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| Monday, March 8, 2021 |
| I'm not sure who's in charge of making sure new NFL uniforms don't leak before they get released, but I have to think that guy is going to soon be out of job because everything leaked over the weekend. |
| The Bengals are getting new uniforms this year and even though they haven't been released yet, they still somehow showed up on eBay on Sunday night. The Browns will be wearing a 75th anniversary alternate uniform for certain games this season and that also showed up on eBay. The 49ers will be wearing an updated throwback in 2021 and yup, that was on eBay as well. |
| The clear lesson here is that I should be spending more time on eBay looking for leaked uniforms. |
| We'll be talking about leaked uniforms and more in today's newsletter, so let's get to the rundown. As always, here's your weekly reminder to tell all your friends to sign up for the newsletter. All you have to do is click here and then share the link. |
| 1. Today's show: Mock Draft Monday |
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| From now until the draft starts on April 29, every Monday will be Mock Draft Monday on the podcast. What this means is that we'll be bringing in our draft gurus each week to talk about how they think the draft will play out. This week, that means Will Brinson was joined by draft experts Ryan Wilson and Emory Hunt. |
| Although Wilson is in love with every single quarterback in this year's draft -- he has five of them being selected in the top-12 of his latest mock -- the same can't be said for Hunt, who only has three quarterbacks being picked during the ENTIRE first round. |
| So how many quarterbacks are actually going to get selected in the first round? Wilson and Hunt spent some time debating that. |
| Even though I'm sure the guys probably could have spent the entire podcast talking about quarterbacks, they did eventually change the subject to something that's equally exciting: Sleepers. Hunt gave Brinson and Wilson his list of sleeper picks for this year's draft. Also, Monday's podcast features interviews with draft prospects Amari Rodgers (Clemson WR) and Levi Onwuzurike (Washington DL). |
| As for Wilson's latest mock, you can see the top 10 picks below. |
| 1. Jaguars: QB Trevor Lawrence (Clemson) 2. Jets: QB Zach Wilson (BYU) 3. Dolphins: WR Ja'Marr Chase (LSU) 4. Falcons: TE Kyle Pitts (Florida) 5. Bengals: OL Penei Sewell (Oregon) 6. Eagles: QB Justin Fields (Ohio State) 7. Lions: CB Caleb Farley (Virginia Tech) 8. Panthers: QB Mac Jones (Alabama) 9. Broncos: LB Micah Parsons (Penn State) 10. Cowboys: CB Patrick Surtain II (Alabama) |
| Wilson actually did a THREE-ROUND mock draft this week and you can check out the rest of the mock by clicking here. |
| To listen to today's episode -- and to subscribe to the podcast -- be sure to click here. |
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| 2. Tom Brady extension could add three more years to his deal |
| If the other NFL teams were hoping that Tom Brady might retire soon just so someone else could finally have a chance at winning a Super Bowl, I have some bad news for them: It doesn't sound like Brady plans on riding off into the sunset anytime soon. |
| Two weeks after the Super Bowl, Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht mentioned that giving Brady a contract extension this offseason was a "possibility," and now, it seems like that extension is definitely going to happen. CBS Sports NFL Insider Jason La Canfora has reported that not only are the two sides working on an extension , but here's the surprising part: the two sides might end up adding as many as THREE YEARS to the deal. If Brady signed a three-year extension, that means the quarterback would be 47 going into the final year of his deal. |
| One reason an extension is likely going to get done is because Brady WANTS one to get done. According to La Canfora, Brady wants to create some cap room so that the Buccaneers can keep some of their bigger free agents. At $28.375 million, Brady has the highest cap hit on the team for 2021. A new deal with Brady could free up more than $15 million in cap space, which would allow the Buccaneers to try and keep several key players who are about to hit free agency, including Chris Godwin, Lavonte David, Shaq Barrett, Ndamukong Suh, Antonio Brown and Rob Gronkowski. |
| If Russell Wilson and Aaron Rodgers want their teams to be active in free agency, maybe they need to think about going the Brady route to free up some money. |
| 3. New Bengals jerseys might have been leaked |
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| Back in January, the Bengals announced that they would be unveiling new uniforms this year and as the resident Bengals homer here at CBSSports.com, that means I've spent 24 hours per day for the past two months scouring the internet for some sort of leak and thankfully, that leak came on Sunday night. |
| Apparently, someone was looking at Bengals jerseys on eBay over the weekend and they got a big surprise when they saw a picture of what appears to be the team's new duds. The orange and black jerseys were both leaked and you can see those by clicking here . There's no way to know if the leaked jerseys are real -- and we won't know until the Bengals officially unveil them in April -- but my guess is yes. The new uniforms basically look like a modernized version of what they wore during the 1980s when they were actually good. |
| The Twitter reaction to the new look was mixed with some saying the uniform looked like it came from Walmart and others saying they liked it because it looks a lot cleaner than what the Bengals normally wear. |
| The Bengals weren't the only team dealing with a uniform leak over the weekend. The Browns and 49ers will be unveiling new throwback uniforms this year and both of those were also leaked on eBay -- you can see them by clicking here. |
| In related news, eBay is my new favorite website. |
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| 4. Patriots want to reunite with Jimmy Garoppolo |
| When the Patriots drafted Jimmy Garoppolo back in 2014, the plan was for him to eventually replace Tom Brady. And even though they traded Jimmy G away in 2017, it appears they're still dead set on making that plan happen. |
| According to the Boston Sports Journal, the Patriots have decided on a "Plan A" at quarterback for 2021, and that plan is to somehow acquire Garoppolo . I don't usually question anything the Patriots do, but having your "Plan A" involve someone who's under contract with another team doesn't seem like a smart Plan A. That being said, there are two routes that could end with Jimmy G back in New England this offseason: |
| Patriots trade with 49ers. The Patriots don't have much to offer the 49ers, but the two sides might still be able to get a deal done. For instance, if the Patriots were willing to deal Stephon Gilmore, that might be enough for the 49ers to give up Garoppolo. It would also be sweet irony if the Patriots sent a second-round pick to San Francisco for Jimmy since that's what the 49ers gave the Patriots in 2017 when they traded for him. Patriots could sign him in free agency. If the 49ers trade for another quarterback -- like say, Deshaun Watson -- then they would have no need for Garoppolo and could end up releasing him. The reason cutting him could make sense is because the 49ers would pick up more than $20 million in cap space. Plus, Jimmy only has a dead cap hit of $2.8 million. If Jimmy gets cut, then he'd be free to sign with any team he wants and you have to think he'd be interested in returning to New England, if only because he already knows the offense. |
| The one thing I will say about Garoppolo is that I feel like the Patriots want him more than the 49ers do, which is why it wouldn't be a huge surprise if he ends up back in New England. |
5. Franchise tag deadline could be pushed back
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| When it comes to the NFL's franchise tag, most of the action usually happens on the day of the deadline, which is supposed to be coming tomorrow, but that could be changing. |
| According to ESPN, the NFLPA wants to wants to wait until the television deals are finalized before setting a salary cap number in 2021 and that delay could lead to the postponement of the franchise tag deadline. Last year, the deadline got moved back twice while the NFL and the NFLPA haggled over the new collective bargaining agreement. The 2020 deadline got moved from March 10 to March 12 to its final date of March 16, so it wouldn't be completely surprising if the date gets pushed back this year. |
| The franchise tag window opened on Feb. 23 this year and since then, only two players have been hit with the tag (Justin Simmons, Broncos) or reportedly hit (Taylor Moton, Panthers). If the deadline doesn't move, that will make things interesting, because it means a team like the Cowboys will have to tag Dak Prescott by 4 p.m. EST on Tuesday if they can't get an extension done with him. |
| 6. 'Thursday Night Football' likely headed to Amazon |
| If you have an Amazon Prime account, it's going to do more than just get you free two-day delivery in the near future and that's because it's starting to look like Amazon is going to be your only choice for watching "Thursday Night Football." |
| According to CNBC, Amazon is the front-runner to land "Thursday Night Football" because the networks don't seem all that interested in bidding on it. Amazon has been streaming TNF since 2017 , but they haven't had it exclusively, because TNF has been simulcast on Fox and NFL Network. Under the new deal, Amazon would exclusively carry most Thursday games starting in 2023 (Fox currently has the TV rights through the 2022 season). |
| NFL Network is required to carry at least five regular-season games per year, so not every game would be on Amazon, but the majority of them would only be available through their website if the deal goes through. This would be a huge change for the NFL, which has never given a TV package to a streaming-only service. |
| With the NFL currently negotiating its new TV deals -- which will likely be announced in the next week or two -- you won't notice many changes with CBS, NBC, Fox and ESPN/ABC all expected to stay on board. However, the one change you will notice will likely come on Thursdays with Amazon. |
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| 7. The Kicker: Josh Gordon catches a Hail Mary |
| Josh Gordon didn't do much of anything in the NFL this year, but he did make quite the mark during his debut in the FCFL over the weekend. For those of you who haven't been keeping up with your football initialisms, FCFL means Fan Controlled Football League. It's a league where the fans pick the plays and apparently, they're good at their job. The fans called a Hail Mary on the final play of Saturday's game and Gordon came through when he caught the long bomb to give the Zappers a 32-26 win over the Beasts. You can see the play by clicking here. |
| Gordon was available to play on Saturday because he was released by the Seahawks on March 4. Apparently, Gordon decided to join the FCFL because Johnny Manziel talked him into it. Also, let's be honest, no one is turning down a chance to play for a team called the Zappers. |
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