We’re just one week and one day away from one of my favorite holidays of the year! But before I can celebrate my American-Irish-Catholic drinking holiday that is mine just because I was raised in Bridgeport, I’ll have to get through the gauntlet that is NFL free agency. Hey, remember that Jimmy Garoppolo guy?
- With Derek Carr heading to New Orleans and Aaron Rodgers flirting with the Jets, that leaves quarterback-needy teams with the draft and, well, all-right options under center. One of those options is Jimmy Garoppolo. Texans offensive coordinator and former 49ers QB coach Bobby Slowik said on Wednesday that Jimmy Garoppolo is an option for the Texans.
- Sheesh. That’s bad news for the Bears. Honestly, that’s highly unlikely, but that would be terrible for the Bears if that happened. That would likely take the Texans out of the trade-back equation. But again, reading the tea leaves, this is more than likely Slowik just saying that Garropolo — like everyone else — is an option for Houston.
โWe have a process that we go through, Jimmy is obviously a part of that process,โ Slowik said, via Brooks Kubena of the Houston Chronicle.
- Slowik was specifically asked about Garoppolo and likely just wanted to leave all options on the table.
- Per Ian Rapoport, the Panthers, Texans, and Raiders are expected to be suitors for Garoppolo. Garoppolo will be a hot name with Carr off the board for teams looking for a starter, especially those who don’t pan on or land a QB in the top 10 in the NFL Draft next month. Of those three names, the Raiders and Josh McDaniels seem like a comfortable fit for Garoppolo.
- Cardinals wide receiver and rumored trade candidate De’Andre Hopkins joined the Pat McAfee show on Wednesday. Truthfully, his appearance was fairly uneventful. Hopkins acknowledged the rumors surrounding him, but that was about it. He said that his representatives are listening to all of it. But, he said none of the rumors are from his camp.
- Sticking with the Cardinals, Arizona released wide receiver Chosen Anderson on Wednesday, per Ian Rapoport.
- Anderson caught just seven passes for 76 yards in 10 games after the Cardinals traded for him with Carolina. Arizona sent a 2024 sixth-round and 2025 seventh-round pick to the Panthers for Anderson.
- The cut clears $12 million in cap space for the Cardinals. Arizona has Hopkins (for now), Rondale Moore, Javon Wims, and Auden Tate at wide receiver for the 2023 season. Big time yikes!
- The Dolphins have begun to clear cap with a restructure of pass-rusher Bradley Chubb’s contract. Chubb was signed through 2027 and had a fully guaranteed salary of $19.4 million for the 2023 season. However, the Dolphins moved much of that to bonus money, clearing $14.56 million in cap space. Chubb had 13 tackles, 2.5 sacks, 12 quarterback hits, and a forced fumble in eight regular season games for the Dolphins.
- As the tweet says, the Dolphins weren’t the only team clearing cap. The Panthers restructured Taylor Morton’s contract. Per Joe Person of The Athletic, the restructuring freed up $11.15 million of cap space. Moton was set to have a $25 million cap hit in 2023.
- A second-round pick in 2017, Moton has been a mainstay of Carolinaโs offensive line since 2018. While he appeared in all 16 games in 2017, he mostly played special teams.
- The Dallas Cowboys are also working on some shifting of money. Per Pro Football Talk, the Cowboys are working on a new deal for offensive tackle Tyron Smith. Smith and the Cowboys are working on a reworked contract that would bring him back for his 13th season with the Cowboys. The veteran tackle is due a $13.6 million base salary with nothing guaranteed this season.
- The San Francisco 49ers appear to be ready to move on from offensive lineman Mike McGlinchey. However, McGlinchey doesn’t expect to be without a contract for long.
โWe got a lot of intel coming off of the week at the Combine and all that stuff, whatโs going on and what we can expect to happen,โ McGlinchey said. โI think once Monday hits, Iโll probably have a pretty quick deal and a pretty quick decision to make and, hopefully, be signed by the first day of free agency.โ
- It’s hard to get excited about the Bulls these days, but this was pretty sweet!