In a bit of voluntary OTA drama on Thursday, first-year Buccaneers head coach Dirk Koetter sent Austin Seferian-Jenkins off the field because the tight end “didn’t know what he was doing” (via Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times). “I did send him off,” Koetter said afterward. “That’s between me and him. … You guys are making more of it than you need to.” Seferian-Jenkins ended up taking to Twitter right after leaving the field and posting some fired-up messages (click for links) while his teammates were still practicing, though it doesn’t appear that anything else will come of the situation.
Here’s more from the NFL’s South divisions:
- With the salary cap rising each year, players who are in line for long-term deals should request specific percentages of the cap, not specific salaries, opines Mike Florio of Pro Football. One such player is Colts quarterback Andrew Luck, who’s headed toward an extension and can maximize his value by focusing on the cap. As Florio points out, if Luck signs for $25MM per year under a $155.3MM cap, he’d take up 16.1 percent of the Colts’ spending ability. If the number rises to $200MM in the coming years, as it realistically could, Luck’s 16.1 percent would set him up to make $32.2MM. Agents are currently trying to make pay based on cap percentage a reality, though teams aren’t thrilled about it, multiple sources have told Florio. It isn’t a brand-new idea, per Florio, who writes that cornerback Darrelle Revis wanted a cap percentage contract from the Jets when he was holding out in 2010.
- Earlier today, Saints coach Sean Payton seemed to hint that Roman Harper will make the team when he spoke about the newly signed safety, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. Rapoport notes that the veteran’s contract supports that notion, as he has a signing bonus worth $80K and $150K more in the way of guarantees.
- The Colts are focused on developing their younger players, but they won’t rule out a veteran signing under certain circumstances, ESPN.com’s Mike Wells writes. “We’re going to look and see if anyone comes on the wire and is someone coach [Chuck Pagano] and I feel can help us, but they have to meet certain parameters,” general manager Ryan Grigson said. “Age, money and things like that. We got Mike Adams. He was still able to participate in mandatory minicamp.” The Colts added Adams in June 2014 and he went on to make Pro Bowls in 2014 and 2015.
- The status of guard Garrett Gilkey, who hasn’t been with Buccaneers as he recovers from knee surgery, remains murky. “I don’t know,” Koetter said when asked about Gilkey (Twitter link via Auman).
Zach Links contributed to this post.