HEADLINES

Month: January 2025

NFC South Notes: Manuel, Falcons, Olsen

January 23rd, 2016 at 9:08pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The NFC South champion Panthers are set to take on the Cardinals tomorrow in the NFC Championship, and while wait for that contest, let’s take a quick look at some notes out of Carolina’s division:

  • Falcons secondary coach Marquand Manuel turned an offer to become the Jaguars defensive passing game coordinator and will remain with Atlanta, reports D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Manuel, who interviewed for Jacksonville’s defensive coordinator vacancy before the club promoted internal candidate Todd Wash, will enter his second season with the Falcons.
  • In a separate piece for the AJC, Ledbetter examines whether the Falcons should consider reuniting with linebacker Sean Weatherspoon, who’s spent the 2015 season with the Cardinals after five years with Atlanta. The Falcons did offer Weatherspoon an incentive-laden deal last offseason, reports Ledbetter, but Arizona offered $1.25MM in guarantees. For his part, Weatherspoon seems happy with his current situation, but did allow that “part of [his] heart is in Atlanta.”
  • Tight end Greg Olsen is the Panthers‘ No. 1 option in the receiving game, but at one point not long ago, he looked like a middling pass-catcher as a member of the Bears. Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune looks back at the 2011 trade that brought Olsen from the Windy City to Carolina.

NFL Combine To Remain In Indy Through 2020

January 23rd, 2016 at 8:46pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The NFL Scouting Combine will remain in Indianapolis through the 2020 season, reports Mike Chappell of CBS4. The new deal between the league and the city runs through 2017, followed by three one-year extension options, confirmed Chris Gahl, vice president of Visit Indy.

[RELATED: 107 early entrants declare for 2016 NFL Draft]

“We basically had been working on a year-to-year contract,” said Gahl. “The combine and the NFL were seeking a longer-term agreement because of the logistics involved and putting on an event the size of the combine. This allows everyone involved to know the dates are secure and the venue is secure. It allows for longer-term planning.”

More than 2,000 NFL coaches, executives, and other employees (plus about 300 draft-eligible prospects) migrate to Indianapolis each year in advance of the draft. The event, which has become so popular that it’s now aired on the NFL Network, has been hosted in Indianapolis since 1987. Rumors had swirled that the combine could move to Los Angeles as part of the league’s recent relocation efforts, but it appears that won’t happen any time soon.

This year’s combine will take place February 23-29.

Browns’ Joe Thomas Unlikely To Request Trade

January 23rd, 2016 at 7:59pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Earlier this month, Browns left tackle Joe Thomas — frustrated after his club fired head coach Mike Pettine and general manager Ray Farmer — said he would wait to see who the team brought in as the pair’s replacements before making a decision on whether to seek a trade out of Cleveland. Speaking on WKYC on Saturday, Thomas appeared pleased with the Browns’ new direction.Joe Thomas (Vertical)

[RELATED: Browns receiver Josh Gordon files for reinstatement]

“Certainly I love the people in Cleveland. It’s my home. I love the city. I love everything about it. So I definitely want to be part of the turnaround,” said Thomas, according to Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal.

The Browns, of course, have made several staff and front office changes since the end of the regular season, hiring former Bengals offensive coordinator Hue Jackson as head coach (Thomas reportedly called the selection of Jackson “pretty awesome”), promoting Sashi Brown to executive vice president of football operations, and bringing in former Mets executive Paul DePodesta as chief strategy officer.

[Browns hire Ray Horton, Pep Hamiton, and Al Saunders]

At a press conference on Thursday, Brown told the media that he had met with Thomas, and insisted that the nine-year veteran “will be a big piece of what [the team] does moving forward,” an indication that the new regime wasn’t too keen on trading its franchise left tackle. Still, given that a potential deal that would have sent Thomas to the Broncos for a bevy of draft picks reportedly fell through at last year’s trade deadline, it was fair to wonder if the club might attempt to deal Thomas again.

Jets, Ryan Fitzpatrick To Begin Extension Talks Soon

January 23rd, 2016 at 7:00pm CST by Dallas Robinson

After giving up just a sixth-round pick in order to acquire Ryan Fitzpatrick from the Texans prior to last season, the Jets were undoubtedly pleased with the veteran quarterback’s production as he lead the club to a 10-6 record. Appearing on WFAN Friday, general manager Mike Maccagnan said that the two sides are primed to enter contract discussions soon.Ryan Fitzpatrick (Vertical)

“We’re going to talk to Ryan’s people here in the very near future,” said Maccagnan, per Dom Cosentino of NJ.com. “We have time, obviously, before free agency, and we really would like to get Ryan back in the fold. [Head coach] Todd [Bowles] has said that. Obviously, myself and the rest of the organization feel very strongly about this.

“I think it’s a good situation for all of us, and we just have to go through this process, and hopefully we can come to an agreement where it’s fair and everybody’s happy with it going forward.”

As Maccagnan expressed, Bowles has stated a desire to retain Fitzpatrick, and confirmed that the 33-year-old would enter the 2016 season as the club’s starter if re-signed. Free agency doesn’t begun until March 15, and while the Jets can obviously negotiate with their own players up to and after that date, Albert Breer of NFL.com reported last month that New York would probably try to work on re-signing other free agents before Fitzpatrick, because each side has a good handle on the quarterback’s value.

In his first season in New York, Fitzpatrick posted the best season his career, passing for nearly 4,000 yards and 31 touchdowns against just 15 interceptions. After earning just $3.25MM last season, the 11-year veteran should be in line for a healthy raise, and could garner $10-15MM per season.

Chris Culliver’s Remaining Guarantees Void

January 23rd, 2016 at 5:53pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The four-year contract between Washington and cornerback Chris Culliver called for any remaining guaranteed money to void in the event that Culliver was suspended due to his March 2014 arrest, two sources tell Zac Boyer of the Washington Times. Because Culliver was ultimately handed a one-game ban (forcing him to miss Week 2 of the 2015 season), Washington is off the hook for his previously guaranteed $8MM 2016 base salary.Chris Culliver (Vertical)

[RELATED: Linebacker Junior Galette expects to re-sign with Washington]

The 27-year-old Culliver was placed on injured reserve in November after tearing his ACL, so between his injury status and the uncertainty regarding his contract, it’s unclear whether he’ll return to the nation’s capital in 2016. Washington could now release Culliver and be hit with just $3.75MM in dead money (as opposed to $11.75MM had Culliver not been suspended, or his contract not contained void language).

For now, Culliver’s 2016 cap charge sits $9.25MM, and while Boyer suggests that the two sides could work together to lower that figure, a source tells the Times scribe that no such discussions have occurred as of yet. Washington is among the bottom-10 in terms of 2016 projected cap space, so a reworking of Culliver’s deal could hep the club as it enters the upcoming offseason.

[Washington QB Kirk Cousins ranked third in PFR’s latest Free Agent Power Rankings]

In 2014, his final season with the 49ers, Culliver limited opposing quarterbacks to a completion percentage of 50.7% and a 66.5 passer rating when they threw into his coverage, according to Pro Football Focus. PFF’s grades placed Culliver as the 14th-best cornerback out of 108 qualified players. In 2015, Culliver started six games for Washington, tallying 16 tackles and one pass deflection.

For his part, Culliver appears confident that his ACL tear won’t limit his availability for next season. “You know I’m a worker and I’m going to continue to do what I do best,” Culliver told Boyer. “That’s not going to stop me. The progression, and me doing what I’m doing, is there. Things are ramping up for me. I’m walking pretty decently now, and you know, just light things doing on, and like I said, maybe not the OTAs — you might see me in and out — but definitely during the season.”

West Rumors: St. Louis, Chiefs, Kaepernick

January 23rd, 2016 at 4:57pm CST by Sam Robinson

More than a week after St. Louis lost the Rams after 21 seasons, Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon fired back at the NFL, via David Hunn of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Part of the task force that assembled a plan for a new stadium in St. Louis, Nixon charged the NFL with making up reasons to move the team to Los Angeles.

“It was very disappointing that we followed the guidelines, did what folks said, and that wasn’t enough here,” Nixon said. “When you look at everything that was done, we met the guidelines.”

The league countered by noting how much time the league spent helping cities plan their stadiums and “took a tremendous amount of information into account before making their decision.”

Stan Kroenke‘s Inglewood stadium cost has now risen to a stadium-record $2.66 billion, Hunn reports, and Nixon remains focused on trying to recoup the $16MM St. Louis spent on planning for the Rams’ prospective next riverfront stadium.

Here is the latest from the Western divisions.

  • The Chiefs will begin marketing in the St. Louis area in an attempt to reach out to the fans left without a local team by the Rams’ exit, according to Terez Paylor of the Kansas City Star. Although St. Louis is a baseball-centric city, Chiefs president Mark Donovan said the team will strategically go about seeking out new fans on the eastern side of the state that are now without a football team. Believe it or not, Donovan said Indianapolis has reached out to St. Louis about welcoming Rams fans under the Colts umbrella, and the Chiefs are hoping more of their contests will be available regionally in St. Louis now that 16 new time slots should be available.
  • In an expansive look at assessing which free agents the Chiefs will keep and in what order they should address doing so, Paylor lists Eric Berry and Derrick Johnson as the team’s top two free agents to consider keeping. Tamba Hali, Sean Smith and Jaye Howard round out the top five, with Joel Corry of CBSSports.com painting Smith as a highest-bidder defector. “He’s also a guy that was in the worst free agent cornerback market in recent memory (in 2013). Nobody his year got over $6 million a year, so he’s not taking a discount,” Corry told Paylor. … I think he’s wearing silver and black next year. He’s a big corner, and (defensive coordinator) Ken Norton comes from Seattle, and they love big corners.” As for Berry, Corry expects the 27-year-old comeback player of the year candidate to be the top safety on the market and command a guarantee in the neighborhood of those given to Devin McCourty ($28.5MM) and Earl Thomas ($27.72MM). The former agent also notes the Chiefs, as they did with Jeremy Maclin last year, can backload the deal and give Berry around a $3.5MM cap figure in 2016 in an effort to help the team work toward keeping some of its defensive stars.
  • 49ers GM Trent Baalke effectively pumped the brakes on those assuming a Chip Kelly–Colin Kaepernick union’s too promising to pass up, according to a CSNCalifornia.com report. “We’ve got two guys. Blaine (Gabbert) stepped in and did some awfully good things,” Baalke told 95.7 The Game in a radio interview. “Obviously, Colin has done a lot of good things through his career here. And Chip’s looking forward to getting together with both of them, and getting them on the field, and putting them into his system, and going to work.” Kelly’s already reached out to Kaepernick in an introductory manner, but Baalke isn’t ready to write off the 26-year-old Gabbert yet. Gabbert finished his audition with 10 touchdown passes, seven interceptions and a 63.1% completion rate. It marked the only time in his career the former first-round pick connected on more than 59% of his throws. Should the 49ers keep the 28-year-old Kaepernick on their roster past April 1, the embattled quarterback will have a team-high $15.89MM cap number. Gabbert’s set to make $1.75MM in base salary in 2016.

NFC Notes: Eagles, Packers, Cowboys, Lions

January 23rd, 2016 at 3:41pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Eagles were prepared to offer new Giants head coach Ben McAdoo their top coaching job had he come in for the second interview he scheduled, Zach Berman of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

The Giants moved up their interview with their then-offensive coordinator to expedite their process and retain him, but multiple sources told the Inquirer he would’ve gotten the Eagles’ job had he interviewed again.

Philadelphia also did not offer new coach Doug Pederson final say on the 53-man roster like Adam Gase, the Eagles’ initial coaching interview as part of their 10 “Tier 1” candidates, received upon accepting the Dolphins’ job.

Linebackers coach Ken Flajole turned down the UTEP DC job to land in Philadelphia. UTEP had to amend a Jan. 14 press conference to inform that Flajole, the Rams’ DC from 2009-11, would be returning to the NFL instead of guiding the Miners’ defense.

Jeffery Lurie told Berman the regular season’s final week, after he fired Chip Kelly, proved beneficial in terms of communicating with the players on what exactly went wrong under Kelly and how best to re-route the team.

Here are some more notes on the Eagles, along with the latest from other NFC locales.

  • With Pederson saying Sam Bradford “fit perfectly” into the offense he plans to run with the Eagles, Daniel Zangaro of CSNPhilly.com notes in his Eagles mailbag the best course of action for the franchise going forward would be to sign the former No. 1 pick to a long-term deal. Despite an unremarkable season, Bradford will still figure to have his share of suitors if he reaches the market, with the Texans and Browns also in dire need of a quarterback. Bradford threw 19 TDs, 14 INTs and completed 65.3% of his passes in 14 games — the most he’d played in since 2012.
  • Tony Romo will undergo a CT scan this week to determine if he’ll require any surgery to repair his troublesome collarbone, according to a report on the Cowboys‘ website. “We have a pretty good idea, but we’re going to get a CT scan here this coming week and then make all the choices from there,” Romo said. “I think we know which way we’re siding and some of the things. We’ve had exhaustive discussions about it.” In December, Romo discussed attaching a plate to his collarbone to reduce the reinjury risk. Romo said he’ll be “ready to rock” by the time OTAs begin.
  • Lance Dunbar, Rolando McClain and Morris Claiborne should be available to the Cowboys on cheaper, one-year deals, and Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap lists them as free agents the team should consider bringing back. Fitzgerald suggests the team move on from Greg Hardy and consider bringing back DeMarcus Ware on a one-year deal in the event the Broncos release him to clear cap space.
  • The Packers hired Rams running back coach Ben Sirmans for the same position, Alex Marvez of Fox Sports reports (on Twitter). Sirmans will now be traveling from the league’s second-largest market to its smallest. He coached running backs in St. Louis for four years after spending the previous 16 coaching in college.
  • Lions defensive tackle Caraun Reid underwent ankle surgery this week but is expected to return sometime during the offseason, Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press reports. Reid started 12 of the 14 games in which he played, but was hampered throughout the season by the high-ankle sprain he suffered in training camp. The team regularly held its 2014 fifth-round pick out of practice down the stretch as a result. Reid is the only interior defensive lineman guaranteed to return to Detroit, with Haloti Ngata, Jason Jones and Tyrunn Walker‘s contracts having expired.

Titans Rumors: Ownership, Cap, Coach

January 23rd, 2016 at 2:10pm CST by Sam Robinson

Titans president and CEO Steve Underwood spoke on issues the NFL and the organization are having since owner Bud Adams died in Oct. 2013. Although Underwood refuted the notion the Titans are for sale, he did confirm the league and the team are engaged in dialogue regarding ownership status, according to The Tennesseean’s John Glennon.

“The league has never once indicated to us that they are attempting to force the sale. I’ve never heard those words used. I think they’re continuing to work with us on trying to resolve the ownership issues, and in the meantime, none of those things are affecting the operation of the club,” Underwood told the paper.

Roger Goodell has expressed issues with the Titans’ ownership structure, which consists of controlling owner Amy Adams Strunk, Barclay Cunningham Adams, Kenneth Adams and Susie Adams Smith. But Underwood denied to expand on what kind of concerns the league has with the post-Bud Adams Titans brass.

“Those issues are between our owners and the league,” Underwood said. “They don’t have anything to do with the business we conduct here, trying to put a winning product on the football field and run our football team from day to day. They’re not affecting that. … Amy has made it abundantly clear that nothing about our ownership is going to change. I’m not sure how many different ways I can say that. They’re not selling. The team is not for sale.”

Underwood told Glennon the league’s issues with the group have been ongoing since Oilers/Titans founder Bud Adams’ death, and Glennon asserts Adams Strunk’s absence at the NFL relocation meetings in her native Houston furthered this speculation. Underwood, who represented the Titans in Houston, said Adams Strunk was devoting her time to finding a new GM and coach.

Here is some more Titans-related news.

  • The end to these discussions between the NFL and the Titans will involve the league telling the franchise what needs to happen to comply and could produce a demand for the ownership to sell all or part of the equity in the team, Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio writes.
  • Underwood confirmed to Glennon the issue of ownership came up often when the Titans were interviewing head-coaching candidates. “Many of the candidates asked these same questions and I offered them the same reassurance I’m offering now. The team isn’t for sale. It’s never been for sale.”
  • All 10 of the candidates who interviewed for the team’s GM and coach jobs said the primary attraction for the position was Marcus Mariota, Underwood said. “We asked every one of those men what appealed to them about the idea of working here. The first answer we got from all 10 of them was Mariota. That’s a true story, not an exaggeration. The second thing was having the first pick in the draft. The third top-10 quarterback the Titans tabbed in the past nine years after Vince Young and Jake Locker, the 22-year-old Mariota won three of the 12 starts he made before suffering a season-ending injury, throwing for 19 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
  • The Titans’ $40.62MM of cap space ranks seventh in the NFL this offseason, and Underwood identified receiving and offensive line help as the two key issues the team must address. “We’ve got plenty of cap room available and our owner is going to be willing to spend money. [Adams Strunk’s] made that clear to me and to our head coach. I do think we’ll spend money to improve our roster. … We do need to find better protection for Marcus and more weapons to capitalize on his strengths as a quarterback. Those are all areas (new GM Jon Robinson) and Mike (Mularkey) have identified as additions we need to make.” Prior to drafting Mariota, Tennessee took wideouts (Kendall Wright) or linemen (Chance Warmack, Taylor Lewan) in the first round, while signing Andy Levitre to a lucrative deal.

Extra Points: Bills, Thomas, Carter

January 23rd, 2016 at 12:32pm CST by Ben Levine

Some assorted notes from around the NFL (and one tidbit from the CFL)…

  • The Bills hiring of Kathryn Smith wasn’t made to steal headlines. As Vic Carucci of The Buffalo News writes, the team added Smith because they believed she’d help improve the squad. “I hired Kathryn because I believe she’s going to do a tremendous job,” said coach Rex Ryan. “The reason that I think she’s going to do a tremendous job is it starts with everything else. Just like with any profession, you’ve got to have a work ethic, you’ve got to have a passion for it…And I just like the way she is. She’s really all about the team – how she can help and all that. Regardless of the job we’ve asked her to do, she’s done a tremendous job in that and exceeded, I think, what we thought she would do.”
  • Before Ryan hired Ed Reed as the Bills assistant defensive backs coach, the head coach had brought the future Hall of Famer to the Jets. Ryan noticed the way Reed interacted with the younger players, an indication that the safety would make an excellent coach. “And from Day One he walked in, he was trying to make players better,” Ryan told Carucci. “And they knew it and they followed him. I mean, it was the Pied Piper. They just followed him. He took them to film after (practice). His thing was about the preparation after you leave the practice field. We played a lot better. He did a tremendous job.”
  • If Browns offensive lineman Joe Thomas wants a trade, Terry Pluto of the Plain Dealer believes the organization should grant his request. However, the writer notes that the team could use the nine-time Pro Bowler, so they should do everything in their power to convince him to stay.
  • If Duron Carter decides to return to the Canadien Football League, he’ll sign a deal to remain with the Alouettes, reports Gary Lawless of TSN (via Twitter). Carter, the son of Hall of Famer Cris, briefly spent time on the Colts practice squad this season.
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