NEWSLETTER
My mother-in-law and (now officially) father-in-law finally tied the knot yesterday, so I was away for the day, serving as his best man. I was honored that he would ask me, but I was even happier to see them take the plunge after many years. During the nuptials and the festivities afterward, some interesting NFL news surfaced. Ezekiel Elliott’s future became a little more clear. Oh, and the Lamar Jackson saga took another left turn. So, let’s get into it!
- The day started with an Adam Schefter report that “Ezekiel Elliott has narrowed down his options about where to play to the Eagles, Jets, and Bengals. He would like to make a decision about where to sign by the end of next week.”
- Ok. My first thought was: “hey, look at the Jets go. Zeke could be a good backup for Breece Hall.” Then came the clarification from two of the three teams named in the report.
- So, cross the Eagles off the Ezekiel Elliott list. Then came a similar rebuttal, this time from the best source there is, Bengals head coach Zac Taylor: “There’s a lot of great players that are available right now,” Bengals coach Zac Taylor said Thursday night, via Mike Dyer of WCPO-TV. “We like our team as where it’s at right now. But it’s always funny when things get thrown around. Sometimes, it’s the first you hear of it. But that’s just the way life works.”
- Mike Florio of PFT said that league sources have told him that the Jets aren’t interested either. That makes sense since the Jets are already close to the salary cap and still have to create space for an eventual Aaron Rodgers trade.
- It turns out that Zeke’s three teams were merely a wishlist, not a list of teams he was deciding between. In fairness, Schefter’s report didn’t say it was the latter. Still, it certainly didn’t say that it was the former. If Ezekiel Elliott wants to play in 2023, he’s going to have to widen his wishlist because none of those three seem interested.
- Alright, let’s shift gears and get to the Lamar Jackson drama of Thursday.
- On Wednesday, I wrote about reports of an unnamed person contacting teams on Lamar Jackson’s behalf. On Thursday, we learned that person was Ken Francis, who is not an NFLPA-certified agent. According to a memo sent to all teams from the NFL league office, Francis was “contacting clubs and attempting to persuade club personnel to enter into negotiations with or concerning Lamar Jackson.”
- Obviously, that’s a no-no. We learned from the Saint Omni-Roquan Smith situation last fall that the NFL frowns upon non-certified agents negotiating with teams. Well, it’s not only frowned upon; it’s a blatant violation of the CBA. But wait, it got better! Lamar Jackson — quiet on social media in recent months — took to social media again to refute the latest information.
- Ugh, alright. The NFL and multiple reputable NFL news breakers say that Francis attempted to negotiate with teams. Lamar says he didn’t. But Lamar himself confirmed that he and Francis did have a professional relationship of some sort on Twitter yesterday:
- We’re officially approaching the stage in the Lamar Jackson saga, where I want to see a resolution, one way or another. We’ve regressed to the point in which the player is tweeting down reports about the negotiation process on Twitter increasingly daily.
- If Lamar doesn’t want to have an agent, alright. I can’t entirely agree, but it’s not my life and not my place to say. But he needs someone other than Ken Francis to advise him through the process because he’s not doing himself any favors lately. I wish Lamar the best, but this is encroaching on pure silliness.
- An underrated addition for the Broncos (and a loss for the Bengals) is running back Samaje Perine. Perine was a steady reliever for Joe Mixon for the last three seasons and did a heck of a job providing extra protection for Joe Burrow when it mattered most. Perine discussed why he agreed to go from Mixon’s backup to Javonte Williams’ backup in Denver.
- Perine had this to say to the Denver Post:
“What it came down to, really, was how upfront Denver was with me as far as playing time and what coach Payton wants to do with me, personally, and what he wants to do as an offense,” Perine said, via the Denver Post. “The first time I talked with coach Payton when everything opened up — that first day — the thing he really emphasized was his history of using multiple backs, using two backs in his time with the Saints and going through the history of the backs he’s had. So that made my decision a tad bit easier.”
- The Panthers have informed kicker Zane Gonzalez that he is being released, per Ian Rapoport. They signed Eddy Pineiro to a two-year deal. Pineiro hit 33 of 35 field goals with the Panthers last season after he replaced the injured Zane Gonalez.
- Raiders owner Mark Davis announced that Tom Brady is back! No, not like that. However, Brady became a part-owner in Davis’ WNBA franchise, the Las Vegas Aces.
- Do you know what sucks? Spring Training injuries. The Phillies have lost Rhys Hoskins to an ACL tear. Sure, this is good for the Cubs. Still, you never want to see a player suffer an injury.
- Ten more games. Ten. That’s all we have left of regular-season Bulls basketball. Eli has some numbers to know as viewers of the final leg of the Bulls season.
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