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| Thursday, August 29, 2024 |
| Welcome to the Thursday edition of the Pick Six newsletter! |
| We're going to start things off today with some absolutely unbelievable news: The NFL regular season will be kicking off exactly ONE WEEK from tonight. That's right, this is your last Thursday night without NFL football until January. Please plan accordingly. |
| As if that news isn't big enough, there's some even bigger news today: The Patriots finally named a starting quarterback! Honestly, I didn't think it was going to happen. I thought they had forgotten to give someone the job and they were just going to into the season without a starting quarterback. |
| We'll be covering the Patriots' QB decision in today's newsletter, plus we'll be taking a look at the Steelers decision to start Russell Wilson. |
| As always, here's your daily reminder to tell all your friends to sign up for the newsletter or you can tell people you run into at the bank. That also works. To get them signed up, all you have to do is click here. Let's get to the rundown. |
| 1. Patriots finally name a starting quarterback |
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| With just 10 days to go until their season opener, the New England Patriots finally have a starting quarterback. Coach Jerod Mayo announced on Thursday that Jacoby Brissett will be the starter for the Patriots' Week 1 game in Cincinnati. |
| Here's what you need to know: |
| Mayo actually thought Maye outplayed Brissett during the preseason. Earlier this week, the Patriots coach admitted that the rookie QB had 'outplayed' Brissett during the preseason, so this decision essentially came down to the fact that Mayo didn't want to throw his rookie "to the wolves," which are the exact words he used during an interview on Monday. Mayo isn't going to be second-guessing himself. Mayo made it clear that although Maye outplayed Brissett, letting the veteran start is the move that made sense for the Patriots. "As an organization, we're 100% behind Jacoby," Mayo said on Thursday. "We feel like Jacoby gives us the best chance to win right now." The Patriots open the season with games against the Bengals, Seahawks, Jets and 49ers, so letting Brissett start through that gauntlet isn't the worst idea. No timetable on when Drake Maye might play. Maye will certainly play at some point, but Mayo didn't offer any hints about when that might be. "I don't want to get into hypotheticals," Mayo said of when Maye might start. "We can't go into the season saying 'Well, he's going to go 'X' amount of weeks.' Look, as long as Jacoby is going out there performing the way that we all have confidence in him doing, he'll be our quarterback this season." |
| Did the Patriots make the right decision by starting Brissett over Maye? Our NFL reporter in Boston, Tyler Sullivan, has his answer here. If you click over, you'll see why he agrees with starting Brissett. |
| You can also check out our full story on the Patriots' QB decision here. |
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| 2. Steelers turn to Russell Wilson: QB could break two unfortunate records this year |
| The Steelers also named their Week 1 starting quarterback and to the surprise of no one, the job is going to Russell Wilson. The 35-year-old was put in the "pole position" to win the job over Justin Fields at the start of training camp, which is one reason why this wasn't surprising. |
| Here's what you need to know: |
| Mike Tomlin said this was a difficult decision. After Wilson injured his calf at the starting training camp, that opened the door for Fields to get more first-team reps and he did enough to make this a tough decision on Tomlin. "It was a difficult decision, but not difficult in a negative way, to be quite honest with you. It was difficult in a positive way," Tomlin said, via ESPN . "The decision was difficult because of what they're capable of doing. Decision was difficult because of how they have conducted themselves as opposed to the things that they fall short in in terms of capabilities or negative conduct."Steelers are hoping Wilson can turn things around. After starting his career with nine straight winning seasons, Wilson has followed that up by finishing with a losing record in each of his past three seasons, including two with the Broncos, who Wilson will be facing in Week 2. Since the start of the 2021 season, Wilson has gone 17-27. Steelers will be missing a key lineman to start the season. The Steelers offensive line won't be at full strength in Week 1. Starting left guard Isaac Seumalo suffered a pec injury at practice on Monday that's expected to keep him out for at least a month. If that recovery timeline holds, the means Seumalo will miss at least three games (Falcons, Broncos, Chargers). |
| Now that Wilson has won the job, he could end up breaking two unfortunate records this year: |
| Wilson could become the most sacked QB in NFL history. Wilson is going into his 13th season and through his first 12 years, he's been sacked an average of 43.9 times per season. If Wilson hits that average in 2024, that would put him at 570.9 sacks, which top the record of 565, which is held by Tom Brady. Wilson could become the first QB to lose to 31 different teams. Wilson has lost to 29 different teams in his career, but that number could reach 31 during the upcoming season. No QB in NFL history has ever lost to 31 different teams (Ten quarterbacks have lost to 30 different teams, but no one has ever hit 31). Wilson has never lost to the Browns or Eagles, and Pittsburgh will be facing both of those teams this year. |
| You can read more about these unfortunate records here. |
| 3. Bengals and 49ers still dealing with wide receiver drama |
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| With the start of the regular season less than two weeks away, the Bengals and 49ers are in similar situations: They both have a star receiver who wants a new contract. |
| Here's what you need to know: |
| Aiyuk has been medically cleared. The receiver had been dealing with "back" soreness during training camp, which is why he was allowed to not practice. It's not clear if he actually had a back issue, but the excuse was good enough to keep him out of practice. That being said, Aiyuk was medically cleared on Tuesday after the 49ers cut their roster down to 53, so the team expected him to be at practice Wednesday which brings us to our next topic. Aiyuk not at Wednesday practice. General manager John Lynch apparently was expecting Aiyuk to show up, but the receiver didn't practice. "At some point, you've got to play," Lynch said. The 49ers clearly seem to be getting perturbed with this whole situation. Since Aiyuk has been cleared, the team can now fine him for missing practices, so it will be interesting to see if they go that route. |
| Aiyuk is currently set to play the 2024 season on his fifth-year option, which will pay him $14.124 million. If the 49ers wanted to be petty, they could simply tell him to play out his contract or don't play. |
| In Cincinnati, the Bengals seem to be on slightly better terms with Chase than the 49ers are with Aiyuk. Chase was AT practice, but he just didn't participate. |
| Chase actually practiced this week. After skipping every practice of training camp, Chase finally participated in a practice earlier this week. With Chase back in the fold, things were looking so good that coach Zac Taylor proclaimed on Monday that the receiver would definitely be playing in Week 1 against the Patriots. Chase sits out practice on Wednesday. Although things started out well for the Bengals this week, things took a twist on Wednesday when Chase decided NOT to practice. After the session, Taylor didn't seem so sure whether Chase would be playing in the opener. "I probably put my foot in my mouth speaking too quickly," Taylor said of his comments from Monday. Chase wants to top Jefferson's deal. According to NFL.com, Chase wants to be the highest-paid receiver in the NFL. The Bengals receiver apparently wants a contract that will pay him 'one cent' more than Justin Jefferson, which means the Bengals would have to give him a four-year extension worth $140,000,000.01. |
| Chase's situation is slightly different than Aiyuk's because the Bengals star still has two years left on his deal compared to just one for Aiyuk. Chase is set to make just $1.055 million in base salary this year followed by a fifth-year option in 2025 that would pay him $21.82 million. If the Bengals matched Jefferson's deal, they'd have Chase under contract for the next six years for $162.88 million or $27.15 million per year, which actually doesn't seem so bad. |
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| 4. NFL throws wrench in Tom Brady's plan to be a broadcaster and a team owner |
| The NFL sent a clear message to Tom Brady this week and that message is: We don't want you to be a broadcaster AND a team owner. |
| The league has put some restrictions in place that will make it difficult for Brady to do his broadcasting job if he gets approved to be a minority owner of the Raiders. |
| Brady, who's starting his broadcasting career at Fox this season, would lose the following privileges if he becomes a team owner (via ESPN.com): |
| He wouldn't be allowed in another team's facility.He wouldn't be allowed to witness practice.He wouldn't be allowed to attend broadcast production meetings.Brady also wouldn't be allowed to openly criticize officials, which is a policy that all owners must follow. Basically, the NFL has created a set of rules that will force Brady to decide. |
| If he's not allowed to do any of these things, that will make his job as a broadcaster much more difficult. Basically, the NFL has created a set of rules that will force Brady to decide whether he'd rather be a broadcaster or an owner, because he almost certainly won't be able to do both now. |
| Brady has been trying to purchase a small portion of the Raiders for over a year, but the deal still hasn't been approved by the other owners. Brady needs at least 24 NFL owners to give their approval before he can join the ownership ranks. With the new rules in place, Brady might just decide to drop his bid for the Raiders so that he can fully focus on his job with Fox Sports, which pays him an estimated $37.5 million per year. |
| And just to be clear, the new rule doesn't prohibit Brady from being an owner and a broadcaster, it will just make it tough to do his job. |
| It's an interesting situation, and you can read more about it here. |
| 5. Ranking the NFC coaches under the most pressure |
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| Earlier this week, we ranked the five AFC coaches who are under the most pressure this year, and if you're wondering whether we're going to do the same thing for the NFC, the answer is yes (And here's our AFC ranking if you missed that). |
| Let's take a look at Jeff Kerr's list of the three NFC coaches facing the most pressure: |
| 1. Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy. "The playoff record is futile, as the Cowboys are just 1-3 in the postseason under McCarthy. Somehow McCarthy kept his job after the Cowboys became the first No. 2 seed to lose to a No. 7 seed in the expanded playoff era, getting blown out by the Green Bay Packers at home. ... This year, McCarthy will be judged in January. Losing the first playoff game -- or making the divisional round -- won't cut it this time." |
| 2. Eagles coach Nick Sirianni. "The Eagles can't afford a slow start to 2024, or the city will be questioning Sirianni's future. Getting to the playoffs won't be good enough either, as Sirianni has to win at least a playoff game to feel safe about coaching the Eagles in 2025. There's immense pressure for Sirainni to win -- and to win big." |
| 3. Saints coach Dennis Allen. "Allen is a great coordinator, but his head-coaching career isn't one to brag about. He has never made the postseason and has just one winning record in his five years. ... This may be Allen's last chance in New Orleans. If the Saints don't reach the playoffs, he's likely not getting a fourth season." |
| Kerr ranked a total of five coaches, and if you want to see his full list, you can do that here. |
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| 6. Extra points: Browns likely stuck with Deshaun Watson for at least two more seasons after 2024 |
| It's been a busy week 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. |
| Browns restructure Deshaun Watson's contract. Watson is going to be paid $46 million in 2024, but instead of getting that as a base salary, the Browns restructured his deal on Thursday to free up some salary cap space. Watson had $44.79 million of his salary converted into a signing bonus, which created $35.83 million in cap space for the Browns. Financially, this move makes sense, but now, the Browns are essentially stuck with Watson for three more seasons (2024-26). According to Spotrac , Watson now has a dead cap hit of $172 million in 2025 and $99 million in 2026. If Watson struggles in 2024, the Browns are now stuck in a place where it will be incredibly difficult to move on, even if they wanted to. Thanks to his fully guaranteed contract, it would have been tough to move on before this restructuring, but now, it becomes almost impossible (But we won't say completely impossible, because the Broncos decided to take an $85 million dead cap hit with Russell Wilson). The move also means that Watson will have a cap hit of roughly $72 million in both 2025 and 2026. Browns release former Pro Bowl quarterback. The Browns also made another QB move on Thursday with the release of Tyler Huntley. The Browns had four quarterbacks on their roster after cut day, but that number is now down to three. Huntley famously made the Pro Bowl with the Ravens in 2023. Dalvin Cook signs with Cowboys. Earlier this week, the former Pro Bowl running back visited with the Cowboys, and things went so well that the team has now signed him. The 29-year-old will be joining a crowded backfield that includes Ezekiel Elliott, Rico Dowdle and Deuce Vaughn. You can read more about Cook's signing here. Dak Prescott unlikely to get extension before season starts. Jerry Jones said on Wednesday that negotiations with Prescott "remain as they've been," which makes it seem like Dak will be going into the season without a new deal. Prescott is headed into the final year of his contract, so if the two sides don't get a deal done soon, that makes it more and more likely that Prescott will be hitting free agency in March. Chargers make trade for new backup QB. After watching Justin Herbert battle a foot injury in training camp, the Chargers decided to beef up their backup QB spot on Wednesday be making a trade for Atlanta's Taylor Heinicke. The Falcons will get a conditional draft pick as part of the deal. You can read more about the trade here. |
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