NEWSLETTER
Live from Chicago; it’s Sunday afternoon! The NFL Scouting Combine wraps up today. But first, Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce hosted Saturday Night Live last night.
- If you missed it, here’s Travis Kelce’s opening monologue:
- Kelce made fun of himself, Patrick Mahomes, and his brother Jason Kelce, and he even made fun of the NFL officials and the infamous holding call. It wasn’t among the best SNL monologues I’ve ever seen, but it was pretty funny. There’s no doubt that Travis Kelce has a future in television after this whole football thing is over.
- Alright, to the real football stuff, we go. The quarterbacks, wide receivers, and tight ends took the field in Indianapolis on Saturday. While I can’t say that many people made considerable contributions to their draft stock one way or the other, there were some pretty remarkable performances.
- Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson put on a show in the physical testing. The Gators quarterback placed first in all of the physical tests and measurements among quarterbacks and even set a combine record.
- As I wrote last night, Richardson’s incredible performance in the physical testing confirmed what we already knew to be true about the Florida QB. But, unfortunately, his throwing in the on-field portion of the combine didn’t do much to help his stock. He was good, but not WOW, good.
- On the other hand, Ohio State’s CJ Stroud was WOW, good in the throwing drills. Stroud had maybe one or two bad throws, and he cemented his place atop the QB class. Stroud was so good that I think that Bryce Young did himself a disservice by not throwing.
- Anyway, you can read more of my Saturday takeaways here:
- The deadline for applying franchise tags to eligible players is Tuesday. However, some big names are bound for the tag. It’s reported that Josh Jacobs and Tony Pollard will likely receive the tag. We already know that Daron Payne and Evan Engram will receive the tag.
- So, what other big names will be tagged in the next 48-ish hours? At this point, Daniel Jones will be franchise tagged by the Giants. On Saturday, NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported that Jones and the Giants are expected to leave Indianapolis with “no contract resolution in sight.”
- Connecting the dots tells us that the two sides are nowhere close to a deal right now. Jones has been reported to want upwards of $45 million per year. However, on Saturday, MMQB’s Albert Breer reportedthat the Giants’ latest offer to Jones is “between $35 million and $39 million per year.”
- Wozer. Being $5-10 million (or more?) a part with less than two days until the tag deadline seems less than ideal. So, you can pencil Jones in for the tag unless the two sides have a breakthrough between now and then.
- So, that means that Jones’ teammate, Saquon Barkley, will likely reach free agency on March 15. Barkley will be the biggest running back on the market, with Jacobs and Pollard getting the franchise tag from Vegas and Dallas. So, it could be a lucrative turn of events for Barkley.
- The Blackhawks traded Max Domi to the Dallas Stars this week, but could a reunion be in the cards?
- Well, this isn’t ideal news for Javonte Green and the Bulls …
