Brandin Cooks, Texans agree to two year extension

Texans star wideout Brandin Cooks was once reportedly on the trading block but is now staying put in Houston, with both sides agreeing to a two year extension worth just under $20 million a year, NFL Network insider Ian Rappaport reported late Thursday night. Cooks will now be under contract with the Texans through the 2024 season

After being drafted by the New Orleans Saints in 2014 with the 20th overall pick Cooks could never find a place to truly call home, since being drafted in 2014 Cooks has played for the New Orleans Saints, New England Patriots, Los Angeles Rams and now the Houston Texans.The 28 year old wideout will look to be the franchise guy for the foreseeable future with the star starved Texans.

After having a career year, last season he tallied 90 receptions for 1,037 yards and six touchdowns in his second year with the Texans Cooks is looking to build on that. Cooks has now had his sixth 1,000 yard year in his eight years of playing, and has had 1,000 yards for each team he’s played for.

NBA Playoffs power rankings

Seeding is not official yet but most of the teams are staying in their current seeding positions. As of today I have the Brooklyn Nets, Atlanta Hawks coming out of the east and coming out of the west I have the Los Angeles Clippers and New Orleans Pelicans.

    East

  1. Milwaukee Bucks 
  2. Philadelphia 76ers 
  3. Boston Celtics
  4. Miami Heat
  5. Brooklyn Nets
  6. Atlanta Hawks
  7. Toronto Raptors
  8. Chicago Bulls

    West

  1. Phoenix Suns
  2. Memphis Grizzlies
  3. Dallas Mavericks
  4. Los Angeles Clippers
  5. Denver Nuggets
  6. Golden State Warriors
  7. Utah Jazz
  8. New Orleans Pelicans

Stefon Diggs and Buffalo Bills agree to massive extension

Wednesday morning the Buffalo Bills and pro bowl wideout Stefon diggs have agreed to a four year $96 million dollar extension, the 28-year-old wideout will be under contract through 2027. 

       After being traded to the Buffalo Bills two years ago Diggs has been nothing short of spectacular with Josh Allen, in his first season in Buffalo digs lead the NFL in receiving with 1,535 yards and his first all pro team honors with a pro bowl selection.

With Buffalo being the favorites to come out of the AFC Stefon will have his work cut out for him, Buffalo this offseason has been very aggressive with shelling out big money to Von Miller, Resigning Center Mitch Morse, adding D lineman DaQuan Jones and many other high impact players.

Saints and Eagles begin first round shuffling

The New Orleans Saints and Philadelphia Eagles just shook up the first round of this upcoming NFL draft, with Phili having three first round picks it wasn’t a long shot that the Eagles were going to make a splash with those picks with a trade for a big named quarterback.

    Here’s a full breakdown of the trade:

    Eagles Receive 

  • 2022 First rounder  #18
  • 2022 Third rounder #101
  • 2022 Seventh rounder #237 
  • 2023 Saints First Rounder 
  • 2024 Saints Second Rounder

    Saints Receive

  • 2022 First rounder #16
  • 2022 First rounder #19
  • 2022 Sixth rounder #194

Lakers offseason moves

This is what I would do if I was in Rob Palinka’s shoes as the Lakers GM. Obviously this season has been nothing short of a disaster for the Los Angeles Lakers, being co-favorites with the Brooklyn Nets as the best chances to win the NBA title it’s safe to say the Lakers need to make some big changes to this roster in the offseason. With 4 games left in the season the Lakers are most likely going to miss the playoffs and not even make the play in games.    

    With multiple players missing a hefty amount of games with Lakers season has been a rollercoaster to say the least, even with LeBron James leading the league in scoring in year 19 and playing at a top 3 player level this season the Lakers must be aggressive to get another championship out of Lebron and it all starts with the players around him, my first move i would make and many others would agree is trading Russell Westbrook or asking him to take a significant pay cut to stay in L.A, if it comes down to trading WestBrook i would look for either any single draft compensation even if its a 2nd round pick in five years or some overpaid 3 and D Guards or wings. Next I would explore the trade market for Anthony Davis but be very hesitant to give him up. If I was to get a player of AD’s caliber like Damian Lillard or Karl Anthony Towns and a key role player I would consider it. 

The Key to winning championships with LeBron has always been putting good shooters around Lebron and letting him drive to the paint, at this point in LeBron’s career he cant play all 82 games so he needs his co star to be durable enough to play 70ish games a year. The Lakers have a couple options this offseason, they can retool this team by trading some players but keep LeBron and AD which is what i think they’ll do, or they could blow the whole roster up by trading everyone and starting early on a rebuild with young players and picks, they could bring back the roster and have another go at it, or lastly the could trade everyone but keep AD and rebuild around him like New Orleans tried to do. 

The Lakers are in a very tough spot heading into this offseason and it will either make or break this franchise for the foreseeable future but Lakers fans shouldn’t be discouraged as in the franchise won a championship not that long ago.

NFL weekend news

The Patriots traded for Dolphins wide receiver DeVante Parker. Dolphins are sending veteran wide receiver DeVante Parker and a fifth round draft pick to the New England Patriots in exchange for a third round pick.

       The New Orleans Saints are bringing back veteran defensive back P.J Williams and are also adding former Houston Texans defensive lineman Jaleel Johnson on a one year contract.

       Frank Gore intends to sign a one day contract to officially retire as a San Francisco 49er. The league’s 3rd all time leading rusher will get his wish and officially retire as a 49er and will now join the 49ers front office. 

Former first round pick Jarred Davis is getting a second chance with his former team the Detroit Lions, the 2017 first round pick started 45 games in his four seasons but largely came up short for his first round potential.

Xavien Howard signs five year extension with Dolphins

After some offseason drama last year Dolphins star cornerback Xavien Howard was frustrated with the compensation he and the Dolphins had agreed to before his breakout season in 2020. It was reported the Dolphins and Howard could be moving in different directions sooner than later last season but the two sides managed to work it out.

Now being one of the top paid corners in the league Howard doesn’t have much to complain about with the Dolphins making big splashes this offseason with the Tyreek Hill trade and other big signings. Howard’s new deal is a five year 90 million with 50.691 million in new money that will give him an average of 25.345 million in the last 2 years of his five year contract.

Bobby Wagner singing with the Rams

The new middle linebacker is now joining a star studded team in Los Angeles, Wagner once competitors against Aaron Donald and Jalen Ramsey will now be joining them to wreak havoc in the league. Wagner’s new deal is very team friendly, consisting of a 5 year $50 million dollar deal worth up to $64 million with added bonuses and incentives.  

After being cut by the Seahawks at the start in free agency Wagner wasn’t in a hurry to sign with a team, after having meetings with the Rams and Ravens Wagner decided to stay in the NFC West and continue to chase a ring. With Seattle trading star QB Russell Wilson and cutting Bobby Wagner it was only a matter of time to see where he would land and now he’ll be battling his former team twice a year.

Bruce Arians stepping down as head coach

As the now former head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Bruce Arians will now be stepping down as the head coach and taking a role in the front office, now naming Todd Bowles as head coach, Bowles will now be getting a five year extension to now put him in line with other head coaches, Bowles was the defensive coordinator of the Bucs for the last couple years and was one of the highest paid D coordinators.        

With Arians out as head coach we can now look back at his time in Tampa Bay and many would say it was a success with winning a Super Bowl and finishing with a 80-48-1 record, Arians was mostly known for his “no risk it no biscuit” method. As Arians explained the reasoning for stepping down he said this “The simple answer is that I have accomplished more than I ever dreamed I could during this incredible coaching journey,” Arians said, in part. “Winning Super Bowl LV at our home stadium, with my mom and family in attendance, was really the last item I wanted to check off my career bucket list. For me, this is about more than just trying to add more wins to my coaching record.

“This team is in a much better place than it was three years ago due to Jason’s great work and the Glazer family’s commitment to winning. Before you start thinking this is about my health, don’t. This is the best I have felt in many years and I’m looking forward to helping this team continue winning through my new role.”

Arians continued to say: “I want to focus on what I can give back to this incredible game that has provided so much for me and my family. I really began thinking about my personal transition plan earlier this offseason. I wanted to ensure when I walked away that Todd Bowles would have the best opportunity to succeed. So many head coaches come into situations where they are set up for failure, and I didn’t want that for Todd. Tom (Brady)’s decision to come back, along with Jason and his staff doing another great job of keeping the core of this team intact during free agency, confirmed for me that it was the right time to pass the torch to Todd. I began conversations with Jason and the Glazer family a few weeks ago about a possible succession plan. Their understanding and support mean the world to me.”

Each NFL NFCTeams biggest need looking into the Draft

With Free Agency winding down teams around the league are starting to look into the draft, with some teams having a surplus of picks and other teams having a shortage of picks we will look into each NFC team’s biggest needs and predictions into what position they might actually draft. 

NFC East

  • Dallas Cowboys 

Biggest Need:OL

Draft Prediction:DL

  • Washington Commanders

Biggest Need:S

Draft Prediction:QB

  • Philadelphia Eagles

Biggest Need:OL

Draft Prediction:WR

  • New York Giants

Biggest Need:OL

Draft Prediction:OL

NFC West

  • Los Angeles Rams

Biggest Need:OL

Draft Prediction:OL

  • San Francisco 49ers

Biggest Need:CB

Draft Prediction:DL

  • Arizona Cardinals

Biggest Need:DL

Draft Prediction:WR

  • Seattle Seahawks

Biggest Need:QB

Draft Prediction:QB

NFC North

  • Green Bay Packers

Biggest Need:WR

Draft Prediction:WR

  • Minnesota Vikings

Biggest Need:CB

Draft Prediction:CB

  • Chicago Bears

Biggest Need:OL

Draft Prediction:OL

  • Detroit Lions

Biggest Need:DL

Draft Prediction:DL

NFC South

  • Tampa Bay Buccaneers 

Biggest Need:CB

Draft Prediction:CB

  • New Orleans Saints 

Biggest Need:OL

Draft Prediction:QB

  • Carolina Panthers

Biggest Need:OL

Draft Prediction:OL

  • Atlanta Falcons

Biggest Need:DL

Draft Prediction:QB