It will be some time before the Chiefs are able to start doing on-field work at their team facility, but quarterback Patrick Mahomes isn’t waiting for the second phase of the offseason program to start in order to work out with his receivers.
Mahomes has led workouts in Texas in recent offseasons and he’s doing so again this year. That gives him a chance to reconnect with teammates and get to know new arrivals to Kansas City.
The latter group includes wide receiver Hollywood Brown this year and Mahomes said on a video conference with reporters on Monday that the former Raven and Cardinals has shown the speed that he’s been known for since entering the league. Mahomes also said that he’s been “pleasantly surprised” by other facets of Brown’s game and that he thinks it will lead to Brown being showcased in a new way.
“Hollywood, I think you obviously see the speed,” Mahomes said. “You see the speed instantly. But I think what I like so far is how hard he works. He’s been at all the workouts and the route running, and he wants more, he wants to continue to push himself more and more. I think he’ll have a great role in this offense, the way he’s able to run routes, the way he’s able to stretch the field, I think it’ll be even different than you’ve seen him before because I think we could utilize them in different ways that I think he has been utilized in yet.”
The Chiefs wideouts struggled with consistency last season, but the team overcame it for their third Super Bowl win in five seasons. If Brown proves to be a good fit, their bid for a third straight title will look even better.
The Giants have two new coordinators on head coach Brian Daboll’s staff this season and it looked like they might be making three changes early in the offseason.
Offensive coordinator Mike Kafka interviewed for the Seahawks’ head coaching job and Seattle wanted to speak to him a second time about becoming Mike Macdonald’s coordinator after they made that hire. There was some thought Kafka was looking to move on after Daboll took back offensive play-calling duties last season, but the Giants blocked the move and added an assistant head coach title for Kafka.
On Monday, Kafka said he’s “excited to be here” when asked about interest in making a lateral move and that “last year is last year” when it comes to calling plays. He said “we’ve learned from it, we’ve grown from it” and that they’ll be figuring out how things will operate in 2024.
“Yeah, every year is different,” Kafka said, via a transcript from the team. “You got to go through the evaluation process, and this year is no different. It’s day one of phase one, so there is a long time to go. But I’m excited and I’m excited in my role and doing whatever we can do to get better each day.”
The Giants were coming off a playoff berth at this time last year, but they head into next season off a 6-11 record and a big question mark at quarterback with Daniel Jones coming off a torn ACL. The draft could bring a challenger to Jones or help elsewhere on a unit that will need serious improvement for the Giants to boomerang their way back up the standings.
It’s tax day. If you’re getting a refund, here’s an idea for how to spend less than one dollar of it.
The Father of Mine ebook is only 99 cents, for one week.
Ninety-nine cents. What can you buy for ninety-nine cents? (Not much; go ahead and Google the possibilities.)
The book is objectively not crap, even though I wrote it. It’s also a mob story. If you liked Goodfellas or the Sopranos or any other mafia tale, you’ll like this.
Unlike most mob stories, which happen in New York or Chicago or some other big city, this is a small-town thing, but with the same criminality and menace and peril.
It’s inspired by the crew that actually ran the small town where I grew up. And where my dad worked as a bookie for the local mob.
I kept my eyes and ears open and my mouth shut. I learned a lot then. I’ve learned a lot more since then. Several of the crimes are based on things they actually did. Allegedly.
And the sequel is coming. So get yourself ready for the second book by reading the first one.
It’s only 99 cents, for one week. Even in 1973, the setting of Father of Mine, there wasn’t much you could buy for 99 cents.
The Packers formally re-signed a pair of their exclusive rights free agents as they got together for the start of their offseason program on Monday.
Running back Emanuel Wilson and punter Daniel Whelan were unable to negotiate with other clubs once they were tendered by the Packers, so their return was a formality. The NFL’s daily transaction report showed that they have officially rejoined the team.
Wilson ran 14 times for 85 yards and caught four passes for 23 yards in seven regular season games last year. He also ran 12 times for 36 yards and caught one pass for 11 yards in the playoffs.
Whelan posted a net of 39.4 yards per kick in his first season handling punting duties in Green Bay.
The Rams will have a very different look on defense this season.
Defensive tackle Aaron Donald has retired, which leaves the Rams without one of the most imposing players in recent history as they prepare to try for another playoff berth in 2024. There won’t be anyone sliding seamlessly into the role that Donald played in Los Angeles, but linebacker Ernest Jones is one of the players who is looking at the change as an opportunity for himself.
In a press conference on Monday, Jones said he is relishing the chance to take on a bigger leadership role and he thinks others on the team will be in the same position as things unfold over the coming months.
“From the moment I got here, this was a goal of mine, to be the leader of this defense,” Jones said, via Gary Klein of the Los Angeles Times. “With [Donald] being gone, now there’s more eyes on me, which I can sure handle. . . . Without A.D., we get to go out there, and now it’s time for those guys to make a name for themselves.”
Jones became a starter on the way to winning the Super Bowl as a rookie and he’s coming off a strong third season, so there’s also thoughts of a second contract to serve as motivation for him to show that he can keep the Rams defense from slipping too much without Donald in the center of the action.
Bettors and sports books are growing increasingly confident that the Washington Commanders will pick LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels with the second overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft.
Just two weeks ago, some sports books had North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye ahead of Daniels as the favorite to go No. 2 overall. But Daniels has now surged well ahead of Maye as the clear favorite to go No. 2.
At FanDuel, Daniels has -250 odds to go second overall, while Maye’s odds are +185. At DraftKings, Daniels is an even clearer favorite to go No. 2 at -275, with Maye at +215.
The 23-year-old Daniels won the Heisman Trophy and had a spectacular fifth and final season of college football last year, throwing for 40 touchdown passes and only four interceptions, while also running for 1,134 yards and 10 touchdowns. Some people think the 21-year-old Maye has a more NFL-style of game and more room to grow, but those people are in the minority.
After much speculation about whether Washington would take Daniels or Maye at No. 2, the bigger question now may be whether the Patriots will take Maye or J.J. McCarthy at No. 3.
Malcolm LaVergne didn’t mean what he said. Or perhaps he meant it, but he has since realized he shouldn’t have said it.
Either way, the executor of O.J. Simpson’s estate has abandoned the position that he’ll fight to keep Ron Goldman’s family from pursuing a massive civil verdict entered against Simpson for killing Goldman and Nicole Brown.
“I can tell you in advance, Fred Goldman’s claim will be accepted,” LaVergne told Kevin Dolak of the Hollywood Reporter. “And his claim will be handled in accordance with Nevada law.”
Previously, LaVergne said this: “It’s my hope that the Goldmans get zero, nothing. Them specifically. And I will do everything in my capacity as the executor or personal representative to try and ensure that they get nothing.”
LaVergne said his previous remarks were aimed not at Fred Goldman, Ron’s father, but the lawyer representing Ron Goldman’s estate.
“Within an hour of knowing that O.J. died, he started talking shit,” LaVergne said. “My advocate instinct . . . was, ‘Oh, you’re gonna keep shitting on him even after he’s dead? Fine, you know? You get nothing.’ And so, those were my remarks then. But I backtracked, and they were pretty harsh remarks. And now I’m going in the other direction.”
LaVergne now says he plans to be “hypertransparent” with the families of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown. Regardless, LaVergne represented Simpson for years. Fortunately, it won’t be for him to make the final decision as to whether and to what extent Simpson’s estate goes to a $33.5 million judgment that has grown, with interest, to more than $100 million.
The Cardinals, with the fourth overall pick, are expected to have their choice of the top non-quarterback on their draft board. They have serious need for a receiver, and with Marvin Harrison, Malik Nabers and Rome Odunze available, it’s a good year for wideouts.
The Cardinals currently have Michael Wilson, Greg Dortch, Chris Moore and Zach Pascal on their depth chart, none of whom qualifies as a No.1 receiver.
They do have a No. 1 tight end after Trey McBride caught 81 passes for 825 yards last season.
McBride is taking a wait-and-see approach to the draft.
“The [receivers] we have in that room are phenomenal players. There is a ton of talent,” McBride said, via Darren Urban of the team website. “I have no idea what we are going to do in the draft. What we hear in the media isn’t always necessarily true. It’s going to be exciting.
“I trust in [General Manager] Monti [Ossenfort]. I trust in the guys upstairs. That’s their job, to get this team right and to draft the players we need. I trust in their decisions fully. I’m super excited for the talent they are going to bring in.”
The league office laid the foundation for new ownership in Washington. New ownership in Washington has now hired a long-time member of the league office.
I’m not saying it’s not a coincidence. I’m just saying it happened.
The Commanders have hired Dave Gardi. He had most recently been the NFL’s V.P. of football initiatives. In Washington, via ESPN.com, Gardi will “handle a number of in-game management duties and will support the coaching staff and front office on compliance with League protocols, officiating trends and health and safety guidelines.”
Basically, he’ll make sure the Commanders are complying with the rules. And also, frankly, coming up with creative ways to secure an advantage while still complying with the rules.
He knows how the sausage is made at 345 Park Avenue. He can use that knowledge to get an edge for the Commanders. The fact that he’ll be involved with “in-game management duties” means that the Commanders fully expect him to leverage his background to help the Commanders.
The move also invites speculation as to whether, for example, a league that has suddenly begun pinching pennies might have lowballed Gardi, prompting him to look elsewhere. It’s also possible that someone in a position of power decided it was time for Gardi to go. (The league office usually doesn’t fire people; sometimes, it outplaces them to teams.)
That said, Gardi had never been mentioned as a potential successor to Commissioner Roger Goodell. Typically, that’s the development that puts a promising executive on the Big Shield endangered species list.
When the 2023 season ended, Vikings offensive lineman Brian O’Neill said he hoped Kirk Cousins would remain the team’s quarterback in 2024 and beyond.
“Absolutely. Absolutely. One thousand million percent,” O’Neill said in January. “I’d tell anybody that. Ten thousand percent. I’d rather have nobody else than Kirk under center for us.”
Three months later, Cousins is in Atlanta and the Vikings have Sam Darnold and likely a rookie who will battle for the starting job.
O’Neill understands the NFL is a business.
“I have a job and that’s not my job. My job is to block people,” O’Neill said Monday, via video from the team. “It’s pretty much, when that kind stuff happens, it’s the same as any other teammate who signs somewhere else or goes on, moves on. You call them. You wish them well. You hope they play really bad when they play us. So, it’s no different than other teammates I’ve been close with that have left. You give them a call. You check in on them in the offseason and move on. I talked to Alex Mattison a couple of times through texts in the offseason. It’s no different. Life moves on. It’s a business.”