You may not know Jon Embree, but Jon Embree knows ball.
His father, John (yep, with an ‘h’), spent two seasons in the NFL with the Denver Broncos, and years later, his son would also find himself in the league for a couple of years (Rams and Seahawks) after a fine collegiate career at Colorado.
Embree started his coaching career back at his alma mater in 1991, and would eventually return to the program as the head coach in 2011-12. Since his dismissal, he re-entered the professional ranks, running tight end rooms in Cleveland, Tampa Bay, San Francisco, and, mostly recently, Miami. Julian Hill was a pet project of Embree’s, an undrafted kid from Campbell University. Now? Hill is a Patriot, having inked a three-year contract with $7.5 million in guarantees.
“He has the right mindset," Embree said of his former charge. “He’s very smart. He sees what defenses are trying to do, and is able to make adjustments on the fly.”
It's never come easy for Hill. And to hear Embree talk about it, it shouldn’t. College offenses don’t always do a good job of preparing players for the next level, especially for someone like Hill, who led the Camels in receiving and was used in a variety of ways but had yet to find his identity as a player.
“95% of these kids coming out of college don't play NFL football at the tight end position,” Embree said. “They're flexed out, or they're not asked to block. They're not asked to do a lot of things that we're asking them to do. And so, it's going to be a process.”
That process, as Embree noted, took longer than Hill wanted.
“I just knew working with him and seeing what was in his body, and seeing how he thought and was able to communicate with them, that it was just a matter of time.”
The player who emerged from that is a physical presence who became a dependable blocker that the Dolphins felt comfortable running behind. Hill has also grown as a receiver, and it may be that there is still more there, but he knows - so you know - what he needs to be all about.
“I play the game the right way. It’s not pretty,” Hill said several weeks back when the Patriots introduced their free agent signees at Gillette Stadium. “I’m not the guy that’s always catching the touchdowns, getting all the balls thrown to him. I’m a guy who’s going to work to do his job and do his job the right way. Support his teammates, love on his teammates, hold guys accountable, hold myself accountable. You know, walk into that fire, man. If there’s a guy pushing up on Drake Maye, I’m going to be the first one there.”
That’s not quite like Will Campbell telling the NFL draft audience that he would die to protect Maye, but it’s not too far off. Watching his tape, it's clear those aren’t just words. It's how Hill plays, and to some degree, he owes his old coach for that.
“Coach (Embree) took me (to another level). He coached George Kittle, one of the nastiest run blockers in the game. He coached a lot of greats (Tony Gonzalez). He instilled that in me. So, it’s got to be who you are. And that’s who I am.”
PAY ME, OR TRADE ME
When Dexter Lawrence signed his five-year extension back in 2023, he was the third-highest-paid interior defensive lineman in football. He deserved it. What he was doing at his size, especially as a pass rusher, was rare.
But coming off a statistically down-year, and with the Giants unwilling (at this juncture) to re-do his deal - he’s owed $20 million for the upcoming season - Lawrence has publicly requested a trade and didn’t show up for voluntary workouts this week (which is his right).
“Well, I don’t know if granting a request is really the right way to say it, because it doesn’t really work that way,” John Harbaugh said when asked about Lawrence’s desire to be traded. “It’s not like a Christmas gift. It just doesn’t work like that. It’s business. So the business is to be the best football team that we can be, and the business for him, I’m sure, is to be the best player he can be. And then there’s financial obligations, restraints, opportunities, all those things that go around that because it’s pro football. …. So that’s really what it boils down to. We’ll see what happens.”
Lawrence’s salary has now fallen to 10th at the position, and while I mentioned it was an off-year for him, the massive nose tackle still had underlying metrics that placed him in the top-10 for the position. He was also doubled more than 55% of the time, which was second in the league. A player who can command that type of attention is someone other teams would be happy to trade for, but the league-wide feeling is that some team will have to surrender multiple picks, including a first-rounder, just to get the Giants to listen. I believe the Giants will find some cash under the couch cushions and appease the big fella.
“It’s going to work out,” Harbaugh said. “Dexter wants to play. We want him to play. How it’s all going to shake out, we don’t control that. We’re not given to know the future. And the only thing we really can’t control is the outcome.
DICTATING THE TERMS
The dissolution of the relationship between the San Francisco 49ers and Brandon Aiyuk deserves its own 30 for 30. But as we (or is it just me?) wait for that, I am enjoying the 49ers pushing back on the wideout.
At season’s end, Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch made it clear that the organization would move on from the disgruntled receiver. But as the weeks and months have passed, they’ve changed their tune. No, not that they’re going to keep Aiyuk. That ship has sailed. But they’re not going to release him so he can jump right in with a new team.
Instead, the 49ers are holding him hostage, telling teams if you want him, you’re going to have to trade for him. That seems unlikely, but SF doesn’t have to make a decision until September 1st if they so choose. That’s when Aiyuk gets $24 million in the form of an option bonus (his base salary is just $1.25 million). Until then, his contract doesn’t provide them with any real cap savings, so why reward the player for quitting the team?
There is the matter of spreading out the cap hit over two years by designating Aiyuk as a post-June 1 release. That’s the likeliest scenario, although a trade post-June 1 accomplishes the same thing. Again, unlikely, but maybe a team misses out on a receiver in the draft, or AJ Brown, and throws a late-round pick at SF. Washington is the favored destination because of Aiyuk’s relationship with Commanders QB Jayden Daniels.
PUSHING BACK ON THE PUSH BACK
Every year, right around draft time, there’s a group of media members and fans who get very defensive whenever a prospect is labeled as “difficult” or an “off-field concern,” or something of that ilk. I understand it, to a degree. Because unless there’s a specified issue - for instance, the DUI and domestic charges leveled against Ole Miss DT Zxavien Harris - it can seem a little loose. and, to some, unfair. But there’s a reason why it matters, and why I’ll never shy away from it. His name is James Pearce, and he’s just the latest in a long line.
Going into the summer of 2024, Pearce, an edge rusher at the University of Tennessee, was the odds-on-favorite to be the number one pick in the draft. But the more teams dug into his background and spoke with those in the football program, the more red flags were raised. Pearce was “different” and “edgy,” and as I reported here last spring, there were teams that took him off the board entirely. When all was said and done, he still managed to be a first-round pick and rewarded the Falcons with 10.5 sacks in his rookie year.
But Pearce’s issues followed him to Atlanta, and he is currently facing serious charges for an incident on February 7th (thought based on interviews, it goes back even further than that) that include felony aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, felony fleeing and eluding police, felony resisting an officer with violence, and misdemeanor stalking.
Pearce was arrested for purposefully hitting the car of his ex-girlfriend, WNBA player Rickea Jackson, multiple times (to stop her from going to the police station). In a protection order filed two days later, Jackson wrote, “James appears to have an underlying mental disorder, and he is violent. I am in fear of my life, and I believe, if this Court does not assist me with this issue, James will kill me.”
Additionally, Jackson wrote that Pearce stole her phone, pulled her hair, and refused to accept that the relationship was over, even offering her money (200K) to stay together.
“James did not listen to my request and instead went on a never-ending campaign of threats, physical assaults, and abuse against me.”
Pearce is currently in limbo with the league, and informed the Falcons he wouldn’t report to the team for the start of OTAs earlier this week. He will be back in court on April 21st for a status hearing and two days later for a docket sounding. There, a plea agreement may be reached. If not, the case will head to trial sometime in May.
Currently, the NFL hasn’t made any rulings on Pearce, saying only that his situation is under review. Even if the case were to go away, the player would still fall under the personal conduct policy and could face a suspension.
While this may be an extreme example, it’s precisely why I don’t avoid nuggets about who the player is off the field. While finding good players is job one, these organizations are also hiring the person.
INTENTIONAL APPROACH
The Broncos came within a whisker of representing the AFC in the Super Bowl, and - in their mind - have a pretty good reason why they fell just short: quarterback Bo Nix’s broken foot that happened at the tail end of their divisional round win over the Bills.
How they’ve approached this offseason is indicative of how strongly they feel about their roster. Denver decided that keeping its own free agents was far more important than diving into the free-agent waters, and didn’t ink one outside guy.
“We compare all our players to what’s there in free agency, and our guys were favored and were there pretty high,” general manager George Paton said . “We won a lot of games with these guys. They fit the culture, and not everyone does.”
So, is it fair to say they’re running it back? Be careful with that phrase around the head coach.
“I saw the stories, and I don’t believe that. So, it’s not, ‘Let’s run it back.’ I hate that term. It’s not, ‘Let’s run it back.’ Let’s understand one thing: it is anything but that,” Sean Payton chided. “When you win 11 of 13 one-score games, like you saw the flip in just one season with Kansas City. It’s how do you improve your team. The better you get, the harder it is to improve your team.”
The one big move the Broncos made to alter the roster construction was trading multiple picks, including this year’s first-rounder, for the Dolphins’ Jaylen Waddle. Payton was more than happy to talk about the genius in that decision and what it should mean for an offense that will feature a new playcaller (Davis Webb).
“He’s played everywhere,” Payton said of Waddle. “I’ve seen him outside as a tremendous route runner, inside. The route tree is pretty expansive. The best thing that I think he does is he’s explosive; he’s dynamic. A lot of times, the guys run fast, but I think he sends his hips in transition. I think you’ll see him play inside in the slot; you’ll see him outside,”
That was an issue for the Broncos a year ago, as they relied on specialized players like Marvin Mims to create explosive plays in the passing game. But the moment he walks into the huddle, opposing teams are on alert. With Waddle and his ability to turn a 5-yarder into 65, life should be easier for Nix and the rest of the receiving core.
“He is explosive,” Payton said. “I think if you asked me, the single biggest thing that I think he does well is he’s extremely fast and he stops fast. He can sink his hips in transition, and then the other thing that came up time and time again is how competitive he is.”
In Payton’s mind (mine too), the Broncos will be right back in the mix for the top seed in the AFC, especially if they find a few players in the draft. And, true to form, they did it Payton’s way.
“We tune out the angst. There was a lot of angst when we selected Bo where we selected him. There was a lot of angst when we made quite a few of these decisions. You have to tune that out.
“You cannot chase what others outside of the building feel like you should be doing. We spent a lot of time on this free agency class. We had a pecking order of what we thought was most important, and we were able to accomplish that.”