A video of Brandon Aiyuk, in a black hoodie and black pants, strolling across the San Francisco 49ers practice field this week and exchanging pleasantries with coach Kyle Shanahan and GM John Lynch was broken down like it was part of an episode of “CSI.”
Did that mean everything was good with Aiyuk and the 49ers? That a new contract was coming? More than likely, it was just a normal handshake between men who have a lot of history together.
But there’s a lot at stake for the 49ers over the next month when it comes to contract standoffs, and they’re not alone.
There are a few “hold-ins” going on around the NFL. The old school holdout, the most famous of which might have been Emmitt Smith missing the first two games of the Dallas Cowboys’ 1993 season, is mostly a thing of the past. Players usually don’t sit at home and miss practices and games, though it still happens and there are some examples this year. Changes to the collective-bargaining agreement have made it a lot tougher for players to completely hold out. The preferred method of protesting a contract situation has become showing up to camp and not practicing. There are some high-profile cases this year.
Aiyuk isn’t practicing. Neither is Cincinnati Bengals receiver Ja’Marr Chase. New England Patriots edge rusher Matthew Judon is having a hold in and video of him seemingly having words with Patriots coach Jerod Mayo got attention. Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive tackle Tristan Wirfs isn’t doing team drills. Some players have gone the throwback route: Dallas Cowboys receiver CeeDee Lamb, 49ers offensive tackle Trent Williams and New York Jets defensive end Haason Reddick haven’t shown up to camp.
That list contains some of the best players in the NFL. Many of the teams mentioned are Super Bowl contenders. There’s no freakout yet because it’s early and players have less leverage for holdouts, but each of those situations could affect the season in important ways.
It also might not be the end of the world. Last year 49ers defensive end Nick Bosa held out for 43 days, signed a few days before the season started, played all 17 regular-season games and helped San Francisco make a Super Bowl. In that Super Bowl the 49ers lost to the Chiefs, who had key defensive lineman Chris Jones hold out through the first game of the season. The Chiefs lost that game but signed Jones after Week 1 and their story turned out fine.
So all of those holdouts and hold-ins could end up being a story for late July and August and we’ll have long forgotten about it by mid-January. But until those situations are resolved, there should be concern. The Cowboys aren’t going anywhere without Lamb. The 49ers would take a huge step back if Aiyuk and Williams miss any games. If the situations linger too long it might affect those players even if they do play Week 1; how many times have we seen a player start slow after missing training camp and preseason?
A lot will happen over August as the preseason unfolds. Jobs will be won, starting spots will be earned, injuries will unfortunately happen. But the biggest stories might be the ones concerning the players who begin this month by sitting out.
Here are the initial NFL power rankings as the preseason kicks off with Thursday’s Hall of Fame Game (click on any team’s name for an in-depth preview of their 2024 season):
Receiver Jonathan Mingo, a 2023 second-round pick, had a bad rookie season. As is the case with many NFL players and teams, it seemed the Panthers gave up on him immediately, trading for Diontae Johnson and drafting Xavier Legette this offseason. But reports from camp have been positive on Mingo. He was the 39th pick of the draft for a reason. If Mingo can become a factor, that would be huge for a rebuilding team that can’t miss on early picks.
The Patriots seem set on starting Jacoby Brissett over rookie Drake Maye and it makes sense. It’s not just because the offensive line is poor and there are few weapons around the QB position. Look at the Patriots’ opening stretch to the season: at Bengals, vs. Seahawks, at Jets, at 49ers, vs. Dolphins, vs. Texans. The easiest game in there might be against the Seahawks, who were 9-8 last season and have hot defensive mind Mike Macdonald as their new coach. Then again, there aren’t many games on the entire schedule that don’t look like losses for New England.
The Broncos’ quarterback rotation seems to have Zach Wilson as the No. 3 and Jarrett Stidham and Bo Nix battling for the No. 1 spot. Stidham is more likely to look better in training camp, but there’s no good reason to not start 24 year old Nix and his NCAA record 61 starts in Week 1. We’ll see what Sean Payton does.
A rebuilding team isn’t fixing everything in one offseason, and the Commanders’ offensive line is a concern especially with a rookie quarterback. No matter which ranking of offensive lines you prefer, they all have the Commanders near the bottom. There’s a lot to like about how Washington overhauled everything this offseason, but it needs at least decent offensive line play for a notable improvement.
“Hard Knocks: Offseason with the New York Giants” has been a fun watch. Although we have to keep in mind that the teams have final creative control over the product, the parts about the Giants preferring Malik Nabers in the receiver rookie class are believable. Nabers should get all the targets he can handle from Week 1 on.
Tony Pollard got a nice contract from the Titans, but that doesn’t mean Tyjae Spears is going away.
“The fun part for me is: How are we going to deploy those guys?,” coach Brian Callahan said, via the team’s site. “Maybe they both play at the same time, maybe one gets hot and you let him run, maybe we just rotate back and forth. I don’t know what that’s going to look like yet. But they are both going to play quite a bit of football for us, and I don’t view either one of them as a starter or a back-up. They are both starting players to me.”
Forget Callahan’s comment that “maybe they both play at the same time,” because that’s an ignorable line we hear every training camp and it never happens. But it sounds like both players will have a big role in a timeshare.
It sounds like Gardner Minshew II and Aidan O’Connell are on equal ground in the quarterback competition. If it’s close, the Raiders should probably go with the younger O’Connell to see what they have in the second-year player. It seems doubtful he’s the long-term answer, but it’s worth finding out.
One reason for excitement with the Cardinals is that quarterback Kyler Murray’s health isn’t a big story. At this time last year he was rehabbing a torn ACL and didn’t come back until well into the season. He played well late and feels good going into this season.
“Last year was just such a whirlwind for me as far as being hurt, then rehabbing the whole year, coming back in the middle of the season,” Murray said, via the AP. “I think this year, starting off fresh, it’s a big difference.”
Right tackle Ryan Ramczyk being ruled out for the season isn’t a big surprise. He had been dealing with a lingering knee injury. But it is a big loss, especially since nobody knows if Ramczyk’s career is over. Ramczyk was one of the best tackles in the NFL for a while, and now the Saints have a pretty big hole on an offensive line that suddenly looks shaky.
Receiver Ladd McConkey to the Chargers was one of the more interesting second-round picks in the NFL Draft, a good fit of need and talent. So far McConkey is impressing the staff according to Yahoo Sports’ Charles Robinson, who said: “The way he gets in and out of breaks is already high-level. I think they’ll line up all over the place and he’ll eventually develop into a target monster.”
It will be interesting to see if Jordan Addison gets suspended to start the season and if that affects Minnesota’s timetable to start J.J. McCarthy. They already seem intent on delaying McCarthy’s first start, letting Sam Darnold begin the season as QB1. Considering the offense could be without Addison and T.J. Hockenson for the start of the season, it’s not an ideal situation for a rookie quarterback. We’ll see if that matters.
Right tackle Abraham Lucas has been slow to recover after knee surgery, and that’s bad news for Seattle. The Seahawks’ offensive line isn’t great with Lucas, and might be a major problem without him. That affected Geno Smith last season, and it’s worth watching early this season.
One strategic shift to watch is Chris Godwin returning to being primarily a slot receiver. He had that role before last season and put up huge numbers. He still had 1,024 yards playing more of a perimeter role last season, but he should be more productive from the slot.
The Jaguars came into camp with a kicking battle and it didn’t take long to sort it out. They cut veteran Riley Patterson, leaving rookie Cam Little as the only kicker on the roster. Little was a sixth-round pick out of Arkansas and if a team drafts a kicker he better make the 53-man roster, but it’s still notable that he separated himself so quickly in camp.
Kirk Cousins said he wanted to play in the preseason, but that was shot down by coach Raheem Morris. That might be smart with Cousins coming off a torn Achilles. What that decision presumably does is gives us all a longer look at first-round pick Michael Penix Jr., who might not see any meaningful time in the regular season if Cousins is healthy and effective.
The Colts suffered a big injury right away in camp, when edge rusher Samson Ebukam suffered a torn Achilles. Ebukam had 9.5 sacks last season, a career high. It’s hard for any team to replace that kind of production once camp starts. It puts a lot more pressure on first-round pick Laiatu Latu.
There have been some fun highlights of Caleb Williams throwing to Rome Odunze in camp. It’s hard to figure out how Odunze will get enough targets with D.J. Moore and Keenan Allen around, but his talent might force the Bears to figure it out.
Rookie receiver Roman Wilson suffered an ankle injury that reportedly won’t keep him out for the start of the season, but could set back his development a bit. What that injury scare did was shine a light on the Steelers’ lack of depth at receiver. They cannot afford any injuries, especially to George Pickens. They’re perilously thin at that position.
Matthew Stafford reworked his contract, and it’s basically a one-year, $40 million deal according to NFL Media’s Tom Pelissero. It doesn’t seem like Stafford would move on next offseason at age 37, but that’s a possibility given the contract. It’ll be something worth watching as next year approaches.
Chase Brown has gotten a lot of buzz early in training camp. He’s an interesting player, a second-year running back who had some good moments as a rookie. Zack Moss is coming off a nice season with the Colts. Between Brown and Moss, in whatever split the two backs have, they could capably replace Joe Mixon.
Tua Tagovailoa got paid. His four-year, $212.5 million deal puts him among the top tier of quarterbacks. That means Tagovailoa has to be the kind of quarterback who elevates a lesser roster around him. It’s hard to build up a great supporting cast when you’re averaging a little more than $53 million per year. Is Tagovailoa that type of quarterback? The Dolphins obviously think so.
Defensive back Cooper DeJean, the team’s second-round pick in the NFL Draft, suffered a hamstring injury and was set to miss about three weeks of training camp. He should be back for the regular season but it’s also hard for a rookie to miss that much practice time and contribute early in the season. That could be a setback for an Eagles secondary that needs an influx of talent.
Aaron Rodgers probably won’t play in the preseason, and that’s probably the right call. Or is it? The Jets will get second guessed if they start slow this season, with their quarterback sitting out all preseason. However, they’d get ripped if Rodgers gets hurt in a meaningless game. There’s no great or right answer to it.
Part of the issue with sitting Jordan Love for multiple years after drafting him is it made contract decisions tougher. The Packers clearly aren’t too worried; they paid Love the highest contract in NFL history. But that is based on just 18 career starts, and practically speaking about 10 good games to end last season. You’d rather not be gambling with $220 million, but the Packers had little choice.
Houston signed defensive lineman Denico Autry to a two-year, $20 million deal, then he was suspended six games for a violation of the NFL’s performance-enhancing drugs policy. That leaves the Texans thinner on the defensive line than they hoped. It’s not the way Houston wants to start the season.
Deshaun Watson’s shoulder is still a mystery after he said surgery on it, so every bounced throw during a training camp drill will be watched repeatedly. The Browns are being coy about whether Watson will play this preseason, so we might need to wait a while to get a good look at how well he has healed.
It’s hard to figure out the Bills’ pecking order catching passes from Josh Allen. Tight end Dalton Kincaid is coming off a solid but unspectacular rookie season. Keon Coleman is a rookie and that’s never a sure thing. Curtis Samuel is intriguing but has never had a big season, and neither has Khalil Shakir. Maybe it’s a situation where the top receiver will be at about 800 yards and a couple others are near that mark as Allen spreads it around to everyone.
Sam Williams had 8.5 career sacks in two seasons as a valuable backup, and he tore his ACL early in training camp. The Cowboys are thinner than the past few seasons after an offseason that saw some veterans leave. They can’t afford to keep losing key contributors.
The Ravens are replacing three starting offensive linemen and doing so with some younger talent, which is something teams paying a fortune to their quarterback need to do. The line, along with how the team adjusts to losing defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald, are perhaps the two biggest keys to Baltimore’s season.
“We are still in the business of winning, so the part of that, is that we think those guys can play,” offensive coordinator Todd Monken said. “We just need to let them go play, and they’re going to continue to develop and get better.”
The Jordan Love and Tua Tagovailoa contracts had to be noted in San Francisco, where Brock Purdy will soon be asking for a big extension. Assuming Purdy has a season that’s similar to last season, why wouldn’t he ask for a deal in the $55 million a year or so range, like Love and Tagovailoa got? That looming negotiation is another reason there’s a lot of urgency for San Francisco this season.
Defensive end John Cominsky started 11 regular-season games and all three playoff games for the Lions last season, but suffered a torn MCL in practice and the reported best-case scenario for him seems to be a return for the postseason. That’s not a crucial loss for the Lions but they hope that’s not the sign of some bad injury luck to come.
If there’s a concern with the Chiefs it’s how they’ll replace cornerback L’Jarius Sneed, who became crucial in Steve Spagnuolo’s scheme. Spagnuolo talked about how they had Sneed travel to cover the top receiver most weeks last season and he didn’t know if Trent McDuffie would take that role. Spagnuolo also sent the message that other cornerbacks needed to emerge.
“There’s still a lot of unknowns right now,” Spagnuolo said. “We got some work to do back there. We certainly miss LJ; I miss him every day.”
