The latest news from around the division.
Eagles sign WR DeVonta Smith to three-year, $75 million extension – Nick Shook, NFL.com
Philadelphia knows it’s smarter to get a deal done as soon as possible.
Wide receiver DeVonta Smith won’t need to play out his fifth-year option to convince the Philadelphia Eagles to keep him beyond 2024.
The former 2021 first-round selection agreed to a three-year, $75 million extension with the Eagles, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported on Monday. Smith’s deal includes $51 million in guaranteed money, per Rapoport.
The team later announced the signing.
Smith arrived in Philadelphia as a highly touted star from Alabama, where he’d won two national titles and closed his collegiate career by earning the Heisman Trophy and a unanimous All-American selection. It was clear to everyone Smith could play, but many wondered whether his slender frame might doom him at the next level.
So far, it hasn’t. Smith has the most receptions (240) and receiving yards (3,178) through his first three seasons in Eagles history, recorded the third-most receptions in a single season in the club’s history with 95 in 2022, and needs just 61 receiving yards in a playoff game to pass Harold Carmichael for the team’s playoff record. He’s one of only seven receivers in the NFL with 175-plus receptions, 2,500-plus receiving yards and 15-plus receiving touchdowns since the start of the 2022 season.
He’s good, and size isn’t a concern. Smith has proven himself as both a deep threat and a catch-and-run machine, and it’s no surprise the Eagles locked him up.
It’s also wise timing on the part of the always-savvy Eagles general manager Howie Roseman, who rolled Smith’s fifth-year option — which doesn’t take effect until 2025 — into a long-term plan to retain Smith. With the fifth-year option included, Smith won’t begin accounting for the average annual value of $25 million per year until 2026, a number that currently ties him with teammate A.J. Brown for fourth-highest among all NFL receivers, but will likely look much more affordable by the time 2026 arrives.
Daniel Jones says Giants taking QB in 2024 NFL Draft won’t affect mindset, confident about future in New York – Garrett Podell, CBS Sports
The current Giants’ QB won’t let draft rumors shift his focus.
There’s only 10 days between now and the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft, and the New York Giants possess the sixth overall pick, putting them in range to potentially have the chance to select a quarterback like Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy, a player many view as the draft’s fourth-best prospect at the position.
However, the Giants still have their sixth overall pick from the 2019 NFL Draft — quarterback Daniel Jones — around and entering the second season of a four-year, $160 million deal he signed last offseason. He’ll most certainly be on the roster in 2024 since the G-Men are on the hook to pay him $36 million in guaranteed salary. However, coming off an ugly campaign in 2023 where he threw more interceptions in six games (six to just two touchdowns) than he did in 16 games played in 2022 (15 touchdown passes and five interceptions) on top of tearing his ACL, his future beyond the upcoming season could be in doubt.
Jones himself addressed potential, internal competition for his starting quarterback spot on Monday, comparing his long-term future with New York to former Pro Bowl running back Saquon Barkley’s when he returned to the Giants in 2023 without long-term contractual security. Barkley departed for the NFC East-rival Philadelphia Eagles on a three-year, $37.75 million deal this offseason.
“[It’s] the same thing with Saquon’s [situation last year],” Jones said on Monday. “The nature of our business. It’s a competitive league, so the best way to handle that is to focus on what I’m doing. Focus on myself, and making sure that I’m healthy and ready to play good football. That’s what I can control.”
New York would eat a $22.21 million cap hit if it released him next offseason, but the Giants would save $19.4 million against the cap by making that move since Jones would be out of guaranteed salary on his contract. Yet, he maintains he can still be the future for the Giants at the quarterback position.
“I do, yes,” Jones said.
Clarity on where he stands in New York’s long-term plans could come in just 10 days.
Commanders hire long-time league-office executive Dave Gardi – Mike Florio, NBC Sports
Washington continues making changes from the top down.
The league office laid the foundation for new ownership in Washington. New ownership in Washington has now hired a long-time member of the league office.
I’m not saying it’s not a coincidence. I’m just saying it happened.
The Commanders have hired Dave Gardi. He had most recently been the NFL’s V.P. of football initiatives. In Washington, via ESPN.com, Gardi will “handle a number of in-game management duties and will support the coaching staff and front office on compliance with League protocols, officiating trends and health and safety guidelines.”
Basically, he’ll make sure the Commanders are complying with the rules. And also, frankly, coming up with creative ways to secure an advantage while still complying with the rules.
He knows how the sausage is made at 345 Park Avenue. He can use that knowledge to get an edge for the Commanders. The fact that he’ll be involved with “in-game management duties” means that the Commanders fully expect him to leverage his background to help the Commanders.
The move also invites speculation as to whether, for example, a league that has suddenly begun pinching pennies might have lowballed Gardi, prompting him to look elsewhere. It’s also possible that someone in a position of power decided it was time for Gardi to go. (The league office usually doesn’t fire people; sometimes, it outplaces them to teams.)
That said, Gardi had never been mentioned as a potential successor to Commissioner Roger Goodell. Typically, that’s the development that puts a promising executive on the Big Shield endangered species list.
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