2016 March - Pro Football Rumors

Dane Fletcher Plans To Retire

March 9th, 2016 at 3:32pm CST by Sam Robinson

4:32pm: New England officially released Fletcher with a failed physical designation, ESPN.com’s Mike Reiss reports (on Twitter).

4:16pm: Former Patriots and Buccaneers linebacker Dane Fletcher plans to retire, Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald tweets.

Fletcher, who did not play in a game last season, plans to open a gym in Montana, according to Howe.

Last May, Fletcher agreed to re-sign with the Patriots after spending the 2014 season with the Bucs. But the career reserve who started 10 games in five seasons did not suit up for the Pats in 2015. Fletcher tore his ACL in Tampa Bay’s final regular-season game in 2014 and his mom reportedly talked him out of retirement last spring, when he signed a one-year deal to return to the Pats.

The 29-year-old Fletcher opened last season on the PUP list but served as a key special teams player in New England from 2010-13 after catching on with the Patriots initially as a UDFA.

Fletcher made five starts for the AFC champion Pats in 2011 and four with the Bucs in ’14.

Chiefs To Sign DE Jonathan Massaquoi

March 9th, 2016 at 3:27pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Chiefs have agreed to sign defensive end Jonathan Massaquoi, according to Rand Getlin of NFL.com (Twitter link). Massaquoi had spent 2012-2014 with the Falcons but did not appear in a game last season.

The 29-year-old Massaquoi has appeared in 39 career games, starting four, posting 45 tackles and six sacks during his career. He was claimed off waivers by the Titans at this time last season, but didn’t make the final roster and spent the year trying out for other clubs. Massaquoi never signed, but he now has a chance to make the club in Kansas City.

Lions Sign Tavon Wilson

March 9th, 2016 at 3:24pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

The Lions have signed safety Tavon Wilson, Michael Rothstein of ESPN.com reports (Twitter link). Details of Wilson’s contract aren’t yet available.

Wilson, 25, spent the first four years of his career in New England, appearing in 54 regular-season games and logging four starts. He has amassed five interceptions, four of which came during his rookie year in 2012. The Patriots drafted Wilson in the second round. New Lions general manager Bob Quinn was in the Pats’ front office at the time.

Falcons Sign Alex Mack

March 9th, 2016 at 3:21pm CST by Zachary Links

3:21pm: The Falcons officially announced the signing.

“We knew we needed to add an established presence along our offensive line,” said general manager Thomas Dimitroff. “Alex is a three-time pro bowler and is an ideal scheme fit for our offense. We understand the importance of solidifying the center position and we have been able to do that today. We are pleased to be able to add Alex to our roster and believe he will be an anchor to our line.”

12;26pm: Mack has agreed to sign with the Falcons on a five-year deal, per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter).

12:20pm: If he signs, Mack’s deal with the Falcons would pay him an average of $9.5MM, per Peter King of SI (on Twitter). Mack could have made $500K more per season with Cleveland, but he is leaning towards the Falcons because of a few factors, including the presence of offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan.

11:33am: The Falcons are closing in on an agreement for Mack, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com, who cautions (via Twitter) that nothing is done yet.

9:48am: The Falcons are the frontrunners for center Alex Mack, Michael Silver of NFL Network tweets. The Browns, he adds, could make a late push to keep him. Earlier this week it was reported that Atlanta had “extensive interest” in Mack.

Mack voided the final three years on his contract with the Browns earlier this month. Still, he indicated that he would be open to a Cleveland return. Mack stands as the top center on the free agent market and will aim to exceed $10MM+ per year on a new deal.

Mack, 30, has been one of the NFL’s most reliable centers since he entered the league in 2009. The veteran lineman has been Cleveland’s full-time starter since joining the team, starting all 16 regular-season games for the franchise in all but one of his seven NFL seasons. He has also earned three Pro Bowl nods.

Two years ago, when Mack first became eligible for free agency, the Browns used their transition tag on the center, who then signed a five-year, $42MM offer sheet with the Jaguars. Cleveland ultimately took advantage of the right of first refusal and matched the offer, but since the language of the contract included an opt-out for this winter, it was essentially a two-year deal rather than a five-year pact. This time around, the Jags reportedly do not plan on making a play for Mack.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Falcons Frontrunner For Mohamed Sanu

March 9th, 2016 at 3:20pm CST by Dallas Robinson

3:20pm: Sanu will visit the Falcons tonight, ESPN.com’s Vaughn McClure reports (on Twitter), with an agreement possible during that summit. The Falcons were initially offering the versatile wideout $30MM over five years, per Mike Garofolo of Fox Sports (via Twitter). Although Garofolo isn’t certain of the parameters of Atlanta’s most recent pitch to Sanu, he confirms the fifth-year receiver will visit.

3:05pm: A deal is not yet finalized between Sanu and the Falcons, according to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. However, Sanu is expected to visit Atlanta at some point and could sign a contract then.

1:53pm: The Falcons have emerged as the favorites to land receiver Mohamed Sanu, as they’re offering more than $7MM per year, tweets Dianna Marie Russini of ESPN.com (Twitter link). A long list of clubs have expressed interest in Sanu, including the Giants, Patriots, Cowboys, Buccaneers, and Washington.

The Bengals lost Marvin Jones to the Lions on Wednesday morning and it sounds like they could conceivably lose their other top wide receiver to free agency. Jones netted an average annual value of $8MM and it has been speculated that Sanu could command $5MM/year, particularly because of the lack of talent at the position in this year’s crop, but it looks like he’ll garner significantly more than that estimate. In 2014, Sanu hauled in 56 catches for 790 yards and five touchdowns. Last year, however, he saw a dip in production with just 33 catches for 394 yards and no touchdowns.

Sanu earned honorable mention on PFR’s Top 50 List of NFL Free Agents. At the wide receiver position, Sanu was ranked as the No. 7 wide receiver available, behind Jones, Travis Benjamin, Rishard Matthews, Rueben Randle, Anquan Boldin, and Jermaine Kearse.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Bengals Re-Sign Eric Winston

March 9th, 2016 at 3:20pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

Eric Winston will return to the Bengals for a third season, according to the Houston Chronicle’s Aaron Wilson, who tweets that the offensive tackle has agreed to a one-year deal. It’s worth $1.09MM, and features a $985K salary and an $80K bonus.

Winston, a 10-year veteran, joined the Bengals in 2014 and has since made four starts in 17 appearances. The 32-year-old has 141 appearances and 123 starts to his name with the Texans, Chiefs, Cardinals and Bengals. Winston suited up for 13 games last season and made two starts for the AFC North champions.

Dolphins Acquire Byron Maxwell, Kiko Alonso

March 9th, 2016 at 3:10pm CST by Luke Adams

3:10pm: The Eagles have confirmed the trade on Twitter. Maxwell, Alonso and the 13th pick in the draft will go to Miami for the eighth selection.

10:33am: Albert Breer of the NFL Network (Twitter link) confirms that the deal, as currently constructed, would send Maxwell, Alonso, and the 13th overall pick to the Dolphins in exchange for the eighth overall pick. We’ll have to wait until the deal becomes official sometime after 3:00pm CT today, but it doesn’t appear any other picks will be involved.

9:50am: Les Bowen of the Philadelphia Daily News (Twitter link) is one of a handful of writers to report that the Eagles/Dolphins trade will once again move forward as planned.

9:41am: Maxwell’s shoulder has been cleared by the Dolphins’ medical staff, according to his agent Alvin Keels (Twitter link). As such, the trade between Miami and Philadelphia should be back on.

7:36am: Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald stresses (via Twitter) that the trade is “not off” yet. The Dolphins are continuing to gather more information to determine their comfort level going forward, says Salguero.

7:06am: According to Werder (via Twitter), the trade would have seen the Dolphins and Eagles swap first-round picks, with Philadelphia moving up from No. 13 to No. 8. Werder adds, however, that the deal can be considered “dead” for the time being.

7:00am: The agreed-upon trade between the Dolphins and Eagles that will send Byron Maxwell and Kiko Alonso to Miami is in limbo, as the new league year approaches, according to multiple reports.

A source initially told Chris Mortensen and Ed Werder of ESPN.com (Twitter link) that the trade may be off due to concerns from the Dolphins’ side about Maxwell’s shoulder, which he injured at the end of last season. However, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter links) indicates that, while the deal is “held up” as the Dolphins take a closer look at Maxwell’s shoulder, it’s not off yet. Rapoport describes Miami’s examination Maxwell’s health as “concerning, but not abnormal.”

On Monday, the Dolphins and Eagles reached an agreement on a trade involving Maxwell and Alonso, but that agreement was pending physicals. Since no trade can be finalized until the new league year begins at 3:00pm central time today, neither team is necessarily locked into it quite yet.

Still, with both clubs having been pursuing other moves that are somewhat dependent on this trade going through, it would be a major upset if it fell apart — the Dolphins’ concerns about Maxwell’s shoulder would have to be pretty serious.

While we haven’t yet heard what sort of compensation the Eagles will be getting in the deal, it’s worth considering that perhaps news of the Dolphins’ apprehensions has leaked in an effort to encourage Philadelphia to agree to a lesser draft pick in the trade in order to get it done.

We’ll be keeping a close eye on this deal as the day progresses.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Vikings Re-Sign Mike Harris

March 9th, 2016 at 3:04pm CST by Ben Levine

After having signed guard Alex Boone earlier today, the Vikings are further reinforcing their offensive line. According to Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press (via Twitter), the Vikings have re-signed Mike Harris to a one-year deal.

The reporter notes that the agreement “is in the range of $1.75MM.”

The 27-year-old has proven to be a versatile offensive lineman throughout his four years in the league.

The former undrafted free agent served an as offensive tackle during his two seasons with the Chargers. Harris played 12 games at right tackle for the Vikings in 2014, and he started all 16 games at guard this past season. He signed a one-year, $1.5MM deal with Minnesota last offseason.

Harris played 1,097 snaps for Minnesota in 2015, and Pro Football Focus rated him 23rd among the league’s guards.

Photo courtesy USA Today Sports Images

Free Agent Rumors: Saints, Fleener, Falcons

March 9th, 2016 at 3:02pm CST by Luke Adams

A deal between tight end Ladarius Green and the Steelers remains imminent, Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com tweets. The Saints were looking at the athletic tight end as well, but they’ll now turn their attention to Coby Fleener. Fleener is available and less likely to be retained by the Colts after they signed Dwayne Allen to a hefty new contract.

Here are the latest free agent rumors on what has been a crazy day:

After adding one of the league’s top centers in Alex Mack, Gino Gradkowski is not expected to be retained by the Falcons, according to a source who spoke with Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com (on Twitter).
The Jets are exploring the market for offensive lineman, according to Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News (Twitter link). Mehta reports that New York did its homework on tackle Donald Stephenson before he agreed to terms with the Broncos, and adds that J.R. Sweezy is worth keeping an eye on as a Jets target.
Jenna Laine of SportsTalkFlorida confirms (via Twitter) that the Buccaneers are likely moving on from cornerback Sterling Moore, as first reported by JoeBucsFan.com.
After receiving a low-end tender from the Broncos, RFA running back C.J. Anderson has generated interest from “multiple” teams, tweets Nicki Jhabvala of the Denver Post. Denver has the right to match any offer sheet Anderson signs, but won’t receive compensation if he leaves.
The market for Ravens outside linebacker Courtney Upshaw is “not exactly wild,” tweets Charles Robinson of Yahoo! Sports. Upshaw may ultimately return to Baltimore, though the Colts are worth monitoring — Indianapolis’ new defensive coordinator is Upshaw’s former linebackers coach, Ted Monachino.

Giants, Jags Frontrunners For Olivier Vernon

March 9th, 2016 at 3:01pm CST by Sam Robinson

Now that Olivier Vernon‘s a full-fledged UFA after the Dolphins rescinded his transition tag, the Giants and Jaguars are leading the sweepstakes for the defensive end’s services, Jeff Darlington of NFL.com tweets.

There figures to be more teams involved in pursing the dynamic defender coming off a strong contract year, but these two are out in front, per Darlington.

Ranked No. 1 on PFR’s list of free agents going into the 2016 league year, the 25-year-old Vernon is now a coveted commodity by other suitors after the Dolphins opted to sign Mario Williams to join an already high-paid defensive front that features Cameron Wake and Ndamukong Suh.

The Jaguars’ interest comes as no surprise given their league-high cap space, which currently sits at $72.2MM (per OverTheCap), but Jacksonville just agreed to sign defensive end/tackle hybrid Malik Jackson to a deal worth upwards of $85.5MM. Jacksonville also employs Jared Odrick, whom it pried from the Dolphins last year. Jackson and Odrick are currently the Jags’ top two highest-paid players.

The Giants, who as of now possess $47.02MM of cap space, are bolstering their defensive front aggressively as well, reaching agreements to keep Jason Pierre-Paul with the team and Damon Harrison in New York.

This would give the Jags some serious capital allocated toward its defensive front, which houses rookie-contract stalwart Sen’Derrick Marks.

Vernon ranked third overall behind only Khalil Mack and Von Miller among edge defenders last season, according to Pro Football Focus, after amassing 7.5 sacks and 61 tackles. The former third-round pick has 29 career sacks.

Photo courtesy USA Today Sports Images