Happy Hump Day! It was an exciting morning in the Flowers household today. Well, for some. My daughter is in her final week of school, so the final countdown is on for her. My son has two more weeks, so he was not excited. But I’ll be on the golf course shortly after these bullets. Because it’s #offseason, and I need some vitamin D. So, let’s get right into it. The Denver Broncos have parted ways with long-time kicker Brandon McManus.
One of my favorite things about Twitter is when players break their news. McManus broke his unfortunate news on Twitter yesterday.
The @Broncos have informed me I’ve been released. More to come in the following days
Brandon McManus has been with the Broncos since 2014 and was the lone remaining member of Denver’s Super Bowl 50 team. The veteran kicker completed 77.8 percent of field goal attempts and hit 25 of 27 extra-point attempts last season. McManus made 223 of 274 field goal attempts with the Broncos, an 81.4 percent rate that made him one of the most accurate kickers in team history.
Broncos GM George Paton released a statement on McManus’ release on Tuesday:
“Brandon has been a key player and presence with the Broncos for nearly a decade, making outstanding contributions to our team and community,” Broncos general manager George Paton said in a statement on Tuesday. “Developing into one of the NFL’s most productive kickers, Brandon made so many clutch kicks for this franchise over the years as a Super Bowl champion and team captain. He will always hold a special place in Denver Broncos history. We thank Brandon for all he did for the Broncos, and we wish him and his family the very best in the future.”
Admittedly, I totally missed this story last week, and I’ve had it in my bookmarks for a few days. Since today’s a slower day for me, let’s give it a quick share.
An Athens, Ohio native, Burrow and his foundation have done plenty of giving back to his home state since being drafted by the Bengals. Burrow’s parents, Jimmy and Robin Burrow help run the foundation and recently appeared on The Mental Game Podcast with Brandon Saho. They revealed that the organization paid for 20 families receiving mental health treatment at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. Mental Health Awareness is a cause close to my heart, so this one stuck out to me as very cool.
On Tuesday, 49ers’ head coach Kyle Shanahan spoke about the current San Francisco QB pecking order. Trey Lance has gotten the first-team reps in this week’s OTAs with Brock Purdy sidelined. Sam Darnold has been in the No. 2 role. However, Shanahan cautioned not to read too much into that. “It’ll even out,” Shanahan said. “We’ll make sure to get that right.”
While a reporter was already asking another question when Shanahan interrupted him to clear up a potential misconception about “first-team reps.”
“And the first team is kind of funny because there’s no [offensive] line out there,” Shanahan said. “Most of our receivers are second- and third-team on the first-team today, so I’m curious what everyone thinks first- and second- and third-team is.”
Kyle Shanahan speaks with the media following Tuesday’s OTA practice. https://t.co/pRX3mjAMSq
I wrote about Trey Lance’s offseason earlier this week, and the third-year QB said on Tuesday that he’s just excited to get an opportunity to compete.
“My opportunity is just to come in to compete, and that’s all I wanted,” Lance told reporters on Tuesday. “So, for me, I don’t want to take anything away from Brock, and no one should be able to take anything away from Brock. He did what he did last year, and he deserves all the credit in the world for it. As I said, for me, I just wanted an opportunity to compete.”
Lance will get the opportunity to compete with Sam Darnold this summer for the 49ers’ backup job while Brock Purdy recovers from elbow surgery. Purdy has been declared the “leader in the clubhouse” by John Lynch. Of course, that could change. But for now, let’s work off the GM’s words and assume that Brock Purdy — who has been cleared to start throwing next week — is the starter when he returns. The 49ers like Sam Darnold, a bunch. So, Lance is competing for an opportunity elsewhere from this point forward.
Clearing my bookmarks, I saved an interesting thought from Warren Sharp. Well, it’s not his thought, but he put together a handy visual for the exercise.
by the new rule, these are the the only games that could be booted from Thursday Night Football
That Week 16 Saints-Rams game is a slam dunk to be flexed. No one wants to see the Saints and Rams in primetime during the playoff push. Dolphins-Cowboys, Colts-Falcons, and Packers-Panthers are a few Sunday games I would rather watch in that spot.
Jets OTAs are in session, and I wrote about them this morning:
Patrick grew up in Chicago's Bridgeport and Garfield Ridge neighborhoods before moving to the Western Suburbs of Chicago before eventually relocating to the Las Vegas area with his family in 2023. He started with Bleacher Nation in 2021 and has spent time as a Staff Writer and on the Chicago Blackhawks beat. He is currently a writer and editor at Bleacher Nation covering the Chicago Bears and the NFL at large and the author of the Bleacher Nation Newsletter. Patrick is a member of the Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA).
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