Andrew Luck abruptly retired four years ago, in late August. He will be eligible, as noted by the NFL Rookie Watch account on Twitter, after the 2023 season for the Pro Football Hall of Fame .
That’s fine. It’s accurate. He’ll be eligible for the Hall of Fame next year. Yes, he will.
But he ain’t getting in.
Luck was among the best quarterbacks in the league when he played. He was a four-time Pro Bowler.
But he only played six seasons, missing all of 2017 due to injury. He made it to the AFC Championship once. And while that justified an AFC Finalist banner at Lucas Oil Stadium, he didn’t do nearly enough to get a bronze bust in Canton.
He had great regular-season numbers during his six years, that’s true. (That said, his cumulative passer rating was only 89.5.) Without a Super Bowl win or two, he won’t overcome the limited duration of his career.
Terrell Davis did it; two championships helped. Gale Sayers did it; having uncannily rare talent helped. Luck chose to walk away on the front end of his prime. That’s his prerogative.
He could have had a career that would have put him among the all-time greats. He chose not to keep playing. Again, it’s his right. But that’s not how a guy without a single Super Bowl appearance in an era with plenty of great quarterbacks gets into the Hall of Fame.
During a recent edition of #PFTPM, the five-week hiatus answer to PFT Live, I mentioned the Jets are gaining momentum in the chase for running back Dalvin Cook. During a more recent interview with Jets reporter Paul Esden, Jr. Cook’s agent, Zac Hiller, was asked to respond to my suggestion that the Jets are indeed picking up steam.
Hiller said nothing to contradict the notion that the Jets are very interested in Cook, or that Cook is very interested in the Jets. Cook has said he wants to win a Super Bowl, and Hiller’s comments make it very clear that Cook believes he could win one with quarterback Aaron Rodgers and the other great players on the roster.
The key remains doing the deal. As with receiver DeAndre Hopkins, none of the interested parties have persuaded the player to accept an offer. Cook, like Hopkins, might be waiting for his market to heat up — possibly with the arrival of another team. Possibly due to a starting running back suffering an injury.
Regardless, three teams in the AFC East bear watching for Cook: the Jets, Dolphins, and Patriots. Whichever one gets him will keep him away from one of the other two. At some point, that could get an all-in owner to direct his football personnel to up the offer and get it done.
The Texans have had a break from organized work since the end of their offseason program, but rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud isn’t staying away from his teammates.
Stroud is still getting together with teammates to build up a comfort level ahead of his first NFL season. One recent session included wide receivers Robert Woods and Tank Dell and tight end Dalton Schultz at the University of Houston, and Stroud said that his goal for the remaining time before camp is to continue building on what the team did over the course of the spring.
“It was good, definitely just building chemistry trying to get timing down and trying to be as best we can so we can get to training camp and dominate,” Stroud said, via Aaron Wilson of KPRC. “That was the goal for that one to keep building and have a good offseason.”
Dell was a third-round pick in April and the Texans also added wideout Xavier Hutchinson in the sixth round. Stroud said that the rookies are spending a lot of time working on strengthening their bond.
“Yeah, we’re together 24-7,” Stroud said. “We’re doing all the hard stuff together, all the good stuff and we’re blessed enough to have a great rookie class. Those guys are at the forefront of that and we’re going to do well.”
The Texans haven’t anointed Stroud as their 2023 starter yet, but they attached their hopes for a brighter future to him with the second overall pick in April and anything he does now to speed up the arrival of that future will be much appreciated in Houston.
Giants safety Xavier McKinney is entering the final year of his rookie deal scheduled to make $1.754 million in base salary and count $2.670 milion against the cap. Dan Duggan of TheAthletic.com reports that “there are no indications the Giants have initiated extension talks.”
The Giants, though, could try to get something done now when McKinney doesn’t have as much leverage as he might later.
McKinney missed eight games in the regular season in 2022 after an ATV accident in Cabo during the team’s off week. He required surgery on his left hand after breaking multiple fingers and played both playoff games with a protective cast on his hand.
Duggan suggested the Giants might be able to sign McKinney to something in the range of the three-year, $36 million extension signed by Cardinals safety Jalen Thompson last year.
McKinney has played only 32 games in the three seasons since they made him a second-round choice, but his 2021 season showed his value to the Giants defense when healthy. He played all 17 games and totaled 93 tackles, five interceptions and 10 passes defensed his second season.
There continues to be optimism about Broncos running back Javonte Williams’ availability for the start of training camp.
Broncos head coach Sean Payton said this spring that Williams has a good chance to avoid going on the physically unable to perform list as he makes his way back from last year’s torn ACL and Williams was able to participate in OTAs on a limited basis to further stoke those good feelings. Williams made an appearance at teammate Pat Surtain II’s football camp on Sunday and said that he believes he is on track for a full return once the Broncos report to camp.
Williams said that he has continued working with the team’s training staff since the offseason program came to an end and that he’ll continue to consult with them about “how I feel, moving, just trying to get my speed back to normal, things like that” before a final decision on clearance. Williams was clear that he thinks he’ll get the green light.
“I mean, that’s the plan. I feel like I’m ready to go ,” Williams said, via Jeff Legwold of ESPN.com.
Williams ran for 903 yards as a rookie and had 204 yards on 47 carries before getting injured in Week Four last season. Samaje Perine signed with the Broncos as a free agent this offseason and will join Williams in the team’s backfield once the 2021 second-round pick gets fully cleared.
Northwestern’s punishment of football coach Pat Fitzgerald was sufficient. Until it possibly wasn’t.
With specific information regarding hazing allegations against the team making their way to the student-run Daily Northwestern, school president Michael Schill is now reconsidering the situation. And not in a manner that would reduce the two-week, slow-time suspension of Fitzgerald.
Per Adam Rittenberg of ESPN.com, the unnamed former player who spoke to the Daily Northwestern told ESPN on Sunday morning that the player “shared his thoughts and experiences Sunday morning in a conversation with Schill.” The school separately confirmed the discussion.
“He was extremely receptive throughout the conversation,” the former player told Rittenberg regarding Schill. “He stated that he has meetings later today with I believe the board and they’re going to revisit this topic and see what the best course of action would be to eradicate this behavior.”
On Saturday, Schill informed the Northwestern community that he would take a fresh look at the case in light of the new reporting.
“In determining an appropriate penalty for the head coach, I focused too much on what the report concluded he didn’t know and not enough on what he should have known,” Schill wrote in his letter.
One key question is whether Fitzgerald signaled to upperclassmen the younger players who needed corrective action via the discipline known as “running.” And, yes, this whole thing is starting to sound a lot like it should involve terms such as tower log and Code Red.
Regardless of what happens, this case potentially demonstrates what happens when an organization attempts to largely brush something under the rug. Annoying realities like the truth coming out will tend to force the area under the rug to be properly sanitized.
Buccaneers cornerback Carlton Davis said that anyone doubting the team’s ability to compete in the wake of Tom Brady’s retirement is due for a rude awakening and outperforming any low expectations will require others stepping up to fill the leadership void that the quarterback left behind.
Left tackle Tristan Wirfs shares Davis’ rosy view of the team’s immediate future and he’s throwing his hat in the ring on the leadership front as well. During an appearance on the Vikes Verified podcast, Wirfs said that he does not feel “even close” to Brady’s level of leadership but is “trying to be somebody that the younger guys can kind of lean” on as they head into the 2023 season.
“I’ve really been doing my best this offseason throughout all these OTAs and throughout this minicamp just to be a little bit more vocal,” Wirfs said. “Because I feel like even through college, I’ve never been an extremely vocal leader. I’ve always been kind of a lead-by-example kind of guy – go almost under the radar. I feel like now it gets to a certain point where now I kinda got to take over.”
The eventual winner of the quarterback competition between Baker Mayfield and Kyle Trask will carry heavy leadership responsibilities, but Wirfs and other remaining members of the team’s Super Bowl champs will play an important role in bridging the gap from those days to what the team hopes will be a bright future.
Fullback Alec Ingold would like to see running back Dalvin Cook join him in the Dolphins backfield, but there doesn’t appear to be anything imminent when it comes to a deal.
Jeff Darlington of ESPN reports, via DolphinsTalk.com, that there is “nothing urgent ” in regard to Cook coming to terms with the Dolphins or any other team right now. Cook is expected to wait until closer to training camp before making an agreement on where to play during the 2023 season.
As previously reported, the Dolphins made Cook a contract offer after he was released by the Vikings. Cook has not been willing to accept that offer, but there’s been no word of offers from other clubs that would push Miami to up that offer or put them out of the running for Cook’s services.
There are several other veteran backs available as free agents right now as well and plenty of discussion about the low value that teams have put on running backs this offseason. Neither of those things suggest that a massive offer lurks around the corner for Cook, but it seems he’ll still be taking his time before accepting anything that’s already come his way.
The Miami Dolphins have a great offense. Their defense could be as good. Maybe better.
Veteran defensive end Emmanuel Ogbah recently declared that there’s basically no limit to what Miami’s defense can be.
“I’ll say we can be as good as we want to be ,” Ogbah told Aaron Wilson of KPRC2, via NFL.com. “I’m excited about this defense. We’ve got [defensive coordinator] Vic [Fangio] coaching us up. I can’t wait. It’s been a long time coming. This year, I feel like this is the year. We can be as good as we want to be. I’m ready to go out there and dominate.”
It will take dominance to emerge as the champion of the AFC East, arguably the best top-to-bottom division in football.
“Our division is tough now,” Ogbah said. “But we’re excited, we love the competition. We’re ready to go. We don’t look at nobody [else]. We compete against ourself.”
One key factor for everyone involved — Ogbah included — is the ability to play.
“It’s all about health,” he said. “This game’s all about being healthy. I’m excited. I’ve been doing the right things with my body, taking care of my body, just making sure I’m ready and fit to last the whole season.”
Injuries limited Ogbah to only nine regular-season appearances in 2022. The prior year, he appeared in all 17 games, matching a career-high 9.0 sacks.
Beyond Ogbah, the Dolphins have Bradley Chubb, Christian Wilkins, and Jaelan Phillips on the defensive line. Jalen Ramsey has joined a secondary that already featured Xavien Howard and Jevon Holland. With Fangio drawing up and calling the plays, they could indeed be a great defense.
Again, given the difficulty of the schedule for all AFC East teams (in addition to playing each other twice, they all play the Chiefs, Chargers, Eagles, Cowboys, and Giants), it could be that only one team makes it to the postseason — even though any of them could be good enough to climb the playoff tree to the Super Bowl.
Last month, receiver DeAndre Hopkins visited the Titans and Patriots. Since then, he has played the waiting game.
Via Mike Reiss of ESPN.com, Hopkins is waiting for another team to enter the mix . If that happens, his value could increase.
Obviously, this implies that neither the Titans nor the Patriots have made him an offer he can’t/won’t refuse. Per Reiss, both teams have indeed made offers — and the Titans have been “more aggressive to this point.”
It’s unclear whether another team will emerge before camp opens. Hopkins could choose to wait until a veteran currently on a team gets injured or displays ineffectiveness, creating on-the-fly interest in his services. If, as many believe, Hopkins isn’t a fan of practice, waiting until the season approaches to sign could be enticing to him.
Still, at some point, he needs to get ready to make an impact right away, especially since his eventual contract will include incentives based on playing time and/or production.
Reiss also notes that, if it ultimately comes down to the Patriots or the Titans, Hopkins could ask himself which one gives him a better chance to reach his incentives and max out his earnings. His experience with Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien could be a plus in that regard.