2015 March - Pro Football Rumors

Ravens Rework Webb’s Contract, Re-Sign Cox

March 18th, 2015 at 9:03am CST by Luke Adams

WEDNESDAY, 9:03am: Webb’s restructure will include $5.5MM guaranteed, including a $3MM bonus, a league source tells Wilson (on Twitter).

TUESDAY, 5:00pm: It looks like Webb’s salary may have been reduced to $6MM not just for 2015 but for ’16 and ’17 as well. Wilson tweets that the corner is now due to make $18MM over the next three years.

4:36pm: Webb will see his 2015 base salary reduced to $6MM, according to Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (via Twitter). If that’s the only change to Webb’s contract, it would create $2MM in cap savings for the Ravens.

3:58pm: The Ravens have made a series of roster moves, according to Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun (Twitter links), who reports that the team has restructured the contract of cornerback Lardarius Webb and announced new deals for defensive lineman Christo Bilukidi and long snapper Morgan Cox.

The Ravens reportedly asked Webb to take a pay cut earlier this offseason, and I imagine the corner’s new deal will reduce his overall earnings, rather than simply converting a portion of his base salary into a signing bonus. Webb’s cap hit had been set to jump from $7.5MM in 2014 to $12MM in 2015, which included a base salary of $8MM.

Webb didn’t escape unscathed during a 2014 season in which the Ravens’ secondary was decimated by injuries. The veteran corner missed three games early in the year with a lower back injury, and appeared to be somewhat hampered by those back issues throughout the season. Webb’s season-long grade on Pro Football Focus (subscription required) reflected those injury problems — he ranked 78th out of 108 qualified cornerbacks in 2014 after grading as a top-20 corner in 2013. Still, if he’s back at full health, Webb’s return should help solidify Baltimore’s secondary in 2015.

As for the Ravens’ two signings, Cox has served as Baltimore’s long snapper since 2010, but missed a good chunk of the 2014 season after being placed on injured reserve with a torn ACL in October. Assuming he’s healthy in time for the 2015 season, I’d expect Cox to resume long snapping duties for the team.

A part-time player for Baltimore last season before being sidelined by an ankle injury, Bilukidi played just 47 defensive snaps after being claimed off waivers from Cincinnati. His new two-year deal with the Ravens was reported last month.

Dee Milliner Receiving Trade Interest

March 18th, 2015 at 8:45am CST by Zachary Links

The loss of Dee Milliner in 2014 was a devastating blow to a thin Jets secondary. In 2015, the Jets are deeper than ever at cornerback, throwing Milliner’s role into flux. If the Jets don’t feel a need to keep him, there could be an opportunity to get something of value back as Manish Mehta of the Daily News hears that teams have made trade inquiries on the former first-round pick.

Sources tell Mehta that the Jets have told interested teams that Milliner won’t be given away at a drastically discounted price. For now, the Jets are content waiting for Milliner to get healthy to properly evaluate him as he competes for the No. 4 cornerback spot, but a trade down the road has not been ruled out.

Milliner, the No. 9 overall pick in the 2013 draft, has missed 16 games in his first two seasons due to four different injuries after undergoing five surgeries at Alabama. Three front-office executives of cornerback-needy teams told Mehta that Milliner’s value would probably net the Jets a mid- to late- round pick thanks to his unclear health status. If Milliner can prove himself to be healthy, however, things could change.

Milliner, 24 in September, will count $3.45MM against the 2015 salary cap and the Jets will have $3.8MM in dead money if he’s traded.

Veteran WRs Drawing Little Interest

March 17th, 2015 at 9:49pm CST by Zachary Links

Some receivers have cashed in big this offseason, but that’s not the case for everyone. Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk hears that there’s currently little or no market for some notable names, including Michael Crabtree and Hakeem Nicks. Meanwhile, there has been no buzz over Reggie Wayne and Wes Welker.

Last week, it was reported that Washington had interest in Crabtree while the Chargers appeared to be a “stronger possibility” for the 49ers free agent. Nicks, 27, hasn’t been on the pages of PFR at all over the past few months after a rather pedestrian season in which he caught 38 passes for 405 yards.

Both Wayne and Welker have said that they plan on playing in 2015, but it sounds like they’ve yet to hear much from teams that want to help facilitate that. Wayne, for his part, sounds open to joining up with another contender after learning that he won’t be welcomed back by the Colts.

Randall Cobb, Jeremy Maclin, and other wide receivers have found riches in the month of March, but several others find themselves still waiting by the phone as April approaches.

East Rumors: Eagles, Tebow, Mariota

March 17th, 2015 at 9:30pm CST by Zachary Links

Of the seven new players that the Eagles acquired this offseason, only DeMarco Murray played 16 games last season. The Eagles are taking advantage of spotty injury records to get the most value on his acquisitions, Zach Berman of the Philadelphia Inquirer writes. “We don’t want to bring in injured players, but I think the players that are available, there has to be a reason,” Kelly said. “Some guys are available because it’s a money reason and you don’t have the cap room or you’re not willing to go that high for that individual player, and some players are available because there was an injury.” Here’s more out of the East divisions..

If the Eagles trade quarterback Matt Barkley, Dianna Marie Russini of NBC 4 (via Twitter) hears that there’s an “80% chance” they’ll sign Tim Tebow to replace him. Chip Kelly & Co. auditioned Tebow on Monday. The Eagles have let teams in need of a quarterback know that Barkley is available, Russini adds (link). It helps that Barkley and Kelly have the same agent, she adds.
No one is buying talk that Washington is looking to take Marcus Mariota at No. 5, Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports tweets. The belief is that Washington is looking to stimulate a trade ahead of their No. 5 pick, pushing their desired player down.
If the Dolphins match Charles Clay‘s offer sheet from the Bills, they almost have to give Ryan Tannehill an extension before the start of the 2016 league year, Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald tweets.

Rivers Won’t Consider New Deal Before End Of Season

March 17th, 2015 at 7:43pm CST by Zachary Links

There has been a lot of talk about what a new pact between quarterback Philip Rivers and the Chargers might look like, but it sounds like we’ll have to wait a while to find out the answer. Rivers told Kevin Acee of U-T San Diego that he won’t ink a new deal before his current contract (which takes him through the 2015 season) ends.

“I’m trying to not get too caught up in what I can’t control,” he said. “What I can control is, what I’m doing in March is what I’ve done every March – working out, looking for little tweaks, getting ready to fight like crazy to help us win.”

When asked if anything could change Rivers’ mind on whether he’d consider signing a new deal before the end of the season, he responded, “Honestly, nothing.” Rivers also seemed to change his tune about the team’s potential move to the Los Angeles area, just weeks after saying that it wouldn’t heavily affect his feelings on the franchise.

“What we’ve established here with my growing family is hard to recreate,” Rivers said. “It’s hard to up and recreate that. I know that moves are part of life. But that certainly is fair to say that [not being sold on moving to Los Angeles] is part of it. The good thing is I’m not under contract in a year where we’d potentially be in Los Angeles.”

Rivers isn’t the only one keeping things vague when it comes to the quarterback’s future with the Bolts. Acee asked GM Tom Telesco if he would quash any possibility that Rivers could be traded. The GM declined, only offering up effusive praise for the signal caller. As speculation swirls that the Chargers could go after Marcus Mariota in the draft, Telesco didn’t do much to quell the talk.

Cowboys In Lead For Greg Hardy

March 17th, 2015 at 7:00pm CST by Zachary Links

7:00pm: Hardy is scheduled to take a physical with the Cowboys in the morning, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets.

6:31pm: The Seahawks and Buccaneers are also in on Greg Hardy, but right now, there’s one team clearly in the driver’s seat. The Cowboys are the undisputed favorite to land the free agent defensive end, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter). However, he adds (link) that the Bucs will not go quietly.

Hardy is scheduled to have dinner with some Dallas coaches tonight after spending part of day at Valley Ranch, Todd Archer of ESPNDallas.com tweets. Meanwhile, Nick Eatman of DallasCowboys.com hears that negotiations could get underway Tuesday night with the possibility of a deal being reached as early as Wednesday. Hardy’s docket calls for him to stay in the Dallas area through Wednesday and the possible powwow tomorrow morning could include a physical if things get that far, according to Eatman.

The Cowboys have both Jeremy Mincey and DeMarcus Lawrence at defensive end but Hardy would obviously give a major boost to Dallas’ defensive line. If he comes aboard, Eatman writes that Hardy would step in at right defensive end, Lawrence would likely switch to the left side, and Mincey would serve as a roving lineman with occasional defensive tackle duties.

Both the Bucs and Seahawks have denied that they have a formal visit scheduled for Hardy, but their interest has been widely reported. Hardy, who had 15 sacks in 2013 for the Panthers before missing most of the 2014 season, remains on the commissioner’s exempt list as the league completes its review of his case. Hardy remains eligible to sign a new contract, even on the exempt list.

Hardy made the Pro Bowl in 2013 after he compiled a career-high 15 sacks, and Pro Football Focus (subscription required) ranked him as the second-best overall defensive end in the league. He signed a $13.1MM deal for the 2014 season and wound up playing in just one game for that entire campaign.

Minor Moves: Tuesday

March 17th, 2015 at 5:52pm CST by Dallas Robinson

We’ll keep track of today’ minor moves here, with the latest moves being added to the top of the list:

The Cowboys have signed long snapper Casey Kreiter, according to Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun (Twitter link). The 24-year-old was with Dallas last summer before being waived in August. He’ll get another chance with the Cowboys, but he’ll have a hard time beating out incumbent L.P. Ladouceur, a 2014 Pro Bowler.

Draft Notes: Gordon, Hundley, McKinney, Lions

March 17th, 2015 at 5:39pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Two clubs who could be in need of a running back will meet with Wisconsin RB Melvin Gordon, a consensus top-two back in next month’s draft, as both the Cowboys and the Jaguars have lined up visits with the former Badger, according to David Moore of the Dallas Morning News and Rand Getlin of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link), respectively. The Cowboys, who hold the 27th overall pick, are aiming to replace DeMarco Murray, while Jacksonville, who would probably target Gordon at the top of the second round, could use another back to team with Denard Robinson.

Let’s take a look at some more pre-draft news…

After Jameis Winston and Marcus Mariota, there aren’t many draft options at the quarterback position. One player in the mix to be third QB, however, is UCLA’s Brett Hundley, who says he’s already met with both the Eagles and the Jets, and plans to set up more visits, tweets SiriusXM NFL Radio.
The 49ers lost linebackers Patrick Willis and Chris Borland to retirement in the past week, and they’ll look to the college ranks to fill that positional void. The club will meet with Mississippi State linebacker Benardrick McKinney, who will also visit the Broncos, Texans, and Cowboys, according to Tony Pauline of DraftInsider.net (Twitter link).
The Lions hosted a pair of defensive prospects today, as both Oregon State cornerback Steven Nelson and Oklahoma defensive tackle Jordan Phillips visited the Motor City, writes Tim Twentyman of DetroitLions.com in a pair of articles.

Patriots Eyeing Free Agent Cornerbacks

March 17th, 2015 at 4:49pm CST by Luke Adams

We heard earlier today that veteran cornerback Terence Newman was in town to visit the Patriots, but Newman isn’t the only free agent corner the team is considering. According to Howard Balzer of The SportsXchange (via Twitter), the Pats also hosted Tarell Brown, Bradley Fletcher, and Robert McClain.

While Darrelle Revis‘ departure for the division-rival Jets was the most notable shake-up in the Patriots’ secondary, and will have the biggest impact on the group for 2015, Brandon Browner also departed in free agency, signing with the Saints. In-house options like Kyle Arrington, Logan Ryan, Alfonzo Dennard, and Super Bowl hero Malcolm Butler could be in line for increased roles next season, but it looks like the Pats wouldn’t mind adding a veteran or two to that group.

Brown, Fletcher, and McClain all saw significant playing time for their respective teams in 2014, with Brown (Raiders) and Fletcher (Eagles) logging 1,000+ defensive snaps while McClain (Falcons) played 642. None of them graded particularly well over at Pro Football Focus (subscription required), with Brown placing 75th among 108 qualified cornerbacks and McClain and Fletcher checking in at 90th and 92nd respectively.

Still, Browner (79th) was in that range as well, and the Pats’ coaching staff certainly doesn’t rely on PFF’s evaluations when making decisions on which players to target — no one in this group of free agent corners is capable of adequately replacing Revis, but Bill Belichick and company may find one or two players they like.

Patriots Sign Travaris Cadet

March 17th, 2015 at 4:20pm CST by Luke Adams

The Patriots have signed running back Travaris Cadet to a contract, according to Field Yates of ESPN.com (via Twitter). Cadet, a former Saint, had been eligible for restricted free agency, but New Orleans elected not to make him a tender offer, so the team didn’t have the opportunity to match New England’s offer.

Cadet, 26, saw his first significant action for the Saints in 2014, hauling in 38 passes on 51 targets, totaling 296 yards and a touchdown on those receptions. Although he was listed as a running back and generally lined up in the backfield, the Appalachian State product only had 10 carries for 32 yards.

In New England, Cadet looks like a viable candidate to assume the role played by Shane Vereen, who caught a ton of passes out of the backfield for the Pats. Vereen signed with the Giants as a free agent, and while Cadet likely won’t immediately be penciled in for Vereen’s snaps, New England often finds a use for that sort of versatile running back.

Financial terms of the agreement aren’t yet known, but it will likely be a modest deal. The Saints could’ve kept Cadet restricted by tendering him a one-year offer worth $1.542MM.