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New on Sports Illustrated: Report: MLB's Proposal for 2020 Draft Rejected by MLBPA

Major League Baseball's proposal for the 2020 draft included 10 rounds with limits on slot values.

Major League Baseball's proposal to have the 2020 amateur draft held from the commissioner's office has been rejected by the MLB Players Association,

according to Ken Rosenthal and Evan Drellich of The Athletic.

The league proposed for the draft to have 10 rounds, per The Athletic which is five more than the league's rules require. It included other restrictions to which the players objected.

In the proposal, the league would have the draft split into two five-round portions, according to The Athletic. The slot values for picks in the first five rounds would be equal to what they were in 2019. For rounds six through 10, slot values would be 50% of last year's value. Teams would also be allowed to sign five undrafted players for $20,000, the maximum bonus a player is allowed to receive. Teams could also sign as many players as they wanted for $5,000 or less.

The looming threat in these negotiations is a draft with even fewer rounds, something the players are against.

MLB could still send a different proposal. In March, the two sides agreed to a broad framework for the draft that set parameters at somewhere between five and 40 rounds, with a commitment to sticking to the 2019 draft's slot values. As of now, the draft is still scheduled to take place in June.

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New on Sports Illustrated: Four-Star North Carolina State Signee Josh Hall Bypassing College for NBA Draft

Hall was the top-ranked prospect in North Carolina State's recruiting class.

North Carolina State men's basketball signee Josh Hall is skipping college and entering the 2020 NBA draft. The four-start prospect announced his decision

via Twitter.

"I would like to thank Coach Keatts and NC State for their support in this decision. It truly is a blessing to have such good people around me," Hall said. "As I strive to constantly improve myself day by day to reach my dream of professional basketball, I understand this is a journey some can only dream about. The dream is a lot closer than I imagined at 19 years old. With that being said I have decided to enter the NBA draft and sign with an agent. I’m two feet into this process and am excited to see what the future holds."

Hall is signing with Nate Conley of Pro Sports Management, according to Evan Daniels of 247 Sports.

Hall is ranked as the No. 32 player in the country by 247 Sports and the No. 2 player from North Carolina. He was North Carolina State's top-ranked commit, in a class that also includes four-star guard Cam Hayes. He's eligible for the 2020 draft because he's 19 years old and graduated from high school in 2019. After graduation, he took a post-graduate year at Moravian Prep in Durham, North Carolina.

Hall's announcement follows similar decisions made by other top prospects from the class of 2020. Earlier this week, UCLA commit Daishen Nix announced he would be skipping college to play in the G League. His decision came after Jalen Green and Isaiah Todd, the latter a former Michigan commit, also opted to go from high school to the G League.

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New on Sports Illustrated: Gary Bettman Says NHL Will Consider December Start for 2020-21 Season

The NHL suspended its season on March 12 as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

The NHL will consider a December start to the 2020-21 season, commissioner Gary Bettman told NHL Network on Thursday. 

"We have a great deal of flexibility in terms of when we can start," Bettman said on Thursday. "There's no magic for next season of starting in October as we traditionally do. If we have to start in November or December, that's something that will be under consideration. We're going to try to make good, prudent, careful judgments. This isn't a race to be first back."

The NHL suspended its season on March 12 as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

On Wednesday, the league sent a memo to its teams stating that it hopes to move ahead to "Phase 2" and begin opening team facilities for small group workouts in mid-to-late May.

"While the precise date...remains tentative and as yet undetermined, we do feel that we may be able—provided we continue to trend favorably—to move to ‘Phase 2’ at some point in the mid-to-later portion of May,” the league wrote in a statement.

Like the NBA, each NHL team is facing different local government restrictions, though travel could be especially difficult for professional hockey. The U.S.—Canada border remains closed amid the coronavirus pandemic and players currently at home in Europe may not be able to travel until June, at the earliest, per TSN's Frank Seravalli.

Bettman said Thursday there is no firm timeline or target dates for a possible return.

"We're going to have to take things one step at a time, because the health and well-being of our players is paramount to anything we're focused on," he said.

"Our health concerns for the players really fit into two categories: One is obviously COVID-19, and two, whatever we're going to do, we don't want them playing games until they're back in game shape. We don't want anybody getting injured."

In early April, he said there was "there's too much uncertainty" surrounding the league's situation to make predictions about when games would return.

He added that while the "best thing, and the easiest thing" would be to complete the regular season and playoffs as usual, the league is currently looking at a number of different ways to finish the season.

Throughout the global health crisis, the NHL has decided not to mass test its players.

"We said, very definitively, that our medical experts, including governing health authorities, aren’t recommending mass testing—in part because the resources aren’t available, in part because it’s of limited utility at this point," deputy commissioner Bill Daly told Sports Illustrated's Alex Prewitt.

Daly told Sports Illustrated that the NHL does, however, keep a “master list” of tests obtained by anyone “associated with the league or our clubs,” players included. Teams are also asked to alert the league if any staffer becomes symptomatic.

The scouting combine and NHL draft, originally scheduled for June 1–6 and June 26–27, respectively, have also been postponed.

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New on Sports Illustrated: NWHL First-Overall Pick Sammy Davis Driven to Succeed

Sammy Davis comes to the Boston Pride after four standout seasons at Boston University. Now she's pursuing both a professional hockey career and a doctorate degree.

If you’re of a certain vintage, you desperately want Sammy Davis’ dressing room nickname to be Junior. After all, the former standout at Boston University and the first overall pick in the 2020 National Women’s Hockey League draft will be counted on to be really good, versatile and entertaining with the Boston Pride. “We’re all younger, so the girls I play with have no clue who Sammy Davis Jr., is,” Davis said. “But the adults all razz me about it.”

Perhaps that’s because, unlike their male brethren, women hockey players don’t go for the low-hanging fruit when it comes to nicknames. One thing that is so intriguing about many women’s hockey players is they lead such incredibly interesting lives off the ice, while being among the best in the world on it. And Davis is no exception. As a redshirt senior at BU this past season, she captained and led her team in goals, assists and points. In high school, she did a study on a marine lab in the Atlantic Ocean. While she was leading her team on the ice, she was also pursuing a Master’s degree in special education. And while she’s forging her career as a pro hockey player starting next season, she’ll also be embarking on a three-year journey, studying for her doctorate in occupational therapy at BU.

Interesting tidbit: The Terriers are the only program to have a first overall pick in the NWHL (Davis), the Canadian Women’s Hockey League (Kayla Tutino by the Boston Blades in 2016) and the NHL (Rick DiPietro by the New York Islanders in 2000). Combining her success in the classroom and on the ice, there’s no mystery to why the Pride, a team that was in first overall in the NWHL standings when the season was suspended, traded up five spots with the expansion franchise in Toronto to get the first pick so they could choose the native of suburban Boston. “It’s crazy, man,” Davis said, taking a break from a bike ride with her boyfriend Wednesday afternoon. “I guess they really wanted me.”

No kidding. The fact that she was a point-a-game player over her career with the Terriers, part of a team that won an Under-18 World Championship for USA and the MVP of the Women’s Beanpot Tournament in 2019 makes her somebody you probably want in your dressing room. Juggling the demands of a doctoral program at a prestigious university and being a professional athlete will undoubtedly be an enormous challenge, but Davis sees it as an opportunity. “I think it sends a message, especially for women’s hockey players, ‘Don’t be afraid to try to do two things at once and be successful,’ ” Davis said. “Because it’s possible. I hope that eventually that changes and we can just play hockey as a career, but the reality now is that it’s really not.”

That issue continues to play itself out in women’s hockey, with hundreds of players electing to sit out of the NWHL after the CWHL folded after the 2018-19 season. Those players have instead elected to join the Professional Women’s Hockey Players’ Association (PHWPA), which spent last season barnstorming across North America with its Dream Gap Tour. Davis has no issue with the PWHPA players, many of whom are close friends and former teammates, but said it was not feasible for her because of her school commitments. “It’s nice to be around people who know and (the Pride) have been so accepting,” Davis said. “They want it to work both ways and they know I want to make it work both ways. It’s so nice to have a hockey team that respects you.”

Davis has already agreed to terms with the Pride, so assuming the 2020-21 season can go ahead as planned, there’s no reason she won’t be in the Pride lineup, a powerhouse that lost just one of 24 games this past season and led the league in goals. With 42 goals and 93 points in 73 games over the past two seasons, Davis found her stride as a go-to offensive player. Those two seasons came after her career was almost derailed and forced her to take the entire 2017-18 season off. As her sophomore season came to a close, Davis noticed her hips were in constant pain and it did not dissipate in the off-season. It turned out she had a bilateral hip labral tear and needed surgery on both hips. “It was really hard to sit out that year and watch on the sidelines,” Davis said. “But I learned a lot about myself, I learned a lot about the game. I try not to think about the negatives.”

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New on Sports Illustrated: Full List of Early Entrants for 2020 NBA Draft Released as Total Number of Players Drops From 2019

The full list of early entry candidates for the 2020 NBA draft was announced with 163 players from colleges and other education institutions alongside 42 international players.

The full list of early entry candidates for the 2020 NBA draft was announced Tuesday, with 163 players from colleges and other education institutions testing the waters alongside 42 international players. 

According to NCAA rules,

players who wish to maintain their collegiate eligibility must withdraw from the draft by June 3 by informing both the NBA and their school's athletic director. International players have the right to withdraw their names from consideration for the draft as long as it's done 10 days prior to the event. 

Currently the draft is set for June 25 in Brooklyn, New York, though, though it's possible that as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, the event gets delayed. 

The total number of entrants is down from the previous two years, when 233 (2019) and 236 (2018) early entrants declared.

Below is a full list of the early entrants. Players who are bolded are in the top-50 of Sports Illustrated draft analyst Jeremy Woo's most recent big board. 

(Names — School, Height, Status):

• Precious Achiuwa — Memphis, 6-9, Freshman
• Milan Acquaah — California Baptist, 6-3, Junior
• Jordyn Adams—  Austin Peay, 6-3, Freshman
• Abdul Ado — Mississippi State, 6-11, Junior
• Ty-Shon Alexander — Creighton, 6-4, Junior
• Timmy Allen — Utah, 6-6, Sophomore
• Derrick Alston Jr. — Boise State, 6-9, Junior
• Cole Anthony, — North Carolina, 6-3, Freshman
• Joel Ayayi — Gonzaga, 6-5, Sophomore
• Brendan Bailey — Marquette, 6-8, Sophomore
• Saddiq Bey — Villanova, 6-8, Sophomore
• Tyler Bey — Colorado, 6-7, Junior
• Jermaine Bishop — Norfolk State, 6-1, Junior
• Jomaru Brown — Eastern Kentucky, 6-2, Sophomore
• Marcus Burk — IUPUI, 6-3, Junior
• Dachon Burke Jr. — Nebraska, 6-4, Junior
• Jordan Burns — Colgate, 6-0, Junior
• Jared Butler — Baylor, 6-3, Sophomore
• Manny Camper — Siena, 6-7, Junior
• Vernon Carey Jr. — Duke, 6-10, Freshman
• Marcus Carr — Minnesota, 6-2, Sophomore
• Tamenang Choh — Brown, 6-5, Junior
• Kofi Cockburn — Illinois, 7-0, Freshman
• David Collins – South Florida, 6-3, Junior
• Zach Cooks — NJIT, 5-9, Junior
• Jalen Crutcher — Dayton, 6-1, Junior
• Ryan Daly — St. Joseph’s, 6-5, Junior
• Nate Darling — Delaware, 6-5, Junior
• Darius Days — LSU, 6-6, Sophomore
• Dexter Dennis — Wichita State, 6-5, Sophomore
• Lamine Diane — CSUN, 6-7, Sophomore
• Ayo Dosunmu — Illinois, 6-5, Sophomore
• Devon Dotson — Kansas, 6-2, Sophomore
• Nojel Eastern — Purdue, 6-7, Junior
• Anthony Edwards — Georgia, 6-5, Freshman
• CJ Elleby — Washington State, 6-6, Sophomore
• Mason Faulkner — Western Carolina, 6-1, Junior
• LJ Figueroa — St. John’s, 6-6, Junior
• Malik Fitts — St. Mary’s, 6-8, Junior
• Malachi Flynn — San Diego State, 6-1, Junior
• Blake Francis — Richmond, 6-0, Junior
• Hasahn French — St. Louis, 6-7, Junior
• DJ Funderburk — NC State, 6-10, Junior
• Both Gach — Utah, 6-6, Sophomore
• Alonzo Gaffney — Ohio State 6-9 Freshman
• Luka Garza — Iowa, 6-11, Junior
• Jacob Gilyard — Richmond, 5-9, Junior
• Grant Golden — Richmond, 6-10, Junior
• Jordan Goodwin — St. Louis, 6-3, Junior
• Tony Goodwin II — Redemption Academy (MA), 6-6, Post-Graduate
• Jayvon Graves — Buffalo, 6-3, Junior
• AJ Green — Northern Iowa, 6-4, Sophomore
• Darin Green Jr. — UCF, 6-4, Freshman
• Josh Green — Arizona, 6-6, Freshman
• Ashton Hagans — Kentucky, 6-3, Sophomore
• Tyrese Haliburton — Iowa State, 6-5, Sophomore
• Josh Hall — Moravian Prep (NC), 6-8, Post-Graduate
• Rayshaun Hammonds — Georgia, 6-9, Junior
• Jalen Harris — Nevada, 6-5, Junior
• Niven Hart — Fresno State, 6-5, Freshman
• Aaron Henry — Michigan State, 6-6, Sophomore
• Jalen Hill — UCLA, 6-10, Sophomore
• Nate Hinton — Houston, 6-5, Sophomore
• Jay Huff — Virginia, 7-1, Junior
• Elijah Hughes — Syracuse, 6-6, Junior
• Feron Hunt — SMU, 6-8, Sophomore
• Chance Hunter — Long Beach State, 6-6, Sophomore
• DeJon Jarreau — Houston, 6-5, Junior
• Damien Jefferson — Creighton, 6-5, Junior
• Isaiah Joe — Arkansas, 6-5, Sophomore
• Dakari Johnson — Cape Fear CC (NC), 6-0, Freshman
• Jalen Johnson — Louisiana, 6-7, Junior
• Andre Jones — Nicholls State, 6-4, Junior
• C.J. Jones — MTSU, 6-5, Junior
• Herbert Jones — Alabama, 6-7, Junior
• Mason Jones — Arkansas, 6-5, Junior
• Tre Jones — Duke, 6-3, Sophomore
• Corey Kispert — Gonzaga, 6-7, Junior
• Kameron Langley — NC A&T, 6-2, Junior
• AJ Lawson — South Carolina, 6-6, Sophomore
• Saben Lee — Vanderbilt, 6-2, Junior
• Kira Lewis Jr. — Alabama, 6-3, Sophomore
• Matt Lewis — James Madison, 6-5, Junior
• Isaiah Livers — Michigan, 6-7, Junior
• Denzel Mahoney — Creighton, 6-5, Junior
• Makur Maker — Pacific Academy (CA), 7-0, Post-Graduate
• Sandro Mamukelashvili — Seton Hall, 6-11, Junior
• Tre Mann — Florida, 6-4, Freshman
• Nico Mannion — Arizona, 6-3, Freshman
• Naji Marshall — Xavier, 6-7, Junior
• Kenyon Martin Jr. — IMG Academy (FL), 6-7, Post-Graduate
• Remy Martin — Arizona State, 6-0, Junior
• Tyrese Maxey — Kentucky, 6-3, Freshman
• Mac McClung — Georgetown, 6-2, Sophomore
• Jaden McDaniels — Washington, 6-9, Freshman
• Isiaha Mike — SMU, 6-8, Junior
• Isaiah Miller — UNCG, 6-0, Junior
• Matt Mitchell — San Diego State, 6-6, Junior
• EJ Montgomery — Kentucky, 6-10, Sophomore
• Andrew Nembhard — Florida, 6-5, Sophomore
• Aaron Nesmith — Vanderbilt, 6-6, Sophomore
• Zeke Nnaji — Arizona, 6-11, Freshman
• Obadiah Noel — Massachusetts-Lowell, 6-4, Junior
• Jordan Nwora — Louisville, 6-7, Junior
• Onyeka Okongwu — USC, 6-9, Freshman
• Isaac Okoro — Auburn, 6-6, Freshman
• Elijah Olaniyi — Stony Brook, 6-5, Junior
• Daniel Oturu — Minnesota, 6-10, Sophomore
• Reggie Perry — Mississippi State, 6-10, Sophomore
• Filip Petrusev — Gonzaga, 6-11, Sophomore
• John Petty Jr. — Alabama, 6-5, Junior
• Nate Pierre-Louis — Temple, 6-4, Junior
• Xavier Pinson — Missouri, 6-2, Sophomore
• Yves Pons — Tennessee, 6-6, Junior
• Immanuel Quickley — Kentucky, 6-3, Sophomore
• Darius Quisenberry — Youngstown State, 6-1, Sophomore
• Jahmi’us Ramsey — Texas Tech, 6-4, Freshman
• Paul Reed Jr. — DePaul, 6-9, Junior
• Nick Richards — Kentucky, 6-11, Junior
• Colbey Ross — Pepperdine, 6-1, Junior
• Fatts Russell — Rhode Island, 5-10, Junior
• Joe Saterfield — Ranger CC (TX), 6-4 Freshman
• Jayden Scrubb — John A. Logan College (IL), 6-6, Sophomore
• Aamir Simms — Clemson, 6-9, Junior
• Ja’Vonte Smart — LSU, 6-4, Sophomore
• Chris Smith — UCLA, 6-9, Junior
• Collin Smith — UCF, 6-11, Junior
• Jalen Smith — Maryland, 6-10, Sophomore
• Justin Smith — Indiana, 6-7, Junior
• Mitchell Smith — Missouri, 6-10, Junior
• Stef Smith — Vermont, 6-1, Junior
• Ben Stanley — Hampton, 6-6, Sophomore
• Cassius Stanley — Duke, 6-6, Freshman
• Isaiah Stewart — Washington, 6-9, Freshman
• Parker Stewart — UT-Martin, 6-5, Sophomore
• Terry Taylor — Austin Peay, 6-5, Junior
• MaCio Teague — Baylor, 6-3, Junior
• Tyrell Terry — Stanford, 6-1, Freshman
• Justin Thomas — Morehead State, 5-11, Junior
• Ethan Thompson — Oregon State, 6-5, Junior
• Xavier Tillman Sr. — Michigan State, 6-8, Junior
• Jeremiah Tilmon — Missouri, 6-10, Junior
• Obi Toppin — Dayton, 6-9, Sophomore
• Jordan Tucker — Butler, 6-7, Junior
• Devin Vassell — Florida State, 6-6, Sophomore
• Alonzo Verge Jr. — Arizona State, 6-3, Junior
• Chris Vogt — Cincinnati, 7-1, Junior
• CJ Walker — Ohio State, 6-1, Junior
• Trendon Watford — LSU, 6-9, Freshman
• Ibi Watson — Dayton, 6-5, Junior
• Nick Weatherspoon — Mississippi State, 6-2, Junior
• Kaleb Wesson — Ohio State, 6-9, Junior
• Jarrod West Marshall 5-11 Junior
• Romello White — Arizona State, 6-8, Junior
• Kahlil Whitney — Kentucky, 6-6, Freshman
• DeAndre Williams — Evansville, 6-9, Sophomore
• Emmitt Williams — LSU, 6-6, Sophomore
• Keith Williams — Cincinnati, 6-5, Junior
• Patrick Williams — Florida State, 6-8, Freshman
• James Wiseman — Memphis, 7-1, Freshman
• Robert Woodard II — Mississippi State, 6-7, Sophomore
• McKinley Wright IV — Colorado, 6-0, Junior
• Omer Yurtseven — Georgetown, 7-0, Junior

The following is the list of international players who have applied for early entry into the 2020 NBA Draft:

• Berke Atar — MZT Skopje (Macedonia), 6-11, 1999 DOB
• Deni Avdija — Maccabi Tel Aviv (Israel), 6-8, 2001 DOB
• Brancou Badio — Barcelona (Spain), 6-3, 1999 DOB
• Darko Bajo — Split (Croatia) ,6-10, 1999 DOB
• Philippe Bayehe — Roseto (Italy), 6-9, 1999 DOB
• Marek Blazevic — Rytas (Lithuania), 6-10, 2001 DOB
• Adrian Bogucki — Radom (Poland), 7-1 1999 DOB
• Leandro Bolmaro — Barcelona (Spain), 6-6, 2000 DOB
• Vinicius Da Silva — Prat (Spain), 7-0, 2001 DOB
• Henri Drell — Pesaro (Italy), 6-9 2000 DOB
• Imru Duke — Zentro Basket, (Spain), 6-8, 1999 DOB
• Michele Ebeling — Kleb Ferrara (Italy), 6-9, 1999 DOB
• Paul Eboua — Pesaro (Italy), 6-8, 2000 DOB
• Osas Ehigiator — Fuenlabrada (Spain), 6-10, 1999 DOB
• Joel Ekamba — Limoges (France), 6-5, 2001 DOB
• Selim Fofana — Neuchatel (Switzerland), 6-3, 1999 DOB
• Miguel Gonzalez — Baskonia (Spain), 6-7, 1999 DOB
• Killian Hayes — Ratiopharm Ulm (Germany), 6-5, 2001 DOB
• Sehmus Hazer — Bandirma (Turkey), 6-3, 1999 DOB
• Rokas Jokubaitis — Zalgiris (Lithuania), 6-4, 2000 DOB
• Georgios Kalaitzakis — Nevezis (Lithuania), 6-8, 1999 DOB
• Vit Krejci — Zaragoza (Spain), 6-8, 2000 DOB
• Arturs Kurucs — VEF Riga (Latvia), 6-3, 2000 DOB
• Dut Mabor — Roseto (Italy), 7-1, 2001 DOB
• Yam Madar — Hapoel Tel Aviv (Israel), 6-2, 2000 DOB
• Theo Maledon — ASVEL (France), 6-4, 2001 DOB
• Karim Mane — Vanier (Canada), 6-5, 2000 DOB
• Sergi Martinez — Barcelona (Spain), 6-8, 1999 DOB
• Nikola Miskovic — Mega Bemax (Serbia), 6-10, 1999 DOB
• Aristide Mouaha — Roseto (Italy), 6-3, 2000 DOB
• Caio Pacheco — Bahia Basket (Argentina), 6-3, 1999 DOB
• Joel Parra — Joventut (Spain), 6-8, 2000 DOB
• Aleksej Pokusevski — Olympiacos (Greece), 7-0, 2001 DOB
• Sander Raieste  — Kalev/Cramo (Estonia), 6-9, 1999 DOB
• Nikolaos Rogkavopoulos — AEK (Greece), 6-8, 2001 DOB
• Yigitcan Saybir — Anadolu Efes (Turkey), 6-7, 1999 DOB
• Njegos Sikiras — Fuenlabrada (Spain), 6-9, 1999 DOB
• Marko Simonovic — Mega Bemax (Serbia), 6-11, 1999 DOB
• Mouhamed Thiam — Nanterre (France), 6-9, 2001 DOB
• Uros Trifunovic — Partizan (Serbia), 6-7, 2000 DOB
• Arnas Velicka — Prienai (Lithuania), 6-4, 1999 DOB
• Andrii Voinalovych — Khimik (Ukraine), 6-10, 1999 DOB

New on Sports Illustrated: Jameis Winston Says Saints QB Room is 'Like a Harvard Education in QB School'

Newly signed Saints QB Jameis Winston appears excited to join his new team.

Newly signed

Saints quarterback Jameis Winston appears excited to join his new team.

"Being a part of the New Orleans Saints—being a part with Drew Brees, Taysom Hill, Sean Payton, coach Joe Lombardi, coach Pete Carmichael Jr.—when you think about that room, that's like a Harvard education in quarterback school," Winston said Tuesday during an appearance on "Charlie's Chalk Talk" with Charlie Ward on Instagram Live. "So I wanted to put my ego aside—put the money to the side —to think about my family, think about my career.

"And there was no better position than to be in the same room with someone that I've really looked up to, that I've admired since I've been playing this game, in Drew Brees."

The Saints announced Tuesday that they officially signed Winston. While the terms of the deal were not officially announced, Yahoo Sports' Charles Robinson reported that the deal is "very economical." Winston reportedly was not guaranteed that he would be New Orleans's No. 2 quarterback, as he will instead be competing against both Taysom Hill and 2020 seventh-round draft pick Tommy Stevens. Brees will again be the team's starter as the veteran QB also reached a two-year extension with New Orleans this offseason.

NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported Sunday that Winston turned down a more lucrative offer elsewhere to instead have the opportunity to learn from Brees.

Brees told ESPN's Mike Triplett Tuesday that he's "excited to have [Winston] in the QB room."

"He's got a lot of talent and a bright future," Brees said. "I've heard a lot of good things about his work ethic and love of the game."

The 26-year-old Winston had spent the first five years of his NFL career with the Buccaneers, who drafted the Florida State product first overall in the 2015 NFL Draft.

Through five seasons in Tampa Bay, Winston threw for nearly 20,000 career yards, but his accuracy proved to be a concern throughout. Last season, he finished the year with 5,109 passing yards, 33 touchdowns and 30 interceptions. He was the fifth quarterback to throw 30 interceptions in a season, but just the first in league history to throw for 30 or more touchdowns and 30 or more interceptions.

The Buccaneers' decision to move on from Winston comes as a result of the team signing six-time Super Bowl winner Tom Brady this offseason.

"I've done some great things with the Bucs. I'm gonna miss being a starting quarterback," Winston said. "But you never know what happens. I think this is just a great and unique step to join Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints and learn from one of the best to ever do it, and make a great transition in my career."

New on Sports Illustrated: Abby Wambach, Jessica Mendoza and Kevin Durant to Help Launch Professional Indoor Volleyball League

In addition to the new volleyball league, the company previously announced that a new women's fast-pitch softball league under their leadership will begin play in August.

Athletes Unlimited, a company looking to "

revolutionize pro sports" that has former UWSNT star Abby Wambach, Olympic softball star Jessica Mendoza and NBA MVP Kevin Durant as members of its board, is launching a women's indoor volleyball league that will start in February, the company told USA Today's Nancy Armour. 

The company had previously announced that a new women's fast-pitch softball league under their leadership will begin play in August. A third women's professional sports league will also launch in 2022. 

"Re-imagining is really important right now. Re-imagining what could be possible," Wambach told USA TODAY Sports. "When you look at all the sports, especially women's sports, there is so much more potential that has yet to be understood and figured out. This is, I think, a perfect solution."

Per the company's website, individual players earn points based on team wins and on individual performance as they compete for a title and additional cash bonuses. In the new softball league, every week of their five-week season starts with a new draft with the top four players on the leaderboard taking on the role of team captains. Each week will see six games played across the league.

The softball league, which was co-founded by Jon Patricof and Jonathan Soros, will  divide $1 million in compensation between its 56 players with additional bonuses available. No official information regarding compensation about the new volleyball league has been released, though, USA Today reports each leagues will have $1 million in payroll.

"Pro sports fans want faster, more exciting and more meaningful games—and newer, expanded ways to engage with the players they love," Patricof said in the softball league's official release. "We literally change the game with faster play and fluid teams, delivering next-level competition and engagement."

New on Sports Illustrated: No title

New on Sports Illustrated: No title

New on Sports Illustrated: No title

New on Sports Illustrated: No title

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New on Sports Illustrated: With John McDonough Fired, Is Anyone Safe in Chicago?

The culture that John McDonough helped establish in Chicago is what led to his undoing. Losing is no longer accepted by a franchise that spent decades doing it.

It would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to overstate what a joke the Chicago Blackhawks were when John McDonough arrived on the scene in 2007. The same would go for the success the Blackhawks have had on and off the ice since then. In fact, aside the Pittsburgh Penguins and Los Angeles Kings, name a team in the NHL that wouldn’t trade its lot with the Blackhawks over the past decade-and-a-half. We’ll wait.

Think of it this way, the Blackhawks have been members of the NHL for the past 93 years. The teams John McDonough ran won as many Stanley Cups (three) in 13 years as all the others did in the previous 80. Think about that. And that’s only on the ice. It was off the ice where McDonough did his best work and for all the problems that plagued the Blackhawks, the business side was still one of the most robust in the NHL, with the Blackhawks leading the league in attendance every season since 2008-09 and among the league leaders in producing revenues. They’ve sold out more than 500 straight games and they trail only the New York Rangers, Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens in terms of franchise value.

But that was not enough for McDonough to keep his job. The Blackhawks announced Monday they had “released” their president and CEO. Assuming the decision was based solely on the hockey and business aspects of McDonough’s performance, it was a shocker. And it also brings into question whether or not anyone in this organization is safe at the moment. Certainly Stan Bowman, who has been the man primarily responsible for both the overwhelming success and precipitous fall of the Blackhawks on the ice, has to be looking over his shoulder at the moment.

“That was the first thing I thought of when I heard about it,” said a former Blackhawks player who played for McDonough’s teams. “If they can fire him, who is the next to go? I know John is an extremely hard worker and he holds people accountable. I was definitely caught off guard with this one.”

(I spoke with the president of another NHL team who was stunned to hear the news. He talks with McDonough regularly and said there was no indication from McDonough that anything was afoot. In fact, Wirtz gave McDonough a vote of confidence less than a month ago. Wirtz was also on the weekly call between NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and the 31 team presidents last Wednesday.)

“Thirteen years ago, I recruited John to the Blackhawks because of his leadership, direction and vision,” Blackhawks chairman Rocky Wirtz said in a statement Monday. “John brought all of that to the table and more. His contributions went well beyond leading the team to three Stanley Cup championships. He rebuilt the front office and helped guide the organization toward a winning vision. As difficult as this is, we believe it was the right decision for the future of the organization and its fans.”

When McDonough arrived, the Blackhawks were a doormat both on and off the ice. They were chronically understaffed. Players were given wads of free tickets to give out to people they met around town. McDonough, who came over after two wildly successful decades with the Chicago Cubs, brought a sense of professionalism and accountability to the front office that had never been seen prior to that. He recruited sponsors, all the while convincing Blackhawk fans to dust off their sweaters and support the team. He helped fill the building, established a summer fan convention that was the envy of the league and repatriated former Blackhawk icons such as Bobby Hull, Stan Mikita and Tony Esposito.

Yes, the Blackhawks have fallen on hard times on the ice. And yes, mistakes have been made. But it’s hard to avoid that boom-bust cycle when you’re as good as the Blackhawks have been for as long as they have been. Wirtz’s 43-year-old son Daniel, who was an executive vice-president of the team, has been named interim president and the release said a search for a new president will be conducted immediately. That came as a surprise to one NHL executive. “Danny has been the heir apparent for a while now,” he said. “That’s been pretty well-known.”

Perhaps after the search is complete, Daniel Wirtz will indeed be given the job on a permanent basis. With their fall in the standings over the past couple of years, there has been speculation that Bowman might be elevated to the role and be replaced as GM. Or they might go with someone with more of a hockey background. Ed Olczyk perhaps?

Whatever happens, one thing is fairly clear. The culture that John McDonough helped establish in Chicago is what led to his undoing. Losing is no longer accepted by a franchise that spent decades doing it. And when that happens, people are going to pay with their jobs.

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New on Sports Illustrated: USA Swimming Unveils Tentative Schedule After Coronavirus Hiatus

USA Swimming events are slated to begin in August, with national meets first held in November.

USA Swimming is planning a return to the pool.

Though, no one is quite sure how it will all play out during the coronavirus pandemic.

The national governing body unveiled a tentative schedule Monday that begins with a series of regional events in August before a national lineup of meets kicks off in early November — all leading up to next summer's Olympic trials in Omaha, Nebraska and the Tokyo Games.

"It gives us a little bit of hope," Hali Flickinger, a 2016 Olympian who trains in Arizona, told The Associated Press. "Everything is kind of stale right now. I have no idea what’s going to happen — nobody does — but at least we have something to look forward to in the future."

Tentative is the key word, for sure.

"I think everything is taken with a grain of salt and maybe even more than one grain of salt," said Mike Unger, USA Swimming's chief operating officer. "We're trying to bring normalcy back when it's not normal, and we know that. But we have to have a Plan A, a Plan B and even a Plan C."

Olympic champion Ryan Murphy, who won three gold medals at the Rio Games, welcomed news of a revamped schedule but said he's not ready to celebrate just yet.

"I'll be ready to adjust," Murphy told the AP in a telephone interview from his training base at Cal-Berkeley. "Until we get out of this thing, I'm going to stay in a flexible mindset."

USA Swimming canceled all national events in July and early August, most notably the Speedo Summer Championships. The regional events would be held in mid to late August, with an eye toward limiting the need for travel and promoting a safer environment for athletes, coaches, officials and families.

Unger said the organization is talking with pools all over the country to assess potential availability, but also recognizes that any plans would be subject to health guidelines and the approval of local officials. USA Swimming is considering anywhere from 12 to 16 meets, divided equally between four geographic regions that are already set up for lower-level meets.

"We're not trying to rush into anything, but we've got to be methodical," Unger said. "With these regional meets, we would not be forcing someone from, say, Boston to go to Atlanta for a meet. Hypothetically, they could go to Long Island instead."

The first meet of the TYR Pro Swim Series is set for Richmond, Virginia from Nov. 5-8, followed by events in Knoxville, Tennessee (Jan. 13-16); San Antonio (March 3-6); Mission Viejo, California (April 8-11, 2021); and Indianapolis (May 12-15).

Also, the Toyota U.S. Open in Atlanta would be held from Dec. 2-5.

The U.S. Olympic trials in Omaha have already been rescheduled for June 13-20, about a month ahead of the new 2021 dates for the Tokyo Summer Games.

There are some changes from this season's Pro Swim Series, with Richmond replacing Greensboro, North Carolina as the leadoff event in November and San Antonio taking Des Moines' spot on the schedule in March.

Des Moines was the last TYR meet this year before the pandemic largely shut down live sporting events around the world and forced a one-year postponement of the Olympics.

Even if swim meets are able to resume, they may look different than they have in the past. USA Swimming will consider everything from competing without fans to maintaining social distancing on pool decks that are usually jammed with athletes, coaches and officials.

"From an optics standpoint, we need to be smart and wise about how we gather when we are able to gather," Unger said.

After getting an unexpected break when the Olympics were officially postponed last month, most swimmers have returned to some form of training.

Murphy said he's been able to get in occasional pool training at private facilities in the Bay Area, but the main training pool at Cal-Berkeley remains closed. The bulk of his training is on dry land, mostly in the garage of the house he shares with five roommates since gyms have yet to reopen in California.

"No one is really leaving the house, so we're all just working out together," Murphy said. "We pull the cars out of the garage and work out there. We have a boxing bag, some ropes. I got a stationary bike. We've got a 30-pound dumbbell and a 50-pound kettlebell. We're making it work. We don't need all the fancy bells and whistles to stay in shape."

And now, at least, he has a series of meets to look forward to — assuming they actually take place.

"I'll be there for sure if they do," Murphy said. "But I'm also going to be ready if potentially everything gets pushed back again."

New on Sports Illustrated: Colts' Flexibility With Eason, Who Eagles Would've Taken Besides Jalen Hurts, Draft Notes

We're not done looking back at the draft, and today's notes explain why the Colts like their Jacob Eason pick, who the Eagles might have taken instead of Jalen Hurts in the second round, some thoughts on the Trevor Lawrence Derby and more.

Some more wrap-up work with the draft in the rear-view mirror …

• The round the Colts took Jacob Eason in is important in the grand scheme of their future quarterback plans. Why? Because getting the Washington product in the fourth allows them to throw a dart at the position without any opportunity cost. Eason will get a year to develop under Frank Reich and Nick Sirriani, Philip Rivers and Jacoby Brissett will play out contract years, and then Indy can reassess after the 2020 season. Eason’s shown over the last few years, at two different schools, that he has plenty of growing up to do, something that led

NFL teams to question how much he really loves football. That said, his potential is immense, and getting to learn to be a pro should be easier alongside Rivers and Brissett. And putting Eason in that environment should also help the Colts get answers quicker on whether the light will turn on for the 22-year-old.

• I’ve got a couple of fun notes on the Eagles’ vetting of Oklahoma QB Jalen Hurts, which provided the runway for his selection as the 53rd pick on Friday. One, VP of player personnel Andy Weidl actually got live exposure to Hurts in game action—he was on site for the Sooners’ 52–14 beatdown of West Virginia. Hurts threw for 316 yards and three touchdowns on 16-of-17 passing, and his only incompletion came on a drop by Drake Stoops (yup, Bob’s son); and he rushed for 75 yards and two more touchdowns on 10 carries. Two, pass-game coordinator Press Taylor was on site for Oklahoma’s pro day on March 12, which took place just before the scouting circuit was shut down, and gave Philly another data point to work off. Obviously, both of those guys had positive impressions. And again, I think the main argument here is how high Hurts was picked, given that the Eagles just gave their young franchise quarterback a top-of-the-market deal. Only time will tell us the rest of the story. And if you want something to track coming out of all this: Southern Illinois S/LB Jeremy Chinn (Panthers) and Ohio State RB J.K. Dobbins (Ravens) were two players I’d heard would’ve been under consideration, had Hurts not been the pick at 53. Gun to my head, I say Philly would’ve taken Chinn in that circumstance.

• For what it’s worth, I believe the Texans would’ve taken TCU DT Ross Blacklock—a twitchy, athletic force with strong character—at 26, had they not made the deal for Laremy Tunsil with that pick. As it was, he was clearly their top guy going into Day 2, ranked only behind Auburn’s Derrick Brown and South Carolina’s Javon Kinlaw among all the interior defensive linemen on Houston’s board, and they got him at 40, the pick acquired in the DeAndre Hopkins trade. Should that change how you view the Tunsil trade vs. the Hopkins trade? Maybe not. But I’d say if they got the same player at one spot (40) that they would’ve at the other (26) that contextualizes everything a little. Coach Bill O’Brien has said repeatedly that he sees this, because of the pandemic, as the sort of year where veterans are going to be important. He should hope so, given that the team used picks this year to acquire Tunsil, Gareon Conley and Duke Johnson (the latter two became new Patriots TE Devin Asiasi and new Browns LB Jacob Phillips, the 91st and 97th picks).

• The Chiefs’ drafting of Clyde Edwards-Helaire was, in fact, a convergence of a few different puzzle pieces coming together. First, there was the team’s quiet internal concession that it’s needed a bellcow back since losing Kareem Hunt 17 months ago. Second, the draft fell in a way where some other need spots were picked clean by the time the Chiefs got on the clock at 32 (linebacker would be one, with Kenneth Murray, Patrick Queen and Justyn Brooks gone). And third, and this was the most important part, Kansas City fell in love with Edwards-Helaire’s game. Before every draft, GM Brett Veach and his staff give coach Andy Reid and his staff pockets of players to assess at every position, in an effort to marry up scouting reports from both sides of the operation. What the scouts got back from the coaches, from Reid to offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy to RBs coach Deland McCullough, was unanimous, and lined right up with what the scouts were saying (Veach told Reid he believed Brian Westbrook was a fair comp just before Reid did the work on Edwards-Helaire). And that made it fairly simple picking Edwards-Helaire in front of about a half-dozen other guys the Chiefs would’ve been OK with at the position.

• One thing that made the Cardinals comfortable with Clemson LB Isaiah Simmons: The intel they got back from the school showed that Simmons would switch position-group rooms on a weekly basis during the season, depending on how DC Brent Venables planned to use him in a given game. That doesn’t sound like a huge deal, but it takes a certain mental capacity to toggle like that, and it sure made Arizona believe that Simmons’s transition to the NFL should be a smooth one. They see him as the ultimate matchup guy, big and physical enough to cover tight ends, fast enough to run with slots, and able to rush and play him off the hash. The one thing you got going into the draft was that pigeonholing him in one spot as a pro would be wasting his talent. Rest assured, he will not be strictly a box defender in Arizona.

• As the Trevor Lawrence Derby gets set to leave the starting gates, let’s try and remember one thing: No matter how much 2021 capital you compile, you’re almost certainly going to have to be the worst team in football to get him. Whoever has that pick is very close to a sure thing to take a player who’s been compared, as a prospect, to Peyton Manning. And that even goes for certain teams with good young quarterbacks, and I’ve actually got a story on that one. You may remember, the Rams were in the running to get the first pick right up until the end of Steve Spagnuolo’s last year in 2011, but wound up getting the second pick, which they dealt to Washington for three first-rounders and a second-rounder. Had they landed the first pick? I’ve been told consistently over the years they’d probably have kept it, taken Andrew Luck and traded Sam Bradford, who they had taken first overall two years early. Luck was a generational prospect, of course. So is Lawrence.

• Perhaps the biggest shocker of Round 1 was Las Vegas taking Damon Arnette 19th overall, with Arnette having been projected widely as a Day 2 player. And part of how this all went down was purely logistical. I talked with a couple of guys who’ve known and worked with Arnette over the years right before the draft, and one was adamant that the Raiders were smitten with the corner and would try and move down to position themselves to take him. Las Vegas, I’m told, did try. But a good enough offer never materialized and that put GM Mike Mayock in a weird spot. He could either draft Arnette higher than most valued him at 19 or, without another pick until the middle of the third round (80th overall), miss out on him altogether. So Mayock, as we’ve seen him do a number of times over his 15 months in charge, trusted his evaluation, gritted his teeth and took Arnette at 19.

• I asked Chargers coach Anthony Lynn how he and GM Tom Telesco came to a decision to spend the sixth pick on a quarterback, and I thought his answer was telling. “It just made sense,” Lynn said. “Losing a franchise guy, a guy that’s been the guy here for 15, 16 years, and picking sixth? Hell, I don’t want to ever be picking sixth again. So if I’m already picking this high, and there’s a quarterback we like, we might as well just get the quarterback now. We knew Phil was towards the end. And you say the end, Tom Brady’s 43—these guys are playing until they’re senior citizens. We felt like with the crop that was coming out this year, this would be the time to get a young quarterback in here, and even if Phil was here, he could sit behind Phil for a year or two and learn.” The important part? I don’t ever want to ever be picking sixth again. My sense is for both the Dolphins and Chargers, the time had to be now, because they believe they’ll be too competitive next year to be able to count on drafting the one they want in 2021.

• Here’s the cap space for 10 teams that’ll have trouble making many more changes: Rams ($419,169), Patriots ($1.077M), Falcons ($2.233M), Saints ($3.855M), Bucs ($4.364M), Chiefs ($4.912M), Seahawks ($5.257M), Steelers ($5.768M), 49ers ($6.767M) and Panthers ($7.008M). And the cap space for 10 teams who should be able to augment: Browns ($37.548M), Washington ($36.694M), Lions ($29.488M), Broncos ($24.249M), Colts ($24.068M), Eagles ($23.540M), Titans ($21.609M), Chargers ($20.995M) Bills ($20.596M) Dolphins ($20.174M). This is especially relevant now that free-agent signings no longer count against the comp-pick formula, which means teams that have been relatively dormant to protect their 2021 draft haul can now freely move about the market.

• I also would think we’ll see continued movement of some veteran players in the coming days. Some teams held back on cutting guys, thinking teams might make trades later in the process, given how hard it will be to assimilate rookies this year. But with the draft having come and gone, a lot of those players will now be cut. Seahawks linemen Justin Britt and D.J. Fluker would be two examples. And keep an eye on Bengals QB Andy Dalton in the coming days. He could be another.

• Question or comment? Email us.

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New on Sports Illustrated: Way-Too-Early 2021 NFL Mock Draft: Tank For Trevor Lawrence Sweepstakes

It's never too soon to look ahead to 2021. Here's our first look at how next year's draft could play out, with Trevor Lawrence, Justin Fields, Ja'Marr Chase and more.

One of the early headlines for the 2020 NFL draft was the concept that

the Miami Dolphins would #tankfortua. It worked. Brilliantly, I might add, with Chris Grier’s Dolphins team able to win five games and get their guy fifth overall without having to give up any additional draft capital.

Now it’s Trevor Lawrence’s turn.

While Tua Tagovailoa might have challenged Joe Burrow for the No. 1 spot had health and durability not been an issue, there is a decent chance that the top two picks in 2021 will both be quarterbacks.

Before getting into my first 2021 mock draft, one thing to explain is how the draft order was determined. We inverted Vegas Insider’s Super Bowl odds and slotted teams by conference based on how the NFL draft takes playoff finish into account. In other words, I don’t hate your team—Vegas does (if you don’t like where they are slotted in this mock).

With that said, here’s a way-too-early look at how the first round in 2021 could play out:

1. Jacksonville Jaguars: Trevor Lawrence, QB, Clemson

Early odds put the Jags in the pole position in their bid to #tankfortrevor. If picking first in 2021, a front office and coaching staff reset is almost guaranteed in Duval County. Lawrence, who will finally be draft-eligible in 2021, has been the presumed top pick since his freshman campaign. He’s led Clemson to a national championship, back-to-back title game appearances with only one loss (25-1) and has all of the traits—size, arm strength, accuracy, mobility, etc.—that teams covet in a franchise-changing quarterback.

2. Washington: Penei Sewell, OT, Oregon

Would Washington consider Justin Fields here? They should. If they are picking this high again next year, it’s possible that Dwayne Haskins didn’t take a big enough step forward in his second season. A Lawrence-Fields start to the 2021 draft seems the most-likely scenario a year out, so Washington could turn this pick into plenty of draft capital to a team trading up for Fields. For now, they add a dominant left tackle prospect who can take over for Trent Williams.

3. Cincinnati Bengals: Gregory Rousseau, EDGE, Miami (FL)

Only five teams recorded fewer sacks than the Bengals’ 31 in 2019 and Carlos Dunlap will be entering the final year of his contract in 2021. Rousseau had a breakout season as a redshirt freshman with 15.5 sacks, second nationally to only Chase Young (16.5), and 19.5 tackles for loss.

4. Miami Dolphins: Ja’Marr Chase, WR, LSU

DeVante Parker had the unusual fifth-year breakout and Preston Williams was a highly productive UDFA before his season-ending injury. With Chase, the Dolphins give Tua Tagovailoa a true No. 1 receiver. Named by several corners in the 2020 draft as the best receiver they faced, Chase finished his Biletnikoff-winning campaign with 1,780 yards and 20 touchdowns. Of his 84 receptions, a nation-leading 24 of them went for 20-plus yards.

5. Carolina Panthers: Justin Fields, QB, Ohio State

Carolina went all defense—literally, all seven picks—in Matt Rhule’s first draft. In free agency, the Panthers reunited Teddy Bridgewater with offensive coordinator Joe Brady, both of whom were with the Saints in 2018. That signing should ease the challenge of implementing a new offensive scheme in such an unusual offseason. If an elite talent like Fields is available here, however, I doubt they pass on the opportunity to upgrade after giving Bridgewater a three-year deal. In his first season with the Buckeyes, Fields posted a 41-to-3 TD-to-INT ratio and added 10 rushing scores.

6. New York Jets: Patrick Surtain II, CB, Alabama

The Jets got a nice value in Bryce Hall in the fifth round, but cornerback will remain one of the team’s bigger needs in the 2021 draft. Five of the team’s corners are slated for unrestricted free agency in 2021. The son of a three-time Pro Bowl corner, Surtain II has excellent length, coverage and ball skills, and could be the first corner off the board in 2021.

7. New York Giants: Justyn Ross, WR, Clemson

Dave Gettleman drafted a pair of tackles—Andrew Thomas and Matthew Peart—to protect Daniel Jones and now he adds a playmaking receiver to help his young quarterback. Ross wasn’t as productive as he was in his 2018 true freshman season (46/1,000/9, 21.7 Y/R), but Trevor Lawrence’s 6' 4" go-to receiver has the talent and upside to be a top-10 pick in the 2021 draft.

8. Detroit Lions: Jaylen Waddle, WR, Alabama

The true junior wideout will be more of a focal point as a receiver next season, with the departures of Jerry Jeudy and Henry Ruggs III, but Waddle has elite speed and after-the-catch ability and averaged 24.4 yards per punt return in 2019. Five Lions wide receivers (including Kenny Golladay, Marvin Jones and Danny Amendola) are scheduled to become free agents after the 2020 season.

9. Las Vegas Raiders: Micah Parsons, LB, Penn State

The former five-star recruit has been a dominant playmaker for the Nittany Lions since he stepped on campus. In his true sophomore campaign, Parsons led the team with 109 tackles, including 14 for loss, to go along with five sacks, five passes defended and four forced fumbles. What’s next for 2020? Kickoff returns? While he’s no longer listed as the team’s top kickoff returner, the idea of it points to his special athleticism at 244 pounds.

10. Miami Dolphins (via HOU): Walker Little, OT, Stanford

Reinforcing the offensive line in the 2020 draft, Chris Grier used a top-20 pick on Austin Jackson and a top-40 pick on Robert Hunt, then added some Day 3 depth with Solomon Kindley. While Hunt primarily played right tackle in college, he projects best to guard at the next level. Continuing the transformation of the worst offensive line in 2019, Little and Jackson would give Tua a talented set of bookend tackles to protect him for the next decade.

11. Arizona Cardinals: Shaun Wade, CB, Ohio State

Another draft, another Ohio State cornerback in the first round. After playing in the slot with 2020 first-rounders Jeff Okudah and Damon Arnette outside, Wade will move to outside cornerback next season. The former five-star recruit has the size, length and athleticism to excel there as well. Not only have the Cardinals been searching for an upgrade opposite Patrick Peterson for a long time, but Peterson is entering a contract year in his age-30 season.

12. Los Angeles Chargers: Samuel Cosmi, OT, Texas

While the Chargers signed Bryan Bulaga to a three-year contract, they traded away Russell Okung to the Panthers for guard Trai Turner and remain in need of an upgrade opposite Bulaga. While he decided to return to Austin for another season, Cosmi has experience at both right tackle (2018) and left tackle (’19) and is one of the best pass-blocking prospects eligible for the 2021 draft.

13. Denver Broncos: Dylan Moses, LB, Alabama

Despite tearing his ACL in 2019, Moses might have been a first-round pick in 2020 had he declared. Moses is a high-IQ defender with sideline-to-sideline range who would thrive in the middle of Vic Fangio’s defense.

14. Atlanta Falcons: Xavier Thomas, EDGE, Clemson

This is a bit of a projection as the breakout sophomore campaign that many expected from Thomas in 2019 didn’t materialize. The former top-five recruit had 10.5 tackles for loss in 2018, as a true freshman in a reserve role on a line that included three first-round picks. Thomas says he “got that edge back” and if he puts it all together in 2020, he could go even higher than this.

15. Jacksonville Jaguars (via LAR): Liam Eichenberg, OT, Notre Dame

While I like small-school prospect Ben Bartch, left tackle Cam Robinson will be a free agent in 2021 and there has been some speculation about moving him inside this season. A potential first-round pick had he declared in 2020, Eichenberg returns to South Bend as a three-year starter at left tackle and has the length and athletic feet to protect Trevor Lawrence’s blind side for a long time.

16. Cleveland Browns: Seth Williams, WR, Auburn

If selected by the Browns, Williams (6' 3", 224 pounds) would give Baker Mayfield a big-bodied receiver to complement smaller wideouts Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry. The physical wideout had a breakout season (59/830/8) despite playing with a freshman quarterback, and has averaged 17.3 yards per reception in the first two seasons of his collegiate career.

17. Chicago Bears: Alex Leatherwood, OL, Alabama

The Bears had the 29th-ranked offensive line, per Football Outsiders’ 2019 rankings. Leatherwood has the versatility to play multiple spots along the Bears’ offensive line, as he has started 28 games for the Crimson Tide at both tackle and guard.

18. Minnesota Vikings: Marvin Wilson, IDL, Florida State

While his 2019 season ended prematurely due to injury, Wilson was one of the few bright spots for the Seminoles last season. The former five-star recruit received a first-round grade from the NFL Draft Advisory Board and he finished last season with 8.5 tackles for loss and five sacks in only nine games.

19. Tennessee Titans: Pat Freiermuth, TE, Penn State

Along with Brevin Jordan and Kyle Pitts, Freiermuth is one of a few tight ends that could be first-rounders next April. Among those three tight ends, Freiermuth might make the most sense for the run-first Titans, given his in-line experience and ability as a blocker. Utilized in a variety of alignments for the Nittany Lions, the 259-pound tight end has the potential to be a mismatch in the passing game as well and he’s already tied Mike Gesicki for the school record for receiving touchdowns (15) by a tight end.

20. Pittsburgh Steelers: Jamie Newman, QB, Georgia

Ben Roethlisberger played in only two games last season and the Steelers struggled as backups Mason Rudolph and Devlin Hodges combined to throw 18 touchdowns and 17 interceptions. Big Ben will be 39 years old entering the 2021 season, so Kevin Colbert could more aggressively pursue his successor in next year’s draft. A graduate transfer from Wake Forest, Newman has the big arm and mobility to put himself into the first-round mix this time next year.

21. Indianapolis Colts: Paulson Adebo, CB, Stanford

Colts general manager Chris Ballard thinks that Xavier Rhodes “can still be a high performer” for them, but even if he returns to his earlier form, he signed a one-year deal. While he wasn’t as good in coverage in 2019 as 2018, Adebo has good length and outstanding ball skills, with four interceptions in each of the previous two seasons.

22. Green Bay Packers: Rondale Moore, WR, Purdue

Making some head-scratching selections in the 2020 draft, the Packers front office ignored the team’s need to find an upgrade opposite Davante Adams by failing to draft a single receiver in one of the deepest draft classes ever for the position. If Moore is still available here, he would give the team a dynamic playmaker. While he played only four games as a sophomore due to a hamstring injury, Moore had 1,471 scrimmage yards and 14 touchdowns as a true freshman in 2018.

23. Dallas Cowboys: Richard LeCounte, S, Georgia

The Cowboys nailed their 2020 draft, but one of the positions of need they didn’t address was safety. They do so here. LeCounte, who has five interceptions over the past two seasons, can take over in 2021 for HaHa Clinton-Dix, who signed a one-year deal to join the Cowboys this offseason.

24. Seattle Seahawks: Israel Mukuamu, CB, South Carolina

Even Seattle typically drafts corners later, Mukuamu had four interceptions last season and is a long corner who would fit their prototype if they don’t trade back. In addition, both Shaquill Griffin and Quinton Dunbar are scheduled to be free agents in 2021.

25. Buffalo Bills: Tyson Campbell, CB, Georgia

Signing a one-year deal with the Bills, the 32-year-old Josh Norman graded out as one of the worst cornerbacks (109th) in 2019, per PFF. Finding an upgrade opposite Tre’Davious White will be one of Brandon Beane’s areas of focus next offseason. Campbell has the size, length and athleticism to hear his name called earlier than this next April.

26. New England Patriots: Trey Lance, QB, North Dakota State

With only two quarterbacks—Jarrett Stidham and Brian Hoyer—on the roster, it’s surprising that Bill Belichick (or his trusted sidekick) didn’t at least draft a late-round quarterback. This dual-threat quarterback threw 28 touchdowns (and no interceptions) while also rushing for 1,100 yards and 14 touchdowns as Lance won the Walter Payton Award as a redshirt freshman.

27. Philadelphia Eagles: Creed Humphrey, IOL, Oklahoma

Center Jason Kelce has played at a high level for a long-time, but he will turn 32 this season and the Eagles could find a long-term replacement for him in next year’s draft. Humphrey would have been in the first-round mix had he declared last year and could be the first center prospect off the board in 2021.

28. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Quincy Roche, EDGE, Miami (FL)

The Bucs used the franchise tag to retain Shaq Barrett, and Jason Pierre-Paul is on the wrong side of 30 and a free agent after the 2021 season. After transferring from Temple, Roche joins Gregory Rousseau to give the Hurricanes one of the best pass rushes in college football. Roche had 19 tackles for loss and 13 sacks in 12 games last season.

29. New Orleans Saints: Devonta Smith, WR, Alabama

The Saints signed 33-year-old receiver Emmanuel Sanders to a two-year deal this offseason, but Smith would give the Saints a longer-term complement to Michael Thomas. Playing along side Jeudy, Ruggs and Waddle, Smith led Alabama’s receiving corps in both yards (1,256) and touchdowns (14) last season.

30. Baltimore Ravens: Hamsah Nasirildeen, S, Florida State

Tall for a safety (6’4”), Nasirildeen has the length and speed to excel covering tight ends. A productive player for the Seminoles—192 tackles and three interceptions over the past two seasons—Nasirildeen offers some intriguing upside as a defensive playmaker.

31. San Francisco 49ers: Trey Smith, IOL, Tennessee

Bouncing back from a health scare (blood clots in his lungs), Smith was a first-team All-SEC selection at left guard last year. One of the top overall prospects in the 2017 recruiting cycle, Smith has started 31 games and has inside-out versatility at both guard and tackle.

32. Kansas City Chiefs: Jay Tufele, IDL, USC

The Chiefs used their franchise tag on Chris Jones and many 2020 mock drafts projected Ross Blacklock to Kansas City as a potential long-term replacement. Whether Jones is on the roster in 2021 or beyond, adding a disruptive interior pass-rusher like Tufele, who’s extremely athletic for his 315-pound frame, makes sense if he’s available at the end of Round 1.

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New on Sports Illustrated: How the Bengals, Dolphins and Chargers Vetted Their New Quarterbacks

How a new crop of franchise QBs ended up on their respective teams. Plus, Packers GM Brian Gutekunsk explains the Jordan Love pick, we say goodbye to Joe Staley and wrap up draft week.

Eighteen minutes.

That’s the amount of time Zac Taylor has spent in person with the guy he just

staked his professional livelihood to. And that it’s just 18 minutes is pretty remarkable, given all the connections these guys have.

Taylor’s a former Nebraska football player, as are Joe Burrow’s dad, Jimmy, and brothers, Jamie and Dan—Taylor having landed in the program the semester (spring 2005) after Dan finished up (fall 2004). Taylor also remembers crossing paths with Jimmy when the two were recruiting at Colerain High in Cincinnati, Taylor for the University of Cincinnati and Burrow for Ohio University in 2016. And Taylor hadn’t been gone from UC long when he first heard about the third brother landing on the Bearcats’ radar in the spring of 2018.

“I still followed the program, I like [coach] Luke Fickell and I remember seeing—I must’ve been in L.A.—they were about to get this transfer quarterback from Ohio State, Joe Burrow,” Taylor said Sunday, from his house in the Cincinnati suburbs, with a laugh. “And then, ultimately, he decided to go to LSU. I think that was the first time that I ever saw his name.”

A lot has changed since then, but the amount of time Taylor and Burrow have been together hasn’t, outside of those 18 minutes at the combine in February.

This was a different draft for everyone, one that blew everyone’s best laid plans to smithereens amid a global pandemic. As the NFL charged forward toward the last week’s festivities, every team, every coach and every GM had to adjust and change what, for some teams, was a decades-old formula of vetting prospects.

And no one faced more pressure in doing that than the Bengals, Dolphins and Chargers, three teams with clear quarterback needs, picking in the top six, considering investments that will likely lead either to eventual title contention or eventual firings. Playing that zero-sum game is always high-stakes, of course, and no one’s going to give those brain trusts mulligans in three or four years if Burrow, Tua Tagovailoa or Justin Herbert don’t work out.

Yet, the guys making those decisions for the Bengals were able to find some peace the day after the draft, and it was mostly in the knowledge that—despite their time together with the guy they just married their football futures to being so limited—they didn’t feel like, in the final analysis, they missed much of what they’d have gotten in a regular year.

“I think at the end of the day, we didn’t lose much,” said Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin. “We were able to communicate with him remotely, dive into the football stuff. And that was not a one-day or a two-day event. It was over the course of a lot of days. At the end of the process, through every bit of process, we had all the information we needed. So ultimately, not a lot was lost.”

“The only thing we missed was watching him throw live and ultimately that's, for a lot of guys, 45–65 throws,” Taylor added. “That’s really not going to make the difference with the No. 1 pick. We’ve watched all the tape. If you’re going to say a good or bad pro day is going to influence your decision on the No. 1 pick, I mean, that would be a big decision to make. So we felt very comfortable.”

And so, away the Bengals and Burrow go.

***

The draft’s in the books, and we’ve got a loaded, quarterback-centric column for you today. Here’s what’s in the mix…

• How the Dolphins fooled the league in landing Tua.

• How the Chargers came to a comfort level with Herbert’s personality.

• How the Packers’ previous quarterback transition informed this one.

• The crazy trade that brought Joe Staley to the NFL, and the one that ushered him out.

Plus we’ve got a bunch of leftovers from draft weekend, and we’ll be sprinkling more in my columns through the coming days, too. But we’re starting right off the top with the first overall pick.

***

The funny thing about those 18 minutes: Neither Burrow, nor Taylor, nor Tobin knew then that would be all that they’d get with each other, so the meeting hardly seemed like the most important thing in the world at the time. Taylor had his first talk with Burrow the week before, just to introduce himself and ask about Burrow’s pre-draft plans, and then they sat down in Indy for the first of what they figured would be a series of summits.

Burrow made an impression. But, again, that was just going to be the start.

“There can be a lot of pressure in that situation—’O.K., we’ve been reading about this for weeks, now here’s the moment,’” Taylor said. “But he was just very confident in himself, not cocky in any way, shape or form. You're sitting in there with the head coach, the general manager, the owner and it didn't faze him. He was very confident and comfortable, and it was an easy conversation. That was really your first physical impression of the guy.”

The plan, by then, was pretty detailed and included bringing a massive contingent to Baton Rouge for Burrow’s April 3 pro day. The team was arranging for a dinner reservation for 13—a dozen Bengals officials and Burrow—for April 2, and those there specifically to vet the quarterback (some would be working on other positions) were to arrive in town on April 2.

In that group was Taylor, OC Brian Callahan, QBs coach Dan Pitcher, quality control coach/ex-LSU quarterback Brad Kragthorpe (who’d been an LSU assistant in Burrow’s first year there), Tobin and college scouting director Mike Potts. They’d slotted time to spend the entire afternoon of the 2nd with him, ahead of that dinner, and then would go to watch his pro day on the 3rd. And this was after all the work of the fall and early winter.

Tobin and Potts had each done school calls at LSU during the season, complete with visits to the Tigers’ practices during those trips, and saw three of his games live (Tobin did one and Potts two), which gave them the shot to see how he interacted with coaches and teammates on the sideline, and commanded the team on the field.

“The thing that stuck out was the way everyone in the building talked about him,” Tobin said. “Sometimes, you can tell how people feel, not by words, by how they’re saying it. And when everyone in the building talks a certain way about a kid, it perks you up. Being on campus, talking to everyone—trainers, strength coaches, position coaches, academic folks—you’d keep hearing the same message, in the same inflection, and that really registers with me.”

Combine that with the greatest season in college football history, and Tobin didn’t need a ton of convincing. By the time Cincinnati locked up the No. 1 pick, with a loss in Miami three days before Christmas, he had his leader for the selection and it was the quarterback who elicited that unanimous response.

And the coaches wouldn’t be far behind. As soon as the season ended, the Bengals accepted an invitation to coach at the Senior Bowl, and Taylor gave his staff a project—they’d get very aggressive with their film work in an effort to learn the guys they’d coach in Mobile. He was particularly intensive with Callahan, Pitcher and then QBs coach Alex Van Pelt. Taylor asked each to watch all of the tape from Burrow, Herbert, Tagovailoa and Jordan Love from 2019.

When that was over, even as Van Pelt wound up leaving for Cleveland, Taylor, Callahan and Pitcher didn’t find much disagreement in what they’d watched.

“There were a lot of things we were comfortable with—He's a great player, if this is the way it works out, he would be a good pick,” Taylor said. “I don't think we forced ourselves to make a decision at that point, there was so much work to be done. We didn't really think of it that way. It was more of O.K., this guy’s really exciting, you can certainly see him being the No. 1 pick.”

At that point, Burrow, Herbert, Tagovailoa and Ohio State pass-rusher Chase Young were in the running for the pick. They re-watched tape on the guys after Mobile, by the drive up for the week in Indy, and came back. Then, everything changed.

***

By the time the national shutdown started—and Ohio was hit early on—because of Taylor’s January strategy, the Bengals were playing from ahead, and Taylor himself had watched enough Burrow tape to make his eyes bleed purple and gold.

Because LSU had a historic class, with a record-tying 14 players drafted over the weekend, Taylor wound up watching the No. 1 pick-to-be from just about every angle, and would notice something new every time, be it while he was studying Tigers prospects Justin Jefferson, Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Saahdiq Charles or Lloyd Cushenberry, or even rival defenders like Xavier McKinney or Isaiah Simmons.

“It was funny in that way to watch so much tape of the same plays,” Taylor said. “You're just looking at so many different things that happened because there are so many great players on the field oftentimes.”

Which is to say that by the time league shut down the pro day circuit and circulated the new rules—limiting meetings between teams and players to video conference, one hour per session, three times per week—the Bengals were already very far along in the process. The one thing they lacked at that point was face time with the prospect they were considering at the top of the draft.

So they had to make up for that, and with Burrow, even if wasn’t 100% necessary at that point, they absolutely did, by hatching the plan to max out their time with the quarterback. What they lost in in-person contact, and being able to read Burrow’s body language and see him work out physically, they made up in time virtually. “We’ve got it,” Taylor said, “so why not use it?”

It started with LSU tape, and a litany of questions associated with what was being projected on to the Zoom screen. What’s the protection here? Talk us through your work on football. Explain this concept. What was your thought process on this one? And it slowly started to push from one set of stripes to another, with Bengals tape gradually replacing Tigers tape.

Meanwhile, as they worked through the pre-draft process with Burrow’s LSU teammates, they continued to gather information on their next quarterback. There, they heard stories of how competitive practices would get last fall because Burrow set that tone, and how he’d keep the team together and harness that energy when things got heated. Mostly, though, Taylor noticed this: They loved him.

“You could just tell he had a way of just fitting in with everybody,” Taylor said. “Sometimes you have quarterbacks who are just friends with the tight end, who maybe had the same background as them. And that’s their buddy and they don’t really spend as much time with somebody on the other side of the ball. And this guy was clearly somebody who fits in with every position group on the team, and that's important.”

Along the way, the Bengals’ decision went from pretty obvious—remember, Tobin had an inkling it was going this way on Dec. 22—to overwhelmingly obvious.

And that’s why, two weeks into the Zoom meeting process, just before April 1, Taylor and Tobin went into a meeting with owner Mike Brown, his daughter and EVP Katie Blackburn, and son-in-law and VP Troy Blackburn, with the intention of nailing down what had been written in the stars for a couple months.

“Everybody got to speak,” said Tobin. “Everybody was on the same page. It was universal agreement in that meeting. No doubters. No detractors. It was basically, This is the guy that this whole group sees as No. 1. We think it’s clear. Here are the reasons.”

“It was basically, We’re all comfortable with this, this is where we’re going, let’s move forward,” Taylor added.

***

The Bengals didn’t tell Burrow. They wanted to give him the experience of getting that news during draft week. But as Taylor, Callahan and Pitcher started to shift the tape study more toward what Cincinnati was doing, they figured the quarterback would add it up. Taylor hesitates to call what they were doing “installing” the offense with Burrow, but that phrasing may not be too far off.

“We never out right told him, Hey you're the No, 1 pick,” Taylor said. “It was possible the way I phrased a lot of things, where he's a smart guy, he can put two and two together. There was never a moment where we said Hey, Joe we're picking you at No. 1, congratulations. That never happened until the actual phone call on draft night. But again, he's a smart guy and I think he was probably able to piece together some things I said.”

They knew Burrow was taking notes, and they knew his recall was great, from their work through the process. So piece by piece, they gave him information that would allow him to hit the ground running as soon as they made it official on April 23.

And there was one Burrow confidant they kept talking to—because he was on their roster. That would be third-year DE Sam Hubbard, a roommate of Burrow’s at Ohio State, who told the coaches and scouts that Burrow would outwork everyone in the building, would be all-in and, most of all, would fit the culture Taylor and Co. are trying to build.

“He's arguably the hardest worker on the team,” Taylor said of Hubbard. “He's just a guy that’s just such a face for what we’re trying to accomplish here, the way he goes about his business. When you ask his opinion of somebody, you take it to the bank. And you can just tell that Joe was somebody he had a ton of respect for.”

By then, the Bengals’ brass shared the assessment, which was why it was so easy to put the final steps of the process into motion. Last week, Brown sent Burrow a letter congratulating him. And, finally, on Thursday night, Taylor made the phone call to cap a unique process, one that was unique for more than one reason.

“The cool thing is it never changed,” Tobin said. “It never flopped. It never wavered.”

And as for the next time they actually get to sit down and meet with their new franchise quarterback in person, well, that’ll be the second time.

***

HOW MIAMI FOOLED US

Here comes my mea culpa—I was fooled. I didn’t think the Dolphins were taking Tagovailoa at No. 5. It sounded to me, from talking to people that know that team and the people that run it well, that Miami was going to play it safe, and that Tua didn’t fit the prototype the coaching staff wanted. The more people I talked to, the more cemented that idea became in my head.

You know the rest. Yup, they took him.

And I made sure to tell Miami GM Chris Grier when we talked on Sunday that he got me, and a lot of NFL people too, who thought he was either taking Herbert or an offensive tackle—which, of course, was all part of the game. As it turned out, per Grier, going into Thursday, only a handful of people knew what the plan was, and that plan had been in place, believe it or not, for less than a week.

Just days before the draft, the team had its final medical meeting, and that was actually when the doctors gave the football people the final go-ahead to take Tagovailoa. Part of it? Part was something that ex-NFL quarterback Brady Quinn brought up on my podcast last week—that Tagovailoa’s hip injury was a freak thing, and the two ankle surgeries he had, to fix high ankle sprains were basically elective procedures aimed at coming back quicker.

“Yeah, we’re very comfortable,” Grier told me. “Really, it’s nothing different. We all know in this game, people get hurt. He's had some injuries that people talk about, but the part that people miss is a couple of the surgeries he had, he was doing it to rush back sooner, to be with his teammates and play. Some people may have elected not to do it, and kind of ride it out. He handled adversity well and showed his mental toughness, and his work ethic to come back from those things.

“Our doctors and trainers did an outstanding job, like they do on every player. With him specifically, they did nothing above and beyond of the same thing they do. They checked all the boxes and made sure we were all comfortable and feeling good about it. Brian [Flores], myself, ownership, we were very comfortable with it.”

So ended what’s been an arduous process for the Dolphins, a 16-month buildup that’s gone from stripping the roster down, to building assets up, to hitting the road to vet all the top prospects, to, finally, coming up with a strategy for drafting one, which included the subterfuge described above. Grier saw Alabama, LSU and Oregon live in the fall, and watched as his team improved and his draft position fell.

Throughout, the connection between the Dolphins and Tagovailoa persisted, which may have served as one reason why keeping intentions under wraps was so important.

But there was enough done publicly for everyone to see a little something. Owner Steve Ross accompanied Grier to the LSU-Alabama game in November, and team president Tom Garfinkel joined those two at Bama’s bowl game in Tampa, a game Tagovailoa attended but didn’t play in, thanks to a hip injury. (The Tide was playing Ross’s alma mater, Michigan, which gave him another reason to attend.)

Over time, Grier saw what he needed to see, and one coach who knows Flores well noticed how over the year he was becoming more “of an RPO guy”—something that was proven out with the move from the Patriots-rooted Chad O’Shea to new offensive coordinator Chan Gailey, who brings a ton of college background. The thinking, at the time of Gailey’s hiring, was that a simpler offense would be better for a young quarterback.

Now, it’s impossible to ignore that he’s there for a quarterback who ran the RPO game better than anyone in college football the last two years.

Nor is it hard to put together what Grier gathered on his recon mission, with the sort of powerful leaders that Flores wants for his locker room.

“It’s how he carried himself,” Grier said. “And how everyone talked about him. Our guys did a lot of work on him, going back to high school. We felt like he had a lot of intangibles that we like, that you look for in leaders of programs. We would spend time talking to some of the other Alabama players, and they just raved about him as a person.

“And again, at the end of the day, it’s a challenge that’s going to determine if he's good enough to be your franchise quarterback. But a lot of other intangibles are there, and that's what got us excited.”

All of that led to Thursday around 9 p.m. ET, when Grier told a scouting coordinator of his to call the pick into the league. Less than a minute later, the email popped up on his screen to confirm the pick: Tua Tagovailoa, QB Alabama. By then, there was no more need to even swallow hard.

He’d explored trading up. He’d done his homework on the teams drafting ahead of him. He had a plan if there was action at No. 2, 3 or 4. But really, it was simple at that point: “If Tua was there, we were going to take him,” he explained. And thanks in part to people like me, who were thrown off, that’s just the way it happened, with Grier fairly calm about it throughout.

“You've done so much work on everything, so you feel good about everything,” Grier said. “It's weird. It was a sense of calmness. We've done all our work, we felt good about our process, so we identified Tua as a guy that we wanted to take. When he was there, we felt very good about it. There was no apprehension or nervousness, we're very excited to get a player we targeted at this spot. Yeah, it's a key position. Everyone understands you got to have one to win in this league, and we felt good about Tua.

“There's no nervousness or anything. We just thought he was the right guy.”

And it took no lack of work to get to that conclusion.

***

HOW L.A. SETTLED ON HERBERT

As part of this weird new world, the Chargers would give their quarterback interview subjects assignments to work through ahead of their Zoom meetings. They’d have a couple formations, a half-dozen pass patterns, some motions and a bunch of jargon to learn. In all, it was three-and-a-half pages, and a pretty boilerplate pre-draft exercise, even if it would come in a different form in any other year.

About three weeks ago, Oregon quarterback Justin Herbert went into his summit with the Chargers’ coaches confident that he had the work down. And then, a formation popped on the screen and a coach asked, “What if we line up in this?” Herbert responded, “I didn’t see that in there.” It was his only miss in the hour-long meeting, and at the end, he told the coaches to hold on, and grabbed the handout. It was in there, and Herbert got angry with himself.

I can’t believe I missed that.

“It wasn’t a big deal, but it was to him. He brought it up twice,” Chargers coach Anthony Lynn said late Saturday afternoon. “And it was something we’d forgotten about. So we know he’s a very bright young man, and he’s accountable. It’s the way he’s wired.”

The Chargers didn’t take Herbert with the sixth overall pick—and position him as the long-term successor to Philip Rivers—because he took ownership of an oversight in an internet meeting some night earlier this month. But that moment sure didn’t hurt, particularly when the biggest questions on this 22-year-old born and raised in his college town of Eugene, Ore., are centered on his personality, and whether he’s sheltered and introverted or not.

A lot of the rest, as Lynn and the Chargers saw it, was there.

So getting to know Herbert was important, and the team did everything it could to get there with him. It involved GM Tom Telesco, cross-check scout Justin Sheridan, college scouting director Kevin Kelly and West Coast area scout Chris Hobbs, as well as Lynn, offensive coordinator Shane Steichen and senior coaching assistant Rip Scherer. And it went plenty deep.

Telesco saw Herbert twice live in 2019—against USC and in the Rose Bowl—which gave him a full appreciation for the quarterback’s size and how he interacts with coaches and teammates. He also did recon going all the way back to Herbert’s teenage years, when Telesco’s close friend Brian Polian was Nevada’s coach and offered Herbert a full scholarship on the spot after watching him practice once.

And so a lot of this, for L.A., came back to who Herbert was. Some of that came in meetings, like the one described above. More of it was on tape, for everyone to see.

“I watched how he played the game, and how his teammates responded to him on the football field and I said, ‘This is not a problem,’” Lynn said. “I don’t know why it would be. Is a quarterback supposed to be loud? There’s a time for him to be loud, there’s a time for him to not be loud. You don’t have to be loud to be a great leader. You don’t have to be outspoken to be a great leader.”

As for the tape, Lynn said over time spent watching, “He just grew on me.” The coach liked the ability, and how he extended plays, but most of all, he loved the moments that tied the person and player together. One came late in a game when Herbert lowered his shoulder into a defender and rode him into the end zone. It showed Herbert the athlete, for sure. But it also clarified Herbert the teammate.

It also illustrated Herbert the competitor, the guy who took every chance—be it in the Rose Bowl or the Senior Bowl, the combine or his pro day—to throw, and show the NFL what he had, which the Chargers loved.

“He would lay it on the line for his teammates,” Lynn said. “He took off and, I mean, he didn’t dodge or lay down—now, I’m gonna say to him, Get your ass down—but he lowers his shoulder, runs through the guy and falls in the end zone. And I thought, That’s a quarterback that’s putting it on the line for his team. They needed that touchdown, he got that touchdown. I started to see stuff like that, I thought, This guy, he’s made of the right stuff.”

That stuff, as Lynn sees it, is what you can’t teach. And as for the stuff you can, the Chargers, obviously, have confidence that Herbert’s diligence and aptitude will get him where he needs to go. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have taken him where they did, a spot at which, I’m told, Telesco and Lynn were comfortable taking either Herbert or Tagovailoa.

What’s more, Lynn doesn’t see any rush to throw Herbert out there right away. If he needs time, he’ll get it. If he doesn’t, and he beats out Tyrod Taylor, he’ll play.

“We’re going into this thing: Day 1, Tyrod Taylor’s going to be starting it off,” Lynn said. “He’s earned that right. His teammates respect the hell out of him, he’s a leader on this football team. Our young quarterback’s gonna learn a lot from Tyrod Taylor. Tyrod Taylor’s one of the most respected players on our team, and he doesn’t say a whole lot either. …

“[But] it’s a competition, bro. There’s a competition at every position, not just this one. I can’t just say Tyrod’s gonna be the starting quarterback for the whole year if this young man goes in there and wins the job.”

Given the circumstances, we probably won’t know for quite some time whether or not Herbert can pull it off. But safe to say the Chargers think whatever they throw this kid’s way, he’ll be able to handle it.

***

EXPLAINING THE LOVE PICK

Packers GM Brian Gutekunst wants to, at the very least, get this out there—drafting Love with the 26th pick on Thursday, the result of a trade-up from 30, wasn’t part of some master plan hatched long ago to land Aaron Rodgers’s heir in 2020.

As he sees it, moving up and drafting the 21-year-old from Utah State was more capitalizing on an opportunity and less creating any sort of path of succession. In fact, as the draft wore on, a scenario that’s not all that uncommon started to play out in the Packers’ (virtual) war room. Players Green Bay liked kept coming off the board in the late teens and early 20s, which started to shift the idea of taking Love from hypothetical to possible.

“We looked at it like we really do every year,” Gutekunst said Sunday afternoon. “We evaluate all the players, and certainly quarterback is of the highest priority for an NFL franchise. We evaluate those guys very closely. And you set your boards. Again, you don’t know what’ll happen. But I've never in my time in Green Bay, we've never been in a spot where it was like, Hey, we have to go get a quarterback this year. This was no different.”

Long story short: Eventually, Love was the top guy left, and the gap was widening.

“As those players got picked, it was kind of like, With the way our board was, there really wasn't anyone else at that level that we felt comfortable taking.” Gutekunst said.

Meanwhile, as the GM and his lieutenants made calls, it became very clear to them, as they sat at 30, teams right in front of them—the Seahawks, Ravens and Titans—were seriously considering moving down to collect more capital, and had fielded inquiries on cost.

Knowing that, Gutekunst had a decision to make. He could get aggressive, and move in front of the teams between 27 and 29. Or he could sit at 30, knowing the other players that Green Bay valued at that spot were gone, and he’d be working furiously to move the pick as a result, if Love didn’t make it there.

At that point, the GM had seen enough of Love to envision him in Matt LaFleur’s offense, one that strives to marry the run game to the pass game, in a wing-T-ish kind of way that makes things more difficult on a defense. Love had the feet and arm to pull it off, and that was just the tip of the iceberg in what Gutekunst liked on him, the result of a process that started for him, really, at Death Valley when Utah State took on the LSU machine.

“He's just a really smooth, fluid athlete with a really loose arm,” Gutekunst said. “Natural thrower, certainly has a lot of arm strength. So, again, the physical traits, that was evident watching him throw in warmups and in the game. I like his competitive grit. That's a tough challenge going into Death Valley for a team like that. I thought he took some chances and tried to keep them in there as long as he could. But, again, it was a brief exposure.

“And LSU had about 15–16 guys I was looking at as well, so ... yeah …. But that was kind of what we took out of it.”

Utah State lost 42–6, Love threw three picks and everything was underway. No one would’ve guessed that’d be the first step toward finding the next Rodgers for Green Bay.

But here we are.

And there the Packers were, everything coming together fast—with that threat of Seattle or Baltimore dealing in front of them, and the need to do something about it. It left little time to call Rodgers before Gutekunst dealt a fourth-rounder to Miami to move from 30 to 26 to get Love. It wasn’t until after all that, that Gutekunst had the chance to call Rodgers and talk him through the whole thing.

The GM wouldn’t divulge what was said, but suffice it to say, this isn’t uncharted territory for him. He was the Packers’ Southeast area scout back when Rodgers was drafted as Favre’s replacement and hasn’t forgotten all the good, and the bad from that pick. And as easy as it is to compare this to that, philosophically he sees this as an extension of what Ron Wolf used to do—basically drafting a quarterback every year.

“We haven’t been able to do that the last few years, it just hasn’t fallen for us the right way,” he said. “And it’s not like we haven't wanted to, it’s just the value of the player and where we thought they were and where we could take them at the time, it just didn't happen. I think it's always kind of been in my DNA that anywhere in the draft, if you have an opportunity to take a quarterback you really think can play, you need to consider it.

“That's really what this move is. I know people may look at it differently from outside, but it was kind of one of those things where he was a guy we really think can play somewhere down the road. And he happened to be available to us. And it was really pretty much that simple. I think it's a little different than the Favre/Aaron thing because there were some different dynamics going on there at the time. But I think we’ve got an elite quarterback that's going to lead our team for, hopefully, a long time. And now I feel really good about a couple of the guys that we got behind him if anything should ever happen.”

It’s hard to say now whether Love will grow to be more than that. But by going to Green Bay and sitting—he was seen as plenty raw coming out—he may get the best shot to do that.

And we all know how that worked out for the last guy.

***

Staley played in 181 games—fifth-most among San Francisco offensive linemen—in his 13-year career.

SO LONG, STALEY

We’ll get more into the Trent Williams trade in the takeaways section below, but the retiring cornerstone he’ll replace at left tackle in San Francisco, Joe Staley, deserves a minute here. In the time I’ve spent around the team, he’s found a way to really embody the personality of the locker room for two separate, very different, title contenders—the Jim Harbaugh incarnation of the 49ers and the Kyle Shanahan version.

And while he served in that role, he became a damn good player for the team. He made six Pro Bowls and three All-Pro lists, and joined Jason Peters, Tyron Smith and Joe Thomas to make up the tackle group on the NFL’s 2010s All-Decade team.

That’s not bad for a guy who came to the NFL as a converted tight end in 2007.

“Everyone worried about him being big enough back then,” said Scot McCloughan, the GM who drafted Staley to the Niners with the 28th pick that year. “He had been a tight end, and I remember him getting on the radar by running fast at his junior pro day the year before. But that was at 280, and he’d played his junior year at about 300. So we were all concerned about him putting good weight on.

“At one point, after we got him, he actually put bad weight on, got that under control and then wound up putting the good weight on.”

So it was a while before the Niners truly knew what they had. His career really took off when Harbaugh arrived in 2011, after injury marred seasons in 2009 and ’10, and for the balance of the decade San Francisco had stability at one of the most important spots on any football team’s roster.

“I didn’t know he’d play this long, but everything else was in line—he was a team guy, a good guy, he had everything,” McCloughan said. “It was an easy pick. I wasn’t worried about the player, there was no background issue, medically or personally.… And I wasn’t worried about him getting bigger either, you knew that would happen, the talent was there.”

Getting him did take some doing for the Niners, though. And that’s where this story gets really interesting. The Niners took Patrick Willis with the 11th pick that year, and wouldn’t be in position to get Staley with the 43rd pick. So the Niners swung a trade with the Patriots to get the 28th pick and grab him, sending the 110th pick and the team’s 2008 first-rounder to New England in the process. Here’s the rest of that story:

• The Patriots traded that 110th pick for Raiders WR Randy Moss.

• The Patriots traded the Niners’ pick the next year (seventh overall) and a fifth-rounder to the Saints for the 10th pick and a third-rounder. At No. 10, they drafted LB Jerod Mayo, Tedy Bruschi’s eventual replacement in the middle of their defense. (Shawn Crable was the third-rounder.)

• The Saints moved up to get Sedrick Ellis at No. 7, who their new D-line coach Ed Orgeron(!) wanted to bring with him from USC. Ellis started in Super Bowl XLIV. And that throw-in fifth-rounder? It wound up being OG Carl Nicks, a second-team All-Pro for that championship team.

• And if that’s not enough, that Patriots/Niners’ pick had become a point of contention with other teams. New England was docked a first-rounder in 2008 for Spygate. Some believed they should have had to give up the higher of their No. 1s, which was the San Francisco pick.

Which is to say that while a pretty interesting trade—that Trent Williams deal—signaled the end of Staley’s career, it’s almost impossible that it’ll outdo the one that brought him into the NFL.

Congrats on a great career, Joe.

***

TEN TAKEAWAYS

Trent Williams was a massive get for the Niners. And I say that provided he’s close to what he was the last time we saw him play football. If he is, San Francisco’s leadership (John Lynch, Paraag Martathe and Kyle Shanahan) deserve a ton of credit for threading the needle on this one. Knowing Staley was at the end; understanding the market for the consensus top four tackles in the draft meant it was unlikely they’d land one; having Tristan Wirfs fall to them at 13 anyway and then trading out of that slot; and knowing their leverage could be on shaky ground all along, but sticking to their guns—that all took stones. At one point, it looked like the Niners might be able to wheel one of their first-round picks into a package to get the third-rounder they’d need to do the deal (they didn’t have a 2, a 3 or a 4 coming in), and they did get a fourth-rounder to flip-flop with Tampa, who came up to get Wirfs at 13. But then Brandon Aiyuk, a pretty much ideal Shanahan receiver, was there in the mid-20s, and that fourth-rounder went to Minnesota in a six-slot trade-up to get him. It was after all that, the Niners worked out the deal with Washington to send next year’s 3 and a 5 this year to get Williams. And they were able to do so despite Washington owner Dan Snyder’s grudges with both Williams and the Shanahans. As a result, Kyle Shanahan gets his dad’s first draft pick from Washington, a seven-time Pro Bowler who’s still just 31.

The Colts approach at receiver gives you an interesting window into the draft process. Last year, we wrote about why Indy gave WR Devin Funchess a one-year, $10 million deal. The move, to be sure, didn’t work out—Funchess caught three balls in the opener before breaking his collarbone, and missed the rest of the season as a result. But the logic behind the move remains sounds. As the Colts saw it, last year wasn’t a great year to be looking for a high-end receiver. So they signed Funchess as a way of getting them to what they believed would be a better receiver this year, and drafted a hybrid, in ex-Ohio State star Parris Campbell, in the second round to develop at the position. A year later, Funchess is gone, and the team wound up taking a receiver, in USC’s Michael Pittman, who may have been a first-rounder in last year’s shaky wideout class. And the twist? The twist is that the Colts traded last year’s first-rounder to Washington, and got the picks that wound up landing both Campbell and Pittman. Had they just stayed there and picked a receiver? The next one to go after their slotted pick, at 26, was New England’s N’Keal Harry.

Washington paid a price the other way. That first-rounder wound up being Montez Sweat, but the second-rounder it cost them this year ended up being the 34th overall pick, which might’ve been a piece of capital with which they could’ve replaced Williams. Instead, they had to take a swing on LSU tackle Saahdiq Charles at the top of the fourth round. And Charles absolutely has the talent to be a starting left tackle in the NFL. The problem is his off-field issues are extensive, and he failed a slew of drug tests while he was in college. That’s less of a problem than it used to be, but that he let it get to the point where he had to serve a six-game suspension led some teams to take him off the board altogether. For Washington? Sure, it’s worth taking a swing here. But it’s also indicative of how teams often try to make up for previous trades that drain them of picks. In fact, Washington’s been in this spot before. After the 2012 Robert Griffin trade, the team wound up taking fliers on boom-or-bust prospects like Baccari Rambo and David Amerson. They have to hope this works out better than that did.

I love the Bills taking a shot on Jake Fromm in the fifth round. At that point in the draft, most guys don’t wind up lasting very long in the league anyway, and it seemed to me that most evaluators believed the floor for Fromm would be as a Colt McCoy– or Chase Daniel–level backup, which isn’t bad value in the fifth round. And there’s a pretty cool backstory here too. Bills GM Brandon Beane was actually in Athens doing a school call the week after Fromm lost a home start for the first time in his career, and in practice that day his value to the program was on display. On one side of the practice field, head coach Kirby Smart was running the defensive session, with an offensive scout team on hand. On the other, Fromm was running the practice for the offense against the scout defense. That the coaches had trusted Fromm to be the one leading practice in that critical juncture in the season, and that Fromm saw it as a place he needed to step forward, spoke volumes to Beane. Add that to what Beane heard that day (that Fromm would be in the building watching tape until late in the night regularly) and what he saw as the season went on (Fromm fighting through with a beaten-up, undermanned skill-position group), and Beane was super impressed with a guy he had no thought of drafting, with Josh Allen on the team’s roster. But as Saturday wore on, Fromm’s name continued to separate from the pack on the team’s board, to the point where it was screaming at the Bills’ brass in the fifth round. Based on his grade alone, had quarterback been a need, Buffalo would’ve considered Fromm with at least a couple picks before getting to the one the Bills actually took him with. As it is? As it is, the Bills walk away with a really good backup quarterback prospect that could have trade value down the line.

I’m not as wild about the Eagles’ Jalen Hurts pick. And that’s nothing against Hurts the player, a guy who showed great determination in making it through all he did—at one point while he was at Bama, some NFL scouts were assessing him as a running-back prospect—to go in the second round. More, there would be two factors gnawing at me here if I’m the Eagles. One, I’m not sure he wouldn’t have slipped a little further, had Philly not taken him at 53, where they could’ve added a corner like LSU’s Kristian Fulton, a linebacker like Wyoming’s Logan Wilson or a pass-rusher like Iowa’s A.J. Epenesa, or traded down. Remember, it was the fourth round before another quarterback came off the board. Second, I’d worry his on-field value over the next four years may be minimal, if Carson Wentz stays healthy. Now, all that said? I like the conviction in the evaluation by Howie Roseman, and if Hurts gives them good depth for three years and gets flipped for a second or something better after that, then this will look better as a Wentz insurance policy.

The 29-year-old Hill, who has thrown 13 regular-season passes in his three-year career, is the second-highes-paid backup QB in the league.

The Saints’ investment at quarterback is fascinating. I love the Jameis Winston signing in New Orleans, for both sides. And I’m not sure they had to do what they did with Taysom Hill. I’ll explain. On the former, this strikes me as the ultimate win-win. Sean Payton, as strong a developer of quarterbacks as there is in the NFL, gets a year to work with an uber-talented former No. 1 overall pick, and the Saints get a year to evaluate him in-house as a potential Drew Brees successor. Winston, in turn, gets a year to move his game forward, working with that top developer of quarterbacks, something that worked out pretty well for new Panthers quarterback Teddy Bridgewater (to the tune of $21 million per year). So both sides win. On the latter, I’m not sure it was necessary to do what the Saints did with Hill. They, more or less, are paying $16 million for another year of control over Hill, who’ll turn 30 later this year. The franchise tag at quarterback next winter will probably come in at $28 million or so. That’s a $12 million difference. So either Hill shows he’s not the answer, and you’re on the hook for the extra $16 million and you have to figure out how to bring back Winston or find another answer, or re-sign Brees for another year. Or he shows he is the answer, and you saved the $12 million but have to give him a new deal in the post-Patrick Mahomes NFL. And I’m not crazy about all that. But Payton, again, is pretty good with quarterbacks, and must’ve had confidence in Hill to sign off on all this.

It’s always interesting seeing how connections play into draft picks, and it’s clear that new Giants coach Joe Judge leaned on his in his first draft in charge. It’s actually pretty staggering, if you go down the line on this one. Here’s who New York picked:

• Georgia T Andrew Thomas and LB Tae Crowder, who played for Judge’s Bama staffmate Kirby Smart.

• Alabama S Xavier McKinney, who played for Judge’s old boss, Nick Saban.

• UConn OT Matt Peart, whose position coach was Judge’s Mississippi State staffmate J.B. Grimes.

• Penn State LB Cameron Brown, who was in Happy Valley the last few years with new Giants DL coach Sean Spencer.

• Oregon G Shane Lemeiux, who was with Judge’s Bama staffmate Bobby Williams the last two years in Eugene.

• South Carolina LB T.J. Brunson, who was with Judge’s Southern Miss staffmate Clyde Wrenn.

On top of all that, Oregon’s Mario Cristobal and South Carolina’s Will Muschamp are also from the Saban tree, and Judge knows them; UConn coach Randy Edsall and UCLA coach Chip Kelly (who coached fourth-round CB Darnay Holmes) are close to the Patriots program, and Judge knows them; and Penn State coach James Franklin grew up in the same area as Judge, which gave roots to their relationship.

It’s all pretty fascinating, and it should benefit the Giants for a couple reasons. One, Judge knows he’s getting good information from those guys. Two, Judge can bank on the fact that the kids coming his way will be able to handle the kind of program he wants to run. And it, by the way, isn’t hard to figure out where Judge learned all this. The Patriots have been plucking from Bill Belichick’s friends for years. The latest connection there? It’s to Michigan, where OC Josh McDaniels’s brother Ben coaches. New England’s plucked three Wolverines in the two drafts since he got there.

The guy in this draft class I’m most intrigued to see with regard to how he translates to the NFL is without question new Cardinal Isaiah Simmons. Is he a safety? Is he a linebacker? What we know is that he’s a freakish athlete who was insanely productive in college, and had that ability harnessed and schemed up expertly by Tigers defensive coordinator Brent Venables. And the NFL was split in what all of it made him as a pro prospect, which was illustrated by his market on draft night. I figured going in that the Patriots-connected teams drafting at No. 3, 4 and 5 would be tempted by him. But after digging, I don’t think any of them were wild about taking him that high, nor were the Panthers at No. 7. On the flip side, there were other teams, including one that went very deep in the playoffs last year, that had him ranked very close to Ohio State dynamo Chase Young atop the draft board. And so the onus now is on Cardinals defensive coordinator Vance Joseph to get the most out of a guy who’s very much the type of Arizona GM Steve Keim (i.e. Tyrann Mathieu, Tony Jefferson, Budda Baker, Haason Reddick, Deone Bucannon).

There were undercover benefits to the way this year’s draft was conducted that you couldn’t have seen on Thursday, Friday or Saturday night. And I was told the stories of a few them, so I’ll give you a fun one here. The kids of one head coach made ESPN’s air on one of the nights (and we probably saw most of the coaches’ kids by the end), and the kids of another head coach were watching. The second set of kids knew the first from when the two coaches had previously worked together. So they wanted to get on TV too, and did eventually, with the first coach making sure his kids saw it. And eventually, the kids all wound up FaceTiming to catch up after not having seen each other in a couple years. I thought that was another pretty cool result of a very unique set of circumstances for everyone. Chances are, we won’t get to see the coaches and GMs in an at-home environment like this again. But a lot of those guys I talked to took lessons on efficiency and balancing off-season time between work and family from the experience, which I thought was pretty awesome. And I do think there is something the NFL can incorporate in 2021, assuming everything is back to normal. They could back off in pressuring kids to show up to Cleveland next April, and simply give them the option. Then, some would go, and do the traditional commencement-style crossing of the stage. And others could be sent camera kits and watch from home. That way, I think we’d get a fun mix of both.

The people at ESPN deserve a lot of credit. I thought the broadcast was outstanding all the way around, and the ESPN and NFL Network folks deserve to have their names in here. So shout out to ESPN’s Seth Markman and Bryan Ryder, NFL VP of Broadcasting Onnie Bose, and my old buddy and ex-NFL Network colleague Charlie Yook. Markman, ESPN’s point man for the NFL and a VP of production, texted this Sunday, when I asked about the job the blended team of ESPN, NFLN and NFL people did: “Just a fantastic team effort. Went better than any of us expected. I think we have to figure out how to incorporate so many of the successes in future drafts.” As they should.

***

SIX FROM THE SIDELINE

1) Hopefully being in the start of the real offseason next week, I can watch The Last Dance live with the rest of you. For now, I’ll bitterly look at Twitter and see a million comments on it at 11:56 p.m. ET.

2) Kaitlin Collins is doing a fantastic job covering the White House for CNN.

3) I really hope it’s not a mistake for Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Michigan, Iowa, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Texas, Colorado and Montana to start reopening this week. I don’t know what the impact will be. But I do understand both the worry over the state of the economy and the fact that, in certain parts of the country (mine included), we have a ways to go. Also, as is the case with everything in 2020, I’m fearful politics are shaping the opinions of people who aren’t great at thinking for themselves.

4) The Cape Cod Baseball League canceling its season is understandable, of course. But it’s still pretty sad, both for the kids and everyone who flocks to those games every summer.

5) I watched last year’s 24/7 episodes on Florida and Penn State football, and I gotta say that it’s outstanding. Worth your time while we all wait for next week’s premiere of Billions.

6) This will be my kids’ seventh full week out of school, and I really do feel terrible for all the high school kids, especially the seniors, who are missing out on spring sports and prom and all that. Lots of stuff you just can’t have back.

***

BEST OF THE NFL INTERNET

It’s hard to believe the Gronk thing happened this week. Thoughts, Jules?

It’s been a long wait for Barry to get back out there.

Pretty cool—from a 16-year-old Burrow to a recruiting analyst, doing whatever it takes to get more exposure.

This one, too, from a 17-year-old Chase Young.

Pretty creative by the Arizona Republic’s Katherine Fitzgerald, getting Kliff’s pad as a Zoom background. And, per Fitzgerald, somehow Kingsbury didn’t give her a reaction.

That dog won Friday.

I may or may not have provoked this one from the Tweet King.

I’m not even sure this was an unpopular opinion by the end of the weekend.

One Harbaugh couldn’t beat him, so the other Harbaugh decided to join him?

I’d totally forgotten that one.

Thank you, Myron Rolle, for all that you’re doing at Mass General.

Great call by Ron Rivera.

Chuck has this one right. Missed opportunity by Roger.

What what, indeed.

Kempski’s crazy.

Another MVP: Boston College OT Tyler Vrabel in the background of his dad’s shot here, not doing what you think he is (he’s just sitting on a barstool, allegedly).

***

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

The draft’s over! So here’s what’s ahead.

April 27: That’s today! And by the end of the day, all 32 teams will be in their virtual offseason programs, which they’ll be running until the end of June.

May 3: Deadline to exercise fifth-year options on 2017 rookies.

May 18-21: League meeting in Marina Del Ray, Calif.

July 15: Deadline to sign franchised/transitioned players to long-term deals.

Late July: Training camp starts.

So yeah, this is normally the slow time of year. Even slower this year, for obvious reasons.

But I can promise you we’re going to do our best to make the most of it here at the site. And while saying thank you to everyone who followed our draft coverage, I’d ask all of you who did come along with us to stay on board going forward.

See you guys this afternoon for the MAQB!

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