“I do think there’s potential that we have something really good, and to me, you’ve got to see it through.” – Bears GM Ryan Poles on sticking with QB Justin Fields
“There’s a lot of people who have paved the way for smaller quarterbacks. A lot of people have done it at a really high level. Drew Brees, Russell Wilson are guys that definitely inspired me a lot growing up.” – Alabama QB Bryce Young on his size
“If I’m the team, I want Jackson badly, but not enough to guarantee him his money five years into the future after he’s missed so much time hurt.” – King on the Ravens and QB Lamar Jackson
“Best guesses from my GM crowd-sourcing: Derek Carr to the Saints, Aaron Rodgers no one knows, truly (but I’m guessing Jets), Lamar Jackson and Daniel Jones franchised, Jimmy Garoppolo being the beneficiary of some QB uncertainty sometime in March.” – King’s QB predictions
STAMFORD, Conn. – March 6, 2023 – Peter King recaps the 2023 NFL Scouting Combine and previews the upcoming NFL Draft and NFL free agency in this week’s edition of Football Morning in America, available now exclusively on NBCSports.com. King also discusses Lamar Jackson’s contract situation in Baltimore, the Bears’ draft strategy with the number one pick, Carson Wentz’s career, and more.
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The following are highlights from this week’s edition of Football Morning in America:
2023 NFL DRAFT
Bears GM Ryan Poles to King on the importance of this year’s NFL Draft for the team: “I believe in building something to sustain success for a long period of time. To me that’s gotta be through the draft. This is just a chance to load up this team up with a bunch of opportunity and flexibility to do that.”
King on Poles’ plan for the Bears going forward: “It’s clear he’s not trading (QB Justin) Fields, and he’s not picking a quarterback high in this draft. He left little doubt the Bears will trade the first overall pick and said he’d spoken to three teams at the Combine about a deal.”
Poles on Fields: “When we started to adjust and adapt to what he did well, and he started running the ball a little bit, we saw a very unique and special ability and talent that can change the game. Now that next piece in terms of being an efficient passer is what we need to get to…I do think there’s potential that we have something really good, and to me, you’ve got to see it through.”
Poles on the urgency to trade the first overall pick: “I could carry this all the way until we’re on the clock the night of the draft. But then there’s teams that want some certainty because, ‘If I need a quarterback bad, should I do that now when some of these guys, like Derek Carr, are out there?’ To me, they’ve got to go so much more above to do it now.”
King on the Colts: “(Colts) GM Chris Ballard is under the gun, and he knows it. I think if he falls in love with one of the top passers, he’ll overpay for him.”
King on the Panthers: “The owner, David Tepper, has made it clear internally he wants a long-term answer at quarterback, and he wants it now…the Panthers might be willing to overpay relative to the Colts, and if the Bears have enough ‘blue’ players on the board to ensure they’d get one picking at nine, I could see them taking that deal.”
2023 NFL SCOUTING COMBINE
King on Alabama QB Bryce Young: “Young is the most polished of the class, but he’s 5-10 1/8, and that surely will give some teams pause. (Cardinals QB) Kyler Murray was the same height, exactly, four years ago, but still went one overall. The difference is Young doesn’t have the speed Murray has.”
Young on his size: “There’s a lot of people who have paved the way for smaller quarterbacks. A lot of people have done it at a really high level. Drew Brees, Russell Wilson are guys that definitely inspired me a lot growing up.”
NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah on Ohio State QB C.J. Stroud’s Combine performance: “Best pure passer in this draft, and he had what I’d call a graceful workout. I’ve been to workouts that are overpowering. Stroud was smooth and natural. He’s a born thrower.”
King on Florida QB Anthony Richardson: “He could turn out to be a megastar; his tools suggest that’s certainly possible. But let’s recall he won six games as a college quarterback, started for one season, and completed 54.7 percent of his career passes. We do some weird things in the media business, but inflating players because of their Combine performances is the weirdest.”
NEWS & NOTES
King’s QB predictions: “Best guesses from my GM crowd-sourcing: Derek Carr to the Saints, Aaron Rodgers no one knows, truly (but I’m guessing Jets), Lamar Jackson and Daniel Jones franchised, Jimmy Garoppolo being the beneficiary of some QB uncertainty sometime in March.”
King’s idea on Lamar Jackson/Ravens contract situation: “My idea: Baltimore tries to sign Jackson to a short-term guaranteed deal. Maybe two years, $85 million, or three years, $125 million…Jackson wouldn’t be getting the security he certainly wants. But I don’t see the Ravens doing the full guarantee over five years, the way Cleveland did with (Deshaun) Watson. If I’m the team, I want Jackson badly, but not enough to guarantee him his money five years into the future after he’s missed so much time hurt.”
King on QB Carson Wentz, who was recently released by the Commanders: “I’d argue that no player in NFL history has cost so much and delivered so little.”
Read the full FMIA column here and catch the weekly Peter King Podcast here.
The following are additional highlights of NBC Sports’ NFL coverage:
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- The NFL on NBC YouTube channel offers daily football content for free, with exclusive videos from Peter King Mike Florio, Chris Simms, and more. To access all of these videos and more, click here to subscribe
A new “Football Morning in America” posts every Monday morning exclusively on NBCSports.com through the NFL season. It was announced in May 2019 that King signed an exclusive agreement with NBC Sports Group that included writing a weekly Monday morning NFL column for NBCSports.com; making regular appearances on PFT Live with Mike Florio; and continuing to contribute to Football Night in America, the most-watched studio show in sports.
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