With one week left to play in the NFL regular season, some NFL executives are already looking ahead to next season.
In a piece on ESPN, league insiders outlined a few surprising storylines they could see developing in the 2019 season.
Among them is the notion that the Detroit Lions will move on from franchise quarterback Matthew Stafford and trade the veteran this offseason to a QB-needy club.
Stafford, whose $27 million annual average salary ranks fifth among quarterbacks, has never won a playoff game.
Another bold prediction for 2019 is that Eli Manning, who has struggled mightily this season, will return to the New York Giants for another season.
“I think the Giants will show loyalty because Eli did prior to the [2018] draft, and he won the two Super Bowls,” an insider said. “People say he could go to Jacksonville, but if he goes anywhere else and wins even a little, that is tough for the Giants to stomach. I don’t think New York fans would ever forgive.”
Other predictions include that the Patriots will draft a quarterback to succeed Tom Brady in the first two rounds of the draft, that Rob Gronkowski will retire and that Joe Flacco’s time as a starting quarterback for Baltimore is over.
“The Ravens’ commitment to Lamar Jackson likely spells the end for Flacco in Baltimore,” according to ESPN. “He won a Super Bowl when Baltimore had the type of defensive, run-oriented team Jacksonville has tried to assemble. That’s why the Jaguars could make sense for him.”
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