Broncos receiver Courtland Sutton is not participating in the team’s voluntary offseason program.
Sutton has two years left on the four-year, $60 million extension he signed in November 2021, and he wants a new extension. He has only $2 million of guaranteed money left off the $27.6 million total remaining money.
The Broncos, though, aren’t sweating Sutton’s absence from the offseason program.
“It’s 100 percent voluntary,” Broncos General Manager George Paton said Thursday, via Gabriel Parker of the Denver Post. “It’s the first week of the offseason program. Sean [Payton] has talked to Courtland. I’ve talked to Courtland. He’s in a good place and we’ll just leave it at that.”
It is unclear whether the sides are negotiating.
The Broncos’ No. 1 receiver led the team with 59 catches for 772 yards and 10 touchdowns last season.
He has been working out daily in Florida and rehabbing from offseason ankle surgery.
Paton said the team has had “great” turnout for the offseason program, with 98 percent participation.
The Broncos begin organized team activities on May 21.
Cardinals General Manager Monti Ossenfort said last month that calls were starting to pick up from teams that might be interested in trading for the fourth overall pick and one imagines the phones have continued to ring pretty steadily over the last few weeks.
With a number of quarterbacks expected to draw interest at the top of the draft and the Cardinals set with Kyler Murray, Arizona has long been seen as a potential trading option for teams that may be looking for a signal caller like the Giants, Vikings, Broncos, and Raiders. Some of that interest may be predicated on what the Bears, Commanders, and Patriots wind up doing with the top three picks and Ossenfort said at a Thursday press conference that he will “have popcorn ready” to watch how that unfolds.
Ossenfort also said that he’s prepared to listen to offers for the pick right down to the wire.
“The way I look at it is . . . I love my house. I love where I live,” Ossenfort said, via the team’s website. “My wife loves where we live. If all of a sudden I’m at my door and someone is going to offer me something, I’m going to look and see what they are offering me. If I open that up and it’s something I’m not expecting? ‘Hey Shannon, pack up, it’s time to roll.’ That happens beforehand, it happens on the clock, but I think different teams have different motivations and we’ll see how that plays out.”
The Cardinals traded down from No. 3 to No. 12 last year and netted a 2024 first-round pick from Houston in the process. They then moved back up from No. 12 to No. 6 to draft tackle Paris Johnson while holding onto that extra first, so trading down might just be the start of the moves the well-stocked Cardinals make next week.
The NFL confirmed Thursday that Walt Anderson is leaving his post as senior vice president of officiating.
Anderson, though, isn’t departing from the NFL.
He will remain with the league as an NFL Rules Analyst & Club Communications Liaison.
“I will focus on communicating with the clubs during the week and with our broadcast partners on gamedays,” Anderson, 71, said in a statement. “While I will no longer be making officiating decisions, together with a variety of stakeholders I will continue to look for new and better ways to promote excellence in officiating performance. I welcome this challenge and look forward to the opportunity to support the men and women who do such a tremendous job officiating our game at every level.”
Anderson’s departure as the head of officiating allowed the league to hire his son, Derek Anderson, as an on-field official, something the league’s human resources department disallowed last year. The NFL announced the additions of Derek Anderson and four other officials on Thursday.
Walt Anderson spent 24 seasons as an NFL official, including 17 as a referee, before moving upstairs at the end of the 2019 season. He was hired to be the league’s senior vice president of officiating development under Al Riveron and Perry Fewell.
Riveron retired after the 2020 season, leading to Anderson’s promotion.
During his three seasons on the job, Anderson rarely appeared publicly much to explain calls or non-calls. He did make a surprising appearance on Monday Night Football last season to explain a non-call of roughing the passer in a game between the Raiders and the Lions.
Officiating analysts hired by the networks instead provided most of the explaining or second-guessing of rules decisions during Anderson’s term.
It will be interesting to see whether Anderson will be more visible in his new role.
A day after a report that Walt Anderson was stepping down as the NFL’s senior vice president of officiating comes news that the NFL has hired five new officials, including Anderson’s son.
The league has hired Derek Anderson, Jeff Hutcheon, Brian Perry and Robert Richeson as line of scrimmage officials and Karina Tovar was added as a downfield official.
The NFL tried to hire Derek Anderson, a Big 12 referee, as an on-field official last year, but Football Zebras reports that the league’s human resources office disallowed the hire because he would be reporting to his father.
Walt Anderson’s departure cleared the way for Derek Anderson to move up in the ranks for 2024.
“Our entire family is very proud of Derek’s outstanding career as a college football official,” Walt Anderson said in a statement issued by the league. “We are excited to see him have the opportunity to contribute as an official at the NFL level.”
Walt Anderson announced that he will transition to a new role as an NFL Rules Analyst & Club Communications Liaison.
“I will focus on communicating with the clubs during the week and with our broadcast partners on gamedays,” Walt Anderson said. “While I will no longer be making officiating decisions, together with a variety of stakeholders I will continue to look for new and better ways to promote excellence in officiating performance. I welcome this challenge and look forward to the opportunity to support the men and women who do such a tremendous job officiating our game at every level.”
The Texans announced the signing of Kilian Zierer to the international/exempt list.
The offensive lineman is a native of Munich, Germany.
He did not begin playing football until the age of 16, but with a wingspan of 83 5/8 to go with his 6-foot-7, 304-pound frame, Zierer earned a college scholarship.
He played at College of the Canyons and was the No.1 JUCO prospect at his position, according to Rivals, when he signed with Auburn. Zierer started every game at left tackle for the Tigers in 2022.
He signed with the Texans as an undrafted free agent in 2023 but went on injured reserve late in training camp with an ankle injury.
Walt Anderson is out as the head of NFL officiating. Who will be in?
Per a source with knowledge of the situation, interviews for the job will commence next week.
It’s the NFL’s most important in-season position during football season. Anderson was ultimately responsible for conducting replay reviews for all games.
He also was the only in-house voice to explain calls made and not made. The league didn’t use him in that role very often, however. (Once upon a time, the league made the V.P. of officiating available on a weekly basis to discuss the big calls of the weekend that was.)
Once last year, Anderson appeared suddenly and randomly on Monday Night Football to explain a fairly inconsequential non-call of roughing the passer in a game between the Raiders and the Lions.
To the extent the league is dealing with perception issues arising from legalized gambling and the game’s connection to it, it’s critical to have someone who can make great decisions in real time — and who can and will explain tough calls persuasively and transparently.
As we’ve said before, the NFL should bring back Dean Blandino. While they’re at it, the NFL should incorporate the UFL’s open-book approach to officiating discussions.
That’s the way to ensure public confidence in the integrity of the game. Especially in an environment that has prompted many to suspect that there’s a strategic reason for the secrecy.
Earlier this week, quarterback Trevor Lawrence told reporters that there have been some conversations between his representation and the Jaguars about a potential contract extension.
On Thursday, General Manager Trent Baalke noted that the talks are ongoing between the two sides.
“You try not to force anything,” Baalke said, via Demetrius Harvey of the Florida Times-Union. “We’ve had some great talks and great conversations. I spoke with his agency again last night. We’re working, but you can’t force this stuff.”
Lawrence, the No. 1 pick of the 2021 draft, became eligible for an extension this offseason after completing his third year in the league.
“We’re working at it. We’ll continue to work at it. Ownership’s involved, obviously, coaches involved,” Baalke said. “We’re gonna put our best foot forward and hope to get something accomplished here.”
Jacksonville is near certain to pick up Lawrence’s fifth-year option on the QB’s rookie contract before the May 2 deadline. In 16 games last season, Lawrence completed 66 percent of his throws for 4,016 yards with 21 touchdowns and 14 interceptions.
The seven-day window will stay open for four more days.
Father of Mine, my mob novel set in 1973, can be purchased in ebook form for a measly 99 cents until Monday morning.
Ninety-nine cents. For a 400-page book that many are saying doesn’t suck.
You’ll like it. If you don’t, what have you lost? Ninety-nine cents.
Think of it this way. You keep reading the stuff posted here for free — and you’re definitely getting your money’s worth. So roll the dice with less than a dollar. You might be happy with what you get.
And you might become very interested in the sequel. Which is coming later this year. I think.
The Broncos are set to pick 12th in the first round of next week’s draft and much of the discussion about their plans has centered on the quarterback position.
A run on quarterbacks is expected at the very top of the round, which could leave the Broncos with a need to trade up for one or draft a player earlier than they might appear on many boards in order to ensure that they add one to the roster. The first question at a press conference with head coach Sean Payton and General Manager George Paton on Thursday focused on whether they feel it is necessary to emerge from the draft with a quarterback.
Payton agreed that the makeup of the roster leaves the position as a clear need, but both men stressed the need to answer the question correctly rather than just providing an answer.
“You’d say it sure looks like we have to draft a quarterback and yet it’s got to be the right fit, the right one,” Payton said. “If we had tip sheets as to what everybody else is picking it would be easier to answer that question. And so, that’s the puzzle here.”
“What you don’t want to do is force it,” Paton said. “Otherwise we’ll be in this position next year and the years after. You wanna to get the right player at 12. Our first pick, we’ve got to hit on. Whether it’s a quarterback, whether it’s a tackle or receiver, you name it. We need to get an impact player.”
Payton said in March that he thinks it is “realistic” for the Broncos to trade up for a quarterback and it would likely be costly for the team to move high in the order, but Paton said “you do what you have to” in order to get a player you think can change the landscape.
On Wednesday, the Commanders hosted four top quarterback prospects on the same day. Whatever the reason (the best explanation we’ve come up with is that the owner was available for one day to meet with them), the presumptive second overall pick — LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels — might not have been happy about that.
His agent, Ron Butler, reposted the PFT Live clip regarding the quarterback square dance with the guy-thinking-about-something emoji.
So what is the agent thinking? And what is Daniels thinking?
Coincidentally, or not, Butler made it known on Thursday morning that the Vikings were conducting a private workout with Daniels in Baton Rouge, one day after the visit to Washington.
The situation is prompting speculation in league circles that Daniels might not want to play for the Commanders. If that’s the case, would the Commanders still take him at No. 2?
Even before this morning, some were thinking that Commanders ultimately won’t take Daniels.
The team’s options would be to trade out of the spot or just take someone else. As the Commanders consider their options, and as they compare and contrast the four who visited on Wednesday, what if the powers-that-be detected anything from Daniels other than an unequivocal desire to be the team’s next quarterback?
It’s difficult for a player to make a public power play. It’s safer to be discreet. To seem not interested. To decline a request for a private workout.
Have the Commanders conducted a private workout with Daniels? There has been no report of one. Why would his agent disclose the workout with the Vikings and not with the Commanders, if there was one?
This is all food for thought. While it might trigger some Commanders fans, it’s a byproduct of the decision to bring four top quarterbacks in for a visit on the same day.
And, please, this is not the same as Bill Belichick bringing in a bunch of offensive linemen at the same time. This is one of the most important decisions the Washington franchise has made in decades. They clearly will emerge from round one with a quarterback. Will it be Daniels at No. 2? Someone else at No. 2? Or someone else at a lower spot?
We’ll all find out in a week. Before then, we’ll be trying to figure out the direction in which the quarterback draft winds are blowing.