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Straight from the Super Bowl LIX Media Center in New Orleans, the most interesting storylines from around the NFL during Super Bowl Week. Refresh hourly for live updates. New editions daily.

Monday, Feb. 3, 2025

Myles Garrett rocks Cleveland: So much for the Luka Doncic story … The No. 1 overall selection in the 2017 NFL Draft, Myles Garrett has requested a trade. A six-time Pro Bowler and the NFL’s 2023 Defensive Player of the Year, Garrett endured an 0-16 season his rookie year. Having known about Garrett’s request long before Monday, Browns GM Andrew Berry said last week he would decline any and all offers for Garrett, including a hypothetical offer of two first-rounders. Garrett is the only player in recorded NFL history to reach 14 sacks in four consecutive seasons.

  • Jonathan Jones notes that six-time Pro Bowler Joel Bitonio previously indicated he’d rather not be part of a Browns rebuild. Should the team trade Garrett, Jones wonders whether Bitonio would retire.
  • Per multiple reports on Monday, the Browns reiterate that they are not entertaining offers for Garrett.
  • Salary cap expert Nick Korte says the Browns will encounter difficulty in trading Garrett, 29. “They’re going to be about $38.6M over the cap, and trading Myles Garrett would add another $16.5M in dead-cap dollars to that,” Korte says. “They’d really have to go to the restructure well hard in order to pull it off.”
  • Draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah advises Cleveland to collect as many future picks as possible and “don’t swing for the fence on picks in this draft.”
  • Dan Orlovsky said Jan. 10 that the Browns need a quarterback on a cheap contract due to their cap situation. Orlovsky said they should approach Minnesota to offer the No. 2 overall selection for J.J. McCarthy and/or Garrett.
  • Adam Schefter compares a potential Garrett trade to the 2018 deal that sent Khalil Mack from the Raiders to the Bears. Mack, 27, went to Chicago with the Raiders’ second-round choice and a conditional fifth-rounder. In exchange, the Bears sent two first-rounders, a third-rounder and a sixth-round choice to Oakland.

Kellen Moore, get comfortable: As Nick Underhill said, Kellen Moore is beginning an interesting week. The Eagles’ offensive coordinator may not return to Philadelphia any time soon, should the Saints make him their next head coach after Sunday’s Super Bowl. While he prepares for the game, as the designated home team this week, the Eagles will meet and practice at the Saints’ team headquarters in Metairie, La. Moore is expected to meet the media for the first time Monday evening at Super Bowl Opening Night. Ironically, the last time the Eagles played in the Super Bowl, they also lost a coordinator to a head-coaching job in the host city when the Cardinals hired Jonathan Gannon. Meanwhile, Glenn Erby listed potential offensive coordinators on a Saints staff under Moore.

A big Will: Will Howard is big. He’s 6-foot-4 and 235 pounds. Another big “will” is whether new Raiders offensive coordinator Chip Kelly, fresh off a Buckeyes national championship, will convince John Spytek, Pete Carroll and Tom Brady to bring the Ohio State quarterback with him to Las Vegas. To do that, they’ll obviously need to draft Howard. Currently the No. 6 overall quarterback on the Hot Board of ESPN draft expert Jordan Reid, Howard could go somewhere in the third round. In 2012, Carroll drafted a quarterback in the third round (75th overall) named Russell Wilson, then went to two of the next three Super Bowls. Many current mocks have Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders going to the Raiders at No. 6 overall in the first round. The Raiders are reportedly paying Kelly $6 million per year.

No salary cap for coaches, or broadcasters: Courtney Cronin reports new Bears head coach Ben Johnson, in his first season at the reins of an NFL team, signed a five-year, $65 million contract ($13 million annually). Meanwhile, Baker Mayfield said he can’t be mad at Liam Coen — also a rookie HC — for leaving him to become Jacksonville’s head coach. After all, Coen reportedly signed a contract that will pay him $12 million annually. For context, Seattle signed Mike Macdonald last year to a deal paying him $9 million per year. In Dallas, Mike McCarthy was reportedly seeking a five-year contract. Jerry Jones was offering three. So, of course FOX is paying Tom Brady only $37.5 million per year.

New York state of mind: If Aaron Rodgers returns to the Jets, neither his head coach (Aaron Glenn), offensive coordinator (Tanner Engstrand), quarterbacks coach (Charles London) nor passing game coordinator (Scott Turner) will have any prior history working with the future Hall of Famer.

Commanders’ band back together: Tom Pelissero reports the Commanders refused to allow Aaron Glenn to talk to quarterbacks coach David Blough. For the first time in at least a generation, Washington will enter an offseason without seeking to replace an owner, general manager, head coach, coordinator or…

A new breed of NFL coaching pipeline: Jim Harbaugh and Jeff Hafley gave up college head-coaching jobs to return to the NFL a year ago. Now, Chip Kelly and many others have followed suit. It’s no longer considered an Urban Meyer disaster.

Ominous arrival: In seven consecutive Super Bowls, the team that arrived last in the host city has lost the game. On Sunday, the Chiefs were the last to arrive at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport. The most recent team to arrive last in the host city and win the Super Bowl was New England, which overcame a 28-3 deficit to beat Atlanta in Super Bowl LI eight years ago. Super Bowl Opening Night (formerly Super Bowl Media Day) begins at 8 p.m. ET on Monday. However…

  • In the previous four Super Bowl rematches of head coaches, the winner of the first meeting is 4-0 in the second Super Bowls. Andy Reid defeated Nick Sirianni two years ago.
  • Patrick Mahomes is 8-0 in his career against Vic Fangio defenses.

Unquestionably the best story of the weekend: Exactly one month after the tragic terrorism on Bourbon Street, this happened on Saturday.

It’s a business: The average hotel room in New Orleans is down nearly $100/night and the average game ticket is down nearly $2,000, compared to Las Vegas last year. However, the cost of a 30-second FOX commercial increased by $1 million. Oh, and Chiefs tackle Jawaan Taylor makes on average $20 million per year, more than every Kansas City player other than Patrick Mahomes and Chris Jones.

What NFL changes do you want to see?: Roger Goodell will conduct his annual state of the league press conference Monday afternoon. Reporters are expected to query him on at least five topics, including the perceived officiating quality and a new 18-2 format (18 regular-season games, two preseason games), potentially within the next two years. Concessions owners are willing to make in exchange for the NFLPA agreeing to additional game will ultimately determine the outcome.

  • After potentially another rules-altering Chiefs-Bills playoff game, Mark Maske reported Saturday that the NFL will discuss using technology to ensure teams accurately earn first downs.

Super Bowl rings and gold medals: The annual Pro Bowl has become a glorified flag-football competition, but Mike Evans considers it practice for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. Flag football is now a sanctioned summer Olympic event. And during the last two weeks of July only three years from now, could players like Evans, Ja’Marr Chase, Josh Allen and even Arch Manning appear on a roster that reminds fans of the 1992 Team USA squad that won the Barcelona Olympic gold medal on the hardwood? Manning’s cousin, Marshall, got a head start this week on the 2032 Summer Olympics.

Dallas deflection: Shams Charania’s account was not hacked. Nico Harrison became an overnight household name outside the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex on Saturday. DFW fans lost Luka Doncic only six days after Jerry Jones introduced Brian Schottenheimer as his next head coach. Doncic had reportedly increased to 270 pounds, meaning he topped both tight ends expected to start the Super Bowl, Travis Kelce and Dallas Goedert. Undaunted, the Cowboys figure to retake Dallas headlines when they hire a RBs coach this week. Schottenheimer is interviewing some of the most talented young college coaches for a key role on his staff. The Cowboys aren’t expected to add to the position in free agency but could draft a player like Ashton Jeanty (5-foot-9, 216 pounds) with the 12th-overall selection. Prior to compensatory awards, Dallas enters the week with only six picks in the 2025 draft. Rico Dowdle (6-0, 215) quietly enjoyed a solid season, especially over his last six games.

Mount Brady: Sunday’s Super Bowl will pad Tom Brady’s individual record with an 11th appearance in the Big Game, his first as a broadcaster for FOX. The consensus opinion is Brady struggled overall during his first year in the FOX booth but has improved significantly since his Week 1 debut. In his recent newsletter, 199, Brady scaled the world’s tallest mountain: “If an NFL playbook is a Mount Everest of information, a single NFL broadcast is the entire Himalayan mountain chain—there isn’t enough time, energy or oxygen to cover it all,” Brady wrote. “And that, for me, has been the other, exciting part of the challenge: figuring out how to clearly communicate as much valuable information as possible in the short window between snaps.”

Suffice to Saquon: Don’t be surprised if Saquon Barkley needs only one carry to get all 30 rushing yards to break the NFL’s single-season record (including playoffs) established by Terrell Davis in 1998.

  • In the last Eagles-Chiefs Super Bowl two years ago, Philadelphia’s leading rusher was Jalen Hurts (70 yards, three TDs). And in that 38-35 loss, the Eagles’ most productive running back was Kenneth Gainwell (21 yards on seven carries; 20 yards on four catches).
  • The move to Philadelphia has improved Barkley’s production by more than 220 percent compared to his six years with the Giants. Including playoffs, in a New York uniform, he averaged 1,250.3 scrimmage yards per season. This season, including playoffs, he has 2,760 scrimmage yards.
  • Barkley’s 28th birthday is Super Bowl Sunday.

Reid it and weep: On the first dynamic kickoff Sunday, Andy Reid (44) will break a tie with Bill Belichick (44) for the most postseason games as an NFL head coach. The winningest coach in the histories of both Philadelphia and Kansas City, Reid is 301-162-1 overall in 26 seasons, 14 with the Eagles and concluding his 12th with the Chiefs. Having averaged better than 11 wins per year, he’s most likely to break Don Shula’s career wins record (347) at the end of 2028 or the beginning of 2029. Reid will turn 70 prior to the ’28 season. Patrick Mahomes will turn 33 early in the ’28 campaign.


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By Josh Liles

I've done a little bit of everything in my life because I hardly say no to an opportunity. The opportunity to write for Pro Football Post has me humbled beyond words and I'm excited to see where life takes me and Pro Football Post next! There are so many life lessons to be learned in the sport of football. Whether it be teamwork, business or relationships; I've ALWAYS appreciated the concept of the game. Battling with fellow soldiers next to you to reach a common goal. Knowing there are more things beyond the players on the field that make a team successful. To help promote a sport that creates those ideals for so many young people and football being a piece of the puzzle to help mold them into future world changers is an honor to be apart of. Oh, and Bear Down! Life Mantra: "Love God, Love People, Make Disciples, Baptize, Teach Them"

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