NFL Rumors: Las Vegas Raiders may move up in the 2024 NFL Draft for a new signal caller
Antonio Pierce is officially in charge of the Las Vegas Raiders, meaning he will have a large say from now as to who stays and who goes from the team. This is a dramatic shift from being an interim head coach, and now Pierce has full control, and rightfully so. It's well-earned.
One of the many questions currently surrounding the franchise is the quarterback position and what the Raiders decide to do with it moving forward. It is evidently clear that Jimmy Garoppolo has taken the team as far as he could, but an argument could be made that it was one of many errors in the Josh McDaniels era.
As such, the time for change has come. According to ESPN's Jeremy Fowler, the belief is that the Raiders will move up for a quarterback in the upcoming NFL Draft, but for whom and if they choose to do so remains a mystery. However, Pierce is reported to have an affinity for former Arizona State-turned-LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels.
Pierce is a big fan of Daniels from when they were both with the Sun Devils in the desert, and word, according to Fowler, is that Pierce evaluated offensive coordinators with the loose possibility of Daniels in mind, Kliff Kingsbury notwithstanding.
What happens between now and then remains to be seen, but for the Raiders to have a good shot at Daniels, they may need to prepare the idea of trading a haul of assets to land the Heisman Trophy winner if they truly believe he can be the guy to help them contend within a crowded AFC West.
NFL Rumors: Ben Johnson to the Commanders wasn't a slam dunk due to the hoop being more valued than the endzone
Maybe the Ben Johnson to the Washington Commanders train left the station a bit too early, or maybe it was never in the works, or maybe it was a he said, he said type of deal. There's too much confusion surrounding this mess.
ESPN's Jenna Laine had a very interesting report on the matter, citing that the two sides were far apart because of an affinity with basketball over football. That apparently led to Johnson not interviewing well with the Commanders ownership.
Was told that Ben Johnson was "turned off" by Commanders ownership, that they're "basketball guys" and felt they were a little too confident in their football opinions. And I also heard that he "didn't interview well." He said, he said, but clearly not a good fit for both sides. https://t.co/negeevYsha
— JennaLaineESPN (@JennaLaineESPN) February 3, 2024
In fairness to Magic Johnson and Josh Harris, both come from basketball backgrounds. At the same time, Ben Johnson has been involved with football for a substantial period of time. Yet, Magic Johnson has an ownership stake in other pro sports franchises as well, so what does that have to do with anything?
Maybe Ben Johnson believes there are better job opportunities out there for himself, and if so, more power to him, but this feels almost like a shot at Magic and Josh Harris, which isn't exactly going to go over well with the fans in DC, who had to suffer through the Dan Snyder era, the lone highlight being the drafting of Sean Taylor, god rest his soul.
It will be interesting to see how Ben Johnson handles this next season and whether or not he chooses to remain in Detroit again after the 24-25 campaign or pursue another head coaching job that he feels is "more football oriented." A bit of smarminess, but still, there is a reason for it, given his track record of helping turn the Lions around so fast.
NFL Rumors: Mike Evans could skip town, command over $25 million per year in his next big deal
This past season, Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans ranked ninth in the NFL with 1,255 receiving yards and first with 13 receiving touchdowns on 79 receptions. Not only that, he has a Super Bowl ring on his resume and several 1,000-yard receiving seasons, the last 10 to be exact.
Naturally, he is going to command a large market in terms of salary demands, but at the same time, there are only so few teams that have the cap space to oblige to such demands. A report from the Houston Chronicle suggests between $25 million and $30 million per year.
So who are some teams that can be considered for this? Right off the top, you think of the New England Patriots, the Washington Commanders, and yes, the Kansas City Chiefs. The first two make sense from a financial standpoint as they have money to spend, the last? Maybe Evans wants another ring?
Going to New England and being a security blanket for the next franchise QB for the Patriots would be a massive boon. As for the Commanders, they also will likely select a new franchise QB, meaning Evans would be a scary threat alongside Terry McLaurin for whatever new coach Dan Quinn plans to run as part of the offense.
As it pertains to the Chiefs, that would basically be a ring-chasing type of move, but in a good way. Evans already won his ring with the Bucs over KC a couple of years ago, and he had someone named Tom Brady throwing him the ball. Why not have the opportunity to play alongside two legendary quarterbacks in your career, a feat only a few have ever experienced.
It's all up to Evans, he gave everything he had to the Buccaneers organization and deserves to be commended. Now, he has a choice to make about whether or not to come back or decide to play his football elsewhere. One thing is for sure, he might not get the same pleasant weather in other places he enjoyed in Tampa Bay.