Tuesday night roundup … The buzz around the the NFL the past week or so has been that Carolina would not be taking a QB with the 6th pick at this week’s draft, but rather were more likely to wait until after the draft to trade for a veteran like Baker Mayfield or Jimmy Garoppolo. However, at his pre-draft presser this week Panthers’ G.M. Scott Fitterer sounding very much like a guy on the verge of selecting a QB. On the one hand, Fitterer confirmed sitting down with incumbent starter Sam Darnold recently and telling him that ‘there was a pretty good chance’ that the Panthers will add a QB this week. At the same time, Fitterer didn’t explicitly rule out trading for a veteran after the draft but indicated that the team is looking for a cost-effective, long-term at the position and that the best option was always a young guy at the draft. Fitterer also added to the intrigue by indicating that there were two QBs the Panthers would be ‘comfortable’ selecting at #6. And while he didn’t name names its a pretty good bet he was referring to Liberty’s Malik Willis and Kenny Pickett from Pitt. Fitterer also downplayed the likelihood that the Panthers would trade down, but didn’t exactly rule it out either as the Panthers currently do not have picks in either the second or third rounds. In fact, Fitterer indicated that the Panthers have had several calls about the 6th pick. … Atlanta G.M. Terry Fontenot also indicated at his presser that the Falcons would like to add another arm to their QB room, although he was less committal about taking one with the 8th pick. Interestingly, Fontenot indicated the Falcons have already done some homework on the 2023 QB class which is expected to be significantly stronger and deeper than this year’s group. … Its kind of interesting that when people talk about teams that are likely to try and move up into the top ten, nobody really talks about New Orleans. However, we said at the time, it just didn’t make sense that the Saints would give up a bunch of future picks including their #1 next year just to get a mid-first this year if they didn’t already have something in the works to move way up into the top 5 to get a shot at the QB of their choice. And as we noted at the time, the two teams most likely to have wanted an extra first this year were Houston and the NY Jets who pick 3rd and 4th. … The whispers that Detroit might actually take Willis themselves with the second pick continue to percolate; however, we just aren’t convinced and wonder if this might in fact be a little smoke coming out the Motor City hinting that anybody who really wants Willis might want to think about trading up to #2 because the Lions could take him. Time will tell!! And speaking of trading up, the two teams generating the most buzz in that direction are Philadelphia and Kansas City, both of whom have a pair of first rounders to play with. The Eagles are rumored to be very interested in acquiring former Alabama WR Jameson Williams to pair with Devonta Smith, another former Tide receiver they got in last year’s opening round, although they could also be looking for help at DB such as Notre Dame FS Kyle Hamilton of LSU CB Derek Stingley. Meanwhile, the Chiefs are also believed to be looking to move to get a receiver – also very possibly Williams – to replace Tyreek Hill who was traded to Miami earlier this winter. … There were rumors circulating on several non-institutional media sources earlier in the week that Alabama OT Evan Neal could be off more than one board around the NFL because of unidentified health concerns. We didn’t report it at the time because the story was unconfirmed; however, Albert Breer of SI is reporting that Neal may have knee and hip issues, which could be a big deal as Neal has had weight-control issues in the past, although Breer did not seem to think they were major red flags. For the record, Breer also indicated that there may be similar concerns about both Devin Lloyd of Utah and Nakobe Dean of Georgia, the two top-rated ILBs this year.
