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As you heard, a total solar eclipse crosses North America today. This happens when the Moon blocks the face of the Sun from Earth, shrouding the world in darkness.
A rare event, the latter occurred in Jacksonville in 2021 while Urban Meyer was head coach.
Today’s NFL update:
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- πDT: Rising trend
- π Giants QBchoice #6
- π DT Perspectives: Big 3
- π Patriots re-signing season continues
How valuable are defensive tackles to NFL teams? Very.
Another day, another massive contract with DT. The Panthers signed DT Derrick Brown to a four-year, $96 million extension on Friday, keeping PFF’s No. 2 interior defensive lineman in Charlotte for the foreseeable future.
Trenching is a profitable business. This offseason, DE and DT led all positions in total value spent in free agency (DE: $454 million, DT: $337 million), per Spotrac.
Chris Jones became the highest paid DT in history with a contract worth over $150 million, Christian Wilkins is the third highest paid DT in history (4 years, $110 million) , followed by Justin Madubuike’s 4-year, $98 million contract, to name a few.
Before this offseason’s spending spree, the interior lineman’s value increased faster than that of any other defensive position from 2014 to 2023.
Other positions are not as expensive. Packers CB Jaire Alexander is the only defensive player outside the line to earn $21 million per year. No linebacker or safety reached that figure, with LB Roquan Smith ($20 million) and S Derwin James ($19 million) pacing their positions.
With Brown’s extension, 11 interior defensive linemen will earn an average of more than $21 million per year. That ties the position with Edge Rushers (11) for the most players over $21 million on the defensive side of the ball.
You’ll either need to draft the star interior defensive lineman early or pay him. Among the highest-paid DTs, only Justin Madubuike and Javon Hargrave were excluded from the top 50 (note that Derrick Brown’s $24 million APY is missing from the table β Brown was a first-round pick in 2020).
As Ben Standig predicted in 2022, defensive tackles benefited from a significant financial drain.
For what? It’s a mix of elite players, changing patterns and recognized importance. The NFL’s current pass-centric brand of football has been accompanied by the growth of horizontal-stretch running plays, which include jet moves and sweeps.
An elite DT is athletic and strong enough to stop the run while providing constant pressure on the quarterback: this becomes invaluable (think Chris Jones in the Super Bowl).
As DeForest Buckner saidput these hands in the earth.
What Dianna Hears: Giants QB’s plans
On April 25, 2019, the Giants used the No. 6 pick on a QB, selecting Duke’s Daniel Jones as Eli Manning’s successor.
On April 25, 2024, the Giants re-drafted the No. 6 pick. With Jones entering the second year of his four-year, $160 million extension and only 26 years old, his successor could be on the table.
The Giants are a team that shows strong interest in the QB position. Over the past 10 days, they’ve hosted Michael Penix Jr. and worked privately on Drake Maye and JJ McCarthy.
Either (1) they want to draft a quarterback, or (2) they want teams to think they have to trade with the Giants if they want one.
Back to you, Jacob.
Meet the Prospects: Weird DTs
With the value of defensive tackles skyrocketing, adding one via the NFL Draft is a good deal. Today we look at three weird DTs, with their place in AthleticismThe consensus top 100 in parentheses.
1. Texas DT Bryon Murphy II (15) ranked No. 1 among all FBS interior defensive linemen in winning percentage (19.6) last season.
Among his class, Murphy ranks first in pressure rate, while his true pass win rate (27%) was better than that of Eagles 2023 first-rounder Jalen Carter (21.6%).
He doesn’t have the size of his teammate T’Vondre Sweat (who called Murphy the best defensive tackle in the draft), but the 6-1, 308-pounder would have caused more problems for opposing coaches.
Two recent versions of models on Athleticism (by Bruce Feldman and Ben Standig) allows the Bengals to land Murphy at 18th overall. He was compared to Falcons two-time Pro Bowl DT Grady Jarrett.
2. Texas DT T’Vondre sweatshirt (33), weighing over 360 pounds at 6’4, is Murphy’s monster-sized teammate. Sweat was the first Texas player to win the Outland Trophy β awarded to the best interior lineman in college football β since 1977. He also won Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year.
At Texas, he was agile enough to play both nose tackle and defensive tackle, where he played in both the running and passing games.
One red flag about Sweat was his βpartyingβ as a freshman. His recent arrest and DWI charge that won’t help there. He is currently the fourth DT in the consensus top 100.
3. Mystery DT (66) is the son of a former NFL Pro Bowler. He was No. 6 on the Freaks List in 2023, does pull-ups with a weight of 100 pounds, and can jump vertically from 34 inches to over 300 pounds. Jim Harbaugh called it βthe mutant of all mutants.β
I saw him make fun of the Chargers. Guess? The answer can be found at the bottom of the newsletter.
Around the NFL
S Kyle Dugger agreed to a four-year, $58 million deal to stay in New England. Dugger, 28, was PFF’s 13th-best defensive safety who was tagged earlier this offseason.
BY Mike Danna returns to Kansas City on a three-year, $24 million contract. Danna, 26 and entering his fifth NFL season, has started a career-high 16 games for the Chiefs in 2023. This is the Chiefs’ first major spending since clearing $19.8 million dollars in cap space by moving CB L’Jarius Sneed.
Rice Rashee WR faces several potential fees for his street racing accident. Via the Dallas Morning News, attorney Royce West said he expects Dallas police to file charges against Rice soon.
Jacob’s choices
π Juggling childhood and parenthood. NFL Draft prospect Adisa Isaac grew up helping raise three developmentally disabled siblings in Brooklyn. Dan Pompei shares this inspiring story. βIt would take a thousand Adisas,β said a coach. (Athleticism)
πΊ Stefon Diggs was the answer when β six years ago β Vikings players were asked who they would least like to date their sister. They did it again in 2024. (Youtube)
π What does the movie say about Diggs? He “really struggled to beat the press, get his foot in the ground and separate in man-to-man coverage,” says former NFL general manager Randy Mueller around the 9-minute mark. latest FootballGM podcast. (Spotify, Apple, Athleticism)
Today’s Mystery Prospect: Michigan DT Kris Jenkins, who Steelers beat reporter Mike DeFabo wrote an excellent article on.
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(Photo:
Jamie Squire/Getty Images)