2017 July - Pro Football Rumors

Latest On Dolphins C Mike Pouncey

July 26th, 2017 at 4:07pm CST by Zachary Links

3:07pm: Pouncey passed the physical and will not be placed on the PUP list, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.

8:57am: Dolphins center Mike Pouncey was cleared by a hip specialist on Tuesday, a source tells Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). Pouncey will take a team physical today to help assess what he can do on the field.

The Dolphins still plan on being cautious with Pouncey, but the expectation is that he will be ready to go for Week 1. After he missed eleven games in 2016, the Dolphins will be limiting the 28-year-old in practice so that he can play as many games as possible this year.

Pouncey graded out as the league’s No. 11 center in 2015 as he earned his third consecutive Pro Bowl nod. He didn’t qualify for ranking last year after only being on the field for just 301 snaps, but his 62.7 overall score his worst ever showing at the center position.

If Pouncey is in uniform for Week 1, the Dolphins will be able to keep Kraig Urbik as the starter at left guard. It is expected that the team will start Laremy Tunsil, Urbik, Pouncey, Ted Larsen, and Ja’Wuan James on the offensive line.

Raiders Sign Rookie Obi Melifonwu

July 26th, 2017 at 3:58pm CST by Zachary Links

The Raiders and second-round pick Obi Melifonwu have agreed to terms on a contract, agent Sean Stellato tells Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter).

Melifonwu, the 56th pick, went to the Raiders on the heels of a stellar four-year career at Connecticut, where he tallied eight interceptions. Four of those picks came last year for Melifonwu, who also notched a personal-best 118 tackles. There are some questions about Melifonwu’s instincts, but the 6-foot-4, 224-pounder should be effective around the line of scrimmage, per NFL.com’s Lance Zierlein, who likens him to the Bengals’ George Iloka.

With Melifonwu in the fold, every rookie from the second round down in the 2017 draft has now been signed to a contract. The only unsigned rookies left are 49ers defensive end Solomon Thomas, Titans wide receiver Corey Davis, and one of Melifonwu’s soon-to-be Raiders teammates, cornerback Gareon Conley. The Raiders’ hope is that he and Melifonwu will immediately boost a defense that finished just 25th in DVOA against the pass last year.

Eagles Trade G Allen Barbre To Broncos

July 26th, 2017 at 3:52pm CST by Zachary Links

The Eagles aren’t cutting Allen Barbre after all. Upon learning that the Eagles were planning to release the veteran guard, the Broncos reached out to the Eagles to work out a trade. A deal has been agreed upon, with Philly sending Barbre to Denver in exchange for a 2019 conditional draft pick (Twitter link via Ian Rapoport of NFL.com). It’s a conditional seventh-rounder, tweets Mike Klis of 9News.

The Broncos already made one major upgrade on the interior line this offseason by signing former Cowboy Ronald Leary. Barbre could now compete with Max Garcia for the other starting guard spot or potentially push Menelik Watson at right tackle. Alternatively, he could be the Broncos’ super sub, filling in where needed at four different positions.

In Barbre, Denver gets a player with 76 appearances and 36 starts on his resume. The 33-year-old has started all 28 of his appearances dating back to 2015, including 12 last season, when he ranked an excellent 16th among Pro Football Focus’ 73 qualified guards. Barbre will earn $2.05MM this year and will have a chance at another $300K in playing time incentives, according to Klis (Twitter link).

The cap implications did not change for the Eagles when they flipped from releasing Barbre outright to trading him. After the deal, the Eagles will still save $2.1MM in cap space while leaving $500K on the books in dead money.

AFC East Notes: Jets, Whitehead, Dolphins

July 26th, 2017 at 3:39pm CST by Zachary Links

Here’s a quick look at the AFC East:

Before he was claimed by the Jets, other teams that expressed interest in Lucky Whitehead were the Colts, Chiefs, and Saints, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk (on Twitter) hears from one source. The Bears showed a little interest as well. Reading between the lines, it sounds like the Colts, Chiefs, and Saints may have placed waiver claims on Whitehead while the Bears were on the fence about it as Wednesday approached. Of course, after finishing with a 5-11 record last year, the Jets had higher waiver priority than most.
The Dolphins worked out free agent offensive lineman Kitt O’Brien on Wednesday, tweets Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle. O’Brien, 27, spent the 2013-14 campaigns in the Arena Football League after going undrafted out of Ball State. Subsequently, he latched on with the Colts, and had spent parts of the past two seasons on Indianapolis’ practice squad. O’Brien has yet to appear in an NFL game.
The Bills are leaving no stone unturned in their search for signal-callers, as the club worked out former Fresno State quarterback Marcus McDade on Monday, per Mike Garafolo of NFL.com (Twitter link). McDade, who backed up Derek Carr with the Bulldogs, ultimately transferred to the other side of the planet, joining Samsung Frankfurt University in Germany. His most recent stop was the Indoor Football League, where McDade played for the Spokane Empire.

Dallas Robinson contributed to this post.

Jets Claim WR Lucky Whitehead

July 26th, 2017 at 3:08pm CST by Zachary Links

Lucky Whitehead has been claimed by the Jets, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. After a bizarre week, he’ll do his best to try and forget about everything in a new city.

Whitehead, a return specialist, had a warrant issued for his arrest earlier this week in connection with a shoplifting charge and a missed arraignment. Trouble is, the cops had the wrong man. The alleged robber apparently gave the police Whitehead’s date of birth and social security number, allowing him to skip town. Whitehead swore to the Cowboys that he had nothing to do with what he was being charged for, but the team waived him before allowing things to shake out.

On Wednesday morning, Whitehead’s agent said that his client did not want to play for the Cowboys anymore after they effectively called him “a liar.” He got his wish and he’ll now go from one of the league’s most talented squads to one of it’s least talented teams.

“I can’t speak for Lucky, we’d have to have a conversation about it because he loved being a Cowboy so much. I can’t put into words — this dude loved it, loved it as much as I’ve ever had a player love an organization. Loved it,” agent David Rich said. “This guy was arguably the most popular player on the team, which is interesting to have this happen to him, but I don’t think so. . . . [Whitehead and coach Jason Garrett] basically sat across the table, eye to eye, man to man, and he said, ‘I need you to believe me, coach.’ And they said, ‘We think you’re a liar.’”

Between 2015 and 2016, Whitehead averaged 25.6 yards per kick return and 6.9 yards per punt return. Jets fans shouldn’t expect to see him do much on offense, however. He had just nine receptions for 64 yards.

Whitehead’s place on the Jets’ 53-man roster is not a certainty, but he has a better chance of making the final cut than he did in Dallas.

Falcons Rumors: Freeman, Ryan, Poe

July 26th, 2017 at 2:12pm CST by Zachary Links

The latest from Atlanta:

Devonta Freeman‘s agent left town after meeting with Falcons brass over the past couple days, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com hears (on Twitter). Meanwhile, the team isn’t putting a deadline on a deal. The Falcons had hoped to hammer something out by the time training camp started, but it sounds like completing an extension will take longer than anticipated. Recently, Le’Veon Bell rejected the Steelers’ offer of a five-year deal with a $12MM average annual value, $30MM in the first two years of the deal, and $42MM over the first three seasons. Freeman’s camp may be using the framework of that proposal as a baseline for talks.
There have yet to be substantive talks between the Falcons and quarterback Matt Ryan, Pelissero tweets. The Falcons will likely wait until after the season to talk contract with Matty Ice, Pelissero adds. Ryan is signed through 2018 and is slated to carry cap charges in excess of $21MM in each of the next two seasons. The league’s reigning MVP is probably willing to wait for Matthew Stafford to sign a big money extension of his own with the Lions before getting serious about next deal.
Falcons nose tackle Dontari Poe weighed in below 330 pounds today, giving the free agent addition his $125K make-weight bonus, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. Many expected Poe to sign a lucrative multi-year deal, but he wound up settling for a one-year deal as teams felt unsure about his conditioning.

Eagles Release Marcus Smith

July 26th, 2017 at 1:47pm CST by Zachary Links

The Eagles have released former first-round defensive end Marcus Smith, according to a team announcement. Meanwhile, linebacker Steven Daniels has been inked to a three-year deal.

The Eagles declined Smith‘s fifth-year option for 2018 earlier this offseason, fueling speculation that he might not make the roster this year. By cutting Smith now, the Eagles have ostensibly given him a better chance to hook on elsewhere. The team also avoided paying out a $594K roster bonus on the third day of camp. By waiving Smith, the Eagles will clear roughly $1.5MM in cap space.

Smith, a Louisville product, hasn’t started in any of his 37 professional appearances and he has just four career sacks to his name. The 25-year-old is coming off his first 16-game season, but he mustered only 12 tackles and 2.5 sacks in his 268 defensive snaps. He was contributor on special teams, playing over 40% of the unit’s snaps, but that wasn’t enough to justify his salary.

The Eagles claimed Daniels off waivers from the rival Redskins in May only to waive him in early June. Nearly two months later, he has circled back to the Eagles. Nigel Bradham, Jordan Hicks, and Mychal Kendricks project as the starting linebackers for Philly with Kamu Grugier-Hill, Najee Goode, Joe Walker, Alex McCalister, fifth-round pick Nate Gerry, and Daniels among those pushing for reserve jobs.

Eagles Cut LG Allen Barbre

July 26th, 2017 at 12:20pm CST by Zachary Links

As training camp gets underway, Allen Barbre will have to find work elsewhere. The Eagles announced that they have released the left guard.

“Allen Barbre is a pro’s pro,” said top executive Howie Roseman in a statement. “Not only did he help the team with his solid play as a starter at left guard, but his ability to step up and play multiple positions helped us battle through some difficult situations. We had a conversation yesterday and agreed it made sense to allow him to pursue some other opportunities, but the door is open for him to return here as well.”

By releasing Barbre, the Eagles will free up $2.1MM in cap space while leaving $500K on the books in dead money. Roseman’s statement seems to imply that Barbre could potentially return to the team at a lesser rate, so it’s a situation to keep an eye on as we head into August.

Barbre has been talked about as a potential cap casualty for much of the offseason, so the move doesn’t come as a big surprise. Still, the move will leave the Eagles with a lot less experience on the starting offensive line. Now, 23-year-old Isaac Seumalo will practice with the first team at left guard, per offensive coordinator Frank Reich.

The Eagles are also losing some of their versatility on the offensive line by cutting Barbre. The 33-year-old filled in at right tackle for Lane Johnson during his suspension in 2016. The good news in that regard is that the Eagles still have a handful of linemen that can play at different spots along the line. Seumalo and Stefen Wisniewski can fill in at any of the three interior spots while Matt Tobin offers experience at both tackle and guard.

Talks Ongoing For Panthers, Thomas Davis

July 26th, 2017 at 12:14pm CST by Zachary Links

Before his surprise firing, Dave Gettleman engaged in extension talks with Thomas Davis‘ camp. The new Panthers regime led by Marty Hurney has been in place just over a week, but negotiations have apparently picked up again. The linebacker told reporters on Wednesday morning that talks are “ongoing,” (Twitter link via Joseph Person of the Charlotte Observer).

Tight end Greg Olsen backed off from his contract demands on Tuesday, citing a desire to avoid further distractions for Carolina. Davis’ situation is a bit different, however, since he has only one year to go versus the two years left on Olsen’s pact. Davis’ relationship with Hurney may help his cause, though the interim GM has promised to focus on analytics over emotion going forward.

Davis, 34, started in all 16 games last season and led all Panthers defenders in snaps. He proved that he has plenty of good football left as he tallied 106 tackles, three interceptions, two fumble recoveries, and a touchdown.

Davis’ current deal calls for an $8.25MM cap hit in 2017.

Vikings Sign Everson Griffen To Extension

July 26th, 2017 at 10:17am CST by Zachary Links

The Vikings and defensive end Everson Griffen are finalizing a massive four-year extension, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. Griffen confirmed the deal in a Wednesday morning scrum with beat reporters. Griffen’s previous deal had him signed through 2018. The new pact should keep him in Minnesota for the remainder of his career.

The extension is worth a whopping $58MM with $34MM in guarantees, a source tells Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). The “new money average” on the deal comes out to $14.5MM. We should have a better handle on the value of the deal when information comes out about the cash flow and the amount of money guaranteed at signing.

Griffen, 29, is coming off of his second consecutive Pro Bowl appearance after posting 48 tackles, 8.0 sacks, and three fumble recoveries. Since becoming a full-time starter for the Vikings in 2014, he has notched 30.5 sacks in total. The former fourth-round pick has gone from a rotational piece to an indispensable part of the team’s defensive line and he’ll now have a contract to reflect his importance to the team.

Pro Football Focus has graded Griffen as a top-30 defensive end in each of the last three seasons. He has also been remarkably durable, missing only one game in the past six seasons.

Griffen’s old deal called for him to earn $6.9MM in 2017 and $8.4MM in 2018. Those years may be revised in the new deal that takes him through the 2022 campaign.