NFL Draft week is usually one of the busiest and most chaotic weeks of the year, but what about the week after? Well, this year it was a bit different.
DeAndre Hopkins — A Trade?
On Monday, rumors of a potential DeAndre Hopkins trade from Arizona died down as he took to Instagram to voice his opinion on the situation.
“I see everybody telling me to stay. Who said I wanna go? Who said I wanna leave?”
DeAndre Hopkins via Instagram
Fifth-Year Option Deadline
Tuesday had the deadline for decisions on fifth-year options. Teams needed to decide whether or not they would pick up fifth-year options on players selected in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft.
Top quarterbacks Joe Burrow (Bengals), Tua Tagovailoa (Dolphins), and Justin Herbert (Chargers) had their fifth-year option picked up by their respective teams.
Jordan Love, who is the expected successor to Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay, did not have his fifth-year option picked up. Instead, he reached agreement on a one-year extension which spans the same length as his fifth-year option would have. The win-win deal for both sides is worth $22.5 million and has $13.5 million fully guaranteed. If his option was picked up by the team, it would’ve paid him $20.2 million, so the Packers essentially gave him a raise.
The 2020 Draft Class was one that produced lots of wide receiver talent. Jerry Jeudy (Broncos), CeeDee Lamb (Cowboys), Justin Jefferson (Vikings), and Brandon Aiyuk (49ers) all had their fifth-year options exercised by their teams.
Among notable players who had their fifth-year options declined — Clyde Edwards-Helaire (Chiefs), Mekhi Becton (Jets), Chase Young (Commanders), Isaiah Simmons (Cardinals), and Patrick Queen (Ravens).
Prospect Reactions
Many teams released reactions from prospects to hearing their name called. Here are some of my favorite reactions that I’ve seen:
Recent Signings
While the 2023 NFL Draftees have been enjoying some of the best moments of their lives up to this point, the NFL continued on. Many teams took to free-agency to add where they couldn’t during the draft. There weren’t many major signings, but here are some notable additions:
- LT Donovan Smith –> Chiefs: 1-Year/$9M
- TE Dan Arnold –> Eagles: 1-Year Deal
- CB Rock Ya-Sin –> Ravens: 1-Year/$6M
- DT Al Woods –> Jets: 1-year Deal
- QB Trevor Siemian –> Bengals: 1-Year Deal
- RB Jerick McKinnon –> Chiefs: Terms Unavailable
Dexter Lawrence Inks Extension
And as teams looked to add via free-agency, the New York Giants stayed in-house, signing Pro-Bowl defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence to a massive contract extension. The four-year extension is worth $90 million and includes $60 million guaranteed.
Now, the Giants may look at giving star running back Saquon Barkley his payday as he is entering his final year under contract.
Start, Bench, Cut
On Thursday night, I stumbled upon a very tough choice — a Start, Bench, Cut scenario between Kyler Murray, Tua Tagovailoa, and Justin Fields. When asking around, there wasn’t a consistent answer. All three got the ‘start’ by different people and at the same time, they all got ‘cut’ at one point.
Here is my choice:
- START: Justin Fields
- BENCH: Kyler Murray
- CUT: Tua Tagovailoa.
It’s a pretty tough decision and I can see why people would go all sorts of directions with this one. I believe Justin Fields is just scratching the surface and will have a very good season next year.
More
Here are a few other neat things that I stumbled upon this week:
