It is a busy weekend in the NFL, which means the news and rumors are flying thick and fast. With the NFC and AFC Conference Championships taking place, as well as Shrine Bowl practices and the Senior Bowl around the corner, our team, including our NFL Insider and Chief Draft Analyst Tony Pauline, will bring you all the latest from around the league. Let’s take a look at what we are hearing, including updates on the futures of Aaron Rodgers, Davante Adams, and Tom Brady.
NFL News and Rumors: Are Aaron Rodgers and Davante Adams set to follow Nathaniel Hackett to the Denver Broncos?
Before arriving in Vegas, PFN Chief Draft Analyst and NFL Insider Tony Pauline says he believed there was a 50/50 chance Aaron Rodgers would be wearing a Denver Broncos uniform for the 2022 season. But after speaking with people here in Las Vegas, he now puts the odds at 60/40 — maybe greater — Rodgers is in Denver next season.
This assumes he doesn’t pull a stunner and retire.
The Denver people Pauline has spoken with here in Vegas feel Rodgers to Denver will definitely happen, and they were surprised a trade didn’t take place last April. They’ve also confirmed Denver’s interest in Davante Adams if he hits the 2022 free-agent market. A separate non-Denver source told Pauline outright, “It’s real,” when he asked about the possibility Rodgers ends up with the Broncos.
One Broncos player ecstatic with the hire of Nathaniel Hackett is tight end Noah Fant, the team’s first-round selection in 2019. Fant has been solid though not exceptional the past three seasons. Fant told people, with Hackett as the head coach, he expects more opportunities this upcoming season and, “They’ll start throwing me the ball more.”
Tom Brady is expected to retire, but the official announcement likely won’t be coming quite yet
Is he retiring, or is he not retiring? That was the buzz in the sports world today over the report of Tom Brady’s imminent retirement, a report which has since been refuted.
Here’s the word from the Shrine Bowl in Vegas — people say it’s been known around parts of the league Brady is going to retire.
So, why the denials? The same people say that Brady wants to make the announcement on his own terms, and he does not want to overshadow Sunday’s Conference Championships.
NFL news and rumors on the Schoen hire
The NFL news and rumor mill will be in full force over the coming weeks and months. The college all-star events, followed by the NFL Combine, are the unofficial beginning of NFL free agency.
Mixed in with all of that is the ongoing 2022 head coach and general manager hiring cycle, so it is set to a busy time. Here are some of the other snippets of information our team is hearing on location around the NFL.
Joe Schoen viewed as a great hire by the New York Giants
Pauline notes that there is a general feeling here in Vegas from those in the league the New York Giants hit a home run when they hired Joe Schoen as their general manager. As one league person told him, “Schoen is smart, likable, and will get the job done.” The fact Schoen got his guy, Brian Daboll, installed as head coach was just a bonus.