NFL Notes: 2020 Season, Stephen Gostkowski, QB Market

2020 Season

As the director of the National Institute of Health, Dr. Anthony Fauci is one of the most qualified people in the world to speak to what the 2020 NFL season might look like this fall amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. While Fauci acknowledged that if the season had to start right now, the situation with the virus would make playing football untenable, he sees some reason for optimism by September as long as testing capacity increases to where the NFL isn’t receiving preferential treatment instead of the general population. 

“Right now, it would be overwhelmingly piggish,” Fauci said via NBC Sports’ Peter King. “But by the end of August, we should have in place Antigen testings . . . You could test millions of people, millions of people. But again, we have to make sure that the companies that are doing these tests actually produce them. Which given the country that we have, such a rich country, I would be very surprised if we can’t do that.”

While Fauci says a second wave of the virus in the fall is inevitable, he thinks the U.S. will be more prepared the second time around. There’s also a possibility of reaching a point where plasma donations from individuals who test positive for antibodies could ensure immunity against the virus for others. If the infection levels drop in the coming months, Fauci even allowed for the possibility of some fans being allowed into the stadiums to watch while socially distancing. 

“I think it’s feasible that negative testing players could play to an empty stadium,” Fauci said. “Is it guaranteed? No way . . . There will be virus out there and you will know your players are negative at the time they step onto the field. You’re not endangering . . . Also, if the virus is so low that even in the general community the risk is low, then I could see filling a third of the stadium or half the stadium so people could be six feet apart. I mean, that’s something that is again feasible depending on the level of infection. I keep getting back to that: It’s going to depend. Like, right now, if you fast forward, and it is now September. The season starts. I say you can’t have a season — it’s impossible. There’s too much infection out there. It doesn’t matter what you do. But I would hope that by the time you get to September it’s not gonna be the way it is right now.”

Still, the odds of the virus not disrupting the season in some way seem to be low. Fauci said players will need to be tested multiple times per week, including Saturday night and Sunday before the game. Teams will need to be prepared to lose any player for two weeks if they test positive, even if it’s an invaluable player like Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes.

“Absolutely, absolutely,” Fauci said. “It would be malpractice in medicine to put him on the field, absolutely.”

Beyond that, Fauci said as few as four players testing positive could be grounds to quarantine an entire team for two weeks and either postpone or cancel those two games on the schedule. 

“You got a problem there,” he said. “You know why? Because it is likely that if four of them are positive and they’ve been hanging around together, that the other ones that are negative are really positive. So I mean, if you have one outlier [only one player testing positive], I think you might get away. But once you wind up having a situation where it looks like it’s spread within a team, you got a real problem. You gotta shut it down.”

Stephen Gostkowski

After being released by the Patriots this offseason, former Patriots K Stephen Gostkowski is one of a host of notable players still without a deal as the NFL offseason winds to a close. However, New England’s all-time leading scorer isn’t worried about being left out for long, as when training camp starts and some team is unhappy with its current kicker, his resume will stand out. 

“No one is practicing right now, so it’s not like I’m missing competing with someone in OTAs. If things work out like I think they will, I’ll have an opportunity around training camp, whenever the NFL decides that will be,” Gostkowski said via ESPN’s Mike Reiss. “I want to try to find a place where I can have a chance to compete. With the kicker position, there’s usually two, three, four spots that are up in the air, but you just have to find the right place.”

Quarterback Market

• Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio says odds are Cowboys QB Dak Prescott will edge out Seahawks QB Russell Wilson as the NFL’s highest-paid quarterback at $35 million a year.
• If Prescott doesn’t, Florio writes Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes or Texans QB Deshaun Watson will. He also says that’s the best chance for the quarterback market to potentially level off, as after Mahomes signs his deal, it’s possible players like Ravens QB Lamar Jackson, Cardinals QB Kyler Murray, Bengals QB Joe Burrow, Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa or even Clemson QB Trevor Lawrence fall in behind Mahomes. 
• Then again, unless a team is willing to let its starter test the free-agent market, Florio adds there’s a good chance the quarterback market keeps on growing like it has since 2016.