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Marcus Mariota

QB Rumors: Falcons, Daniels, Rams, Titans

October 23rd, 2024 at 3:00pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Falcons‘ offseason quarterback plan drew considerable scrutiny, and evaluators are skeptical the team will carry it out. Kirk Cousins, who sits third in the NFL with 1,830 passing yards (highlighted by a 500-yard showing against the Buccaneers), is entrenched as Atlanta’s starting QB presently. Though, ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler notes some around the league do not believe the Falcons will sit No. 8 overall pick Michael Penix Jr. for two seasons like they have planned to do. A Penix push toward a 2025 starting job would stand to bring forth Cousins trade rumors.

While nothing concrete has emerged on the Cousins front, this is not the first time execs have predicted a 2025 Falcons QB trade. Some in May predicted the long-rumored Cousins-Kyle Shanahan reunion would commence — if the 49ers become squeamish on a Brock Purdy megadeal. The Falcons have Cousins signed through 2027, though they have a clear out in 2026 — after $90MM of his $100MM guarantee will have been paid out. Penix, however, is already 24. Sitting the southpaw prospect until his age-26 season would not be optimal for the Falcons. Cousins’ 2025 money is fully guaranteed, which will be challenging for a trade. But if Penix’s development moves this situation toward a potential 2025 controversy, expect another offseason of Cousins rumors.

Here is the latest from the QB ranks:

  • Jayden Daniels did not practice Wednesday, moving Marcus Mariota closer to making his first start since 2022. The rib injury the Commanders QB sustained is not considered serious, per NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport, but it would also not surprise — given the way Daniels winced after trying to return in Week 7 — if Washington exercised caution with the player who has a great chance of being the team’s first long-term QB1 in decades. Mariota played effectively against the Panthers but has not made a start since his controversial Falcons exit in December 2022.
  • The Titans have not seen their Will Levis development project produce notable strides. Crippling turnovers have played a key role in Tennessee’s 1-5 start, and Levis is now leading with a shoulder injury. Among qualified options, the 2023 second-rounder ranks ahead of only Deshaun Watson in QBR. As such, SI.com’s Albert Breer guesses the franchise will go into 2025 with an objective to find a new quarterback. It is still early, but at this rate, Tennessee giving Levis a third year to prove he can be a locked-in starter would be a reach. Ran Carthon‘s club would be an interesting destination, given the resources allocated to upgrading the offensive talent level around Levis this offseason.
  • Ditto the Rams, who have Matthew Stafford on a year-to-year arrangement. The Rams have not dangled Stafford in trades this year, separating the 16th-year veteran from Cooper Kupp, but they also did not authorize significant guarantee upgrades — like the QB sought — beyond 2024. As a result, Breer adds the team should be considered in play to draft Stafford’s heir apparent next year. Los Angeles is running out of time to land a successor who would develop behind Stafford, who is signed through 2026. Adding assets to help with that potential mission could be on the team’s mind now, as a Kupp trade would go toward that haul. The Rams and Chiefs discussed Kupp, but L.A.’s asking price — a second-rounder — may be steep for a player who has battled injuries in each of the seasons since his transcendent 2021.
  • Aaron Rodgers does not appear in jeopardy of missing Week 8, but the Jets quarterback is now on the team’s injury report with three maladies. The 40-year-old starter is battling hamstring, knee and ankle maladies. Rodgers’ hamstring “flared up” against the Steelers, ESPN.com’s Rich Cimini tweets.

Minor NFL Transactions: 10/5/24

October 5th, 2024 at 7:29pm CST by Adam La Rose

Saturday’s gameday elevations and other minor moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Baltimore Ravens

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Cincinnati Bengals

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Jacksonville Jaguars

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New York Giants

New York Jets

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

Washington Commanders

Mariota returned to practice on Wednesday, which was the earliest point at which he could be designated for return. As a result, it comes as little surprise he has been brought back onto Washington’s active roster. The 30-year-old is in his first season with the Commanders, and today’s move paves the way for him to handle backup duties moving forward.

Ngakoue remained on the free agent market into the start of the regular season. He was not connected to a Ravens reunion, but one took place last week. The journeyman sack artist had a brief spell with Baltimore in 2020, and he posted three sacks in 11 games. Ngakoue, 29, had one-and done campaigns in Vegas, Indianapolis and Chicago before taking a Ravens practice squad deal. He will make his debut tomorrow and aim to provide depth along the edge.

Commanders’ Marcus Mariota, Efe Obada, Jordan Magee Return To Practice

October 2nd, 2024 at 2:05pm CST by Adam La Rose

The Commanders have enjoyed a strong start to the season, and they could have a number of reinforcements in the fold soon. Among the players who returned to practice on Wednesday is backup quarterback Marcus Mariota. 

The 30-year-old was placed on injured reserve just before the start of the regular season. That move guaranteed a four-game absence, so today’s news is a sign he has recovered in full while returning to action when first eligible. Mariota will be able to dress as Jayden Daniels‘ backup provided he is activated in time for Week 5.

After the Commanders traded away Sam Howell, it became clear the organization would invest in a new passer via the draft. Mariota was brought in on a one-year deal to provide experienced depth capable of handling first-team duties on a temporary basis if needed. The play of Daniels to date has not created any doubt about his readiness for NFL duties, although Mariota did see some starter’s reps during the summer before this year’s second overall pick was placed atop the depth chart.

After the end of his five-year run in Tennessee, Mariota has bounced around the NFL. The Oregon product spent the 2020 and ’21 seasons as a backup with the Raiders before his single campaign in Atlanta the following year. Mariota logged 13 starts during his Falcons tenure, but neither he nor the team’s offense impressed in that time. Last season, he worked as the Eagles’ QB2 and made just three appearances.

As long as Daniels remains healthy, he will remain atop the depth chart for the 3-1 Commanders. Mariota’s return would leave Jeff Driskel as Washington’s third-string passer while letting undrafted rookie Sam Hartman develop on the practice squad. Mariota seeing the field at some point would allow him to help his free agent value ahead of next offseason and add to his 90 games (including 74 starts) of experience.

In other roster news, defensive end Efe Obada has been designated for return from the PUP list. The 32-year-old was limited to only five games with Washington last season, but he recorded between 3.5 and 5.5 sacks in each of the three previous campaigns. Obada should continue in a rotational role along the edge once he is activated. Fifth-round round rookie linebacker Jordan Magee, meanwhile, had his practice window opened after he was designated for return from IR before the roster cutdown deadline.

Washington also placed Jamison Crowder on injured reserve. The veteran wideout is dealing with a calf injury, and he will now miss at least four games. Crowder, 31, returned to the nation’s capital in 2023 after beginning his career there, and he played all 17 games. The pending free agent will look to get back on the field and into the Commanders’ receiver rotation once healthy.

Commanders Place QB Marcus Mariota On IR

September 7th, 2024 at 5:18pm CST by Ely Allen

The Commanders will be starting rookie No. 2 overall pick Jayden Daniels at quarterback to open the season in Tampa Bay tomorrow. Behind Daniels, though, Washington had to make a couple of roster moves at quarterback. Prior to tomorrow’s game, the Commanders announced that they would place Marcus Mariota on injured reserve while signing practice squad passer Sam Hartman to the active roster.

Mariota was set to enter the season as the veteran backup option behind the team’s rookie starter. Today’s transaction, though, means that the former No. 2 overall pick in 2015 will be out for at least the next four games. With Mariota out, the new veteran backup with starting experience is Jeff Driskel.

A former sixth-round pick for the 49ers back in 2016, Driskel has never entered the season as a starter, but he has notched 12 starts in 24 game appearances over his eight years in the NFL coming off the bench. Over that time, Driskel has a record as a starter of 1-10, but he has shown some efficiency with a 16-10 touchdown-to-interception ratio in his career.

Behind Driskel, the newly promoted Hartman will serve as the emergency QB3. A six-year college quarterback who transferred from Wake Forest to Notre Dame for his final year of collegiate ball, Hartman overcame a nagging injury history to become a successful starter for both the Demon Deacons and the Fighting Irish. He signed with Washington as an undrafted free agent and failed to make the initial 53-man roster but was signed to the practice squad shortly after being waived.

Joining Hartman off the practice squad, linebacker Nick Bellore and defensive tackle Sheldon Day will be promoted as standard gameday practice squad elevations for tomorrow. Unlike Hartman, Bellore and Day will revert back to the practice squad after the team’s matchup with the Buccaneers.

QB Notes: Tua, Rodgers, Daniels, Steelers

July 24th, 2024 at 4:24pm CST by Sam Robinson

Tua Tagovailoa is not holding in, separating the Dolphins‘ top negotiation from multiple others around the NFL. This includes Jordan Love‘s Packers arrangement, which has become a hold-in situation. Despite Tagovailoa having a longer track record than Love, the fifth-year passer went through Dolphins workouts Wednesday. This did come with a notable exception. Tagovailoa took only two reps (both handoffs) in Dolphins team drills to open camp, per ESPN.com’s Marcel Louis-Jacques. Mike McDaniel said Tagovailoa’s camp workload — absent an extension — would compare to OTAs; the lefty did not go through team drills then or during minicamp. We heard Monday this would likely be the route Tagovailoa takes.

The Dolphins have been negotiating with Tua for months, and while some optimism has emerged, Miami’s QB1 has turned down at least one offer and may have seen the team dig in on a price south of Trevor Lawrence‘s $55MM-per-year deal. Lawrence receiving $142MM may also be much higher than the Dolphins want to go. McDaniel said (via the Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson) both sides are “relentlessly” working on this agreement. The parties still have time to hammer out a deal before the season, but the longer this goes, the closer Tua comes to carrying a lofty franchise tag number (upwards of $40MM) on Miami’s 2025 cap sheet.

Here is the latest QB news coming out of training camp:

  • Aaron Rodgers confirmed a trip to Egypt indeed led to his missing minicamp and confirmed the Jets fined him for the unexcused absences. Rodgers has been criticized for a lack of leadership by skipping the offseason’s only mandatory workout, but he said his relationship with Robert Saleh has been unaffected. “I’m an adult; I knew what I was getting into,” Rodgers said, via ESPN.com’s Rich Cimini. “I knew the fine that was coming and also knew how much I wanted to be in Egypt. I wish there hadn’t been a conflict scheduling-wise, but it was what it was.” Rodgers, who said be based the trip on the Jets’ 2023 offseason schedule, had shown up for OTAs prior to the abrupt — to the public, at least — departure.
  • Jayden Daniels does not have Commanders first-string reps to himself just yet; the No. 2 overall pick is splitting them with free agency addition Marcus Mariota, the Washington Post’s Sam Fortier notes. While Dan Quinn is labeling this a QB competition, Fortier cautions that Daniels is all but assured of the starting job. This follows a report that pointed to the Commanders indeed feeling no real reason to hold back the 2023 Heisman winner by giving Mariota bridge work.
  • Although the Daniels-Mariota split may deprive the highly touted rookie from early reps, Washington is holding an actual battle for the No. 3 spot. The team is pitting rookie UDFA Sam Hartman against veteran Jeff Driskel, Fortier adds. The former Notre Dame starter, who has a safety net via the UFL’s Birmingham Stallions’ recent draft choice, played behind Driskel to start camp. It is not yet clear if the Commanders plan to keep three QBs, but the winner of this battle would stand to at least be the team’s emergency option in the event only two are rostered.
  • Prior to the USFL and XFL merging, Ben DiNucci played in the former league’s second season and spent last year as the Broncos’ third-stringer. The recent Russell Wilson teammate worked out for the 13-year vet’s new team this week, per KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson, who notes the Steelers brought in the veteran. Pittsburgh has Kyle Allen in place behind Wilson and Justin Fields presently.

Commanders To Sign QB Marcus Mariota

March 12th, 2024 at 9:42am CST by Adam La Rose

Widely expected to draft a passer with the second overall pick in this year’s draft, the Commanders are adding a veteran to the mix. Quarterback Marcus Mariota is set to join Washington on a one-year deal, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports. The pact has a base value of $6MM and can be worth up to $10MM, he adds.

Mariota’s journeyman status will continue with this pact. Washington will represent the fourth different team in as many years for the former No. 2 pick. After his run as the Titans’ starter came to an end in 2019, he had a two-year stint with the Raiders. That was followed by one-year pacts in Atlanta and Philadelphia, with the Falcons being the only team to provide a starting opportunity during that stretch.

The 30-year-old’s play in Atlanta came to an end under unusual circumstances. Mariota left the team before ultimately undergoing knee surgery. His performance and health status limited him to a one-year accord with the Eagles, although he has landed more money upfront and a higher maximum value this time around. The Oregon alum played in three games last season, attempting 23 passes. Easton Stick – a familiar face for new Eagles OC Kellen Moore – could replace Mariota as the team’s backup, Pro Football Network’s Adam Caplan notes.

The Commanders have Sam Howell on the roster, having drafted the North Carolina alum in 2022. He was handed the starting gig ahead of 2023, and for a time the 23-year-old showed flashes of potential. Things took a turn for the worse toward the end of the campaign, though, and a new general manager and head coach are in place compared to the regime which drafted him. Howell has been mentioned in trade talk with the expectation Washington would add a veteran passer before drafting either Drake Maye or Jayden Daniels in April.

Having Mariota in place will no doubt lead to increased chatter regarding a deal sending Howell out of the nation’s capital. A number of teams have already made a move on the backup quarterback market, but the latter (who has two more years on his rookie contract) could still be of interest to teams looking for a developmental option. Mariota, meanwhile, will aim to lock down the backup spot in Washington with the potential to see playing time early in 2024.

Eagles To Sign QB Marcus Mariota

March 17th, 2023 at 12:10am CST by Sam Robinson

As teams continue to fill out their quarterback depth charts, the Eagles lost Gardner Minshew to their former offensive coordinator’s new team. They will respond to Minshew’s Shane Steichen reunion in Indianapolis by adding another Jalen Hurts backup just after midnight.

The Eagles have agreed to terms with Marcus Mariota to step into that role, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. The former No. 2 overall pick agreed to a one-year deal worth $5MM, with Schefter adding it can max out at $8MM.

While Minshew and Hurts’ skillsets differed, the Eagles will now have another dual-threat option to play behind Hurts. This is a similar strategy to the Ravens’ plans of recent years, and Mariota will head to Philadelphia coming off an extended run of starter work in Atlanta. That stretch did not end well, with Mariota leaving the Falcons — ahead of a surprise knee surgery — after his late-season benching for rookie Desmond Ridder. But Mariota started 13 games for the Falcons last season and helped the team rank third in the NFL in rushing.

Hurts has suffered injuries that have required him to miss time in each of his two seasons as Philly’s full-time starter. He battled an ankle injury in 2021, one that necessitated offseason surgery, and missed two games with a shoulder issue last season. This brought in Minshew, who has since followed Steichen to Indianapolis. Mariota does not bring much passing upside, but he is on the backup market for a reason. That has been his primary role in three of the past four seasons.

The Titans drafted Mariota back in 2015, but the Eagles — then led by ex-Oregon coach Chip Kelly — tried to trade up to that No. 2 spot for Kelly’s ex-Ducks pupil. Those efforts were unsuccessful, and Mariota ended up remaining the Titans’ starter until October 2019. Since being benched for Ryan Tannehill, however, Mariota has not finished a season as a team’s starter. He sat behind Derek Carr for two seasons in Las Vegas, mixing in occasionally as a change-of-pace run option, and was M.I.A. following Ridder’s December promotion.

Reuniting Mariota with ex-Titans OC Arthur Smith, the Falcons brought him in as their Matt Ryan replacement. Calls for Mariota’s benching rang out for weeks before Smith made that move, and while Atlanta’s passing attack was inconsistent, QBR slotted the 29-year-old passer 13th last season. Mariota threw 15 touchdown passes compared to nine interceptions but only cleared 200 passing yards in one of his final 10 starts. In one of the most obvious cuts in recent NFL history, the Falcons bailed on Mariota’s two-year, $18.75MM deal in February.

Mariota, who rushed for a career-high 438 yards despite playing 13 games in 2022, has made 74 career starts. He piloted the Titans to the 2017 divisional round, leading an upset over the Chiefs in Alex Smith‘s final Kansas City start, and Tennessee picked up his fifth-year option — despite injuries intervening in 2016 and 2018 — before its seminal Tannehill trade. Mariota will now join a fourth team, representing the latest domino to fall on the crowded stopgap/backup QB market.

Here are the quarterback deals to have been agreed to in free agency thus far:

Falcons Release Marcus Mariota

February 28th, 2023 at 9:01am CST by Adam La Rose

After a brief stint as a starter in the NFL once again, Marcus Mariota is set to move on to his next team. The Falcons announced on Tuesday that they have released the veteran quarterback.

The 29-year-old found himself in Atlanta last offseason after the Falcons moved on from franchise icon Matt Ryan. The former signed a two-year, $18.75MM deal to operate as a stop-gap option under center and attempt to rebuild his value. It marked his first opportunity to take on a No. 1 role since his time with the Titans came to an end in 2019.

The former second overall pick put up numbers roughly in line with his career averages in a number of categories across 13 starts this season. That came as little surprise given his age and previous shortcomings as a starter, along with the pieces around him on a rebuilding Falcons team. Atlanta remained committed to him through much of the campaign, one which contained the possibility of a postseason berth due to the weakness of the NFC South.

Things changed during the bye week, however, when the offense was turned over to rookie Desmond Ridder. That decision signaled the end of Mariota’s time as a No. 1 in Atlanta for 2022 and beyond, which itself suggested a release could be coming in the offseason. Ridder has drawn praise from the team for his play in the final four games of the season, though he has not been fully endorsed as the 2023 starter.

The other factor which pointed to Mariota being let go, of course, was the knee injury which led him to leave the team and ultimately undergo season-ending surgery. In a span of a few days, confusion reigned as it came out that he would step away from the team to have the chronic issue evaluated, then be shut down for the year. The decision to install Ridder as the new starter was said to be separate from Mariota’s injury, which will no doubt have an effect on his market.

The latter now joins Derek Carr and Carson Wentz as veteran signal-callers free to sign anywhere before free agency begins next week. While Carr has drawn considerable interest from multiple teams, Mariota is likely headed for a similar situation to Wentz in terms of eyeing another opportunity to compete for a starting job in training camp, or a high-end No. 2 role behind an established starter. With Mariota off the books, the Falcons will save $12MM in cap space, leaving them comfortably in second place in the league with respect to spending power as free agency approaches.

Latest On Desmond Ridder, Falcons’ QB Plans

February 14th, 2023 at 2:01pm CST by Adam La Rose

The 2022 season saw the Falcons turn over their offense to rookie quarterback Desmond Ridder. While that has led to the expectation he will handle the No. 1 role moving forward, that has not formally been decided yet.

The third-rounder was one of several Day 2 selections during last spring’s draft, making Ridder part of the unheralded class of 2022 signal-callers. With veteran Marcus Mariota in place as the starter to begin the campaign, it was considered a matter of time before Ridder was installed as the No. 1. That ultimately took place during the team’s bye week, allowing him to play throughout the rest of the season.

Ridder went 2-2 in his four starts, putting up pedestrian numbers in terms of passing yards (708), yards per attempt (6.2) and completion percentage (63.5%). However, the former Bearcat went without an interception in his limited audition, something owner Arthur Blank noted as one of a few positives in his evaluation of the young passer.

“We’re very excited about Desmond Ridder,” Blank said, via ESPNs Michael Rothstein. “I think from the time he came into training camp, he showed great capabilities as a leader amongst the rookies and then amongst the vets… We’re committed to the position obviously, and we know we need a good leader there, and I think we have it in Ridder.”

Notably, both Blank and head coach Arthur Smith fell short of fully endorsing Ridder as their 2023 starter (in the sense that the Commanders with Sam Howell, for instance, have). Mariota is still on the books next year at a cap hit of $14.5MM, but Atlanta would see $12MM in savings by releasing him in place of more cost-effective competition for the starting role. The Falcons currently hold the eighth overall pick in this year’s draft, though they have plenty of other priorities coming off of a second straight 7-10 season.

Smith added that he and the rest of the organization “feel[s] good about where we’re at” with respect to the QB position. With more moves very likely to be made in the near future, however, Atlanta will be a team to watch as they continue to re-tool this offseason.

Marcus Mariota To Undergo Knee Surgery

December 14th, 2022 at 11:18am CST by Sam Robinson

The Falcons’ swiftly changing Marcus Mariota situation will now include a knee surgery. The recently displaced starter will be shut down due to a knee operation, Arthur Smith said Wednesday (via The Athletic’s Josh Kendall, on Twitter).

This surgery will take place next week, and Smith confirmed Atlanta’s would-be backup is going on IR today. This is a bit more standard NFL fare compared to the previous Mariota story that surfaced. Smith said Tuesday that the former Heisman winner had left the team to have his knee evaluated.

“[The knee] is nothing that has been an issue this season, but that’s [Mariota’s] prerogative so …” the second-year Falcons HC said. “Of course, you want all your guys to be here, but guys have to make decisions. It’s part of professional sports. You have to have contingency plans.”

A day after Smith said Mariota was dealing with a chronic knee injury, the report of the Oregon product leaving the team emerged. Smith made it clear Wednesday that Desmond Ridder leapfrogged Mariota regardless of injury. The third-round rookie is set to make his first start against the Saints in Week 15. It does not appear the Falcons and Mariota are on the same page any longer, but this was always viewed as a short-term stay for the former No. 2 overall pick.

Ridder’s promotion already reduced the chances Mariota would be back with the Falcons next season. This week’s odd drama, which Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk notes has confused executives around the league, certainly points to the eighth-year passer being elsewhere in 2023. Mariota’s malady comes out of nowhere, with Florio adding the Falcons have not included it on an injury report at all this season. With four games remaining, Mariota cannot return to Atlanta’s active roster during the regular season. The Falcons would need to make the playoffs for Mariota to dress again.

Given the events of this week, it seems extremely unlikely Mariota suits up for the Falcons going forward. Stranger things have obviously occurred, with the Rams’ Cam Akers developments providing a recent example of an imminent divorce reversing course, but Mariota was always viewed as a bridge to Ridder or the next Falcons starter.

Smith has now benched Mariota twice. The first instance occurred in 2019, when Smith was in his first season as the Titans’ OC. That October, Smith ended Mariota’s four-plus-season run as Tennessee’s starter by sitting him for Ryan Tannehill. The Titans are now in Year 4 of Tannehill as their starter, while Mariota has since bounced to Las Vegas and Atlanta. Smith reunited with Mariota and kept him installed as the Falcons’ starter longer than most expected, but that chapter has ended.

The Falcons can save $12MM in 2023 by releasing Mariota, who agreed to a two-year deal worth $18.75MM shortly after the franchise shipped Matt Ryan to the Colts. To save the $12MM, the Falcons must move on from Mariota before Day 3 of the 2023 league year.

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