First Call: Josh Dobbs works out for Steelers' AFC rival; NFL QB movement; ex-Penguins prospects find new NHL homes

Tuesday’s “First Call” clues us in on an NFL team who may be after a Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback. A pair of former Penguins prospects are on the move. A Penn State product just got a big contract. And the NFL quarterback carousel never stops spinning.

Even at enormous costs against the salary cap.

Foxborough bound?

Steelers free-agent quarterback Josh Dobbs may be on the move again.

According to Mike Reiss of ESPN.com, the New England Patriots had Dobbs in for a tryout Monday.

The Patriots had free-agent QB Josh Dobbs (Steelers/Jaguars) in for a tryout today.

— Mike Reiss (@MikeReiss) March 21, 2022

The 27-year-old may be acquired by New England to be an extra camp arm with Mac Jones, Brian Hoyer and Jarrett Stidham. Or he may be a viable option for a top-3 job if one of Jones’ backups gets traded.

Dobbs is a free agent now. He was originally drafted by the Steelers in 2017. He has appeared in six games. Five came in 2018. He played once in 2020. He has completed 10 of his 17 passes for 45 yards and one interception.

Expansion indeed

The NHL’s expansion franchise was quite busy in advance of the NHL trade deadline.

The Seattle Kraken made six trades over the past week. Among the deals were the acquisitions of two former Penguins prospects. The club traded forward Marcus Johansson to the Washington Capitals in exchange for forward Daniel Sprong, a 2022 fourth-round pick and a 2023 sixth-round pick.

The 25-year-old Sprong was drafted out of the Netherlands by the Penguins in 2015. He is now on his fourth team after eight goals in 47 games this year with the Capitals.

The Kraken also claimed Las Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Derrick Pouliot off waivers. Pouliot had been a first-round pick of the Pens in 2012. He had two goals and 12 points in 67 games with the Pens. Since then, Pouliot had stints in Vancouver and St. Louis before joining Las Vegas.

Seattle’s current general manager is ex-Penguins legend Ron Francis.

Hoping for the best

Injured wide receiver Chris Godwin is discussing the recovery process from his torn ACL.

The former Penn State Nittany Lion suffered the injury while playing for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 15 of last season. He was able to reach a three-year contract extension with the team last week despite the injury. It’s reportedly worth $40 million guaranteed, with the potential to earn $60 million, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

But it’s unclear how healthy Godwin will be by the start of training camp. Speaking with reporters Monday, Godwin said there is no clear-cut timeline for his rehab process.

“Obviously, it’s a long one,” Godwin said of his recovery via ProFootballTalk. “So (I) can’t really project too far into the future. I just try to take it day-by-day, just like I have with my entire career. I like where I’m at right now. I’m feeling confident about this season, I’m excited that we’re getting a lot of the guys back.”

Godwin is 26 years old. He had 98 catches for 1,103 yards and five touchdowns in 2021 before the injury.

Godwin played last season on a $15.98 million franchise tag. The Bucs kept him off the free agent market again this year with another tag that would’ve cost $19.18 million. Instead, Godwin now will count only $5 million against the 2022 salary cap.

The world keeps spinning

As the NFL offseason continues, the much-followed quarterback market is beginning to thin out.

After the Steelers decided to sign Buffalo Bills free agent Mitch Trubisky, a number of other candidates that had been viewed as potential acquisitions for Kevin Colbert and company have found new contracts or new homes.

• Matt Ryan has been traded from the Atlanta Falcons to the Indianapolis Colts. In exchange, the Falcons get a third-round draft pick.

• The Falcons then signed Las Vegas Raiders backup Marcus Mariota to a two-year contract worth $18.75 million.

• The Saints retained Jameis Winston on a two-year $28 million deal.

Not even close

The Falcons will incur a $40.525 million dead cap hit for the trade of Ryan. According to ESPN.com’s Field Yates, that’s the largest dead cap hit in NFL history by nearly $7 million.

Via ToucdownWire.com, Ryan’s dead cap record pushes former Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown out of the top five in league history. His trade from Pittsburgh to the Oakland Raiders after the 2018 season left the Steelers with a $21.1 million hit. But now that only ranks sixth all-time.

The others after Matt Ryan include:

2. Carson Wentz: $33.8 million when he was traded from the Philadelphia Eagles to the Colts before the 2021 season.

3. Julio Jones: $23.25 million when he was dealt by the Falcons to the Tennessee Titans prior to last season.

4. Jared Goff: $22.2 million after he was traded from the Los Angeles Rams to the Detroit Lions following the 2020 season.

5. Brandin Cooks: $21.8 million left behind on the Rams tab following a deal that sent him to the Houston Texans between the 2019 and 2020 campaigns.