HEADLINES

Month: January 2025

Saints Extend Jahri Evans Through 2017

April 3rd, 2015 at 8:19am CST by Luke Adams

FRIDAY, 8:19am: Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post has the specifics on Evans’ new deal, reporting that the veteran guard got a $5.4MM signing bonus and $9.5MM in total guaranteed money. Evans’ base salary for 2015 was reduced to $1.003MM from $6.8MM, with his cap number coming down to $7MM, from $11MM. Wilson also provides the details on Evans’ new cap hits for 2016 ($8.2MM) and 2017 ($7.8MM).

WEDNESDAY, 10:46am: The Saints have extended the contract of guard Jahri Evans by one year, locking him up through the 2017 season, according to PR man Greg Bensel (Twitter link). The team had needed to create some salary cap flexibility, and Evans’ cap number was a candidate for reduction, so I’d expect the move restructures his deal in addition to extending it.

Evans, 31, had been on the Saints’ books for an $11MM cap hit in 2015, which included a $6.8MM base salary. The club could reduce that number by a few million dollars by lowering Evans’ 2015 salary in favor of some additional bonus money or guarantees.

A four-team All Pro who has earned six consecutive Pro Bowl nods, Evans was viewed as a potential cap casualty or trade candidate this offseason, but his roster spot became safer once the Saints moved Ben Grubbs in a deal with the Chiefs. By hanging onto the former fourth-round pick, the New Orleans line will maintain some stability in the middle, where new center Max Unger will play alongside Evans.

The Bills reportedly discussed a possible Evans trade with New Orleans before the Saints elected to keep the veteran lineman in the mix.

South Notes: Johnson, Bucs, Wootton

April 2nd, 2015 at 10:43pm CST by Zachary Links

The Buccaneers hosted Lions restricted free agent defensive end George Johnson, according to Jenna Laine of Sports Talk Florida. Johnson, of course, was with the Bucs from 2010-2012. The Lions placed Johnson on a low-round RFA tender, which means the Lions have the right to match any offer Johnson receives, but they won’t collect compensation if he goes elsewhere. Here’s more out of the AFC and NFC South..

  • Former Bears and Vikings defensive end Corey Wootton tried out for the Titans, a source tells Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter). Meanwhile, Aaron Wilson of The Baltimore Sun (on Twitter) adds that Wootton auditioned for the Jaguars. Wootton, 28 in June, appeared in 15 games for the Vikings last season.
  • Former Giants wide receiver Jerrel Jernigan recently had a tryout with the Buccaneers, a source told Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). The 5’9″ wide receiver saw just two games in 2014 thanks to injury.
  • Former Chiefs practice squad center Ben Gottschalk worked out for the Buccaneers today, a league source told Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post (on Twitter). Gottschalk caught Tampa Bay’s eye at the veteran combine.

Browns Leaning Towards Giving Up On Manziel

April 2nd, 2015 at 9:54pm CST by Zachary Links

Publicly, the Browns have been supportive of quarterback Johnny Manziel as he works to get his off-field issues in check. Privately, it sounds like they might be thinking differently. In an appearance on ESPN Radio’s Mike & Mike (audio link) on Thursday, Chris Mortensen estimated that Browns officials have “90%” moved on from Manziel in their own minds.

Of course, the Browns added veteran signal caller Josh McCown this offseason, which was a reaction to their question marks concerning Manziel. Also this offseason, the Browns dangled their No. 19 pick to the Rams in an effort to pry away Sam Bradford. Bradford was eventually sent to the Eagles in a swap for Nick Foles since the Browns could not offer a quality quarterback to St. Louis. Mortensen doesn’t see the Browns being able to get Bradford from the Eagles since he’ll likely be their Plan A under center once healthy. On top of that, Bradford wouldn’t sign an extension with Cleveland, so it wouldn’t make sense for them to give up a significant asset to acquire him.

Ultimately, the Browns are very unsure about Manziel’s future in the league and it’s no coincidence that they have searched high and low for alternatives this offseason.

Saints To Sign Joe Morgan

April 2nd, 2015 at 9:51pm CST by Zachary Links

The Saints have re-signed wide receiver Joe Morgan, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter). New Orleans cut Morgan last year but they saw enough in a recent audition to bring him back into the fold in 2015.

Morgan, who has only played for the Saints since entering the league in 2011, displayed big-play ability in his limited action — he has averaged 33.6 yards per catch on 14 career receptions, and 34.0 yards per carry on two career rushes. However, he has also been plagued by off-field issues. Last season, he served a suspension that was handed out by the team rather than the league.

The Saints shook things up significantly after finishing 5-8 last year, but Morgan could be given a chance to be a part of the team’s comeback effort this year.

AFC Notes: Ridley, Jets, Bills, Dolphins

April 2nd, 2015 at 9:42pm CST by Zachary Links

Stevan Ridley‘s Thursday visit with the Jets went long, leaving him to stay in the New York area overnight, Mike Garafolo of FOX Sports tweets. There’s no word of a deal yet, but Ridley clearly has interest in joining Gang Green. Here’s more from the AFC..

  • In today’s mailbag, Vic Carucci of The Buffalo News writes that he doesn’t see the Bills trading for Evan Mathis. While the Eagles are looking to trade the veteran guard, his age and salary would probably be prohibitive for them. On top of that, the Eagles are clearly eager to move him, and that means he could be a free agent before long. The Bills could have interest in Mathis as a free agent, but it’s still not clear how aggressive they’d be in that situation.
  • The Dolphins worked out former Buccaneers linebacker Ka’Lial Glaud, a source tells Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post (via Twitter). Glaud took part in the NFL’s veteran combine.
  • The Raiders should consider an extension for left tackle Donald Penn, Bill Williamson of ESPN.com opines. Penn signed a two-year, $9.6MM deal with Oakland last year and is entering the final year of his deal. Penn showed no signs of wearing down in 2014 and put together a nice bounce-back year for himself.
  • Chargers GM Tom Telesco‘s recent moves in free agency made sense, but he didn’t add an impact player to the defensive front, Tom Krasovic of U-T San Diego writes. Signing Pernell McPhee, for instance, would’ve generated potential upgrades throughout the defense. Ultimately, the Bears took the gamble on the former backup and Krasovic wishes that it was the Bolts who rolled the dice on him.

Reggie Wayne On Interest, Colts, Health

April 2nd, 2015 at 9:08pm CST by Zachary Links

Back in March, the Colts announced that they would not be re-signing veteran wide receiver Reggie Wayne. No. 87 racked up 1,070 total receptions, 14,345 yards, and 82 touchdowns during his 14 seasons with the team, but the Colts ultimately decided to go younger at the position. The 36-year-old, meanwhile, told Mike Chappell of RTV6 that he still has plenty of football left in him. In fact, he says that he’s gotten “damned good” interest from teams, but declined to name them. Here’s a look at some of the highlights from Wayne’s interview..

On his health in 2014:

I was never 100 percent last year. That wasn’t me (in 2014), you know that. In hindsight, Wayne said he probably should have spent the rest of the season on the injured reserve list after tearing his triceps…But I wanted to be out there with my brothers. I felt like I could do something, even if I wasn’t the No. 2 guy. I wanted to help the team even though in some ways I was probably hurting the team.

On not being able to finish his career in Indy:

You want to have that storybook ending, you really do. I wanted to have that here. I wanted it to last one more year, then I was going to shut it down. That’s what I told them, but they told me they were going in a different direction.

On whether he was surprised by the team’s decision:

Was I disappointed? Yeah. But did it surprise me? I’m never surprised in this league. When they get rid of Peyton Manning, you know you ain’t nothing. When you see them get rid of Marvin Harrison, who am I? They got rid of Edgerrin James. But yeah, I was disappointed. Who isn’t disappointed when they’re told their credit card has been declined when they know they’ve got money in the bank. That was me. I knew I still could play, but I had been declined.

Draft Notes: Packers, Pats, Dolphins

April 2nd, 2015 at 8:27pm CST by Zachary Links

Here’s the latest draft news..

  • Maryland nose tackle Darius Kilgo told Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post (on Twitter) that he has visited the Packers, Patriots, and Dolphins. He’ll also visit the Bengals and attend the Panthers‘ local prospect day.
  • Maryland wide receiver Deon Long told Wilson (Twitter links) he’ll attend the Ravens‘ local prospect day on April 21st. He added that he has drawn interest from the Bears and Panthers. Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com wrote about the intriguing prospect earlier today and noted that he has drawn the interest of the Patriots.
  • The Patriots met with Maryland wide receiver Stefon Diggs, according to Tony Pauline of DraftInsider.net (via Twitter).
  • Rutgers fullback Michael Burton worked out for the Buccaneers this morning at RU, according to Dan Duggan of the Star-Ledger (via Twitter). Next up is a visit with the Browns on Friday.

Lions To Sign Brandon Copeland

April 2nd, 2015 at 7:53pm CST by Zachary Links

After impressing at the veteran’s combine, Brandon Copeland has found himself a landing spot for 2015. The Lions will have agreed to sign the linebacker, according to Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post (on Twitter).

With plenty of linebackers on the depth chart, Copeland figures to serve mostly as a special teams contributor for Detroit, according to Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press (via Twitter). Copeland’s speed should serve him well in that facet of the game and he put it on display at the combine when he ran a 4.52 second 40-yard-dash.

Copeland told Wilson late last month that he received interest from multiple teams following his performance at the combine.

“My phone’s been ringing,” he said. “It’s been pretty good so far. I’m not going to say what teams, but four teams have offered me contracts so far. It was definitely successful for me to go to the veteran combine.”

Besides the Lions, the Eagles, Bengals, Chiefs, Colts, Giants, and Titans all expressed interest in the 23-year-old (24 in July).

Seahawks Notes: Schilling, Jackson, Tukafu

April 2nd, 2015 at 7:35pm CST by Zachary Links

Despite speculation to the contrary, Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson reportedly won’t be receiving a fully guaranteed deal. Many believed that Seattle, looking for an outside-the-box approach to keeping their star QB, would give Wilson a fully-guaranteed but smaller overall contract. While they might still give Wilson a great deal of guaranteed cash, the full deal will not be 100% guaranteed. The 26-year-old will be eligible for unrestricted free agency in 2016. Here’s more out of Seattle..

  • Former Seahawks center Stephen Schilling told Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times (on Twitter) that he is retiring. Seattle had talked to the 26-year-old about returning in 2015 to compete at the center position, but he said that he is giving up football instead (link). There was no one reason for Schilling’s decision and he said that his health wasn’t the main reason either (Twitter links). The center started three games for Seattle last year before suffering a season-ending knee injury.
  • Coach Pete Carroll says the Seahawks still hope to re-sign quarterback Tarvaris Jackson, Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times tweets. Carroll has said several times throughout the offseason that he would like to retain the athletic backup. The 31-year-old (32 in a few weeks) appeared in just one regular season game for Seattle in 2014.
  • The Seahawks coach went on to say that the newly-resigned Will Tukuafu will probably have an expanded role this season that will include some time at tight end along with some blocking roles, Condotta tweets. Tukuafu will battle with Derrick Coleman for the majority of the work at fullback.

49ers Looking To Trade Up For Amari Cooper

April 2nd, 2015 at 6:22pm CST by Zachary Links

The 49ers are looking to trade up from pick No. 15 to land Alabama star Amari Cooper, according to Matt Miller of Bleacher Report (video link).

GM Trent Baalke has fallen in love with Cooper, particularly because he is polished, well-rounded, and seems ready to contribute almost immediately. Cooper can play any of the three receiver positions for the 49ers, which would give them a number of options in 2015. San Francisco has Anquan Boldin and Torrey Smith in the fold, but Cooper could be the team’s offseason replacement for Michael Crabtree.

The 49ers, Miller says, have already started asking around about where Cooper is expected to land and they are trying to figure out what it would take to get in that range. In Miller’s view, the Niners would have to get up to No. 6 if he makes it past the Raiders at No. 4 because the Bears (No. 7) would love to pair Cooper with Alshon Jeffery in the wake of dealing Brandon Marshall.

Realistically, that would leave Washington (No. 5) and the Jets (No. 6) as possible trading partners for Baalke & Co. Even though it would cost them quite a bit, Miller notes that Baalke has historically shown that he knows how to manipulate a draft board and he has been willing to deal from a surplus of picks in the past to get the guy he wants.

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