SHUFFLING THE QB DECK
Tom is in Tampa. Cam is in Foxborough. Philip is in Indy.
Nick heads to the Windy City. Joe goes from a Bengal Tiger in college to a Bengal in the pros.
Call it the Quarterback Shuffle, though few if any of those guys figure to be using their feet to help their teams win. It's all about the arms, the brains, the pedigree.
Quarterbacks tend to spice up any NFL season, particularly nowadays with Patrick Mahomes a Super Bowl champion, Lamar Jackson an MVP, Russell Wilson and Deshaun Watson highlight machines. Even more seasoning has been added to the recipe with Tom Brady taking his six championship rings to the Buccaneers.
“Mentally I feel like I have all the ability . ... There’s no play I haven’t run, there’s no defense I haven’t seen. It’s just physically are you still able to execute your job,” Brady says. “I’m very fortunate to still be able to do that."
He'll be moving to a floundering franchise with the second-longest playoff drought (since 2007), and in a season in which all expectations must be tempered because of the coronavirus pandemic. Brady isn't overlooking any of that.
“I know it’s a contact sport, and there are things that are out of your control," he says, "but that’s a pretty good lesson for life, too.”
Cam Newton is expected to step in for the Patriots, having joined them as a free agent after Carolina cut the 2015 MVP in favor of newcomer Teddy Bridgewater. Newton's style hardly resembles Brady's, and he's coming off two injury-plagued years.
“I don’t have to prove nothing,” Newton says. “I have to prove (something) to myself. That’s a daily challenge. And I don’t think nobody’s expectations will ever surpass my expectations for myself. I’m just looking forward to the challenge.”
Philip Rivers spent 16 seasons with the Chargers, struggling in 2019. The Colts believe he's still got plenty left.
Nick Foles journeys to Chicago after a short, unsuccessful stint in Jacksonville. The Bears might be souring on Mitchell Trubisky, and Foles has a pretty good resume as a replacement for a starter.
As for top overall draftee Joe Burrow, the LSU sensation lands in Cincinnati, a tough place to be in a normal season. This certainly is not normal.
OPTING OUT
While the NFL steadfastly heads toward opening its season and playing the planned schedule, 67 players officially opted out due to the coronavirus.
No team was hit harder than New England, seeing eight players depart. That includes key defensive guys Dont’a Hightower and Patrick Chung, guard Marcus Cannon and running back Brandon Bolden.
A former Patriot, tackle Nate Solder left the Giants; he is a cancer survivor and has a young son battling the disease.
Kansas City saw playoff sensation running back Damien Williams opt out, as did guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, who is a doctor and felt compelled to practice medicine during the pandemic.
Also stepping away were such potential starters as Arizona tackle Marcus Gilbert; Buffalo defensive tackle Star Lotulelei and Chicago defensive tackle Eddie Goldman; Denver tackle Ja’Wuan James; Green Bay receiver Devin Funchess and Miami wide receiver Albert Wilson; Minnesota defensive tackle Michael Pierce; Jets linebacker C.J. Mosley; and Philadelphia receiver Marquise Goodwin.
Players with a medical release received a $350,000 stipend. Those leaving voluntarily got $150,000.
COACHING CAROUSEL
Five new head coaches will roam sidelines in 2020, though two of them have very strong resumes elsewhere.
Mike McCarthy is in charge of the Cowboys — as much as any coach is "in charge" with Jerry Jones as the owner. Things had gotten stale in Dallas, and McCarthy brings the pedigree of a Super Bowl champion in Green Bay.
Ron Rivera, one of only four minority head coaches in the league, took Newton and the Panthers to a Super Bowl and is considered one of the most astute and versatile coaches in football. But an August diagnosis of a form of skin cancer has brought more turmoil in Washington.
Kevin Stefanski in Cleveland, Matt Rhule in Carolina and Joe Judge with the Giants get their first opportunities as NFL head coaches.
Stefanski might be stepping into the best situation with the talent-upgraded Browns, but that franchise is a traditional underachiever with a dicey locker room.
Rhule was so successful at Baylor that several NFL teams chased after him, with the Panthers spending $62 million over seven years. He takes over a club in a major rebuild.
Judge most recently was New England's special teams coach, and if he follows the similar path of John Harbaugh in Baltimore, Big Blue fans will be ecstatic. The Giants have erred on their two most recent choices for the job, however.
STRANGE OFFSEASON
As the coronavirus ravaged the nation, the NFL conducted plenty of its usual business, yet nothing happened on teams' fields from Seattle to Miami, Buffalo to Phoenix.
Commissioner Roger Goodell ordered all club facilities closed in March, and it wasn't until early summer that they began reopening — slowly.
Minicamps and OTAs (organized team activities) were scrapped for the sake of health and safety. Free agents who were signed and youngsters who were drafted rarely, if ever, met club management or teammates until training camps began in late July.
Yet, free agency was conducted with, as always, millions upon millions of dollars spent on veterans. The NFL draft was conducted virtually, even though many pro days for collegians were canceled. The regular-season schedule was released on time.
Where things go from here is anyone's guess. The league has contingency plans if games must be postponed, moved or even canceled. Same thing for the playoffs — even putting the teams in bubble environments that have been so successful for the NHL is under consideration.
The most visible league official in the offseason has not been Goodell, but chief medical officer Dr. Allen Sills.
CHANGED TEAMS, SORT OF
During the off season, the Raiders completed their move from Oakland to Las Vegas, while Washington’s team scrapped their 87-year-old mascot to go without one for this season.
Las Vegas will host its first NFL games at the $2 billion Allegiant Stadium near the Strip, but without fans after Owner Mark Davis consulted with local health officials. Davis himself says he won’t be attending the games in person if no fans are being allowed.
Meanwhile, Washington will simply go by the Washington Football Team with only numbers on its helmets as it buys some time to settle on a new mascot. The team announced in July that it was dropping the “Redskins” name and Indian head logo, bowing to pressure from sponsors and decades of criticism that they are offensive to Native Americans.