Bills
The Bills elected to sign QB Josh Allen to an extension despite having four years left on his previous contract. Mike Sando of The Athletic cites an anonymous executive who compared Allen to Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo, saying, “You don’t have a franchise without Josh Allen.”
“I view it like the NBA and Giannis (Antetokounmpo) or one of those other stars in a market where you may not be able to keep stars,” the executive said. “You want to do the max deal as early as possible, because in this case, you don’t have a franchise without Josh Allen.”
Another executive thinks they made good moves to sign DE Joey Bosa, WR Josh Palmer and DE Michael Hoecht.
“Bosa is better than Von Miller; hopefully he will be available more,” the executive said. “Josh Palmer will be a starting receiver for them, just a good all-around player and a guy they needed. Hoecht is interesting because the Rams never really knew what to do with him. Jack-of-all-trades, master of none. It’ll be interesting to see where Buffalo plays him.”
Jets
The Jets used a third-round pick to grab CB Azareye’h Thomas out of Florida State. New York GM Darren Mougey and HC Aaron Glenn outlined Thomas’ profile and shared praise on his physicality.
“Another long, athletic, talented press corner. Plays physical, young, still development there. He’ll come in, add good depth at a premium position,” Mougey said, via Ethan Greenberg of the team’s website.
“Football is football and he plays the brand that we want to play,” Glenn added. “He’s a big, physical man and I’m looking forward to him getting up here and being able to take what he did at Florida State and bring that to us because that’s how we play.”
Patriots
Patriots TE Austin Hooper already has some experience with new HC Mike Vrabel, as the two spent a year together in Tennessee in 2022. Hooper admitted the transition to Vrabel’s coaching style wasn’t seamless but talked about the influence that style had on him.
“It was different the first time. I’m not speaking outside the family here – a very strong personality, a guy who’s played before, a guy who taught me a lot, and at first, it was a tougher transition,” Hooper said, via Mark Daniels of Mass Live. “Like any good boss… it was my first time being around a head coach in that style. By the way, please don’t take that the wrong way. You should like your boss to demand a lot of you. So, it was the first time being with a defensive-style head coach.”
“So there was a little transition… the guys I worked for in the past were generally offensive guys to kind of typecast style of coaches – offensive guys are typically more mellowed out. Defensive guys, you have to bring the energy and galvanize the group. There was more energy. That was my first time getting that experience. Of course, there was a little transition period of how your new boss wants things done. Once you understand of how to operate, he taught me a lot. I kept those lessons with me.”
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