2014 March - Pro Football Rumors

Panthers Sign Jerricho Cotchery

March 20th, 2014 at 1:56pm CST by Luke Adams

1:56pm: Cotchery’s two-year contract will be worth $5MM, tweets David Newton of ESPN.com.

1:43pm: The Panthers have officially announced their two-year deal with Cotchery in a press release.

12:01pm: Cotchery has agreed to terms with the Panthers, according to Everett Levy of Goal Line Football, Cotchery’s agency (Twitter link).

11:34am: After a week and a half of losing wide receivers in free agency, the Panthers finally appear poised to add one of their own. Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports (via Twitter) that the team is nearing a contract agreement with free agent receiver Jerricho Cotchery.

Cotchery, 31, has spent the last three seasons with the Steelers, and had his best season for the team in 2013, recording 46 receptions and 602 receiving yards. He also blew away his previous career high with a surprising 10 touchdown grabs. A return to Pittsburgh was a possibility for the veteran receiver, who was said to be deciding between the Steelers and Panthers earlier this week.

Assuming the Panthers and Cotchery finalize a deal, the ex-Steeler may become Carolina’s No. 1 wide receiver by default. So far this offseason, the club has released Steve Smith and seen Ted Ginn Jr., Brandon LaFell, and Domenik Hixon sign with other teams, leaving Marvin McNutt and Tavarres King atop the depth chart.

Steelers Won’t Lose Pick For Tomlin Incident

March 20th, 2014 at 1:46pm CST by Luke Adams

The book has been closed on an incident from 2013’s Thanksgiving night game between the Baltimore and Pittsburgh, the Steelers announced today. According to a press release from the club, the NFL has informed the Steelers that they won’t lose a draft pick for the incident.

During a kickoff return by Jacoby Jones of the Ravens, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin strayed onto the sideline and field before jumping out of Jones’ way. The league fined Tomlin $100K at the time and warned that further penalties could be forthcoming, but has decided that the fine will suffice.

Seahawks Sign Stephen Schilling

March 20th, 2014 at 1:15pm CST by Luke Adams

The Seahawks have signed free agent offensive lineman Stephen Schilling, according to agent Doug Hendrickson of Relativity Sports (Twitter link). Schilling had been eligible for exclusive rights free agency with the Chargers, but the club elected not to tender him a contract.

Schilling, a sixth-round pick in 2011, saw less than 200 total offensive snaps during parts of three seasons with the Chargers. The Bellevue, Washington native, who played his college ball at Michigan, will likely receive a minimum salary contract with a chance to earn a regular season roster spot.

NFC Notes: Jackson, Saints, Ihedigbo, Vikings

March 20th, 2014 at 12:40pm CST by Luke Adams

The Eagles reportedly want at least a third round pick for DeSean Jackson via trade, but Jimmy Kempski of Philly.com believes that might actually be optimistic. This year’s draft is unusually deep, meaning that the asking price for picks will be exceptionally high. Clubs may also be concerned about how productive Jackson could be in their own offenses as opposed to Philadelphia’s system. Here’s more from around the NFC:

Larry Holder of the New Orleans Times-Picayune reports that cornerback Keenan Lewis has restructured his contract, creating some 2014 cap space for the Saints. Holder adds in a separate article that the club created $1.4MM in 2014 cap savings with Pierre Thomas‘ new deal.
Safety James Ihedigbo has hired a new agent and the Lions can resume their pursuit of him if they want, according to Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press (on Twitter). Ihedigbo and Detroit appeared to be on the one-yard line in reaching an agreement but a snafu involving the safety’s agent held things up. The 30-year-old started all 16 games last season for the Ravens after recording just 15 starts in the first five years of his career.
Todd Archer of ESPNDallas.com breaks down Henry Melton‘s newly-signed contract with the Cowboys, which could be worth as little as $2.25MM and as much as $29MM.
The Cowboys, Seahawks, Bears, and Dolphins had some level of interest in defensive tackle Tom Johnson before he agreed to sign with the Vikings, a source tells Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press (Twitter link).
Finding a replacement for Toby Gerhart to back up Adrian Peterson at running back sounds like a low priority for the Vikings, writes Mark Craig of the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Zach Links contributed to this post.

Pro Football Rumors On Facebook/Twitter

March 20th, 2014 at 11:06am CST by Luke Adams

The first wave of free agency is behind us, but with plenty of notable names still on the board and the draft just a few weeks away, we should still expect plenty of roster turnover and player movement before the 2014 season. There will be plenty of notable stories to track on Pro Football Rumors throughout the spring, and you don’t necessarily have to keep refreshing our site to keep tabs on them. There are a handful of different ways you can follow us to get the latest updates on NFL news and rumors all year.

You can like us on Facebook, and receive headlines and links for all our posts via your Facebook account. You can also follow us on Twitter to have all our posts and updates sent directly to your Twitter feed. Meanwhile, our Google+ page is located here, and if you’d like to follow us using your RSS reader of choice, you can find our RSS feed right here.

If you prefer to receive updates only on roster moves such as signings, cuts, and trades, you can follow our transactions-only feeds via RSS and Twitter.

Bengals Sign Jason Campbell

March 20th, 2014 at 10:50am CST by Zachary Links

THURSDAY, 10:50am: The Bengals have made the Campbell signing official, tweets Coley Harvey of ESPN.com.

WEDNESDAY, 9:10pm: The Bengals have reached agreement with Jason Campbell on a one-year deal, tweets Adam Schefter of ESPN. The signal caller is now reunited with former Raiders head coach Hue Jackson who now serves as Cincinnati’s offensive coordinator.

Campbell, 32, was released by the Browns right before he was due to collect a $250K roster bonus. The veteran has had stints with the Redskins, Raiders, Bears, and Browns and started eight games for Cleveland last season after Brian Hoyer went down with a knee injury. His numbers were passable, as he completed 56.8% of his 317 passes for 2,015 yards, 11 TDs, and eight interceptions, but the new regime in Cleveland wanted to go in another direction. Now, the Bengals have landed themselves a capable backup in support of Andy Dalton.

AFC Notes: Jets, Contract Details, Titans

March 20th, 2014 at 9:54am CST by Zachary Links

We heard on Tuesday, shortly after the Giants had officially signed Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, that the Jets had increased their offer at the 11th hour in an effort to land the free agent cornerback. In his latest piece for TheMMQB.com, former NFL exec Andrew Brandt offers some additional insight on that story, suggesting that the Jets’ initial offer had a one-year, $6MM structure, with options beyond that for future seasons. When it became clear that the Giants were closing in on a deal, GM John Idzik, attending Teddy Bridgewater‘s Pro Day, scrambled to change the structure of the Jets’ offer, but it was too late by that point.

Here’s more from around the AFC:

Paul Kuharsky of ESPN (Twitter links) has the goods on Charlie Whitehurst‘s two-year deal with the Titans. The quarterback gets a $1MM signing bonus, a $1MM guaranteed base, a $250K roster bonus on the fifth day of the 2015 league year, and a $2.25MM base in ’15. In short, the Titans can get out of the deal after 2014 without much penalty.
Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun (via Twitter) reports that nose tackle Jerrell Powe gets a $645K split salary from the Texans on his one-year deal.
The Titans, who cut kicker Rob Bironas yesterday, called Old Dominion kicker Jarod Brown, tweets Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun. The 49ers and Colts also worked Brown out at his Pro Day.
Offensive tackle Donald Penn says reuniting with former Bucs assistant Greg Olson was a big factor in his decision to signing with the Raiders, tweets Vic Tafur of the San Francisco Chronicle.
Although Rich Cimini of ESPNNewYork.com reported yesterday that the Jets had reworked Mike Goodson‘s contract to clear his 2014 roster bonus from the team’s cap, Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News says (via Twitter) says that actually happened at the start of the 2013 season.

Luke Adams contributed to this post.

Falcons Re-Sign Peria Jerry

March 20th, 2014 at 9:39am CST by Luke Adams

THURSDAY, 9:39am: According to D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (via Twitter), Jerry’s deal with the Falcons is for one year and $890K. Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com tweets that the contract includes a $730K base salary, which is the minimum, so it’s a bit surprising that the team would exceed the $65K bonus limit for a minimum salary benefit deal.

WEDNESDAY, 5:02pm: The Falcons have re-signed defensive lineman Peria Jerry, according to Adam Caplan of ESPN.com (via Twitter). The five-year veteran had been an unrestricted free agent.

Jerry, 29, started 14 games for the Falcons in 2013, but may not see such a significant role for the team in 2014 as the defensive line undergoes an overhaul. The former first-round pick logged 3.5 sacks to go along with 33 tackles last season, but didn’t post good grades against the run, according to Pro Football Focus, whose metrics ranked him 64th of 69 qualified defensive tackles (subscription required).

Earlier this month, it appeared the Falcons and Jerry were ready to part ways. Perhaps Jerry didn’t generate as much interest on the open market as he anticipated, or perhaps the club was unimpressed with the alternatives.

Florida Notes: Incognito, Bucs, Jaguars

March 20th, 2014 at 8:38am CST by Luke Adams

Speaking to WSVN in Miami, free agent guard Richie Incognito suggested yesterday that he remains on track to return to the NFL following last year’s bullying scandal and recent treatment for erratic behavior. As James Walker of ESPN.com details, Incognito would like come back to Miami and play for his old team.

“Returning to the Dolphins was my number one goal from the time I got suspended,” Incognito said. “I want to return to the community in Miami and resume my playing career as soon as possible.”

Even with Jonathan Martin now in San Francisco, the odds of Incognito playing in Miami again, for a Dolphins team now hyper-conscious of public relations, seems virtually impossible. Here’s more on the free agent offensive lineman and a couple other notes on the NFL’s Florida teams:

In a separate piece at ESPN.com, Walker agrees that while some NFL team may be willing to take a chance on signing Incognito for the 2014 season, that team won’t be the Dolphins.
Discussing an interview conducted with head coach Lovie Smith by the Buccaneers‘ official website, Roy Cummings of the Tampa Tribune notes that the team still feels as if it has a few more moves left to make in free agency. Cummings adds that there’s a chance Earl Bennett, recently released by Chicago, could interest the ex-Bears head coach.
The Jaguars were focused on free agency up until this Tuesday, but GM Dave Caldwell suggests to Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times-Union that about 95% of the club’s attention has now shifted to the draft, meaning there likely won’t be many more free agent additions in Jacksonville. Caldwell also weighed in on the Jags’ additions of Jason Babin and Chris Clemons, among other topics.

NFC Rumors: Brown, Williams, Redskins

March 19th, 2014 at 9:21pm CST by Zachary Links

Free agent cornerback Tarell Brown left the 49ers to sign a a one-year, $3.5MM deal with the Raiders in part, he says, because he didn’t get much of an offer from his old team. “[I]t wasn’t what I wanted and it was to me more of a slap in the face,” Brown told Erik Kuselias of Pro Football Talk. “But I understand that it’s a business and I understand that they have to do what is best for them and it’s no hard feelings. But what they offered me definitely wasn’t what I wanted and definitely wasn’t worth my value of what I’ve done in this league and how well I played these past 3-4 years in the league. So it’s understandable and like I said there’s never any hard feelings. They are doing a great job over there and I wish them the best.”

Kevin Williams isn’t optimistic about his chances of returning to the Vikings, writes Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press. “I’m just sitting here waiting, man,” Williams said in a phone interview. “I don’t know (if I’ll be back). I thought there was a good chance early (in free agency). It keeps looking slimmer and slimmer, though. … I don’t know what their view is on it, but to me it’s getting slimmer.“
Jared Allen is making a second visit to the Seahawks and could decide whether to join them in the next few days, tweets Ed Werder of ESPN.
New Redskins linebacker Akeem Jordan‘s one-year deal has just $65K guaranteed, tweets Adam Caplan of ESPN.com. Appearing in 483 defensive snaps last season, Jordan recorded 67 tackles and forced a pair of fumbles, while ranking as the 11th-best inside linebacker out of 55 qualified players, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required). Between the guaranteed money and his base salary, Jordan should see $920K in total.
Free agent wide receiver Kevin Cone is set to workout for the Panthers on Friday, agent Mark Clouser tells D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Cone, who was not extended an exclusive-rights tender by the Falcons earlier this offseason, also has interest from the Jaguars.
New Cowboys defensive tackle Henry Melton says that he gave the Bears a real opportunity to keep him, writes Michael C. Wright of ESPN. “We gave them a chance to make an offer, and they said they would wait to see what the market was and we don’t do business like that,” Melton said. “They dropped out early.”