MARCH 10 WILSON VISITS PITTSBURGH Denver Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson has been told by his team that he is out the door. Many teams in need of a franchise signal-caller are showing interest, and that includes the Baltimore Ravens’ AFC North rival Pittsburgh Steelers.
Wilson met with the Steelers on Friday and per Josina Anderson, the visit went “great” and he reportedly spoke with offensive coordinator Arthur Smith for hours.
ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler added that the interest is real.
“Pittsburgh’s interest in Wilson is indeed real, as was assured to me by a team source,” Fowler wrote. “Wilson arrived at the Steelers facility on Friday afternoon and had what a source described as a ‘very positive’ meeting with the club … the Steelers were always bringing in competition. This would be that and then some, as it’s hard to imagine Wilson as anything other than a starter.”
MARCH 8 BENGALS TAG TEE The Cincinnati Bengals placed the franchise tag on wideout Tee Higgins, extending the time the team can negotiate a long-term deal with the Clemson product.
If they can’t reach an agreement, Higgins will play next season on the tag for a guaranteed $21.8 million.
Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin told Bengals Wire, “We want him on the roster. As soon as we got the salary cap numbers, there was no point lingering on this.”
Head coach Zac Taylor said the team wasn’t going to let Higgins get away.
“He’s one of the top receivers in this league, and we don’t want that just walking out of the building. So when you’ve got an opportunity to put a tag on him and keep him in the building and let him play at least another season for us, I think that’s critical,” Taylor said.
MARCH 2 XAVIER WORTHY IMPRESSES DECOSTA Texas Longhorns wideout Xavier Worthy set a new 40-yard dash time at the NFL Combine on Saturday, and Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta was on hand to witness it live.
He was clearly impressed by the speed of Worthy, as evidenced by his real-time reaction.
Worthy was clocked with the lighting-fast time of 4.21 seconds on his second try, passing John Ross III’s record by .01 seconds. The Longhorns receiver reached 24.21 miles per hour according to Next Gen Stats.
FEB 27 NFL TRADE DEADLINE COULD MOVE In 2023, the NFL trade deadline came after Week 8, and some teams would like it adjusted.
Cleveland Browns general manager Andrew Berry appeared on PFT and said he and other teams have proposed pushing the deadline back two weeks for 2024, to after Week 10 of the regular season.
The extra time could give teams more time to decide if they should be buyers or sellers, and put the NFL deadline more in line with other leagues on the schedule.
Any change requires the approval of 24 of the 32 teams at the league meetings in March.
FEB 26 HIGGINS TAGGED BY BENGALS The NFL free agent wide receiver pool is less crowded as of Monday morning as the Cincinnati Bengals have officially placed the franchise tag on wideout Tee Higgins.:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(749x0:751x2)/russell-wilson-2-122923-414b5e71b8b1427cad992660cc5f35d6.jpg?w=640&ssl=1)
That’s one less open market target for teams like the Ravens, who will most likely be active in their search for a wideout this offseason.
That still leaves big names like Mike Evans and Calvin Ridley, as well as Baltimore incumbent Odell Beckham Jr. who are all set to become free agents when the new league starts on March 13.
The Ravens could also address the need in April’s NFL Draft.
FEB 24 SHERMAN ARRESTED Former NFL cornerback and current analyst Richard Sherman has reportedly been arrested for DUI per Fox 13 in Seattle.
Washington State Patrol confirmed to Fox 13 that the ex-NFLer was arrested early Saturday morning, and the King County Jail roster indicates Sherman was booked at 4:51 a.m.
Sherman has served as an analyst on Amazon Prime Thursday Night Football for the past two seasons and joined FS1’s Undisputed last year.
Sherman spent time with the Seattle Seahawks, San Francisco 49ers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers during an 11-year career.
FEB 22 AMAZON NFL DEAL WORTH $150M CNBC reports that Amazon has agreed to pay the NFL $150 million for the rights to stream a Wild Card game during the opening weekend of the 2024 playoffs.
That news comes on the heels of Peacock paying $110 million to broadcast the Chiefs-Dolphins Wild Card game last season, bringing in a record number of streamers.
The Saturday night contest brought in an average of 23 million viewers and 16.3 million devices streaming at once, doubling the record for a single day in the history of Peacock.
Amazon currently pays an average of $58.8 million per game to stream Thursday Night Football.
FEB 17 LEFTY DRIESELL PASSES AWAY Former Maryland Terrapins men’s basketball coach Lefty Driesell passed away his family announced on Saturday. He was 92.
Maryland announced they would honor Driesell with a moment of silence before their Saturday matchup with No. 14 Illinois. They’ll also break out 1970s throwback uniforms previously worn on Jan. 21 when the Terrapins honored Driesell.
