature. The Texans, who have C.J. Stroud on a rookie deal through at least 2025, will hope the Pro Bowler pairs well with Nico Collins and the returning Tank Dell.

Miami and Jacksonville’s roster equations figure to change soon, as respective extension talks with Tua Tagovailoa and Trevor Lawrence are ongoing. The Dolphins have faded badly under Mike McDaniel and did not seriously threaten the Chiefs in a frigid wild-card game, though they have obviously shown elite offensive capabilities in the right environment. Handing the play-calling reins to OC Press Taylor in 2023, the Jaguars did not build on a strong 2022 finish. The Steelers also present one of the highest floors in NFL history, and they have upgraded at quarterback by adding two options — in Justin Fields and likely starter Russell Wilson. But they also have not won a playoff game since the six-field goal offering against the Chiefs — a game that represented the final shove for Kansas City to trade up for Mahoemes — seven years ago.

The Texans emerged from the NFL’s basement last season. Is there a stealth contender lurking? The Chiefs’ division does not look particularly imposing, once again, though Jim Harbaugh now overseeing Justin Herbert is certainly an interesting development. The national championship-winning HC has authored turnarounds everywhere he has gone.

No team has qualified for five Super Bowls in a six-year period, and none of the Super Bowl era’s threepeat efforts have reached the final stage; the 1990 49ers came closest, losing on a last-second field goal in the NFC title game. Who is poised to be the best Chiefs deterrent on their path to a threepeat? Vote in PFR’s latest poll and weigh in with your AFC thoughts in the comments section.

The Biggest Wide Receiver Contract In Each Team’s History

May 22nd, 2024 at 9:55pm CST by Sam Robinson

This offseason has brought changes to the wide receiver market, but a host of wideouts chosen early in the 2020 draft have taken center stage. Most NFL teams have authorized a big-ticket (by today’s standards) deal for a wide receiver. Ranked by guaranteed money and excluding rookie contracts and accords acquired via trade, here is the most lucrative WR deal in each franchise’s history.

Arizona Cardinals

Larry Fitzgerald‘s seven-year, $113MM extension (August 2011) holds the Cardinals standard for total value, but Hopkins’ pact checks in higher in terms of guarantees and AAV.

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

In total, Michael Crabtree‘s 2018 deal (worth $21MM) and Derrick Mason‘s 2005 agreement ($20MM) surpass Beckham’s. But the 2023 Baltimore rental’s guarantee came in higher.

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

The Browns have featured three higher-paid receivers on their roster since Landry’s contract, but both Odell Beckham Jr. and Amari Cooper arrived via trade and played on contracts designed by other teams. Jerry Jeudy‘s AAV ($17.5MM) on his 2024 extension also outpaces Landry’s, though the recent trade pickup’s total guarantee falls short here.

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Courtland Sutton‘s 2021 extension carries a higher AAV ($15MM) but included $18.85MM guaranteed.

Detroit Lions

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

DeAndre Hopkins‘ 2017 re-up included more in total value but a lower AAV and guarantee

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Kansas City Chiefs

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

Tyreek Hill‘s 2022 extension tops his teammate for AAV ($30MM) but came in just south for guarantees ($72.2MM)

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

JuJu Smith-Schuster‘s 2023 deal trails Agholor’s in AAV but carried the same full guarantee. Danny Amendola‘s full payout ($28.5MM) in 2013 tops both deals.

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

New York Jets

Allen Lazard‘s 2023 deal and Santonio Holmes‘ contract back in 2011 brought more in total value ($44MM and $45MM, respectively) but did not match Davis’ for guarantees.

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

Antonio Brown‘s four-year, $68MM extension in 2017 also included a $19MM guarantee at signing but trailed Johnson’s in terms of total guarantees.

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Chris Godwin‘s 2022 deal beats Evans’ for at-signing guarantees ($40MM), while the all-time Bucs receiving leader’s 2024 agreement leads the way in AAV ($20.5MM).

Tennessee Titans

Washington Commanders

JuJu Smith-Schuster Says He’s Fully Healthy

May 22nd, 2024 at 5:36pm CST by Ben Levine

Following a disastrous first season in New England, JuJu Smith-Schuster is confident he’ll rebound in 2024. The veteran told reporters (including Doug Kyed of the Boston Herald) that he’s 100-percent healthy heading into Patriots OTAs.

Smith-Schuster estimated that he was around 60-percent at this time last year. The veteran wide receiver underwent knee surgery shortly after winning Super Bowl LVII with the Chiefs and before signing with the Patriots.

“It’s a big difference,” Smith Schuster said of his current health. “It’s not easy coming off a knee injury and having a long season and coming back really short… I feel great, honestly. I feel great. I’ve never felt better. I’m just excited to finally be out here around this time and participating.”

The Patriots signed Smith-Schuster to a three-year, $33MM contract last offseason, but the receiver proceeded to put up career-lows across the board. The 27-year-old ultimately finished the campaign with 29 catches for 260 yards and one touchdown. While the disappointing results could partly be attributed to inconsistent QB play, Smith-Schuster also admitted that he was never able to get to 100 percent health.

“I’ve always wanted to just push through and play,” Smith-Schuster said. “I had some injuries that I was dealing with and I just kept pushing through it and playing. That’s just the competitiveness in me. I don’t mind that. So this year it’s a lot different than how it was.”

Smith-Schuster’s production certainly doesn’t match up with his salary, but since he’s attached to a guaranteed $7MM base salary in 2024, it’d be surprising if he doesn’t end up making the team. The Patriots lost out in the Calvin Ridley sweepstakes, meaning their only notable additions at the position have been free agent K.J. Osborn and second-round rookie Ja’lynn Polk. That duo joins Kendrick Bourne and Demario Douglas atop the depth chart, meaning Smith-Schuster will be competing with the likes of Kayshon Boutte, Tyquan Thornton, and rookie fourth-round pick Javon Baker for a roster spot.

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