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Our national NFL reporters have been on the ground in Las Vegas all week for Super Bowl LVIII, talking to execs, coaches, agents, scouts, players and other team sources. Of course, 49ers-Chiefs is the focal point of the week, as Patrick Mahomes and Brock Purdy get set to face off on Sunday night. But there are many more wheels turning in the NFL landscape this week, and Jeremy Fowler and Dan Graziano have the latest news.
What are people saying about the top free agents for next month? What about extension possibilities, trade candidates and fallout from the coaching carousel? And is there any early draft buzz ahead of the combine? Here is all the latest buzz, rumors and news that we heard this week.
Graziano: Kirk Cousins’ impending free agency is a story at this year’s Super Bowl, much like it was six years ago when the big game was in Minneapolis. The Minnesota Vikings are working to see if they can keep their 35-year-old quarterback — who is coming off an Achilles tear — and they’d like to have an answer in the next few weeks so they can plan accordingly.
The final four years of Cousins’ contract voids on the final day of the league year, which means the Vikings can’t franchise him, as the void date is after the franchise tag window. And his $28.5 million in dead salary cap charges would accelerate onto their 2024 cap if he’s not signed to an extension by that date. That dead cap acceleration wouldn’t prevent them from re-signing him, but it would be a lot easier for them to manage the deal if they could get an agreement before March 12 and defray some of those charges into future years of a new deal.
Minnesota’s other business — most prominently a potential new deal for defensive end Danielle Hunter before he hits the market — is on hold until it figures out what’s going on with Cousins.
Graziano: We shouldn’t assume the Dallas Cowboys and quarterback Dak Prescott will agree on a contract extension before the start of the 2024 season. There are multiple reasons, but the main one is Prescott has unprecedented contract leverage and a history of not conceding easily in contract talks.
He is due to make $34 million in 2024, the final year of his contract. But his salary cap number is $59.455 million, which is astronomical and needs to come down in order for the Cowboys to do anything else. They could reduce that number by about $18 million by simply converting salary to a signing bonus and spreading out the bonus cap hit over the next three years (this year and the two void years he has in 2025 and 2026). But they would need his permission to add more void years and spread the cap hit any further — you can spread a cap hit from a signing bonus up to five years — and they obviously would need him to agree if they wanted to do an extension that knocks the 2024 number down even more.
That cap number incentivizes the Cowboys to do a deal, but considering there’s a clause in his current deal that prohibits the team from using a franchise or transition tag on Prescott, it also means the quarterback doesn’t have to do a deal if he’s not completely happy with it. His worst case scenario is that he becomes a free agent next spring at age 31, which would be quite lucrative.
I think the Cowboys likely get something done extension-wise with CeeDee Lamb once the receiver market finally starts to move. And I’m sure they’ll have extension talks with edge rusher Micah Parsons, though their ability to exercise his fifth-year option for 2026 gives them time to do that one. But all eyes will be on that Prescott deal, and if the last time these two sides went through this is any indication, that negotiation is not likely to be smooth sailing for Dallas.
Fowler: The fact that Bill Belichick just sort of hangs out as a coaching free agent after the greatest run of all time over two decades in New England is still tough to fathom, and it remains a talking point leaguewide. After speaking to a few people close to Belichick, here’s the sense I get:
He’s prepared to take a year off and will gear up for the 2025 cycle, with several big jobs potentially opening.
I do believe there was some sort of correspondence with the Washington Commanders before they eventually set on Dan Quinn.
Belichick was interested in the Atlanta Falcons job but wasn’t necessarily crestfallen that it didn’t happen. The Falcons had several variables to work through, including the dynamic of retaining general manager Terry Fontenot and the level of involvement from chief executive officer Rich McKay. As the Falcons did their first wave of interviews and reset their coaching search, they decided Raheem Morris was the best fit. Belichick was searching for a job for the first time in two-plus decades and was doing his own fact-finding, which was new and required patience, and I don’t get the sense that he was trying to bulldoze a front office. But does he need a structure that gives him some level of power? Sure.
Belichick is a history buff who could prioritize historic franchises next cycle. Why is that important? Think about the jobs that could potentially open, which include the Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles and Chicago Bears. All of those are NFL flagships with rich history. If Mike McCarthy’s contract expires without more playoff wins, Belichick’s strong relationship with Jerry Jones could loom large.
Graziano: I have been cautioned by multiple people not to jump to conclusions about the Commanders’ hire of former USC quarterbacks coach Kliff Kingsbury as it pertains to the Commanders’ interest in USC quarterback Caleb Williams. Yes, there are those in the Commanders organization who are fascinated with the idea of drafting D.C. native Williams, even if that means trading up from No. 2 to No. 1 to get him. But they also recognize that if the Bears are set on taking Williams at No. 1, there may be nothing they can do about that.
The sources I’ve talked to point out that North Carolina’s Drake Maye played in Phil Longo’s offensive system in 2022, which is a version of the Air Raid that Kingsbury knows how to coach. They also point out that LSU’s Jayden Daniels is a mobile quarterback and talented downfield thrower who could mesh well with Kingsbury, who has coached Kyler Murray and Mahomes. I would expect the Commanders to look into what it would take to draft Williams, but I’d caution against thinking they hired Kingsbury based on any belief or certainty that they were going to get him.
Could the Patriots trade their first-round pick?
Graziano: Sure, there has been a lot of talk about what will happen with the first and second picks of the 2024 draft, what the Bears and Commanders will do and where all the quarterbacks will end up. But I’m hearing a bit of buzz about the third pick, which belongs to the New England Patriots.
The Patriots also need a quarterback, but there are people around the league who believe they are open to trading the No. 3 selection, moving back in the draft and addressing the quarterback position in free agency. If the Pats do trade that pick — which could be Daniels or Maye — the two teams I’d keep an eye on are the Falcons (moving from the No. 8 spot) and the Vikings (moving from the No. 11 spot, assuming they don’t bring back Cousins). Minnesota knows it eventually has to address the quarterback position long term, and the notion of bringing in Daniels to pair with their star LSU alum wideout Justin Jefferson has appeal to some in the organization.
