2016 June - Pro Football Rumors

Month: November 2024

Stedman Bailey Clears Waivers

June 8th, 2016 at 7:44pm CST by Dallas Robinson

WEDNESDAY, June 8: Bailey has officially cleared waivers and will revert to the team’s non-football injury list, according to Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com (via Twitter).

TUESDAY, June 7: The Rams have waived receiver Stedman Bailey with a non-football injury designation, according to Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter link). Bailey, of course, is still recovering after being shot in the head last fall, and Los Angeles would like to keep the 25-year-old in the organization in a non-playing capacity.

That will only happen in Bailey clears waivers, but given that his NFL career is unlikely to resume any time soon, he is likely to go through the waiver process unclaimed. Being waived with an NFI designation is similar to being waived with an injured designation, in that the club will keep the player if he isn’t claimed by another team. As Jason Fitzgerald of Over the Cap explains, most players on the NFI list aren’t compensated, or are paid at a lesser rate, but it’s fair to assume that the Rams are taking care of Bailey.

Though Rams head coach Jeff Fisher has said that Bailey’s NFL career is likely finished, Bailey hasn’t been willing to accept that outcome, and has met with doctors as part of the “evaluation process” in recent months. Bailey, a former third-round pick, has been attending Los Angeles’ OTAs as a spectator, but with reports indicating that he wouldn’t be cleared for the 2016 season, it made sense for the Rams to open up his roster spot.

Los Angeles made a handful of other roster moves today, cutting defensive lineman Doug Worthington, linebacker Zach Hodges, and wide receiver Kain Colter, Wilson reports (Twitter link).

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Latest On Colts, Andrew Luck

June 8th, 2016 at 7:23pm CST by Zachary Links

7:23pm: Irsay would be “surprised” if Luck’s extension is not completed by the start of training camp, as Mike Wells of ESPN.com writes. Wells further reports that Irsay still believes the deal could be consummated as early as July 4.

12:05pm: The Colts and quarterback Andrew Luck are on track to complete a massive multi-year extension at some point in July, sources tell Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. The two sides have been talking since February about a deal that would likely make Luck the highest-paid player in NFL history.

Right now, Joe Flacco currently holds that distinction with a deal that pays him $22.13MM/year. Rapoport surmises that Luck’s deal could reach the $25MM/year mark, an expectation shared by others in football. As of this writing, Luck is slated to make $16.155MM if he plays out his fifth-year option in 2016. If no deal is reached, the Colts could retain luck with the exclusive franchise tags in 2017 and 2018 at estimated salaries of $25MM and $35MM. With those numbers in mind, Rapoport suggests that a three-year, $76MM figure may serve as the basis for negotiations.

In a surprising twist, Rapoport hears that Colts owner Jim Irsay originally wanted Luck under contract for ten years, which would effectively be a lifetime contract. However, the organization has since backed down from that timeframe and settled on a more realistic five-or-six-year offer.

The former No. 1 overall pick completed just 55% of his passes in his fourth season. Prior to that, however, Luck led the NFL with 40 touchdown passes in 2014. Since going 2-14 in the bridge year between Manning and Luck, the Colts posted three consecutive 11-5 seasons between 2012 and 2014. In 2015, the Colts went 8-8 as Luck spent much of the year on the sidelines.

In March, Irsay mentioned July 4 as a target date for getting a contract extension done with his star quarterback.

Photo courtesy USA Today Sports Images.

Steelers Sign First-Round Pick Artie Burns

June 8th, 2016 at 6:46pm CST by Sam Robinson

6:46pm: Burns will receive a $5.2MM signing bonus to go along with his No. 25 slot-mandated $9.59MM deal over four years, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com reports.

4:36pm: The Steelers agreed to terms with their first-round pick, cornerback Artie Burns, and now have signed six of their seven 2016 selections to their rookie contracts, James Palmer of NFL.com reports.

Third-round defensive tackle Javon Hargrave remains unsigned, as do several third-rounders due to the complex nature of their negotiations.

As for Burns, he’ll be a participant in Pittsburgh’s mandatory minicamp set for June 14-16. The rookie corner will be tasked with contributing immediately to a secondary that resided as one of the few weak points on a talented team last season.

The Steelers don’t possess much experience beyond William Gay, although Ross Cockrell graded out well, according to Pro Football Focus last season. Pittsburgh has not elected to re-sign UFA Brandon Boykin and did not receive any contribution from 2015 rookie Senquez Golson after an injury sidelined him for the entire season.

An early-entry draftee from Miami, Burns led all ACC defenders with six interceptions last season. Burns also represents the first corner the franchise selected in the first round since Chad Scott in 1997.

Photo courtesy USA Today Sports Images.

Minor NFL Transactions: 6/8/16

June 8th, 2016 at 6:35pm CST by Zachary Links

Today’s minor moves:

The Redskins parted ways with tight end Michael Cooper, Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle reports (on Twitter). Cooper made 19 career catches with the Hoosiers from 2012-15.
Following the Panthers‘ signing of Mike Scifres on Tuesday, the team cut punter Michael Palardy, Wilson tweets. A UDFA in 2014, Palardy spent time with the Raiders and Panthers in his career.
The Buccaneers waived rookie UDFA wideout Dez Stewart off their injury reserve with a likely injury settlement, Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times reports (on Twitter).
The Cowboys announced that they have signed former Olympian (and hopeful defensive lineman) Lawrence Okoye. In addition to the former discus athlete, Dallas signed linebacker Brandon Hepburn and tackle Bryan Witzmann, Wilson tweets. To make room, defensive end Caleb Azubike, linebacker Jerrell Harris and tackle Justin Renfrow were waived, Wilson tweets. A former Lions seventh-round pick in 2013, Hepburn has not seen action in a game but spent time with the Lions and Eagles in the past three years. He resided on Philadelphia’s IR in 2015. Okoye represented Great Britain in the 2012 London Summer Games, advancing to the event’s final round and finishing 12th.
The Steelers cut pass-rusher Kevin Anderson and signed linebacker Mike Reilly, Wilson tweets. Originally a UDFA with the Browns in 2015, Reilly didn’t make the roster out of training camp and signed a subsequent reserve/futures deal with the Cardinals at this year’s outset. However, the Cards released him in May after signing its new crop of UDFAs.

Von Miller Notes: Wednesday

June 8th, 2016 at 6:19pm CST by Sam Robinson

An offseason spent making the media rounds and dancing in various costumes gave way to some firm contract talks for Von Miller on Wednesday. The Broncos offered their superstar pass-rusher a six-year, $114.5MM contract only to see the sixth-year linebacker turn it down. The team quickly pulled the offer.

As for what’s next: Miller could be the first Bronco in the John Elway era to play a season on a franchise tag, albeit an exclusive tag that rose from $14.13MM to $14.26MM after the RFA period closed on April 22 (Joel Corry of CBSSports.com tweets), or come to grips with the fact that the Broncos probably aren’t going to increase that offer much.

Denver’s proposal, which contained $39.8MM in fully guaranteed money, surpassed Ndamukong Suh‘s 2015 Dolphins pact in total value and would make the 27-year-old Miller the highest-paid defender. Miller may, however, be angling for an increase in full guarantees — Suh’s deal contained $59.5MM in full guarantees, far more than elite quarterbacks received on their recent extensions — and could push for the Broncos to inflate those figures past three years’ worth of franchise tags, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk writes.

The 2017 tag would pay Miller $16.92MM, with the ’18 tag at $24.36MM, per Florio, for a three-year total of $55.38MM. Miller’s team has not leaked its demands yet, although we heard earlier this offseason Miller wanted a $22MM-AAV deal that compared to the top-flight QB extensions. However, as Corry points out (on Twitter), Aaron Rodgers, Joe Flacco and Marcell Dareus. received $44.5MM, $44MM and $42.9MM, respectively, upon signing their mammoth accords, so it’s unlikely the Broncos pay the Suh price at signing for a player with whom they have exclusive negotiating rights as opposed to Miami’s situation with then-UFA Suh.

Elway’s used the franchise tag on three players since becoming GM in 2011 — Matt Prater in 2012, Ryan Clady in ’13 and Demaryius Thomas last year — and each agreed to extensions before the July 15 deadline, Thomas doing so on July 15, 2015. That’s probably where this is headed.

Here’s the latest on Miller.

Corry argues the Broncos should permit the third year of Miller’s deal become fully guaranteed in February of the second year as is the case in Thomas’ contract (Twitter link). Thomas signed a five-year, $70MM last summer and is the only current Bronco set to make more than Miller this season in the form of a $15.2MM cap number. Thomas received $35MM guaranteed at signing. Corry maintains (on Twitter) there sufficient framework exists for the Broncos and Miller to find common ground by July 15.
The lack of a franchise quarterback salary on Denver’s books for what could be as long as four years helps the Broncos be able to frontload Miller’s deal, Charles Robinson of Yahoo.com writes. The Broncos commonly use this tactic to avoid high guarantees in veterans’ later years — as is the case in Aqib Talib‘s six-year deal, which will pay out most of the remaining guarantees in Year 3 this fall. They stand to possess an NFL-most $65.3MM in cap space in 2017, so deals for Miller, Brandon Marshall and Emmanuel Sanders aren’t unrealistic. Not paying Brock Osweiler $18MM+ per year and instead drafting Paxton Lynch provides an opening for more veteran extensions.

Bears Place Manny Ramirez On Reserve/Retired List

June 8th, 2016 at 5:22pm CST by Sam Robinson

Signed as a possible starter for the Bears this season upon arriving in Chicago in March, Manny Ramirez doesn’t look set to venture into that position this season. The Bears placed the veteran interior lineman on the reserve/retired list, the team announced, on Twitter.

Ramirez signed a one-year deal with the Bears in late March to join a then-crowded collection of interior blockers, along with Hroniss Grasu, Matt Slauson and Ted Larsen. The team then drafted Cody Whitehair in the second round.

Now, however, a Larsen-Grasu-Whitehair trio manning the middle of Chicago’s line looks much more likely after the release of Slauson and Ramirez’s retirement.

Last week, Ramirez told Patrick Finley of the Chicago Sun-Times (Twitter link) he was eager to push Grasu for the starting center position, but that’s a job the second-year player now looks to have sewn up after the departures of Slausen and Ramirez.

The former fourth-round Lions draft choice in 2007 played for eight seasons and turned 33 in February. His best season came for the record-setting 2013 Broncos, who started him at center, where he became a top-10 performer at the spot in the opinion of Pro Football Focus. The Broncos, however, moved him to guard in 2014, when he did not play as well, and traded him back to Detroit the following spring as part of the deal that allowed Denver to move up to draft Shane Ray.

With the Lions, though, Ramirez graded well, per PFF, and looked like a potential asset for the Bears either as a starter or depth piece. In the last month, the Bears have lost two centers who ranked in the analytics site’s top 5 at that position in 2015. Despite Ramirez only starting seven games for the Lions — although he played in all 16 — PFF ranked the former Texas Tech product fourth and Slauson fifth.

So, the onus will be on Grasu to show he’s capable of being an upper-echelon starter after missing the first eight games of his career due to injury.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Vikings Sign Harrison Smith To Extension

June 8th, 2016 at 5:04pm CST by Zachary Links

WEDNESDAY, 5:04pm: Smith’s deal actually appears to be worth more than initially reported, with Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle noting (on Twitter) the fifth-year safety’s pact totals $56.53MM. The deal contains $28.58MM in guarantees, per Wilson. The contract is slated to slot Harrison on the Vikings’ next five salary caps at $7.28MM in 2017, $7.5MM in ’18, $10MM in ’19, $10.75MM in ’20 and $10.25MM in ’21, Matt Vensel of the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports (on Twitter). Only $500K is fully guaranteed to the now-27-year-old Smith on the third day of the 2019 league year, Vensel tweets.

MONDAY, 8:00am: The Vikings have signed safety Harrison Smith to a long-term extension, the club announced today. It’s a five-year deal worth $51.25MM, according to Andrew Krammer of 1500 ESPN (Twitter link), and the pact includes includes a $10MM signing bonus and $15.27MM fully guaranteed, per Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link). With five years added to his present deal, Smith is now under contract for another six years on a deal that should keep him in Minnesota through the 2021 season.

Smith, who earned his first Pro Bowl nod in 2015, will earn a base salary of $5.278MM in 2016 before his significant pay raise kicks in. With an average annual value above $10MM, the Vikings are paying Smith more than any other safety, putting him ahead of names like Jairus Byrd, Devin McCourty, and Earl Thomas.

The deal’s full guarantee of $15MM+ puts him in the middle of that pack for safeties, beating out Thomas’ $14.225MM true guarantee but falling short of McCourty’s $22MM and Byrd’s $18.3MM. In terms of total value and AAV, however, we have ourselves a new highest-paid safety in the NFL.

Referring to Smith as one of the “better safeties” in the NFL earlier this year, Vikings GM Rick Spielman acknowledged with a chuckle that calling him one of the “best” might increase his price. Pro Football Focus, at least, viewed the 27-year-old as the league’s best safety in 2015, ranking him atop the site’s list of 88 qualified players at the position, despite the fact that he only played 13 games. Among safeties, Smith ranked in PFF’s top 10 in terms of pass coverage, run defense, and pass rush grades. NFL executive Randall Liu (on Twitter) notes that Smith is only NFL player since 2012 with 300+ tackles (311), 5+ sacks (5.5), 10+ interceptions (12), and a 4+ interception/touchdown ratio.

It will be interesting to see how Smith’s new contract impacts contract talks in Miami between the Dolphins and safety Reshad Jones. Jones is reportedly mulling a season-long holdout if he does not get a new deal that puts him in the same class as Smith and the rest of the ~$10MM club. Jones had a career-year in 2015, compiling career-highs in tackles (135), passes defended (10), and interceptions (five). At the same time, strong safeties generally don’t get paid the way that free safeties do. Tyrann Mathieu and Eric Berry also surely took notice of Smith’s new deal this morning. New deals for either one of those players could strip the “highest-paid safety” mantle away from the Vikings star.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Cowboys Not Signing Brandon Boykin

June 8th, 2016 at 4:22pm CST by Sam Robinson

Brandon Boykin‘s nomadic 2016 will continue for the time being. After hosting the fifth-year cornerback on a visit Wednesday, the Cowboys won’t sign him at this point, Todd Archer of ESPN.com reports.

The 25-year-old slot corner worked out for the Cowboys, making them the third team this offseason to make a serious effort to gauge his status — doing so after the Panthers, who ended up signing him before cutting him shortly after the draft, and Falcons.

The news of Dallas passing on Boykin comes after we heard the former Eagles and Steelers contributor had hip trouble that could put his career in jeopardy. That would explain the aforementioned teams’ reasons for passing on a chance to sign a corner that’s been fairly consistent when deployed during his career.

However, Boykin, while saying his Dallas workout went well, denies the initial report that he’s dealing with hip trouble and blames said report on Steelers secondary coach Carnell Lake. The former Eagles fourth-round pick did not see much time at corner with the Steelers last season, but after injuries forced their hand late in the year, the 5-foot-9 cog showed well. Ranking as a top-40 Pro Football Focus corner, Boykin did not allow a pass of longer than 33 yards to be completed against him for the second straight year.

The Panthers hosted Boykin on a late-March visit and signed him soon after. But despite Josh Norman departing for Washington, D.C., soon after, Carolina cut him in mid-May after taking three corners in the draft. The Falcons worked out the Georgia native a few days later, but he remained on the market.

The first-time UFA’s search for his next employer, though, continues after the Cowboys balked.

Photo courtesy USA Today Sports Images.

NFC Notes: Vikings, Smith, Panthers, Short

June 8th, 2016 at 3:44pm CST by Zachary Links

Harrison Smith got a big deal with the Vikings on Monday in part due to his agent’s familiarity with the Minnesota brass, Ben Goessling of ESPN.com writes. The agent likened his relationship with the Vikings to the give-and-take of marriage.

“When you first do a negotiation with a new person, you’re very careful in everything you say. You don’t give up an inch until you know you can get an inch back. It’d be like in marriage, you don’t say you’re going to take out the trash on Thursdays unless you know they’ll load the dishwasher on Fridays,” Brian Murphy said. “As you negotiate more and more deals, my whole philosophy is, there’s no room for bluffing. There’s certainly no room for lying. … I think that (Vikings VP of football operations) Rob [Brzezinski] is very, very good in that, in terms of saying what he means. And we say what we mean. But it takes a couple negotiations to realize, ‘Hey, when he said this, he really does mean this.'”

Murphy also represents John Sullivan, who has done two deals beyond his rookie contract. Kyle Rudolph, who signed a five-year deal in 2014, is also a Murphy client, as is Everson Griffen, who got $42.5MM over five years from Minnesota after the 2013 season. 2014 first-round pick Trae Waynes is also repped by Murphy and he could be the latest to add to the ~$180MM worth of deals that GM Rick Speilman has inked with Murphy guys.

Right now, it seems to be a happy marriage between the safety and the Vikings. Smith will earn more per year than any other safety in the NFL while the Vikings have the star locked down for years to come.

Here’s more out of the NFC:

Panthers coach Ron Rivera has repeatedly said that he wasn’t concerned by the absence of Pro Bowl defensive tackle Kawann Short during OTAs, but David Newton of ESPN.com is confident that both he and GM Dave Gettleman are irked by it. “The thing I appreciate, for most part, everybody has told me what’s been going on with the exception of one person,” said Rivera, who was very possibly referring to the defensive tackle. Short’s 11 sacks last season were tied for the most by anyone at his position. He is currently scheduled to count for just $1.473MM against the 2016 cap.
Ryan Kalil‘s extension with the Panthers calls for him to make $13.25MM in 2016 instead of the originally planned $7.75MM, but he’ll make just $3.75MM in ’17, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. That affordable salary pretty much secures his ’17 roster spot, he adds. Following the extension, Kalil’s cap numbers are as follows (Twitter link via Jonathan Jones of The Charlotte Observer): $11.83MM in 2016, $5.33MM in 2017, and $5.78MM in 2018.
If former 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh got his way, the 49ers would have drafted Julio Jones, as Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com writes. Recently, Harbaugh (now the coach at Michigan), caused a stir when he was spotted wearing a Jones jersey at a satellite camp. “I’ve always had a ton of respect for Julio Jones,” Harbaugh said in this video on Scout.com. “When I was with the San Francisco 49ers, we were hoping to draft Julio. Always have had tremendous respect for him, competed against him. … I’m just a big fan of a lot of pe0ple. And I’m a jersey guy. I like jerseys.”

Brandon Boykin Dealing With Hip Problems?

June 8th, 2016 at 2:27pm CST by Zachary Links

2:27pm: Boykin denies that he has injury issues and says that his workout with the Cowboys went well (Twitter links via Clarence Hill of the Star-Telegram). Boykin also blames Steelers defensive back coach Carnell Lake for the rumor that he has a hip issue. The corner added that he hopes to sign with Dallas.

10:03am: This offseason, Brandon Boykin‘s market was slow to develop. The cornerback wasn’t scooped up in the first or second wave of free agency and it wasn’t until the end of March that he inked a deal with the Panthers. Then, just six weeks later, Boykin was thrown back into the sea. At the age of 25 (26 next month), Boykin has moved around quite a bit and he still remains without employment after multiple team visits over the past three weeks. It turns out, there could be a reason for that.

Ed Bouchette of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette hears that Boykin is suffering from hip problems that might end his career. Once considered to be one of the league’s better slot cornerbacks, Boykin played primarily on special teams for the Steelers until the final few weeks of the season — he logged 252 of his 274 regular-season defensive snaps in the Steelers’ last five games.

Still, despite not seeing significant playing time in Pittsburgh, Boykin ranked as a top-40 cornerback in 2015 (out of 111 qualified players), per Pro Football Focus. The Georgia product has always shown flashes of upside, particularly in his six-interception 2013 campaign, but has never really gotten the opportunity to be a full-time player — he has just seven career starts.

Just yesterday, Boykin met with the Cowboys. Prior to that, he also met with the Falcons, though they will not be signing him at this time.

While Boykin didn’t earn a spot on PFR’s top 50 free agent list, we placed him sixth among free agent cornerbacks when we broke down 2016’s top defensive free agents, placing him ahead of veterans like Leon Hall and Patrick Robinson due to his relative youth and upside. Recently, PFR’s Dallas Robinson ranked Boykin as the fifth-best free agent still left on the board, ahead of names like Mike Neal, Chris Culliver, and Antrel Rolle.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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