2016 January - Pro Football Rumors

Extra Points: Lions, Colts, Broncos, J. Smith

January 8th, 2016 at 9:57pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Now that the Lions have hired Bob Quinn as their new general manager, Detroit coaches are wondering if they still have a job, as Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press writes. Obviously, there will be some turnover as a new regime takes over, but two Lions coaches told Birkett they have not been updated as to the status of their employment.

However, the club’s head coach, Jim Caldwell, might be one of the lucky ones, as a Patriots insider tells Mike O’Hara of Lions.com that Quinn is likely to retain Caldwell for 2016. Detroit’s upper management has been adamant that the new GM would get to decide Caldwell’s fate, and while we’ll have to wait for official word, at least one source thinks Caldwell will get to stay.

Meanwhile, while interim GM Sheldon White was thanked in a team statement, there’s been no indication as to whether he’ll revert back to his old position of director of player personnel, tweets Paula Pasche of the Oakland Press.

Giants’ Jon Beason Contemplating Retirement

January 8th, 2016 at 9:36pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Giants linebacker Jon Beason will require offseason knee surgery which could place his career in jeopardy, reports Alex Marvez of FOX Sports (Twitter link). Beason indicates that he will attempt to return to the NFL in 2016, but if his knee does not respond to rehab treatments, he could retire.

This isn’t the first we’ve heard of Beason’s career possibly ending prematurely due to injury. When Beason, 30, was originally placed on injured reserve back in November, reports indicated that his NFL tenure was likely finished. Injuries are nothing new for Beason, whom the Giants from the Panthers in 2007. While he was extremely durable during his first four years in the league (he didn’t miss a single game), Beason played in just 29 out of a possible 80 games from 2011-15, including only nine games during the past two seasons with New York.

Beason and the Giants agreed to a three-year, $14MM contract prior to the 2014 season, but the two sides restructured that deal before the 2015 campaign, slashing Beason’s base salary by nearly half. Beason would have been able to make up much of that loss via playing time incentives, but he presumably will be unable to reach those goals now. If he does end up retiring, Beason will count for about $1.47MM on the Giants’ cap in 2016.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Lions Hire Bob Quinn As GM

January 8th, 2016 at 9:31pm CST by Luke Adams

9:31pm: Quinn was also named the club’s executive vice president, and will report directly to owner Martha Ford and president Rod Wood, the team announced via press release.

6:47pm: The Lions have announced the hiring of Quinn, according to Michael Rothstein of ESPN.com (Twitter link).

4:23pm: The Lions are expected to hire Patriots director of pro scouting Bob Quinn as their new general manager, reports Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Quinn was one of four candidates linked to the job.

Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press tweets that the Lions say they have nothing to confirm at this time, but that may just mean the team isn’t ready yet to make an official announcement. According to Birkett (Twitter link), Quinn was believed to be in town today for his interview.

Having fired general manager Martin Mayhew during the 2015 season, the Lions had promoted Sheldon White to replace him on an interim basis, and White was one of the four candidates the team was said to be considering for the full-time job. Giants assistant general manager Kevin Abrams and Seahawks co-director of player personnel Trent Kirchner were also in the mix, though Birkett tweets that the Lions never got around to interviewing Kirchner.

Quinn has spent nearly his entire career with the Patriots, having joined the organization way back in 2000. Starting as a player personnel assistant, Quinn became a regional scout before being promoted to national scout in 2008. In 2009, he was named New England’s assistant director of pro personnel, and he was eventually promoted to director of pro scouting in 2012.

Patriots head coach Bill Belichick endorsed Quinn for a general manager job earlier this week, and Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets that Belichick’s support helped Quinn’s case. Longtime Cowboys executive Gil Brandt also likes the moves, tweeting that the longtime Patriots exec will make an “excellent” GM for the Lions.

Per Rapoport, the Lions and Quinn are currently finalizing the details of his contract. Once it becomes official, the new Lions GM will have some decisions to make, including deciding the fate of head coach Jim Caldwell. If Quinn decides to go in another question, it seems likely that Patriots assistants Josh McDaniels and Matt Patricia will be among the head coaching candidates Detroit considers.

NFL Workouts/Visits: 1/8/16

January 8th, 2016 at 9:19pm CST by Dallas Robinson

As teams look ahead to formulating their offseason rosters, they’ve begun to bring in free agents for both workouts and visits. Let’s look at the latest:

Workouts

Chargers (Twitter link via Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle)

Freddie Bishop, DL
Euclid Cummings, DE
Cleyon Laing, DL

Chiefs (Twitter link via Wilson)

Michael Buchanan, DE
Jordan Kovacs, S
Eze Obiora, DE
Alameda Ta’amu, DT

Jaguars (Twitter link via Wilson)

Brandon Fields, P
Marvin Kloss, K
Spencer Lanning, P

Ravens (Twitter link via Wilson)

Jeff Fuller, WR
Eric Rogers, WR (Twitter link via Adam Caplan of ESPN)
Terrell Sinkfield, WR

Steelers (Twitter link via Wilson)

Freddie Bishop, DL
Dexter McCoil, LB
Eric Rogers, WR
Dustin Vaughan, QB

Washington (Twitter link via Wilson)

Cleyon Laing, DL
Eric Rogers, WR

Visits

Cardinals (Twitter link via Wilson)

Toby Johnson, DT (prior to signing with Vikings’ practice squad)

Chiefs (Twitter links via Wilson)

Kenny Cook, WR
Adrian Hubbard, LB

Giants (Twitter link via Wilson)

Jake Bequette, DE

Steelers (Twitter link via Wilson)

Jason Pinkston, G

Titans To Interview Chris Ballard For GM

January 8th, 2016 at 8:41pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Titans are scheduled to interview Chiefs director of football operations Chris Ballard for their general manager vacancy on Monday, reports Tom Pelissero of USA Today (Twitter link). We learned yesterday that Tennessee had requested and received permission to interview Ballard.

Ballard, who just completed his third season with Kansas City, has been an NFL personnel man for 15 years, and was considered a strong candidate for the Bears GM job at this time last year. He’s one of several candidates for the Titans position, joining former Broncos general manager Ted Sundquist, Giants exec Marc Ross, and former Lions GM Martin Mayhew. The club also confirmed today that it had interviewed Jaguars director of player personnel Chris Polian and Buccaneers director of player personnel Jon Robinson.

As the Titans seek to replace Ruston Webster, there’s a question as to how their GM search will affect their hunt for new head coach. As Alex Marvez of FOX Sports notes (via Twitter), it’s a little surprising that Tennessee got such a late start; while the Dolphins, for example, have already completed seven head coaching interviews, the Titans have completed zero, as our head coaching search tracker shows.

NFL Reserve/Futures Contracts: 1/8/16

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

Here are today’s reserve/futures contract signings from around the league. These deals will go into effect on the first day of the 2016 league year, with players joining their respective clubs’ 90-man rosters.

Baltimore Ravens

Jerrod Johnson, WR (Twitter link via Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle)

Miami Dolphins

Damarr Aultman, DB (Twitter link via team)

New Orleans Saints

R.J. Harris, WR (Twitter link via Evan Woodbery of NOLA.com)
Phillip Hunt, DE

Latest On Los Angeles Relocation Talks

January 8th, 2016 at 7:56pm CST by Dallas Robinson

With the league’s owners set to head to Houston next week to discuss and vote on moving an NFL team to Los Angeles, let’s take a look at the latest on the situation:

Owners are highly motivated to move a team (or teams) to Los Angeles, write Sam Farmer and Nathan Fenno of the Los Angeles Times, but that doesn’t mean next week’s meetings will be a cakewalk. Each proposal submitted by the Rams, Chargers, and Raiders has support — but each also has enough detractors to stymie it. The entire situation is uncertain, and the league is hoping that a vote isn’t called for until a consensus is reached. One interesting note: the Times scribes report that whichever team(s) loses out in its bid to move to LA will likely aim to relocate to a city vacated by a club that does get to transfer to southern California.
The outcome of next week’s meetings are “very much up in the air,” a source familiar with the talks tells Mark Maske of the Washington Post (Twitter link). The source also conceded that he has “no idea” what will happen at the summit.
The next step in the process for the three teams involved is to agree to and sign the final draft of “certification” papers that they each received today, per Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (Twitter links: 1, 2, 3). Once each club has signed and returned the documents, the league’s LA committee will make a formal recommendation about one of the projects prior to next week’s meetings.
One key component to the relocation efforts is that clubs applying to move to Los Angeles are not allowed to sue the NFl after the process is complete, reports Jason Cole of Bleacher Report (Twitter link).
Cole also reports (via Twitter) that two NFL teams have presented alternate plans that would solve the three-team race. The Cowboys have submitted a plan that likely includes the Rams heading to Inglewood, while another club is to suggest delaying the process entirely (link).
The St. Louis stadium task force fired back at Stan Kroenke‘s comments about the city, deeming the Rams owner “cruel and unbecoming” in a letter to all 32 teams and the league office. Daniel Kaplan of the Sports Business Journal has the details in a TwitLonger link.

FA Rumors: Brooks, JPP, Gates, James Jones

January 8th, 2016 at 7:25pm CST by Luke Adams

Bills cornerback Ron Brooks is eligible for free agency this offseason, but he technically remains under contract with the team until the new league year begins in March. Perhaps he was reminded of that this afternoon.

Earlier today, Brooks published a tweet that read, “Preciate everybody with the @Buffalobills and the great fans of WNY!!! It’s been a good ride. Sad to leave but business is business.” He has since deleted the tweet.

It’s not clear whether Brooks plans or expects to leave the Bills, or he was just a little premature in assuming his free agency. Either way, with the tweet deleted, we may have to wait until March to find out the fate of the defensive back and special-teamer.

Here are some other Friday updates on players eligible for free agency this winter:

Appearing on The Michael Kay Show, Giants co-owner John Mara confirmed that he’d like to see his team bring back Jason Pierre-Paul. However, he cautioned that it will depend on the price, adding that the Giants “have to see more before [Pierre-Paul] gets paid like the top free agents in this league” (Twitter links via Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News). A report last week suggested there’s mutual interest between JPP and the Giants in having the veteran defensive end re-sign with the team.
Antonio Gates has previously indicated he’ll likely return for at least one more season in 2016, and if he does, the Chargers would love to have him back, general manager Tom Telesco said today, according to Eric D. Williams of ESPN.com.
Another veteran pass catcher, Packers wideout James Jones, says he’d love to stay in Green Bay and finish his career with the team. However, as Jason Wilde of ESPN.com details, Jones acknowledges that he wasn’t necessarily counting on a multiyear stint when he re-signed with the Packers in 2015. “I kind of felt, ‘You’re here on a one-year deal; Jordy [Nelson] comes back next year; they’ve got a bright young star in Davante [Adams], drafted Ty [Montgomery], got Randall [Cobb],’ so my expectation was not to really fight for a contract here,” Jones said. “I’d love to finish it out, but at the same time, we’ll see.”

Hue Jackson Favorite For 49ers Job

January 8th, 2016 at 6:17pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Bengals offensive coordinator Hue Jackson is the “clear front-runner” for the 49ers head coaching vacancy, a source tells Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News (Twitter link). Jackson has yet to even interview for the position — that meeting will take place on Sunday — but the impression is that he is very interested in the job, per Kawakami (via Twitter).

The 49ers’ initial search focused on two candidates: Jackson and Saints head coach Sean Payton, according to Albert Breer of NFL.com (Twitter link). With Payton choosing to remain in New Orleans, San Francisco has apparently turned its attention to Jackson, who cannot interview with the club until the conclusion of Cincinnati’s Saturday Wild Card game.

As our head coaching search tracker shows, Jackson is a very popular candidate on the coaching circuit, having been linked to four of the seven clubs with openings. In addition to the 49ers, he’ll also interview with the Dolphins and Browns on Sunday, and he’s been mentioned in connection with the Giants job.

San Francisco has already interviewed two other candidates — former Eagles head coach Chip Kelly and current Bills assistant head coach Anthony Lynn — but it appears as though those two might be on the outside looking in. The 49ers are also expected to meet with Buccaneers offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter and former NFL head coach Mike Shanahan at some point.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Chiefs Sign TE Demetrius Harris To Extension

January 8th, 2016 at 5:33pm CST by Luke Adams

5:33pm: Harris is getting a three-year extension that can be worth up to $6.3MM, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. The base value figures to be lower than that, and the guaranteed money will likely be modest, but it still looks like a nice deal for a player who had been in line to make the minimum again in 2016.

1:12pm: The Chiefs and tight end Demetrius Harris have agreed to a contract extension that will keep Harris in Kansas City for at least another season, according to agent Buddy Baker (Twitter link). Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com first reported (via Twitter) that the two sides were nearing a deal.

Kansas City’s second tight end behind Travis Kelce, Harris caught seven balls for 74 yards and his first career touchdown in 2015. The 24-year-old took an unlikely path to the NFL, having focused on playing basketball, rather than football, in college. The Chiefs nonetheless took a flier on him as an undrafted free agent in 2013, and after spending a season on the club’s practice squad, Harris made Kansas City’s active roster in 2014.

Harris had been on track to become an exclusive-rights free agent this offseason, so it’s possible the Chiefs just added one more year at the minimum salary to his contract. Details of the deal aren’t known yet, but if that’s the case, the tight end would be eligible for restricted free agency a year from now.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.