After addressing a few burning questions on DeflateGate, the Marcus Mariota contract negotiations, and Junior Galette‘s release, Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com takes a look around the rest of the NFL, passing along several noteworthy tidbits from all over the league. Let’s dive right in and check out a few of the highlights from La Canfora’s newest piece…
- La Canfora expects both Julio Jones and A.J. Green to sign new deals before the 2015 season begins, and estimates that both deals will fall in the range of $13MM per year. I’m guessing that figure takes into account their current $10.176MM salaries for 2015, so the annual average of the new money would be closer to the $14MM per year that Dez Bryant and Demaryius Thomas received.
- Several executives around the league believe that Andrew Luck‘s price tag may end up being so high that it puts the Colts in a bind with T.Y. Hilton. La Canfora thinks Hilton’s extension could come in at close to $12MM per year, and some observers aren’t convinced Indianapolis would go that high.
- Jason Pierre-Paul and the Giants will likely come to terms on a one-year contract agreement that features per-game roster bonuses, says La Canfora, adding that New York also hopes to get something out of Will Beatty in the season’s second half.
- La Canfora suggests that Muhammad Wilkerson and the Jets should consider working out a short-term extension – perhaps for two or three years – that gives the standout defensive lineman a nice chunk of guaranteed money and buys the team some time to make long-term decisions on Sheldon Richardson and Leonard Williams. Wilkerson would be “very open” to the idea, per La Canfora.
- Some team executives around the league raised an eyebrow at the Steelers‘ big-money extension for Cameron Heyward. However, Pittsburgh likes Heyward more than a lot of clubs do and was willing to take a “calculated gamble” on his upside, writes La Canfora.
If the Colts are able to lock up Luck, I wonder if they’d use the franchise tag on Hilton? Or maybe they’d see that as too high a one-year cost for someone who might not be considered a true No. 1 receiver.