Jim Harbaugh says McCarthy best passer
ORLANDO, Fla. – Jim Harbaugh is doubling down on his confidence for Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy.
Harbaugh believes McCarthy – not Southern Cal’s Caleb Williams, LSU’s Jayden Daniels or North Carolina’s Drake Maye – is the best quarterback in the 2024 NFL draft.
“I’ve said it before and it’s well documented: I think he’s the best quarterback in the draft. That’s just what I think. It’s my opinion,” Harbaugh, the former Michigan coach and new Los Angeles Chargers coach, said during NFL league meetings on Monday.
And his reasoning? Well, it’s exactly the type of comment you’d expect from the quirky Harbaugh.
“He’s the one who plays quarterback of all the quarterbacks in the draft,” Harbaugh said of McCarthy. “There are great quarterbacks in the draft, but I think he plays quarterback the best of any quarterback in the draft.”
Hey, you can’t blame Harbaugh for campaigning for his college starter.
While Williams, Daniels and Maye are widely considered the top three players in the draft, McCarthy may be valued behind others in the field like Washington’s Michael Penix Jr. and Oregon’s Bo Nix.
Still, Harbaugh says McCarthy has a killer instinct and a kind heart that also separates him from the others.
“He’ll be hit, and this killer comes out. Whether it’s good or it’s bad, he’s got an extra gear, especially when he’s challenged,” Harbaugh said.
“And you also see the big personality, and do anything for another guy on the team, for a small kid that walks up to him. My son Jack feels like JJ is one of his really good friends. He’s incredible.
“Big market, small market. Cold weather, hot weather. It wouldn’t matter,” Harbaugh added on McCarthy, who was a two-year starter at Michigan and completed 72.3% of his passes for 2,991 yards and 22 TDs with four interceptions and a 167.4 passer rating last season. McCarthy was 28-1 as Harbaugh’s quarterback at Michigan.
– Safid Deen
Falcons owner maintains no illegal tampering in signing standout QB
Arthur Blank insists the Atlanta Falcons didn’t break the rules in their pursuit of Kirk Cousins. Now, if only the owner can convince the NFL of that.
The NFL is investigating whether the Falcons violated the league’s anti-tampering policy before securing their new quarterback with a four-year, $180 million deal as the free agency market opened.
Similarly, the league has also opened a probe into the Philadelphia Eagles’ signing of star running back Saquon Barkley for a potential violation before he finalized a three-year, $37.75 million contract.
“Any time the word ‘tampering’ comes up, you worry about it,” Blank told USA TODAY Sports as league owners gathered for their annual meetings.
In both of the cases under review, apparently neither of the teams that lost the players – Cousins played the past six seasons with the Minnesota Vikings, while Barkley had the same run with the New York Giants – filed complaints that prompted the investigations. Instead, it appears that the league took action following public comments that surfaced after the players struck their new deals.
In the Cousins case, the league seemingly responded to the quarterback’s contention during his introductory news conference that he met or spoke to members of the Falcons staff on the day before the free agency market opened in midMarch. NFL rules allow for agents of players to speak to teams during a negotiating window in the two days before the market officially opens, but players can’t meet or speak with teams during the negotiating window, also referred to as the “legal tampering” period.
Cousins, rehabbing from a torn Achilles tendon, stated that he had talked to the Falcons trainer and head of public relations the day before the market opened – which would have violated league policy. Cousins also revealed that Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts began efforts to recruit him during the weeks leading up to free agency, which would not be a violation unless team officials were aware of such an exchange.
Blank said the Falcons have cooperated with the league’s investigation, which could include supplying phone records.
“I know there was no tampering from our standpoint,” Blank said. “Whatever conversation there was, was very innocent. We’ll see. Whatever the league decides, we’ll deal with it.”
Even though Cousins agreed to a whopping new contract just hours after the “legal tampering” window opened despite rehabbing from a serious injury, his matter isn’t anything like the egregious case that rocked the Miami Dolphins and its team owner, Stephen Ross, in 2022. Ross was fined $1.5 million and suspended for multiple months, and the Dolphins were stripped of two draft picks – including a first-round choice in 2023 – for violations over several years in pursuing Tom Brady and Sean Payton.
Yet the league’s investigation into Atlanta undoubtedly will look to assess the timeline of events that led to the signing of Cousins.
And that might be reason enough for worry. In 2016, the Kansas City Chiefs were hammered for their pursuit of free agent receiver Jeremy Maclin in 2015. The Chiefs, found to have directly contacted Maclin during the negotiating window, were stripped of two draft picks, including a third-rounder in 2016, and fined $250,000. Also, coach Andy Reid was fined $75,000, and then-GM John Dorsey was docked $25,000.
With that precedent, the cost for landing Cousins could rise for the Falcons.
“There was nothing intentional,” Blank maintains.