The two teams in the country’s biggest market will be paying bargain-basement salaries to their veteran quarterbacks.
For the Jets and Justin Fields, the two-year, $40 million deal puts him at the bottom of the list of starters not playing under rookie contracts. For the Giants and Jameis Winston, the base deal is 20 percent of that.
Via multiple reports, it’s two years and $8 million for Winston.
While he can reportedly double it with incentives, the base deal cries out “bridge” quarterback. And it puts the Giants in play to take a quarterback as early as No. 3 in the draft.
If they do, it would most likely be Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders. That assumes the Browns won’t take Sanders with the second overall pick.
Regardless of whether it happens in round one or. round two — or if the Giants trade back into the bottom of the first round — it’s looking like they’ll be pairing Winston with a rookie, based on the value of the contract Winston has signed.
And if they don’t, the Giants will have gotten a major bargain with Winston. Then again, it’s basically the same deal he did last year in Cleveland, where he signed a one-year, $4 million deal with up to $4.7 million in incentives.
The Broncos have hired Jeff Schmedding as their inside linebackers coach, Bruce Feldman of CBS Sports reports.
Schmedding will replace Michael Wilhoite, who the Broncos fired after his arrest on suspicion of second degree assault of a police officer. Isaac Shewmaker will serve as the team’s outside linebackers coach.
Schmedding has never coached in the NFL, but he has 21 years of experience in the college ranks.
He was fired from Washington State in December after two seasons as the Cougars’ defensive coordinator. Schmedding also has served as the defensive coordinator at Eastern Washington (2015-18), Boise State (2019-20) and Auburn (2022).
The Browns have agreed to terms with free agent linebacker Jerome Baker, Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com reports.
Baker recently visited Cleveland.
Baker began last season with the Seahawks and started the first five games of the year before being traded to the Titans. He appeared in five more games for Tennessee.
He finished the season with 61 tackles, two sacks, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery in 566 defensive snaps between his two stops.
Baker spent his first six seasons with the Dolphins after they made him a third-round pick. He had 587 tackles, 22.5 sacks, five interceptions, six forced fumbles and a fumble recovery during his time in Miami.
The Giants are done waiting on Aaron Rodgers.
With Rodgers visiting Pittsburgh on Friday, the Giants have signed veteran quarterback Jameis Winston. Winston has confirmed the NFL Media report.
He joined Tommy DeVito as the only two quarterbacks on the Giants’ roster. They’ll surely add more, possibly through the draft.
Winston recently visited the Giants, along with veterans Russell Wilson and Joe Flacco.
The first pick in the 2015 draft, Winston spent five years with the Buccaneers, four with the Saints, and one with the Browns. He has 105 regular-season appearances with 87 starts. His record as a starter is 36-51.
Winston has thrown 154 touchdown passes, with 111 interceptions.
He has become an engaging and colorful personality. He might be the kick in the ass the Giants need.
The move most likely removed the Giants from the running for Aaron Rodgers, limiting his option to the Steelers, maybe the Vikings, and possibly retirement.
The Vikings need a veteran quarterback. And they’re reportedly talking to one who hasn’t played since January 2024.
The Vikings are in communication with Ryan Tannehill, reports Jordan Schultz of Fox Sports.
As we hear it, the Vikings consider Tannehill a potential option. However, no deal has been discussed. Tannehill, we’re told, is very happy in Nashville. He has made nearly $200 million during his career.
The 36-year-old Tannehill never signed with any team in 2024. As we explained in September, was being “very selective” about his next destination. He would need to have a compelling opportunity to move his family.
The eighth overall pick in the 2012 draft (which also produced Andrew Luck, Robert Griffin III, Russell Wilson, Nick Foles, and Kirk Cousins), Tannehill spent seven seasons with the Dolphins and five with the Titans.
Tannehill and current Vikings QB1 are represented by the same firm. That would make things awkward, to say the least, is the Vikings were to take the position that Tannehill has a chance to start, in order to get him to move his family to Minneapolis.
The Chiefs have agreed to terms with free agent cornerback/core special teams player Robert Rochell on a one-year deal, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports.
Rochell, who turns 27 next month, spent the past two seasons with the Packers.
In 2024, he played 11 games, seeing action on one defensive snap and 121 on special teams. He made two tackles and recovered a fumble.
Rochell entered the NFL as a fourth-round pick of the Rams in 2021, and he spent his first two seasons in Los Angeles.
He has totaled 25 tackles, one interception, four passes defensed and three fumble recoveries in 48 games with five starts in his four-year career.
Offensive tackle Kadeem Telfort is returning to the Packers.
Telfort, an exclusive rights free agent, signed his tender on Friday, according to the NFL’s transactions report.
Telfort, 26, signed with the Packers as an undrafted free agent in 2023. He didn’t make the team out of training camp but signed to the practice squad.
He did not play a regular-season game as a rookie.
In 2024, Telfort played 16 games, seeing action on 23 offensive snaps and 79 on special teams.
Cowboys defensive end Micah Parsons is optimistic about getting a long-term deal with the team. The question is: When?
Clarence Hill of All City DLLS reports the Cowboys have yet to have “real talks” with Parsons’ agent, David Mulegheta, though a deal could come together quickly if both sides are motivated.
Parsons said Thursday he was unconcerned about not having a long-term agreement yet, adding he has spoken with owner Jerry Jones and executive vice president Stephen Jones around the team facility.
“It’s coming along well,” Parsons said, via Hill.
Parsons said late last season that he didn’t need $40 million annually, but since then, Browns edge rusher Myles Garrett and Bengals receiver Ja’Marr Chase reset the market for non-quarterbacks at more than $40 million. Parsons is expected to top the $40.25 million yearly average of Chase.
Parsons acknowledged Thursday that "$40" million is real for him.
“I just played these last couple years on $2 [million] and $3 million,” Parsons said. “I think if I had $40 million, I’d be the happiest man alive. You go from playing for the league rookie minimum and get that big of a jump, I think anybody would be happy.”
Parsons played last season for a base salary of $2.989 million and is scheduled to play 2025 on the fifth-year option of $24.07 million.
He sent something of a message on social media Friday after Mulugheta negotiated big deals for Panthers cornerback Jaycee Horn and Texans cornerback Derek Stingley Jr.
“Some of these agents don’t have the best interest for y’all man!,” Parsons wrote. “Wake up. David Mulugheta has been showing it time and time again! It’s sad seeing some of these players get violated by teams because of lack of decency and effort by their agents!”
So, no, Parsons isn’t taking a hometown discount. With four Pro Bowls, two All-Pro citations and 52.5 sacks in four seasons, he has earned an extension that makes him the highest-paid non-quarterback in the league.
Aaron Rodgers has previously spent time in Pittsburgh, usually in three-hour chunks at the local football stadium. He spent twice that amount of time on Friday, visiting with the local team.
Via Adam Schefter of ESPN.com, Rodgers visited the Steelers’ facility for roughly six hours on Friday. Schefter calls it a “positive visit,” and says the two sides will “stay in touch.”
The development remained tightly under wraps until Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette caught wind of it. After he reported it, others mobilized to confirm the news — because it’s never good enough to trust someone else’s reporting, apparently.
The fact that Dulac reported it means someone from the Steelers leaked it. Which could have been a test by Rodgers to see whether the S.S. Rooney has leaks. Indeed, Rodgers has complained in the past about leaks with the Jets.
But every team has leaks. And the fact that Rodgers visited Pittsburgh is something that wouldn’t have remained silent, given the reporting obligation to the league office. It would have been (and eventually will be) on the daily list of transactions. (It didn’t make it to the Friday report.)
The visit by all appearances doesn’t alter Rodgers’s timeline. He’s currently in no hurry to make a decision. We’ve heard that the delay has occurred in large part at the advice of his agent, David Dunn.
No one truly knows what Rodgers wants to do. It’s possible if not probable that he doesn’t know. Steelers, Giants, wait to see whether the Vikings come around, retirement, or wait for a quarterback on a Super Bowl contender to suffer a serious injury.
An expectation emerged that he was ready to go. The Steelers made their offer. And then it all fizzled out.
So the wait continues. Through it all, it’s unlikely there will be any announcements. Just developments. A visit here. A visit there.
And then at some point he’ll sign a contract. Or he won’t.
Tight end Tyler Conklin has agreed to a one-year deal with the Chargers, his agent, Mike McCartney, announced on social media.
Conklin took a free agent visit to Los Angeles this week.
He joins Will Dissly, Tucker Fisk and McCallan Castles in the tight ends room.
Conklin, 29, spent the past three seasons with the Jets.
In 2024, he played 16 games with 15 starts, seeing action on 805 offensive snaps. He made 51 catches for 449 yards and four touchdowns.
The Vikings made him a fifth-round pick in 2018, and he spent four seasons in Minnesota. He signed a three-year, $21 million deal with the Jets in free agency in 2022.
In his seven-year career, Conklin has 263 catches for 2,544 yards and 11 touchdowns. He has missed only three games, appearing in 114 with 64 starts.
