NFL Rumors: Will the Raiders sign Marcus Peters?
Marcus Peters is on the wrong side of 30 years old, and despite putting up big interception numbers and being named to the NFL's All-Pro team just a few seasons ago, he remains available this offseason.
For the Las Vegas Raiders, this represents an opportunity to improve their secondary. Peters is a bit of a pest to rival teams, but his teammates will go to war for him. An on-field scuffle is almost assured with Peters in the defensive backfield. Per Vic Tafur of The Athletic, Peters visited with the Raiders on Monday.
Signing Peters doesn't automatically make the Raiders one of the best defenses in football. It's to the contrary, actually, as Vegas' defensive line must get home. That's where most of their money is invested, and Peters is a ball-hawk. That may lead to him being on the wrong side of some NFL highlight reels, but he can also turn a game around on one play.
For Vegas, the best solution would be to sign Peters as an insurance policy. He is no longer a No. 1 corner, but ask him to play some third downs, and he can afford to take more chances.
Peters spent the last two full seasons with the Baltimore Ravens, where he could afford to take such chances. If the Raiders want to play to Peters' opportunistic nature, they must be patient with him and play him in the right package, preferably as a nickel CB.
NFL Rumors: Mason Rudolph re-signs with Steelers
Just a year after complaining about being named QB3, Mason Rudolph is willingly signing up for that role in Pittsburgh.
Rudolph was drafted as a potential heir-apparent to Ben Roethlisberger. Instead, he's been anything but that, and was mistreated by Big Ben. Roethlisberger did little to help tutor Rudolph, and as a result those training wheels remain.
The Steelers had signed UDFA Tanner Morgan as a likely QB3, but adding Rudolph proves they weren't all that comfortable with that option. Kenny Pickett is the incumbent starter and will remain. Pickett made some strides late last season for a team which almost made the postseason. Playoff aspirations are alive in the Steel City after the schedule release, and a lot of that is on Pickett's shoulders.
However, should Pickett get hurt, Mitchell Trubisky is the backup at this juncture. Pittsburgh signed Trubisky in free agency last offseason to start. He lasted only a couple of games before Pickett took over. The Steelers haven't looked back.
Rudolph is a fine emergency QB plan, but the Steelers know exactly what their offense looks like with him as the starter, and it's not great. Rudolph's ceiling is not high, which is why he didn't receive much interest on the free-agent market prior to re-signing in Pittsburgh.
NFL Rumors: Could the Packers tank for Caleb Williams?
The Green Bay Packers believe in Jordan Love. They can also keep their options open. Both are true, especially if Caleb Williams is as great of a quarterback prospect as everyone seems to think he is.
Williams excelled both at Oklahoma and now USC under Lincoln Riley, who has a history of sending top QB prospects to the NFL. If Williams continues of this current trajectory, he will in all likelihood be the top selection in next April's NFL Draft.
For now, though, the Packers want to see what they have in Love.
"From a playbook standpoint, I think pretty much all of it is on the table," Stenavich said, per team insider Rob Demovsky. "He's been around for the three years."
That three years factor is exactly why the Packers are smart to think of Love as the interim quarterback, rather than going all-in on him as the heir-apparent to Aaron Rodgers. It's very rare for one Hall-of-Fame quarterback to give way to another. It worked once in Green Bay, as Rodgers took over for Brett Favre, but what are the odds it occurs again with Love?
Jordan Love's contract extension in Green Bay wasn't really that at all. It gives the Packers an out should Love really, really struggle in Year 1 replacing Rodgers. Love's deal has three void years after 2024. That sets up perfectly, in this scenario, to either trade up for Williams or select him outright if things go south.
It's a longshot, yes, but Brian Gutekunst could be the smartest executive in the room.