Fred Warner
- Former agent and CBS Sports analyst Joel Corry writes that 49ers LB Fred Warner has a great shot at hitting $20 million a year on a long-term deal.
- Corry points out two franchise tags for Warner would work out to an average of more than $20 million a year and Warner is crucial enough to the 49ers’ success even as an off-ball linebacker that they would use the tag.
- The current top of the linebacker market is $18 million a year for Seahawks LB Bobby Wagner. Corry says whoever signs their deal last between Leonard and Colts LB Darius Leonard will likely hold that distinction this year.
Odell Beckham
Browns QB Baker Mayfield said WR Odell Beckham Jr. has impressed returning from a torn ACL.
“He looks really great. After seeing him run and really just talking to him, as well, he feels comfortable. He is still getting used to some of these cuts and certain motions, but you are talking about seven months since the surgery so it is pretty impressive how quickly he has come back,” Mayfield said, via Scott Patsko of Cleveland.com.
“Obviously, his play speaks for itself. He is an explosive player. I think when it comes to teams scheming up for our offense, he has the dynamic, the deep threat and teams have to roll a safety over the top, whether they want to play one-high or two-high and just all of the things that can exploit matchups and create better opportunities for everybody else and not only himself.”
Broncos QB Competition
Broncos OC Pat Shurmur said both QBs Drew Lock and Teddy Bridgewater are improving and sharing first-team reps in practice.
“They’re both getting better,” Shurmur said, via Ryan O’Halloran of the Denver Post. “Obviously, they’ve both gotten work with the 1s and shared the workload. I’ve seen improvement in Drew’s decision-making, timing and accuracy and for Teddy, it’s more about getting up to speed on what we’ve done and he’s right on-board with the things we’re doing.”
Shurmur said that OTAs and minicamp have been a valuable time in developing both quarterbacks and the rest of the Broncos’ roster.
“This has been a very important time for all of us — we’ve gotten almost a half season’s worth of reps through the OTAs and minicamp,” Shurmur said. “I think we’ve built a really good foundation not only for the quarterbacks, but for the team going into training camp.”
Broncos HC Vic Fangio said they have not determined if they want to name a starting quarterback prior to their preseason finale.
“That will remain to be determined what we do with the third preseason game,” Fangio said.
Fangio added that they will continue splitting first-team duties between Lock and Bridgewater throughout the offseason.
“As far as the work preceding (the Rams game), it’s going to be 50-50 somehow someway,” Fangio said. “There may be days when one of them gets more work than the other, and the next day, the other guy gets more work. Some days will be 50-50, some will be 60-40. In the final analysis, they’ll be pretty (darn) even in the work and opportunities.”
- Shurmur says a lot goes into analyzing a quarterback competition: “There’s the hard data. You want to get more completions and you want less interceptions. You want to throw touchdown passes. All the hard data. … When this guy is in there, are less bad things happening?” (Mike Klis)
Looking for the latest NFL Insider News & Rumors?
Be sure to follow NFL Trade Rumors on TWITTER and FACEBOOK for breaking NFL News and Rumors for all 32 teams!
