INDIANAPOLIS — The NFL offseason has shifted into overdrive.
This week, in the smoke-filled cigar lounges, hotel bars, and premium steakhouses scattered throughout downtown Indianapolis, the groundwork of the 2023 NFL season is taking foot. Free agency deals might not be being scratched out on the backs of cocktail napkins, but make no mistake that values are being assessed and interest gauged.
A significant portion of the league’s general managers and head coaches address the media that has assembled to scour the land for nuggets of information, pulling back the curtain on their respective teams’ biggest storylines for the coming here.
Here’s a sampling of the biggest takeaways from the early days of the 2023 NFL Combine, from both the various press conferences and information gleaned away from them.
Jets Lead for Derek Carr … But Will They Close?
“We have a meeting planned [with Carr in Indianapolis] this week, and we’ll see how that goes. We’ll be ready to pull the trigger when we have to.”- New York Jets GM Joe Douglas
Douglas was effusive in his praise of Carr, calling the former quarterback a “high-level producer … Ultra-intelligent, on the tape you see the talent, the release, the velocity, the way he gets the ball out, decision-making and accuracy.” Likewise, by meeting with the Jets twice in as many weeks seems to telegraph that the interest is strong and mutual between team and prospective quarterback.
Carr is clearly coming into town to both drum up interest as well as take steps toward making a decision on where he’ll play in 2023 and beyond.
“I think he’d be a great fit in New York and would do great things in any offense,” an NFL offensive coach told Heavy.
It would seem the Jets have one eye toward Aaron Rodgers, with another laser-trained on Carr. Whether these sides come to terms on a deal, especially if it happens this week, will be the biggest story to emerge from this Combine.
Chiefs: Expect More Skyy Moore & Kadarius Toney, Too
“I think Skyy Moore and Kadarius Toney will have expanded roles, especially now that they’ll have more familiarity with the offense. We’ll sort that out when we get on the field in OTAs.” – Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid
Kansas City traded away Tyreek Hill last offseason to the Miami Dolphins, but didn’t rebuild Patrick Mahomes’ supporting cast, they reloaded the receiving corps by drafting Moore (22-year-old second-round pick), and trading for Toney (24-year-old, former first-round pick of the Giants). Both already made an impact in their first seasons in Kansas City.
Toney entering his third season, on the heels of an outcome-solidifying punt return in the Super Bowl, and Moore getting the chance to build on his rookie season where the numbers — just 250 receiving yards — didn’t match his athletic profile and expectations coming out of the draft, would really elevate the Chiefs’ offense. Especially given that each will both have a year of scheme familiarity and familiarity with Mahomes to build on.
Joe Schoen, Giants Have to Thread the Saquon Barkley, Daniel Jones Needle
“I would say cautiously optimistic. You have to go through hard times before you come out the other end, we’re trying to work through it. They know how we feel about both of them.” – New York Giants GM Joe Schoen on Daniel Jones, Saquon Barkley’s free agencies
Schoen, after the Giants declined Jones’ fifth-year option in April 2022, is in the unenviable position of facing the prospect of signing both franchise quarterback Daniel Jones and star running back Saquon Barkley in the same offseason, with approximately $43.1 million in cap space.
For perspective, the franchise tag for quarterbacks is slated to cost $32.4 million and $10 million for the running back tag. There goes your cap space.
Without outright saying it, Schoen made it clear that Jones is the priority. As he should be, playing arguably the most important position in sports. But, the second-year general manager also admitted that he is not happy with the team’s depth along either line of scrimmage, calling it “not great,” while underscoring to those reading between the lines just how far he believes his team is away from winning a championship.
The Giants are significantly closer to competing if Jones continues to significantly improve, and Barkley remains productive … at the right cost.
Schoen may need to thread the needle to convince Jones to sign a deal that benefits both sides, Barkley to perhaps accept less than the running back believes he’s worth, while still preserving assets to keep building around New York’s centerpieces over the next several seasons.
Quote of the (Combine) Week
“Our feelings haven’t changed about Aaron. But, we need to have some of those conversations about our team, and where it’s going, where he’s at, before we go forward.” – Green Bay Packers GM Brian Gutekunst on Aaron Rodgers
For the first time, Gutekunst and the Packers sound ready to move on. For real.
It’s also time.
Green Bay chose quarterback Jordan Love No. 26 overall in 2020, must decide prior to the April’s 2023 NFL draft whether to exercise his fifth-year option. Spoiler, they absolutely should, without question, and the Packers are coming off one of Rodgers’ most disappointing seasons to date while missing the playoffs for just the third time since President Obama’s first year in the White House.
Rodgers’ 91.1 passer rating represents his lowest as a starter, and he only passed for 3,695 yards with 26 touchdowns to 12 interceptions.
Gutekunst and the Packers don’t just need to know what they have in Love, but at this stage, Love might be an upgrade at the helm of an offense featuring dynamic young receivers Christian Watson, Romeo Doubs and potentially the return of Allen Lazard.
One Packers legend is convinced Love is ready.
“He’s ready to go,” Pro Football Hall of Famer and Packers legend LeRoy Butler told Heavy’s The Matt Lombardo Show. “Ready to go. He ready to go this year. Next Year. Wherever he is ready to go.
“He’s committed. He’s already working out. He looks fantastic. There’s no more questions … ready to go. Now. Whether Aaron [Rodgers] is ready or not, I want to find out about Love.”
For the Packers, the timing feels right to turn the page to the quarterback with more upside, rather than continue to be tied to the ever-changing whims of Rodgers ahead of his 40-year-old season.
Final Thought: The Broncos’ Miss on Vic Fangio
New Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton sure sounds like he’s disappointed he wasn’t able to hire Vic Fangio.
“Vic was part of the plan, until you guys scared him off,” Payton deadpanned from the podium inside the Indiana Convention Center.
Payton ultimately hired Vance Joseph to return to Denver, after Fangio was scooped up by the Miami Dolphins, but the head coach’s disappointment not being able to team up with a friend was palpable to those in attendance.
“The Dolphins are getting a tremendous coach,” Payton said. “You keep hearing ‘everyone’s running Fangio’s defense,’ and [meanwhile], Fangio and I are just sitting out there retired. I used to give him a hard time, ‘God, Vic, half the teams in this league are running your defense, and you haven’t met half those people.
“Look, I consider him a friend. We’ve never worked together, but Vic Fangio is from Scranton, Pennsylvania, which is where my Mom and Dad were from. My Dad went to the same high school as Fangio, and my cousin taught Vic Fangio sixth-grade math, in Scranton. Do I think he would have been a great asset for us, yes.”
Joseph has some familiarity with the Broncos from his prior tenure in Denver, and inherits a significantly more talented group than the one he coached in Arizona to the NFL’s No. 21 ranked defense in 2022 that produced just 36.0 sacks. Perhaps coaching the likes of Justin Simmons, Pat Surtain, and Alex Singleton will vault Joseph into the head coaching ranks in short order.
But, it is tough to deduce anything other than Payton truly coveted the chance to work with Fangio, whose influence is felt throughout the league and who was hired by the Philadelphia Eagles as a consultant during preparation for the Super Bowl.
“We were planning in this year away that if the right scenario came up, that we’d work together,” Payton said. “This one was probably a little bit unique, because it wasn’t too long ago he was here. Certainly, I tried. I tried to talk to him, twist his arm, I’m excited for his opportunity in Miami, I think he’s a talented coach.”
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Jets & Giants’ Dilemmas Among Biggest Takeaways From 2023 NFL Combine