NFLRT 8/16/2024

The questions and discussion…

1)After just one year from being signed as free-agent, JuJu Smith-Schuster is being released by the New England Patriots.

Does Smith-Schuster get picked up by another team before the regular NFL season begins? Why or why not?

And, ultimately regardless of when he does get signed, with which team do you see him landing? Why?

JuJu Smith-Schuster will get picked up before the season begins.

While the Patriots released him with guaranteed money still on the table, they were actually being considerate to him in reality by letting him still get paid while being able to sign on with a contending team. New England isn’t going to contend this season, and they have no reason to keep players if they don’t have to and instead let the team just develop from younger guys.

However, some of the moves are questionable. Trading Matthew Judon for a third-round pick is a huge question. Letting Smith-Schuster go without trying to trade him for something in return is also a questionable move.

However, he won’t be a free agent for long and I believe he’s going to go back to the Kansas City Chiefs who could use some help at receiver. The Chiefs can get him at a hefty discounted price as well as bolster up the receiving corps in their quest for a hat trick of Super Bowls in consecutive seasons.

Another landing spot I think he could go to is Los Angeles with Harbaugh and the Chargers. They really need some receivers out there after letting Keenan Allen and Mike Williams go and their first-round draft pick, Quinton Johnston, didn’t live up to expectations last season. Herbert is going to need options to throw to if they want to compete for the playoffs and, eventually, a Super Bowl. 

I think without a doubt Smith-Schuster gets signed by another team. Now whether that occurs prior to the first game of the season or during the season is up for debate but I’m leaning to it happening relatively soon and before the regular seson begins.

And the team I’m thinking he winds up with is… the Steelers.

Word is that Pittsburgh is in the market to add wide receiver help. Not all that surprising since the Steelers were one of the team tha have been strongly rumored to be in the mix to trade for the 49ers Brandon Aiyuk.  

With the Patriot releasing Aiyuk it would make sense for the Steelers to seriously engage in talks with Smith-Schuster’s agent. Aiyuk’s the bigger name but it’s not like he was putting up record breaking numbers with the 49ers. And if they sign Smith-Schuster they are getting a guy they already know … the Steelers originally drafted him, and he played for them for five years…. And whose best years rival or even surpass Aiyuk’s numbers and at a lot cheaper price and thereby filling the Steelers’ perceived need for help in the wide receiver room.

I say JuJu returns to the Steelers on a one-year deal with a team option to extend the deal depending on his year’s performance.

2)  On Thursday (8/8), CBSSports.com reported that former NFL great, and one of the NFL’s all-time leading rushers, Frank Gore is predicting that the Indianapolis Colt’s Jonathan Taylor will run for 2,000 yards in 2024.

What is your opinion regarding Gore’s prediction for Taylor’s rushing yardage total for the 2024/25 season? Why?

Frank Gore was a great running back who seemingly never could put away the cleats or step away from the game. And he kept performing year-in-and-year-out even at an older age. He just never stopped. But I don’t think he’s accurate in this prediction.

While I think Jonathan Taylor is going to have a great year with the running lanes getting opened up a little bit more with Anthony Richardson returning to the quarterback position in Indianapolis, I don’t think Jonathan Taylor is going to reach that 2,000 yard marker. I predict him being able to come close to the 1,500 yard mark, but I think he has a better shot at 2,000 all-purpose yards and that’s even a stretch for me. 

First, Gore knows a thing or two about playing running back as he was in the NFL for 16 seasons with various teams and currently ranks third (trails Emmitt Smith and Walter Payton) in NFL career rushing with 16,000 yards.

Second, only eight players in NFL history have ever hit the 2,000-yard rushing mark. Meaning hitting that mark in season is rare and not easily accomplished.

Now is 2,000 yards rushing realistic for Taylor?  

He’s already been close… in 2021 he led the league in carries (332), rushing yards (1,811), and rushing touchdowns (18). 

So yeah, gaining 2,000 yards this season is realistic for Taylor. 

But to do it some things need to happen for him to have a decent shot at doing it…

 He needs to play in every game. He has missed thirteen games over the past two seasons. That can’t happen… missing games… if he is to have a chance to rush for 2,000.

And then the wear and tear on his body as the season goes deep into games played…  opposing teams are going to know he is going to be  a big part of Indianapolis’ attack. And they will put many big and hard bodies on Taylor every play. He can’t let up at any point in the season and needs to stay in top physical shape. He needs to be able to weather all those hits he will be getting and still keep on taking and running the ball for positive yards.

In a word, he needs to stay healthy.  

So, with that in mind… and considering the Colts possess one of the NFL’s top offensive lines and that Shane Steichen, their head coach, is considered to be sort of an offensive wizard… then, yes, Taylor could put together a monster season in 2024as long he avoids getting injured.

3) Nick Foles recently announced that he is retiring from the NFL.

How will you remember Foles’ career in the NFL? Why?

How I’ll remember Nick Foles is for stepping into the quarterback position in Philadelphia and delivering a Super Bowl after a return to the franchise and taking over for an injured Carson Wentz, including earning Super Bowl MVP in the Eagles’ first franchise Super Bowl trophy.

He started his career off nicely in a big season for Philadelphia shortly after getting drafted leading the league in touchdown-to-interception ratio, but fell off, left Philadelphia, and returned in big fashion. After that Super Bowl title, Foles just remained a back-up and didn’t really do too much. That Super Bowl run is going to stand the test of time whenever Nick Foles’ name is brought up in conversation. 

Nick Foles will be remembered by me as a better than average QB who had some decent to very special years. Among the highlights of his 11-year career, that included playing for Philly (2012-14, 2017-18)…

• He was selected to the Pro Bowl following the 2013 season, earning Pro Bowl MVP honors, after leading the league in passer rating (119.2) and producing at the time the best single-season touchdown-to-interception ratio in NFL history (27-2).
• He was the first quarterback and only one since (Brady in 2016) has recorded 20-plus passing touchdowns in a season with no more than two interceptions.
• In just his ninth NFL start, he threw seven touchdowns in a win at the Oakland Raiders on November 3, 2013, at the time he became one of seven quarterbacks (now eight) to do so in a single game and he did it without throwing an interception.

But the biggest highlight of his career has to be when in late in the 2017 regular season, he stepped in as the full-time starter for the Eagles and led the team to the playoffs and ultimately to a 41-33 victory in Super Bowl LII over the New England Patriots.

In that game Foles completed 28 of 43 passes for 373 passing yards, three touchdowns, one interception, and a 106.1 passer rating and won Super Bowl LII MVP honors.

In addition to his throwing those three TDs he also caught a touchdown pass just before halftime on what was called the “Philly Special” play…  the tight end took a pitch from running back Corey Clement and he then threw the ball to Foles in the end zone to give the Eagles a 22-12 halftime lead.

4) The Cowboys CeeDee Lamb, who is in the last year of his rookie contract, is holding out unless he is given a new deal. There is about a month until the regular season begins but getting a deal done with Lamb in the current wide receiver market seems to be taking a lot longer than it should be taking to get it done.

In your opinion, what’s the holdup… problem… with Lamb and the Dallas Cowboys not being able to get a deal completed and have him in pre-season camp? Why?

The holdup for CeeDee Lamb and the Dallas Cowboys getting a deal done is not anybody other than owner/general manager Jerry Jones.

He doesn’t seem to have it a priority to get a deal in place for Dak Prescott or Lamb. He doesn’t seem to care that his head coach is on the last year in the deal of his contract. He doesn’t seem to care, after getting valued as the richest franchise in the NFL, close to his entire coaching staff is on one-year deals which makes it really hard for the young players, let alone all the players, to buy-in to the system that the Cowboys are trying to establish. He doesn’t seem to care that Micah Parsons also doesn’t have a deal in place for the future. He just doesn’t seem to have an interest in getting any of these players signed.

I think CeeDee Lamb is going to play this season, but if the Cowboys don’t want to make any moves towards extending players, just hold out the whole year and go somewhere else and make them wish they were able to keep you long-term and did things differently when the time was right to do them. 

From everything I read and hear… the problem is Jerry Jones, the owner and de facto GM, who is holding up things with not only Lamb but with getting a deal done with Dak Prescott. too.

Jones needs to open up his purse strings a bit and pay these guys or else trade their butts for draft picks and go ion another direction. But if he is being sane in a football sense and not just trading in on the Cowboy name and taking those Cowboy fans for their moola then he needs to sign both Lamb and Prescott to market place NFL deals for each of their positions and then settle on who is the HC for the duration of those deals so there is on the field continuity in the Cowboys quest for another Super Bowl trophy.

5) According to a NFL Media report, the 49ers had frameworks for trades centered around Brandon Aiyuk in place with both the  Cleveland Browns and the New England Patriots. And it was then up to Aiyuk to consider his landing spots and negotiate the lucrative extension he was after but at this point in time nothing has been agreed to.

A report has also emerged that the Patriots were going to offer Aiyuk $32 million per season if they could acquire him in a trade from the 49ers, which would have made him the third-highest-paid wide receiver in the NFL.

If that report is true then it’s a fair assumption to strongly suggest that Aiyuk himself put the kibosh on his being dealt to the Patriots. 

If all the above is true….

Was Aiyuk being foolish for turning down $32 million per year from the New England Patriots?

Brandon Aiyuk is not foolish for turning down the money.

While yes, it’s a hefty contract and you should get as much money as you can when it’s available, especially when it comes to playing in the NFL where the shelf life for a receiver, or most position players, isn’t long, I think he wants to win and stay with the 49ers. And if you can stay with the team and eventually work out a better contract, then why not stay with a team that’s continuing to win while getting paid to do so instead of going to a team for the big bucks but can’t seem to pull a win out if it was handed to them?

I get it, though. The Patriots were thinking that if they overpay, Aiyuk will be a little more enticed to go to the organization and develop with Drake Maye and, hopefully, speed up the process in becoming a playoff contender. But that’s not on Aiyuk’s radar. I think he wants to be on a team where either a) he’ll take a little pay cut from what he wants in order to be on a winner and Super Bowl contender, or b) he’ll get the contract that he wants but play for a contender who is on the cusp of a playoff appearance and needs a player like him to push them over that hump.

Aiyuk is going to play for the 49ers this season, that’s my prediction, and get a contract extension. There’s rumors out that he might go to Pittsburgh, but there’s always rumors out there that San Francisco has a deal in place with Aiyuk to remain with the organization, but, he just hasn’t signed on the dotted line yet. 

This is really very simple…

Aiyuk wants to be paid but even more importantly he wants to win and get a Super Bowl ring while doing it.

The Patriots are not going to be anywhere near contending for a Super Bowl, or even the playoffs for that matter, for some years down the road.  

Nuff said.