Table of Contents
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- Chris Olave
- Christian Gonzalez
- Brandon Aiyuk
- Atlanta Falcons
- New England Patriots
- Grass fields
- Minnesota Vikings
- New York Jets
Getting to a few of your questions before hitting the road next week for NFL training camps …
Chris Olave
From Paul Christen (@P_Christen1): When do you expect to see a Chris Olave extension?
Paul, this is an interesting question, because it’s my understanding that the Saints have at least explored the idea over the past year—and Olave himself had some reservations before the quarterback situation worked itself out. Of course, there have also been questions relating to his concussions that could be a factor in negotiating a long-term deal. And then there was the blood clot that arose before he missed the team’s Week 18 game, a condition that kept him out of the team’s offseason program (he’s since been cleared).
Now, the upshot of all that is, unlike last year, the Saints have an entrenched starting quarterback going into camp in Tyler Shough. Olave played in 16 of 17 games last year and posted his first 100-catch season, and New Orleans has already shown a desire to keep Olave in Louisiana for the long term.
So what’s left is to figure out how he fits, numbers-wise, into the constellation of star receivers in the league, and relative specifically to guys like his former college teammate Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Ja’Marr Chase, both of whom landed deals exceeding $40 million per year.
Christian Gonzalez
From Anthony Calitri (@EastCosaNostra): Are the Patriots going to pay Christian Gonzalez?
Anthony, I believe the Patriots’ intent to sign Gonzalez is real. But it takes two to tango.
So that leaves the team in a tough spot because there’s another top corner, Seattle’s Devon Witherspoon, in a similar situation—and he’s represented by the same agency, allowing the players to work together. So, if the agency decides that Seattle is more likely to move aggressively now (and I think they will), then the focus first would be on getting Witherspoon done, which ostensibly would set the floor for Gonzalez.
There is a way out of this, of course, and that would be to hit the “buy now” button on Gonzalez and reset the market at corner altogether. Absent that, I think Witherspoon’s deal will come first, then Gonzalez’s, with a good shot that both get done this summer.
Brandon Aiyuk
From 9's (@JLK7299): Would anyone sign Brandon Aiyuk if the 49ers released him?’
9’s, yeah, I think someone would, but I don’t think it’s a slam dunk.
There’s a very real reason to question whether Aiyuk genuinely wants to play football. If so, he hasn’t prioritized it, since the easiest way for him to return to the field (and be in the best spot to ball out in 2026) would’ve been to report to the Niners’ offseason program and force them to cut him. Instead, he’s been firing missiles from a social media bunker, and allowing the 49ers to move forward without him.
The reality is, when guys are facing as many off-field questions as Aiyuk, what teams are looking for is a certain desperation from them to get back on the field, and show everyone who and what they can be. Aiyuk not only hasn’t shown that, but he also hasn’t given anyone reason to believe that he won’t be a disruption if he hits rough patches with a new team. And at this point, it’s been more than 21 months since he last played in an NFL game.
Suffice it to say, he’ll have some explaining to do with any team considering bringing him in.
Atlanta Falcons
From Ronnie (@Tray4o): If Tua Tagovailoa establishes himself as QB1 for the Falcons, what’s the future look like with Michael Penix Jr. with the Falcons?
Ronnie, I think the first thing that would set the stage for Penix leaving Atlanta would be the Falcons declining his fifth-year option next spring. That would be significant because it almost always leads to a team bailing on a first-round quarterback—Daniel Jones is the only real example of a guy having his option declined, and then winding up with a long-term deal to stay, since the option system went in with the 2011 draft class (Jordan Love did a one-year extension in place of his option).
Penix is competing for his future this summer. Since he’s coming off a torn ACL, there’s a scenario where he doesn’t win the job in camp and comes back with a fury later in the season. But losing the competition in camp would certainly decrease the likelihood that he’s on the team two years from now.
New England Patriots
From Chris (@ct401): With Gabe Jacas still unsigned, who do you think are some likely FA names that could see filling the Patriots’ pass-rush void (and not just the popular names)? At what point does Jacas give in?
Chris, Mike Vrabel has a few guys that he has common-sense connections to that’d fit the bill.
The most obvious one is Jadeveon Clowney, who’s still only 33 years old after 12 NFL seasons, and was with Vrabel over his first four NFL seasons in Houston, and then reunited with him in Tennessee in 2020. Clowney’s been patient the past few years picking his NFL home, and the Patriots seem to fit the bill as one where he could assimilate quickly.
The other is Joey Bosa, whom Vrabel actually recruited to Ohio State and coached when Bosa was a true freshman in Columbus. Bosa’s not what he was but can still be a solid rotational pass rusher, which he showed last year in Buffalo. The question with him, I think, is whether his role would project to be too similar to Harold Landry’s. But he played in the division last year, and has some versatility that Vrabel would like.
Grass fields
From Hawkeye (@USGrant1885): Do you expect more of a serious push for grass fields from the NFLPA after seeing how willing the owners were to put down grass for the World Cup?
Hawkeye, you’ve already seen a more serious push with the campaigns the union has launched on social media over the past few months. They have a point, too—owners in seven NFL markets (Atlanta, Dallas, New England, Seattle, New York, Houston and Los Angeles) saw fit to comply with FIFA’s request to lay grass down for soccer players. In doing so, they put the lie to several ideas, including one that held that grass in domes wasn’t feasible.
That said, the truth’s not hard to figure out. The price tag on stadiums escalated in the aughts to the point where building one for 10 football games a year alone no longer made any sense. As a result, the people running those buildings got more aggressive about attracting every big event imaginable to them. More events made growing grass harder. Rather than taking on that expense, the folks in charge just put down the fake stuff.
And it’d be nice if the owners could just cop to that. Laying down artificial turf is a business decision, plain and simple. Instead, they’ve cooked up numbers designed to make it look like players who’ve long bemoaned the toll synthetic surfaces take on them are just whining without any basis to their complaints.
Anyway, it’s pretty clear that the league and owners would require either the players share in the cost of the grass or give them something significant back to surrender on this issue. Are the players willing to go there? Should they have to? These are all things, clearly, that we’re going to continue to discuss in the coming months, after what everyone saw this summer.
Minnesota Vikings
From No Pressure (@marcmane_): Realistically, could there be a scenario where J.J. McCarthy ends up being third on the Vikings depth chart by the start of the season? I mean, they did bring back Wentz.
No Pressure, I think if McCarthy stumbles badly enough (and I don’t think he will) to fall to third on the depth chart, we may be talking about him needing a change of scenery, and the potential of a trade happening before the cutdown.
Yes, Carson Wentz is there. But I think that’s as much as anything about making sure, after being a little short last year—having to trade for Sam Howell over draft weekend, then sign Wentz in late August—that they wouldn’t be caught in that position again. Wentz, at the very least, showed he can go out there and operate Kevin O’Connell’s offense, and there’s value in that, especially when you have two good options in front of him.
Really, to me, where this goes next for McCarthy is in his hands. He’s going to have a chance to compete with Kyler Murray for the job. And if he wins it this time around, it won’t be about where he’s drafted. It’ll be about the kind of summer he’s had. So we’ll see if, after a bumpy two-year start to his career, he can put together a good one.
New York Jets
From Isles Den (@IslesDen): Do people around the league think the Jets will be a serious team this year (like 6–9 wins)? Or is Aaron Glenn on the hot seat?
Isle, I’ll answer both your questions.
The interesting thing about the Jets last year is that while a lot of people externally believed they had a good base of talent, the new guys coming in saw the team as a little futher away. And that was proven out with the midseason trades of Sauce Gardner to the Colts and Quinnen Williams to the Cowboys. So now, they’ve loaded up with picks. How good they can be will ride on the development of GM Darren Mougey and Glenn’s picks—primarily Armand Membou, Mason Taylor, David Bailey, Kenyon Sadiq and Omar Cooper Jr.
As far as Glenn being on the hot seat, it’d be hard to say he’s not, after half his coaching staff, and most prominently both his coordinators, were taken out. I think just as important as the wins and losses to keeping his job into 2027 will be the development of all those young guys, and how the team finishes the season out—presuming there’s no midseason firing.
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ALBERT BREER
Albert Breer is a senior writer covering the NFL for Sports Illustrated, delivering the biggest stories and breaking news from across the league. He has been on the NFL beat since 2005 and joined SI in 2016. Breer began his career covering the New England Patriots for the MetroWest Daily News and the Boston Herald from 2005 to ’07, then covered the Dallas Cowboys for the Dallas Morning News from 2007 to ’08. He worked for The Sporting News from 2008 to ’09 before returning to Massachusetts as The Boston Globe’s national NFL writer in 2009. From 2010 to 2016, Breer served as a national reporter for NFL Network. In addition to his work at Sports Illustrated, Breer regularly appears on NBC Sports Boston, 98.5 The Sports Hub in Boston, FS1 with Colin Cowherd, The Rich Eisen Show and The Dan Patrick Show. A 2002 graduate of Ohio State, Breer lives near Boston with his wife, a cardiac ICU nurse at Boston Children’s Hospital, and their three children.
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