7 NFL storylines to watch
Where will Antonio Brown, Kyler Murray play next season
The Steelers made official this week what had been long rumored when they hung a sign: Elite playmaker available. Inquire within.
After owner Art Rooney met with disgruntled wide receiver Antonio Brown, the club announced it would seek a trade for the dangerous threat. Face-to-face trade conversations are certain to happen when the league descends on Indianapolis for the scouting combine beginning Tuesday. The list of teams that couldn’t use Brown is much shorter than the list of teams that could.
The combine is a breeding ground for deals galore. The Steelers might not reach an agreement during a week that is scheduled around the pre-draft process, and a trade cannot officially happen until the first day of the new league year March 13. Still, it puts general manager Kevin Colbert in position to spark trade talks and generate a market with multiple bidders.
Brown, a sixth-round pick in 2010 who turns 31 in July, hasn’t slowed down on the field but
has made a heck of a lot of noise off it. He harshly criticized quarterback Ben Roethlisberger on social media after the season, and Brown missed meetings and practices during the season. He was found guilty of driving his Porsche 100 mph just hours before a home game. He has been involved in multiple legal incidents in Florida, where he was accused of pushing the mother of his daughter to the ground and of throwing items including furniture from a 14th-floor apartment balcony.
All of that will factor in what the Steelers can get in return for Brown, who likely will seek a renegotiated contract from a new team, but Brown is a supreme talent who has been productive without being problematic in the past.
“I can only speak for while I was with Antonio, but he was arguably the hardest worker I have ever been around,” said former Steelers offensive coordinator Todd Haley, who coached Brown from 2012 to ’17. “Almost never missed time. The couple times he missed, they were legit injuries. He was always available come practice time, game time, and he was 100 percent in and did some incredible things that have never been done. Whoever is getting him is getting a heck of a player that wants to be the best of all time.
“He was great, very coachable, listened, would do whatever was asked of him. I love the kid and talk to him still. I would never put a bar on what he is capable of achieving on the field. When I first saw him, he didn’t look like the great receivers I have been around, the big 6-2, 6-3 Larry Fitzgeralds and Keyshawn Johnsons. He’s broken so many records and done so many things, Antonio is capable of doing anything. The numbers, they speak for themselves.”
Here are six more storylines to follow with free agency and the draft coming quickly:
Let’s make a deal. But not right now.
It used to be that free-agent contracts would be all but signed at the combine, but that has changed with the creation of a negotiating window or “legal tampering period.” It begins March 11 this year, two days before the league year starts. Teams are reluctant to show their hand early as they don’t want agents shopping their offers, so it’s a game of cat and mouse. Still, agents can express the salary range their clients are seeking and get an idea of which teams are interested. It’s all illegal tampering, but if teams aren’t doing it, they’re falling behind.
The lag time between the end of the combine March 5 and the negotiating window makes it unlikely to strike a deal, but make no mistake, the bigger agents will meet with all 32 teams — and that’s not time spent catching up on everyone’s families. So players at the top of the free-agent market, such as Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell, who missed $14.5 million by sitting out last season, ought to get some idea of what kind of interest will follow in the weeks ahead.
All eyes on Kyler Murray. A year after Heisman Trophy winner Baker Mayfield generated the most buzz at the combine, another Heisman winner from Oklahoma will be front and center. Instead of reporting to spring training with the Oakland Athletics, who made him a first-round pick in the MLB draft, Murray is pursuing a football career. His short stature has made him a polarizing prospect, and once his official measurements are released, there will be a Twitter storm.
The Sooners listed Murray at 5-foot-10, and when is the last time a team has listed a player as smaller than he really is? Mayfield measured 6 feet and 5/8 of an inch at the combine. In the last 16 first rounds, teams have selected two passers shorter than 6-1: Mayfield and Johnny Manziel. Murray likely will become the third.
“You look at the tape and it is better than Baker Mayfield’s tape,” said the national scout for one team. “He is a more accurate passer than Baker Mayfield and he’s probably got a little more zip on the ball, a little more arm strength. He can make you miss in a phone booth now too.
“How high will he go? You have to decide if you are going to take him because you’re going to change everything you do offensively. You’re not going to be able to do pure pocket passing. … Even though they say he was in the pocket at OU, he’s in the shotgun and then he takes three steps back and he’s 9 yards deep, ball is out. You can’t expect him to sit in the pocket and be successful. You’ve got to change your offense, you’ve got to move him around. You’ve got to give him opportunities to run. If you are willing to do that, you take him. If you’re not willing to do that, you take (Ohio State’s Dwayne) Haskins. Because Haskins is going to be good too.”
The other guys’ time to shine. The rest of the quarterback class has some intriguing options, and as is almost always the case, plenty of passers will be overdrafted. Four teams picking in the top 10 — the Buccaneers (No. 5), Giants (6), Jaguars (7) and Broncos (10) — could be in the market for a quarterback. Murray, Haskins, Missouri’s Drew Lock, Duke’s Daniel Jones and West Virginia’s Will Grier are all interesting.
“They’re going to go higher than they should just because the market demands it,” the scout said. “There might be four, maybe even five of them go in the first (round). The next pocket is a pretty good group too, (North Carolina State’s Ryan) Finley and (Northwestern’s Clayton) Thorson. They’re all going to go a round higher than they should. There are teams that are desperate.”
Tag, you’re it.
The deadline for clubs to use their franchise or transition tags is March 5, but announcements should trickle in before then. These moves will impact the freeagent market.
Most attention will be paid to edge defenders — DeMarcus Lawrence (Cowboys), Dee Ford (Chiefs), Jadeveon Clowney (Texans), Frank Clark (Seahawks) and Trey Flowers (Patriots) — who are prime candidates for the tag. Two kickers primed to enter free agency — Robbie Gould of the 49ers and Stephen Gostkowski of the Patriots — also could be hit with the tag.
■ Help in the trenches is available.
The strength of the draft is up front on defense. A wonderful crop of edge rushers and defensive linemen could dominate the top half of the first round. Ohio State’s Nick Bosa, Alabama’s Quinnen Williams, Kentucky’s Josh Allen and Clemson’s Clelin Ferrell all could go in the top 10. Houston’s Ed Oliver, Michigan’s Rashan Gary, Mississippi State’s Montez Sweat and Clemson’s Christian Wilkins are highly touted. In other words, the Raiders, who own the fourth pick, might be able to mitigate last year’s loss of Khalil Mack.
Speed could move quickly. Forty-yard dash times generate far more buzz on social media than they do for NFL teams, but they are part of the evaluation process. A player’s game tape is far more important, and teams use the measured times to make sure they match what they see on tape. A player who runs a blazing time but could not separate from college defenders is a problem. If he can’t get open playing on Saturdays, how will his speed help him on Sundays? That being said, this is a deep class of wide receivers, even though there might not be an elite prospect. There’s also a ton of speed.
“Some of these guys may go to the low 4.3s, high 4.2s,” the scout said. “There are going to be some guys that fly.”
He cited Missouri’s Emanuel Hall, Ohio State’s Paris Campbell and Toledo’s Diontae Johnson as guys he looks forward to seeing run.
“Even though (Oklahoma’s) Marquise Brown (foot surgery) isn’t going to run, there are going to be some fast receivers and he was going to be one of them,” the scout said. “I think Hall is going to be the fastest, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Paris Campbell busts 4.2 also.”