NFL news: Around the league in 32 plays
By Ben Almquist
Oakland Raiders: The Raiders may end up being homeless in 2016. Despite a few possible host cities coming forward, the league appears no closer on making a deal with any of them. This has spurred the team to begin work on a one-year lease renewal at O.Co Stadium. However, a potential deal is now being discussed with Las Vegas as a new host city.
- Author’s Take: Honestly, Las Vegas might be the perfect city for the Raiders. It’s a city that can sell an attraction, and the Raiders are an easy team to market.
Philadelphia Eagles: The Eagles have re-signed Zach Ertz to a deal putting him in the top 5 highest paid Tight Ends. Ertz made it clear in a presser after the fact that he could have pushed for the top paid spot, but decided it was better to take a little less and just have it done with. The deal is 5 years at $42.5 million.
- Chiefs’ Take: I expect the deal for Ertz will be the bare minimum that it will take to re-sign Travis Kelce after this year, and even then that would likely require extenuating circumstances during the next season that Chiefs fans won’t like.
San Diego Chargers: The Chargers are still working out details on how they will get on board with the Rams in LA. The deal is expected to get done, but there is now an outside chance that the team could play one final season in San Diego.
San Francisco 49ers: The 49ers search for a Defensive Coordinator is finally over after the team hired former Browns DC Jim O’Neil. The results of this search have to be disappointing as the 49ers were turned down by a couple of prospective hires before getting to O’Neil.
Seattle Seahawks: Seahawks tackle Russell Okung is going it alone in Free Agency this offseason, refusing to hire an agent. And to kick it off, he has reached out to all 32 organizations regarding his pending status. This actually complicates things for him. Okung has informed each team he wants to talk as soon as possible…however, that is not allowed to happen until the start of Free Agency on March 15. In fact, if this were an agent doing this on behalf of Okung, he would face discipline, and possibly lose his credentials, with the NFL and NFLPA.
Tennessee Titans: The Titans are making it very clear that the #1 pick in the 2016 NFL Draft is open to the highest bidder. After turning down all offers for the #2 pick in 2015, the Titans ended up with their franchise quarterback, which means they can now sell off the top pick to any team looking to get their own QB.
- Chiefs’ Take: To put an end to this before it starts…0% chance the Chiefs trade up for this pick.
Well, that will do it for me Addicts. Be sure to check back in next week for another roundup of NFL news and rumors.