2014 December - Pro Football Rumors

Tevin Coleman To Enter Draft

December 29th, 2014 at 12:19pm CST by Luke Adams

Indiana running back Tevin Coleman has confirmed he will enter the 2015 NFL draft, according to Joe Schad of ESPN.com (Twitter link). “This is my dream,” Coleman told Schad. The junior running back had reportedly been meeting with agents earlier this month, suggesting he was about to make the leap to the NFL.

Coleman, 21, racked up 2,036 rushing yards on 270 carries this season, adding 15 touchdowns to go along with his 7.5 yards per carry. A unanimous All-American, Coleman is viewed as a top-five running back in the 2015 draft class, ranking behind only Melvin Gordon and Todd Gurley on ESPN’s current big board. CBSSports.com has Coleman ranked fourth among running backs – behind Gordon, Gurley, and Ameer Abdullah – and 50th overall.

Coleman becomes the sixth underclassmen running back to declare his intent to enter the 2015 draft. Gordon, Gurley, Jay Ayaji, Mike Davis, and Duke Johnson are all headed to the NFL as well. You can check out our running list of early entrants for 2015 right here.

Coaching Rumors: Harbaugh, Coughlin, Gase

December 29th, 2014 at 11:41am CST by Luke Adams

There has been plenty of action since our first round of coaching rumors this morning, with five teams – the 49ers, Raiders, Jets, Falcons, and Bears – now in the market for new head coaches. We’ve had enough news and rumors since then to warrant another round-up of the latest coaching-related updates, so let’s dive in….

Although an agreement appears to be in place between Jim Harbaugh and the University of Michigan, NFL teams like the Bears, Jets, and Raiders continue to make overtures to try to change his mind, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (via Twitter). Mike Freeman of Bleacher Report confirms (via Twitter) that the Raiders are still making a push to try to land Harbaugh, even if it looks like a long shot at this point.
Giants head coach Tom Coughlin has been told he’ll be back to coach the team in 2015, but has a meeting scheduled for this afternoon with co-owner John Mara to discuss possible changes to the coaching staff, writes Dan Graziano of ESPN.com.
The Falcons and 49ers have already requested permission to speak to Broncos offensive coordinator Adam Gase, reports Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter links). Coaches who currently work for playoff teams with first-round byes are allowed to interview for jobs this week, so Gase is one coordinator whose name figures to surface frequently in the next few days.
In addition to Gase, the Falcons may also look to talk to Seahawks defensive coordinator Dan Quinn and Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, tweets D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal Constitution.
Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com has several tidbits for us, tweeting that Jack Del Rio could emerge as a coaching candidate for the Raiders, the Falcons will contact Rex Ryan, and Mike Shanahan could have interest in the Bears‘ job.
Former 49ers head coach Mike Singletary, who currently serves as an advisor to NFL executive Troy Vincent, would have interest in interviewing for the Bears‘ head coaching job, a source tells Adam Caplan of ESPN.com (Twitter link).

Jets Notes: GM, Coach, Revis, Paton

December 29th, 2014 at 11:21am CST by Luke Adams

After firing general manager John Idzik and head coach Rex Ryan early this morning, Jets owner Woody Johnson spoke to reporters at a press conference in New York, and touched upon a number of topics of note. Let’s check in on the highlights, via Rich Cimini of ESPNNewYork.com and Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News, with all links going to Twitter….

According to Johnson, the team’s next GM will have more of a scouting and personnel background than Idzik did.
Ideally, the Jets will first hire a general manager and then address the head coaching opening, but that order is subject to change, said Johnson.
Johnson admitted that he made a mistake by forcing Ryan on Idzik when he hired the GM. The comment suggests that the two men didn’t exactly make for an ideal match, with Idzik occasionally struggling to add players who fit Ryan’s system.
The Jets owner indicated today that if he thought he could’ve signed cornerback Darrelle Revis for the contract he agreed to with the Patriots, he would’ve done so. However, previous experiences with Revis’ agents gave him the impression that signing the standout corner wouldn’t be possible. Johnson added that he’d “love” for Revis to return to the Jets.
The team has already reached out to everyone on its list of general manager candidates, per Johnson. According to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter), one candidate to hear from the Jets is Vikings assistant GM George Paton, who drew interest from New York during the club’s last GM hunt as well.

South Notes: Falcons, Bucs, Marks, Pickett

December 29th, 2014 at 10:37am CST by Luke Adams

Discussing his team’s decision to part ways with head coach Mike Smith today, Falcons owner Arthur Blank told reporters – including Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com (Twitter link) – that he’s seeking a clear leader who has a vision for success, player development skills, and represents the club’s culture values. According to Blank, it’s less important whether Atlanta’s next head coach is offensive- or defensive-minded, and more about finding someone who is adaptable and has a vision, tweets Albert Breer of the NFL Network. Blank added that the team’s entire football operations will be under scrutiny, and that the head coaching search begins today, with interviews starting as soon as possible (Twitter links).

Let’s round up a few more notes from out of the league’s two South divisions….

Armed with the top two picks in the draft, the Buccaneers and Titans will both have a strong front office presence at this week’s Rose Bowl, per Peter Schrager of FOX Sports and Jim Wyatt of the Tennessean (Twitter links). Oregon’s Marcus Mariota and Florida State’s Jameis Winston – the consensus top two quarterbacks expected to be available in 2015’s draft – will square off in the game.
With the Buccaneers considered likely to select a quarterback using the No. 1 overall pick in the 2015 draft, current signal-caller Josh McCown is realistic about his future – or possibly lack thereof – with the team, writes Pat Yasinskas of ESPN.com.
Jaguars defensive tackle Sen’Derrick Marks enjoyed the best season of his career in 2014, establishing a career-high with 8.5 sacks. However, his year ended on a sour note — according to Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times-Union (via Twitter), Marks suffered a torn ACL yesterday in Houston. The injury raises questions about Marks’ potential availability for training camp and the start of the 2015 season, and could impact the Jags’ offseason plans.
Veteran nose tackle Ryan Pickett isn’t sure whether or not he’ll retire, but he enjoyed his time with the Texans this season, writes Brian T. Smith of the Houston Chronicle. “If I did come back, I’d want to play here,” Pickett said. “I feel like this team is headed somewhere and I’d like to be a part of that.”

NFC East Notes: Dez, Eagles, Washington

December 29th, 2014 at 9:57am CST by Luke Adams

Suggesting that reports about the Cowboys‘ off-field concerns about Dez Bryant are exaggerated, team owner Jerry Jones tells Todd Archer of ESPNDallas.com that “nobody in the world” knows about his concerns for a potential Bryant contract extension besides Jones and executive VP Stephen Jones. As Jones puts it, there are concerns for any pricey, long-term deal, not just Bryant’s.

“I don’t know that I’ve ever signed a contract that I didn’t have things to worry about, but nobody talked about them,” Jones said. “You can’t make business decisions, especially multi-million dollar business decisions without having a nice little worry list over on the right. Everybody does. So it’s wrong to say that that is an issue. That’s not an issue relative to overall getting it done. We just want to get it done.”

Here’s more from around the NFC East:

Eagles general manager Howie Roseman received praise from head coach Chip Kelly, who says Roseman does “an outstanding job” managing the cap, as Sheil Kapadia of PhillyMag.com details. More importantly, Roseman got an endorsement from owner Jeffrey Lurie, who said the GM has done a great job, and will be back for 2015, per Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Speaking today to reporters, including Geoff Mosher of CSNPhilly.com (Twitter link), Kelly said it will be a priority for the team to retain running back LeSean McCoy, wideout Jeremy Maclin, and outside linebacker Brandon Graham this offseason. Meanwhile, as McLane tweets (Twitter link), Trent Cole said he’d be willing to rework his contract to return to the Eagles.
Washington wide receiver Santana Moss will turn 36 in the summer, and doesn’t have a contract for 2015, but he thinks he can still play in the NFL, and will attempt to continue his career, preferably in Washington, writes Tarik El-Bashir of CSNWashington.com.
Quarterback Robert Griffin III would also like to stick with Washington, despite an up and down 2014 season, says Mike Jones of the Washington Post. Unlike Moss, Griffin is under contract for another year, but he has been cited as a potential trade candidate, given his seemingly shaky relationship with head coach Jay Gruden.
Washington running back Roy Helu believes there’s a 50/50 chance he re-signs with the team, telling John Keim of ESPN.com (Twitter link) that he’s excited about the possibility of hitting the open market.
Washington will take a few days before making any decisions one way or the other on the members of Gruden’s staff, including defensive coordinator Jim Haslett, Jones writes for the Post.

Bears Fire Phil Emery, Marc Trestman

December 29th, 2014 at 9:14am CST by Luke Adams

9:14am: Offensive coordinator Aaron Kromer has also been fired by the Bears, according to Yates (Twitter link via Jeff Dickerson of ESPN.com).

8:38am: The Bears have made a major change in their front office, according to Adam Schefter and Field Yates of ESPN.com, who report (via Twitter) that the club has parted ways with general manager Phil Emery. Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk had tweeted earlier this morning that word was “trickling out” of Chicago indicating that Emery had gotten the axe. In addition to firing Emery, the team has also let go of head coach Marc Trestman, per Alex Marvez of FOX Sports (via Twitter).

Hired by the Bears in January 2012, Emery oversaw a solid 10-6 season in his first year with the club, but the team’s record slipped to 8-8 in 2013 and 5-11 in 2014, resulting in his ouster today. Along the way, Emery made a number of questionable decisions, including locking up quarterback Jay Cutler to a seven-year, $126MM contract extension that included a sizable chunk of guaranteed money. Additionally, no team was more active in free agency this past offseason than the Bears, and the results of the team’s spending spree weren’t overly impressive.

The hiring of Trestman can also be viewed as one of the decisions that ultimately led to Emery’s dismissal. The former head coach of the CFL’s Montreal Alouettes was considered an offensive – and quarterback – guru, but struggled to find success with Cutler, particularly during the 2014 season. Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com tweets that Trestman could be a highly-regarded offensive coordinator candidate this winter, adding that if he were a head coaching candidate like Todd Bowles, he’d give Trestman a call.

In his two seasons at the helm in Chicago, Trestman compiled an overall record of 13-19 (.406), and failed to earn a playoff berth.

Kyle Orton Announces Retirement

December 29th, 2014 at 9:06am CST by Luke Adams

After serving as the Bills’ starting quarterback for most of the 2014 season, Kyle Orton has decided to call it a career, the team announced today in a press release. Orton will retire from the NFL after spending 10 seasons in the league.

“I just have been going at it for 10 years and it’s just a family decision and I’ve decided to get home and be a dad and call it a day,” Orton said.

Orton, 32, flirted with retirement a year ago as well, and his apparent willingness to end his career at that point led to the Cowboys releasing him from his contract, at which point he inked a new deal with the Bills. In this case, he appears to be more committed to ending his career, despite the fact that he has a year remaining on his contract. By retiring, Orton will no longer be eligible to earn his $5.4MM non-guaranteed base salary for 2015, though he’ll still count for $1.5MM in dead money against the Bills’ cap.

Assuming Orton doesn’t play another NFL game, he’ll finish his career with a 42-40 record as a starter, completing 59.5% of his career passes, with 18,037 yards, 101 touchdowns, and 69 interceptions. His best stastical seasons came in 2009 and 2010 for the Broncos, when he topped 20 touchdown passes and 3,600 passing yards for the only two times in his career.

As for the Bills, they’ll likely be on the lookout for a new signal-caller this offseason, since E.J. Manuel is currently the only quarterback on the roster. Unfortunately for Buffalo, the team sent its 2015 first-round pick to Cleveland in this year’s Sammy Watkins trade, so if the team hopes to land a potential starting QB, it’ll have to be either in free agency or later in the draft.

Falcons Fire Mike Smith

December 29th, 2014 at 8:53am CST by Luke Adams

8:53am: Breer reports (via Twitter) that Dimitroff is officially safe in Atlanta, but that owner Arthur Blank “plans on shaking up the organizational structure,” according to a source.

8:27am: The Falcons have officially announced the firing of head coach Mike Smith, tweets Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com. Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com had reported last week that Smith would be fired at season’s end, and the team’s disappointing Week 17 loss to the Panthers for the NFC South title sealed the deal. Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk indicated earlier today that Smith was “absolutely done” in Atlanta.

Smith, 55, had coached the Falcons since the 2008 season, accumulating a 66-46 overall record (.589) in his seven years with the club. That overall win-loss record was buoyed by a strong first five seasons, in which the team never finished worse than 9-7. During the last two seasons, Atlanta struggled to a combined 10-22 mark, missing out on the playoffs this year even in an extremely weak NFC South division.

Even a win on Sunday wouldn’t have saved Smith’s job, since ownership was ready for a change, tweets La Canfora. I’d imagine a lengthy playoff run might’ve made a difference, but even if the Falcons had reached the postseason, the team would have done so with an unimpressive seven wins, including just one in non-division games. As Jay Glazer of FOX Sports notes (via Twitter), Smith knew heading into the season that he was in a win-or-else position.

The Falcons have scheduled a press conference for 11:00 am eastern time, at which the team will officially address its coaching change, tweets D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal Constitution. According to Albert Breer of the NFL Network (via Twitter), the current sense is that general manager Thomas Dimitroff is safe.

Coaching Rumors: Ryan, Falcons, Bears, 49ers

December 29th, 2014 at 7:54am CST by Luke Adams

Black Monday is underway, and a handful of teams are expected to make announcements today regarding changes to their coaching staffs and/or front offices. Here are a few of the latest rumors to start off the day:

The Jets were the first team to formally announce the firing of a head coach this morning, and Rex Ryan appreciated the quick, definitive decision from owner Woody Johnson, since he feels as if he has a chance at another head coaching job, as Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News tweets. Per Mehta (Twitter links), Ryan will explore head coaching opportunities, and if he doesn’t land a job, he believes his next role will be with ESPN — he doesn’t have interest in any defensive coordinator positions.
Mike Smith is “absolutely done” in Atlanta, according to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. That coincides with what we’ve heard in recent weeks, and is no surprise, considering how the Falcons finished their regular season yesterday. Meanwhile, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com indicates (via Twitter) that while Smith’s tenure with the Falcons is “on life support,” the same doesn’t appear to be true for general manager Thomas Dimitroff.
While multiple reports have suggested the Bears will likely part ways with head coach Marc Trestman, Trestman himself is preparing as if he’ll return for the 2015 season, writes Dan Wiederer of the Chicago Tribune. Rapoport tweets that the Bears head coach figures to make a “strong case” to save his job, perhaps pointing to the performance by quarterbacks not named Jay Cutler in his system. Still, it’s hard to imagine the club bringing Trestman back for another year.
The 49ers are in no hurry to name their next head coach, according to Rapoport, who tweets that the search is expected to be “lengthy and methodical.” One in-house candidate, defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, won’t be joining Jim Harbaugh in Ann Arbor, says Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle. As for Harbaugh’s offer from Michigan, Albert Breer of the NFL Network (Twitter link) hears that it could ultimately get up to $9MM per year, since there was some “quiet bidding” over the weekend.
The Raiders were “truly in the mix” for Harbaugh before he decided to go to Michigan, reports Mike Garafolo of FOX Sports, adding that Harbaugh was the Raiders’ top choice and they were disappointed not to land him. Oakland is now expected to cast a wide net as the club attempts to identify its next coach, though if it were up to the players, perhaps interim coach Tony Sparano would be the top choice, says Jerry McDonald of the Bay Area News Group. Sparano will have the opportunity to interview for the permanent job, tweets Scott Bair of CSNBayArea.com.
Titans CEO Tommy Smith reiterated yesterday that head coach Ken Whisenhunt and GM Ruston Webster will both be back for the 2015 season, writes Terry McCormick of 247Sports.com.

Jets To Fire Rex Ryan, John Idzik

December 29th, 2014 at 7:28am CST by Rob DiRe

MONDAY, 7:30am: The Jets have officially informed Ryan he has been fired, tweets Jay Glazer of FOX Sports. The Jets themselves have confirmed as much (via Twitter), adding that Idzik’s firing has been made official as well.

SUNDAY, 11:10pm: Not that this should come as much of a surprise as Black Monday approaches in the NFL, but the Jets and owner Woody Johnson are prepared to fire head coach Rex Ryan and general manager John Idzik, according to Chris Mortenson of ESPN (via Twitter).

Mortenson writes that Idzik will be fired as expected, and that Johnson will not keep Ryan hanging as to wait on the next general manager to decide that.

In the recent days, Pro Football Rumors has monitored the situation with the Jets’ head coach and front office very closely, constantly updating on the hirings Johnson has made and the general feeling surrounding both Ryan and Idzik.

Ryan was 45-50 as head coach of the Jets, including this disastrous 2014 season which saw the team win only four games. In his first two seasons, Ryan and quarterback Mark Sanchez won four road playoff games en route to back-to-back appearances in the AFC Championship game.

It was reported over the weekend that Johnson’s consultants had already made calls concerning available coach and general manager candidates, so the move does not come as a shock.

Ryan will be a highly desired coach on the open market this offseason, according to Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap.com (via Twitter). Fitzgerald does believe Ryan will do better long term if he sits out a year before coming back to coaching.

A PFR poll tallied in mid-October had a majority of readers believing Ryan would most likely be working in TV in 2015, but a significant number thought he would still be coaching in the NFL somewhere, with those votes split amongst a few teams.

Atlanta seems like the obvious fit, and after being embarrassed today against the Panthers and failing to make the playoffs, Mike Smith could be out as head coach there. Owner Arthur Blank reportedly considered Ryan a front runner back when that job was open in the first place.

Idzik’s tenure with the Jets was far less celebrated, lasting only two seasons with the team. It would be difficult to imagine him achieving another general manager job in the NFL anytime soon, but he could go back to Seattle – where he had past success – or pursue another front office job with an NFL team.