2015 January - Pro Football Rumors

Minor Moves: Wednesday

January 28th, 2015 at 4:07pm CST by Luke Adams

Here are Wednesday’s minor transactions, including not just NFL moves but an update on a former NFL player who is headed north….

Former Colts wide receiver Austin Collie, who averaged over 57 receptions during three seasons in Indianapolis from 2009 to 2011, has agreed to terms with the CFL’s Montreal Alouettes, according to Arash Madani of Sportsnet.ca. Because Collie was born in Hamilton, Ontario and spent enough time in Canada, he’ll be classified as a Canadian player on Montreal’s roster rather than as an import. For the Alouettes, it’s a solid addition to a receiving corps that is on the verge of losing Duron Carter to the Colts.
The Broncos have agreed to sign former Monmouth cornerback Tevrin Brandon, tweets Jeff Legwold of ESPN.com. We heard back in early December that Denver had brought in Brandon for a workout with an eye toward the offseason.

AFC West Notes: Raiders, Broncos, Chiefs

January 28th, 2015 at 3:35pm CST by Luke Adams

Reports earlier in the week indicated that the Raiders had lined up an interview with Louisville defensive coordinator Todd Grantham for their own DC position, and it appears the job is Grantham’s if he wants it. According to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter), Oakland has offered Grantham a two-year deal to become the team’s new defensive coordinator. While dipping into the NCAA ranks for a coordinator is a departure from the usual operating procedure for hiring a top assistant, the Raiders may have had trouble attracting top candidates for the opening if new head coach Jack Del Rio intends to handle some or all of the defensive play-calling on his own.

While we wait to see if Grantham ultimately lands a job with the Raiders, let’s check in on some other Wednesday items from around the AFC West….

Whether it’s Vance Joseph or Wade Phillips that eventually becomes their defensive coordinator – and it does appear it’ll be one of those two – the Broncos seem likely to transition from a 4-3 defense to a 3-4, writes Mike Klis of the Denver Post. With a pair of very good edge rushers, Von Miller and DeMarcus Ware, already under contract, the Broncos shouldn’t have to overhaul their defense to make the change.
Terez A. Paylor of the Kansas City Star examines seven free-agents-to-be who would make good fits for the Chiefs, leading off his list with wideout Randall Cobb. Paylor’s list is heavy on offensive linemen, including guards Mike Iupati, Orlando Franklin, and Clint Boling.
Former star running back LaDainian Tomlinson suggested during an appearance on 1090 AM in San Diego that the Chargers should pursue Adrian Peterson if he becomes available this winter, and Eric D. Williams of ESPN.com agrees with LT.

Coach Notes: 49ers, Browns, Ravens, Broncos

January 28th, 2015 at 2:24pm CST by Luke Adams

The 49ers and former Bucs assistant Steve Logan have reached a two-year agreement that will make Logan the team’s new quarterbacks coach, according to Jeff Gravley of WRAL-TV (Twitter link). If that is indeed Logan’s new title, it could mean that Geep Chryst, who currently holds the QBs coach job, is in line for a promotion. Chryst has been cited as the most logical in-house candidate for San Francisco’s offensive coordinator vacancy, and with a number of other candidates either being denied permission to interview for the position or choosing not to pursue it, Chryst appears to be one of the few viable candidates left.

While we wait for updates on the 49ers’ coaching situation, let’s round up a few more updates on teams from around the NFL filling their staffs….

Former Jets quarterback Kevin O’Connell, who worked with Johnny Manziel before he was drafted last year, is interviewing for the Browns‘ quarterbacks coach job, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (via Twitter). If Cleveland decides to hire O’Connell, it would seem likely to give Manziel a leg up in the club’s QB competition for 2015.
Former Kentucky head coach Joker Phillips is joining the Browns‘ staff as the club’s wide receivers coach, a league source tells Adam Caplan of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
The Ravens have finalized their coaching staff for 2015, hiring and promoting several assistants, the team announced today in a press release.
One departing Ravens coach is Tony Coaxum, who is the latest assistant to head to Denver, according to Thayer Evans of Sports Illustrated. Evans tweets that the Broncos have hired Coaxum as an assistant special teams coach.
Although Falcons running backs coach Gerald Brown interviewed with the Raiders, he won’t be heading to Oakland, and ESPN’s Vaughn McClure (Twitter link) wouldn’t be surprised if Brown ended up returning to Atlanta.

East Notes: Eagles, Maxwell, Moore, Cowboys

January 28th, 2015 at 1:00pm CST by Luke Adams

Sources close to Byron Maxwell “recently threw out numbers” like $12-13MM when estimating what it might take – in terms of per-year salary – to land the Seahawks cornerback in free agency this offseason, writes Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer. I’d be shocked if Maxwell landed a deal that lucrative, but he’ll be one of the top available corners if he reaches the open market. While general manager John Schneider and the Seahawks have expressed a desire to re-sign Maxwell, he should have several suitors in March, including the Eagles — McLane takes a look at Maxwell’s potential fit in Philadelphia.

Here are a few more items from around the NFL’s two East divisions:

While an earlier report suggested that the Eagles rebuffed the 49ers‘ attempts to interview wide receivers coach Bob Bicknell for a possible offensive coordinator role in San Francisco, that’s not quite the case, according to Geoff Mosher of CSNPhilly.com. Mosher tweets that new Niners head coach Jim Tomsula spoke to Bicknell about a job in San Francisco, but that Bicknell wasn’t interested in leaving the Eagles. That has since by confirmed by multiple reporters, including Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com (Twitter link).
Matt Moore hasn’t seen the field much during his tenure as the Dolphins‘ No. 2 quarterback, but he’s still considered one of the better backups in the league, and won’t necessarily come cheap this offseason. As such, James Walker of ESPN.com thinks there’s a good chance Miami targets a more affordable backup QB and lets Moore sign elsewhere.
Jon Machota of the Dallas Morning News identifies the least favorable contracts on the Cowboys‘ books heading into the 2015 season, with Brandon Carr‘s pricey deal topping his list.

Pro Football Rumors Features

January 28th, 2015 at 11:48am CST by Luke Adams

Pro Football Rumors passes along the latest news and rumors on NFL player movement 365 days a year, but those aren’t the only updates you’ll see on the site. On our right sidebar, you’ll find a number of additional features and featured posts. Here’s a rundown of a few of them:

Using your iOs and Android devices, you can use our app to follow the latest stories on PFR, MLB Trade Rumors, and Hoops Rumors. The Trade Rumors app is highly customizable, allowing you to add feeds for any of the 92 MLB, NBA, and NFL teams, as well as for any of the thousands of players in our archives.
With the offseason right around the corner, you can find the full breakdown of 2015 veteran free agents by position using our list, which will be updated throughout the winter and spring.
Since the regular season ended, seven teams have let go of their head coaches, and even more than that are making changes at offensive defensive coordinator. For a full breakdown of all the coaching changes within the last month, check out our trackers for head coaching searches and offensive/defensive coordinator searches.
Several players figure to receive contract extensions from their respective teams between now and the start of the 2015 free agent period, and we’ve identified a number of potential recipients in our Extension Candidate series, which profiles players eligible for extensions and assesses their value. As the list shows, many of the players we’ve profiled have since had their contracts extended.
The NFL isn’t known as a trade-happy league, but by our count, 50 trades were consummated by teams in 2014, and you can find them all on our recap of 2014 NFL trades. Meanwhile, you can keep tabs on traded draft picks for 2015 with our tracker.
The Pro Football Rumors glossary highlights a number of aspects of the NFL’s salary cap, free agency, and Collective Bargaining Agreement. Feel free to let us know if there’s a specific concept that you’d like us to discuss in a future Glossary piece.
We value your input at PFR, which is why we regularly publish polls and have a regular feature called Pigskin Links, in which we highlight a few interesting recent articles from football blogs. You can find our poll archives here and our Pigskin Links pieces right here.
While a handful of our notable articles can be found under the “Featured Posts” section on the right sidebar, the PFR Originals archive rounds up all the original posts from our staff. Recently, we posted the second edition of our 2015 free agent power rankings, looked ahead to 2015’s important offseason dates, and profiled Tamba Hali of the Chiefs as a candidate to be released.

NFC West Notes: Seahawks, Wilson, 49ers

January 28th, 2015 at 10:24am CST by Luke Adams

One of the most memorable moments of the Seahawks‘ Super Bowl win over Denver a year ago was Percy Harvin‘s kickoff return touchdown to open the second half, which essentially put the nail in the coffin of the Broncos’ comeback hopes. Having been sent to the Jets midway through the 2014 season, Harvin won’t be involved in this year’s Super Bowl, but Seattle has no regrets about moving him, as Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News writes.

Here’s more on the Seahawks and one of their NFC West rivals:

Asked about a potentially massive contract extension for quarterback Russell Wilson, Seahawks general manager John Schneider didn’t get into specifics, but acknowledged that such a deal “presents challenges” and could limit the club’s options in free agency. Brady Henderson of 710 ESPN Seattle has the details and the quotes from the GM.
With Marshawn Lynch heading into a contract year in 2015, former agent Joel Corry of CBSSports.com examines the Seahawks‘ options for the veteran running back, suggesting that a short-term contract extension may be the best course of action for the team.
Although the 49ers are interested in adding Eagles wide receivers coach Bob Bicknell to their coaching staff, potentially as the club’s offensive coordinator, to this point Philadelphia has prevented Bicknell from interviewing, according to Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee.
In his preview of the 49ers‘ offseason, Jason Fitzgerald of Over the Cap identifies Frank Gore, Chris Culliver, and Perrish Cox as free agents that the club should make an effort to re-sign, adding that Mike Iupati and Michael Crabtree are candidates to sign elsewhere.

2015 Franchise Tag Candidates: AFC North

January 28th, 2015 at 8:57am CST by Luke Adams

The deadline for assigning a franchise or transition tag on a 2015 free-agent-to-be is less than five weeks away, and we’re in the process of taking a look at players who are candidates to be tagged this year. On Tuesday, we examined the AFC East, identifying the Patriots, with safety Devin McCourty and kicker Stephen Gostkowski eligible for free agency, as the most likely team to make use a tag. Today, we’ll shift our focus north, breaking down the franchise and transition tag candidates for the Ravens, Bengals, Browns, and Steelers….

Baltimore Ravens:

Candidates: Pernell McPhee, Torrey Smith
Odds of being used: Possible
McPhee and Smith are both solid contributors, with McPhee in particular providing plenty of value to the Ravens in 2014 — Pro Football Focus (subscription required) graded him as the league’s second-best 3-4 outside linebacker, behind sack leader Justin Houston. Still, McPhee was only a part-time player, appearing in just 540 defensive snaps, barely over half of what Houston played. For that reason, he may not be the most viable candidate for a tag, but he shouldn’t be ruled out. Smith, on the other hand, can probably be dismissed as an option — his production took a step backward in 2014 after the arrival of Steve Smith, and his 49 receptions and 767 yards were career lows. Kicker Justin Tucker would be a strong candidate if he were eligible for unrestricted free agency rather than restricted.

Cincinnati Bengals:

Candidates: None
Odds of being used: Zero
A few recognizable names, such as Jermaine Gresham and Mike Nugent, are scheduled to hit the open market for the Bengals, but none of the club’s prospective free agents are core players that absolutely must be retained.

Cleveland Browns:

Candidates: Brian Hoyer, Jordan Cameron
Odds of being used: Unlikely
At different points in 2014, the idea of using a tag on Hoyer or Cameron looked entirely reasonable, but both players’ stocks dropped toward the end of the season. If Hoyer is brought back, it would likely be to compete for a starting job, which isn’t worth a franchise salary that could exceed $18MM. The tight end tag will be worth less than half that, but after an injury-plagued and ineffective 2014 campaign, Cameron will almost certainly have to settle for a more modest deal.

Pittsburgh Steelers:

Candidates: Jason Worilds
Odds of being used: Possible
The Steelers used the transition tag on Worilds a year ago, and in his first season as a full-time starter in 2014, he was arguably just as good or better, so it’s absolutely within the realm of reason that the team would do it again. Still, tagging a player for a second time means that his salary will increase by at least 20% (in Worilds’ case, that means a raise to at least $11.705MM), and the Steelers have a handful of other contracts to address this offseason, including a potential extension for Ben Roethlisberger. I do expect Pittsburgh to make every effort to retain Worilds, but the club may push a little harder for a long-term deal this time around, which would increase cap flexibility and the ability to spend elsewhere this winter.

Extra Points: 49ers, Colts, Cooper

January 27th, 2015 at 10:37pm CST by Zachary Links

The impending addition of receiver Duron Carter could have an impact on Hakeem Nicks or Reggie Wayne’s time with the Colts, writes Mike Wells of ESPN.com. Both veterans are about to be free agents. Wayne had his least productive season since 2002 while Nicks had career lows in receptions and yards. Wayne, of course, is taking some time to figure out his future. If he returns for his 15th season, he says that he would only play for the Colts.

49ers coach Jim Tomsula is expected to add Steve Logan to the offensive staff, though it’s not known if he’s a candidate for the vacant offensive coordinator job, according to Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com.
Albert Breer of NFL.com (on Twitter) hears that Eagles wide receivers coach Bob Bicknell is being considered for the 49ers‘ offensive coordinator vacancy.
Alabama wide receiver Amari Cooper has signed with Lagardère Unlimited agents Joel Segal, Chafie Fields, and Greg Barnett, according to Liz Mullen of the Sports Business Journal (on Twitter). Cooper is widely expected to be one of the top picks in the 2015 draft.
Cam Inman of the Bay Area News Group wonders who will become the next offensive coordinator of the 49ers. Rob Chudzinski became the latest candidate to drop out of contention after he agreed to stay with the Colts. Geep Chryst, the quarterbacks coach since 2011, is a leading in-house candidate, thanks in large part to his relationship with Colin Kaepernick. Still, the search continues.
The Ravens are thinking about hiring former Bears assistant Andy Bischoff as an offensive assistant, sources tell Aaron Wilson of The Baltimore Sun. Bischoff coached the Bears tight ends for the past two seasons and has long-standing ties to new Ravens offensive coordinator Marc Trestman.

NFC Notes: Lions, Highsmith, Fewell

January 27th, 2015 at 9:05pm CST by Zachary Links

Throughout the course of last offseason and in the season, Lions GM Martin Mayhew made a plethora of moves to try and improve the team. Some worked and some didn’t and Michael Rothstein of ESPN.com broke it all down. Mayhew hit on some, like wide receiver Golden Tate, who proved to be one of the best free agent pickups in the entire NFL. The same can’t be said for tight end Brandon Pettigrew, however, who was brought back on a deal with $8MM in guaranteed money and hardly used in the passing game. More from the NFC..

The Packers denied Washington‘s request to interview personnel executive Alonzo Highsmith, a league source tells Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com (on Twitter). The Texans were blocked from hiring him a few years ago, Adam Caplan of ESPN.com (on Twitter) notes.
Washington announced that they have hired former Giants defensive coordinator Perry Fewell as their new defensive backs coach, as Adam Caplan of ESPN.com tweets. Fewell replaces Raheem Morris, who was plucked away by the Falcons earlier this week.
Brandon LaFell doesn’t understand why Panthers GM Dave Gettleman rebuilt the roster after a successful 2013, but he’s not dwelling on it, as Joseph Person of the Charlotte Observer writes. “They didn’t give me an explanation for why they did it. They didn’t owe me one,” LaFell said. “I appreciate those guys drafting me and giving me an opportunity to play ball. I love those guys and wish them the best.” LaFell got a three-year, $9MM offer from New England and Carolina chose not to match.
Panthers offensive assistant John Ramsdell is retiring, as Bryan Strickland of Panthers.com writes. Ramsdell has spent 19 years as an NFL coach and 19 more as a college coach.

Minor Moves: Tuesday

January 27th, 2015 at 8:37pm CST by Zachary Links

Tonight’s minor moves..

The Bears signed wide receiver John Chiles to a reserve-future deal, according to Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post (on Twitter). Chiles previously played for the Saints, Rams, and the CFL’s Toronto Argonauts. Chiles auditioned for the Chiefs, Chargers, and Colts this offseason.
The Steelers signed former Ravens punter Richie Leone to reserve-future deal, according to Wilson (on Twitter). Leone auditioned for Pittsburgh earlier this month alongside fellow punter Tom Hornsey.
The Jaguars signed punter Kasey Redfern to a reserve-future deal, Wilson tweets. Redfern worked out for the Steelers, Jets, Texans, and Giants over the last couple of months before landing in Jacksonville.