Welcome to the Monday edition of the Pick Six newsletter!
I’m not saying you should skip work and sit in front of your TV all week, but you might want to because we’re actually getting some real football. Starting Tuesday, mandatory minicamp will be kicking off for a total of nine different teams, which is notable because minicamp is the only set of practices during the entire offseason that every player on the roster is required to attend. (You can see the full minicamp schedule here.)
I would watch every minicamp practice, but I’m not sure that’s possible. The NFL needs to think about making a “Sunday Ticket” package, but just for minicamp practices. Make it happen and TAKE MY MONEY, NFL. Alright, let’s get to the rundown.
As always, here’s your daily reminder to tell all your friends to sign up for the newsletter. To get them signed up, all you have to do is click here.
1. Bills have a big weekend
The first weekend in June is usually a pretty quiet one around the NFL, but not this year — and that’s all thanks to the Buffalo Bills. Over the past 48 hours, no team in the league has been busier than the Bills, who handed out a huge extension while also signing an underrated free agent. Oh, and they also broke ground on their new stadium.
Here’s what you need to know:
- Ed Oliver gets huge extension. After four seasons in Buffalo, the Bills rewarded their former first-round pick by giving him a big extension Saturday. The four-year, $68 million deal, which includes $45 million in guaranteed money, will make Oliver one of the 10 highest-paid interior defensive linemen in the NFL. Oliver, who was the ninth overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft, recorded 34 combined tackles, 14 QB hits, nine tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks last season in just 13 games.
- Bills sign Leonard Floyd. If the Bills defense had one flaw last year, it was rushing the passer. Von Miller was supposed to help fix that, but he was lost for the season after just 11 games. To help with the pass-rushing problem, the Bills have signed Floyd to a one-year deal. Floyd has registered at least nine sacks in each of the past three seasons, which is something that should thrill the Bills, considering they’ve had ZERO players hit the nine-sack mark over the past three seasons. The Bills will be the third team Floyd has played for in his career following the Bears (2016-19) and Rams (2020-22).
- Bills break ground on their new stadium. Two months after finalizing the agreement, construction has finally started on the Bills’ new $1.5 billion stadium. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell was at the event Monday morning along with Bills owner Terry Pegula, general manager Brandon Beane and head coach Sean McDermott (you can see video here). The new facility, which is expected to have roughly 60,000 seats, will be an open air building and is scheduled to open in time for the 2026 season. You can see a hype video for the stadium here. (And yes, even stadiums are now getting their own hype videos.)
The Bills are one of two teams scheduled to have a new stadium open over the next five years. After Buffalo’s stadium is set to open in 2026, the Titans are expected to follow suit with their stadium currently scheduled to be open in time for the 2027 season.
2. Tom Brady says he wouldn’t choose football for his son, but not for the reason you might be thinking
Tom Brady has been retired for more than four months now, but even though he’s out of football, he’s managed to do a great job of staying in the spotlight. Over the past few days, Brady did multiple interviews. And in each of those interviews, he seemed to reveal something interesting.
Here are some of the most fascinating nuggets Brady has talked about.
- Brady wouldn’t choose a football path for his son. Brady has a 15-year-old son who’s already playing football, which is something Brady doesn’t seem thrilled with. The reason Brady doesn’t necessarily want his son to play football has nothing to do with violence and everything to do with the all the pressure and expectations his son will face just from being Tom Brady’s son, “I wouldn’t choose for him to do that because there’s too many crazy expectations that people would put on him. Most of them probably very unfair actually,” Brady said. That being said, Brady did make it clear that he’d support his son if he wants to continue playing.
- Brady finally answers Super Bowl question about Belichick. For the past two years, one of the greatest mysteries in the NFL has revolved around whether Bill Belichick congratulated Tom Brady following the quarterback’s victory in Super Bowl LV. As it turns out, it seems the answer is yes. During a recent interview with ESPN, Brady said his former Patriots coach “was one of the first people to text me after we won the Super Bowl in Tampa.”
- Brady on good terms with Belichick. When Brady left New England, it definitely seemed like there was some tension between the two guys, but if that was the case then, it doesn’t seem to be the case anymore. Brady said the two men “have a lot of mutual respect” and that they’re still on good terms. “I still envision our relationship as positive and always will.”
Over the past five days, we’ve learned a lot about Brady. Besides these nuggets, we also learned that he doesn’t plan on returning to football, he does plan on going through with his plan to purchase part of the Raiders, and he does plan on starting his broadcasting career with Fox in 2024.
3. Lower-round NFC rookies who could shine in 2023
If there’s one thing that happens in the NFL every year, it’s that we see a rookie have a huge year after slipping through the cracks in the NFL Draft. Although first-round picks generally get all the hype, the ability to find successful players after Day 1 is what separates the good teams from the great teams.
With that in mind, CBS Sports draft guru Chris Trapasso went through each NFC team’s roster to find one rookie — who was taken after the first round — who could have some major success this year. Here’s a look at a few of the rookies who made the cut on Trapasso’s list.
- Eagles CB Kelee Ringo (fourth round, 105th overall pick). “Ringo is a nearly 6-foot-2, 207-pound corner with 4.36 speed. Given how good Philadelphia is at generating pressure, he’s going to chip in with some big plays on the football in 2023.”
- Giants C John Michael Schmitz (second round, 57th overall pick). “If the Giants picked Schmitz in the first round, the complaints would’ve been minimal. He was the best pure center in the class thanks to his combination of first-step quickness, power, and balance. … Schmitz is essentially as ready to go as they come at the position”
- Lions TE Sam LaPorta (second round, 34th overall pick). “He has strong hands, runs good enough routes and was essentially the heart-and-soul of the Iowa offense in 2022. Without him, the Hawkeyes maybe would’ve never gotten a first down. In the Ben Johnson-coordinated offense, LaPorta will thrive. He was the piece Jared Goff and Co. needed over the middle and down the seam.”
If you want to see the full list of every rookie who made Trapasso’s list, then be sure to click here.
4. Russell Wilson was almost traded to the Eagles
If you’re an Eagles fan and have any extra free time today, you might want to think about sending a “Thank You” note to Russell Wilson, because if it wasn’t for him, Jalen Hurts wouldn’t have been Philadelphia’s starting QB last season.
How is that possible? Let’s find out.
- Eagles almost traded for Russell Wilson. Apparently, the Eagles came tantalizingly close to trading for Wilson last year. The only reason the trade didn’t happen is because Wilson vetoed it. Wilson had a no-trade clause in his contract and was able to nix any deal that involved a team he didn’t want to play for, and he didn’t want to play for the Eagles.
- Wilson’s personal coach confirmed this news. According to Wilson’s personal QB coach, Jake Heaps, the Eagles tried to make the trade during the 2022 NFL Scouting Combine. “He turned down the Washington [Commanders] offer and he turned down an offer from Philly during the combine,” Heaps said.
- Another confirmation of the report. The speculation was so real that Ian Rapoport of NFL Media was “convinced” that the trade was going to happen. “There were times last year when I was pretty convinced at the combine that either the Eagles or Commanders were going to trade for Russell Wilson,” Rapoport said in April.
- Why this is in the news right now. Although the trade attempt came more than a year ago, the subject is popping back up now because it was a topic of discussion on the “Brock and Salk Show” in Seattle last week. During an episode of the show, Sports Illustrated’s Greg Bishop mentioned that the Eagles had been very interested in acquiring Wilson. “The Eagles really wanted him,” Bishop said. “I think they liked his style of play.”
What this all means is that Wilson was the true MVP of Philadelphia’s 2022 season, saving the Eagles from themselves. If Wilson doesn’t veto the trade, he would have ended up in Philly, and I’m guessing Hurts likely would have been included in the deal to Seattle, although we don’t know that for sure. Either way, based on how Wilson played last season, I’m guessing the Eagles wouldn’t have made the Super Bowl with him as their QB.
You can read more about the trade report here.
5. One burning question for every team in the AFC West
Over the past two weeks, we’ve been going around the NFL to look at the biggest question that each team needs to answer before the start of the 2023 season. We’ve been going through each team by division, and today, we’ll be looking at the AFC West.
Here’s one burning question that Bryan DeArdo came up with for each team.
- Broncos: Can Sean Payton revive Russell Wilson’s career? “What will Payton do for Wilson? First off, Payton will build an offense that tailors to Wilson’s strengths while staying away from his weaknesses. It will include a considerable involvement from the running game, which is one of the reasons the Broncos went out and signed former Bengal Samaje Perine to team up with Javonte Williams. … Everything seems to be going well in Denver. But the thing we don’t know — and won’t know until the season starts — is whether or not Wilson still has IT anymore. Payton and the Broncos are doing a solid job setting Wilson up for success. It’s up to Wilson to make the most of his new situation.”
- Raiders: Will Jimmy Garoppolo be ready for Week 1? “The Raiders have the offensive talent to support Jimmy Garoppolo, but given his current and previous injury history, it would make a lot of sense for Las Vegas to bring in an experienced backup, especially since the NFL added an emergency quarterback on game days. Carson Wentz, Teddy Bridgewater and Nick Foles are several options if the Raiders want to go that route.”
- Chargers: Can they finally take the next step? “The short answer is yes, but there are some reasons for concern. Justin Herbert is being limited at OTAs as he is still working his way back from January’s labrum surgery. Herbert is expected to be ready to go for training camp, but he won’t get the chance before camp to fully sharpen his rapport with his wideouts, especially rookies Quentin Johnston and Derius Davis.”
- Chiefs: Can they repeat as champions? “The iPhone was still three years away from existence the last time a team repeated as Super Bowl champion. If the Chiefs can end the drought by becoming the first team to repeat since the 2003-04 Patriots, it would be the exclamation point on what would be a slam-dunk dynasty”
To read DeArdo’s full answer for each question, be sure to click here.
6. Extra points: Chiefs visiting White House today
It was a busy weekend in the NFL, and since it’s nearly impossible to keep track of everything that happened, I went ahead and put together a roundup for you.
- Chiefs headed to Washington D.C. The Chiefs have won three Super Bowls in team history, but they’ve never made a trip to the White House before, and their first one will be coming today. By making the trip, the Chiefs will be just the second team over the past six seasons to make their way to the White House. Since the 2017 season, the only other team to do it was the Buccaneers, who visited after winning Super Bowl LV over the Chiefs in February 2021. The Eagles (Super Bowl LII), Patriots (Super Bowl LIII), Chiefs (Super Bowl LIV) and Rams (Super Bowl LVI) all were unable to visit the White House for one reason or another.
- Norma Hunt passes away at 85. When the Chiefs get to the White House, they will be there with heavy hearts after the passing of Hunt, who was the wife of team founder Lamar Hunt. The 85-year-old Hunt was in Phoenix for the Chiefs’ Super Bowl win over the Eagles, which was the 57th Super Bowl that she’s attended, making Hunt the only female ever to attend every Super Bowl. You can read more about Hunt’s life here.
- Jets have drama at left tackle. Mekhi Becton has made it very clear that he wants to be the team’s left tackle this year, which is news to Duane Brown, who also wants to play left tackle, and he doesn’t sound very open to switching to right tackle, “It’s not something I’ve practiced over the years,” Brown said recently, via ESPN. “Not to say I can’t do it, but I’ve been solidified [at left tackle] for a while.” Making the situation more complicated is the fact that Brown is still rehabbing from rotator-cuff surgery and hasn’t been cleared to play. If the Jets don’t get their left tackle situation figured out, that could be a problem for Aaron Rodgers.
- Commanders sale inching closer to being finalized. Josh Harris‘ bid to buy the Commanders could take another huge step forward this week. According to The Washington Post, Harris is scheduled to meet with the NFL on Wednesday, and if the league comes out of that meeting happy, then Harris’ $6.05 billion bid could be “ratified by the owners in the coming weeks.” If you’re a Commanders fan, this means that it’s looking more and more likely that Dan Snyder will be gone once and for all by the end of July at the latest.
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Author: John Breech
June 5, 2023 | 1:29 pm
