We’re one month through the 2024 NFL regular season, and we have a bag full of questions …

From Dan Vachalek (@Dyhard): Who does Davante Adams end up getting traded to?

Dan, this is a great question.

I understand the Las Vegas Raiders wanting a second-rounder, plus additional compensation for Davante Adams—it was the price the San Francisco 49ers had on Brandon Aiyuk. The problem is, for the Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Patriots, Aiyuk was the sort of player you could build a receiver group around for the next half-decade, and he’s only 26 years old. He has played in three NFC title games and a Super Bowl, and his contract wasn’t outrageous.

Adams, on the other hand, turns 32 in December. He’s a bigger-bodied guy who has started 146 games over a 10-plus-year career. I love—love—him as a player. But I’d be surprised if anyone meets the Aiyuk price (four years, $120 million, including $76 million guaranteed).

With that in mind, the two comps for Adams would be Stefon Diggs and Keenan Allen.

Allen is eight months older than Adams. He went for more catches and yards (108/1,243) than Adams 103/1,144) last year. He’s in a contract year (Adams basically is, too, with the way his contract is structured). Allen was traded in March from the Chargers to the Bears for a fourth-round pick.

Diggs is 11 months younger than Adams. He had more catches and yards (107/1,188), and as many touchdowns (eight) as Adams last year. As part of the trade, he wound up with just a year left on his deal. He was traded in April, along with a 2024 sixth-rounder and a ’25 fifth-rounder for a ’25 second-rounder. So that’s around the value of a third-rounder, when you factor the givebacks, and the fact that the second round choice was a year out into the equation.

So I’d say the Raiders can probably get a third-rounder for Adams, with some teams involved just going fishing in offering a fourth.

From Cincyfan (@Darktraveler1): Do you think the Bengals will try to land some D-line help? Seems like they are very weak there, and would they trade Tee for an impact lineman? The Burrow window won’t be open forever.

Cincy fan, I don’t think they trade Tee Higgins, unless it’s a very significant offer, and I don’t think they’ll get one since, by rule, no team can sign him to an extension until after the season is over. But I do like your idea to trade for a defensive lineman—the interior of the line misses D.J. Reader, for sure. That said, I’d wait a bit.

The reason? I’d want to create opportunity for my young guys to get a chance to prove themselves. Second-round DT Kris Jenkins made a huge play at the wire against the Carolina Panthers, and played just 22 snaps Sunday, meaning he could get more chances to make an impact. Former first-round edge Myles Murphy returned to practice Wednesday. So over the next few weeks, giving guys such as Jenkins and Murphy to grow into bigger roles would be a focus for me, and maybe determine how aggressive I am, if I’m the Cincinnati Bengals, at the deadline.

It’s also worth noting that the Bengals are in a spot now where picks are important—they’ll need them to build the middle of the roster, given a top-heavy salary-cap situation. (That’s part of the deal taking guys such as Joe Burrow and, soon, Ja’Marr Chase into second contracts.)

From johnwinger (@johnwinger98524): Patriots 2025 draft will be huge.  Potentially will have a decision between Travis Hunter and a top-end tackle—they are in dire need of both—which way should they go?

Winger, I know it’s not exciting, but I’d go with the tackle.

The New England Patriots would be a betting favorite to land in the top five, meaning LSU’s Will Campbell and Texas’s Kelvin Banks Jr. should be available. Are either of those going to be Joe Thomas or even Andrew Thomas? I don’t know. But I do know that without a competent left tackle, you have nothing on the offensive line.

You can look at the Super Bowl teams in San Francisco and Los Angeles over the past five years as your guide. The Niners or Rams were off the charts from left guard to right tackle. But they had excellent left tackles in Trent Williams and Andrew Whitworth to provide their foundation, and smart centers to bring the whole thing together. Similarly, after the Browns lost Joe Thomas in 2018, they had two years where, even with a solid interior, the line was lost. Which is why they drafted Jedrick Wills in ’20 to fix it.

So fast-forwarding seven months, and whether I’d take Campbell or, say, Luther Burden in the top five if I were New England, the answer is simple.

From Pard (@pj_pard): Chris Grier, WTF?

Pard, I think GM Chris Grier has built a really solid roster with the Miami Dolphins. The starting 11 on offense, when everyone’s healthy (yes, we’ll get there) is really solid. And while I would nitpick some on defense (the future at corner is murky), the defensive personnel is pretty good, too. With that, we can dive into what you’re getting at.

Yes, they could’ve done more to create depth on a roster that’s aging in some spots (Jalen Ramsey at corner and Terron Armstead at left tackle are two examples) and injury prone at others (quarterback, obviously). And while I’d wholeheartedly assert that 99% of NFL teams are cooked if they lose their starting quarterbacks for the year, the situation the Dolphins are in highlights the value of investing in a backup.

Tua Tagovailoa, by all accounts, wants to come back. Let’s say he does once he’s eligible to come off IR in Week 8. Let’s say, for argument’s sake, the Dolphins, with Tyler Huntley, Skylar Thompson and Tim Boyle at quarterback, drop their next two to New England and Indianapolis. That puts them at 1–5. They’d have to go 8–3 the rest of the way just to get over .500, and 10–1 to match last year’s 11 wins. That, of course, looks a lot different if they split the four games without Tua with someone such as Mike White at quarterback.

Really, what Grier did this offseason was gamble that Thompson, who’d shown some promise, would be ready to roll. But he got hurt almost right away, so here we are. And, sure, it’s fair to say he could have invested more to buy a suitable insurance policy for a good team.

From aaronbarrett22 (@aaronb222222): Are the Lions going to be looking for kickers?

Ha! Aaron, the reality is they have been since the summer. The search continues.

From Brian Peacoe (@BrianPeacoe): Commanders, contenders or pretenders?

Brian, love the buy-in from the players and staff in what GM Adam Peters and coach Dan Quinn are building. Love Jayden Daniels, obviously. Love the rookie class as a whole. But that word, contenders, can be a moving target.

Are the Washington Commanders playoff contenders in the NFC? Yes.

Are the Commanders contenders in the sense where I could see them beat teams such as the Detroit Lions and Niners in succession in January to get to a Super Bowl? No.

But the groundwork is being laid to eventually get there. The amazing thing to me is that the team is here and still has the big-box questions at premium positions. The tackle and corner situations remain muddled, though rookies Brandon Coleman and Mike Sainristil certainly could be part of the solution. Outside of the outstanding Terry McLaurin, the future at receiver is murky.

But those are 2025 questions, so I’d tell you to enjoy what you have in ’24. This is very clearly a team that’s on the way up, and that’s a credit to Peters and Quinn.

From Ricker81 (@D_Ricker81): Joe Schoen and Brian Daboll on the hot seat?

Ricker, no, I don’t think so. The reality is those two led a 9–7–1 resurgence in their first year that got a team that hadn’t made the playoffs in six years into the tournament. And, yet, everyone there knew a retooling of the roster was coming, and that’s well underway now after the 2023 season, and this year’s bumpy start.

As for how they see it internally, there’s a premium-position core in place now that needs to grow—with Andrew Thomas at left tackle, Malik Nabers at receiver, Dexter Lawrence, Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux along the defensive front, and Deonte Banks at corner. Daniel Jones, despite his draft position and contract, is the bridge quarterback. The light at the end of the rebuilding tunnel is getting brighter.

I also don’t think John Mara wants to reset again. He had three consecutive two-and-done coaches to follow Tom Coughlin, and the Giants have always valued stability. I think Daboll and Schoen have done enough to allow for Mara to provide everyone with that in 2025.

From Brad Lenser (@cubbyfan4ever): Regarding the hit by Minkah Fitzpatrick on Anthony Richardson that was ruled “incidental contact,” do you think running quarterbacks get a fair shake versus pocket quarterbacks from the officials?

Brad, I went back and watched it. So on the play itself, in a vacuum, I’m gonna side with the officials here—Minkah Fitzpatrick was coming in with a head of steam, and made a very clear, deliberate effort to pull up once Anthony Richardson went into his slide. Yes, they lightly knocked heads. I’m not sure what Fitzpatrick could’ve done to avoid it, which, to me, is the definition of incidental contact.

As for whether a less mobile quarterback draws a flag there, my answer would be maybe. It’s definitely true that quarterbacks that have shown a willingness to sacrifice their bodies in the past, guys such as Cam Newton and Ben Roethlisberger, have been officiated differently, because it’s much harder for an official to judge their intent as runners. In other words, if you’re fair, you know it’s also much harder for a defender to play a guy straight up in bang-bang situations where these snap decisions have to be made..

From Tom Marshall (@aredzonauk): Is Trevor Lawrence in danger of being labeled a bust?

Tom, he’s a good player, and I think the hope for him would be Matthew Stafford’s story. What so many missed when Stafford was in Detroit, save for the Lions’ upticks of 2011 and ’14, is that he was carrying an operation that was sagging in so many ways. He withstood through three different regimes, mismanagement that led to the early retirement of Calvin Johnson and departure of Ndamukong Suh, and a litany of injuries.

In so many ways, the most impressive thing coming from his dozen years as a Lion was his survival—he didn’t become a shell of himself like a lot of other quarterbacks did.

That’s where I look at Lawrence, and I see where we might look back at all of this and say, I can’t believe he wasn’t ruined as a young guy. This is just his fourth year, but he’s had average talent around him (there’s certainly no Megatron among his skill guys), with a core of good players who are paid great. He’s been asked to carry the team early in his career. The results have been up and down. But his demeanor, as I see it, has been steady.

It makes me wonder what’ll happen if he winds up getting a situation like Stafford finally did in Los Angeles. For now, it’s on the Jacksonville Jaguars to create one for him. They don’t look close right now, obviously.

From Outsidezonepod (@outsidezonepod): How much time do teams put into scouting guys as freshmen when they pop like Ryan Williams and Jeremiah Smith?

Outside zone, do they watch? Of course. Scouts are fans of football like we are. But what they’ll always say is … I haven’t studied him yet. There’s a big difference for them in what watching a guy is versus actually sitting down and studying him.

That’s instructive to answering your question. They’re wowed like everyone else is by Williams and Smith. They’re not studying them yet. At the earliest, that might happen before the 2026 draft, just to give their teams a baseline of what that year’s receiver group looks like versus what will be coming the following year.

From Mike (@CoachMikeB23): Do you have any insight into who Belichick would bring with him as an offensive coordinator if he gets back into coaching?  Who would he have had in the role if he landed the Atlanta job last year? Could his preference there be unappealing to teams?

Mike, I think Josh McDaniels will probably wind up going with Bill Belichick if Belichick gets/takes a head coaching job in 2025. Now, whether he’s the offensive coordinator is an interesting question—I think Belichick would give him the opportunity, but I do think McDaniels might have an interest in other areas too, such as an over-the-top coaching role that marries a team’s coaching operation with its scouting department.

My guess is if Belichick had gotten the Atlanta job last year, McDaniels might’ve been in such a role, with someone coming from McDaniels’s Vegas staff, like ex-Commanders OC Scott Turner, to run the offense. My guess going forward would be that it might be more likely that you’d see McDaniels as the OC. We’ll see what happens.

From David Kromelow (@dkrom59): Have a significant number of people around the league expressed a sense of alarm about how Caleb Williams is playing thus far?

Nope. His progress has been steady. He’s a three-year college guy. The CHicago Bears are good enough everywhere else to give him the leeway to figure things out (as they showed in wins over the Tennessee Titans and Rams).