NFL Notes: Cardinals, Eagles Patriots

Cardinals

Cardinals GM Steve Keim mentioned during an interview with Arizona Sports 98.7 that they’re in the process of considering extension offers for some of their free-agents-to-be with a focus on competitors and locker room presence.

“That’s an ongoing process and we have made some of those players extension offers,” Keim said, AzCardinals.com. “The bottom line is we have a lot of work to do, as I said last week.

“We’ve dealt with enough adversity this year with the injuries and with some of the losses, so we have to make sure we use this season and, in particular, our issues that we have dealt with, as learning things, where we can look back and grow from it instead of having the attitude of ‘woe is me.’ That is something I believe in wholeheartedly, not only on the scouting side of it but as an organization in general.”

Eagles

According to Eagles HC Doug Pederson, the plan is to evaluate the team’s injury situation on Wednesday before deciding whether they will rest their players in Week 17.

“I’ll evaluate that tomorrow when we get in and see where we’re at injury-wise,” Pederson said after Monday night’s game, via Pro Football Talk. “I might have more information for you tomorrow, but it will probably be more like Wednesday before I finally make a decision on who we play.”

As for QB Nick Foles, Pederson admitted that he’ll likely have to play next week, based on their current quarterback situation.

“Right now with only two guys [at quarterback], I would assume he’d probably have to play some,” Pederson said.

• Eagles DE Brandon Graham has an ankle injury and is day-to-day. Pederson said that they will discuss the possibility of resting him leading up to their playoff game. (Zach Berman)
• According to Zach Berman, it sounds like Eagles are leaning toward keeping Dannell Ellerbe at middle linebacker and plan to evaluate him in this role on Sunday.

Patriots

Mike Reiss revisits whether the Patriots got enough in return for QB Jimmy Garoppolo when they agreed to trade him to the 49ers for a second-round pick.

• Reiss points out that the Patriots were in a “low-leverage” situation by waiting until the trade deadline to move Garoppolo.
• Had New England tried to trade Garoppolo during the 2017 offseason, it’s possible they would have gotten even more in return for him.
• Another possible reason for the Patriots trading Garoppolo when they did, according to Reiss, was to ensure that he was out of the AFC and not playing for a team they could face in the coming years.
• By trading Garoppolo to San Francisco, the Patriots ensured that they were to able get a quality backup quarterback in Brian Hoyer.
• Reiss adds that franchising Garoppolo next year wasn’t an option for the Patriots, considering that it would have cost them around $22 million-$24 million fully guaranteed, which is more than Tom Brady makes.
• We have Garoppolo featured in our Top 25 – 2018 NFL Free Agents list.