Pretty happy with that return. Will need to pay attention to the rest of the moves this offseason to decide if it’s fair based on the overall market, but having an extra 2nd rounder will be incredibly useful for rebuilding the OL or Defense.
I’m concerned that Rome isn’t quite ready to step into the role of the X but I trust that BJ knows what he’s doing here.
Bob Harlan, who was the Packers’ team president/CEO (a role for the publicly-owned Packers which is roughly analogous to team owner) for 19 years, passed away today, at age 89.
When Harlan took over the role in 1989, the team had been mired in a 20+ year slump, after the end of the Vince Lombardi era. He returned the team to relevance, through his hiring of two general managers - Ron Wolf and Ted Thompson – whose personnel decisions brought Mike Holmgren, Mike McCarthy, Brett Favre, Reggie White, and Aaron Rodgers to Green Bay, and which led to three Super Bowl appearances and two wins. Harlan also oversaw the first major renovation of Lambeau Field in the early 2000s, which made it into a year-round fan destination.
Harlan’s son Kevin is a longtime NFL and NBA play-by-play announcer.
The one potential downside is that it essentially guarantees that WR Alec Pierce becomes a free agent.
That bothered me until I read this ESPN analysis that pointed out that
Pierce’s yards per reception are also so high because he was rarely targeted on short-breaking routes. ESPN charted 49.9% of Pierce’s routes as vertical routes in 2024 and 48.5% in 2025; the league average for high-volume wide receivers is 36%. Pierce rarely ran screens, slants, quick outs – anything that would have dragged his air yards per target or yards per reception down.
So I feel at least marginally better about it.
ETA: I don’t know why the quote looks like that.
More cap moves:
The Browns are – yet again – restructuring Deshaun Watson’s contract, as they work to get under the salary cap. Watson signed a five-year deal in 2022, and the Browns have had to do a restructuring of it every year since then.
The Raiders are going to cut QB Geno Smith, unless they can trade him. In his one season in Vegas, Smith wasn’t able to duplicate the late-career success he’d had in Seattle, and it’s expected that the Raiders will be picking Indiana QB Fernando Mendoza with the first overall pick.
This makes a lot of sense for them.
Can’t feel too bad for such a stupid self-inflicted issue.
But to add insult to injury, the NFL cap increases next season to just over the $300 million mark, but his cap hit for this season is still horrendous even as the average % of teams’ caps that QB contracts represent have decreased over the last few seasons. Their cap woes aren’t the result of one bad gamble but years and years of poor decisions compounded on top of other poor decisions.
I think the Bears made a great move in trading Moore to Buffalo. They lowered their cap considerably and added another 2nd round pick.
More Bears action. Moving quick to find a solution at Center. Whether this is a solution or not is an open question.
I don’t know a whole lot about him, but I see that he didn’t give up a single sack last season (and played in 98% of the Patriots’ offensive snaps), as well as not being called for a single penalty. The Bears got him for a fifth-round pick in '27, which does suggest that the Patriots must not have though he was worth a whole lot, for whatever reason.
Casual commentary on the socials are pretty lukewarm and the Pats didn’t ask for much in return. But the Pats just went to the Super Bowl so their Center couldn’t have been that bad.
Maybe there’s a scheme fit issue with him in New England. Hard to say.
And they lost in large part because of that offensive line being so bad.
(To be fair, it isn’t the center that seemed to be the problem; rather their rookie left guard and tackle couldn’t block, and gave up 6, what should have been at least 7 sacks.)
So ultimately, I agree that I don’t think he was that bad. Or at least, he wasn’t the worst part of the O-line.
In other news, Aaron Rodgers was on the Pat MacAfee Show, and the only thing anyone cared about was whether he would retire, or stay with the Steelers, or seek another team. And he defiantly and profanely urged everyone wanting an answer to stop watching because he wasn’t going to address it. In other words, he was as loathsome as he usually is, ensuring that he still remains the least likable player in the NFL.
He did, however, reveal something huge in the middle of all of his insistence that he wasn’t going to tell anyone anything.
He revealed that the Steelers haven’t offered him a contract or said there was any kind of deadline. Which suggests that they don’t have any plans to bring him back. I don’t think he meant to reveal that much, but he did. Now, it doesn’t mean they are definitely dropping him, but it does seem like he’s not a priority. Maybe he is a backup option if they can’t sign someone better.
On that front, Mike Florio suggested that the Steelers’ efforts to sign another QB might be frustrated by Rodgers.
So, while they don’t sound urgent to resign Rodgers for another year, they also aren’t urgently trying to replace him either. It’s hard to say what the heck is going on in Pittsburgh, maybe even they don’t know.
The Patriots drafted Jared Wilson last year and played him at LG, but he has more college experience at C and the GM said after the draft that he felt C would be his eventual landing spot. So this is accelerating that move and, according to the Boston Globe, clearing $5.7M in cap space.
From this NE fan’s perspective, Bradbury did a good job all season. Maybe not an all-pro job, but a solid one, so I would say he’s a good veteran addition for the Bears.
But the “exciting” QB that article posits the Steelers are missing out on is … Kyler Murray 
Brett Favre: “I was the biggest pain in the ass in the NFL for years, with my annual ‘will he come back or won’t he?’ dance.”
Aaron Rodgers: “Hold my kombucha.”
Look at who they’ve had at QB since Ben. Kyler must look promising by comparison.
And believe it or not, Kyler is getting a lot of interest; not just because he’s athletic, but because he is probably going to be pretty affordable. Main rumor I see is that the Vikings are a likely landing spot.
Ah right, I presume the Cards will owe him a ton of guaranteed money now that they are releasing him, so some team can grab him for cheap money for this year at least. I can see the interest in that scenario. I say: go for it, Steelers! Another entitled QB on the skids is exactly what you need!
I don’t know that you can judge a QB by his performance with the Cardinals. I wouldn’t be surprised if Murray pulls out a Darnold/Jones with his next team.
Since the Colts haven’t locked up Daniel Jones yet, there’s speculation that Murray has interest in Indianapolis.
I’m not convinced, but nothing really surprises me in this league anymore.
I mean, hope springs eternal, but I suspect the only thing Murray is pulling with his next team is a hamstring.
Reports are that Maxx Crosby is going to the Ravens in exchange for their 1st round (14th) pick next month and another 1st pick in a later year. The trade can’t be officially announced until next week.