Philly Front Office

The NFL Draft is right around the corner. While we are all focused on where everyone is going to be selected, GMs and agents are thinking about the players currently on rosters as well. Why? Because this isn’t just draft season, it’s extension season too. Here are the big names that could see themselves moving during the draft…

2026 NFL Mock Draft 2.0: 80’s and 90’s Action Movie Edition

2022 Rookie Class

First round picks have an extra year on their rookie contracts that the rest of that draft class does not. Many of these players have either signed extensions already or are in the process of doing so. However, that does leave a few in the middle, the talented ones who aren’t getting paid by their current team to be bandied around in trade talks…

• Kayvon Thibodeaux – Giants: Thibodeaux is the odd man out in the talented Giants EDGE room considering Brian Burns is making big money and they just drafted Abdul Carter
• Drake London – Falcons: There’s no reason to think the Falcons are shopping London, but with a big question mark at QB and a regime change, Atlanta could balk at paying big money to their #1 WR and look to get a big time haul to help their rebuild (if that’s what they decide to do)
• Chris Olave – Saints: Despite the Saints not being nearly as good as the Falcons, New Orleans at least seems to think they have a QB in Tyler Shough. They could get an extra 1st rounder for him, but they could be looking to build rather than rebuild.

Draft Day Is Required Viewing

Rest of the 2023 Draft

The 2023 class just became eligible for extensions, but almost no one has signed yet. The two that made me qualify that with “almost” are Jaxon Smith-Njigba and newest Eagle Dontayvion Wicks. How about that? I’ll skip the first-round guys because of their 5th year options, but here are other notables with shots at being traded

• Joey Porter Jr – Steelers: Porter is going to want an extension, but without gaudy INT numbers, he might not get what he wants. If someone else values him highly, he could be on the move from Pittsburgh earlier than you’d think, just like his father.
• Michael Mayer – Raiders: Mayer is a mid-grade starting TE in the NFL. Unfortunately, he plays behind maybe the best TE in the NFL. If he wants to showcase himself, the Raiders are certainly not his best option.
• Derick Hall – Seahawks: The Seahawks have a lot of players they want to bring back and with Hall’s lack of high end production, he probably won’t be one of them. The upside may have him staying in Seattle though.
• Sam LaPorta/Brian Branch – Lions: The Lions are running into a problem where they can’t keep everyone. Between the 2022 and 2023 drafts, they brought in a lot of talent. If paying the whole roster isn’t in the cards, one of these two could be out the door.
• De’Von Achane – Dolphins: Miami keeps saying they want to keep him, but why in the world would they keep the running back of all people when they are tearing down the roster?

Let’s get George Pickens a New Contract

Veterans

• Dexter Lawrence – Giants: Things got messy this week when it came out that the Giants and Lawrence were no where close in talks about an extension. He is very likely to get moved in the next few days.
• Trent Williams – 49ers: The 49ers need Williams, but they go through contract issues with him every year. He will likely stay, but there is always the possibility that they are finally annoyed with the dance for the 38 year old.
• Jessie Bates – Falcons: Bates is still functioning at a high level and is in the last year of his contract for a possibly rebuilding team (I really like him for the Eagles depending on how the board falls)
• George Pickens – Cowboys: The Cowboys are keeping Pickens on a franchise tag because Jerry is really bad at negotiating. Pickens surely wants more than teammate CeeDee Lamb, but there’s no way the Jones boys want to give it to him. We never thought we’d see Micah Parsons move, so you have to assume everyone is Dallas has a price.
• Maxx Crosby – Raiders: The once and future ex-Raider has no reason to stay in Las Vegas. By killing their deal, the Ravens also killed the Raiders’ leverage, so this one is tougher than you would think despite Maxx already getting moved once. The problem is getting enough value back, the contract is an easy mover for teams with cap space.
• Myles Garrett – Browns: I know, I know, every year we go through this. It’s because, like Crosby, Garrett’s deal was designed to be moved. The Browns can simply keep the asking price astoundingly high and see if anyone comes to them.

Very Helpful: Spotrac

Photo: Dale Zanine / USA Today