Per Shefter:

Z. Wilson to Saints
J. Flacco to Bengals

In 2028, it will have been 10 years since U.S. Bank Stadium hosted Super Bowl LII. The Vikings are hoping to bring another major event to the stadium a decade after the Super Bowl.

The team and Minnesota Sports and Events submitted a bid for the 2028 NFL draft earlier this month. Minneapolis-St. Paul is one of several NFL markets bidding for the draft, which could bring hundreds of thousands of visitors to the area during the three-day event in late April.

Lester Bagley, the Vikings’ executive vice president of public affairs, said the team has been trying to bring the draft to the Twin Cities since 2019. The 2028 bid would feature U.S. Bank Stadium as the “anchor” of the draft weekend in downtown Minneapolis, Bagley said. The draft proposal would feature events in both cities, as well as the Mall of America and the Viking Lakes development around the team’s Eagan headquarters, MSE executive vice president of business development and tourism Matt Meunier said.

The late-April date for the draft could mean a dicey weather forecast for outdoor events in Minnesota, but Meunier pointed to recent NFL drafts in Green Bay, Detroit and Kansas City as evidence the possibility of a cold Midwestern weekend wouldn’t scare off draft visitors.

“The league definitely wants us to lean into U.S. Bank Stadium, so we proposed options,” Meunier said. “We can turn to similar markets, similar climates that have hosted outdoors. Obviously, Green Bay’s was very successful last year. So, the exact location of a lot of those sites is still to be determined.”

This year’s draft is April 23-25 in Pittsburgh.

Meunier said the 2024 NFL draft brought fans from all 50 states and 20 countries to Detroit, delivering an estimated $213 million of economic impact to the area as 775,000 fans attended the draft over three days. Last year’s draft in Green Bay brought $104 million of economic impact to the area, Meunier said, with 600,000 fans attending.

The committee would not share details about fundraising requirements for the bid because the market is still in competition to land the draft, but Wendy Blackshaw, MSE’s president and CEO, said the draft “will need to be funded primarily through corporate support,” adding the committee has contacted business leaders throughout the state asking for financial support.

Ecolab President and CEO Christophe Beck, U.S. Bank President and CEO Gunjan Kedia, and Medtronic Chairman and CEO Jeff Martha are all honorary co-chairs of the committee, as is Vikings co-owner Mark Wilf.

If the NFL doesn’t pick the Twin Cities for the 2028 draft, the leaders behind the bid would continue to petition for future drafts.

“In talking to other draft cities that have hosted, often times it does take multiple attempts to secure future drafts,” Meunier said. “And so certainly if 2028 doesn’t work out, we would need to pivot to a future year. We’d try to figure out what is the earliest available year, because we do want to bring this event to our community. It would be a massive, massive impact. So, we’re focused on ‘28 now, and we’ll just wait until the league tells us otherwise.”

After hosting the Super Bowl in 2018, U.S. Bank Stadium was the site of the NCAA men’s basketball Final Four in 2019 and has had events like the X Games and NCAA Division I wrestling championships, with WWE’s SummerSlam event scheduled for early August 2026 at the stadium. But a bid for the 2020 CFP national championship game fell short, and Blackshaw said MSE is the only sports commission of its kind in the country without a permanent funding model for major events.

“It puts us, frankly, at a significant disadvantage when we are bidding on these major events,” she said.

The NFL has typically announced draft sites in early May, so the 2028 announcement could come within the next several weeks.

STRIB

I listened to Barnard my entire youth and into my young adulthood...RIP to ex Viking Phil Wise too. 

============================


Radio legend Tom Barnard announces he has Alzheimer's disease
The former KQRS host broke the news on his podcast.

 
Tom Barnard, one of the most successful radio personalities in Twin Cities history, has revealed that he has Alzheimer’s disease.

The 74-year-old host shared the news from his West Palm Beach homeon the March 20 edition of “The Tom Barnard Podcast.”

Alzheimer’s is the most common form of dementia and is believed to be irreversible. But during the broadcast, Barnard said he thinks the seven treatments he’s had so far may be improving his condition.

“It’s just ticking down, not dropping like a rock,” he said.

Barnard’s family members, who are part of his podcast, said they had been urging him to be checked out for three years.

Barnard spent part of Monday’s podcast, which airs live on YouTube from 10:30-11:45 a.m. weekdays, reading well wishes from listeners.

In April 2025, Barnard had said he would be handing over the podcast to his children in November 2026. But the radio kingpin has a history of changing his mind. In a Facebook post on Saturday, he sounded like someone who is committed to staying at the microphone as long as he can.

“Kathryn and I have talked,” he posted, referring to his wife, Kathryn Brandt. “We both think it would be a good idea to focus on Tom Barnard family podcast and keep a very positive attitude. She knows I have always loved radio and podcasting and want to focus on laughing and positivity. A podcast based on love and laughter.”

During his 37 years at KQRS, Barnard hosted one of the most successful morning shows in the country. At one point, 1 in every 4 Twin Cities listeners from age 18 to 34 was tuning in. He was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2017.

Starting in 1979, Barnard was in demand for voice-over work with high-end clients like Burger King, Cargill and Nike.

Fans of the “The KQ92 Morning Show” also had to deal this past weekend with news that longtime contributor Phil Wise died on March 22. The former Minnesota Viking, known as “Philly Dawg” on the air, was a regular during the program’s peak years.

“I worshipped him!” Barnard said Sunday on Facebook. “He was a very loyal friend and a wonderful person to everyone. The world has lost a great man!”

STRIB

Dillon Thieneman Highlights


I'm starting to warm up to this kid at #18.
He looked good at both Purdue and then Oregon last season.
He kinda reminds me a bit of Dirty Harry, too, with his nose for the ball.  Good hands, sure tackler.

Anybody else been glued to the TV? Just incredible. A few thoughts;

- This has been the most star studded tourney in a while. If your favorite NBA team is drafting in the top 15, you are going to get a hell of a player.
- With that said, I think Darryn Peterson is the 4th or 5th best player in the draft with lots of question marks.
- Acuff is Starbury 2.0
- Rick Pitino truly is one of the great college coaches of all time. The Johnnie's vs Duke will be must see TV.
- I've watched a lot of Arizona this year and love that roster. They are my pick to win it all. Brayden Burries is a dog 
- Speaking of must see TV, Coen Carr at State is the best in-game dunker since Vince Carter. 

Top notch tourney and if you haven't been watching, you are missing out

CHICAGO -- Ryan Poles has learned the art of pivoting quickly over his four years as the general manager of the Chicago Bears.

His first experience came two months into the job in March 2022, when his marquee free agent signing fell through after defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi failed a physical. Four years later, Poles was once again tasked with pivoting and redirecting quickly after center Drew Dalman called it a career after five NFL seasons.

Dalman's retirement after one season in Chicago came as a shock to the organization that gave him a three-year contract in March 2025. After quarterback Caleb Williams was sacked 68 times as a rookie, tied for third most ever taken in a single season in NFL history, the Bears prioritized rebuilding their offensive line from the inside out.

But with Dalman no longer in the fold, Poles and the Bears' brass knew they couldn't afford a drop-off in play at center. Three days after Dalman's departure, Chicago sent a 2027 fifth-round pick to the New England Patriots for center Garrett Bradbury, a former first-round pick with 105 starts over seven seasons.

"We felt like the best thing for us to do was to make that trade with a veteran center that's played with a young quarterback before, that's very good with his communication, smart, been in different systems," Poles said. "We feel like he can plug in and have command of that O-line."

Bradbury comes to Chicago having worked with quarterbacks of all levels of experience, from Kirk Cousins to Sam Darnold and Drake Maye. In Bradbury's lone season with the Patriots in 2025, New England reached Super Bowl LX behind a top-tier offense that saw Maye throw for 4,394 yards, 31 touchdowns and eight interceptions while leading the NFL with a 72% completion percentage.

The role Bradbury played on an inexperienced offensive line that featured two rookie starters, and the way he elevated the play around him, made him an intriguing option for Chicago. Williams experienced plenty of change during his first season with coach Ben Johnson, including going under center 49% of the time (fifth-highest rate in the NFL) from 29% (16th) as a rookie. That led to the league's second-highest play-action usage rate (32%), something that would not have succeeded without the quarterback and his center being in lockstep.

The Bears believe Bradbury's experience will yield similar results in Williams' third season. The 30-year-old sees himself as responsible for making that happen by helping shoulder a significant load of the offense.

"It's the same process of I want to get to know them and they want to get to know me, and if there's ways I can help them ..." Bradbury said. "I think the quarterback position is so unique that there's so many people talking to them, there's so much on their plate that you don't want to be a guy that just adds to that. I kind of want to pick my spots and find ways. If I can help him in any way, then great. That's what I'm here for. But I don't want to add. I don't just want to be another voice in their head."

Within hours of Bradbury arriving for his physical on March 8, Williams had already left a lasting impression on his new teammate by showing up to welcome Bradbury to Chicago.

"I've heard great things about him, and that reaffirmed everything that I've heard," Bradbury said. "He's an awesome guy, he's obviously an awesome player, so I'm looking forward to getting to work with him and helping him any way I can and learning from him as well."

Bradbury has one year remaining on the two-year deal he signed with New England last offseason, with the Bears on the hook for $4.7 million this season.

Although the center position is solved in the short term, Chicago might also be eyeing one in a deep draft class that features Florida's Jake Slaughter, Auburn's Connor Lew and Kansas State's Sam Hecht as the top three center prospects according to ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper Jr.

Having pivoted to an immediate solution and in possession of draft picks to find their long-term answer, the Bears exited the beginning of the league year feeling confident about the state of the offensive line, having also brought in Jedrick Wills Jr. and re-signed Braxton Jones to compete at left tackle while Ozzy Trapilo spends most of the 2026 season recovering from knee surgery.

Maintaining their position as a unit that ranked No. 1 in pass block win rate (74%) and fifth in run block win rate (74%) started with finding a veteran center who could pick up where Dalman left off

The parallels between Bradbury's time in New England on a team that went from 4-13 before his arrival to the Super Bowl in one season mirror much of what Chicago experienced from Williams' rookie year to an 11-win season and playoff berth a year later.

This time, Bradbury joins a team that has already laid a foundation for success. He'll slot in between his former NC State teammate and first-team All-Pro left guard Joe Thuney and right guard Jonah Jackson, along with second-team All-Pro right tackle Darnell Wright.

"They have their culture set, and so I'm not coming in to try and reestablish anything," Bradbury said. "I'm just trying to learn from these guys. How do you guys work? They won the division last year, they had success, won a playoff game. Like, I'm not coming in to try and change anything. I'm coming in to help. And so that starts with building these relationships and figuring out how I can help, and then it goes from there."

ESPN

Vikings draft thoughts
Story by Warren Ludford • 10h • 10 min read

Vikings Draft Thoughts
The NFL Draft is still a little over a month away, but for the Minnesota Vikings a lot is riding on this draft. Vikings president and co-owner Mark Wilf made that clear in his statement following the release of general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah at the end of January, and he’s right. Between the Vikings salary cap situation and some aging starters, the Vikings could use an influx of young talent on rookie contracts.

Vikings Recent Draft Woes
While the firing of Adofo-Mensah may have coalesced around quarterback decisions that turned into a fiasco in 2025, Adofo-Mensah’s drafts have also been poor. That’s not all on him- there is collaboration with scouting and coaching staff- but he makes the final decisions and it is the GM that owns the results. And how well the team and coaching staff develops draftees is at least as important as the scouting process in the final outcome. And luck is definitely a factor too, as most GMs will admit. The Vikings had some bad luck in recent drafts, mainly due to injuries to draft picks that didn’t have injury/durability concerns in college. Guys like Lewis Cine and J.J. McCarthy- both first round picks that are expected to be quality starters early on. And fourth-round pick Khyree Jackson was killed in a car accident a couple months after he was drafted.

The Vikings were the worst drafting team in the league during Kwesi Adofo-Mensah’s tenure as GM. The fact that the Vikings had a particularly bad draft in 2022, the earliest year of this measure and therefore the draft expected to accumulate the most AVoe points, accentuates the Vikings poor results. The Vikings also aren’t credited for All-Pro Will Reichard, as a special teamer, either but this is ancillary to the results. The fact that two defensive players- Lewis Cine and Andrew Booth- were both high defensive picks in 2022 that provided next to no AV for the Vikings is a big reason why the average defensive pick looks worse. And J.J. McCarthy, as a quarterback picked 10th overall, would have a high AV expectation based both on position and how high he was picked. The fact that he’s earned just 4 AV points to date therefore more than offsets the 20 AV points Jordan Addison has earned his he was drafted. For comparison, quarterback Bo Nix, who was drafted two spots after McCarthy, has earned 26 AV points so far.

The only full-time starters among the Vikings’ draft picks over these four drafts have been Jordan Addison and Donovan Jackson last year. Dallas Turner seems likely to become one in the future, which along with Jackson should make these last two drafts look better in the future, but nevertheless the Vikings not done a good job under Adofo-Mensah in drafting and developing young, inexpensive talent. And that is key to long-term success as a franchise.

Free Agency Has Helped- But It’s Difficult to Build Rosters That Way
The Vikings have been able to mitigate their drafting woes in recent years with success in free agency- including college free agents. Signing Andrew Van Ginkel, Jonathan Greenard, and Blake Cashman two years ago on reasonable deals really helped jump-start the defense. Jalen Redmond has emerged now too. And certainly signing Sam Darnold for $10 million mitigated J.J. McCarthy’s rookie year and Kyler Murray for $1.3 million may do the same this season. Other signings like Isaiah Rodgers, Jordan Mason, Eric Wilson, and Tavierre Thomas on mid/low market deals help too. And hitting on some UDFA contributors like Ivan Pace Jr. and Bo Richter help round out the roster with contributors on minimum contracts.

But it’s difficult to consistently build quality rosters leaning mostly on free agency. There is a reason that other teams are willing to part with their veterans and those don’t always lead to successful outcomes for the acquiring team. For every Greenard and Van Ginkel, for example, there are Hargraves and Allens- free agents that come in on big contracts and underperform. And a team can accommodate only so many big contracts. Most players on every team’s roster, by salary cap necessity, are playing on minimal contracts- usually rookie contracts.

Acquiring high-end talent in free agency also brings high-end contracts- and sometimes loss of draft picks in trade- for players the team doesn’t know as well as ones that have played for them for years and probably more often than not result in disappointment. Free agents are also typically older players that are likely to have shorter tenures with the acquiring team and will need to be replaced sooner than successful draft picks. And some years there just isn’t the right talent available to fill a key hole in the roster.

So, for all those reasons, draft and develop is the mantra of most general managers, supplemented with free agency as needed.

Why This is Such a Big Draft for the Vikings
Overall, the Vikings have still managed to maintain a strong roster overall. No team is top-notch at every position group, and the Vikings haven’t been either, but they’ve managed to avoid having particularly weak links for the most part- quarterback last season being an obvious exception.

But Harrison Smith, if he returns for another season, is 37. Aaron Jones will be 32. Brian O’Neill will be 31. Andrew Van Ginkel will be 31. Eric Wilson will be 32. Blake Cashman will be 30. Isaiah Rodgers, Byron Murphy Jr., and James Pierre will all be 28 or older, which is the age of decline for most cornerbacks. That’s a lot of starters that will need to be replaced in the coming years. And the interior defensive line could use a high-end starter though this is the youngest position group on the team. And then there is the question of quarterback… if Kyler Murray proves worthy of an extension that won’t come cheap.

The Vikings won’t be able to replace all these starters when the time comes with quality free agents- they won’t have the salary cap to do so even if they can find all the willing free agents they need. They need to start hitting on draft picks and develop them. Otherwise, roster decline is inevitable.

A Big Draft with a New Interim GM
The Vikings enter this year’s draft with an interim GM in Rob Brzezinski who doesn’t have a background in scouting and player evaluation. He’s mainly a numbers guy- salary cap guru and contract negotiator. But it’ll be up to him to manage the draft including draft trades- and it’ll be his first time in that role. He should be fine. He’s been in the draft war room for the past couple decades and has handled draft trade negotiations in the past.

The key part will be putting together the Vikings’ draft board, evaluating all the prospects, and collecting intel on the 31 other teams. Brzezinski is well-connected and will be able to help collect intel. The scouting and coaching staff will gather a lot too.

Ryan Grigson and Demetrius Washington, co-assistant general managers, lead the scouting operations. Both were hired by Adofo-Mensah. Grigson has four years of experience as general manager for the Colts, which may also prove helpful in putting together the draft board. Grigson is more of a traditional football guy, having played in the NFL and CFL (he was a 6th round draft pick) and later moved up the scouting ranks over many years. Washington has more of an analytics background, having worked in the R&D department for the 49ers most of his career, overlapping there with Adofo-Mensah.

A More Influential Brian Flores
But I suspect the Vikings’ coaching staff will have even more weight in player evaluations than usual this year, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Brian Flores is one of the most influential voices in that regard. It wouldn’t be surprising if the Vikings draft a majority of defensive players this year, given where the holes in the roster lie, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Flores is more heavily involved in player evaluations and is given the last word. Flores is a former scout with the Patriots and has said that scouting is one of the things he likes doing the most. Of course Kevin O’Connell will weigh in as well, but I suspect he will defer to Flores when it comes to defensive players.

Flores clashed with assistant head coach Mike Pettine last year, who was subsequently moved to the offensive side and has since retired. Flores also is rumored to have expressed some dissatisfaction with the direction of the front office (presumably meaning Adofo-Mensah) in January before he was extended, which may have been influential in the timing of Adofo-Mensah’s dismissal later that month.

In any case, Flores’ influence appears to have grown within the Vikings front office. By all accounts Flores and O’Connell have a good relationship and O’Connell has a high degree of trust in Flores to run the defense. All that suggests Flores has solidified his control over the defense and personnel decisions on that side of the ball.

It’s interesting therefore that the two early releases this offseason were Javon Hargrave and Jonathan Allen- the two big defensive additions last season in free agency. Were those both Adofo-Mensah-led signings? Hargrave was reportedly in Flores’ doghouse at one point during the season and had his snap count reduced for a game. Hargrave also complained that Flores’ scheme wasn’t good for defensive tackle sack numbers after his release was announced. Allen didn’t criticize Flores’ scheme but he did seem a lot more enthusiastic about a Bengals’ scheme that provides an opportunity “to showcase my talent.” While there certainly were salary cap reasons to cut Hargrave and to a lesser extent Allen, the two older players may not have been as good a fit as originally thought.

The Upcoming Draft
The Vikings have four picks in the first hundred- a first-round, second-round, and two third-round picks. They don’t have a fourth-round pick, but they do have a fifth, sixth, and three seventh-round picks. The Vikings have been meeting with prospects the last couple months in the lead up to the draft. Sometimes these meetings reflect genuine interest in a player they are likely or want to draft, sometimes its due diligence that causes them to move away from that prospect, and sometimes they are smokescreens used to obfuscate their drafting intentions/priorities to the rest of the league. So take these with these prospect meetings, arranged by which of the Vikings draft pick slots they might be drafted, according to PFF’s Big Board. That’s not always accurate of course, but one of the few Big Boards that go past the top 100 prospects.

First-Round Pick #18
Nobody so far.
Second-Round Pick #49
CB Chris Johnson, San Diego State. Met at his pro day and also ran position drills at the event.
G Emmanuel Pregnon, Oregon. Met at pro day.
Third-Round Picks #82 and #97
DT Gracen Halton, Oklahoma. Pro day meeting.
WR Ted Hurst, Georgia State. Pro day meeting with Keenan McCardell.
WR Skylar Bell, Connecticut. Met at Combine.
LB Anthony Hill Jr., Texas. Top 30 visit.
Fifth-Round Pick #163
DI Zxavian Harris, Ole Miss. Met at pro day.
OT Markel Bell, Miami. Formal Combine interview.
DB Jalon Kilgore, South Carolina. Met at pro day.
RB Kaytron Allen, Penn State. Formal Combine interview.
OT Austin Barber, Florida. Formal Combine interview.
RB Emmett Johson, Nebraska. Formal Combine interview.
Sixth-Round Pick #196
RB Demond Claiborne, Wake Forest, Top 30 visit.
Seventh-Round Picks #234, #235, #244 or Undrafted Free Agent
TE/FB Lance Mason, Wisconsin. Top 30 visit.
OT Tristan Leigh, Clemson. Top 30 visit and private workout
OT Jayden Williams, Ole Miss. Private workout.
RB Rahsul Faison, South Carolina. Pro day meeting.
OT Alex Harkey, Oregon. Private work out following pro day.
DT Cam Ball, Arkansas. Pro day meeting.
QB Haynes King, Georgia Tech. Pro day meeting.
RB Chris Mosley, North Carolina Central. Met at HBCU Legacy Bowl.
There is still lots of time for prospect meetings ahead of the draft and I suspect some of the more important Top 30 meetings will come in the first week or two or April, particularly regarding their first-round pick. Here are a few observations on the meetings so far.

Chris Johnson’s comparable is Byron Murphy. 6’0”, 193 lbs., 4.43” speed. Versatile inside-outside cornerback. Would not be surprised if the Vikings drafted a cornerback with one of their first couple picks.
Emmanuel Pregnon. Surprised the Vikings would be interested in a guard this high. But they could release Will Fries next year and save $21.5 million cap hits for three years.
Vikings meeting with a couple of WRs expected to go in the third round is interesting. Not sure if a smokescreen or a sign Tai Felton isn’t ready to be WR3 just yet. Ted Hurst is a big-bodied receiver the Vikings are rumored to be interested in.
The Day 3 tackle prospects suggest disappointment with Walter Rouse.
Running back meetings suggest no more than a Day 3 pick on a running back.
Gracen Halton fits the mold for a defensive tackle in Brian Flores’ scheme. More athletic, good at twists.
Zxavian Harris is a huge defensive tackle (6’8”, 330 lbs.) with some athletic traits too.
Anthony Hill Jr. fits the mold for a linebacker in Flores’ scheme- a three-down linebacker who can blitz. Wouldn’t be surprised if the Vikings draft a linebacker given the ages of Cashman and Wilson.
It’s still early and I’m sure the Vikings will have at least another dozen meetings with prospects. And there may be some that haven’t been reported. I may have missed some as well. I’ll do another draft article in a couple weeks after the Vikings have had most of their prospect meetings. Current odds favor the Vikings drafting either a defensive lineman/edge rusher or a safety with their first draft pick. We’ll see.

Stay tuned.

https://www.minnesotasportsfan.com/minne...de-rumors/

One week ago, even if he knew it was only temporary, JJ McCarthy stood alone atop the Minnesota Vikings quarterback depth chart.

Now, after the additions of Kyler Murray and Carson Wentz to the room over the last couple weeks, there are questions surrounding whether or the 2024 No. 10 overall draft pick is even the Vikings’ QB2, as we inch closer to the 2026 NFL Draft.

Feedback
While the Vikings remain publicly adamant about their belief in their 23-year-old kid QB, their actions this offseason suggest differently. A team that likes its kid QB, doesn’t sign a 28-year-old, 2x Pro Bowler, let alone another veteran like Wentz right after.

McCarthy’s camp want Minnesota Vikings to trade kid QB?

But what if, instead of Minnesota’s leadership bailing on McCarthy, he decides to bail on them? We’ve already seen a few reporters ask that same question. But this weekend, we have the sign of possible discontent rising from JJ’s camp.

While local insider Darren Wolfson (KSTP) hasn’t heard any specific trade buzz surrounding McCarthy quite yet, he did note Saturday on SKOR North’s Purple Daily, that we “can’t dismiss” those around McCarthy hoping for, or at least being open to, a change in scenery…

“Has the JJ McCarthy Vikings era come to an end? As of this weekend, I haven’t heard specific trade buzz. Do I sense that those close to JJ would welcome a change of scenery? I wouldn’t dismiss that.”

Darren Wolfson – Purple Daily (SKOR North)

I left it in the clip so you don’t think I am trying to skip additional context. But unfortunately, Wolfson did not divulge further into “those close to McCarthy” possibly being open to a trade out of Minnesota, and his SKOR North hosts did not press for more information either.

JJ McCarthy trade rumors continue to rise…
Remember, Vikings insider Alec Lewis (The Athletic) left the door open to a possible JJ McCarthy trade last week, in large part because he couldn’t rule out the third year quarterback requesting one. Just today, former NFL QB turned media member Chase Daniel targeted the Chargers as the most likely destination.


Related: Pelissero Tries to Explain MN Vikings QB Competition Again

Why — even before Wolfson’s scoop dropped today — have so many reporters had their antennas up for a possible McCarthy trade request? Because, they’ve already been through this.

According to other reports recently, the MN Vikings were worried last offseason that JJ McCarthy would demand a trade, if they would have retained either of Sam Darnold or Daniel Jones; or had they signed Aaron Rodgers.

Now throw in Darren’s brief mention Saturday that McCarthy’s camp might be hoping for a trade… it’s really starting to feel like these could be early puffs of smoke that will soon spiral into a fully-blown trade fire — eventually resulting in a blockbuster trade.