Why wouldn’t the Jets rather have Jackson?
Like a lot of things, it depends on how much it’ll cost and what you get from it.
I’m sure if Jackson was only asking for $25 million a year for 3 years, he’d have a lot of takers (and Baltimore would pounce since they get the right to match). Maybe not the Jets, though. There are legitimate questions about whether or not he’d be the right fit for their offense to go deep into the playoffs.
It’s a virtual lock he’s asking to be paid at the upper end of the NFL QB scale and for a longer term contract. That and he has no agent - he’s negotiating for himself. That’s usually not a great idea for NFL players, even the smart ones. I can’t imagine many teams want to pay him $40 million a year even for 2 or 3 years.
Is Rodgers coming cheap?
No, Rodgers almost certainly is not coming cheap, but he’s closer to a known quantity. His potential issues are personality, not ability, which is unquestionably top tier.
There are still questions about Jackson’s ceiling. If there weren’t, Baltimore wouldn’t even be letting him test free agency and he’d have his contract already. As it is, there doesn’t seem to be a lot of interest, presumably in part due to whatever he’s asking for is out of line with his ability. Any big money contract would be a gamble that he achieves some heretofore unrealized potential.
The Panthers have signed Andy Dalton to a 2 year deal.
Jackson just turned 26. Money aside, it seems to me his future is better than Rodgers’. The Jets can pay. I could never be a GM…
Clearly, Dalton is insurance for whoever they are getting at the #1 pick. He can be a mentor and either the initial starter or backup for the new guy. That’s not a bad move to me.
There’s a very common saying. You see plenty of good, young running QBs. You never, ever see a good, old running QB. Despite his age, Rodgers might last longer than Jackson.
Considering the track record of most of them, you might actually be decent at it. It’s not exactly a high bar.
I see Rodgers having one, maybe two years.
Lamar Jackson might be the same, we’ll see I guess. He has missed the last 1/4 of the season for the past 2 years due to injuries. Cam Newton’s last real productive year was when he was 28. That hybrid QB/RB role takes a toll on players.
I’m bored and don’t want to work. Let’s see what the list looks like.
Depth charts from here: Fantasy Football Depth Charts (2023) | FantasyPros
Caveats: I’ve excluded TEs and this list only includes players currently under contract. Depth charts are certain to change a lot in the coming days.
| Rank | Team | WR1 | WR2 | WR3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CIN | Ja’Marr Chase | Tee Higgins | Tyler Boyd |
| 2 | PHI | A.J. Brown | DeVonta Smith | Quez Watkins |
| 3 | MIA | Tyreek Hill | Jaylen Waddle | Cedrick Wilson Jr. |
| 4 | BUF | Stefon Diggs | Gabe Davis | Isaiah McKenzie |
| 5 | LAC | Mike Williams | Keenan Allen | Joshua Palmer |
| 6 | TB | Mike Evans | Chris Godwin | Russell Gage |
| 7 | SF | Deebo Samuel | Brandon Aiyuk | Jauan Jennings |
| 8 | ARI | DeAndre Hopkins | Marquise Brown | Rondale Moore |
| 9 | LAR | Cooper Kupp | Allen Robinson II | Van Jefferson |
| 10 | MIN | Justin Jefferson | K.J. Osborn | Jalen Reagor |
| 11 | SEA | DK Metcalf | Tyler Lockett | Dee Eskridge |
| 12 | DAL | CeeDee Lamb | Michael Gallup | Jalen Tolbert |
| 13 | CHI | DJ Moore | Darnell Mooney | Chase Claypool |
| 14 | DET | Amon-Ra St. Brown | Jameson Williams | Josh Reynolds |
| 15 | NYJ | Garrett Wilson | Elijah Moore | Corey Davis |
| 16 | LV | Davante Adams | Jakobi Meyers | Hunter Renfrow |
| 17 | DEN | Jerry Jeudy | Courtland Sutton | Tim Patrick |
| 18 | JAC | Calvin Ridley | Christian Kirk | Zay Jones |
| 19 | WAS | Terry McLaurin | Jahan Dotson | Curtis Samuel |
| 20 | NO | Chris Olave | Michael Thomas | Rashid Shaheed |
| 21 | PIT | George Pickens | Diontae Johnson | Calvin Austin III |
| 22 | CLE | Amari Cooper | Donovan Peoples-Jones | David Bell |
| 23 | IND | Michael Pittman Jr. | Alec Pierce | Mike Strachan |
| 24 | CAR | Terrace Marshall Jr. | Laviska Shenault Jr. | Shi Smith |
| 25 | GB | Christian Watson | Romeo Doubs | Samori Toure |
| 26 | HOU | Brandin Cooks | John Metchie III | Nico Collins |
| 27 | KC | Kadarius Toney | Skyy Moore | Marquez Valdes-Scantling |
| 28 | TEN | Treylon Burks | Nick Westbrook-Ikhine | Kyle Philips |
| 29 | NE | DeVante Parker | Tyquan Thornton | Kendrick Bourne |
| 30 | NYG | Wan’Dale Robinson | Isaiah Hodgins | Sterling Shepard |
| 31 | BAL | Rashod Bateman | Devin Duvernay | Tylan Wallace |
| 32 | ATL | Drake London |
This is just my opinion. It’s unscientific and I didn’t slave over it, but the Bears went from probably a bottom 5 WR group to a top-half group.
You never know with McDaniels, but this feels like a bit of a red flag. Waller has well documented off field issues and seemed to have gotten is life together, but if the Raiders were willing to part ways with him for a pretty minimal return you have to wonder if things have gone off the rails a bit with him. Certainly, playing in Vegas and then New York aren’t great for a guy with substance abuse history.
I know it’s early, but right this moment I would not be stunned if someone told me the Bears were going to win the NFC North this year.
I feel like the Vikings are going to take a step back, the Packers aren’t going to be as formidable without Rodgers, and the Lions are the Lions.
We should be clear about this one. Lamar is holding out for a FULLY guaranteed contract. He’s standing on principle. He wants a contract somewhere north of Watson and Wilson and he wants it all guaranteed like Watson’s. He also probably wants a longer deal than 5 years, which would ensure him the largest guarantee ever.
The rest of the league is absolutely colluding against him. Teams were apoplectic when the Browns handed Watson that deal, not because he’s a serial sexual assulter, but because they guaranteed the deal. Owners are insisting that this remains an outlier and no one is going to be the team that steps out of line and caves to his demands. If he dropped his demand for a fully guaranteed deal you can be certain that 3 or 4 teams would absolutely line up to pay him $40-50M/year and giving the Ravens two 1sts would be considered cheap.
Our OL and DL remain atrocious. We shall see what happens in the draft and the rest of FA, but right now we still look like the 3rd or 4th best team depending on what shakes out with the Packers.
Just to note that Rodgers still has two years left on the contract extension he signed with the Packers a year ago, and he’s scheduled to make $59 million in 2023 if he plays.
He may well be willing to renegotiate that contract if he goes to the Jets, but even if he does, there is no way that it’ll go so low that he could be considered to be “coming cheap.”
(Under his current contract, the Packers are facing a big chunk of “dead money” against their salary cap – about $40 million – if Rodgers is traded or retired, and as a result, they will likely have some cap issues this year.)
even though it’s not the NFL all you need to do is look at the la lakers for the past 2 or 3 seasons for the results of letting your star player pick who he wants to play with … that should be an example for all team sports
I love the NFL offseason and the pie eyed optimism it brings.
I think the Lions rise to the top this year. The Vikings won’t win 13 games again but they could still be playoff-caliber. I see the Bears making a big leap but realistically I’m expecting no more than 9 wins. The Packers may not be awful but could finish last in this tough division.
Is it collusion if 32 teams all do the same common sense thing? (Yes, the deal Cleveland gave Watson was nuts, but that doesn’t mean one of the other 31 teams has to do something just as crazy.) No sane GM is going to guarantee >$250 million (and trade two first round picks) for a QB who’s finished the last two seasons on the bench with injuries – and not flukey injuries, either, but exactly the kinds of injuries running QBs get all the time.
Operating without an agent and standing on principle are keeping Jackson from making a sensible deal that will give him financial security for life.