Workouts don’t start until tomorrow, but NFL’s annual de facto league-wide convention is already well underway here in the Midwest. Here’s what’s buzzing at the combine …
• Teams didn’t know that reckless driving and racing charges—stemming from the incident that killed a Georgia football player and a Bulldogs recruiting staffer—were coming on prospective top-five pick Jalen Carter.
But the wildly talented 6'3", 310-pound game-wrecker was already giving teams in the upper reaches of the draft order a lot to dig through well before police issued two warrants for his arrest Wednesday morning. And obviously, those warrants won’t make things any easier on those picking near the top.
“There were concerns before any of this—I don’t know the details on this one, only that it’s pretty bad,” said an AFC college scouting director. “Before this, he had a reputation as someone who was never particular fond of the process. A lot of the questions were like, well, there’s nothing criminal, but he may not really love anything about football other than game day. Now, you can’t really say there’s nothing criminal.”
“I think he loves to play football,” the director continued, “but doesn’t love to work at it.”
“A very unique personality—the guy’s gonna rub some people the wrong way, and he’s not gonna be the cleanest guy in your building,” said another AFC exec. “[The questions about effort] stem from how easy everything comes for him. The guy has had to work, but the way he moves, it’s so easy for him. Like, take Aidan Hutchinson last year, he was upright, stiff, and the guy just wills himself into becoming a great player. Jalen, you feel like, could take two months off and be the same guy. It comes very easy to him.
“He’s just really gifted and with a motor that doesn’t run that hot, it adds up to a streaky, unpredictable dude.”
Mark J. Rebilas/USA TODAY Sports
One GM told me Wednesday that while Carter was on his board, this latest incident would at least lead to a discussion on whether he should stay there, and he thought, based on what we know now, some teams would likely take him off theirs.
Now, for his part, Carter said in a statement that, “There is no question in my mind that when all of the facts are known … I will be fully exonerated of any criminal wrongdoing.” But his mere presence in this sort of situation, on top of the aforementioned issues and some of the people around Carter, will be enough to give teams trepidation on whether or not it’s smart to spend a high first-round pick on a guy with these sorts of questions.
A short slide resulting from it, pending how the rest of the criminal investigation plays out, is certainly possible.
• Ravens GM Eric DeCosta addressed Lamar Jackson’s contract negotiation, again, and declined to get into detail, again, on Wednesday. But DeCosta did say something interesting in explaining the challenge in doing a deal with a self-represented player.
“Well you have a lot of regard for the player, first and foremost,” DeCosta said. “I think when you deal with an agent, sometimes you’re able to speak very freely, position yourself a certain way. You have different arguments that you can use that maybe you wouldn’t say to a player. So, I think that’s part of it.”
It’s good insight that I think I can translate a little here. Normally, part of the negotiating process, especially on high-end deals like this one, includes proposals from each side that almost certainly won’t be accepted. Things, as part of that, can get contentious, but an agent is there to shield the player from hurt feelings that could come from getting low-balled or a blunt assessment of why the team isn’t willing to spend more.
It can be ugly, at times, but it also can help lead to the right conclusion because it forces each side to start putting cards, financial and otherwise, on the table.
Without an agent? The team is going to be careful not to lowball. An early offer will probably be closer to a final offer, and things can easily wind up deadlocked with everyone worrying about everyone else’s feelings.
To be clear, I’m not saying that’s why Jackson’s deal hasn’t gotten done. But that dynamic being in play probably hasn’t helped.
• The NFLPA’s survey of 1,300 players—the brainchild of union president JC Tretter—was released to the public Wednesday, and the results were pretty fascinating. It reflected really well on some teams (Vikings, Dolphins, Raiders), not so much on others (Chargers, Cardinals, Commanders). But to me, there is a cumulative effect here that should be good.
Based on the money the game generates, every teams should strive to have first-class conditions for their players and, quite honestly, the penny-pinching that happens instead in some places is flat-out embarrassing. So making a poll of players like this public should create some accountability for teams that aren’t doing the right thing, and investing back into their players the way they should be.
• Key line from Colts GM Chris Ballard today on what moving up to the No. 1 pick would mean: “That we were just convicted. That this is no freaking doubt the guy.”
This year’s quarterback class is seen as good, not great, with the four consensus first-rounders all carrying significant flaws. So it’ll be interesting to see whether or not Indy gets there on Bryce Young, C.J. Stroud, Will Levis or Anthony Richardson.
• Derek Carr’s trip to Indianapolis was efficient, with meetings with three teams stacked into two days. The interest from all three, of course, is real, but the continued moving parts on the quarterback market (and there could be a surprise or two coming in the next two weeks) have the Jets, Panthers and Saints comfortable waiting for Carr to go through a very deliberate, detailed process.
The Aaron Rodgers situation, of course, is still looming over the spot Carr’s in, too.
• We’ve mentioned this before, but it’s worth repeating, with Browns coach Kevin Stefanski having said that Deshaun Watson is “very excited” with where Cleveland is taking its offense this offseason—the more traditional, Gary Kubiak-styled attack wasn’t a perfect fit for the quarterback last year. So I’d expect we’ll see Cleveland retrofitting it to Watson’s strengths more aggressively than it did last year, with more shotgun and more spread concepts to get Watson playing fast and back in his comfort zone.
• Since this is going to keep coming up—Indianapolis remains the perfect place for the scouting combine. And I really believe moving it to Dallas or Los Angeles will cause teams to scale back further on who they send, because it’ll really take away from some of the biggest benefits of the event for teams, with it being so easy here for teams to meet with agents, agents to meet with teams, and teams to meet with other teams.
No need to wreck a good thing.
