Team news: New York Jets | Page 48

According to league sources, the Vikings will sign wide receiver Stefon Diggs to a five-year contract extension on Tuesday, retaining another one of its core players that was scheduled to hit free agency in March. Diggs’ deal is expected to be worth around $14 million a season, according to an NFL source, which would put his deal in line with recent contracts the Green Bay Packers gave Davante Adams and the Chicago Bears gave Allen Robinson.

Diggs caught eight TDs last season, trying him for the team lead. He had 64 catches and 849 receiving yards while playing 14 games.

No matter how many times he’s asked or how well Baker Mayfield performs, Browns coach Hue Jackson insists he won’t change his mind. Barring injury, Tyrod Taylor will begin the season as the team’s starting quarterback.

Related players: Drew Stanton

Jackson is likely making up for his comments on Sunday, saying Mayfield is "exceeding expectations" in camp. Despite that, it's not an open competition for the starting QB job and Jackson was quoted in the story that he's not tempted to go with Mayfield. As the story also pointed out, the big question could be who gets the QB2 job—Mayfield or Stanton.

Jimmy Graham isn’t worried about developing chemistry with Aaron Rodgers. The Green Bay Packers' new tight end knows how good his new quarterback is, and through the first three days of training camp, they’ve already made plenty of progress.

But when will Graham know that he and Rodgers are truly on the same page?

“I’ll be with the ball in the end zone,” Graham said after Saturday’s first in-pads practice of camp. “That’s really when you know.”

As the story said, they haven't connected for a TD yet in any of the 11-on-11 team periods of the first three practices, but the two have connected plenty of times during drills and expect to be on the same wavelength in time for the team's Sept. 9 regular season opener against Chicago. Rodgers said the two "just need more reps."

Aaron Rodgers wants to play his entire career in Green Bay but understands the business, the quarterback told Peter King in King’s Football Morning In America debut column.

Packers President and CEO Mark Murphy wants to make sure Rodgers retires a Packer, saying Monday that signing the franchise quarterback to a long-term deal is a priority for both sides.

“Obviously, he’s an important player,” Murphy said, via Rob Reischel of Forbes. “He wants to be here, and we want him to be here. When both sides have a common interest, you get deals done.”

Rodgers, 34, has two years remaining on a five-year, $110 million deal, but his $22 million salary this season makes him only the ninth-highest paid player at his position. Matt Ryan, Kirk Cousins, and Jimmy Garoppolo all signed lucrative deals this offseason.

Don't expect Aaron Rodgers to hang up his spikes anytime soon. The star Packers quarterback may be coming off a season during which he broke his collarbone for the second time in his career, but he's still supremely confident that he's going to stick around in the league for a long time yet.

Rodgers is headed into his age-35 season, and if he gets his way, he'll stick around for at least five more years after 2018.

"I'd love to play to 40," Rodgers told NBC's Peter King.

Rodgers said he wants to be able to move like he does now, or close to it, when he turns 40. That will be the key. He mentioned Tom Brady and Brett Favre as examples. Rodgers also said he wants to stick with the Packers, but his current contract has two seasons left.

Appearing on The Rich Eisen Show on Thursday, wide receiver Jarvis Landry was effusive in his praise of Tyrod Taylor.

“Amazing,” Landry said of how Taylor looked this offseason. “Amazing, man. His leadership, his arm, his accuracy and he’s ready, man. He’s the starting quarterback, and I’m sure that, obviously, the decision is up to Hue and the offensive staff, and stuff like that. But I’m sure they’ve been highly impressed with what he’s done through OTAs and minicamp.”

The writing continues to be on the wall that Taylor will not only open the year as the Browns' starting quarterback, but that he could have a prolonged stay in that position. Taylor finished as a top-12 fantasy quarterback in both 2015 and 2016, and appears undervalued as the No. 24 quarterback off the board in fantasy drafts. This is by far the best receiving group he has ever had.

The Green Bay Packers are going to pay Aaron Rodgers. It's only a matter of two things: How Rodgers wants to structure the deal and when it happens.

If the Packers have anything to say about it, that deal will be fairly imminent. CEO Mark Murphy, who previously pointed out how enthused he was with Green Bay's offseason, told WTMJ at the Packers SummerFest event he hopes a deal is done "soon."

The story said the running theory is the team wants to kick off camp with an announcement of a new deal.

Bleacher Report's Mike Freeman quoted an AFC scout who stated that "Tyrod Taylor could keep Baker Mayfield on the bench for years".

There are a number of factors that keep this from being likely, Taylor's one-year contract for one, but it adds steam to the idea that Taylor could start all year over the rookie if things are going well. Head coach Hue Jackson has been adamant that Taylor is the starter, despite Cleveland using the first overall pick to select the Oklahoma product.

A year after the Browns thrust then-rookie quarterback DeShone Kizer into a Week One starting role, the Browns appear intent to do the opposite with their latest rookie QB, keeping quarterback Baker Mayfield on ice for as long as possible.

If that’s the plan, Mayfield is making it easy for the decision makers to implement their strategy. Here’s an assessment of the competition, if there is one, between Mayfield and Tyrod Taylor, from Dan Labbe of the Cleveland Plain Dealer: “This is where I tell you that, based on the six practices of OTAs and minicamp that were open to the media, Mayfield did not look ready to compete with Taylor for the No. 1 quarterback job.”

Keep in mind it's only been six practices and things can change quickly, but as of now, it seems as if the deck is stacked in Taylor's favor, as the story put it.

Two people familiar with the trade say the Cleveland Browns have agreed to acquire quarterback Tyrod Taylor from the Buffalo Bills in exchange for a third-round draft pick.

The Browns were expected to target a quarterback in free agency but instead have landed the dynamic Taylor, who will likely take over as Cleveland starter. The Browns are still expected to take a quarterback with the No. 1 overall pick in this year's draft.

Earlier, the Browns worked out a trade with Miami for three-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Jarvis Landry. The Miami Dolphins have agreed to trade the Pro Bowl receiver to the Browns for two draft picks, a person familiar with the deal said Friday.

Likely out of the Kirk Cousins sweepstakes, the Browns have elected to trade for a solid starter in Taylor and will likely pick a quarterback early in the 2018 NFL Draft. Taylor's presence will allow the Browns to be patient with their young quarterback, whoever it is. The Landry trade hurts his fantasy stock since his role was well defined in Miami, though he should still be a fantasy starter, especially in PPR formats. The Browns now have a receiving corps of Landry, Josh Gordon and Corey Coleman to go along with athletic tight end David Njoku. In Miami, Landry's departure opens up 161 targets, so depending on what the Dolphins do in free agency and the Draft, DeVante Parker and Kenny Stills could see a big uptick in usage.