NFL Notes: Patrick Peterson, Saquon Barkley, TV Deals

Patrick Peterson

Cardinals GM Steve Keim did not provide a direct answer when responding to questions about impending free-agent CB Patrick Peterson‘s future with the team.

“There are just a lot of factors that are still unknown,” said Keim, via Darren Urban of the team’s official site. 

Cardinals owner Michael Bidwell made it known that he and Peterson have had conversations about his return next season.

“Pat and I have had a number of conversations,” Bidwill said, via Kyle Odegard of AZCardinals.com. “I’ve been very clear that we want to have him back. We all know that the salary cap is going to go down. I think a lot of these veteran players need to work with us, and they need to understand that while their salary expectations and their compensation expectations may be one thing, we’ve got to look at it from the reality that the salary cap is going down. It’s our hope we can work something out that works for both the club and for Pat to keep him in a Cardinals uniform. He’s been an important part of what we’ve done in the past, and hope to keep him in the future.”

We have him included in our Top 100 – 2021 Free Agents list.

Saquon Barkley

Giants RB Saquon Barkley called sustaining his torn ACL in Week 2 one of the worst moments in his life. 

“When I hurt my knee, I’m not going to lie, that’s probably the weakest moment of my life, especially in those first few days,” Barkley said, via Zach Braziller of the New York Post. “I just couldn’t control myself crying, asking ‘Why me? Why me? Why me?”

Barkley added that he’s confident about returning to full strength, but will not be discouraged if he’s unable to regain his previous form. 

“No matter what, if I came back and things didn’t go the way I don’t envision it going, which I can’t see that because that’s the way I envision it, but I know I’m going to do everything necessary to put myself in the right position, in the smart way and the right way, to come back better,” Barkley said. “If it’s not in the cards for me to me to do it, at least I know I can look myself in the mirror and know I put in the work ethic and I did the little things, and all the all the things that matter, to try to make myself become one of the best to do it.”

TV Deals

• According to Alex Sherman of CNBC, the NFL is currently in discussions with NBC, CBS, Fox, and Disney-owned ESPN about renewed TV contracts and is asking for a 100 percent increase in payments.
• Sherman adds that while NBC, CBS, and Fox are likely to accept, Disney is refusing due to already paying a large sum for the rights to Monday Night Football.
• Disney agreed to pay $1.9 billion annually for Monday Night Football in a 2011 deal that runs through 2021, while Fox is paying $1.1 billion annually, CBS is paying $1 billion annually, and NBC is paying $960 million annually for Sunday Night Football.
• Disney has already rejected paying close to $3.8 billion per year, which the NFL has asked for since Disney is also wanting more from the league. This includes double-header Monday Night games, with one game showing on Disney-owned ABC.
• Disney also wants streaming rights as the company has plans of making ESPN a direct-to-consumer product.
• The NFL does plan to include streaming rights as part of their proposed packages and wants to add an 18th week to the regular season, which means an extra game for each of the networks to air.