HEADLINES

Chiefs WR Rashee Rice: “I’ve Learned So Much”

June 9th, 2024 at 8:17am CST by Rory Parks

This offseason has been one filled with legal troubles for Chiefs wide receiver Rashee Rice. Rice is facing a total of eight felony charges stemming from a hit-and-run incident in Dallas on the evening of March 30, an incident in which he and another driver were believed to be street racing (with Rice allegedly reaching a speed of 119mph). About a month later, Rice was accused of punching a photographer at a Dallas nightclub.

During his meeting with police about the hit-and-run matter, Rice reportedly accepted “full responsibility” for his role, and his attorney later indicated that his client intends to cover the expenses of the victims, though Rice is being sued for over $1MM in actual damages and $10MM in punitive damages by two of those victims. The photographer that Rice allegedly struck subsequently asked police to not file charges against the second-year wideout, and the investigation was reportedly closed shortly thereafter.

While it seems as though Rice will not face charges for his encounter with the photographer, that incident could nonetheless impact the suspension that the Chiefs expect the NFL to hand down at some point. The league may wait until the hit-and-run legal process plays out before issuing sanctions, but once that happens, the alleged assault — as well as an incident that took place while Rice was still in college, in which the then-SMU player or a member of his party fired shots into an empty vehicle belonging to a member of the school’s basketball team — may well factor into the punishment.

In the meantime, Rice is free to take part in all team activities, and he was a full particpant in the Chiefs’ OTAs. Yesterday, he participated in a youth football camp in Kansas City alongside a number of the team’s other top receivers, and he offered his first public comments on his situation (via ESPN).

“I’ve learned so much from [the hit-and-run],” Rice said. “All I can do is mature and continue to grow from that. This (the youth football camp) is a step in a better direction for me.”

While vowing to improve as a person, Rice added, “[a]ccidents and stuff like that happen, but all you can do is move forward and walk around being the same person, try to be positive so that everybody can feel your love and your great energy.”

As a rookie in 2023, Rice was the Chiefs’ most effective wide receiver, and whenever his seemingly inevitable suspension is levied, KC will feel his absence. The team did address its WR corps in a meaningful way this offseason, adding Marquise Brown in free agency and another speed merchant, Xavier Worthy, in the first round of the 2024 draft. The club recently agreed to a re-up with Mecole Hardman and is still rostering Justin Watson, Skyy Moore, and Kadarius Toney.

Texans WR Stefon Diggs Expected To Be Traded By Bills?

June 8th, 2024 at 10:48pm CST by Adam La Rose

One of the most impactful moves of the offseason for both the Bills and Texans was the trade which sent Stefon Diggs from Buffalo to Houston. The deal came about in short order with the Pro Bowl wideout’s former team originally expecting to keep him for at least the 2024 campaign.

Diggs himself seems to have had a different outlook on that front, however. When speaking to the media for the first time as a member of the Texans, he addressed the end of his Bills tenure. The 30-year-old said of a trade, via ESPN’s DJ Bien-Aime, that he felt “it was going in that direction.”

Tension (real or perceived) between team and player was a regular occurrence in the case of Diggs’ four-year run in Buffalo. He still managed to enjoy plenty of success there with 5,372 yards and 37 touchdowns, production which led to four straight Pro Bowl invites and a first-team All-Pro nod in 2020. Once the Texans presented a trade package involving a 2025 second-round pick, though, the Bills elected to move on.

In doing so, Buffalo incurred a dead cap charge of just over $31MM. General manager Brandon Beane has since confirmed the team’s preference was to absorb that record-breaking amount (for receivers) all at once rather than spreading it out over multiple years. While that approach will create considerable spending power in 2025, questions have been raised about the Bills’ receiver room this year.

By contrast, the Texans have added Diggs to a unit already featuring Tank Dell – who had a strong rookie campaign when healthy last season – and Nico Collins. The latter had a breakout season in 2023, and it earned him a lucrative extension. Diggs was attached to a big-ticket deal of his own, but Houston agreed to remove the post-2024 years of his contract. The former fifth-rounder is thus on track for free agency next offseason, and much of his value will depend on his ability to fit in well with his new team. Diggs’ remarks in that regard have been encouraging early on.

“They’re very welcoming,” he said of the Texans. “Very open arms, and I just feel like it’s important for me to be a part of things like that. It’s genuine. You thrive in that space. You thrive in a space where you’re loved. Thrive in a space of being around those who truly care and truly want to see you win.”

Patriots Rumors: Maye, WRs, Hightower

June 8th, 2024 at 10:33pm CST by Ely Allen

As organized team activities have progressed in New England, it’s looking more and more like Jacoby Brissett may be the team’s starter under center in Week 1. Naturally, some have asked if that makes No. 3 overall pick Drake Maye the primary backup at the position or an emergency option to stash for development purposes.

According to Doug Kyed of the Boston Herald, Maye likely won’t need to sit and develop. In fact, Kyed reports that some in the building viewed Maye as a prospect ready to start right away as a rookie during the draft cycle. Even though Brissett is taking the lion’s share of first-team reps in OTAs so far, there’s plenty of time until training camp and the regular season for Maye to potentially take over the starting gig.

And, should Maye not beat out Brissett for the job, this also means that Maye likely won’t be stashed to sit and develop but, instead, will be the team’s primary backup behind Brissett. Kyed also notes that it makes more sense for the Patriots to stash and develop rookie sixth-round pick Joe Milton than it does to hold on to Bailey Zappe as an emergency third option. The team has seen what Zappe can provide up to this point, and while he won’t garner outstanding trade value, he should return something as an upgrade to many backup situations around the league.

Here are a few other rumors coming out of New England:

  • The Patriots’ wide receivers room is currently packed, while only six or seven players will likely end up on the 53-man roster to start the season. Kyed lists rookies Javon Baker and Ja’Lynn Polk as locks to make the team alongside Kendrick Bourne, Demario Douglas, and K.J. Osborn, leaving only one or two spots left for the rest of the group. That leaves a number of intriguing names in a precarious position including former Pro Bowler JuJu Smith-Schuster, former first-round pick Jalen Reagor, recent second-round pick Tyquan Thornton, and last year’s sixth-round pick Kayshon Boutte. As of right now, none of those four players are viewed as locks to make the roster in 2024.
  • New head coach Jerod Mayo and leading personnel executive Eliot Wolf are heading a new-look team in New England this offseason. One of the ways in which Mayo is attempting to bring the team into this new era is by appealing to the shorter attention spans of younger players. According to Jeff Howe of The Athletic, Mayo has tossed the old method of marathon meeting sessions, instead favoring a new philosophy of “25-minute mental sprints” before taking short breaks. It reportedly heightens the pace of meetings while allowing for appropriate rest time in between.
  • Since leaving the NFL in 2021, former Patriots linebacker Dont’a Hightower has enjoyed retirement. While he still shared a love and knowledge for the game, he had little interest in leaving the life he was living behind. In an interview, Hightower claimed that his former college coach Nick Saban and Mayo were the only two names that could’ve drawn him out of retirement onto the sideline, per Howe. It just so happened that his close friend and former teammate became the head coach of their old team and offered him Mayo’s old job of inside linebackers coach. It was one of the very few offers Hightower wouldn’t say “no” to.

AFC East Rumors: Douglas, Saleh, Reddick

June 8th, 2024 at 10:00pm CST by Ely Allen

Bills cornerback Rasul Douglas was able to clear up a bit of cap space for the team with a restructure in March, but he likely would’ve preferred to receive an extension as he heads into a contract year. The veteran cornerback has been absent from all offseason workouts so far this year, causing some to speculate about a holdout over his contract.

According to Tim Graham of The Athletic, Douglas’ absence isn’t due to contract issues. There’s no further information to tell us whether the absence is injury-related or not, but there don’t appear to be any contact concerns for Douglas in Buffalo. Douglas provided a huge boost to an injury-riddled defense in 2023, and his significant contributions should set him up for a nice contract in the future.

While that contract hasn’t been a focus so far this offseason, it doesn’t appear that the lack of prospects for a new deal are keeping Douglas away.

Here are a couple of other rumors coming out of the AFC East:

  • We continue to see rumors tying Jets head coach Robert Saleh to a larger role in the offense in 2024, reducing the role of offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett. We’ve started seeing examples of this in organized team activities as Saleh is spending increased time overseeing the offense in practice and has been more vocal in quarterback meetings, per Ben Volin of the Boston Globe. With an 18-33 record through three seasons as head coach in New York, Saleh, a former defensive coordinator, is doing whatever it takes to make sure he’s still there after Year 4.
  • The Jets essentially exchanged pass rushers with the Eagles this offseason, trading for Haason Reddick while allowing Bryce Huff to depart in free agency. Despite Huff delivering a 10-sack season for the Jets last year, the team didn’t view him as an every-down player. According to ESPN’s Rich Cimini, New York is so confident that Reddick will be that guy for them that they took on an expiring contract and even traded away John Franklin-Myers to the Broncos to ensure Reddick has the opportunity to shine. After failing to land an extension with the Eagles, Reddick will attempt to show just how much he’s worth with the Jets in 2024.

Latest On Falcons’ Planned Roles For TE Kyle Pitts, RB Bijan Robinson

June 8th, 2024 at 9:07pm CST by Adam La Rose

Kirk Cousins will be one of the key figures to watch at the start of the 2024 season as the Falcons’ new quarterback. Plenty of the team’s offensive success will of course depend on the play of tight end Kyle Pitts and running back Bijan Robinson, though.

[RELATED: Falcons Pick Up Pitts’ Fifth-Year Option]

Both former top-10 picks faced massive expectations upon entering the NFL. Pitts had a strong rookie showing, but that was followed up by underwhelming campaigns in 2022 and ’23. The 23-year-old was known far more for his pass-catching abilities than his run blocking coming out of college, and to little surprise new offensive coordinator Zac Robinson is interested in keeping that element of his skillset a key component of his usage.

“He has so much flexibility with what he can do even as an in-line blocker, then he’s split out wide,” Robinson said when speaking about the hybrid role Pitts is taking on this spring (via D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution). “There is just a lot of versatility…. He’s learning basically two different positions. There is some tight end, and there is some receiver. He’s got a lot on his plate, and he’s handling it really well.”

The Florida alum’s usage in the slot increased year over year with the Falcons during Arthur Smith‘s tenure as head coach. Pitts earned a Pro Bowl nod for his output in 2021 (68 catches, 1,026 yards), but injuries limited him to 10 games the following year. In 2023, he rebounded to a degree with 667 yards and a career-high three touchdowns, but the arrival of Cousins under center could unlock further production. It is interesting, though, that traditional tight end usage will still be an element of his deployment in a new scheme.

Atlanta had a 1,000-yard rusher (Tyler Allgeier) in the fold last offseason before selecting Robinson eighth overall. That move marked the third straight year in which the team used its top selection on a skill-position player (having added wideout Drake London in 2022). Robinson’s usage – 12.6 carries per game – was lower than many anticipated during his rookie campaign, but he expects that to change moving forward.

“Yeah, so I’m going to be more of a runner that does everything else,” the Texas product said (video link via the Journal-Constitution). “Like not as much… but it’s like runner first, like I did in college, and then still having that access to go to receivers, having that access to do creative things out of the backfield, more so like how they use Christian [McCaffrey] down there in San Francisco…. So that’s kind of what their plan is here.”

Robinson received 86 targets last season, playing a notable passing role (albeit in an offense which fared poorly at the quarterback spot). His 58 receptions ranked second on the team, and despite adding Darnell Mooney to the receiving corps Robinson should still be expected to produce out of the backfield in 2024. More of a dual-threat usage would certainly add to the likelihood of that happening.

Atlanta ranked 26th in scoring last season, and improvement in that respect would go a long way toward a postseason berth in 2024. The manner in which both Pitts and Robinson are used will be a key element in those efforts as well as an interesting storyline to follow for the team as a new scheme is implemented.

Commanders HC Dan Quinn Addresses Brandon McManus Lawsuit

June 8th, 2024 at 8:17pm CST by Adam La Rose

Brandon McManus was released by the Commanders on Sunday in the wake of the sexual assault lawsuit he was named in. That move came after the veteran kicker’s former team (the Jaguars) denied knowledge of the allegations made against him and the team.

Likewise, the Commanders have denied being aware of the suit until it went public. A May 27 report detailed the contents of the suit, which accuses McManus of rubbing himself and grinding against a pair of flight attendants during a Jaguars team flight and offering them cash to drink with and dance inappropriately for him. Jacksonville head coach Doug Pederson said he was not aware of the allegations until they became public.

Commanders coach Dan Quinn has now done the same. Quinn said, via ESPN’s John Keim, that he did not know about the lawsuit until the report emerged detailing the allegations. That doubles as an indication the Commanders did not know about the incident in question when McManus was signed in March. The 32-year-old had a nine-year tenure with the Broncos which ended last offseason. That paved the way for his single campaign in Jacksonville before heading to the nation’s capital.

Washington elected to cut McManus just before the deadline for the second half of his $1.5MM signing bonus to be paid out. That move could result in a financial dispute between the two parties, but Quinn did not comment on the matter due to the fact an investigation is ongoing. For the same reason, he declined to speak on the Commanders’ history related to sexual misconduct allegations and whether or not it played a role in the decision to cut McManus.

Investigations into former owner Dan Snyder resulted in a number of league punishments for both he and the organization. His sale of the franchise in July 2023 pre-dates the arrival of both Quinn and new general manager Adam Peters, though. With McManus no longer in the fold, the Commanders will move forward with recent signing Ramiz Ahmed as their only kicker on the roster for the time being. Training camp and roster cutdowns will present Washington with plenty of opportunities to add further at the position if needed.

Giants Rumors: Banks, Daboll, Defensive Staff

June 8th, 2024 at 5:12pm CST by Ely Allen

Former first-round pick Adoree’ Jackson is currently a free agent after playing out his three-year, $39MM contract with the Giants, and at this point, it’s almost guaranteed that he won’t be returning to New York. According to Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post, the team’s decision to let Jackson walk without a new contract is a result of their trust in Deonte Banks to step up as a “true No. 1” cornerback.

Jackson had been an extremely successful signing over his first two seasons with the Giants but saw his quality of play decline drastically in 2023. After grading Jackson out as the 15th and 31st best cornerback in the NFL over first two years with the team, Pro Football Focus (subscription required) ranked Jackson at 117th out of 127 graded players last year.

Banks, a first-round rookie in 2023, didn’t grade out much better last season, with PFF marking him as the 110th best cornerback in the NFL. Still, Banks was productive as a rookie, nabbing two interceptions and leading the team with 11 passes defensed last year. He’s extremely physically gifted for the position, and many in the building believe he surpassed Jackson on the depth chart last year.

He’ll have his work cut out for him as the team’s top corner in 2024. The Giants open their season against Justin Jefferson and the Vikings. Other receivers he’ll be expected to shadow on the schedule are Terry McLaurin (twice), CeeDee Lamb (twice), A.J. Brown (twice), Amari Cooper, D.K. Metcalf, and Ja’Marr Chase. The Giants have faith that Banks will develop into the CB1 they’ll need in order to succeed in 2024.

Here are a few other rumors coming out of New York:

  • We’ve heard plenty of rumors already that Giants head coach Brian Daboll will take over play-calling duties for the offense in 2024 over offensive coordinator Mike Kafka. While it’s only organized team activities, Dan Duggan of The Athletic may have confirmed that notion, reporting that Daboll has been calling plays in OTAs. Daboll was spotted in the offensive huddle in between each play wile Kafka was lurking 10 to 15 yards back and to the left of the offense.
  • Giants defensive backs coach Jerome Henderson just missed out on getting promoted to replace Wink Martindale as the defensive coordinator in 2024, losing out to former Titans defensive coordinator Shane Bowen. Despite the exodus of defensive staff that would usually follow such a move, Daboll made it clear that he wanted almost all of the assistant coaches on the defensive side of the ball to stay, per Paul Schwartz of the New York Post. Bowen was given a chance to make desired changes, but following the lead of Daboll, who personally let go any defensive staffers he didn’t want to hold on to, Bowen opted to retain much of the same staff as the previous campaign.

Browns Announce Several Front Office Moves

June 8th, 2024 at 1:53pm CST by Ely Allen

After not having seen a season with an 11-win total since 1994, the Browns have now seen it twice since 2020. As Cleveland continues to work towards staying in relevancy, owner Jimmy Haslam and general manager Andrew Berry continue to make adjustments to their front office.

In the operations department, the team saw a new hire and two promotions. Charles Adair comes in from Jacksonville after spending last year as a seasonal intern for the Jaguars. Adair will serve in Cleveland as coordinator, team logistics. Hunter Carson, previously an intern for the team logistics group, has been promoted to football operations assistant. She will reportedly work closely with the personnel department to assist with processes pertaining to player acquisition. Lastly in operations, Joy Tapajcik has been promoted to director of football operations & process after four seasons of working her way through roles all across the front office.

The player personnel department saw the most change in this week’s announcement. Firstly, we learned that the official job title for Chris Polian will be advisor to the general manager. After that, we saw the arrival of four new hires. Elisha Guidry, Tyler Habursky, and Sam Secrest join the team as scouting assistants, filling the roles vacated by some of the promotions listed below. Secrest moves into an in-house role with the Browns after serving as an external film analyst during this recent draft cycle. While Habursky previously served as a student defensive quality control coach at John Carroll, both he and Guidry will be making their NFL staff debuts after playing careers in college. Lastly, Jack Slatery joins the staff as a player personnel assistant after four years in the behavioral health industry.

The player personnel department also saw a number of promotions, as well. A long-time former linebacker in Cleveland, D’Qwell Jackson enters his second season in the front office after supporting player development last year. Jackson has been promoted in his second year to pro scout. He’s joined as a new pro scout by Greg Livingston and Alice Sullivan. They both earn the promotion after serving as scouting assistants in 2023. Livingston previously saw a coaching role at Northwestern and a recruiting role at Boston College. Sullivan will add the title of contract analyst to her new role, as well. Before joining the Browns, she worked as a football analyst for advance scout at LSU.

Additionally, Kathleen Wood is being promoted to scouting/personnel assessment & development after serving three of her four years with the team as the northeast area scout. She will contribute to day-to-day operations for personnel while continuing to contribute as a college road scout. Cyrus Wolford moves into Wood’s old role covering the northeast. He spent his first two seasons with the team as a scouting assistant after time in football operations at Temple. John Nussman is another former scouting assistant. After four years in that role, Nussman will be promoted to an NFS area scout, contributing to NFL combine and team draft initiatives. Lastly in personnel, Will Black has been promoted to scouting assistant, transitioning from a director of administration role with the Haslam Sports Group where he assisted team leadership with day-to-day operations.

Finally, the team saw a promotion in their analytics department, as well. Zach Zelinsky has been moved up into a manager role in football information systems. Currently entering his seventh season with the team, Zelinsky started with the Browns as a software developer in 2017 after working as an analytics intern for the Pittsburgh Pirates of the MLB.

Parris Campbell In Lead For Eagles’ No. 3 WR Role?

June 8th, 2024 at 12:16pm CST by Sam Robinson

Parris Campbell‘s Giants tenure ended with a run of healthy scratches. Despite the struggling team not exactly sporting a deep receiving corps, Brian Daboll and Co. deemed the former second-round pick unworthy of a gameday gig in the final five games of the 2023 campaign.

That did not lead to extensive interest during Campbell’s second free agency foray. The former Colts draftee, however, has stayed healthy over the past two seasons — after a litany of injuries hounded him for most of his Indianapolis tenure — and has a history with his new coach. The Colts drafted Campbell during Nick Sirianni‘s time as OC, and the two overlapped for two years in Indy. Campbell, 26, now appears to have a real shot at going from Giants scratch to Eagles regular.

Unable to rely on their slot position for a bit now, the Eagles took a flier on Campbell (one year, $1.29MM). Philly’s offseason program has wrapped, but after this week’s minicamp, Campbell appears to be in the lead to play alongside A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith. The veteran slot receiver received the bulk of the first-team reps in the WR3 role this week, per 94WIP.com’s Eliot Shorr-Parks, who called this competition — ahead of training camp, at least — Campbell’s to lose.

The Eagles helped set the receiver market this offseason, authorizing extensions for Smith and Brown in April. With wideouts tied to $32MM- and $25MM-per-year deals and several big payments in place on offense, money is obviously limited elsewhere at wide receiver. The Eagles did use fifth- and sixth-round draft choices on wideouts (Johnny Wilson, Ainias Smith) this year, and they offered an offseason roster spot to former top-10 pick John Ross, who has unretired to join the team. Campbell’s profile features inconsistency, but he brings more experience as a regular than anyone else vying for the Brown-Smith sidekick role.

The former Ohio State standout flashed for the Colts during Sirianni’s time in Indianapolis, but he also missed 25 games due to various injuries from 2019-21. During a chaotic 2022 Colts season, Campbell quietly stayed healthy and totaled 63 receptions for 623 yards and three touchdowns. This came for a 4-13 team that started three quarterbacks and used two play-callers. The Giants did not see much from Campbell, though they also slogged through a three-QB season. Campbell caught just 20 passes for 104 yards, underwhelming on a one-year, $4.7MM deal.

Before the 6-foot-1 target’s Giants season ended, he understandably expressed a desire for a fresh start. The Eagles, who bring more QB stability than Campbell has seen over the course of his career, are providing it.

Working with Andrew Luck only during the offseason before the standout passer’s abrupt retirement, Campbell has never played with the same starting QB in consecutive seasons. It will be interesting to see if the Eagles see enough from him this season to consider a longer-term role for him in their Jalen Hurts-led offense. Quez Watkins‘ production trended downward after a 647-yard 2021, and the team’s Julio Jones and Olamide Zaccheaus contracts last year did not lead to much of consequence from the WR3 spot.

Ross also saw extensive time during Philly’s minicamp, per the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jeff Neiburg, while return man Britain Covey remains in the picture. Ross, 27, has not seen any game action since 2021. The former Combine 40-yard dash record holder (4.22 seconds) seizing a roster spot would surprise, given his NFL offerings, but his preseason work will be worth monitoring as the Eagles attempt to improve in a passing attack that will still run through Brown, Smith and Dallas Goedert.

Evan Brown Favorite For Cardinals’ LG Job; Latest On Paris Johnson Jr.’s Position Change

June 8th, 2024 at 10:44am CST by Sam Robinson

Although the Cardinals swapped out D.J. Humphries‘ veteran contract for new right tackle Jonah Williams‘, the team is keeping costs low along its offensive front. Only one player — Williams — is tied to a deal worth more than $7.5MM per year.

Paris Johnson Jr.‘s first-round salary checks in behind Williams’ $15MM-per-year pact at this Cardinals position group. Among Arizona’s interior O-line, backup-level salaries are present. One of those is allocated to Evan Brown, who signed a one-year, $2.35MM contract with the team in March. Brown spent last season as the Seahawks’ starting center, but he will shift positions once again.

The Cardinals have installed Brown at guard, and the Arizona Republic’s Bob McManaman notes the veteran is in the lead to win the team’s left guard post. While a host of competitors are vying with Brown for the only undecided spot along Arizona’s offensive front, Brown came to the desert after three seasons as an O-line regular.

The Seahawks used Brown as a 16-game center starter last season. That came after Brown worked as a fill-in starter in back-to-back seasons in Detroit. The Lions plugged Brown in as a Frank Ragnow injury replacement in 2021; that season brought 12 starts for the former UDFA. He operated as Halapoulivaati Vaitai‘s RG fill-in during the 2022 season. All 40 of Brown’s career starts came over the past three seasons, as he bounced around between four teams from 2018-20.

Brown, 27, played for similar terms in Seattle (one year, $2.25MM) to plug a hole created by Austin Blythe‘s retirement. Pro Football Focus graded Brown as a bottom-tier center in 2023, slotting him 27th last season. The advanced metrics site viewed Brown’s pass protection as an issue in 2022 as well, though it graded the former UDFA as much better in that department as a center in 2021. As the Cardinals continue to rebuild, Brown will attempt to hold off some competitors — including last season’s Week 1 starter at the position — on an inexpensive front featuring another journeyman starter.

Hjalte Froholdt, a 2019 fourth-rounder who played for three teams from 2019-21, is entrenched as the team’s center. Will Hernandez is locked in as the team’s right guard, McManaman adds. Brown will battle LG incumbent Elijah Wilkinson (nine starts last season), Trystan Castillo-Colon, Carter O’Donnell and third-rounder Isaiah Adams in the primary competition for the job. Adams’ presence figures to be important here, though the Cardinals appear to be planning to ease the Day 2 draftee into the mix slowly. Brown is a stopgap guard option, and Jonathan Gannon said he is also seeing time at center — perhaps in preparation for a swing role if Adams becomes the LG starter.

Johnson and Williams, of course, are locked in as starters as well. Johnson is making the switch from full-time right tackle as a rookie to the left side. This aligns with D.J. Humphries‘ trajectory, as the former first-rounder moved from RT to LT after one season as a starter. Johnson is now replacing Humphries, and McManaman adds the 2023 No. 6 overall pick began preparing for the position switch before officially receiving word it was a go. Noting he and Humphries still communicate regularly, Johnson — an All-American left tackle at Ohio State in 2022 — said the Cardinals informed him a switch could happen depending on how free agency unfolded.

“I got a text one day and it said, ‘Hey, can you play left?’” Johnson said. “I’ve been training both. I asked after the season and they were like, ‘Honestly, we’ll talk to you at some point in the season,’ and I got a text, and it was like, ‘Depending on what happens in free agency.

“I had a whole season at right tackle, so if I get the word I’m staying at right tackle, I’ll just do what I did before. But I thought I might as well train at left tackle now as if I’m going to be left tackle. I’d rather do that than train all at right tackle and get the call, ‘Hey you’re at left tackle now.’ … I was just preparing in advance.”

Humphries, the Cardinals’ LT starter for seven seasons, remains a free agent. Johnson is under contract through the 2026 season. Kelvin Beachum remains in place as a swingman behind Johnson and Williams, who is staying at the position he played — following a trade request based on a left tackle role — in his Bengals contract year.

Load More Posts