Archives for March 2022

“With the rise of powerful offenses and franchise quarterbacks playing deep into the playoffs, the coin flip has grown too influential…I’d be surprised if it doesn’t pass for at least the playoffs.” – King on the overtime change proposals at NFL league meetings

“When it was over, Hill was happy with the money and the locale. Kansas City was happy with the financial flexibility and the draft windfall.” – King on Tyreek Hill’s trade to the Dolphins

“No player in the 2022 season comes close to the weight on his shoulders that Tagovailoa has…Tagovailoa’s going to feel the hot breath of backup Teddy Bridgewater by Columbus Day if Waddle and Hill get off to mediocre starts.” – King on Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa

STAMFORD, Conn. – March 28, 2022 – Peter King discusses this week’s NFL league meetings taking place in Palm Beach, Fla., including updates on overtime rules change proposals, in this week’s edition of Football Morning in America, available now exclusively on NBCSports.com. King also breaks down how the Tyreek Hill trade unfolded, speaks with new Indianapolis Colts quarterback Matt Ryan, and more.

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The following are highlights from this week’s edition of Football Morning in America:

OVERTIME PROPOSAL

King on overtime rules change proposals at the league meetings: “I canvassed a few people at the meetings over the weekend. Some are sure the vote to mandate at least one possession per team in overtime will get the required 24 of 32 team votes and become law in 2023. ‘I think it passes easy,’ one top team executive said.…I hope he’s right. With the rise of powerful offenses and franchise quarterbacks playing deep into the playoffs, the coin flip has grown too influential, when a touchdown on the first possession ends the game.”

King on the two overtime proposals: “There will be discussion on both overtime proposals. One is simple; each team would get at least one possession in overtime, and if it’s tied after those two possessions, next score wins. Two has a wrinkle; if Team A scores a touchdown and PAT on the first drive of overtime, Team B needs a touchdown and must attempt a two-point conversion after the TD. So game over after the second possession if both score TDs.”

King: “This is going to be hard enough to pass with just both teams getting a guaranteed possession in overtime. Owners and team bosses hate gimmicky, and the two-point proposal is a gimmick. I can’t see that having much traction.”

King: “The commissioner is always influential on key rules changes. But I can’t get a feel which way he’s leaning on this one…So we’ll see how this one goes. My bet is if it looks like more than eight teams oppose the change, the powers-that-be will propose a playoff-only fix.”

King: “After two debacle finishes in the last four seasons – Patrick Mahomes not touching it in OT of the 2018 AFC title game, Josh Allen not touching it in the division playoff game at KC in January – I’d be surprised if it doesn’t pass for at least the playoffs.”

NEWS & NOTES

King on NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and the league meetings: “In his opening remarks to 700 club owners, coaches and top employees in Palm Beach on Sunday evening, Goodell celebrated the high the NFL is on…If you were looking for him to say something strong about teams falling all over themselves to trade for a player with 22 civil cases involving sex charges, you’ll be disappointed. It went unmentioned. Lost opportunity there.”

King on Browns QB Deshaun Watson: “The NFL may do one of three things this year: put him on the commissioner’s exempt list (he’d be paid for a second straight season while sitting till the 22 sex-crime civil cases are decided); let him play while deferring discipline till the cases are done; or suspend him for some time this year regardless of the outcome of the cases. It’s a mystery as of this morning.”

King on Browns owners Jimmy and Dee Haslam: “Not the most popular people at the league meetings on Sunday. I heard lots of grumbling from those who think a) trading six picks for a player who may be found guilty of heinous offenses or b) signing Watson to the richest guaranteed contract in league history and giving him an $80-million raise ‘stinks to high heaven,’ as one team exec said. The Haslams had to know it was coming, and now that they’ve traded for and signed Watson, it’s not going away.”

King on free agent LB Bobby Wagner: “Rams have legitimate interest, but not at Wagner’s price – he’s thought to be asking for about $11 million on a one-year deal. The 32-year-old linebacker is still playing very well, and he’d be a luxury item for the Super Bowl champs. If he wants to stay in the same division as the team that dropped him, Seattle, Wagner will have to recalibrate his asking price down. He may just find another team – Baltimore? Dallas? – with more money available.”

King on Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa: “Talk about pressure. No player in the 2022 season comes close to the weight on his shoulders that Tagovailoa has. After Miami’s mega-trade for Tyreek Hill, Tagovailoa now has Hill and Jaylen Waddle as top-10-in-the-league receiving threats, along with ace tight end Mike Gesicki and a rebuilt backfield…Considering that Waddle cost Miami two first-round picks, and Hill cost five picks (including a first and second), Tagovailoa’s going to feel the hot breath of backup Teddy Bridgewater by Columbus Day if Waddle and Hill get off to mediocre starts.”

King on NFL replay review: “Interesting data on replay from 2021: The average replay review took 2 minutes, 27 seconds – down 61 seconds from 2020. The league credits added authority given to replay officials and the New York command center – either can communicate with the on-field referee to point out a mistake – and the use in every stadium of ‘Hawkeye’ video technology…That’s a big reason why there’s no rule change on the agenda at the meetings for anything involving replay.”

King on 2022 QB prospects: “I think of the four high-ranking college quarterbacks who had their Pro Days last week, the one who impressed onlookers the most was Liberty’s Malik Willis. Powerfully built, ball comes out of his hand strong, throws a good deep ball, high-energy guy whose zeal is infectious.”

King on the 49ers and QB Jimmy Garoppolo: “I agree with the Niners being patient on the Jimmy Garoppolo front. Someone’s very likely to need a quarterback before the start of the regular season. Something’s going to happen – an injury, a retirement, something. No hurry to decide anything till Labor Day.”

TYREEK HILL TRADE

King on the recent change in team roster building philosophy: “I can tell what one of the big topics around the Breakers in Palm Beach will be this week, at least among football people: change. Architectural NFL change.”

Agent Drew Rosenhaus to King on trades: “I feel it. Teams see what the Rams did. A few years ago, you’d never see trades for Matthew Stafford, Tyreek Hill, Davante Adams, Deshaun Watson, Von Miller. But you can trade big players, and you can trade lots of draft picks, and you can win…A few years ago, the odds of that [Tyreek Hill] trade happening would have been slim and none. Franchise players just weren’t moving then. But they are now.”

King on how the Hill-to-Miami trade happened: “The backstory of the Hill deal highlights the sea-change in the NFL. Kansas City was negotiating actively with Rosenhaus for an extension for the speedy wideout. But GM Brett Veach wanted to keep his options open, and he wanted to do right by Hill…If KC could get a windfall including a couple of high picks, in a draft filled with good wideout prospects, a trade for a 28-year-old receiver might be smart.”

King: “Veach gave [Hill’s agent] Rosenhaus permission to sniff out interest in a trade for Hill and to discuss parameters of a deal, but nothing beyond that. Rosenhaus said he contacted 31 teams within a day after getting permission. Twelve had interest – even though they knew the financial ballpark…Rosenhaus slow-played any talks, hoping he could piggy-back off a Davante Adams contract if he signed in Green Bay or was dealt somewhere and did a new deal.”

King: “Waiting on Adams turned out to be smart. The Jets, last weekend, offered a trade that Veach would have accepted. Rosenhaus knew the Jets were willing to pay Hill more than the Raiders paid (Adams)…At the same time, there was another team, Miami, that Hill wanted and that had the ammo (in draft picks and cap space) to get him…Plus, on Tuesday, Veach offered Hill a surprisingly high number that had him seriously thinking about staying.”

Rosenhaus on Hill’s decision: “There was a time Tuesday when I thought there was a really good chance we’d work out a deal and go back to Kansas City. Next conversation with Tyreek, we talked about the advantages of playing in New York. Next conversation was pro-Miami; he calls it his home away from home. So I could have seen any of those outcomes last Tuesday. All the way through the process, Kansas City was awesome. They wanted to do right by Tyreek.”

King on Kansas City after the trade: “With multiple picks in the first four rounds and with the $22 million (approximately) in cap money saved for the next three years by not keeping Hill, Veach can go a lot of directions in addressing his two big need areas in the next month: wideout and defensive line.”

King on Hill and the Chiefs: “When it was over, Hill was happy with the money and the locale. Kansas City was happy with the financial flexibility and the draft windfall…Now Veach and Andy Reid have to trust that their scouts can find younger long-term weapons for Patrick Mahomes. The next month is huge for them.”

MATT RYAN

Colts QB Matt Ryan to King on if he had any indication last season would be his last in Atlanta: “No, you know, I really thought I was going to be back. That was the feeling I got at the end of the year and in the exit meetings. Then it was a phone call from [coach] Arthur Smith, Sunday before everything went down, saying that he didn’t know how things were gonna shake out this week, making me aware of what was going on. And I appreciated it. He was honest. At that point, it was kinda wrapping your head around that. There’s disappointment and frustration for sure that sets in at that point.”

Ryan on Atlanta pursuing Deshaun Watson and his trade to the Colts: “It became clear when Deshaun did not come, it was on me to let them know that I wanted to seek other options. I told [owner] Arthur Blank that and he was great about it. The first one I wanted to explore was Indianapolis. I think the mindset really changed after the meeting that I had with Chris Ballard and Frank Reich…I thought that Chris and his belief for how to build the football team, the type of players he wants, type of guys he wants in the locker room, what they’re about, his accountability for himself…And then Frank, talking about football, it was really energizing.”

Ryan on how much longer he wants to continue playing: “The most important thing is the passion, the energy, the want-to. I still have all of it. I’m not sure [I’ll have it for] four years, five years, six years. You know? Certainly doesn’t feel like one year, no. Absolutely not.”

Read the full FMIA column here and catch the weekly Peter King Podcast here.

The following are additional highlights of NBC Sports’ NFL coverage:

• • PFT Live with NBC Sports’ Mike Florio and Mike Golic (Mondays) and Florio and Chris Simms (Tuesday-Thursday) streams on Peacock from 7 a.m. – 9 a.m. ET on weekdays & is available on-demand. The Dan Patrick Show streams at 9 a.m. ET, The Rich Eisen Show at Noon ET, Brother From Another at 3 p.m. ET, PFT PM at 5 p.m. ET. At 6 p.m. ET, Chris Simms Unbuttoned streams Tuesday-Friday.
  • ProFootballTalk.com continues to provide the latest news and updates.
  • NBC Sports EDGE’s A Good Football Show continues the NFL discussion and Bet The Edge Podcast provides daily betting insights.

A new “Football Morning in America” posts every Monday morning exclusively on NBCSports.com through the NFL season. It was announced in May 2019 that King signed an exclusive agreement with NBC Sports Group that included writing a weekly Monday morning NFL column for NBCSports.com; making regular appearances on PFT Live with Mike Florio; and continuing to contribute to Football Night in America, the most-watched studio show in sports.

—NBC SPORTS—