Speaking of which…

Pro football’s a unicorn.

It’s become that rarest of beasts in its sheer existence.  It’s alive!  It breathes!  It schedules things!  It’s finding a means to operate under unprecedented circumstances.  No one should ever view NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell as a maverick, but in this instance, he’s handled the situation well by providing cogent arguments for continuing to do NFL business remotely, and his support has been unanimous among league owners. While other sports leagues have necessarily discontinued events, the NFL can soldier on due to the obvious – there are no on-field events scheduled for teams until OTAs/minicamps in the May/June timeframe, which are somewhat disposable.  After that, it’s smooth sailing until training camps open in mid-July.  Of course, there’s the small matter of the college draft.  Speaking of which…

Amid some resistance, the NFL is proceeding with the 2020 draft this month as scheduled, although rules for its dispensation and locations are ongoing.  This isn’t sitting well with everyone, including ESPN NFL “insider” Adam Schefter.  Granted, I’m not involved with the decision making and the machinations behind the coordination of an event of this magnitude, but in this shut-in era, how complicated or dangerous can it be?  The “carnage in the streets” hyperbole helps no one.  If Schefter can’t see the necessity of feeding a stripped-down version of the draft to a sports-desperate public, it’s on him.  And if it’s not promoting close social activity, I admit to not seeing the harm.  Speaking of which…

Teams could do worse than signing some of these guys, although some of the names made me chuckle (Margus Hunt?  Really?)  Aging free agents are rarely sought after, but outside of the listed QBs, few of these players stand to make much money on the market, and several will accept minimum contracts just for the camp invitation.  Since free agency hasn’t seen much of a slowdown in the COVID-19 era, there’s no reason to not consider these guys.  Teams dedicate a lot of time and effort to having reliable roster depth; why not have someone who understands their position available to step in if needed?  Speaking of which…

The Browns signed veteran free agent DE Adrian Clayborn to a two-year deal yesterday.  At age 31, Clayborn isn’t what he used to be, having been reduced to a passing-down presence for most of the 2019 season, but he should provide an effective counterbalance to uber-pass rusher Myles Garrett.  $3-$4 million per year isn’t outrageous for a pass rusher these days, and Clayborn appears to have something left in the proverbial tank.  Solid maneuver for the Browns and their excessive salary cap space.  Best of all; they didn’t have to give up anything but money.  Speaking of which…

Ravens tight end Mark Andrews wasn’t happy to see fellow TE and 2018 draftee Hayden Hurst traded to the Atlanta Falcons last month, but he remains hopeful a suitable replacement will be found.  It’ll be interesting to see what happens with Hurst, who was hailed as the best TE in the 2020 draft, but failed to break into the limelight with any signature plays or even basic consistency.  Andrews is the Ravens’ primary TE and among the go-to options for QB Lamar Jackson, so it was obvious which direction the Ravens would go with Hurst, but we still haven’t seen the best of what he has to offer.  Best of luck to him in his new locale.  Speaking of which…

Accolades continue to roll in for 2019 Heisman Trophy winner (and probable new Bengals QB) Joe Burrow.  Burrow may indeed be the future for the Bengals, who rightly have said nothing about prospectively trading the draft’s first overall pick despite recent speculation to the contrary.  In short, if they trade the rights to the #1 pick (and presumably Burrow), they’ll regret it for a decade.  The team hasn’t had real excellence at QB since the early days of Carson Palmer; it should be a reflex to fill the position with the best prospect the team’s had a chance at drafting since then.  Let’s see if owner Mike Brown agrees.  Speaking of which…

The Steelers have no first round pick in the 2020 draft, which is unprecedented during the Mike Tomlin era, but it isn’t troubling team management at the moment.  GM Kevin Colbert remains happy with the team’s acquisition of S Minkah Fitzpatrick for the aforementioned pick and doesn’t really see a scenario in which the team would try to trade back into the first round.  As the article indicates, the Steelers will probably target receiving help at some point with their remaining picks, although recent mock drafts have indicated an interest in drafting another QB despite the looming return of starter Ben Roethlisberger.

Enjoy the week!