And things are (finally) slowing down a little \u2026<\/p>\n
\u2022 The Kyler Murray deal in Minnesota<\/a> has felt like a fait accompli for a little while now.<\/p>\n And it makes all the sense in the world. Last year, as J.J. McCarthy\u2019s season was circling the drain, and a really talented Vikings team was playing out the string, the team\u2019s brass quietly started to bounce options around. The hope was to take on a reclamation project like the Vikings did in 2024 with Sam Darnold (and later in the year with Daniel Jones), then put whichever quarterback was the subject of that project into a competition with McCarthy.<\/p>\n For a little while anyway, the hope was to have that sort of competition for McCarthy last year\u2014until Darnold and Jones both chose to go to places (Seattle and Indianapolis, respectively) where they\u2019d have more runway to become someone\u2019s long-term answer. So the Vikings pivoted, and went all-in on McCarthy, giving him all the starter reps, and trying a sink-or-swim approach with the 10th pick in the 2024 draft.<\/p>\n Obviously, that didn\u2019t go as anyone had hoped. Which is why they are where they are now, still trying to find the best answer at the most important position on the field.<\/p>\n Murray makes sense in that he gives Kevin O\u2019Connell another weapon for his offense. He may not be the best on-script quarterback, and he has had issues throwing over the middle at times\u2014which could make the fit in the West Coast scheme wonky\u2014but he did play for a coordinator in that family of coaches the last three years in Drew Petzing. And O\u2019Connell is plenty sharp enough to take advantage of Murray\u2019s unique talents.<\/p>\n The other thing is that the Vikings\u2019 crew of skill guys should be dynamite in the off-script situations where Murray is a real problem for defenses.<\/p>\n As for McCarthy, this is essentially a challenge that\u2019ll either set his career back or ignite him and position the 23-year-old as Minnesota\u2019s man for the future. The honeymoon for the former first-round pick is over, and we\u2019ll see how he responds.<\/p>\n And we\u2019ll see how a really talented team responds, too, to having a different look at QB.<\/p>\n \u2022 We\u2019ve said for a couple days now that the Raiders and Maxx Crosby are moving forward together<\/a>, at least for the time being, and Crosby himself more-or-less confirmed it Thursday.<\/p>\n Why should you believe it\u2019s more than just lip service? A couple of reasons.<\/p>\n First, Crosby wasn\u2019t of a mind to leave Vegas in the first place until December. Then, his injury situation got complicated, communication between him and the team got testy, and he opened the door to the idea of playing elsewhere. So he requested a trade in early January, and everyone was set to move on. Since then, that\u2019s really been everyone\u2019s mindset.<\/p>\n Then, earlier this week, the trade went sideways, and the Raiders brass pretty quickly showed it had Crosby\u2019s back, reaching out to him after the Ravens called to call the deal off, and offering support. Crosby\u2019s problem was never really with GM John Spytek\u2019s ground, his interactions thus far have been good with new coach Klint Kubiak, and he\u2019s always been close with new defensive coordinator Rob Leonard, who\u2019d been his position coach until Kubiak promoted him. So the foundation of trust that was broken was being rebuilt.<\/p>\n It may not be perfect with everyone, still. But my sense is Crosby appreciated the way the Raiders handled really unique and difficult circumstances.<\/p>\n Second, realistically, it\u2019s going to be tough for the Raiders to get fair value for Crosby in a trade now. It\u2019d be risky, to say the least, for any coach or GM to put together a blockbuster offer for Crosby, after the Ravens failed him\u2014mostly because it\u2019d be their rear ends on the line if Crosby were to break down physically in the next year or two. That\u2019s not to say other teams wouldn\u2019t want to have him. It\u2019s that they\u2019d be less willing to make a monster offer.<\/p>\n And I feel pretty confident saying the Raiders aren\u2019t going to move much off the price they were looking for before agreeing to send him to the Ravens.<\/p>\n So how does this play out? I\u2019d guess Crosby starts the season as a Raider. If he plays great and the team doesn\u2019t, maybe this is all revisited at the deadline. But for now, I think the idea is to link up with Kubiak and try to be what he\u2019s wanted to be for a long time\u2014one of the guys responsible for finally turning around one of the NFL\u2019s legendary franchises.<\/p>\n \u2022 We\u2019re now into the phase of free agency<\/a> where teams can swoop in on bargains, and I do have a couple that I really like.<\/p>\n One is the Bills bringing in C.J. Gardner-Johnson\u2014a move that I think will bring some edge to their secondary, and will probably be good for emerging young safety Cole Bishop. Another is the Bucs signing Al-Quadin Muhammad to a very modest one-year deal after an 11-sack season in Detroit last year. Muhammad\u2019s ascent has been wild. He\u2019s bumped around the NFL since 2017, and initially joined the Lions practice squad in October 2024. And while chances are last year was a flash in the pan for the 30-year-old, he\u2019s worth taking a shot on.<\/p>\n \u2022 The more I think about it, the more I\u2019m fine with the Daniel Jones deal for Colts coach Shane Steichen and GM Chris Ballard. If he doesn\u2019t play well, everyone\u2019s probably gone. And if he does, then they get the second year of control, that\u2019ll allow for them to keep building with him. And by the way, $44 million per is a lot, but it\u2019s not even 75% of the top of the quarterback market\u2014everything is relative.<\/p>\n