After waiting 179 days, we finally got an NFL game on Thursday night and it was amazing. Sure, it was a little boring and somewhat sloppy, but let's be honest, the Hall of Fame game is usually a little sloppy and that's mostly because it's the first game of the year every season.
As a matter of fact, I've actually come to ENJOY the sloppiness of the Hall of Fame game. It's basically the Sloppy Joe of NFL games and everyone loves a good Sloppy Joe. In somewhat related news, I think I'm now going to have a Sloppy Joe for dinner tonight.
Coming up in today's Pick Six Newsletter, we'll be looking at the good, the bad and the ugly from Pittsburgh's 16-3 win over Dallas, plus we'll be giving you an early preview of this weekend's Hall of Fame enshrinement ceremony in Canton, Ohio.
Unfortunately, I won't have a Hall of Fame ceremony recap for you on Monday and that's mainly because I won't be here. I'll be spending next week on vacation eating Sloppy Joes, so you'll be getting a four days of Cody Benjamin plus one day of newsletter newcomer Patrik Walker.
My vacation doesn't start until today's newsletter has been published, though, so let's get the show on the road starting with Josh Allen. The Bills quarterback agreed to a monstrous extension on Friday just as this newsletter was going out. The six-year deal is worth a reported total of $258 million and includes $150 million in guarantees. At $43 million per year, Allen is now the second-highest paid QB in the NFL behind Patrick Mahomes.
To get all the details on Allen's new deal, you can check out our main story by clicking here.
As always, here's your weekly reminder to tell all your friends to sign up for the Pick Six newsletter. If you tell five friends and then they tell five friends and then they tell five friends, we could have the entire western hemisphere signed up by next week. To get your friends to sign up, all you have to do is click here and then share this link with them.
1. Today's show: Training camp roundup
I don't want to say that Christmas has come early, but it's going to feel like it today and that's because you're getting two podcasts for the price of one. That's right, there's a bonus podcast!
In the first show, Will Brinson was joined by Tyler Sullivan and the two of them talked about the players who impressed them and the players who didn't so much impress them during the Hall of Fame game.
In the second show, Brinson and I talked about all the biggest training camp headlines that have popped up over the past 24 hours (Apparently, since I'm out next week, Brinson wanted to make sure I did my fair share of work today).
Here are some of the topics we covered during Friday's show:
- Will Philip Rivers actually return? Brinson isn't so sure, but I think we will see Rivers sign with a team come late November or early December.
- Should Jalen Hurts be concerned that Nick Sirianni won't name him the Week 1 starter? The Eagles are only one week into training camp, so it's not crazy that Hurts hasn't been named the starter, but Brinson and I both agreed that he would likely get a huge confidence boost if they handed him the job. Hurts has one big distraction hanging over his head and that distraction is that ongoing rumor that the Eagles are interested in trading for Deshaun Watson.
- Should the Bengals be panicking after a rough week of training camp for Joe Burrow? I actually wrote a story on this a few days ago that you can check out by clicking here. If you don't want to check it out, here's the CliffNotes version: The Bengals shouldn't be concerned yet. Burrow is coming off a torn ACL and it seems like he's not 100% mentally ready to play on his surgically repaired knee. However, if Burrow is still struggling in two weeks, that could be an issue.
We also talked about the the injuries to Quenton Nelson and Carson Wentz and whether the Colts quarterback might feel pressured to return if Nelson makes it back to the field before him (The two had the same surgery and it won't look great for Wentz if he's out 12 weeks and Nelson is only out five).
To listen to today's episode -- and to follow the podcast -- be sure to click here.
2. Hall of Fame Game: The good, the bad and the ugly
We won't dissect the entire game here, but we will take a brief look at the good things, the bad things and the ugly things from the Steelers' win.
GOOD
- Steelers quarterbacks. The battle between Mason Rudolph (6 of 9, 84 yards) and Dwayne Haskins (8 of 13, 54 yards) to be Big Ben's backup was actually an exciting one. Both quarterbacks made some big throws with the biggest one coming from Rudolph, who hit Chase Claypool for a 45-yard pass in the first half. As for Haskins, he looked a lot sharper than he did at any point during his career in Washington, which I guess isn't saying a lot, but he did look sharp.
- Micah Parsons. The Cowboys rookie was only on the field for two defensive series, but he was everywhere. Not only did he record three tackles, but he also recovered a big fumble on just his sixth career play.
- Pressley Harvin. The Steelers rookie punter had a phenomenal game. Not only did he have a 48-yard punt in the first half that pinned the Cowboys at their own 1-yard line, but he also had a 51-yarder in the fourth quarter. Harvin is now the official front runner for the rookie of the year award in my book, although I'm not exactly sure if he's the front runner for the offensive or defensive award since I don't even know which one a punter would qualify for.
BAD
Ben DiNucci. The Cowboys quarterback is in a battle with Garrett Gilbert for the backup spot and he didn't do much to help himself on Thursday. Not only did he complete just 7 of 17 passes, but he also threw an interception. Gilbert was by far the better quarterback in the game.
UGLY
Kicking. The kicking was so ugly in this game that I had to close my eyes every time there was a field goal attempt. Steelers kicker Sam Sloman missed an extra point and a 49-yard field goal. As for the Cowboys, with Greg Zuerlein out, they turned their place-kicking duties over to punter Hunter Niswander and he proved why a punter should never kick. Niswander missed two field goals in the game, including one from 29 that was blocked and one from 52 that might have actually missed by 52 yards (you can see that kick by clicking here.
For more takeaways from the game, be sure to click here.
3. Hall of Fame induction going down this weekend: Here's what you need to know
If you're planning to watch the entire Hall of Fame induction ceremony this weekend, you're probably going to need to block off roughly eight hours of time over two days and that's because 2021 is going to to give us the biggest induction ceremony ever.
The reason the ceremony is so big is because two classes are being inducted. The centennial class of 2020, which features 20 players who didn't get inducted last year due to the pandemic, will have their enshrinement ceremony on Saturday. One day later, the class of 2021 will be inducted. For both days, the ceremonies will air on ESPN and NFL Network.
Of the 20 inductees in the Centennial Class, 12 of them will be delivering a speech on Saturday (The other eight were elected posthumously: Bobby Dillon, Winston Hill, Alex Karras, Steve Sabol, Duke Slater, Mac Speedie, Ed Sprinkle and George Young).
Here's the order for the ceremony, which kicks off at 6:30 p.m. ET on Saturday:
1. Troy Polamalu
2. Cliff Harris
3. Steve Atwater
4. Paul Tagliabue
5. Steve Hutchinson
6. Donnie Shell
7. Isaac Bruce
8. Jimbo Covert
9. Edgerrin James
10. Harold Carmichael
11. Jimmy Johnson
12. Bill Cowher
(If you want to read more about each of the 2020 inductees, be sure to click here)
The 2021 class will be inducted on Sunday, starting at 7 p.m. ET.
Here's the order for that:
1. Drew Pearson
2. Tom Flores
3. Peyton Manning
4. John Lynch
5. Calvin Johnson
6. Alan Faneca
7. Charles Woodson
If you want to read more about each of the 2021 inductees, be sure to click here.
4. Patriots and Cowboys top 2021 list of NFL's most valuable franchises
Jerry Jones might not know how to build a Super Bowl-winning team, but he definitely knows how to make money. For the 15th consecutive year, the Cowboys are at the top of Forbes' list of the NFL's most valuable franchises. The Cowboys are worth an estimated $6.5 billion, which is $1.5 billion more than the next team on the list (New England).
Although the Cowboys haven't been to a Super Bowl in more than 25 years, that doesn't seem to be hurting the value of a team that has basically been printing money for Jones since he bought them for $140 million in 1989. According to Forbes, the Cowboys generate $800 million in revenue per year, which is the most in the NFL.
The most surprising part of this year's list is that the NFL's 32 teams actually increased in value by an average of 14% over the past year, despite the fact that the NFL lost millions due to the pandemic.
Here's a look at the list of the NFL's 10 most valuable franchises. The Cowboys ($6.5 billion) are worth nearly $2 billion more than the two least valuable franchises -- the Bengals and Bills -- who have a combined value of $4.545 billion. Also, the most valuable division is the NFC East, which has all four of its teams ranked in the top nine.
NFL's 10 most valuable franchises
1. Dallas Cowboys ($6.5 billion)
2. New England Patriots ($5 billion)
3. New York Giants ($4.85 billion)
4. Los Angeles Rams (4.8 billion)
5. Washington Football Team ($4.2 billion)
6. San Francisco 49ers ($4.175 billion)
7. Chicago Bears ($4.075 billion)
8. New York Jets ($4.05 billion)
9. Philadelphia Eagles ($3.8 billion)
10. Denver Broncos ($3.75 billion)
To see the entire list from Forbes, be sure to click here.
5. Five players who could break Calvin Johnson's single-season receiving record
With the NFL adding a 17th game this year there's a good chance that we're going to see multiple longtime records fall and one of those records could be Calvin Johnson's single-season receiving record of 1,946 yards, which he set in 2012. With Megatron being inducted into the Hall of Fame this weekend, we thought now would be a good time to take a look at five players who might be able to break his record.
During his record-breaking season, Johnson averaged 121.63 yards per game over 16 games. However, to break the record, a receiver will only have to average 114.53 yards since there are now 17 games.
According to our Bryan DeArdo, here are the five receivers you should keep your eye on:
1. Stefon Diggs, Bills
2. Davante Adams, Packers
3. Tyreek Hill, Chiefs
4. DeAndre Hopkins, Cardinals
5. DK Metcalf, Seahawks
Averaging 114.53 yards per game isn't easy, but it's definitely possible. In the eight seasons since Johnson broke the record, there have been a total of three players who have averaged that over a 16-game season (meaning they would have broken the record if they played a 17-game season). Those three players are Josh Gordon (117.6 yards per game in 2013), Antonio Brown (114.6 in 2015) and Julio Jones, who has done it twice (116.9 yards per game in 2015 and 116.0 in 2013). That's not to say that any of those guys are going to pull it off, I'm just pointing out that it's possible.
Adams led the NFL in receiving yards per game last year with 98.1, which would have given him 1667.7 over a 17-game season.
To check out DeArdo's entire story on the players who might break Megatron's record, be sure to click here.
6. Rapid-fire roundup
It's been a busy 24 hours in the NFL and since it's nearly impossible to keep track of everything that happened, I went ahead and put together a roundup for you.
- Saquon Barkley might not be on the field until Week 3. Barkley has been vague about whether he'll be able to play in Week 1 and the reason for that is because he actually has no idea. According to NFL.com, there's a chance Barkley could be on the field for the opener, but the more likely scenario is that he won't return until New York's Week 3 game against the Falcons.
- Giants turning into a retirement home. In other Giants news, the team is now dealing with its third retirement in four days after Zach Fulton decided to call it quits. Fulton joins Joe Looney and Todd Davis as Giants players who have announced their retirement just THIS WEEK ALONE.
- Deshaun Watson trade talks at a standstill because Texans apparently have stopped returning calls. This situation seems to get more bizarre by the day. According to Fox Sports, the Texans aren't returning calls about Watson right now and the thinking is that the team might end up trying to keep him so that they can convince him to play in Houston this year, even though Watson has made it clear that he doesn't want to play in Houston this year. The Texans are apparently stealing a page out of the Packers playbook (and dealing with Aaron Rodgers) and I'm not sure that's a good idea.
- Jimmy Johnson to be inducted into Cowboys Ring of Honor. It took 25 years, but Jerry Jones has finally decided to let Jimmy Johnson into the Cowboys Ring of Honor. After winning two Super Bowls with the Cowboys, Johnson's career in Dallas ended on a sour note due to his relationship with Jones. However, it seems that the two have finally now made up.
- Dolphins work out four corners as Xavien Howard holdout lingers. The Dolphins are hoping to eventually get Howard back, but until that happens, they need some more depth at corner, which is why they worked out Lafayette Pitts, Trevor Williams, Alexander Myers, and KJ Sai on Thursday. I'm guessing none of those guys are as good as Howard. Brian Flores has made it clear that he doesn't want to trade Howard and he reiterated that on Friday.
- Ravens corner carted off field. Jimmy Smith had to leave practice on Friday after suffering an injury that led to him being carted off the field. It's not clear how serious the injury is, but if he's out for an extended period of time, Baltimore's depth in the secondary would taking a huge hit.
- Matthew Stafford will not be taking a single preseason snap. It looks like we're going to have to wait until the regular season to see Stafford play for the Rams. During an interview Thursday, Sean McVay said there's a "zero chance" that Stafford will be playing in the preseason.
- Tom Brady will be at the Hall of Fame ceremony. The Buccaneers quarterback is good friends with Peyton Manning and since Manning is being inducted this weekend, Brady has decided that he's going to fly to Ohio so he can see the event in person. The fact that Brady is missing practice for this -- Brady never misses practice -- shows you how close he is with Manning.
- Ed Sheeran performing at kickoff opener. The Buccaneers will be playing hos to the first game of the NFL season in less than a month and to help kick things off, Ed Sheeran will be in Tampa to hold a free concert before the game.
- Seven German cities hoping to play host to an NFL game in 2022. The NFL asked German cities to bid on playing host to a potential game in 2022 and seven of them have responded, according to Sky Sports. Although we don't know the identity of each city, we do know that Munich made a bid, which is all anyone should need to know, because that's where the game should be played. As a matter of fact, the only better idea than putting a game in Munich during Oktoberfest would be to send me to the game. I'm now going to spend my week off looking at hotels in Munich.