Welcome to the Thursday edition of the Pick Six newsletter!
I’m going to start off today with some news that’s so crazy, you might not even believe it: There is going to be actual football played in just ONE WEEK. The Texans and Bears will be taking the field next Thursday in the Hall of Fame Game. And I’d like everyone to know that everyone reading the newsletter today is in my Hall of Fame.
One person who hasn’t taken the field recently is Jordan Love, and that’s because he’s sitting out of all training camp practices until he gets a new contract. According to multiple reports, the new deal is almost done, so don’t be surprised if you hear about a new contract at some point over the weekend, if not in the next 24 hours.
All right, we’ve got a lot to cover today, so let’s get to the rundown.
As always, here’s your daily reminder to tell all your friends to sign up for the newsletter and if you don’t have any friends, then just tell some random person that you run into today. To get them signed up, all you have to do is click here.
1. CBS Sports NFL announcer pairings revealed
The only thing more exciting than the start of training camp is when we reveal our NFL announcer pairings here at CBS Sports, and that’s exactly what we did this week.
For the eighth straight year, Jim Nantz, Tony Romo and Tracy Wolfson will be teaming up to form the top NFL team at CBS. The trio will open the season by working the Raiders-Chargers game in Week 1. The following week, they’ll head to Kansas City and be on hand for the Chiefs’ showdown against the Bengals. In Week 3, Nantz, Romo and Wolfson will see Jim Harbaugh for the second time when the Chargers face the Steelers.
I won’t go through every pairing/game here, but I am going to go over a few changes that you’re going to see:
- JJ Watt and Matt Ryan will be coming to you every Sunday on CBS. “The NFL Today” will be getting a major makeover with Watt and Ryan being the main additions. Ryan was in the broadcasting booth last year, but he’ll now move to the studio where he’ll join host James Brown along with analysts Bill Cowher, Nate Burleson and Watt.
- Jason McCourty will be entering the broadcast booth on a full-time basis. McCourty will mostly be working with an announcing team that will include Andrew Catalon, Tiki Barber and reporter AJ Ross. However, in Week 1, McCourty will be in Jacksonville along with Chris Lewis and Amanda Guerra to start the season with Browns at Jaguars.
If you want to know more, you can check out our full announcer lineup here. That list also includes who will be on the call for every CBS game through the first three weeks of the season.
2. 49ers dealing with another contract problem
The 49ers have been dealing with a lot of contract drama this offseason, mostly thanks to the situation with Brandon Aiyuk. Now, things have gotten even worse for the team with All-Pro left tackle Trent Williams making the decision to hold out of training camp.
Here’s what you need to know about the situation:
- Kyle Shanahan is confident that things will get worked out. The 49ers coach doesn’t think Williams will be holding out for long. “It was something I knew could be a possibility,” Shanahan said of the holdout on Wednesday. “I feel pretty confident it’ll all work out in the long run. And he’ll be here and we’ll get on the same page with everything. But it’s just one day of practice. And I think Trent will be all right missing a few practices.”
- Why this could be an issue for the 49ers. Williams is holding out because he wants a new contract, but the 49ers are likely hesitant to give him one because he still has THREE years left on his current deal. Most teams would prefer not to negotiate with a player who has multiple years left on his deal, but the 49ers almost have no choice here. For one, they gave Christian McCaffrey a new contract earlier this offseason even though he still had two years left on his old deal. The team set a precedent with that deal and Williams will likely expect the same treatment.
- The 49ers’ other problem. The other issue for the 49ers is that Williams is likely going to want a hefty raise. With his current deal, Williams is making an average of $23.01 million per year, which is well below the highest-paid tackle in the league (That honor belongs to Christian Darrisaw, who just signed an extension with the Vikings worth $28.25 million per year). Williams is one of the best tackles in the NFL and he likely wants to be paid as such.
The 49ers can’t afford to let Williams miss all of training camp and they can’t afford for him not to be on the field, so this seems like a situation where they’re going to have to cave, even if that just means giving him a small raise.
They better hope the salary cap doubles next year, because they’re going to need the money. Not only will Williams likely be getting a raise, but Brock Purdy will be eligible for an extension following the 2024 season.
3. Biggest training camp battles involving rookies (non-QB edition)
When it comes to training camp battles involving rookies, most of the headlines revolve around the quarterbacks, but they aren’t the only first-year players battling for a starting spot this year. With that in mind, Josh Edwards decided to spotlight several rookies who will be fighting for a spot in the starting lineup during training camp.
- Bengals: Rookie Amarius Mims vs. Trent Brown at right tackle. “Mims, a first-round pick out of Georgia, had shown flashes of dominance in his time with the Bulldogs, but injuries limited his availability. Can he find that consistency in the NFL and will it happen Year 1?”
- Chiefs: Rookie Kingsley Suamataia vs. Wanya Morris at left tackle. “As a fan of both of these players during the pre-draft process, it would not be a surprise if either won the job but the Chiefs have to explore their options at the position.”
- Cowboys: Rookie Cooper Beebe vs. Brock Hoffman at center. “The ex-Wildcat steps into a competition with former undrafted free agent Brock Hoffman.”
If you want to see the full list of rookie battles, you can check that out here.
4. Three players who need to have a strong training camp
In yesterday’s newsletter, we took a look at Chris Trapasso’s list of players who need to have a strong training camp, and for today, we’re going to flip things around by taking a look at Josh Edwards’ list of players who need to have a strong training camp.
The fact that we made two lists tells you that there are clearly a lot of players who need to have a big camp this year. Here are three players who Edwards put on his list:
- Texans WR Stefon Diggs. “When Houston acquired Diggs from Buffalo earlier this offseason, the Texans wiped out the final three years of his existing contract. He is slated to become a free agent in 2025 following his first season with the Texans. The wide receiver will be playing in a new offensive system with a new quarterback in this pivotal financial year.”
- Saints EDGE Chase Young. “Young has shown flashes of brilliant play, but has struggled to find consistency. … Opposite Cam Jordan, Young should see his fair share of one-on-one chances and, if he is able to capitalize, could cash in big time in free agency next year.”
- Patriots OT Chukwuma Okorafor. “Okorafor is positioned to start at left tackle for the Patriots, which inherently carries a lot of pressure. … Among offensive linemen with at least 250 pass-protection snaps last season, Okorafor, who played right tackle for the Steelers, had the fourth-highest beaten rate, according to TruMedia.”
Edwards listed a total of 10 players, and you can check out his full list here.
5. Jaguars unveil a white helmet for 2024
For the first time in franchise history, the Jaguars will be wearing a helmet that’s NOT predominantly black.
The team unveiled a new alternate helmet on Thursday and here’s what you need to know:
- The Jags are going white. The Jaguars decided to go with a completely different look by unveiling a white helmet that you can see here. I usually find white helmets pretty boring, but I actually like this look for the Jaguars. The official color of the helmet is “Shell White” and the Jags chose that because they wanted to honor three big things related to Jacksonville: the beach, The military and football.
- The helmets will only be worn once this year. The white helmet will only be worn a single time in 2024 and that will come during a Week 10 home game against the Vikings that will be played on Nov. 10. The Jaguars will wear their black jerseys and white pants with the helmet.
- Why the white helmet is rare for the Jags. The fact that the Jags introduced a white helmet was a total surprise because they’ve never done anything like it before. The only time in their 29-year franchise history that they didn’t wear a completely black helmet came between 2013 and 2017 when they wore a two-tone helmet that was black and gold (You can see that helmet here).
The unveiling of the new helmet comes just one week after the Jaguars also unveiled a new throwback uniform that they’ll be wearing multiple times in 2024.
6. Extra points: Aaron Rodgers actually got fined by the Jets
It’s been a busy 24 hours 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.
- Rodgers was fined for skipping minicamp. The Jets QB decided to skip minicamp so he could take a trip to Egypt and that vacation just suddenly got a little more costly. Rodgers confirmed this week that he was fined more than $50,000 for his decision to skip mandatory minicamp in June.
- Kirk Cousins fully cleared for training camp. Nine months after tearing his Achilles, Cousins has officially been fully cleared for football, Falcons coach Raheem Morris revealed on Thursday. Although Cousins is allowed to practice with no limitations, Morris did say that his QB will likely be given modified reps at first as the Falcons ease him back into practice.
- Haason Reddick is officially a holdout. The Jets are playing hardball with Reddick. The veteran pass-rusher didn’t show up for training camp because he wants a new contract and the Jets responded by placing him on the reserve/did not report list on Thursday. Reddick will now be fined $50,000 for every day that he misses camp. The Jets traded for Reddick in March, and if things don’t get figured out soon, it could go down as one of the worst trades of the offseason.
- Rams’ projected starting corner suffers season-ending injury. Derion Kendrick, who started 12 games for the Rams last season at corner, could end up missing the entire season. According to ESPN, the Rams fear that Kendrick suffered a torn ACL in practice on Wednesday, but he’ll have to undergo further testing before the injury is confirmed. Kendrick was projected to start in one of the corner spots for the Rams, so if it is a torn ACL, it’s a brutal loss.
- Pro Bowl safety lands three-year extension from Seahawks. Julian Love signed with the Seahawks last season and he ended up making the Pro Bowl during his first year in Seattle. Now, the team has rewarded their starting safety by giving him a three-year, $36 million extension. You can check out the full details of the deal here.
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Author: John Breech
July 25, 2024 | 1:10 pm
