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Month: November 2024

Eagles Rumors: Sproles, Cox, Pederson

June 6th, 2016 at 1:50pm CST by Zachary Links

Here’s a look at the latest out of Philly:

  • Darren Sproles reported to the Eagles on Monday in advance of the team’s mandatory minicamp, as Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer writes. When asked about his absence, Sproles chalked it up to “family stuff.” Recently, we learned that the Eagles fielded trade inquiries for the running back during the draft and Sproles’ absence from OTAs – according to some reports – was related. Sproles, 32, saw time in every game last season and made four starts. In that span, the veteran ran for just 317 yards off of 83 carries but also contributed 55 receptions for 388 yards. For his contributions in the rushing, receiving, and return game, Sproles earned his second-straight Pro Bowl nod in 2015.
  • In related news, Eagles coach Doug Pederson says that he expects Fletcher Cox to also attend the team’s minicamp, though he has not seen him yet (Twitter link via Jimmy Kempski of The Philly Voice). Cox, 25, enjoyed a career-year in 2015, setting a new career high with 9.5 sacks. He also racked up 71 tackles, three forced fumbles, and a pair of fumble recoveries. The performance earned the former first-round pick his first Pro Bowl nod, along with a top-10 spot on Pro Football Focus’ rankings of interior defenders — he placed ninth out of 123 qualified players.
  • Tim McManus of Philadelphia Magazine explained why the talks are dragging on between the Eagles and Cox. For starters, agent Todd France knows that his client is one of the top defensive players in the game and at 25, he has tons of room to grow. France also reps Marcell Dareus, who netted a six-year deal with $25MM signing bonus and an average of $16MM per season. The Eagles know that they’ll have to back up a Brinks truck to sign Cox long-term, but the two sides are going to have to haggle it out a bit first. Meanwhile, multiple sources say that the Eagles have a sizable contract on the table, McManus writes, and he feels that the defensive tackle will get around $60MM guaranteed mark and won’t fall far from Dareus’ $16MM/year salary.

Panthers Sign Ryan Kalil To Extension

June 6th, 2016 at 12:55pm CST by Zachary Links

12:55pm: The two-year deal is worth $16.75MM, effectively $13MM guaranteed, Rand Getlin of NFL.com tweets.

12:42pm: The Panthers announced that they have inked center Ryan Kalil to a two-year extension. The deal will keep Kalil in Carolina through the 2018 season. Exact terms of the deal are not yet known.Ryan Kalil (vertical)

[RELATED: Kawann Short Skipping Panthers OTAs]

Kalil, 31, earned his fifth Pro Bowl selection and his second career First-Team All-Pro nod in 2015. With (effectively) one year to go on his deal, Kalil was in great position to work out a brand new contract with the team.

Regarded as one of the top centers in the league, Kalil signed a six-year, $49MM+ contract extension with the Panthers in August 2011. The monster deal included $19MM in total guarantees and it will be interesting to see what the numbers on this latest deal are. Before starting his new deal, Kalil will earn a base salary of $7.5MM in 2016.

In 2015, the advanced metrics at Pro Football Focus (subscription required) ranked Kalil as the 12th best center in the NFL, just head of Falcons center Alex Mack and Saints center Max Unger. Kalil’s overall score of 76.6 accounted for his strong 84.0 run block grade and his less impressive 57.6 mark for pass blocking.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Marshawn Lynch Says He Is Staying Retired

June 6th, 2016 at 11:25am CST by Zachary Links

Despite some speculation to the contrary, Marshawn Lynch is not returning to the NFL in 2016. The former Seahawks running back told 60 Minutes Sports on Showtime that he is finished with football (Twitter link via Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times).

Marshawn Lynch (vertical)

“I‘m done. I’m done. I enjoyed my time playing. Now it’s time to watch my cousins do their thing,” Lynch said. “I’m retired. Is that good enough? Which camera do you want me to look into? This one? I’m done. I’m not playing football anymore.”

The Seahawks removed Marshawn Lynch from their 90-man roster last month when they placed the running back on the reserve/retired list, but the 30-year-old didn’t complete all of his paperwork, leaving the door open for speculation on his future. Lynch reportedly told a pair of ex-teammates that he intends to play this year and Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman‘s recently demurred when asked to classify Lynch as retired.

In 2015, Lynch battled hamstring and abdominal injuries that limited him to seven games and career worsts in rushing attempts (111), yards (417) and touchdowns (three). Meanwhile, Thomas Rawls burst on the scene as an undrafted rookie and averaged 5.6 yards per carry on 147 tries. The Seahawks have planned to move ahead with Rawls and they now have limited cap room at this stage of the offseason. If Lynch had decided to return to the NFL, it’s not a guarantee that he would have been able to make that comeback in Seattle.

Originally acquired from Buffalo in 2010 for pennies on the dollar (two late-round draft picks), Lynch was the driving force behind Seattle’s offense for most of his five-plus-year career there. In each of his four 16-game seasons as a Seahawk, Lynch finished with at least 280 carries, 1,200 yards and 11 rushing touchdowns. He also made a pair of Super Bowl trips, one of which ended in victory.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

NFC North Notes: Packers, Vikings, Lions

June 6th, 2016 at 11:19am CST by Zachary Links

While the league seems to be more focused on other positions, the Packers have elevated the importance of safeties, Scott Venci of USA Today writes.

“My personal belief is that the tight end position on offense and the safety position on defense has now gone into that level of importance,” Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. “If you look at the rule changes, you look at the matchups, you look at the body types, the league has opened up the middle of the field. So I think everybody’s conscious of that and from a personnel acquisition standpoint, it’s something that you see the trend. It’s been going on and the importance of attacking the middle of the field with big athletic football players. With that you’ve got to have people who can defend it. We’re very fortunate to have the safety group we have.”

The Packers’ philosophy has led to them having one of the best safety tandems in the NFL with Ha Ha Clinton-Dix and Morgan Burnett. In the long run, keeping both players will cost Green Bay. Burnett is under contract through the 2017 season with cap numbers of $5.95MM and $7MM in each of the next two years. Clinton-Dix is under his rookie deal through 2017, though the Packers can pick up his fifth-year option to retain him through 2018.

Here’s more from the NFC North:

  • The Vikings are proving adept at choosing free agents, Jim Souhan of the Star Tribune writes. For example, Minnesota added former Bengal Andre Smith in the spring and although he is not guaranteed a starting gig, he could prove to be a free agent steal. For his part, Smith says that he wouldn’t have come to Minnesota unless he felt like he could win with the Vikings. “I’ve made a lot of money in my career,” said Smith, who inked a one-year, $3.5MM deal with the Vikes in March. “If I’m going to go somewhere, I want to go somewhere I can win. This was the best place for me.” The Vikings also shored up the left guard spot by adding Alex Boone, who figures to be among the team’s more vocal vets.
  • The Lions are pleased with Riley Reiff‘s move to right tackle, Kyle Meinke of MLive.com writes. Reiff, a 2012 first-round pick, was previously playing at left tackle and he’s now being asked to change positions in a contract year. In 2014, Reiff’s Pro Football Focus grade placed him in a tie for 23rd out of 84 qualified offensive tackles. Last year, PFF’s numbers (subscription required) ranked him No. 39 out of 77 qualified tackles.
  • On Monday morning, the Vikings made Harrison Smith the NFL’s highest-paid safety.
  • Last week, the Bears signed veteran offensive lineman Nate Chandler. The Bears also auditioned former No. 1 overall pick Jake Long, but it seems unlikely that he’ll sign in Chicago now that Chandler is on board.

NFC South Notes: Panthers, Norman, Oher, Falcons

June 6th, 2016 at 9:49am CST by Zachary Links

Executives around the NFL are still perplexed by the Panthers‘ sudden decision to part ways with Josh Norman this offseason, Mark Maske of The Washington Post writes.

“I can’t figure that one out,” a front office member of another NFL team said recently. “There has to be something else to that story. I don’t think you let a player of that caliber walk away for nothing in return for the reasons they’ve given.”

Norman, 28, enjoyed a career-year in 2015 as he was named to the All Pro first team and selected for his first Pro Bowl. In April, the Panthers pulled the franchise tag from Norman, saving themselves $13.952MM in cap room.

Here’s more from the NFC South:

Kawann Short Skipping Panthers OTAs

June 6th, 2016 at 9:28am CST by Zachary Links

As he pushes for a new contract, Panthers standout Kawann Short is looking to make a statement. The defensive tackle skipped last week’s voluntary organized team activities and will likely miss this week’s, Jonathan Jones of the Charlotte Observer writes. Kawann Short (vertical)

The two sides have been expected to hammer out a deal before the start of the season, but talks were recently put on hold. It’s not clear whether both parties are still on track to agree on a fresh multi-year pact.

“If it happens, it happens, but we haven’t focused on that,” Short said of a new deal. “I’ve still got a lot I need to do. I’ve put myself in the position, but at the same time, I’m not where I want to be. We’re not rushing the issue.”

Short led the Panthers with 11 sacks last season and Carolina knows that the bidding for Short will get out of hand if he reaches the open market after the 2016 season. At present, the Panthers have roughly $30MM in cap room which will allow them to give Short a deal that reflects his place as one of the league’s best defensive tackles.

Short, 27, enjoyed a breakout season in 2015, earning his first Pro Bowl nod and starting all 16 of the Panthers’ games for the first time. The Purdue product racked up 11 sacks to go along with 55 tackles, three forced fumbles, and a pair of fumble recoveries. He also added two more sacks and a forced fumble in the postseason.

As PFR’s Dallas Robinson observed in his preview of the Panthers’ offseason, the negotiations between Short’s camp and the team will be interesting. On one hand, the Pro Bowl defender has really only produced at an elite level for one season. However, there’s no reason to think Short’s reps won’t make the case that their client deserves to be paid like Marcell Dareus or Gerald McCoy — those players inked long-term pacts worth $95MM+, making them the highest-paid 4-3 defensive tackles in the NFL not named Ndamukong Suh.

If the two sides cannot agree on a brand new deal, Short will likely receive the franchise tag from the Panthers. This year, the franchise salary for a defensive tackle was $13.615MM and that number is expected to go a little bit higher in 2017.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

AFC Notes: Lee, Marshall, Robinson, Chargers

June 5th, 2016 at 8:39pm CST by Dallas Robinson

First-round linebacker Darron Lee is the only remaining unsigned Jets draft pick, and Rich Cimini of ESPN.com examines why that might be the case, noting that players drafted 18th overall or lower in the first round have a little bit of space to negotiate. Lee, selected with pick No. 20, might be arguing for a full guarantee in the fourth year of his rookie contract, as Cimini notes that Ryan Kelly (No. 19 overall) has a full 2020 guarantee, while Josh Doctson (No. 22 overall) only has a partial guarantee. With rookie deals being essentially slotted, minor guarantee disputes are just about the only area for agents to actually negotiate.

More from the AFC…

  • Brandon Marshall‘s current contract with the Jets runs through the 2017 season, and while he didn’t give a definitive answer when pressed on whether he could play beyond that, he did acknowledge that he would retire if he didn’t feel the drive to compete any longer. “Some players, they know they don’t got it anymore and their heart is not in it, and they still take the money,” Marshall told Darryl Slater of NJ.com. “That’s taking advantage of your team. I get that it’s a business and get everything you want, but you’ve still got to hold yourself accountable and be accountable to your teammates. When I no longer have it, I’ll walk away.” 
  • After Allen Hurns inked a four-year, $40MM extension with the Jaguars last week, fellow receiver Allen Robinson is likely the next in line, according to Michael DiRocco of ESPN.com, who adds that that Robinson could garner $70-80MM over a five-year term. Robinson can’t be extended until after the 2016 season, nor can quarterback Blake Bortles or center Brandon Linder, both of could also be up for long-term deals. Linebacker Telvin Smith, meanwhile, could the be the odd man out, in DiRocco’s view.
  • The Chargers‘ offensive line should be better if it’s simply healthier, but relying on oft-injured players to stay healthy is not always a good strategy, as Eric D. Williams of ESPN.com writes. San Diego will count on two players — left tackle King Dunlap and center Matt Slauson — who are already 30 years old and have dealt with various ailments in the past. At center, at least, the Chargers do have a young option in third-round pick Max Tuerk.

NFC East Notes: Nassib, McKelvin, Doctson

June 5th, 2016 at 7:17pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Since being selected in the fourth round of the 2013 draft, quarterback Ryan Nassib hasn’t made a single start for the Giants, and given that Eli Manning has remained remarkably healthy, Nassib has only managed 10 pass attempts during his career, all coming in garbage time. Thus, as Jordan Raanan of NJ.com explains, the Giants can’t be completely sure of what they have in Nassib as he enters the final year of his rookie contract. Though Nassib has reportedly grown through his practice reps over the past several seasons, New York isn’t going to invest in another quarterback while Manning has four years left on his deal. Signal-callers always draw interest on the open market, but whether another club will trust a QB with virtually no regular season experience like Nassib is an open question.

Here’s more from the NFC East…

Rory Parks contributed to this post.

NFC North Notes: Bakhtiari, Lang, Bears, Vikes

June 5th, 2016 at 6:29pm CST by Dallas Robinson

David Bakhtiari is one of three Packers starting offensive lineman who will hit free agency next spring, and the fourth-year left tackle isn’t denying that he’s thought about the prospect of the open market. “We’ve got a lot of guys up, and if I’m gambling, I’m going to bet that not all of us come back,” Bakhtiari told Jason Wilde of ESPN.com. “But that’s something you don’t want to think about and that shouldn’t be our topic of conversation. Do I know what has happened [with other left tackles]? Yes. I’m not living under a rock. But [I’m not] coming in every day with a notebook researching finances and wondering what I’m going to do.”

The Packers selected Indiana left tackle Jason Spriggs in the second round of this year’s draft, so the club has a fallback plan if Bakhtiari finds a better offer in free agency. Given the recent extensions handed out to Trent Williams, Terron Armstead, and Cordy Glenn, Bakhtiari could be in line for a multi-year deal with an average salary of more than $11MM.

Here’s more from the NFC North, including another item on the green Bay offensive line…

  • Like Bakhtiari, Packers right guard T.J. Lang is both entering the final year of his contract and dealing with the after-effects of a physical ailment, as the 29-year-old underwent shoulder surgery in February. As Lang details to Wilde, however, he expects to be ready for the start of training camp in late July. “Especially going into a contract year, you want to be as healthy as possible,” said Lang, who is set to earn $6.85MM in the last year of his four-year, ~$21MM extension.
  • The Bears are in the midst of a major transition, and only 21 players on the current roster predate the arrival of GM Ryan Pace and head coach John Fox, who were hired in January 2015. Rich Campbell of The Chicago Tribune looks at six players who must elevate their performance in the second year of the Pace/Fox era, including safety Adrian Amos, last year’s fifth-round pick who will be asked to play in the box more often than he did in his rookie campaign to take advantage of his tackling ability while masking his weaknesses in coverage.
  • Vikings tackle T.J. Clemmings, who started all 16 games in 2015 at right tackle in place of the injured Phil Loadholt, is being asked to shift back to left tackle now that Loadholt and Andre Smith appear poised to battle for his old spot, and as such, Clemmings is now behind Matt Kalil on the depth chart and no longer has a starting role. But the second-year player is trying to stay positive, saying, “I’m just trying to become better, that’s the plan.” As for the move to left tackle, Clemmings said, “Adjusting (at first) is kind of tough, but I have a good amount of weeks to get a feel for it” (Twitter links via Chris Tomasson of The St. Paul Pioneer Press).

Rory Parks contributed to this post.

NFC West Notes: Jackson, Kaep, Gabbert, Rams

June 5th, 2016 at 5:04pm CST by Dallas Robinson

It sounds as though the Seahawks are still open to re-signing backup quarterback Tarvaris Jackson, but until that happens, undrafted free agent Trevone Boykin is acting as Seattle’s No. 2 signal-caller, writes Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times. As Condotta notes, Jackson didn’t ink a new deal with the Seahawks until mid-June of last year, so it “wouldn’t break precedent” for him to re-join the club this late in the offseason this time around. A report at the end of April indicated that general manager John Schneider and head coach Pete Carroll were still in talks with Jackson, whom I listed as a honorable mention in PFR’s list of the best remaining offensive free agents.

Here’s more out of the NFC West…

  • 49ers head coach Chip Kelly made a radio appearance on 95.7 The Game (audio link), touching on everything to the club’s selection of DeForest Buckner, the role of Bruce Miller, and the stress his offensive scheme will put on San Francisco’s defense. Perhaps of the most note, though, were Kelly’s comments on his quarterback room, which contains both Colin Kaepernick and Blaine Gabbert (thanks to Niners Nation for the transcript). “They have a similar skill set,” said Kelly. “They’re both 6’4″+. They both can really run, which will help keep plays alive. Obviously we’re not a quarterback-run offense, but if the quarterback can run, you can use a little of that to your advantage. And they both have extremely strong arms.”
  • Stedman Bailey isn’t likely to be cleared for the 2016 season after being shot in the head last fall, but he is attending Rams camp and working as a “de facto coach,” according to Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com. Head coach Jeff Fisher said last year that Bailey’s NFL career was likely over, but the wide receiver hasn’t accepted that outcome, as he’s continued to meet with doctors while hoping to make a return. Per Wagoner, Los Angeles will likely move Bailey to the non-football injury list at some point (as they did last season), allowing Bailey to remain a part of the team while simultaneously clearing a roster spot.
  • Bailey won’t be a part of the Rams‘ receiving corps, but the club does like its group of undrafted wide receivers, as Wagoner writes in his latest mailbag. Nelson Spruce, Marquez North, Paul McRoberts, and Duke Williams are four players that have been repeatedly mentioned to the ESPN scribe as standing out at camp, though there obviously won’t be room for all of them on the roster. Tavon Austin, Kenny Britt, Brian Quick, and fourth-round rookie Pharaoh Cooper figure to be locks for the club’s final 53.
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