According to multiple reports, Seattle has traded Russell Wilson to Denver. Chris Szagola/Associated Press
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — The Denver Broncos have finally landed a worthy successor to Peyton Manning.
Six years and a day after Manning retired, Broncos General Manager George Paton agreed to send a massive haul of players and draft picks to the Seattle Seahawks for nine-time Pro Bowl quarterback Russell Wilson, two people familiar with the negotiations confirmed to The Associated Press on Tuesday.
The people spoke on condition of anonymity because the blockbuster trade, which is pending Wilson passing a physical, can’t become official until the start of the new league year on March 16.
The teams cannot comment on the deal until then, but the Broncos cleverly tweeted a clip of Tom Hanks’ character in “Cast Away” drawing a face on the volleyball he named “Wilson.”
About an hour later, the Seahawks tweeted another clip from that movie in which Hanks’ scraggly, skinny character loses the volleyball at sea and hollers, “Wilson, where are you? Wilson! Wilson! ”
Denver was seen as the front-runner for Aaron Rodgers before the two-time reigning MVP agreed Tuesday to stay in Green Bay, presumably as the highest-paid player in NFL history. Not long afterward, Paton landed a Super Bowl-winning quarterback anyway, and one who’s five years younger than the 38-year-old Packers star.
The NFL Network reported the Seahawks agreed to send Wilson and a fourth-round pick to Denver in exchange for two first-round picks, two second-round picks, and a fifth-rounder, along with quarterback Drew Lock, defensive end Shelby Harris and tight end Noah Fant, the Broncos’ first-round draft pick in 2019.
Since Manning retired a month after winning Super Bowl 50, the Broncos have churned through 10 starting quarterbacks, including a different starter in each of the last five season openers: Trevor Siemian, Case Keenum, Joe Flacco, Lock and Teddy Bridgewater, who beat out Lock last summer.
The Broncos haven’t been back to the playoffs since Manning retired, but they appear to have a playoff-worthy roster. New coach Nathaniel Hackett, Rodgers’ former offensive coordinator, is building an offense around dynamic wide receivers Jerry Jeudy, Courtland Sutton, Tim Patrick and K.J. Hamler, tight end Albert Okwuegbunam and running back Javonte Williams.
After reports that he could be traded or even retire, reigning league MVP and Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers is staying with the Packers, according to multiple reports. Mike Roemer/Associated Press
PACKERS: Aaron Rodgers is planning to come back to the Green Bay Packers for an 18th season, a move that keeps the reigning MVP off the trade market and answers the question that had dominated NFL offseason discussions.
NFL Network and Pat McAfee, the host of “The Pat McAfee Show” on SiriusXM and YouTube, both reported that Rodgers is returning to the Packers next season. Rodgers makes a weekly appearance on McAfee’s show during the season.
NFL Network reported that the 38-year-old Rodgers had agreed to a four-year, $200 million contract that includes $153 million in guaranteed money. McAfee disputed those numbers and said that “the contract has not been done,” but added that Rodgers has agreed to return to the Packers.
Rodgers’ decision comes nearly a month after he won his second straight MVP award. The four-time MVP quarterback has spent his entire career in Green Bay.
He said he wanted to make an announcement on his future before the start of the free agency period that begins next week. The reports of his decision surfaced the same day the Packers face a deadline whether to give All-Pro receiver Davante Adams a franchise tag.
Rodgers wanted to avoid a repeat of 2021, when his status was uncertain until the start of training camp after he skipped the Packers’ mandatory minicamp.
• The Packers are putting a franchise tag on Davante Adams to prevent the two-time All-Pro receiver from becoming an unrestricted free agent.
If the Packers hadn’t tagged him or signed him to an extension, any team would have had the opportunity to sign Adams when the free agency period opens March 16.
SALARY CAP: The NFL’s salary cap for 2022 will be $208.2 million, a healthy increase from the previous, pandemic-impacted years.
The cap is going up from $182.5 million, which was down by nearly $10 million from the 2020 season. Adding in benefits attached to the cap, teams will be allowed to have a total player cost of $284.367 million.
Quarterbacks, of course, will have the highest franchise tag hit at $29.7 million. The 32 teams have until 4 p.m. Tuesday to apply franchise tags, and some clubs already have done so. The deadline for franchise-tagged players to reach a long-term contract with a team is July 15.
Free agency officially begins Wednesday, March 16, though teams can negotiate with player representatives beginning Monday. Most big deals get done in the two days before the league year officially starts.
BUCCANEERS: Tampa Bay’s Chris Godwin will be one of the NFL’s highest-paid wide receivers after the Buccaneers placed the franchise tag on him for the second straight year.
The team announced the move after failing to reach a long-term agreement with the 26-year-old, who led the Bucs with a career-best 98 receptions for 1,103 yards and five touchdowns despite missing the final three weeks of the 2021 season after suffering torn anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments in his right knee.
COWBOYS: Dallas placed the franchise tag on tight end Dalton Schultz, buying time to agree on a long-term deal for one of Dak Prescott’s most reliable targets.
The one-year contract will be worth about $11 million. If Schultz signs it, the sides have until July 15 to come to terms on a longer contract that would have less of a salary cap hit as Dallas looks for relief. The Cowboys entered the offseason about $22 million over the cap but with several options to fix that. One is restructuring the contracts of Prescott and five-time All-Pro right guard Zack Martin. Another is releasing receiver Amari Cooper.
DOLPHINS: Mike Gesicki is getting a big raise. What remains unclear is if he’ll be getting a longer deal.
The Dolphins placed the franchise tag for the coming season on Gesicki, ensuring that the tight end will be back for 2022 and won’t be hitting the free agent market.
The NFL set the tag number for tight ends at $10.931 million for the season. Gesicki had made a total of $6.6 million in his first four seasons with the Dolphins, and it remains possible that he and the team could still work out a longer-term extension between now and mid-July.
Gesicki had 73 catches last season, fourth-most in the NFL among tight ends and second-most on the team behind Jaylen Waddle’s 106. He has been extremely dependable, playing in 64 of a possible 65 games since getting taken by Miami in the second round of the 2018 draft. And his catch totals have gone up each season: His rookie total of 22 was followed by 51, then 53 and now 73.
CHARGERS: Mike Williams will remain a valuable part of Los Angeles’ offense for the next three seasons. The wide receiver signed a three-year, $60 million extension with the franchise.
The extension includes $40 million guaranteed. Williams was the Chargers’ top free agent they were hoping to retain.
The seventh overall draft pick by the Chargers in 2017 is coming off a career season when he set personal highs in catches (76) and yards (1,146). He also had nine touchdowns and averaged 15.1 yards per catch.
JAGUARS: Jacksonville used its franchise tag on left tackle Cam Robinson for the second straight year, guaranteeing him $16.6 million in 2022 and potentially divulging their plans for the No. 1 pick in next month’s NFL draft.
TITANS: Tennessee agreed to terms on an extension for Pro Bowl linebacker Harold Landry III hours after declining to use the franchise tag, according to person who spoke to The Associated Press on terms of anonymity because the deal has not been announced.
Landry reportedly agreed to a five-year extension worth $87.5 million with $52.5 million guaranteed. The deal keeps him off the free-agent market after he posted a career-high 12 sacks to rank 10th in the NFL and earn his first Pro Bowl nod.
A JUDGE IN Las Vegas postponed until next month a hearing in an assault case involving two NFL players and two other men accused of severely beating a man at a Las Vegas Strip nightclub the weekend of the Pro Bowl.
New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara, Kansas City Chiefs cornerback Chris Lammons and two other defendants – Darrin Young and Percy Harris – did not have to appear in court in person Tuesday while a prosecutor acknowledged that video evidence and witness statements are still being provided to their attorneys.
Justice of the Peace Harmony Letizia reset the hearing for April 25.
Kamara played in the Feb. 6 Pro Bowl game before he was arrested, and Young and Harris were arrested the following day. Lammons turned himself in several days later. Each faces felony charges of battery causing substantial bodily harm and conspiracy to commit battery.
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