The testing at the NFL Combine will dominate headlines this week, but the event is also a tremendous excuse to get all 32 front offices and tons of media members under one roof (well, under multiple roofs if you want to count the dinners at the steakhouse afterward). With just weeks to go until the start of free agency, you can bet that rumors will be circulating, and the latest rumblings from Indy touch on everything from Deshaun Watson aparently still having a future with the Cleveland Browns to a change in the tradewinds regarding A.J. Brown.
Browns, Todd Monken leave the door wide open for Deshaun Watson
You’d think that, after four years in which he played a grant total of 19 games, looked like one of the worst starting QBs in the NFL and suffered multiple Achilles injuries, it would be safe to close the book on Deshaun Watson. But apparently Todd Monken wasn’t paying too close attention to his division rival of late, because the Cleveland Browns’ new head coach had some … alarming things to say about Watson at the NFL Combine.
This is the sort of thing that sounds true enough until you think about it for more than two seconds. Sure, Watson has been an All-Pro-caliber player in the past. But that’s also true of, say, Aaron Rodgers – and no one in their right minds expects him to start playing at an MVP level next season.
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Sure, Watson is still just 30 years old while Rodgers is now in his 40s, but the point remains: What we’ve seen from Watson since he came to Cleveland in 2022 is much more than just a blip, and it can’t be explained away by appeals to small sample sizes. He’s simply not the same quarterback he was in Houston, and there’s no real reason to think he will be again – especially not after the physical ailments he’s been through of late.
Of course, Monken might be just taking the diplomatic route here with a player he’s stuck with thanks to a fully guaranteed contract. And it’s not like the Browns have any path to a meaningful QB upgrade until 2027 at the earliest. Cleveland fans will have to hope that’s the case, at least, because the alternative – that Monken really does hope against hope that the old Watson is in there somewhere – would be painful.
Eagles might be changing their tune on A.J. Brown trade
Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown | Mark Konezny-Imagn Images
A.J. Brown trade rumors have been swirling from pretty much the moment the Eagles’ season ended in dispiriting fashion on Wild Card Weekend. For the first few weeks of the offseason, though, Philly had demurred both publicly and privately, reportedly rebuffing any efforts to acquire the disgruntled wideout while talking about how much they’d like to keep him around moving forward.
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That always seemed a little bit naive, though; anyone with eyes could see how unhappy Brown was with the team last season, and as he gets set to turn 29 years old this summer, it might behoove an Eagles team facing a tricky reset to think about selling high. Sure enough, ESPN’s Peter Schrager reported on Thursday morning that there’s been a “difference in tone” from the Philly front office regarding Brown of late, and the team sure seems to be actively listening to offers.
The Eagles are walking a fine line here. On the one hand, the tension with Brown threatens to erode their leverage; why would a team fork over a first-round pick for a player that might force his way out anyway? On the other hand, Brown is still an impactful player, and there are plenty of would-be contenders that could use his services if Howie Roseman plays his cards right. Moving on and getting younger would seem to make sense amid an offseason of big change in Philadelphia, and some sort of Day 2 pick seems like a fair compromise.
Chiefs might not get the chance to atone for Breece Hall trade whiff
New York Jets running back Breece Hall vs. Chiefs | Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images
Seemingly every member of NFL media predicted Hall heading to Kansas City ahead of last year’s trade deadline, and yet when the dust settled, the talented running back remained, against all odds, a member of the New York Jets. It seems like the reason for that might be an exasperating one for Chiefs fans: According to ESPN’s Nate Taylor, K.C. declined to meet the Jets’ asking price “in part because they felt they could attract Hall to Kansas City if he was available in free agency”
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Flash forward a few months, and all indications from New York are that the team plans on trying to sign Hall to a long-term deal before free agency – with the franchise tag very much an option if that doesn’t work out. While it seems unlikely that Hall would sign away the rest of his prime to a rebuilding team that has repeatedly hung him out to dry so far in his career, money talks, and spending another year without the security of a long-term deal would be a risky proposition. And even if he doesn’t want to sign, why would the rebuilding Jets not slap the tag on him, confident that they can flip him at next year’s deadline if it comes to that?
Hall isn’t the only option at running back for the Chiefs this offseason. Jeremiyah Love could well be available at No. 9 overall, and Travis Etienne or Tyler Allgeier could be fits in free agency. Hall would be a home run, though, and it would sting to miss out on him because of a miscalculation.
This article was originally published on www.fansided.com as NFL Rumors: Browns confident in Deshaun Watson and Eagles change their tune.