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Month: November 2024

2016 NFL Draft Results By Team

April 30th, 2016 at 10:10pm CST by Luke Adams

Listed below are all 253 picks of the 2016 NFL draft, broken down by team. You can find a complete breakdown of the draft results by round right here.

Here are the complete 2016 NFL draft results by team:

Updated 7-29-16 (10:30pm CT)

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

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Steelers Sign 10 UDFAs

April 30th, 2016 at 10:01pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Steelers announced that they’ve agreed to terms with 10 undrafted rookie free agents. One UDFA — tight end Jay Rome — was also announced as part of the Chargers’ UDFA class, so there’s obviously been some confusion on the part of either Pittsburgh or San Diego. We’ll include Rome here for now, but he might end up wearing blue and gold.

Extra Points: Cowboys, Lynch, Jaguars, Falcons

April 30th, 2016 at 9:44pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Cowboys reportedly made an effort to trade back into the first round to take a shot at drafting quarterback Paxton Lynch, and though the club ultimately stayed put, Jerry Jones conveyed regret that Dallas didn’t make the deal. “I probably should have overpaid,” says Jones, according to Drew Davidson of the Fort Worth Star Telegram (Twitter link).

Here’s the latest on the draft as the undrafted free agent signing frenzy gets underway…

  • The Jaguars have a fifth-year option decision to make, as the club will have the choice of extending left tackle Luke Joeckel‘s contract through the 2017 season. Jacksonville GM Dave Caldwell says he’ll speak with Joeckel about the option on Monday, according to Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times-Union (Twitter link).
  • “Heck no” was Falcons head coach Dan Quinn‘s response when asked if receiver Devin Hester had been cleared for any activity after undergoing toe surgery in January, reports Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com. GM Thomas Dimitroff said in February that Atlanta will re-evaluate Hester’s status with the club when he’s fully healthy.
  • Pass rush was an area of need for the Colts, but the prospects that appealed to GM Ryan Grigson came off the board early, he tells Mike Chappelle of FOX59 (Twitter link), adding that Indianapolis wasn’t going to allow need to trump its board.

North Notes: Kessler, Browns, Harrison, Bears

April 30th, 2016 at 9:23pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Browns reportedly did not promise a starting job to Robert Griffin III, and it sound as though rookie third-round pick Cody Kessler has a shot to win the quarterback job in Cleveland. “We truly believe in competition here,” Browns executive Sashi Brown said, according to Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com. “We’re realistic about where our roster is at that slot and we want to find a long-term answer. I think it’s as critical for everything we’re going to do here.”

Here’s the latest from the North divisions…

  • The Browns did not know cornerback Jamar Taylor would be available ahead of the draft, said Brown, according to Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal (Twitter link). Cleveland acquired Taylor today for a seventh-round pick.
  • Even if the Bears had drafted a quarterback today, they still would have signed backup quarterback Brian Hoyer, GM Ryan Pace told reporters, including Adam Jahns of the Chicago Sun Times (Twitter link). Chicago wanted a veteran behind Jay Cutler, hence the signing of Hoyer to a one-year, $2MM deal.
  • Steelers GM Kevin Colbert and head coach Mike Tomlin both expect James Harrison to return for the 2016, per Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazetter (Twitter links). “He’s working out awful hard for a ‘retired’ guy,” said Tomlin.
  • Defensive tackle Vernon Butler contends the Lions told him they would draft him if he were available with the No. 16 pick, but Detroit ultimately chose offensive tackle Taylor Decker. Lions GM Bob Quinn denies that his club promised anything to Butler, who was chosen at No. 30 by the Panthers. Justin Rogers of MLive.com has the full details.

Eagles Notes: Bradford, Cox, Front Office

April 30th, 2016 at 8:52pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Eagles haven’t had any contact with Sam Bradford since the quarterback requested a trade, as head coach Doug Pederson tells Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link). Bradford, of course, asked out Philadelphia when it became clear that the Eagles would be drafting QB Carson Wentz No.2 overall. Even after the Broncos selected Paxton Lynch — a choice that seemingly knocked Denver out the veteran quarterback market — the Eagles still have yet to hear from Bradford, per McLane.

Here’s the latest out of Philadelphia…

  • The Eagles will take a “step back” after the draft before resuming their search for a head of personnel, says de facto GM Howie Roseman (Twitter link via McLane). Philadelphia reportedly halted its search for a personnel chief in Feburary, but did apparently offer the job to former scout and current NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah.
  • Defensive tackle Fletcher Cox is a “huge part” of the Eagles’ future, and the club plans to keep him around for the long haul, says Roseman (Twitter link via the Eagles’ website). Reports two weeks ago indicated that Cox and the Eagles are closing in on a long-term deal that contains more than $52MM in guarantees.
  • Roseman thought the Eagles might be able to address the defensive tackle position in the draft due to the depth of this year’s class, but the board didn’t fall in a way that worked out for Philadelphia, tweets Zach Berman of the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Chargers Sign 20 Undrafted Free Agents

April 30th, 2016 at 8:41pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Chargers have become the first club to announce its list of undrafted rookie free agent signings. San Diego has signed the following 20 UDFAs:

West Notes: Rams, Austin, Broncos, Seahawks

April 30th, 2016 at 8:08pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Rams are expected to pick up their 2017 fifth-year option for wide receiver Tavon Austin, but Los Angeles hopes to sign Austin to a long-term extension before the ’17 season rolls around, per Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com (Twitter link). We heard in February that the Rams are intent on extending both Austin and linebacker Alec Ogletree. Bookmark our 2017 Fifth-Year Option tracker.

The draft is still dominating today’s coverage, but life goes on the NFL world. Let’s dive into some more notes from the NFL’s two West divisions…

  • Like the Rams, the Broncos must decide on a fifth-year option — in Denver’s case, it’s for defensive tackle Sylvester Williams, who would command a $6.757MM salary in 2017. Broncos GM John Elway said he’ll make a decision on Williams on Monday, but called the $6MM+ figure a “pretty big number” (links via Troy Renck of the Denver Post and Jeff Legwold of ESPN.com).
  • Though the Broncos‘ next offseason focus will obviously be coming to terms on a long-term deal with Von Miller, Elway says the club also wants to work something out with receiver Emmanuel Sanders and linebacker Brandon Marshall, tweets Renck. Both Sanders and Marshall are both entering the final years of their respective contracts, and Sanders, for his part, recently expressed a desire to stay with Denver.
  • Former Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch still hasn’t filed his retirement papers, but Pete Carroll thinks Lynch is committed to remaining retired, according to Sheil Kapadia of ESPN.com (Twitter link). “Your guess is as good as mine,” said GM John Schneider when asked about Lynch’s plans (Twitter link via Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times).
  • Both Carroll and Schneider said the Seahawks are working on finding another quarterback, and are still speaking with free agent Tarvaris Jackson, tweets Condotta. For what it’s worth, the Seattle duo made those comments before reportedly agreeing to terms with former TCU QB Trevone Boykin.

Bears To Sign Brian Hoyer

April 30th, 2016 at 7:19pm CST by Dallas Robinson

7:19pm: Hoyer’s one-year deal is worth $2MM, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link).

6:18pm: The Bears have agreed to sign quarterback Brian Hoyer, according to Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (Twitter link). A report earlier this week indicated that Hoyer was likely to wait until after the draft to find a new home, and it appears he’s done just that, agreeing to terms with Chicago less than an hour after the conclusion of the draft. It’ll be a one-year pact for Hoyer, tweets Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle.Brian Hoyer (Vertical)

Hoyer didn’t want for suitors after he was released by the Texans earlier this month, as both the Broncos and Jets expressed interest in adding Hoyer to their respective quarterback rooms. Hoyer took visits with both clubs, but both Denver and New York drafted quarterbacks — Paxton Lynch and Christian Hackenberg, respectively — in the first two rounds of the draft. As Ian Rapoport of NFL.com notes (Twitter link), Hoyer and his camp were waiting for the Broncos’ and Jets’ QB situations to clear up before deciding where to sign. New York, in fact, was not in the mix for Hoyer as he neared a final decision, tweets Rich Cimini of ESPN.com.

The Bears signing of Hoyer doesn’t come completely out of left field, as a report earlier this month linked the 30-year-old signal-caller to Chicago. The Bears, in fact, were one of three clubs that had offers out to Hoyer, joining the Steelers and Cowboys as a team that had interest in adding Hoyer as a backup quarterback. Hoyer will head to Windy City to back up Jay Cutler, and he’ll reunite with Bears offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains, who was the Browns’ QB coach when Hoyer started 13 games in 2014.

Hoyer posted the best season of his career in 2015, completing 60% of his passes for more than 2,600 yards while throwing 19 touchdowns against just seven interceptions. After leading the Texans to a 5-4 record in his nine starts, Hoyer’s streak of good play ended in the first round of the playoffs, when he threw four interceptions as Houston was shut out by the Chiefs.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Draft Rumors: Tunsil, Ravens, Cardinals, Bears

April 30th, 2016 at 7:07pm CST by Dallas Robinson

As soon as the seventh round came to a close, NFL clubs immediately begin placing calls in attempts to sign undrafted free agents. While we will be sharing that information eventually, the sudden flurry of activity makes it difficult to track in real time. As such, we’ll wait until teams formally announce their UDFA signings before we post the news (along with accompanying signing bonuses).

Here’s the latest as the 2016 draft is in the rearview mirror…

  • Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome denied a report that his club would have drafted Ole Miss offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil except for a social media posting that showed him smoking out of bong, tweets Jeff Zriebec of the Baltimore Sun. Baltimore selected fellow tackle Ronnie Stanley instead of Tunsil.
  • Bruce Arians says the Cardinals had a grade on a quarterback in every round, but other teams picked the signal-callers in question before Arizona got the chance, as Josh Weinfuss of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
  • The Steelers tried to trade back into the fifth round, says general manager Kevin Colbert, but no other clubs wanted to trade back, according to Mark Kaboly of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (Twitter link).
  • Having lost Brad Nortman to the Jaguars over the offseason, Panthers GM Dave Gettleman says his team would have selected a punter in the seventh round had a draft-worthy one been available, reports David Newton of ESPN.com. Gettleman also relayed that he declined offers to trade up because Carolina is already missing a 2017 seventh-rounder and didn’t want to give up more capital (Twitter link via Joe Person of the Charlotte Observer).
  • The Bears plan to target tight ends in undrafted free agency, GM Ryan Pace told Adam Jahns of the Chicago Sun-Times (Twitter link).

Chargers To Release Mike Scifres

April 30th, 2016 at 7:01pm CST by Dallas Robinson

After selecting a punter in the sixth round of the draft, Chargers general manager Tom Telesco says he called veteran punter Mike Scifres to tell him that he’s being released, according to Michael Gehlken of the San Diego Union-Tribune (Twitter link).Mike Scifres (Vertical)

“He’s a true pro,” said Chargers head coach Mike McCoy. “When people ask what it means to be a Charger, I’ll point to Mike Scifres. Thank you Mike. We’re going to miss you.”

San Diego drafted Texas A&M punter Drew Kaser in the sixth round earlier tonight, so it’s no surprise that Scifres is being cut, given that a club that invests any draft pick in a specialist is likely doing so with the intent of said player making the 53-man roster. Scifres, 35, had been with the Chargers since 2004, having spent his entire 13-year career with San Diego. He suffered a down year in 2015, ranking just 29th in net punting average, but with his record of consistency, Scifres should be able to find a new home before or during training camp.

Scifres was entering the final year of his deal with the Chargers, and was set count for $4.163MM on their 2016 cap. By releasing him, San Diego will clear Scifres’ base salary off its books, leaving the club with just $600k in dead money.

Scifres’ agent said last fall that his client does not plan on retiring any time soon, so unless his plans have changed since that time, Scifres should be on the lookout for a new punting gig.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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