The crucible known as December football in the NFL has generated a number of surprises over the past few weeks. The Pittsburgh Steelers have turned from an 11-0 juggernaut into an 11-3 dumpster fire since the calendar turned to the last month of 2020. The New York Jets had it made as far as securing the top pick in the next NFL draft, but then they upset the Los Angeles Rams on the road to get that first win of the season, giving the Jacksonville Jaguars the inside track to the top pick. The Seattle Seahawks looked like they were going to collapse at two different points this season, but now they can clinch the NFC West with a win over the Rams in Week 16.
As you consider your NFL betting for the coming week, look at some of the latest developments in the NFL.
NFL News: Weekly Rundown after Week 15
Kansas City’s Clyde Edwards-Helaire Out for the Rest of the Regular Season
The prized rookie went down with an ankle and hip injury late in the Chiefs’ three-point win in New Orleans on Sunday. He was tackled in the fourth quarter with his left leg under him before being bent backward. Initial X-rays were negative, but the team is awaiting MRI results. Initial diagnosis is a hip strain and a high ankle sprain, so having the chance to take the last two weeks off as well as the chance to have a bye week off before starting the playoffs in the divisional round would give Edwards-Helaire a full four weeks between games on the field. The Chiefs picked up tailback Le’Veon Bell during the season and will rely on him to carry more of the load in the last two games of the regular season.
New York Jets Fans Not All Happy about Beating the Rams
This season’s march toward 0-16 came to an end with the Jets upsetting the Rams on the road on Sunday. Now, the Jets may not end up with the top pick, or with Trevor Lawrence out of the draft, but when fans came out complaining about the win, Jets player Mekhi Becton went on Twitter to note that fans who were rooting for New York to lose aren’t real Jets fans at all. The idea that Jets players were trying to lose, week in and week out, has not been borne out by their effort. Let’s face it — coach Adam Gase will not return in 2021, which means that the franchise quarterback that they have (Sam Darnold) has a chance to have a coach who can develop him, instead of watching as the team falls down around him, as Gase has done during his time in Gotham.
Carson Wentz Will Return as an Eagle in 2021
Despite the fact that Jalen Hurts has looked solid starting at quarterback for the Eagles the last two games, the Eagles will bring Carson Wentz back in 2021. Wentz has asked for a trade if the Eagles do not plan to keep him as the starter, but there are several reasons why this is almost an impossibility. Why? Well, the Eagles sunk a lot into the opportunity to draft him — giving Cleveland a first-round and a fourth-round pick in 2016 and a first-round and a second-round pick in 2017 to move up to the second slot in the draft and take Wentz. Then they gave Wentz a $27 million rookie deal along with a $17 million bonus. Then they sent Sam Bradford to Minnesota for a first-round draft pick, making Wentz the starter as a rookie. After the Eagles won the Super Bowl with Nick Foles at the helm, the Eagles showed Foles the door via free agency and then ripped up Wentz’s rookie deal and gave him an immense deal, with $81 million guaranteed over the first three years.
If the Eagles release Wentz, all of the unamortized money from his bonuses would hit the current cap, which would cost them $60 million against the salary cap in 2021. So that won’t happen. Can they trade Wentz? It would have to happen before the third day of the 2021 league season. At that point, Wentz is owed a $10 million roster bonus and $15 million of his 2022 salary is guaranteed. Wentz’s play in 2020 has been bad enough for him to get benched in favor of Hurts, so it’s not likely that a team will take on that cash in a trade. Even if Wentz offered to restructure his new deal for the new team, the Eagles would still have a dead money salary cap charge in 2021 of $34 million. That’s $13 million more than what the Steelers ate to trade Antonio Brown, who had off-the-field issues that irked the character-conscious Steeler franchise. So for now, the Eagles will most likely have Wentz with them next year. Can they fix him?
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