The NFL offseason has spiced up in the past couple of days, with multiple teams making some interesting moves or making some surprising statements that have the fans talking.
For starters, The Denver Broncos released Russell Wilson on Monday, March 4. It was a move that didn’t come as much of a surprise since Wilson had two mediocre seasons with the Broncos after receiving a massive five-year $242.6 million deal from Denver before playing a single snap of football for them.
Wilson had recently said on Brandon Marshall’s “I Am Athlete” podcast, “I want to go back to Denver. I hope I get to go back. I’d love to go back, to be honest with you. I’ve got amazing teammates.”
Russ made it clear he wanted to stay in Denver and win a couple of Super Bowls in the next five years, but apparently Denver had other plans. The Broncos took on a record-setting $85 million in dead cap space in order to get rid of Russ, which shows just how much they don’t want him there next year.
Broncos head coach Sean Payton hinted that the Broncos were looking a different way for a new quarterback at the draft combine. “There’s a Broncos fan with a shirt on with like eight quarterbacks’ names crossed through them and he’s drinking the quarterback ‘Kool-Aid,’” Payton said. “Our job is to make sure this next one doesn’t have a line through it.”
The head coach talking about the next quarterback was not a great sign for Russ’s future with the Broncos.
Since the Super Bowl win in 2015, the Denver Broncos have gone through five head coaches and 13 starting quarterbacks, and haven’t made the playoffs since. So drafting a quarterback in the draft this year seems like a high probability. J.J. McCarthy, Bo Nix, and Michael Penix Jr. are all realistic targets for the Broncos in this year’s draft.
In other news, The New York Giants are, “absolutely done” with franchise quarterback Daniel Jones according to Rich Eisen. “The Giants are absolutely done with Daniel Jones,” Eisen said. “Might have to play him this year, but that ain’t it, and they feel that ain’t it. The words I heard at the Combine multiple times were buyer’s remorse.”
Jones has $36 million in guaranteed salary in 2024, carries a $47.105 million cap hit and would cost the Giants $69.315 million to cut him. The big contract of $160 million that the Giants gave Jones in the offseason last year is starting to look like a big mistake.
Jones had an injury-plagued season that only allowed him to play in six games. He only threw two touchdowns and had six interceptions. It is worth noting that he had a horrible O-line that allowed him to be sacked 30 times in those six games. The offense outside of Jones and star running back Saquan Barkley was not great, so it is surprising to see the Giants say they are done with Jones this quickly after just giving him that absurd contract.
New York currently holds the sixth pick in the 2024 NFL draft. If they want to draft a new quarterback this would most certainly be a good opportunity to do so. Jayden Daniels, Drake Maye, or J.J. McCarthy are quarterback names to watch in this year’s draft if the Giants do decide to go a different direction.
In addition, The Seattle Seahawks have informed Jamal Adams, Quandre Diggs, and Will Dissly that they will be released per Jordan Schultz and Tom Pelissero. This move saves Seattle $34.5 million.
The Chicago Bears seem like they are going to move on from 2021 first-round quarterback Justin Fields this offseason, but even Fields doesn’t seem to know when the trade is coming. A recent report from Albert Breer suggests the Bears do not mind waiting until the top free agent QBs all sign their deals, meaning Fields may not be traded until close to draft night should the Bears decide to go that direction.
The Buffalo Bills turned some heads by releasing former All-Pro Cornerback Tre’Davious White, former All-Pro safety Jordan Poyer, Siran Neal, Deonte Harty, and Mitch Morse. This move will save the Bills $35 million. So expect the Bills to be active in free agency.
The Franchise Tags for the 2024 season include Tee Higgins (Bengals), L’Jarius Sneed (Chiefs), Michael Pittman Jr. (Colts), Antoine Winfield Jr. (Bucs), Brian Burns (Panthers), Josh Allen (Jags), Jaylon Johnson (Bears), Justin Madubuike (Ravens), and Kyle Dugger who was transition tagged (Patriots).
This offseason is shaping up to be an exciting one. The 2024 draft class is loaded, and there appear to be quite a few teams that plan to be aggressive with trades and signing players in free agency. So much drama happening this early on in the offseason is a good sign, and we are all just excited to see what happens next.
