2015 March - Pro Football Rumors

Texans Trying To Sign Vince Wilfork

March 10th, 2015 at 4:35pm CST by Zachary Links

The Texans are making an effort to sign Vince Wilfork, Tania Ganguli of ESPN.com tweets. Houston is in need of a nose tackle and the veteran is very familiar with Romeo Crennel from their previous time together.

Wilfork, 33, spent all 11 years of his career with the Patriots, playing 158 regular season games for the club, and starting 148 of those. An anchor in the middle of the defensive line in New England for the last decade, Wilfork looked like he may be leaving the team a year ago, before the two sides worked out a new deal to keep him around for the club’s Super Bowl 2014 season.

By turning down their option on Wilfork and removing him from the roster, the Patriots avoided paying a $4MM roster bonus that was coming up, as well as his $3MM base salary for 2015. In total, the club cleared more than $8MM in cap room, reducing his cap hit from $8.933MM to about $867K in dead money.

Eagles, DeMarco Murray Have Mutual Interest

March 10th, 2015 at 4:34pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

The running back position has been one of the biggest stories of the Eagles’ offseason so far, and it appears it’s going to get even more interesting. According to ESPN’s Adam Caplan, the Eagles and the best free agent back available, DeMarco Murray, have mutual interest.

The Eagles are all too familiar with Murray from his four years as a member of the NFC East rival Cowboys, with whom he eclipsed the 1,000-yard plateau the previous two seasons. Murray especially dazzled in 2014, amassing NFL bests in rushing attempts (392), yards (1,845) and touchdowns (13, tied with Seattle’s Marshawn Lynch). Those numbers will certainly help Murray in his quest to earn a big contract, and it might come with a Philadelphia team looking to fill a big void in its backfield.

After a weeklong waiting period, the Eagles completed a trade that sent four-time 1,000-yard rusher LeSean McCoy to Buffalo for linebacker Kiko Alonso on Tuesday. McCoy spent the first six years of his career in Philly and made three Pro Bowls, but head coach and personnel czar Chip Kelly elected to move in another direction. That direction was supposed to lead Kelly to longtime 49er Frank Gore, but the 10-year veteran reneged on a deal with the Eagles and is leaning toward signing with the Colts.

Now, with the Eagles having dealt McCoy and swung and missed on Gore, they turn their attention to Murray. It’ll undoubtedly cost the Eagles a significant amount of money to sign Murray, whom other teams are chasing. Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reported Tuesday that the Cardinals, Jaguars and Buccaneers are possible landing spots for the 27-year-old, while Todd Archer of ESPN.com wrote that the Cowboys are still in play. Per Archer, the Cowboys spoke to Murray’s agent, Bill Johnson, on Monday night. Nevertheless, Murray has since become a free agent and he might end up trading one NFC East team’s uniform for another.

Knighton Won’t Sign With Raiders, Broncos

March 10th, 2015 at 4:30pm CST by Zachary Links

The Raiders appeared to be nearing a deal for Terrance Knighton, but that’s no longer the case. The free agent defensive tackle told Josina Anderson of ESPN.com (via Twitter) that things didn’t work out between him and Oakland.

“The Raiders made me an offer but it’s not close to what I was looking for. So as of right now the Raiders and Broncos are out of the race. A lot of people had me going to the Raiders because of Jack Del Rio, but I’m now focusing on a few other teams right now,” Knighton told Anderson.

When Luke Adams listed PFR’s top 50 free agents recently, he ranked Pot Roast 16th on our list. The six-year veteran was an integral part of a Broncos team that had the league’s second-best run defense in 2014, and Pro Football Focus (subscription required) rated Knighton 12th among 81 qualifying D-tackles last season.

Pot Roast started drawing “serious interest” from a handful of teams, including the Raiders, Colts, Bears, and Washington, once Ndamukong Suh came off the board. Oakland has also long been viewed as a logical landing spot thanks to the Del Rio connection, but Knighton shot that notion down hard with his comments today.

Jets Release Percy Harvin

March 10th, 2015 at 4:30pm CST by Luke Adams

4:30pm: The Jets have confirmed the transaction, making it official.

TUESDAY, 8:30am: The Jets will officially release Harvin today, tweets Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News.

FRIDAY, 2:31pm: Confirming what most observers suspected even before the Jets agreed to acquire Brandon Marshall from the Bears earlier today, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports (via Twitter) that New York is expected to release Percy Harvin.

There’s no real urgency for the team to make the move official — as long as Harvin is no longer on the roster as of March 19, the Jets will give Seattle a sixth-round pick instead of a fourth-rounder. I expect the team to finalize Harvin’s release sooner rather than later though, to allow him to hit the open market and to free up cap room.

Harvin, 26, was acquired by the Jets from the Seahawks back in October in the most surprising in-season trade of 2014. However, the veteran receiver and return man didn’t have a huge impact in New York, totaling 29 receptions for 350 yards and a touchdown in his eight games with the Jets. Harvin also averaged just 24.8 yards per kick return, with no TDs.

With no dead money left on his contract, the Jets will clear Harvin’s entire $10.5MM base salary from their books by cutting him, which will also wipe out the remaining four years on his contract. Recent reports have suggested the Jets may have been open to retaining the former first-round pick at a reduced rate, but that Harvin isn’t interested in taking a pay cut, since he’s confident he’ll do well on the open market.

The draft pick the Jets send to the Seahawks in the deal for Harvin is contingent on whether or not he remains on the roster, so cutting him will ensure the team keeps its fourth-round pick, giving up its sixth-rounder instead. New York also appears set to part ways with its fifth-round pick in the trade with the Bears for Marshall, who will replace Harvin on the club’s wide receiver depth chart.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Lions To Re-Sign Josh Bynes

March 10th, 2015 at 4:26pm CST by Zachary Links

4:26pm: It’s a two-year deal, according to Tim Twentyman of DetroitLions.com.

4:05pm: Josh Bynes has agreed to a new deal with the Lions, according to agent Chad Speck (on Twitter).

Bynes, a restricted free agent, was not tendered an offer by the Lions. Nonetheless, the Lions informed Bynes that they’d still like to re-sign him and they’ve presumably struck a deal at a rate closer to the minimum salary. Bynes, 25, appeared in 26 games for the Ravens from 2011 through 2014 and made nine starts along the way. He began the season on the Ravens’ taxi squad, but the Lions signed him to their active roster in late September.

In total, Bynes recorded 79 tackles and five pass deflections for Baltimore. Last season in Detroit, Bynes recorded 23 total tackles, one fumble recovery, one pass deflection, and one interception across 13 games.

Bills Preparing For Run At Charles Clay

March 10th, 2015 at 4:26pm CST by Luke Adams

4:26pm: Clay will in fact be visiting the Bills, according to Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald (via Twitter). Buffalo will attempt to structure its offer sheet to Clay so that it’s difficult for the Dolphins to match, adds Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link). In fact, the Bills value Clay so highly that they’d be happy with landing him and little else, tweets Tim Graham of the Buffalo News.

2:14pm: The Bills plan to prepare the strongest possible offer sheet for Clay, tweets Vic Carucci of the Buffalo News, adding that the Browns are also interested in Clay.

7:20am: The transition tag isn’t expected to stop the Bills from making a run at tight end Charles Clay, says Mike Garafolo of Fox Sports (via Twitter). Clay, who received the one-year transition tender worth $7.071MM from the Dolphins last week, is still free to negotiate with other teams starting this afternoon, and according to Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (via Twitter), Buffalo is preparing to make the tight end an offer.

While that offer could come as soon as today, Garafolo (via Twitter) cautions that things may not play out quite that quickly. For an unrestricted free agent, teams will race to get him to put pen to paper to finalize a deal, but for a transition player, the Dolphins will have five days to match any offer sheet, so there’s no rush to get anything done immediately. Garafolo expects the Bills to try to bring Clay in for a visit later this week.

In other Bills-related news, La Canfora notes that the team also hopes to sign former Vikings fullback Jerome Felton, who is a free agent this winter. With former Niners offensive coordinator Greg Roman ready to take over control of Buffalo’s offense, the Bills are expected to add some sort of fullback this offseason, whether it’s Felton or someone else.

Finally, speaking of San Francisco, Vic Carucci of the Buffalo News adds (via Twitter) that – despite multiple reports to the contrary – the Bills weren’t actually among the teams pursuing former Niners guard Mike Iupati, who is expected to sign with the Cardinals.

NFL Investigating Pre-FA Deals

March 10th, 2015 at 4:22pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The NFL has sent a memo to all 32 clubs instructing them to hold on to their phone records, indicating that the league will investigate any tampering that occurred during the three-day tampering window, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN (Twitter link).

Clubs were allowed to use Saturday through Monday to negotiate with player agents, but no deals were supposed to have been agreed to until today. Of course, given the flurry of news of pending deals that broke over the weekend, teams obviously didn’t adhere to that rule. Clubs have ignored those guidelines in years past, but the amount of big-name free agents who reportedly agreed to contracts over the weekend was particularly egregious.

We heard yesterday that the league had sent out a similar memo, voicing its displeasure with the amount of contact between teams and players. Today’s second memo indicates that perhaps the NFL could look to actually penalize teams who were found to have acted outside the spirit of the law.

Dolphins Release Shelley Smith

March 10th, 2015 at 4:21pm CST by Zachary Links

5:15pm: The team confirmed Smith’s release on its Twitter account.

4:21pm: The Dolphins have released offensive lineman Shelley Smith, according to Field Yates of ESPN.com (on Twitter). Smith was due to make $2.75MM in 2015.

Smith did not have a banner year in 2014. The guard, 28 in May, graded out as a being rather below average according to the advanced metrics compiled at Pro Football Focus (subscription required), turning in an overall score of -10.1. Smith finished the year ranked as the 54th best guard in the league out of 78 qualified players. That’s a step back from 2013, when Smith finished with a grade of 7.2, good for 25th amongst all qualified guards.

Panthers Release DeAngelo Williams

March 10th, 2015 at 4:16pm CST by Luke Adams

MARCH 10th, 4:16pm: The Panthers officially announced that Williams has been released. The running back will be designated as a post-June 1st cut, which will save Carolina about $2MM against the cap, according to Joe Person of the Charlotte Observer (on Twitter).

FEBRUARY 23rd, 3:49pm: While Williams’ release looks inevitable, the Panthers may not make it official for a little while. As Joel Corry of CBSSports.com points out (via Twitter), Carolina would have to wait until the new league year begins on March 10 if the team wants to designate the running back as a post-June 1 cut.

2:45pm: Williams’ release isn’t official, a Panthers spokesman tells David Newton of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Of course, considering the running back himself announced it, it seems like a good bet that it will become official soon enough.

2:10pm: The Panthers have parted ways with longtime running back DeAngelo Williams, according to Molly Grantham of WBTV. Williams himself confirmed to Grantham that he was cut by the club last week during a meeting with Carolina head coach Ron Rivera and GM Dave Gettleman.

“We sat down and [they] told me ‘The fact of the matter is we’re going to have to release you,'” Williams said. “I said you know, ‘Why?’ and he said, ‘Because we don’t run the ball enough. Just like you said back before the season started, we don’t run the ball enough to keep you and both [Jonathan Stewart], so we’re going to release you.'”

Williams, a former first-round pick, is coming off the worst season of his career, one marred by injuries. The 31-year-old played only six games, and wasn’t productive when he did play, averaging a career-low 3.5 yards per carry on 62 total attempts. The Panthers had been prepared to head into the 2015 league year with three running backs among their top 10 cap numbers — Stewart, Williams, and Mike Tolbert counted for about $18MM combined, so the team had been expected to make some sort of move to address that situation.

With three years still left on his contract, including two void years, Williams would count for $6.6MM against Carolina’s cap in 2015 if the team doesn’t designate him as a post-June 1 cut. I’d expect Williams to be treated as a post-June 1 cut, allowing the Panthers to spread his cap hit over two seasons. If the team does that, the veteran running back will count for about $4.33MM in dead money on the ’15 cap, creating $2MM in cap savings.

For his part, Williams – who is eligible to sign with another team as soon as the move is official – recognizes that the Panthers are making a business decision, and says he’s not upset by the move.

“I don’t feel bitter at all. [Stewart] had the hot hand at the end of the season. He’s a great running back, obviously. I don’t feel bitter at all. It’s a business,” Williams said. “And that business comes back and reminds us year after year – whether it be Steve Smith, whether it be Jordan Gross, whether it be myself – it’s going to happen to every guy in that locker room, so it doesn’t bother me at all.”

Colts Sign Trent Cole

March 10th, 2015 at 4:12pm CST by Zachary Links

4:12pm: Following a couple hours of uncertainty, a deal has been agreed upon. ESPN’s Adam Caplan reports that the Colts will sign Cole to a two-year deal worth $16MM, with $8MM guaranteed (via NFL on ESPN’s Twitter).

2:27pm: As of this minute, a source tells Josina Anderson of ESPN.com (on Twitter) that there’s “nothing done at all.”

11:49am: Despite additional confirmation from Mike Wells of ESPN.com (Twitter link) that Cole plans to sign with the Colts, Stephen Holder of the Indianapolis Star and Adam Caplan of ESPN.com (Twitter links) both say it’s not quite done yet, and that other teams may still be in the mix.

11:17am: The Colts will sign pass rusher Trent Cole, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). Cole, 32, was released by the Eagles earlier this month.

Cole, 32, was been a fixture on the Eagles’ defense since being selected by the club in the fifth round of the 2005 draft. During his 10 years in Philadelphia, Cole has played 155 games (145 starts), racking up 85.5 sacks, 569 tackles, and 19 forced fumbles. After posting six consecutive seasons with eight or more sacks from 2006 to 2011, Cole’s production has fallen off in recent years — he has just 17.5 sacks since 2012.

The advance metrics at Pro Football Focus (subscription required) Cole still ranked as the 19th best outside linebacker in a 3-4 scheme in 2014. That’s not as favorable as, say, his No. 7 ranking in 2013, but Cole has shown that he is still very productive.

As the Colts appear set to sign Frank Gore and possibly steal Andre Johnson away from the Eagles as well, they probably shouldn’t expect a Christmas card from Chip Kelly this year.