Alabama's NFL players, minus Josh Jacobs, had stunningly lucrative offseason | Goodbread
Josh Jacobs closed out a stunningly lucrative offseason for NFL players from Alabama this week, although comparatively, it wasn't the megadeal he deserved.
The Philadelphia Eagles re-upped with Jalen Hurts for $255 million. Trevon Diggs got $97 million from the Dallas Cowboys, Quinnen Williams $96 million from the New York Jets, and the Washington Commanders spent $90 million on Daron Payne.
That's more than half a billion dollars, and according to spotrac.com, if you take out all the non-guaranteed dollars, those four still walked away with around $358 million. That sound you hear is the Alabama football social media graphics team sharpening their pencils.
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Then, there's Jacobs.
The former Crimson Tide running back was a Las Vegas Raiders training camp holdout, discontent with a franchise tag tender he declined to sign, but ultimately inked a one-year contract worth just under $12 million. Unfortunately for Jacobs, it's basically a prove-it deal on the heels of a just-proved-it season (NFL-high 1,653 rushing yards).
That's standard procedure for NFL general managers, who generally would rather draft fresh legs at running back, for a cheap price, than break the bank on a second contract for a veteran, even an elite one.
Of all positions, running backs have the shortest pro career.
That's one reason Alabama coach Nick Saban is more understanding of running backs declaring early eligibility for the NFL draft, even if they don't have a first-round grade. And why Jacobs is going to have to post another great season if he wants to hit the multi-year jackpot his former Crimson Tide teammates did.
Fewer flags to fly?
"Heaven knows, that's something we've paid great attention to."
That's a piece of Alabama coach Nick Saban's response to a question about penalties Wednesday night, and heaven knows, great attention was necessary. The Crimson Tide was one of the most heavily penalized teams in college football last year, and penalties played a major role in both the team's losses (27 combined flags against Tennessee and LSU). And while it might be difficult to glean much about Alabama's ability to return to championship status from Saturday's home opener against Middle Tennessee State, penalties are one thing that could be foretelling. More from Saban:
"We got a lot of penalties on the line of scrimmage (last year), a lot on offense, a lot of pre-snap penalties. We've tried to do things in practice to get guys to play with more discipline, watch the ball, not jump offsides, not have illegal formations, have better communication with the quarterback so we don't have false starts," he said. "I think we've made some progress in those areas. Every day we track every penalty. And if anybody gets more than one penalty, their whole group is affected in some way. And I'll point out that this guy got more than one penalty. We'll see if it works."
One to watch
We didn't hear much about Alabama DL Tim Keenan during spring practice, but in fall camp, there was plenty of buzz about the third-year sophomore's newfound effectiveness after trimming down from 340-plus pounds to 315. If he can provide a needed additional physical presence up front for the Crimson Tide this season, its run defense could benefit greatly. Expect No. 96 to rotate heavily, if not start, against MTSU Saturday.
Around the SEC
Three SEC games this week, and only three, figure to be competitive enough to be revealing: LSU vs. FSU in Orlando, South Carolina vs. North Carolina in Charlotte, and Florida at Utah. … Meanwhile, how bad is the SEC's Week 1 schedule on the whole? Six of 14 games are such awful mismatches, oddsmakers won't even put a betting line on the board. Among the eight with a spread, Alabama is the heaviest favorite at -39.5 against Middle Tennessee State. … Florida's trip to Utah was re-routed by Hurricane Idalia, which threatened to cut off the Gators' initially scheduled departure from Gainesville. The team left town a day early and stayed in Dallas on Tuesday night before heading to Salt Lake City.
Winning numbers
It's back, and this time, with a track record. Last year, the mid-week notes column closed with one pick against the spread on an upcoming SEC game. The Goodspread Pick of the Week went 10-3 on the season, a 77% hit rate, so naturally it's got to make an encore appearance. You can also follow along on X, and see last year's picks, by searching the #goodspread hashtag. This week's pick: Utah -4 vs. Florida.
Tuscaloosa News columnist Chase Goodbread is also the weekly co-host of Crimson Cover TV on WVUA-23 and the Talkin' Tide podcast. Reach him at cgoodbread@gannett.com. Follow on Twitter @chasegoodbread.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Goodbread: Alabama's NFL players had stunningly lucrative offseason
