Welcome to the Presidents’ Day edition of the Pick Six newsletter!
When it comes to the NFL offseason, this week is usually the calm before the storm, so please enjoy it, because after this week, things likely won’t be calm again for the next three months.
As for today, since it’s Presidents’ Day, which as we all know is the best day for trivia, I have some NFL-related Presidents’ Day trivia. I asked this same question last year and I’m going to ask it again this year because Presidents’ Day is the only day where it makes sense to ask it: Can you name the five colleges that have produced both a president of the United States and a Super Bowl-winning quarterback? (Answer at the bottom of the newsletter).
All right, 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. Ranking every Super Bowl champion since 2000: 2024 Eagles come out on top
The Philadelphia Eagles were officially the 25th Super Bowl champion to be crowned this century, and since we love to rank things around here, we decided to rank all 25 champions that have won a Lombardi Trophy since 2000.
Bryan DeArdo was in charge of this ranking and, surprisingly, he had the 2024 Eagles AT THE TOP of his list. Let’s check out the top five Super Bowl champions over the past 25 seasons:
1. 2024 Eagles. “It’s hard to match the 2024 Eagles resume. Their 18 wins are tied for the most in NFL history and most by any Super Bowl champion this century. The Eagles capped off their historic season with a decisive win over a team that was on the precipice of history. No other Super Bowl-winning team this century had a top-10 quarterback, two top-20 receivers, a 2,000-yard rusher, a big, powerful offensive line and a second-ranked scoring defense that wreaked havoc on quarterbacks without having to blitz. That’s why they’re No. 1.”
2. 2019 Chiefs. “Kansas City’s first championship team of the century was its best one. Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and Tyreek Hill were at the top of their respective games. The Chiefs defense was seventh in the NFL in points allowed, fifth in interceptions recorded and eighth in sacks.”
3. 2016 Patriots. “This team went 3-1 with Tom Brady serving a suspension to start the season. When Brady came back, the Patriots were nearly unstoppable, going 14-1 that included the biggest comeback in Super Bowl history. The Patriots trailed 28-3 before staging a frantic rally that included massive plays on both sides of the ball.”
4. 2013 Seahawks. “Similar to the Eagles’ recent Super Bowl win, not many expected the Seahawks to blow the doors off the Broncos and their record-setting offense. But that’s what happened, as Seattle’s “Legion of Boom” defense actually outscored Peyton Manning and the rest of Denver’s offense that night.”
5. 2020 Buccaneers. “Tom Brady’s first season in Tampa was looking like a bust after the team’s 7-5 start. But after their Week 13 bye, Brady and Co. ripped off eight straight wins that included three postseason wins against future Hall of Fame quarterbacks. … This was an exceptionally talented team that should garner consideration as an all-time great squad, especially in the salary cap/free agency era.”
You can check out DeArdo’s full list here.
2. Mock Draft Monday: Two quarterbacks go in the top three
From now until the start of the NFL Draft, the first day of every week here will be known as Mock Draft Monday. What this means is that we’ll be going through the latest mock draft from one of our NFL Draft gurus (Ryan Wilson, Josh Edwards, Chris Trapasso and Mike Renner).
With that in mind, here are the top-15 picks from Josh’s latest mock:
1. Titans: QB Cam Ward (Miami)
2. Browns: EDGE Abdul Carter (Penn State)
3. Giants: QB Shedeur Sanders (Colorado)
4. Patriots: CB/WR Travis Hunter (Colorado)
5. Jaguars: DL Mason Graham (Michigan)
6. Raiders: WR Tetairoa McMillan (Arizona)
7. Jets: CB Will Johnson (Michigan)
8. Panthers: EDGE Jalon Walker (UGA)
9. Saints: DL Shemar Steward (Texas A&M)
10. Bears: OT Will Campbell (LSU)
11. 49ers: OT Armand Membou (Missouri)
12. Cowboys: RB Ashton Jeanty (Boise State)
13. Dolphins: S Malaki Starks (UGA)
14. Colts: TE Tyler Warren (Penn State)
15. Falcons: EDGE Mykel Williams (UGA)
If you want to see how the full first round breaks down in Josh’s latest mock draft, then be sure to check out the entire thing by clicking here.
For more draft coverage, you can hear in-depth analysis twice a week on “With the First Pick” — our year-round NFL Draft podcast with NFL Draft analyst Ryan Wilson. You can find “With the First Pick” wherever you get your podcasts: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube.
3. 2025 MVP odds: Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen on top
It might seem too early to talk about who’s going to win the MVP in the 2025 season, but as far as I’m concerned, it’s never too early to talk about about anything when it comes to the NFL, so we’re going to check out the favorites for the 2025 MVP award today.
In news that won’t surprise anyone, the two players who finished in the top two of the voting in 2024 are at the top of the list.
T-1. Lamar Jackson (+550)
T-1. Josh Allen (+550)
T-3. Patrick Mahomes (+750)
T-3. Joe Burrow (+750)
5. Jayden Daniels (+1000)
Tyler Sullivan came up with two early picks that he’s thinking about betting on, so let’s check those out:
- Best pick: Daniels. “With the Commanders owning the third-most amount of cap space and plenty of draft capital to further build around him, he should have a better roster at his disposal in 2025. On top of new additions to the roster, it shouldn’t be overlooked that Daniels will continue to have offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury in his ear after forgoing head-coaching opportunities this cycle. That should only help as Daniels steps into Year 2.”
- Best value pick: C.J. Stroud (+2500). “It was a down year for C.J. Stroud in his second season in the league, but let’s not forget how prolific he was back in 2023. The Texans quarterback has shown us that he’s capable of putting up big numbers while also leading his team to the playoffs in the process. Houston did deal with a number of key blows on offense, with Stefon Diggs and Tank Dell both going down with season-ending injuries, along with Nico Collins also missing time. If the Texans can get back to full health and spend the offseason bolstering its offensive line, there’s no reason to doubt a bounce-back campaign for Stroud.”
You can check out our full story on the 2025 MVP odds here.
4. Jonathan Martin sheds new light on Dolphins’ bullying scandal
It’s been more than a decade since the NFL investigated the Miami Dolphins over allegations that Jonathan Martin was bullied by several of his teammates, including Richie Incognito and Mike Pouncey. The Dolphins ended up firing multiple people over the incident after the league released its finding about the situation on Feb. 14, 2014.
For most of 11 years, Martin has kept pretty quiet on the situation, but that changed recently with Martin offering a few new comments during a recent interview with ESPN.
- Martin isn’t so sure he was bullied. “I never believed for a second I was being bullied,” Martin told ESPN. “It’s a story that I’ve been trying to fix for 10 years.”
- Martin blames a lot of the issues on the fact that he was only 24. Martin did face constant ribbing from Incognito and since he had never really been in that situation he didn’t know how to react. “I was young, and I didn’t know how to handle it,” Martin said.
- Martin regrets how things went down. The reports of bullying started because Martin left the team in the leadup to a Thursday night game. From there, things took on a life of their own with multiple outlets reporting that he was being bullied. Martin now wishes he would have had a conversation with owner Stephen Ross and then-coach Joe Philbin to talk through the issues. “I should have sat down with the owner and head coach of the Dolphins and figured it out.”
- Incognito feels vindicated. The former Dolphins offensive lineman was suspended for the role he allegedly played in the bullying. Incognito, who had not tweeted in three years, returned to social media on Sunday to share his thoughts on the situation. “He couldn’t cut it in the NFL so he quit and his mom blamed me,” Incognito wrote on X. Incognito doesn’t come off completely innocent in the new version of events. Martin’s dad actually saved a voice mail from Incognito that included some alleged bullying with Incognito using the n-word against Martin.
You can read more about the Martin situation here.
5. Justin Tucker facing more accusations
It has now been just over three weeks since Justin Tucker was accused of sexually inappropriate misconduct for his actions at several spas around Baltimore. When the accusations first came out, there were only six accusers, but now, that number is up to 16.
- Seven more accusers have come forward. According to the Baltimore Banner, the new allegations stem from incidents that took place at some of the fanciest spas in Baltimore, including The Spa at Four Seasons Hotel and the Baltimore Spa & Salon at the Ritz-Carlton Residences.
- All 16 allegations are very similar. Tucker has been accused of exposing himself while also attempting to inappropriately touch some of the massage therapists. All 16 allegations took place between Tucker’s rookie year in 2012 and 2017.
- Tucker denies all wrongdoing. The Ravens kicker initially released a statement calling all of the accusations categorically false and he’s sticking by that. “Mr. Tucker has never behaved inappropriately during any massage therapy session, and certainly never in the manner described [by the Banner], and any suggestion to the contrary is a fictitious and utterly baseless claim.”
- NFL is taking the claims seriously. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell was asked about the situation during his Super Bowl press conference on Feb. 3. “They are obviously serious issues and he is taking that seriously as are we,” Goodell said.
With Tucker now facing 16 different accusers, the Ravens could face some serious backlash if they decide to keep their kicker, who has been with the team since 2012, so it will be interesting to see how they handle this. If the Ravens cut Tucker, they could designate him as a post-June 1 release, and in that situation, they would take a $2.87 million cap hit in 2025 and a $4.65 million charge in 2026.
You can read more about Tucker’s latest transgressions here.
6. Extra points: Saints eyeing former NFL coach for defensive coordinator job
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.
- Saints could hire Brandon Staley. Former Chargers coach Brandon Staley interviewed for the Saints defensive coordinator job on Sunday, according to NFL.com. New Saints coach Kellen Moore was the Chargers offensive coordinator in 2023 when Staley was still the head coach there, so the two do have some history together.
- Jaguars’ open GM job won’t be open much longer. The Jaguars have named five finalists for their open general manager job: 49ers director of scouting and football operations Josh Williams, Rams director of scouting strategy James Gladstone, Bears assistant general manager Ian Cunningham and Packers vice president of player personnel Jon-Eric Sullivan. The Jaguars GM job has been open since Jan. 22 when the team fired Trent Baalke.
- Dolphins release multiple veteran players. The Miami Dolphins started the process of clearing some cap space over the weekend and they did that by releasing multiple veterans, including Raheem Mostert, cornerback Kendall Fuller and tight end Durham Smythe. The most surprising name on the list is probably Mostert, who led the NFL in rushing touchdowns in 2023 with 18. He also led the team in rushing that season with 1,012 yards.
- Chiefs set a soft deadline for Travis Kelce. After losing the Super Bowl, Travis Kelce is taking some time to figure out what he wants to do next. According to one report, the Chiefs want his decision by March 14, which means he has just under a month to decide whether he wants to retire or keep playing football. You can read more about his timeline here.
TRIVIA ANSWER (You probably already forgot there was a trivia question)
Miami (Ohio): Ben Roethlisberger — Benjamin Harrison
Stanford: John Elway/Jim Plunkett — Herbert Hoover
Michigan: Tom Brady — Gerald Ford
Navy: Roger Staubach — Jimmy Carter
Delaware: Joe Flacco — Joe Biden
On a somewhat related note, only one school on this list — and one school ever — has produced a president, a Super Bowl-winning quarterback AND a Super Bowl-winning coach, and that school is Miami (Ohio). Besides Big Ben and President Ben, Miami also produced Jets coach Weeb Ewbank (Super Bowl III), Ravens coach John Harbaugh (Super Bowl XLVII) and Rams coach Sean McVay (Super Bowl LVI). As a graduate of Miami (Ohio), I’m required to sneak this fact in whenever I can.
On that note, Happy Presidents’ Day to all who celebrate!
Go to Source
Author: John Breech
February 17, 2025 | 2:15 pm
