Friday recap 2/19
The NFL world has been pretty wild lately. From JJ Watt getting released to the Carson Wentz trade, fans have gotten plenty of things to talk about. For this weeks recap we’ll touch on the JJ Watt market once again, salary cap changes, the safety market and more!
JJ Watt has officially been on the market for one week now and he has drawn plenty of interest form all over the league. Two teams must be noted, however, as being at the front of the pack to sign the future hall of famer. The Browns and Watt reportedly have mutual interest, as well as the Bills. Both teams made the playoffs this past season, both have a young coach and quarterback duo, and both could use a little extra help on defense. Wherever JJ decides to go, whether it be one of these two teams or somewhere else in the league, it is undeniable that the entire football world will explode when the news breaks.
The other big news that broke this week we have already covered in a separate blog post, but we will still touch on it here. Carson Wentz was traded yesterday to the Colts for a third round pick and a conditional second, that has the potential of becoming a first. Carson Wentz will be able to reunite with his offensive coordinator from 2017, Frank Reich (the current Colts head coach). This trade is something that has seemingly been coming ever since the Eagles drafted Jalen Hurts, and it gives Wentz the opportunity to salvage his career and possibly get back to his MVP form.
This morning Ian Rapoport reported that the Carolina Panthers have informed safety Tre Boston of his release. This release gives the team approximately $3.5 million in cap space, and adds one more solid player to the pool of free agent safeties on the market. This offseason is not only one for quarterbacks but teams have recently been purging their safeties, thus creating a massive pool of talented safeties currently unemployed.
The league and the players association have come to an agreement this week to increase the salary cap for 2021 from $175 million per team to $180 million. This extra $5 million will be huge for teams looking to fill roster spots and should be good news for players that are potential cap space cuts and also players who have expiring contracts.
Lastly and probably most importantly, helmet manufacturer VICIS has revealed the first ever position specific helmet for American football. The VICIS zero 2 TRENCH, has been designed specifically for lineman on both sides of the ball. This is important to the sport for many reasons, especially with more and more mental health issues for retired NFL players, due mainly to CTE. This disease is caused by extensive head trauma, cannot be diagnosed until after the individual has passed away, and is extremely common in American football. This new technology which has already been approved by testing by the NFL, will hopefully reduce the dangers of the sport and provide players of the future the opportunity to have a life after football unaffected by this horrible disease.
That will do it for this weeks Friday recap. As always, any news throughout this next week that breaks, expect a blog to be written regarding it and the implications to the rest of the league. Enjoy your weekend without football, maybe watch some NASCAR or NBA or something.