In case you haven’t heard, Jalen Hurts and A.J. Brown might no longer be friends.
This might be more dramatic than removing a friend from your top-eight list during the MySpace heyday in the mid-2000s. Or to put it into today’s terms, this is like when Gen-Zers stop sharing their location with friends.
The Philadelphia Eagles might be the only team in the league that can create this kind of drama during a nine-game winning streak. But let’s not overreact to this lost friendship. (And no, Eagles defensive end Brandon Graham didn’t pay me to write this.)
Hey, it’s not easy to please diva star wide receivers and you can’t win many games without feeding them the football. The Pittsburgh Steelers could find that out the hard way if George Pickens is forced to miss more games due to a nagging hamstring injury.
The San Francisco 49ers could use more help from wide receiver Deebo Samuel to make one last run at the NFC West title during the final month of the season.
But this week’s Fact or Fiction isn’t all about the wide receivers. We’re also going to look ahead to Micah Parsons’s looming contract negotiations with the Dallas Cowboys.
Manzano’s view: Fiction
I’m not afraid to admit I enjoy watching dating shows. It takes plenty of skill to learn the first name of each cast member two episodes into every season of Love Is Blind. (Wait, I think I just pulled a Brandon Graham by oversharing. Maybe I should be embarrassed.)
Anyway, I bring this up to say I’m well qualified to break down the reality TV-like drama between Hurts and Brown, which became public after Graham revealed that his quarterback and wide receiver are no longer friends.
Graham attempted to do damage control after giving every radio show in Philadelphia a juicy topic to overreact to until the Eagles and Steelers kick off at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday. But there’s no way of fixing this without wins, and you better believe the Philadelphia media will constantly remind Graham of his slip-up if the Birds don’t beat the Steelers this week.
But if we’re going to run with Graham’s comments, let’s not overlook that these former friends have helped the Eagles (11–2) win nine consecutive games and are only one game behind the Detroit Lions (12–1) for the No. 1 seed in the NFC.
Clearly, Hurts and Brown know how to work together without being friends. Unless Graham meant that Hurts and Brown stopped being friends just last week when the offense was off its game against the Carolina Panthers. (That’s the way I would spin this if I was in Graham’s situation. They’re fine now, nothing to see here.)
You can make the case that Hurts isn’t having the best season (2,602 passing yards with 16 touchdowns and five interceptions), but the Eagles beat the Baltimore Ravens and demolished the Los Angeles Rams—a team that just beat the Buffalo Bills—before a rocky game against a Panthers squad that has been competitive the past month.
So, no, this lost friendship won’t derail the Eagles’ 2024 season. This isn’t like last year, when the Eagles started 10–1 before collapsing due to various issues. The defense is much improved and they didn’t have stud running back Saquon Barkley. They’ll likely lean on these two strengths to get by the Steelers, who might not have Pickens, before facing the Washington Commanders, Cowboys and New York Giants to end the regular season.
Perhaps Brown calling out the passing game and Hurts after the narrow win against the Panthers was his way of saying they need to improve in that area before the postseason arrives. They’re going to need Hurts and Brown to play at an elite level if they run into the Lions or Minnesota Vikings. The Green Bay Packers and Commanders could also be tough potential playoff matchups—two teams the Eagles have already beaten this season, by the way.
Graham misspoke and gave his teammates an annoying problem to have with every reporter asking them about the rift between Brown and Hurts. But this issue will likely go away if the Eagles win a few more games before the postseason starts next month.
Just give the ball to Barkley and all should be fine in Philadelphia.
Manzano’s view: Fact
Parsons did not take Monday night’s loss against the Cincinnati Bengals well. He was emotional on the sideline after a strange special teams sequence gave the Bengals the ball back in the final minutes and enabled them to escape Jerry’s World with a victory and essentially end the Cowboys’ playoff hopes.
Parsons should remember the emotions he felt Monday night when his representatives and the team begin offseason discussions about a potential contract extension that will likely end with him being the highest paid defensive player in the league. I’m not saying Parsons should pass on that kind of money, but he needs to seriously ask himself if the Cowboys (5–8) can win a Super Bowl with him under contract.
Obviously, winning means a lot to Parsons, but it’s going to be difficult for the Cowboys to construct a competitive roster with most of the salary cap going to him, Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb (The latter two signed massive contract extensions before the 2024 season.)
Now I’m also not saying Parsons should take a pay cut, because he’s earned every penny that’s headed his way with how dominant he’s been since entering the league in 2021. But maybe it’s a good idea to make the Cowboys sweat a bit and drag out the contract negotiations. Coach Mike McCarthy could be on the hot seat after a losing season and multiple years of postseason failures. Who will be the head coach next year? Who will the Cowboys sign in free agency? Who will they draft in April? Perhaps it's best for Parsons to see how the Cowboys improve the roster instead of quickly signing a new deal in the early stages of the offseason. And Dallas does have the tendency of waiting until the last minute to hammer out deals.
The Cowboys know how to draft well to maneuver around sizable contracts, but as a reminder, this franchise hasn’t gotten past the divisional round in three decades. Maybe it wouldn’t be a bad idea for Parsons to at least consider the thought of joining a different franchise. And maybe it wouldn’t hurt the Cowboys if they at least consider the idea of trading the elite pass rusher.
Parsons has plenty to think about after a lost season in Dallas and he shouldn’t be quick to re-sign with the team that drafted him.
Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver George Pickens (14) runs after a catch against the Baltimore Ravens.
Pickens's hamstring injury may be more severe than the Steelers originally thought, resulting in him missing significant time. / Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
Manzano’s view: Fiction
It was impressive that Russell Wilson made it work without Pickens during the Steelers’ victory over the Cleveland Browns last week.
But now there are serious concerns about Pickens possibly missing more games after coach Mike Tomlin revealed that his star wideout’s hamstring injury is “worse than it appeared.” It wouldn’t be a surprise if the team shuts him down for the rest of the regular season to ensure the hamstring injury doesn’t get aggravated before the playoffs.
But the safe approach could open the door for the Ravens (8–5) to steal the AFC North, with the Steelers (10–3) facing a tough schedule to end the regular season. They’re in Philadelphia this week before a crucial matchup in Baltimore next week and back-to-back home games against the Kansas City Chiefs and Bengals.
Beating the Browns without Pickens was feasible, but that might not be the case with the Eagles, Ravens, Chiefs and maybe even the 5–8 Bengals, who have an explosive offense. On the other hand, the Steelers shouldn’t worry about the AFC North title too much because they’ll probably be one-and-done in the postseason if Pickens isn’t on the field.
This will be a tricky situation for Tomlin to navigate during the final stretch of the regular season.
Manzano’s view: Fact
49ers star receiver Deebo Samuel attempted to defend his subpar season by saying he’s not struggling because he’s not getting the ball enough.
It’s tough to accept that excuse because Samuel hasn’t come close to replicating his dominant 2021 season when he recorded 77 catches for 1,405 yards, along with 365 rushing yards and 14 total touchdowns. Samuel only has 40 catches for 553 receiving yards and one touchdown this season. He will likely fall short of reaching 1,000 receiving yards for the fifth time in his six-year career.
Sure, you can make the argument that defenses design game plans to take away the explosive plays from Samuel, but he’s now been a boom-or-bust player for the past three seasons. It’s hard to understand why he’s not doing more in an offense that’s being designed by coach Kyle Shanahan on a weekly basis.
It also doesn’t help that Samuel isn’t your traditional wide receiver who can get open quickly, and the 49ers have a handful of pass catchers that can do that. Instead of forcing a creative play for the inconsistent Samuel, Brock Purdy and Shanahan have leaned on wide receiver Jauan Jennings and tight end George Kittle to go with a balanced offensive attack.
Once rookie Ricky Pearsall finds his stride and Brandon Aiyuk returns to health, Samuel might be the odd man out in the offseason. He’s making too much money as a seldom-used specialist on a team that has to find cap space to pay the franchise quarterback.
But Samuel can make himself valuable by delivering monster performances to give the 49ers (6–7) one last push for a postseason run, starting with Thursday night’s game against the Rams.