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Home , Allen Robinson, Brandon Beane, Delvin Breaux, Edge rusher, John DeFilippo, Marcus Maye

’s salary becomes fully guaranteed; Broncos’ starting ILB duo remains intact By Nicki Jhabvala Denver Post March 19, 2018

Although the Broncos had some discussions about making a move at inside this offseason, their starting duo of Todd Davis and Brandon Marshall will return.

Last week the team re-signed Davis to a three-year, $15 million contract that includes $6 million in guarantees. And on Sunday, Marshall’s $5 million salary for 2018 became fully guaranteed, ensuring he will be back, as well.

Even though Marshall signed a four-year extension in 2016, there was some question of whether he would return this year as John Elway retooled the roster. In addition to re-signing Davis, the Broncos offered backup Corey Nelson a one-year, $2.25 million offer to return, but Nelson took the same money in . Had Nelson stayed, however, the Broncos would have been facing a hefty price tag to keep their inside linebacker group intact.

But when Marshall wasn’t moved in the first wave of free agency, it became clear he wasn’t going anywhere. Including his prorated signing bonus, he has a salary cap charge of $7 million for 2018 and has two other option years remaining on the deal, carrying base salaries of $6.5 million and $7 million, respectively.

The $4.5 million salary of safety Darian Stewart also became fully guaranteed Sunday. Though the Broncos engaged in trade discussions for Washington’s Su’a Cravens, there wasn’t much talk of moving on from Stewart, according to an NFL source. Stewart, who signed a four-year, $28 million deal in 2016, has a cap charge of $5.9 million this year.

Linebacker , whose contract was restructured to lower his 2018 cap hit, had $9 million of his $17 million salary for 2019 become fully guaranteed as well; had $6.9 million of his $8.15 million salary became fully guaranteed; and the full 2018 salaries of offensive tackle Menelik Watson ($5.5 million) and kicker Brandon McManus ($2.25 million) became fully guaranteed Sunday too.

The next major contract deadline for the Broncos is April 20, the last day for linebacker Shaquil Barrett and center Matt Paradis to sign their restricted free-agent tenders. The team placed second-round tenders on both ($2.914 million apiece). If they sign offer sheets elsewhere, the Broncos have five days to match or let them go in exchange for a second-round draft pick.

Before May 3, the Broncos must decide if they will exercise the fifth-year contract option for linebacker Shane Ray. The options are guaranteed for injury only but become fully guaranteed the first day of the 2019 season. As the No. 23 pick in the 2015 draft, Ray’s fifth-year salary, if exercised, would be close to $8.8 million. Same number, different player. Tramaine Brock, who was signed by the Broncos after they shipped Aqib Talib to the , will wear the same jersey number as his predecessor: No. 21. Brock will be Denver’s third corner, behind and Chris Harris.

Broncos Mailbag: Keenum starting to win over Broncos Country By Mike Klis 9NEWS March 19, 2018

I have never been less excited about acquiring a player than I was when the Broncos signed . However, after the past 48 hours I couldn't be more excited. The mix of hearing about Cousins' silly fully-guaranteed contract, reading Keenum's quotes from the press conference, and seeing his picture as a kid with that Elway jersey on, I couldn't be more excited to rally behind him!!! I can't wait for #7 and #4 to say, "This One's for Gary" while jointly hoisting up the Lombardi trophy next year!

--Art Mensing, San Antonio

Art — hit free agency at a perfect time – a few months before he turned 30 and coming off three consecutive stellar statistical seasons – so he earned his audacity. Most of these big deals are virtually guaranteed for three years, anyway, so while it was a legitimate record contract, it wasn’t like it soared to another hemisphere.

Broncos general manager John Elway called several people who had worked for the Washington NFL team, and been around Cousins. He had Gary Kubiak to vouch for Keenum.

Come Monday morning, March 12, Elway had his contract guy, Mike Sullivan, call Cousins’ agent, Mike McCartney. After determining the Broncos were a longshot in the derby that included Minnesota, Arizona and the as competitors, Elway bailed on Cousins without even making an offer and turned quickly to Keenum.

Although almost everyone believes Cousins has more “franchise” quality skills than Keenum, you do have to wonder why Cousins has only been a .500 and Keenum was 11-3 last year.

Keenum moves better. He’s savvy. He protects the ball.

He may not be a top-10 quarterback in terms of physical talent. He wasn’t drafted in part because he measured only 72.63 inches tall (or closer to 6-foot, ½ inch, than 6-1) and because he was older than most at 24 years old after he had two redshirt years at the University of Houston.

But he’s figured it out. I think he has a chance to become the next Jeff Garcia. Also listed at 6-1, Garcia struggled as a 29-year-old rookie with San Francisco in 1999, then made three consecutive Pro Bowls at 30, 31 and 32 years old.

Now that the Broncos got Keenum, what do you think the odds of them keeping the 5th pick and taking a quarterback like Josh Rosen or Baker Mayfield?

Also, what do you think they are going to do with the rest of the money they have left? I was hoping they would get Nate Solder and move Garett Bolles to right tackle but obviously that didn’t happen.

Otherwise, maybe they go out and get a different tackle or a solid 3rd receiver.

--Tanner Feith

Tanner -- The details of Keenum’s contract says the Broncos would be wasting their No. 5 overall pick if they took a quarterback.

Keenum is making a full-guaranteed $18 million this year and then $7 million of his $18 million salary in 2019 is fully guaranteed.

That means the Broncos are counting on Keenum to be their starting quarterback for the next two seasons. I don’t think the Broncos should use their No. 5 pick on someone who will sit for two years.

BUT. But. John Elway is not a predictable general manager. I can see him trading back to No. 11 (Miami), No. 12 (Buffalo) or 15 (Arizona) and taking Baker Mayfield if he falls and picking up position players with the extra second-round picks he would get in such a deal.He could then use one of those second-round picks and trade back into the first round.

I could also see him trading up from No. 5 to get Penn State or perhaps Darnold or Allen.

As for Solder, the Buena Vista native was never an option because the Broncos want to keep Bolles at left tackle and they didn’t want to pay $15 million a year for an offensive tackle.

Problem is, the Broncos needed a Solder-caliber tackle. They better get an interior defensive lineman who can push the pocket – either a tackle or 3-4 . They do need a No. 3 receiver, as you astutely pointed out, Tanner, but that may be a draft pick. They need a veteran .

Yes, the Broncos have 11 draft picks. But there are no veteran tight ends in the draft.

I'm somewhat puzzled. If Case is that good, why did the Vikings dump him?

--Patrick Spieles

Patrick – Ding! Ding! Ding! In of Keenum, you could ask that question of every free agent in the still relatively short (25 years) history of NFL free agency.

Even Peyton Manning had major neck and arm strength issues in 2012.

Keenum led the Vikings to the NFC Championship and yet team management determined he wasn’t good enough to win the final two games on an NFL schedule.

Money was a factor. The Vikings loved Keenum when he was making $2 million last year. Do you love him as it appeared he would make $18 million a year, which is indeed what he got from the Broncos?

No. 5. Judging by your posts, I am guessing you do not think they are going QB. I would take Quenton Nelson or Saquan Barkley if he falls to them. I would be interested in Bradley Chubb, but I am not sure he is made for a 3-4?

Broncos have all this cap room and have done nothing in free agency. Kind of head-scratching.

--Jon Cornbleet

Jon – At 6-foot-4, 269 pounds, Chubb is a tad small for , tad large for outside linebacker/edge rusher. He ran a ridiculous 4.65 in the 40 at the combine – where times were slower than Pro Days – so he can carry that weight on the edge.

Ordinarily, when a team picks as high as No. 5 for the first time in seven years, it should take a quarterback. The guaranteed structure of Keenum’s contract, though, and the fact Paxton Lynch, a first- round draft pick two years ago, is the backup, strongly suggests the Broncos must go non-QB player at No. 5.

As for the Broncos not adding anyone other than Keenum or No. 3 cornerback Tramaine Brock, I’m with you, Jon. I’m scratching my head, waiting for the next move.

The second wave of free agency starts this week. The second tier of players will take multiple visits before signing.

Elway also had been working or some trades, which requires more patience. For instance, Washington safety Su’a Cravens and Dolphins right tackle Ja’Wuan James. The Broncos thought they had a deal in place with the Dolphins for James, but they needed another move to come through. When it didn’t, they kept James.

The Broncos have made multiple offers for Cravens but have yet to reach a deal with Washington GM Bruce Allen.

I know in football the talk is about the big 4 prospects. Just wondering if you have heard anything regarding the talents of or Mason Rudolph who I assume are 2nd tier prospects. Would Denver be interested?

I know Chad Kelly is in rehab for physical issues. Have you heard anything about how he is doing with the mental side of the game? How is he doing with playbook, film study, etc.

--Al Frost

Al – Washington State’s Luke Falk might get drafted before Rudolph. Rudolph’s perfect measurables (6- 5, 235) and tremendous production (8,995 yards, 65 TDs, 13 INTs) his past two years at Oklahoma State are not overcoming concerns about converting from his college spread system, stiffness and arm strength.

I thought Western Kentucky’s Mike White helped himself at the Senior Bowl, but the quarterback I’ve heard more from the Broncos as a possible late-round pick is Richmond’s Kyle Lauletta.

As for Chad Kelly, whenever I ask a Broncos’ coach or executive about him, the answer is something to effect of, “Don’t know. Haven’t seen him practice, much less play.’’

Mike, I think there’s something that may temper your enthusiasm for Baker. The key to being a truly great NFL QB is sustained hard work and improvement. The great ones have continuously worked harder than the rest year over year. No one put/puts in more effort than Peyton, Tom and Drew. The QB savants like Elway and are once in a generation and a team can’t bank on drafting a savant.

So, the team has to draft the player who refuses to fail and will do whatever it takes to get better and succeed.

Does Baker have the same makeup? He talks a big game, but will he work hard enough? It’s a different level of effort that few understand or are capable of. For the great ones it’s not work, it’s an obsession. They have to control the work effort, not try to work more. That’s the personally trait I would look for. Not many people have this trait. Does Kurt Cousins? Which QB in the draft has the obsession? Maybe Sam Darnold. My take.

--Thomas Irwin

Thomas – I think one thing Baker Mayfield has is makeup. During their interactions with him at the Senior Bowl and NFL Combine, the Broncos came away impressed by his smarts and seriousness.

The concern with Mayfield is simple: He’s not very big. But he can move and throw on the run and lead. He would match up well with Case Keenum.

But for the record, I don’t think the Broncos should take Mayfield at No. 5. Trade back and take him, sure. I can see that. My ranking of the Big Four: , first; Darnold, second; Mayfield, third, Rosen, fourth.

For most of the college season, I had Rosen No. 1 because he is the most pocket-ready passer. He can really throw it. But he’s a little skinny and he won’t be able to make plays with his feet which is why I’ve got him No. 4.

THANK GOD ELWAY was NOT the one to start making fully guaranteed contacts the norm. I'm so proud of him. As a teacher in Texas who is a 14-year vet and works on a year to year contract for 55k with no signing bonus while the government/society almost always complains about our "cap number" and guarantees (our pensions) I have a hard time feeling bad for the NFL players' plight.

I understand they get paid for their talent, but as a fan who’s also a teacher, I can't even fathom earning millions of dollars. All those astronomical numbers are nearly incomprehensible to a peasant like me and I don’t begrudge them.

What isn't incomprehensible is that people don't work as hard when things are guaranteed. So, what I see is a league where half the players aren't going to try as hard. Which makes a crappier product for the people who are really paying them (the fans or misconstrued "haters" like me).

Not because they're lazy, but because they're human and human nature is to relax when you're comfortable. One of the things fans love about the NFL is that these guys have to earn it year after year. I don't want Bobby Bonilla to show up one day on an NFL field. Nobody wants to know the financial consequences of Bobby Bonilla unless you're part of the lucky Bonilla family. That's how you go from the new national past time to losing the biggest edge that put you there.

--Art Mensing

Art—I gave you two letters because you made some great points here, especially about how the human condition leaves one less hungry after he’s been paid.

There was an indescribable tenacity to the 2015 Denver defense that hasn’t been quite the same since.

But NFL players aren’t overpaid, Art. The reason why they are handsomely paid is television. People simply don’t want to watch you teach, Art, or me report and type. People by the millions want to watch football games.

What you do, Art, is more important than playing football. But TV generates billions. Not thousands. Not millions. Billions.

The owners shouldn’t get all of it. Why shouldn’t the employees, in this case the players, get their share?

We don’t complain when Jennifer Lawrence is paid $20 million a movie (according to Hollywood Reporter).

The difference is, when an NFL player gets paid, I think naturally he doesn’t quite play with the fearlessness he once did. Some of it is the teams’ fault. They can become overly protective of their well- heeled investments.

This entire off-season there has been talk about needing two pieces to complete the offensive line. I'm curious why there is not much talk of Conner McGovern stepping in at right tackle or guard? Conner played well outside of the Miami game. A line of: Bolles, Leary, Paradis, McGovern and a free agent or rookie isn't bad in my mind. Why is there so little thought in McGovern?

I could talk Broncos with you until I'm blue in the face but this was one burning question I had.

--Kenneth Dietz

Kenneth – Connor McGovern has a chance to start at right guard, not right tackle. He is coming along nicely.

We would bring him up a little more often, Ken, except for one thing: He’s a guard. When the team’s offseason topic is quarterback (Trevor Siemian, Brock Osweiler, Paxton Lynch), quarterback (Cousins, Keenum) and quarterback (Mayfield, Allen, Darnold, Rosen), guard talk is a button pusher. That’s enough sports talk, wonder what’s playing on KBCO?

Mike, I know women’s college softball is on the low end of interest in Colorado but, you or someone you know should take a look at the turn around that the UNC Bears softball is making this year. If they can continue to play the way they have so far this year it will be miraculous! Just an FYI!

Bill Paige

Bill – The UNC Bears softball team entered this season with 15 consecutive losing seasons, and they’ve had only one winning season (2002) since they re-started the program in 1999. They are 18-15 so far this year.

How about this team of Bears women softballers who have already played 33 games before March 19? As Lou from Littleton would say, ‘Who’s tougher than the Northern Colorado women softballers?’

Keenum getting more love in Denver than he got from Zimmer By Mike Klis 9NEWS March 19, 2018

All Mike Zimmer did, really, was ask what everyone else was thinking.

“Is Case Keenum the quarterback he was last year or who he was three years ago? Zimmer, the ’ head coach, said 18 days ago at the NFL Combine.

That was one variation. Another time, Zimmer was asked if Keenum could repeat his breakout 2017 season.

“You think he can, but it’s just kind of guessing,’’ he said.

Gee, thanks, coach. In fairness to Zimmer, he also praised Keenum’s heart, competitiveness and study habits. But then he dropped another money quote.

“The question is exactly what you’re asking: Is he this guy?’’ Zimmer said.

Zimmer’s candidness is refreshing. But it was surprising he didn’t think a little more highly of the guy who came to the rescue and lifted Minnesota to its best season since Brett Favre’s last hurrah in 2009.

Vikings No. 1 quarterback Sam Bradford was incredible in the season-opening win against New Orleans, but his knee couldn’t make it to week 2 against Pittsburgh.

Keenum and the Vikings lost to Pittsburgh that week, but he then went 12-2 the rest of the season, including a win at Chicago when he again came off the bench to bail out an ineffective and injured Bradford.

Keenum completed 67.6 percent of his passes in 2017 for 3,547 yards and 22 while only throwing seven . Those numbers made him the NFL’s No. 7-rated passer. Kirk Cousins was 12th.

Keenum also threw the “Minnesota Miracle” to cap a solid performance against the Saints in a second- round NFC playoff game. He threw another pass to give Minnesota an early 7-0 lead in the NFC Championship before the Eagles took control.

And yet Keenum’s own coach couldn’t give him anything more than a maybe he is, maybe he’s not. Was Keenum offended his comments?

“I stopped getting offended a long time ago,’’ Keenum said in a sit-down interview with 9News that will be played tonight on Overtime following the 10 o’clock news. “Because I’ve had doubters for a long time. I play to prove people right that believe in me. Now that’s the – John Elway, Gary Kubiak, , the offensive staff – I play to prove those people right and my family, coaches I’ve had all along way, more than I do to prove people wrong or people who have doubted me.

“And I know there’s going to be doubters, people that disagree, people that will have their opinion and that’s fine. That’s great. I want people to care. I want people to care about football and people to care about the Denver Broncos -- because I do. I care a tremendous amount about this team – already. And I’ve been a Denver Broncos for less than 24 hours.’’

In the offseason, the Vikings first decided to not work out a contract extension with Keenum, or place a franchise tag on him. That move, coupled with Zimmer’s comments, all but assured Keenum would play elsewhere in 2018.

The Vikings pursued Cousins in free agency and got him with a record contract while their backup plan, Keenum, signed with the Broncos.

Keenum said of all the teams in the market for a quarterback – a group that included Arizona, the New York Jets, Cleveland, Buffalo and his own Minnesota Vikings – Denver was his first choice.

He explained with a filibuster on the strengths of the Broncos, the city and their surroundings.

“Just the fans here,’’ he said. “Broncos Country. I’ve played here a few times, just in the preseason, and it’s been incredible. The organization – the history, tradition here – I mean you walk in the door and the trophies are sitting right there.

“Elway has big shoes to fill but an incredible leader in this building. Coach Joseph is a guy that I’ve known and played with, played for with the Texans my first couple years (in 2012-13 when Joseph was the defensive backs coach). Across the board there was a lot of familiar faces. A lot of familiarity with those guys, coach Musgrave, Mike Sullivan, guys that I’ve heard nothing but incredible things about.

“That and the team itself is an incredible team, poised to do some special things on the field. First-hand I’ve had experience playing the defense. Von Miller, I think one of the fastest sacks I’ve ever had in my life (in a 2016 preseason game). I’m so glad to be wearing a different colored jersey when we practice against him. He’ll peel off. Hopefully.

“Demaryius Thomas, Emmanuel Sanders, guys that I’ve looked at from afar and been fans of from afar. Really excited to get to work with them.

“And so much more. The city of Denver, we’ve heard nothing but great things. We have family and friends that live here. So, we’re excited to get out and explore the city and the surrounding area. We love the outdoors.

“Red Rocks, the amphitheater there. … It’s been on my list. I’ve been dying to go there for so long. Yeah, to go to a concert. Or just to go check it out, go see it.

“That’s a really long answer because there’s a lot of great reasons why I wanted to be here.’’

Now that he’s here, there will still be questions about his level of play as an NFL quarterback. Did he peak? Or is he ascending? But those questions are no longer being asked publicly by his bosses.

“Everything we thought that Case had -- not only what he can do on the field but what he can do off the field as far as leadership qualities, the grit that he has, the way that he plays the game and the way that he competes—he was the perfect fit for us,’’ Elway said. “We’re extremely excited to welcome Case to Denver and we really have high expectations for what we can do and what he can add, especially on the offensive side.’’

Marshall, Miller, Sanders, Stewart "guaranteed" to return By Mike Klis 9NEWS March 19, 2018

Brandon Marshall will be the Broncos’ starting, green-dot, inside linebacker in 2018.

Von Miller is virtually assured of returning as a pass-rushing outside linebacker in 2019.

Such expectations became assured at 2 p.m. Sunday when Marshall’s $5 million salary for the 2018 season and $9 million on Miller’s salary in 2019 became fully guaranteed.

There was a brief time when Marshall was a little nervous about whether the Broncos would let the guaranteed deadline pass.

“Yeah, I was a little worried because I heard they offered Corey and Todd,’’ Marshall said. “I thought it would be hard to bring all three of us back.’’

There was never going to be a 2018 Broncos roster without Marshall on it. The Broncos did offer a one- year contract to Corey Nelson, their top backup linebacker whose specialty is as a third-down cover guy.

When Nelson instead reached agreement with the , the Broncos amped up their negotiations with Todd Davis, who is a two-down, run-stopper type.

The Broncos did re-sign Davis to a three-year, $15 million deal that will pay him $6 million this year. Marshall – the team’s most versatile, three-down linebacker who calls the defensive plays and therefore gets the green dot sticker on his helmet – is considered team friendly with his $5 million salary.

Such full guarantees are often set up on the fifth day of the league year so players don’t have to worry about getting released well after free agency begins.

The fifth day of the league also applied to Broncos’ receiver Emmanuel Sanders, who had $6.9 million of his $8.25 million salary guaranteed, and safety Darian Stewart, whose full $4.5 million salary in 2018 became fully guaranteed.

“That’s good news,’’ Stewart said. “I was expecting to be a Bronco, anyway.’’

When Miller signed his six-year, $114.5 million contract extension following the 2015 season, one of the keys to the deal was the “early trigger” guarantee for his fourth season. Miller will make $18.5 million this season, and he’s assured of playing for the team again next year after $9 million of his $17.5 million salary next year became guaranteed at 2 p.m. Sunday.

The final two years of his deal -- $18 million in both 2020 and 2021 – are not guaranteed.

Any player making decent money was deemed vulnerable this offseason in case the Broncos went after quarterback Kirk Cousins in free agency. But instead of entering serious negotiations for Cousins, who wound up getting $28 million a year from Minnesota, the Broncos signed Case Keenum for $18 million a year.

Surprisingly, the team has done nothing else so far in free agency. The Broncos added cornerback Tramaine Brock as a No. 3 cornerback on a one-year, backup deal, and re-signed Davis and offensive lineman Billy Turner. The team also traded away star cornerback Aqib Talib and lost tight end Virgil Green to free agency.

But the team still needs a right tackle, a 3-4 defensive end or nose guard, a veteran tight end, a No. 3 receiver and another cornerback. The team did try to acquire Miami right tackle Ja'Wuan James and Washington safety Su'a Cravens through trades but those deals have yet to materialize.

The team also brought in cornerback Delvin Breaux for an extensive physical but he left without a contract.

Still, Keenum and the return was the key.

“I’m optimistic,’’ Marshall said. “Last year left such a sour taste in everybody’s mouths, going 5-11. But I think we’ve got a confident quarterback, coach (Vance Joseph) is in his second year. Joe Woods is going into his second year (as defensive coordinator), I think things are looking up for us.’’

Case Keenum has survived, and now the Broncos want him to advance By Jeff Legwold ESPN.com March 19, 2018

Whether the didn’t fit, the offensive line didn’t block or the Denver Broncos' simply lost their collective way in 2017, one of the biggest reasons why Case Keenum was signed is found in his résumé.

Keenum has jostled around quite a bit in his NFL career. He’s been cut, benched, cast off and re-claimed before his constructed his best pro season in 2017, which included a playoff win as the Minnesota Vikings went 11-3 in games he started on the way to the NFC Championship Game.

"I’ve battled my way through to make a lot of teams, to earn spots on teams and to earn being the starter on teams," Keenum said. "I’ve been through a lot of different situations, and I’m definitely better for it. There are some tough times, and there are some really good times. To have a team pursue me ... that instills a lot of confidence in me, and I am ready to be that guy. I know I am, and I’m excited to be the Denver Broncos’ quarterback."

The Broncos reeled in Keenum, who signed a two-year deal for $36 million, in the opening hours of free agency because they believe the 30-year-old is still an ascending player with the career setbacks that prove he knows how to get off the deck. Both president of football operations/general manager John Elway and coach Vance Joseph used the word “grit’’ to describe him.

And for a team that used three starting quarterbacks last season, with a “bad fit’’ on offense for much of the year (Elway's words), while finishing with the second-most turnovers (34) and second-most interceptions (22), grit is a good start to what’s needed.

"The maturity level," Joseph said. " … Most guys like Case Keenum, when they play and survive, they get better and better each year … Those guys who play and survive, they get better. Most guys who play and don’t survive, they’re out of the league. For him to be here at this moment and be our guy, with what he’s gone through as a free agent out of college, and the work he’s put in with four or five teams, he’s hardened because of that process. He’s going to be good for us."

Former Broncos coach, and current senior personnel advisor, Gary Kubiak is someone Keenum credits for giving him an NFL chance as an undrafted rookie in 2012 when Kubiak was the coach. Keenum battled his way to be the Texans' starter in 2013, but they lost his first eight starts.

Keenum was cut by both the Texans and the Rams in 2014, playing both teams’ practice squads that year, and in March of 2015, the Texans traded Keenum back to the Rams for a seventh-round pick. In 2016, he started the Rams’ first nine games of the season as the team’s No. 1 pick -- -- waited to hear when he would take his inevitable spot in the lineup.

And then there was Keenum last season, playing as an injury replacement for Sam Bradford with a Vikings team with big aspirations and a talented roster. He threw for 3,547 yards with 22 touchdowns.

The Vikings won a playoff thriller over the New Orleans before losing to the Philadelphia Eagles in the conference championship. It’s all why Elway said Keenum was the Broncos’ target "all along."

"I think the two years is an opportunity for me to continue to prove myself as a starting quarterback, as a franchise quarterback and as someone that a team and a franchise can count on," Keenum said. "I think that made the most sense for my agents and I, and the deal they put together was great. For me, I’ve earned everything I’ve gotten. Nothing has ever been handed to me, and I want to continue to earn everything from this point on."

Former Rams coach Jeff Fisher said of Keenum: “Case, no matter what happened, never lost sight of doing the work, of leading our locker room and helping Jared see what the job is and how you have to do it … As a coach, Case is exactly the kind of player you want -- exactly.’’

For the Broncos, after two consecutive non-playoff seasons, including last year’s 5-11, their choice at quarterback was their most important offseason decision. And in the end, Keenum was the Broncos’ pick, not only for the good things he has done to get to this point, but how he handled adversity along the way.

"He was the best fit for us," Elway said. " … The grit that he has, the way that he plays the game. The way that he competes."

10 NFL free agents who landed in perfect spots By Matt Bowen ESPN.com March 19, 2018

With the first wave of NFL free agency wrapped up -- and nearly every top player off the board -- let's take a closer look at the players who landed in ideal spots. I'm talking about scheme fit and the ability to help establish a winning culture, not guys who got the most money.

Here are 10 veterans who can make an immediate impact in 2018 after making wise decisions in free agency:

Jimmy Graham, TE, The Packers struck out when they acquired free-agent tight end in 2017, but the move to land Graham shows Green Bay's need for a matchup weapon inside the 20-yard line for quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Graham might not run like he used to before a knee injury in 2016, but his red zone ability is still off the charts.

In Seattle last season, Graham caught 15 of 24 red zone targets, with 10 of those grabs resulting in touchdowns. He's a monster target in scoring position, with the frame and body control to finish. Throw the slant, fade and seam. It doesn't have to be complicated with Graham on the doorstep of the goal line. And that's a good thing for a Packers team that just cut , Rodgers' favorite target.

Kirk Cousins, QB, Minnesota Vikings

Landing Cousins can be looked at as the final piece of the puzzle for a Vikings team primed to make a serious run at LIII. This is a loaded roster from top to bottom. And the new system under John DeFilippo -- a mix of West Coast routes, play-pass and run-pass options -- is a solid fit for Cousins.

He's an accurate thrower with the mobility to produce off-movement passes. Cousins has completed 70.1 percent of his play-action passes since 2015, which ranks No. 1 in the NFL among qualified passers, according to ESPN Stats & Info. DeFilippo's Eagles threw the fifth-most play-action passes in the NFL last season, while the Vikings were first, and quarterbacks coach has remained in Minnesota.

With an established group of pass-catchers already in place, the return of running back Dalvin Cook from an ACL injury, and a nasty, lockdown defense, Cousins is in a position to elevate his game and play his best football for Mike Zimmer's club.

Richard Sherman, CB, The Achilles injury Sherman suffered last November is tricky for a 30-year-old cornerback, but the 49ers filled a major need with a veteran who is a perfect fit for the defensive scheme. With former Seahawks defensive assistant Robert Saleh running the San Francisco defense, Sherman can step in and play that pattern-match technique outside of the numbers in the three-deep shell.

More importantly, Sherman brings the leadership skill set necessary to create change on the defensive side of the ball. If teams want to build a winning culture, they have to add veteran players who set the bar with their practice habits, preparation and professional approach. Sherman brings that to Kyle Shanahan's team, and it will resonate with the young players on an ascending team.

Allen Robinson, WR, Robinson is recovering from a torn ACL suffered in Week 1 of last season, but when I look back at his tape from 2015 to 2016, it's easy to see that he's an upgrade for quarterback and a Bears team desperate for a No. 1 target in the passing game.

Robinson has the ability to make the splash plays down the field with his 6-foot-3 frame. He can go up and get it. From my perspective, however, it's really the route running that pops on tape. This guy is a technician who can create separation at the break. And that's a positive for Trubisky inside the 20-yard line or in critical down-and-distance situations. Just look at Robinson in the red zone -- his 18 red zone touchdowns from 2015 to 2016 were the most in the NFL.

With the Bears transitioning to a more modern route tree under new coach , adding Robinson is a major boost to the development of Trubisky and the Bears' overall game plan.

Trey Burton, TE, Chicago Bears This is another Bears fit I liked, as Burton can be the "move" guy in Nagy's offense, with 2017 second- round pick Adam Shaheen playing as the more traditional in-line tight end. Think of a matchup player with the flexibility to line up in multiple spots. Bump Burton to the slot, use him as an H-back or release him from a two-back look in the backfield. Burton has the skill set in the route tree to gain leverage against or safeties, and he is strong at the point of attack.

In Chicago, the Bears can cater to his talent on isolation routes in the red zone or feed him the ball off play-action and run-pass options. Burton caught 60 passes over his past two seasons in Philadelphia, and he produced five touchdowns for the Super Bowl champs in 2017 playing behind . Given a more prominent role in Chicago, Burton's production should climb. And the person most happy is Trubisky.

Trumaine Johnson, CB, New York Jets With a long, 6-foot-2 frame, Johnson is an ideal fit for ' defensive game plan. This is a system that leans on pressure and man-coverage defenders in the secondary. Johnson brings the physicality to challenge the release outside of the numbers and the press technique to win one-on-ones.

And while the former Rams cornerback produced only two interceptions last season, he has 18 in his career. He has some ball skills. The Jets already feature two safeties in and Marcus Maye who are in a position to make a jump in their second NFL seasons. But they had a real need at cornerback, and Johnson is an upgrade as a disruptor at the .

Case Keenum, QB, Denver Broncos The Broncos still could draft a quarterback at No. 5 overall, but landing Keenum on a two-year deal gives the Denver offense some stability and leadership heading into the season. Keenum's ability to beat pressure and make off-schedule plays stood out on his 2017 tape when he tossed 22 touchdown passes and only seven interceptions with the Vikings.

In Denver, Keenum has two prime targets in wide receivers Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders. Look for the Broncos to use the play-action game -- Keenum had eight TD passes with only one pick on play-action last season -- and get Keenum on the move and capitalize on his skill set to ad-lib when protection breaks down. He can make things happen. The Denver quarterbacks did not protect the ball in 2017, and Keenum will help the Broncos be more efficient.

Jerick McKinnon, RB, San Francisco 49ers McKinnon's contract, which includes $12 million guaranteed in 2018, caught me by surprise because he has been in a rotational role with the Vikings since being picked in the third round in 2014. Question the contract all you want, but there's no reason to question the fit in Kyle Shanahan's offense given McKinnon's ability as a zone runner and versatility as a receiver in the passing game.

McKinnon caught 94 passes over the past two seasons with the Vikings, and that meshes with Shanahan's system. Run the angle route, burst to the flat, impact the screen game or remove from the formation to beat a linebacker in coverage. Similar to what we saw from Devonta Freeman and during the Falcons' 2016 season when Shanahan was calling plays, McKinnon can be that matchup guy out of the backfield for quarterback .

Dion Lewis, RB, Adding Lewis gives the Titans more versatility to pair with Derrick Henry in the backfield. Think of Henry as that downhill hammer to pound the ball between the tackles, with Lewis bringing some wiggle and pass-catching ability.

Lewis averaged 5.0 yards per carry with the Patriots last season, but what really jumps out is his production after first contact. He averaged 2.6 yards after contact per carry, tied for best in the league with LeGarrette Blount.

Lewis is slippery on contact, and the burst is there to hit the edge or scoot through daylight inside. Plus, with 32 receptions in 2017, Lewis has shown he can produce on screens, swings and quick throws underneath for quarterback Marcus Mariota in an offense that will transition to a modern system under new coordinator Matt LaFleur.

Star Lotulelei, DT, Landing Lotulelei is a bonus for the Bills, who re-signed veteran leader Kyle Williams on the defensive front. In 2017, the Bills ranked No. 29 in rushing defense, giving up an average of 124.6 yards per game. That's rough.

With Lotulelei, Buffalo gets a 312-pound space-eater in the middle of the defense to plug running lanes and eat up blockers. Let those linebackers run and finish. Plus, after playing for Bills coach Sean McDermott in Carolina, expect Lotulelei to be put in a position that maximizes his impact in the game plan. This is a smart signing by the Bills at a position of need that is directly tied to improving their porous run defense.

Mason's Mailbag: All about the quarterbacks By Andrew Mason DenverBroncos.com March 19, 2018

@rhossi2423 @MaseDenver #AskMase Should Denver draft a guy like Mayfield or Allen with Pick 5 or wait to get a guy like Mike White or Kyle Lauletta in the later rounds?

First of all, there is no guarantee of getting Baker Mayfield or Josh Allen with the No. 5 pick, so you have to be prepared to cultivate myriad options. Furthermore, the chances of having one of the top four quarterbacks available at No. 5 likely dropped a bit after the Jets moved up to the No. 3 selection via their trade with the Colts on Saturday.

Even waiting on White and Lauletta is fraught with risk; if there is a run on quarterbacks, you might need to draft them in the second round -- or, in the case of Lauletta, a team might have to sneak back into the end of the first round to ensure nabbing him if he is the target. That might sound ludicrous in a vacuum, until you consider that Allen, Mayfield, Sam Darnold and Josh Rosen might all be gone within the first four to five picks, which would likely place a premium on the next tiers of quarterbacks -- Lamar Jackson and Mason Rudolph, followed by White and Lauletta.

Historically, your chances of finding a franchise quarterback are best in the first five selections, as these numbers breaking down the outcomes for quarterbacks drafted since 1990 detail:

Picks 1-5 (Round 1) • 19 of 33 were Pro Bowlers (57.6 pct.) • 8 of 33 started in Super Bowl (24.2 pct.) • Average years as primary starter: 6.3

Picks 6-32 (Round 1) • 7 of 36 were Pro Bowlers (19.4 pct.) • 6 of 36 started in Super Bowl (16.7 pct.) • Average years as primary starter: 3.3

Picks 33-64 (Equivalent of Round 2 in 2018 draft) • 4 of 32 were Pro Bowlers (12.5 pct.) • 2 of 32 started in Super Bowl (6.3 pct.) • Average years as primary starter: 2.34

Picks 65-100 (Equivalent of Round 3 in 2018 draft) • 6 of 40 were Pro Bowlers (15 pct.) • 3 of 40 started in Super Bowl (7.5 pct.) • Average years as primary starter: 1.2

Picks 101-137 (Equivalent of Round 4 in 2018 draft) • 4 of 42 were Pro Bowlers (9.5 pct.) • 0 of 42 started in Super Bowl (0 pct.) • Average years as primary starter: 1.2

Picks 138-174 (Equivalent of Round 5 in 2018 draft) • 2 of 39 were Pro Bowlers (5.1 pct.) • 0 of 39 started in Super Bowl (0 pct.) • Average years as primary starter: 0.5

Picks 175-218 (Equivalent of Round 6 in 2018 draft) • 5 of 68 were Pro Bowlers (7.4 pct.) • 2 of 68 started in Super Bowl (2.9 pct.) • Average years as primary starter: 0.7

Picks 219-256 (Equivalent of Round 7 in 2018 draft) • 4 of 43 were Pro Bowlers (9.3 pct.) • 1 of 43 started in Super Bowl (2.3 pct.) • Average years as primary starter: 0.9

While it is possible to find Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks in all areas of the draft, as we've seen with , and , among others, the best odds for finding a franchise quarterback remain at the top of the draft, so if one is there, and your evaluation on him is positive, the numbers say, "Take him." However, that data also means that if others call about a trade up and want a quarterback, the Broncos could be positioned to extract a hefty price -- and with Case Keenum ensuring that they have a viable starter, they have the flexibility to pursue this option if they see fit.

Now that the Broncos have decided on Case Keenum, I think they should take Quenton Nelson with their first pick, and position themselves to draft Lamar Jackson next I’d target Oregon tackle with a second-round pick, and supplement as needed with their remaining picks. Also, I wouldn’t rule out Chad Kelly as a legitimate challenger to push Keenum. Your thoughts?

-- Kenny Wikler

You've somehow found a way for the Broncos to have three picks in a span where they currently have two, so I assume you're suggesting they trade down? On the surface, that is a reasonable suggestion, but the likelihood of being able to trade down, add a first-round pick in this year's draft and still select Nelson is minimal, at best. So I don't think your plan is realistic.

And as for Kelly, well ... as I've said on radio, some of y'all need to put the Kelly hype train in reverse and move it back to the garage for a bit. I see the texts and messages every day. I hear the calls on the radio. He's a seventh-round pick who hasn't even thrown a in a preseason game.

So can we please just let the guy get some practice repetitions first, learn the scheme and grow before we start anointing him as someon who can push for the starting job? Let's be reasonable here.

How is Case Keenum's contract better than AJ McCarron's contract?

-- Keith Lutter

Because you're paying for experience and proven production over a longer period of time.

Keenum has 40 career starts (including playoffs)l McCarron has four. Keenum has been part of a playoff win; McCarron has not. Keenum has a full season as one of the league's most efficient quarterbacks -- a 2017 campaign in which he was in the league's top 10 in completion percentage, passer rating, percentage and touchdown-to-interception ratio; McCarron does not. Keenum has produced an average of 6.02 yards per play (attempts plus times sacked plus rushes) in his career; McCarron has produced 5.17 yards per play.

The relative lack of interest in McCarron on the market as the last of the first wave of available quarterbacks to agree to terms speaks volumes of how he was perceived on the market compared to Keenum and others.

Keenum signing gives Broncos 'lots of opportunities' with fifth-overall pick By Aric DiLalla DenverBroncos.com March 19, 2018

The biggest piece of the Broncos’ offseason plan settled in place Thursday when Case Keenum officially signed a two-year contract to become Denver’s new starting quarterback.

That agreement ended any chance of an offseason quarterback competition, identified a leader for Denver’s locker room and, perhaps most importantly, instantly gave the Broncos flexibility in the upcoming NFL Draft.

President of Football Operations/General Manager has said repeatedly that he prefers to fill positions of need during free agency and select the best player available in the draft.

Keenum’s signing certainly gives Elway that opportunity.

When the Broncos are on the clock with the fifth-overall selection, they’ll no longer be forced to select a quarterback in order to improve the position.

“We have a lot of opportunities at five now,” Elway said Friday. “We’re in a good spot. We’re high in a lot of rounds. As I said, it’s going to be important for us to find guys that can help our football team. We’ll continue to work [on] that. We still have to go through the free-agency side. Once we get into our draft meetings the first of April, then we’ll start looking at all of the different ways we could possibly go there.”

Denver could still end up choosing a quarterback with its first-round pick, but the option to choose will be key.

After the New York Jets swapped first-round picks with the on Saturday, there’s a very real chance that quarterbacks could be taken with each of the first three picks.

The Broncos will continue to evaluate this year’s crop of quarterback prospects, but with Keenum on the roster, they won’t be required to get in a bidding war in order to move up and secure a quarterback.

Instead, they could choose to move up, stay put at No. 5 and select an impact player or trade back and amass more picks.

Just don’t ask Elway to reveal who he will target with the fifth-overall pick.

When asked by ESPN’s Jeff Legwold whether he would consider taking guard Quenton Nelson at No. 5, Elway remained tight-lipped.

"I can't tell you that. I'd have to kill you,” Elway joked.

QB press conferences never go out of style By Jim Saccomano DenverBroncos.com March 19, 2018

Newly signed free agent quarterback Case Keenum displayed a great attitude in his first meeting with the Denver press.

He was full of humility and clearly honored to come to Denver.

The additions of veteran quarterbacks to the roster now are always met with major press conferences, but the NFL and media have grown so much together.

I could not help but being reminded of how the days are different.

The first major Broncos press conference to announce a new quarterback did not come until Denver traded for John Elway in 1983.

Three future Ring of Fame quarterbacks were introduced by press release only, at most.

Frank Tripucka was a team assistant coach who put on the pads to "give the fans a show" at the Broncos first public scrimmage. There was not even a press release, but that was nearly 60 years ago.

Charley Johnson and Craig Morton both were acquired by trade, and the media did not get to talk to them until they arrived in Denver for their first offseason camps.

I was our PR man when we traded for Elway — and ESPN was in business and pro football had exploded.

So Elway had two introductory press conferences, not one. He is perhaps the only quarterback ever of whom that could be said.

Of course, one of the main reasons for that was that his first one came at 10:30 p.m.

There was no way we were going to try to "hold" that story, so we scheduled it the same night, roughly two hours after agreement was reached by John and the Broncos at the airport.

But because it was so late — with many in the eastern time zone already asleep — we scheduled another one for the following afternoon, at 1:30 p.m.

So in 15 hours, John had two introductory press conferences.

That is big, but I am sure everyone agrees that the player ended up fitting the moment.

And now we have Case Keenum channeling his personal feelings for the Broncos and John Elway at his own press conference. Keenum had followed the career of John Elway, to the point of wearing No. 7 as a pro and at the University of Houston.

In 1983, John Elway was a major player, ushering in a new era of pro football for the passing game and quarterback play.

And now a new quarterback has arrived, wand Case Keenum immediately becomes the most prominent Bronco player to ever wear No. 4. Among the introudction, there was plenty of excitement, hoopla and great expectations.

The cycle of quarterback life in the NFL is bigger than ever and never gets old.

Inside Kirk Cousins’ Fast Free Agency: Parental Jerseys, Silent Auctions and a Match Made in Minnesota By Peter King MMQB.com March 19, 2018

Monday, March 12, 11 a.m. CT, start of the NFL’s legal tampering period, in the downtown Chicago office of agent Mike McCartney:

Indianapolis calls. Colts want free-agent center Ryan Jensen. Tennessee calls. Jensen. Kansas City calls. Jensen. About 11:10, the first Kirk Cousins call. It’s Arizona GM . Denver calls. Cousins. Miami calls. Jensen. The Jets call. Cousins. Tampa Bay calls. Jensen. Minnesota calls. Cousins. It’s after 2 now, and McCartney has missed about 50 calls and texts.

On and on it went, for Cousins and Jensen and other free agents or trade targets in McCartney’s Priority Sports group— , quarterback Josh McCown, quarterback Trevor Siemian. Another client, Jags linebacker Paul Posluszny, was verging on retirement. After 48 hours of phones and texts and four-hour-sleep nights, McCartney went to the chiropractor Wednesday.

“You’re a wreck!” the chiropractor said, seeing and feeling McCartney all knotted up.

“You have no idea what I’ve been through the last two days,” McCartney said.

Anything in the NFL is old news if it happened 90 minutes ago, so covering something four days ago is so … ’90s. But indulge me. The Kirk Cousins story is still fresh to me, with lots of unanswered questions (Did the Jets get played? Was the fix in a month ago? Did the Broncos really not make an offer?) about the richest per-year contract in NFL history.

I’ve found the agent for Cousins, Mike McCartney, to be an honorable man in my dealings with him over the years. All of us in this business have to judge the people we come in contact with and make decisions on how much we trust them. Whenever McCartney has told me something, it’s been the truth. He mentioned to me a couple of weeks ago that he’d been keeping a journal on the Cousins negotiations, going back to the Washington days; he continued last week, when things got intense. So I asked him if he would run me through the Cousins sweepstakes, starting at 11 a.m. CT last Monday, when the NFL allowed agents and teams to begin negotiating. In an hour and 50 minutes on Saturday, he gave me his version of the events that led to Cousins’ three-year, $84-million fully guaranteed contract. A couple of things he would not discuss: He would not disclose any offers except the one that won—Minnesota. And though McCartney characterized the tenor of his talks with each team, he would not divulge privileged conversations with negotiators for any team. At the beginning of the process, McCartney said, he and his staff produced a book for Cousins that detailed the seven teams he felt might be interested in Cousins once it was clear Washington was not going to make him a serious long-term contract offer: Arizona, Buffalo, Cleveland, Denver, Miami, Minnesota and the Jets. This winter he and Cousins had discussed in detailed phone calls each team— how close it was to competing for a title, who would coach him, the style of offense, the lifestyle of the area. And on Monday at 11, he wasn’t positive how many teams would call, but he had a good feeling that at least four would. He told each one to make its best offer. This was not going to last long. At the beginning of the process Monday, McCartney felt strongly that any of the four—Cards, Broncos, Jets, Vikings—could win. But he and Cousins, before any formal bids came, felt that probably Minnesota and the Jets had an edge. (More about that later.)

This process, McCartney decided, was going to be a silent auction. One offer per team. That would be it. Then a visit or two to a team (Cousins said he wanted to meet the coaches he’d be working with before signing anything); then a decision. “Kirk was not going to sign before he met the coaches and got a feel for the culture,” McCartney said.

It was a curious decision by McCartney. Cousins had waited more than two years for this chance to be on the open market. Now it was going to be a sprint? “I never used the words ‘silent auction,’” McCartney said Saturday, “but that’s what this was. I made it clear to each team that if they held back, it was going to hurt them.”

Two reasons McCartney wanted to do it this way: Because several teams had quarterback needs, he knew if one or two teams sensed they were out, Cousins’ market could deflate quickly. Teams are pragmatic; the fans want their GMs to shoot for the moon, but in this game of quarterback musical chairs, if one team had only one other quarterback it really wanted—Denver and Case Keenum, for instance (which was the truth)—and learned it wasn’t the front-runner, there’s a good chance it would exit quickly.

And a fully guaranteed deal was going to be a high priority. Surprisingly, this wasn’t a big problem with the teams wanting Cousins. “There will be no discounts,” McCartney said.

The pitches were strong, without many upsets. Arizona pushed its strong core of young premier players (David Johnson, , ). The Jets pushed their $100 million in cap room, the fact that offensive coordinator Jeremy Bates would continue the kind of system and game-planning that Cousins knew from Washington, and that he’d be a franchise quarterback in the biggest market in the league. The Vikings felt they had everything in place to win multiple titles except a premier quarterback—plus a new facility and a new stadium.

Denver? The Broncos didn’t make an offer. This went to McCartney’s reason for making this a silent auction: Denver liked Keenum, didn’t want to pay in the neighborhood of $30 million a year guaranteed for a quarterback with so many other prominent players to pay. It came down to this for John Elway: Keenum for $10 million to $12 million per year less than Cousins, and the Broncos knew near the start of the legal tampering period they could get Keenum. Ten hours into the period, Denver had reached agreement with Keenum on a two-year, $36 million guaranteed deal.

McCartney understood Elway’s approach—Elway didn’t want to be left at the altar. McCartney did think, What harm would it do to make an offer? But Elway liked Keenum a lot, and felt he couldn’t wait until Thursday or Friday to see if he’d get Cousins.

Meanwhile, McCartney found time to discuss the three offers with Cousins that afternoon. There were no others. They prioritized Minnesota, because the Vikings were amenable to making Cousins the highest-paid quarterback in the game, fully guaranteed, at about three years and $84 million, and they were the closest to winning now. But Cousins was firm that he wouldn’t sign until he met the coaches and staff—he did not know offensive coordinator John DeFilippo, and didn’t know quarterbacks coach Kevin Stefanski well. The Jets were two (thanks to Jeremy Bates, and, presumably, a higher offer), Arizona three. McCartney and Cousins had several conversations about all of the teams. But one point McCartney wanted Cousins to realize about the two teams was this: The Vikings were closer to winning right now, with a talented young base and the kind of team that could win when Cousins didn’t play his best. The Jets didn’t have as good a supporting cast, and so Cousins might have to be more of a team- carrier there. And in New York, there wouldn’t be the kind of patience there’d be in Minnesota if Cousins struggled.

McCartney did say last week that Cousins didn’t take the biggest deal, so that implies that the Jets offered more money than the Vikings. In fact, the Broncos felt sure that the Jets would be the highest bidders of the four teams.

At about 8 or 9 p.m., McCartney called the Vikings to tell them they’d be Cousins’ first visit on Wednesday night and Thursday, with no promises. By later that night, taking advantage of the two-hour time difference between Chicago and Arizona, McCartney told Keim that he couldn’t guarantee him a Cousins visit, and if he had to move on, he’d understand. On Tuesday at 9:15 a.m., McCartney called the Jets. The Jets wanted to be assured they’d get to make their case to Cousins one-on-one.

“That was a tough phone call,” McCartney said. “They were clearly frustrated. They wanted to be guaranteed a visit. I told them I couldn’t guarantee a visit, that if he goes to Minnesota and loves it, he could sign. They were not happy about that. I understand, but I told everyone all along what the rules were, and we abided by them.”

That set up a strange-bedfellows kind of conversation. The Jets’ veteran quarterback fallback was Josh McCown, a McCartney client. The Jets had to position themselves to make sure that when the music stopped and the musical chairs got filled, they’d still be able to get McCown—at least. By later that morning, Tuesday, they were talking McCown with McCartney. But Buffalo also was seriously interested in McCown, so the Jets put their best contractual foot forward there and ensured they’d keep the trusted veteran who played so well last year, at 38. McCown to the Jets, one year, $5 million signing bonus, $5 million salary. At 39, he’d make the most money of his well-traveled NFL career.

McCartney knew now that the visit by Cousins was vital—because they might not have great options if for some reason Cousins hated something about the Vikings. Minnesota sent its plane to Atlanta, where Cousins was spending time with his in-laws, Wednesday at the start of the free agency period—4 p.m. ET. Accompanied by Vikings GM , Cousins and his wife, Julie, and son, Cooper, flew to Minneapolis to join a contingent of 13 for dinner Wednesday night, including owner Mark Wilf, coach Mike Zimmer, Spielman, DeFilippo and wife, Stefanski and wife, tight end and wife, and wideout Adam Thielen and wife. Independently, Cousins’ mom and dad came in to help babysit Cooper and experience the moment, and that night McCartney got a call from Don Cousins. The Vikings had left two Cousins jerseys—Vikings purple, number 8, with COUSINS on the back—in the parents’ hotel room, one for dad and one for mom. “That’s the first time I ever got a jersey from a team,” Don Cousins told McCartney.

While Cousins was flying to Minnesota, two important things happened. McCartney worked out the final wrinkles in the contract; there would be no-trade and no-transition-tag clauses in the three-year deal, fully guaranteed. But McCartney couldn’t accept it without Cousins’ nod. Also while the plane was in the air: Spielman told Cousins the Vikings were finalizing a trade for Trevor Siemian of the Broncos. During the negotiations, McCartney had stressed to the Vikings how important a helpful backup quarterback would be to Cousins. What a coincidence—McCartney represents Siemian. Late Wednesday, Siemian was officially a Viking.

At 8:15 p.m., between the appetizer and the entrée, Cousins saw a text from McCartney, still in Chicago. The agent wanted to know how dinner was going.

No reply.

An hour passed. Two hours.

At 10:37 p.m., Cousins texted back: “It’s going very well. Had a great dinner. Grateful for the opportunity.”

No red flags, McCartney knew; Cousins would have told him if there were. McCartney got on a plane Thursday morning for Minneapolis, and met Cousins at the Vikings’ facility. At 2:30 p.m., the long, strange trip of Kirk Cousins’ rise to being the highest paid player in NFL history was complete. He signed his contract.

“How awesome is this?” McCartney said to Cousins.

“This is great,” Cousins said, beaming. “I am so thrilled.”

“It took a lot to get here, bro,” McCartney said.

It took two-and-a-half years, and contentious negotiations with Washington, and the football world telling McCartney and Cousins, the former fourth-round pick, that they were nuts for not taking Dan Snyder’s millions. Again and again. Understandable. Now Cousins was the richest player in NFL history, and McCartney could finally unclench. His chiropractor would approve.

“Was it worth it?” I asked.

“Hard to answer,” McCartney said on Saturday, taking a break from NCAA tournament viewing. “I do know he’s the face of a franchise in a great situation, on a team that has a chance to win the Super Bowl. I always told him, ‘I want you to be in a place where you look forward to going to work every day, you love the quarterback room, you love the culture, and your family loves where you live.’ I think we found that.”

Now it’s simple. Now all Kirk Cousins has to do is be great.

THE JETS-COLTS TRADE Before we analyze the winner and loser in the big weekend Jets-Colts deal (there is neither, by the way), I’ll make one prediction: There’s a good chance the Colts aren’t done trading yet. After dealing from three to six, I could see them moving down one more time before the April 26 first round. GM Chris Ballard said as much to his team’s website Saturday, and I can add a confirmation to that. Ballard’s going to try.

This deal: Indianapolis traded the third overall pick to the Jets for a first-rounder this year (sixth overall), two second-rounders this year (37th and 49th overall) and a second-round pick next year.

It’s pretty easy to say the Colts routed the Jets, getting three second-round picks to move three measly spots. But they’re three giant spots if you want to be assured of getting one of the top quarterbacks in this draft.

The earliest we’ll be able to make an educated guess on the outcome of the deal is in mid- to late-2019, when we’ve seen the quarterback the Jets pick play pro football, and we know if making that deal was worth Indy’s haul of four picks in the top 50, or worth whatever Colts GM Chris Ballard turns them into.

Two recent deals must be studied for precedent here:

• In 2012, Washington traded three first-round picks and a second-round pick to the Rams for the second overall pick. Immense payment to move up four spots. In fact, on the Draft Trade Value Chart that some teams use (not religiously), Washington gave up 5,490 points of draft-pick value and acquired 2,600. But that was the price they had to pay to move up for Robert Griffin III. Griffin, of course, was a bust. So you’d think the Rams killed Washington on the trade. But with the trade of linebacker to the Giants this month, the Rams have only defensive tackle Michael Brockers left from the mega-trade with Washington. They made terrible use of the picks. If possible, considering so many dashed hopes, this was a trade that hurt both teams.

• In 2016, Philadelphia traded first, third and fourth-round picks in 2016, a first-round pick in 2017 and a second-round pick in 2018 to Cleveland to acquire the second overall pick in the ’16 draft, and a fourth- rounder in 2017. That first-rounder turned into , who appears to be a franchise quarterback. Cleveland? It’s not over, but it’s not looking good so far. The five picks from Philadelphia have so far turned into 10 picks, and of the eight players the Browns have chosen so far, only one of them—safety —appears to have a chance to be a top-flight starter. The highest pick, wideout Corey Coleman (15th overall, 2016) has been wholly unimpressive. Cleveland has the fourth and 64th picks this year to try to make this trade pay off.

That’s why it’s folly to say the Jets overpaid. What New York has done, in the wake of losing Kirk Cousins to the Vikings in last week’s free-agency derby, is settle for its second-best quarterback option. The Jets have assured themselves of one of the top four passers in the draft—either Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold, Josh Rosen or Josh Allen. My money’s on Mayfield, who could go from the pride of Norman to Broadway Baker.

The pressure on GM Mike Maccagnan? Immense. This could be it for him, his last chance in his fourth season to construct a winner. He blew his first shot at a quarterback of the future, taking in the second round in 2016. Hackenberg has not played a single snap in either of the last two 5-11 Jets’ seasons, which is some indictment of him as a football player and of the management that drafted him. The Jets have been uber-focused on trading or drafting a quarterback since the start of the season last fall, and now that they’ve traded four useable pieces to move up to get one, Maccagnan simply has to get it right. This will be the Jets’ most important draft pick in years.

Ballard got a lot of “attaboy” calls/texts over the weekend, and rightly so. I had one GM tell me his team has about 70 players on its draft board rated as starter-quality, which strikes me as about right judging how teams have told me they’re judging this draft.

STARTING PLAYERS IN THE 2018 NFL DRAFT INTERLUDE. Interesting question. Queried about how many starting-caliber players they felt were in this draft, six scouting people or GMs over the weekend came back with these figures: 35, “40 to 50,” “about 70,” 73, “75-ish,” 83 and 111. I asked because I wanted to figure out whether it made sense for the Colts to try to trade down one more time.

ASTERISK TO STARTING PLAYER INTERLUDE. One of those teams said if you considered “situational starters” like third corners or slot corners, slot receivers or /receiver types like Christian McCaffrey, he’d add 32 players to his team’s total.

The Colts very much need to maximize this draft. It’s likely their roster is the weakest in the rising AFC South. Ballard knows he needs quantity in this draft. That’s why if he could turn the sixth pick into something in the 10 to 12 range and add another second-rounder, I believe he’d do it. At six, he’d likely have a chance at pass-rusher Bradley Chubb or guard Quenton Nelson. At 11, let’s say, he’d have a chance at a desperately needed rangy linebacker like or . A second trade would mean Ballard would have turned the third overall pick into five players who would have a chance to start from this one trade alone.

Colts’ picks in the top four rounds now: 6, 36, 37, 49, 67, 104. If I were Ballard, I might trade down from 6 to Buffalo at 12 if the Bills would deal the 53rd overall pick and maybe the 96th pick as well—seeing that the price for a quarterback is more of a premium. But of course, this is probably a night-of-the-draft deal, because the Bills would have to see a quarterback they’d want here.

It’s such an inexact science, and the Rams’ and Browns’ hauls from their big deals show it’s great to get the picks, but you’ve got to be smart enough to use them well. As much as Andrew Luck’s return is the story of 2018 for the Colts, a very close second is what Ballard does with his five starter-caliber picks in the top 70 (as of this morning) in April.

I LIKE WHAT THE BILLS DID Free agency is a tortuous process, because even when you think you’ve made a great deal, you’ve got this feeling deep down: What if the money spoils this guy? Or what if we’re overrating him after a small sample size?

So take this with caution, Bills Mafia. But your general manager, Brandon Beane, had a good week, from my view of it. To recap: he got the first pick in the third round for a quarterback, Tyrod Taylor, he was clearly ready to move on from; Beane also paid interesting young quarterback A.J. McCarron for two years what the Jets paid Josh McCown for one ($10 million); and Beane gambled that coach Sean McDermott can make talented but meh defensive tackle Star Lotulelei (five years, $50 million) shine again. At the same time, Beane was trying to keep his promise to owner Kim and Terry Pegula: fix the bloated salary cap he’d taken over 10 months ago. He’d do it, he vowed, after two seasons, and so part of his decisions this year included pinching pennies so he could clean up the cap by the opening of the 2019 league year.

I spoke with Beane on Friday afternoon about the big decisions he and coach Sean McDermott had made.

MMQB: You got Cleveland to take all of Tyrod Taylor’s salary, and got the first pick in the third round. How?

Beane: “We wanted to find a spot for him, not to just put him somewhere. We were open and honest with him and his agent. Sometimes these situations can get salty, but here, everybody wanted to do the right thing and not be confrontation. Getting the 65th pick was huge. Patience was the key. I am very happy how it worked out for the Bills and for Tyrod and the financial part was a part of it. When it’s all said and done, we’re going to have about $45 million in dead money this year. That was part of my plan—to eat all of it, or as much as we could, this year.”

MMQB: You waited out the quarterback market, from the looks of it, and got McCarron for good value—two years, $10 million.

Beane: “We did due diligence there. Every dollar we spend there is a dollar less we can spend somewhere else. We didn’t want to get into chase mode. We had different guys we thought would fit, A.J. being one of them. One word we heard over and over from people who had coached him or known him. like Hue Jackson: competitor. That was music to my ears. He’ll fit here.”

MMQB: Star Lotulelei for medium defensive tackle price—was he a target from the beginning?

Beane: “I was part of the crew that drafted him in Carolina. One word for him: selfless. will rave about Star, because he allowed Luke to run free. For us, I believe Star can be a two-and-a-half- down player, playing some third downs.”

MMQB: Looks like you have the ammo to move up in the draft again and get one of the quarterbacks. Will you trade again?

Beane: “The truth? Most of these quarterbacks I’ve only spent 15 minutes with. [At the combine, each team can meet with prospects for a maximum of 15 minutes per player.] I haven’t spent enough time to have an opinion about any of them yet, honestly. I actually sent a little note to our [scouts] yesterday. We got six weeks to get our board together. I am not there yet, knowing if we can or will move up again. I want Sean to get to know all of them. We’re just keeping an open mind. Where we’re at, we’ve got the picks, we've got the draft capital. I’m not ready to pull the trigger.”

THAT WAS A SUDDEN RETIREMENT, JOE THOMAS Cleveland left tackle Joe Thomas, one of the great players of his day at any position, will formally announce his retirement today after playing every snap for 10-and-a-half seasons— from the time he was drafted in 2007 to the afternoon in October when he snapped a tendon in his arm and was lost for the season.

But it’s not his torn triceps driving him away from football, or the prospect of a cushy TV job for FOX or ESPN, though both are knocking at his door, and he’s a candidate for a three-man booth at one of the two networks this fall. It’s his left knee. Four knee surgeries have left him with a bone-on-bone situation in the knee. The knee got so painful in the past couple of years that at times it was intolerable to even stand at practice—so he spent practices inside the trainers’ room. The knee was so bad that Thomas considered an experimental procedure that would have inserted baby cartilage in the knee. The knee was so bad that the only way he was able to play the first seven games last year was pre-season Platelet- Rich Plasma injections that made the pain in his knee tolerable.

The fact that Thomas was a Brown for his entire career, even though he had one legitimate chance to join a Super Bowl contender (Denver), is impressive enough. The fact that he played through the immense knee pain and never missed a snap till he tore his triceps last year should be enough to earn him a statue in Cleveland.

When Thomas speaks today, I don’t expect him to concentrate on the negative—the knee pain that required him to take so many pain-killers over the last few years, or the fact that in his last 10 seasons, the Browns never had a winning record. (In fact, if Thomas makes the Pro Football Hall of Fame, he’d make it having played on teams with a .287 winning percentage. It’s believed that would be the worst of any player or coach to gain Hall entry.) I think, knowing Thomas some, he’s more likely to crack a few jokes and try to make those in the room feel they’re not at a sad event. Rather, they’ll be at a celebration of one of the greatest Browns in modern Cleveland history.

QUOTES OF THE WEEK I

“It stings. I tried to tell the guys in there, ‘This is life. It can’t define you. You enjoyed the good times, and you’ve got to be able to take the bad times. When you step into the arena, the consequences can be historic losses, big losses, great wins. And you have to deal with it.’ That’s the job. I don’t know what to say but that was a thorough butt-whipping.”

—Virginia coach Tony Bennett, facing the music to Tracy Wolfson after top-ranked Virginia got blown out to Maryland-Baltimore County Friday night, the first time a number one seed lost in the NCAA tournament to a 16 seed.

Bad game by a coach and his team. Good post-game performance by the coach.

II

“Trump is firing people like he’s trying to get under the salary cap.”

—Michael Che, on “Saturday Night Live,” about the president’s week.

III

“A lot of us have been there six, seven, eight years, and his philosophy is more built for college. Four years, guys rotate in, rotate out, and so we had kind of heard all his stories. We had kind of heard every story, every funny anecdote that he had. And honestly because he just recycles them.”

—New 49er and former Seahawk Richard Sherman, on the ThomaHawk podcast, the podcast hosted by former Browns Joe Thomas and Andrew Hawkins, on Seattle coach Pete Carroll.

That’s not going to go over well in the Seahawks’ offices.

IV

“I think it's a shame on me if the money only helps the Solder family. My belief is that this money has been entrusted to me not for the personal comfort and security, but for an actual impact that we can have on our community and the people around us. I'm just such an imperfect person—I'm going to make mistakes, so I have to rely on Jesus. We have all through our suffering with our son and everything that goes on in life, so we have to do the same thing with our rejoicing and when things are going well, we have to rely on him. … It's nothing about us having a bigger house, a nicer car, anything like that. So shame on me if it's just about us.”

—Giants free-agent left tackle Nate Solder, who signed a four-year, $62-million contract to leave the Patriots, on his financial plans. Solder’s two-year-old son Hudson is battling kidney cancer.

Solder’s going to make a lot of fans with that quote. What a wonderful attitude to have.

V

“If you go back and look at the schedule, generally we got one of the worst NFL games each week. You’re trying to make something sound interesting and exciting that isn’t. For me, part of it was just the way the booth was set up the last two years. It was really geared around . That’s not unusual, TV really is an analyst-driven medium. Jon had a particular set of skills that he did really well, and foremost among them was analyzing the play, breaking down the play. Here’s why they ran that play, here’s why it worked, here’s what this guy did or didn’t do. It was really football heavy, X-and-O heavy, and I think most play-by-play guys, all play-by-play guys, would’ve felt like a bit of a bystander.”

—Former ESPN play-by-play man Sean McDonough, to WEEI in Boston. ESPN announced that McDonough will be returning to college football announcing from the NFL booth this fall.

VI

“When I got suspended for the season in 2012 over the alleged bounties in our games, it was a big shock to all of us. There was pressure from people in the league and the league office—I’m not going to say who—to fire me. Mr. Benson was resolute. ‘We’re not doing that,’ he said. ‘He doesn’t deserve that.’”

—New Orleans coach Sean Payton, in his column on the late Tom Benson for The MMQB on Friday.

That’s a “wow” to me. But Payton said that, yes, more than one person of influence wanted Benson to fire him.

STAT OF THE WEEK When I think of a career comp for Trevor Siemian, who was traded from Denver to Minnesota on Thursday, I think of . Siemian may not end up as experienced as Fitzpatrick, or with as long a career, but they remind me of each other—bright, humble, excellent students of football, good- enough arms, good teammates as backups. So I did a little research on their similarities, and it turned out a bit … well, “eerie” is probably the best word to describe the comparison: Category Fitzpatrick Siemian Brainy College Attended Harvard Northwestern Draft Year 2005 2015 Draft Round 7 7 Overall Pick 250 250 Career Rating 79.9 79.9 Career Comp. % .597 .593 Size 6-2, 220 6-2.5, 218

TEN THINGS I THINK I THINK 1. I think these are my 2018 (Very Early) Free Agency Awards:

Three Best Decisions

• Cornerback Patrick Robinson (four years, $20 million) to the Saints. Robinson resuscitated his career in Philadelphia last season, becoming one of the best slot corners in football and starting the Eagles on their way to the NFC title game rout with a pick-six interception. I like the contract much more than Tennessee paying the flawed $12 million a year. Robinson started 12 games in the slot and seven games outside for the Eagles. Versatile piece for Dennis Allen in the rising New Orleans defense.

• Running back Jerick McKinnon (four years, $30 million) to the Niners. A little rich, but McKinnon’s just 25, he blocks, he’s very physical for a 5'9" back, and he can catch; he had six, six, seven and 11-catch games last season. Kyle Shanahan already installed him as his starter.

• Defensive tackle (one year, $5 million) to the Packers. He was a $10-million-a- year player two years ago, and he screwed it up, and now he’s got a season to save his career, on a one- year prove-it contract, with a chip the size of a boulder on his shoulder. I like his chances to reward Green Bay.

Three Worst Decisions

• Arizona giving quarterback Sam Bradford one year and $20 million … with $15 million guaranteed. This is the way I would have made this deal, if I were Arizona: $5 million in bonuses and base salary, $1 million bonus for every start. If Bradford’s healthy, he earns $21 million. If not, he doesn’t eat up valuable cap space. And if Bradford finds a better deal elsewhere, let him go. I really like Bradford as a player, when he plays. But that’s the rub. He’s 19-19 over the past five years, and has missed more starts (42) than he’s made (38). I like the player, but not the contract.

• The Patriots letting left tackle Nate Solder get away. All the rest of the free-agent defections from New England are forgivable. Not this one, not with a slow quarterback who will play the 2018 season at 41.

• Kansas City giving wideout three years and $48 million. He’s had one 1,000-yard season out of four in the NFL, and no 10-touchdown seasons, and he caught 39 balls last year in an extremely wideout-friendly offense with the Rams. My jaw hit the floor when I saw this money. 2. I think—gut feeling—that Buffalo will try hard to move up in the first round to the Giants at two. Now that the Jets pick third, the Bills know there’s a good chance the top three picks will be quarterbacks. How can Buffalo risk waiting till four and, presumably, dealing with Cleveland to move up? Dangerous move.

3. I think this is a really fun offseason, one of the best of the 34 NFL offseasons I’ve seen in my years covering the league.

4. I think this is an interesting history lesson: Exactly 25 years ago this week, NFL free agency dawned— and I was on a plane with Reggie White covering it.

5. I think the Giants will go quarterback at two, but as one NFL GM told me Saturday: Just imagine the Giants taking Saquon Barkley. They’d have Odell Beckham, and Saquon Barkley. Wow! Respectively, they’d be 25, 23 and 21 years old.

6. I think Deadspin’s Dom Cosentino did a good job putting the Richard Sherman contract into perspective the other day. There were many hatchet jobs done on the deal—among them a surprise critic in the highly respected Joe Thomas, who said Sherman got “absolutely crushed” by the 49ers— that most saw as Sherman, representing himself, getting ripped off by the Niners. It’s true that Sherman’s deal, with only $3 million fully guaranteed, is fair game for scrutiny. A few points to make:

• A couple of things Sherman told me eight days ago in his only interview before the Niners introduced him at a press conference seemed significant. He really wanted to negotiate his own deal, in part for the experience of it. And take this for what it’s worth, but he said he wanted to be fair to the Niners, coming back from Achilles surgery, and to be sure that he earns the money he makes as a 30-year-old cornerback.

• If Sherman is healthy for 16 weeks and on the Niners active roster and plays 90 percent of the snaps, he’ll earn $10 million in 2018.

• One of the criticisms was over playing time. San Francisco pays Sherman a $1 million bonus if he plays 90 percent of the snaps on defense this season. Ben Volin of the Boston Globe called that 90-percent figure “insanely high.” Why? In the eight games before Sherman snapped his Achilles in 2017, here were his per-game numbers, per Pro Football Focus: 82 snaps played out of 82 plays in game one, 49-49 in game two, 73-73 in game three, 58-60 in game four, 74-74 in game five, 59-59 in game six, 71-71 in game seven, 60-63 in game eight. That’s 526 snaps, out of 531 Seattle defensive plays. In the first half of his age-29 season, Sherman played 99.6 percent of the Seattle defensive plays. In the previous three seasons, he played 98.8 percent, 98.3 percent and 97.8 percent. How, exactly, is it “insanely high” to have an incentive threshold of 90 percent to earn an extra $1 million?

• Think of the word “incentive” and the word “bonus.” This $1 million clause protects the team in case Sherman isn’t healthy enough or good enough to play every week at something near his previous level. And isn’t that what an incentive clause should be? If Sherman does what he’s done in the past, he’ll make the money. If he doesn’t, he won’t. I do not understand what is wrong or unfair or insane with that.

7. I think the Bengals should wave good-bye to Vontaze Burfict, in the wake of the news that he’s appealing a four-game PED suspension. Burfict was more trouble than he was worth two years ago, and he’s continued to give the Bengals problems. At some point, you’ve got to say to your locker room: Enough crap with this guy.

8. I think the signing in Arizona makes the core that GM Jerry Reese left for Dave Gettleman with the Giants even worse. Pugh’s defection means that only one of Reese’s 45 picks in the six drafts from 2008 to 2013 is still on the team. (If you guessed Jason Pierre-Paul, you win.) Amazing: The number is 0-for-22 in the last three drafts—2011, 2012, 2013. Gettleman’s got a very tough road replenishing a thin roster.

9. I think we absolutely should praise middle linebacker Paul Posluszny, who in 11 years was a great professional, leader and football player. He played 148 games, mostly as the nerve center of the Bills and Jags defenses. Classic player. He could have played in the fifties, eighties or today. Not a lot of players can say they sacked Ben Roethlisberger and Drew Brees and intercepted Tom Brady and . Posluszny can. Good luck to him in retirement.

10. I think these are my other thoughts of the week: a. Story of the Week: by Tim Graham of the Buffalo News, an extended interview with O.J. Simpson, and it’s a very good one. (But what would you expect from Tim Graham?) b. Simpson on Colin Kaepernick: “I think Colin made a mistake. I really appreciate what he was trying to say. I thought he made a bad choice in attacking the flag. I am a firm believer in doing what you think is right, but I would always stand for the flag.” c. Congrats to Graham for pursuing Simpson and finally getting him to meet for an interview—even though Simpson put questions about the 1994 double murder off-limits. d. Cool inside story of the week: by Marc Tracy of the New York Times, on the grand tradition of the Duke basketball team managers. e. Not to get all Dukie on you or anything, but here’s a good read on what keeps Mike Krzyzewski going, from the great John Feinstein. Lessons in here for everyone. f. Best story of the week on an athlete we’ve never heard of but we definitely should have: by Lindsay Crouse of the New York Times, on American marathoner/doctor Chris Zablocki. g. Nice lead by Crouse: “One of the fastest American marathon runners right now is a 29-year-old doctor in rural Connecticut who doesn’t have a coach, doesn’t have a sponsor and doesn’t run with a watch. He trains alone, as long as feels right, with ‘only the trees for teammates,’ he says. In the past seven years he has raced 47 marathons, winning 19 of them.” h. No Pac-12 teams make it past round one of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. That stuns me. I’m not much of a college basketball fan, but wow. i. Replay is bad enough in the NFL. It is a killer in the NCAA tournament. It took 11 minutes, 42 seconds to play 8.9 seconds in the Marshall upset of Wichita State.

j. I watched most of Buffalo-Kentucky on Saturday. I love seeing true underdogs plays with ferocity, which is exactly what Buffalo did in a loss. No fear. Tremendous effort in a loss. k. Coffeenerdness: Never, ever take away the smoked butterscotch latte, Starbucks. l. Beernerdness: Never, ever stop brewing beer, Four Peaks Brewing of Tempe. m. This is why Yahoo’s Pete Thamel, formerly of Sports Illustrated, is so good. n. After the UMBC win Friday night, Thamel got coaches from the low-mid-major America East Conference on the phone. He finished interviewing them after midnight. When I checked my phone at 5:13 a.m. Saturday (I’m a bad sleeper), there was Thamel’s story. Great enterprise reporting. Aimed to speak to five American East coaches after 11 p.m. ET. Went five-for-five. Now that’s some good reporting. Story was live by 2 a.m. o. Colgate at USF, CBI postseason tournament. I mean, why? Why does a team travel 3,000 miles cross- country, so that 1,339 people could show up in the University of San Francisco’s campus gym to see a 72-68 basketball game Wednesday night? I guess it’s a free country, but it seems insignificant bordering on wasteful. p. Very best wishes, Gary Myers of the New York Daily News, on whatever is next for you. Gary’s been a valuable peer and friend over the years, and his Sunday notes column has been a staple for me. q. You as well, Jim Trotter, a former colleague of mine at SI. Jim leaves ESPN with some great TV stories and experience under his belt, and he’ll be a great addition for someone. r. Nice week for the president. He fired the Secretary of State of the United States of America—who is only the most single most important person aside from the president in dealing with world affairs—on before speaking to him. What a great guy, Donald Trump. Firing people, not to mention one of the most important people in the free world, on social media. Then the president fired the former deputy director of the FBI, career law-enforcement officer Andrew McCabe, days before he’d have qualified for his pension, apparently because the president felt McCabe was too close and too sympathetic to former FBI director James Comey. (Also: NBC reported in January that Trump, in a conversation with McCabe, called McCabe’s wife “a loser” when she lost an election for a Virginia state senate seat.) All week, news of the legal fight between porn star Stormy Daniels and Trump over their alleged 2006 affair filled TV shows and the internet and front pages nationwide. s. Just another week in the life of our country, 2018. Are we planning to wake up anytime soon? t. Former CIA director John Brennan spoke for all people on the right side of history Saturday, using the president’s favorite medium, Twitter, thusly as he addressed the president: “When the full extent of your venality, moral turpitude, and political corruption becomes known, you will take your rightful place as a disgraced demagogue in the dustbin of history. You may scapegoat Andy McCabe, but you will not destroy America...America will triumph over you.” u. Wish I were that eloquent.

Five teams most likely to pick QB in first round of 2018 NFL Draft By Daniel Jerimah NFL.com March 19, 2018

The free agency frenzy has more than lived up to the hype this week. There has been a flurry of activity around the league, especially at the game's most important position. Now that Kirk Cousins, the main attraction in this year's player pool, has made his union with the Vikings official, all of the top free-agent quarterbacks are off the market.

Free-agent movement helps shape the way the NFL draft plays out each year, and we now have a pretty good idea of the teams that should be in the QB market in the 2018 draft. The outlook became a little more clear on Saturday, with the Jets trading up for the No. 3 overall pick in the draft. With that in mind, here are the five teams that I believe are most likely to select a signal-caller in the first round of the draft.

1) New York Jets First pick: No. 3 overall. QBs currently in the fold: Teddy Bridgewater, Christian Hackenberg, Josh McCown, Bryce Petty, Joel Stave. The Jets re-signed McCown and are expected to sign Teddy Bridgewater. However, they missed out on their main target, Kirk Cousins. If they had signed Cousins, I would've expected them to pass on selecting a quarterback with their top pick. Now, I can't see them passing on one, certainly not after packaging four draft picks to secure the No. 3 overall selection in their trade with Indianapolis. You don't trade that many picks for anything other than a QB. Prior to the trade, I had them third on this list, but they're now the team most likely to pick a QB in the first round. They clearly feel comfortable with three prospects at the position, and the trade guarantees they will land one of them. This is a team with a talented young nucleus on defense -- and if it lands the right quarterback, the squad would be set for the foreseeable future. Josh Rosen is the QB prospect that's been closely associated with this organization over the last few weeks.

2) Cleveland Browns First-round picks: Nos. 1 and 4 overall. QBs currently in the fold: , Cody Kessler, Tyrod Taylor. The Browns' addition of Taylor shouldn't alter their draft plans. I expect them to select a quarterback with the first overall pick, and everything I'm hearing leads me to believe that choice will likely come down to Sam Darnold vs. Baker Mayfield. While we're all well aware of the Browns' struggles over the years, I believe landing in Cleveland is a great situation for a rookie signal-caller. Taylor's presence allows the Browns to take their time and avoid rushing a rookie onto the field. They've added some weapons on offense -- including Jarvis Landry and Carlos Hyde -- and the offensive line is in good shape, even with the retirement of Joe Thomas.

3) Buffalo Bills First-round picks: Nos. 12 and 22 overall. QBs currently in the fold: AJ McCarron, Nathan Peterman. The Bills didn't view Tyrod Taylor as their long-term solution at quarterback. That wasn't much of a secret, but it was certainly confirmed once they traded him to the Browns. Even after signing McCarron, the former Bengals backup, to a two-year deal, Buffalo is still clearly a team in the market for a QB. The talk I'm hearing around league circles has the Bills coveting Wyoming QB Josh Allen. With five of the first 65 picks in their possession, including two first-rounders, keep an eye on the second (Giants) and fourth (Browns) overall picks as potential trade targets for Buffalo. The Jets and Colts set the market for what it will cost to trade up for a top QB in this draft. It won't be cheap, but I expect the Bills to aggressively attempt to move up for a quarterback, whether it's Allen or someone else.

4) First pick: No. 15 overall. QBs currently in the fold: Sam Bradford, . The Cardinals were in the Kirk Cousins sweepstakes, but they fell short of landing him. However, they did sign Bradford to a two-year contract. Bradford is a bridge at the position, and I still believe they could take a quarterback in the first round, should one of the top guys fall in the draft. I like the fit of Baker Mayfield in that division, but I wouldn't be shocked if Josh Allen were their intended target.

5) Denver Broncos First pick: No. 5 overall. QBs currently in the fold: Case Keenum, Chad Kelly, Paxton Lynch. Denver's another team that kicked the tires on Kirk Cousins before electing to sign Keenum, who's coming off an excellent 2017 campaign. His presence at least creates some doubt as to whether the Broncos will draft a quarterback with the fifth pick. If for some reason Sam Darnold were to fall to them, I think they would scoop him up. Outside of that scenario, I'm beginning to think they will look to add an instant-impact position player. Someone like Alabama DB Minkah Fitzpatrick, Notre Dame OG Quenton Nelson or N.C. State DE Bradley Chubb makes perfect sense if Darnold doesn't somehow fall into the Broncos' lap.

Bradley Chubb still hopes to crash the top-five party By Mike Florio Pro Football Talk March 19, 2018

Before the Colts traded down from the third overall pick in the draft, some thought they would target defensive end Bradley Chubb. Even with an emerging belief that there will be a run on quarterbacks, Chubb still could end up being a top-five pick.

Chubb’s agent, Erik Burkhardt, tells PFT that the former North Carolina State pass rusher will meet with five teams between Sunday night and Monday morning, in advance of his Pro Day workout in Raleigh. All of the teams with whom Chubb will be meeting currently pick within the top seven of the first round.

Long-time NFL assistant coach Jim Washburn spent several days with Chubb for on-field workouts, film study, and discussions about playing in the NFL.

“He has a wicked inside hand on his pass rush and he corners at a very high-level,” Washburn told PFT. “He’s a hard-core dude, very smart. If he gets into the right system he should be a double-digit sack guy, soon and for a long time.”

Washburn also provided this word of caution to teams finalizing their draft boards: “If I was the team in need I would be very, very careful on passing on him.”

Asked for a player to whom Chubb compares, Washburn said that Chubb “has some Trent Cole in him,” calling it the “ultimate compliment.”

“Trent was an alpha dog,” Washburn said. Chubb could be one, too. Teams will be making their own decisions as to whether that will be the case, very soon.