NFL Player News

The Patriots selected Stidham in the fourth round of the 2019 NFL Draft, 133rd overall.

Stidham is a former blue chip recruit who showed various levels of promise with first Baylor and then Auburn, but he never lived up to his recruiting pedigree in terms of production, and he never displayed the kind of tools you'd need to project much further development. Stidham conventionally profiles as a backup at 6-foot-2, 218 pounds with various adequate traits but none that are truly reassuring. He finished his collegiate career completing 64.3 percent of his passes for 7,217 yards (8.5 YPA), 48 touchdowns and 13 interceptions, so there's a little bit of skill for the Patriots to mold and then probably pawn off to another team in a trade a couple years from now.

The Panthers selected Grier in the third round of the 2019 NFL Draft, 100th overall.

Grier is the fifth quarterback taken in this year's class after a unique college career that began at Florida and ended at West Virginia with a PED suspension in between. He lacks ideal arm strength, but he still threw for 7,354 yards and 71 touchdowns over his two seasons with the Mountaineers. There are drawbacks to his game, however; Grier can get reckless with the ball (20 interceptions at WVU). He'll be Cam Newton's backup, and it remains to be seen whether he has the skill set to be an NFL starter at some point.

The Broncos selected Lock in the second round of the 2019 NFL Draft, 42nd overall.

Lock was constantly linked to the Broncos for months now, making him a conventional projection for Denver at the 10th overall pick. The Broncos end up waiting more than a round but got him anyway, giving them a developmental backup with upside and a candidate to step in if Joe Flacco stumbles as starter. Lock (6-foot-4, 228 pounds) is a wild but toolsy quarterback with a strong arm and standout athleticism (4.69-second 40, 11.15 agility score), and despite his rough qualities he at least stands tall and maintains an aggressive demeanor as a passer. Whether his scattershot accuracy can be fixed mechanically is the question of whether he develops into a viable NFL starter, but he definitely needs development in this respect after completing only 56.9 percent of his career passes for Missouri.

Coach Jay Gruden said No. 15 overall draft pick Dwayne Haskins will compete with Keenum and Colt McCoy (leg) for the starting quarterback job, ESPN.com's John Keim reports. "Well, if you are a 15th pick of the draft, I think you have to give him the opportunity, without a doubt," Gruden said. "We feel good about the guys we have in the building for sure, but when you take a guy in the first round, you have to give him a chance to compete."

Keenum would've been the favorite in a battle against McCoy, who's currently recovering from a third surgery after some complications with the fractured fibula he suffered Dec. 3. Things become far more interesting with Haskins in the mix, as the rookie has a large advantage over Keenum when it comes to size (6-foot-3, 231 pounds) and arm strength. Washington doesn't have much invested in Keenum and McCoy; both are entering contract seasons with cap hits below $4 million. Alex Smith (leg) isn't expected to play in 2019 and ultimately may be forced to retire.

The Giants selected Jones in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft, sixth overall.

This probably won't work. Jones (6-foot-5, 221 pounds) is a tall and athletic quarterback who displayed plenty of toughness and poise at Duke, but the production was plainly bad, and even by Duke quarterback standards he failed to stand out. You'd struggle to illustrate many objective advantages in Jones' prospect profile over players like Thaddeus Lewis, Sean Renfree or Thomas Sirk, as Jones finished his Duke career with a brutal 59.9 percent completion rate at 6.4 yards per pass. He did throw 52 touchdowns compared to 29 interceptions and offers some running possibilities, but the complete inability to move the ball downfield is alarming. Unlike Josh Allen last year, Jones has no notable athletic traits with which to offset his problematic production. He should have good pass catchers to throw to in New York, but any defense playing against Jones can probably get away with red-zone style looks in any part of the field, which will make it harder to operate the short passing game that the Giants seem to take for granted with Jones. In any case, Jones is slated to begin his pro career backing up 38-year-old Eli Manning.

The Cardinals selected Murray in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft, first overall.

It's rare enough to find a 5-foot-10 quarterback in the NFL at all, and before now it was certainly unprecedented for one to go this high in the draft. Even Russell Wilson fell to the third round after his own brilliant college career. Perhaps times are changing, but Murray is an exceptional talent who might just be the first of his kind. As much as Wilson is the closest comparison, Murray is substantially more athletic, claiming to possess 4.30 speed in addition to a quick, strong-arm release. Murray completed 260 of 377 passes (69.0 completion percentage) for 4,361 yards (11.6 YPA), 42 touchdowns and seven interceptions in 14 games at Oklahoma last year, adding another 1,001 yards (7.2 YPC) and 12 touchdowns on the ground. For some perspective on those numbers, consider that in 2017 Baker Mayfield threw for 4,627 yards (11.5 YPA), 43 touchdowns and six interceptions in the same offense. Murray should be an immediate fantasy factor -- perhaps even a standout QB1 in 12-team leagues. Even if the Cardinals don't trade Josh Rosen -- and it would be borderline shocking if they did not -- Murray would still be the heavy favorite to start Week 1 in Arizona. The arrival of coach Kliff Kingsbury and his Air Raid offense heightens Murray's already substantial fantasy potential, because the Cardinals figure to run a high-tempo offense that affords Murray standout usage volume as both a passer and runner. So long as he's starting Week 1, Murray could be an immediate top-10 fantasy quarterback with the potential to finish much higher.

The Rams have elected to pick up Goff's fifth-year option, Vincent Bonsignore of The Athletic reports.

While the Rams aren't expected to extend Goff this offseason, the team will have him under contract through at least the 2020 campaign. The team has spent a bunch of money recently on the likes of Aaron Donald, Brandin Cooks and Todd Gurley, so it will sit on Goff's cheaper rookie deal for the time being. Coming off a 32-touchdown campaign and a Super Bowl appearance in 2018, Goff has the weapons around him in Cooks, Robert Woods, Cooper Kupp (knee) and Todd Gurley to post another healthy statistical season under center.

McCoy recently had a third surgery on his fractured right fibula, JP Finlay of NBC Sports Washington reports.

McCoy missed the final four weeks of the regular season, but his efforts to make a quick return prevented the injury from healing properly. He's now had two surgeries during the offseason and hasn't been able to participate in any of Washington's voluntary workout program. The 32-year-old eventually is expected to battle Case Keenum for the starting job, though the nature of the competition could change if the team drafts or trades for a young quarterback. There doesn't seem to be any expectation of Alex Smith (leg) playing in 2019.

Goff is not expected to receive a contract extension this offseason, Jeremy Bergman of NFL.com reports.

This isn't exactly a surprise, as Goff's fifth-year option is still significantly cheaper ($20 million) than what he'd receive via an extension --- a particularly vital fact considering recent spending sprees on Aaron Donald, Brandin Cooks and Todd Gurley in the past nine months. While Goff has improved in each of his two seasons with head coach Sean McVay, questions still linger about the quarterback's ability to lead his team to an NFL championship, with a 229-yard, one-interception stinker in the most recent Super Bowl acting as a glaring spotlight. Recency bias aside, Goff is certainly deserving of a pay raise, sporting the fifth-most passing yards and fourth-most touchdowns in the league over the past two seasons combined. While it's possible Goff and his representation could wait till Patrick Mahomes receives his inevitable record-setting contract extension, the Rams might attempt to accelerate the negotiations in order to avoid what figures to be market-resetting figure. It just isn't expected to occur this offseason.

Garoppolo said Wednesday that he expects to wear a brace on his surgically repaired left knee in 2019, Cam Inman of The San Jose Mercury News reports.

Garoppolo sustained a torn ACL in the knee Week 3 of last season, ending his first full campaign as the 49ers' starting quarterback much earlier than expected. Invested in rehabilitation in the meantime, he's progressed enough in his recovery that he and the team believe he'll be medically cleared by the start of training camp, per Jennifer Lee Chan of NBC Sports Bay Area. As for the brace, Garoppolo is unsure if it'll be something he wears long term, but he'll at least don one in the fall. The 49ers missed out on the big fish (Antonio Brown and Odell Beckham) on the market this offseason, but the addition of Tevin Coleman bolsters the backfield. Furthermore, the 49ers' receiving corps may be reinforced during April's draft, helping Garoppolo's cause as he returns to the fold.