2017 July - Pro Football Rumors

Kirk Cousins On Latest Round Of Talks

July 18th, 2017 at 9:53am CST by Zachary Links

It’s not just about the money. Kirk Cousins says that he did not sign an extension with the Redskins in part because he wants to further evaluate the organization after its front office shakeup.

“We felt like we needed more time,” Cousins told 106.7 The Fan.

Of course, it also didn’t help that the Redskins did not improve their offer made in the spring. The last proposal he received from the team effectively only granted him two guaranteed seasons with an average annual value that he only would have accepted one full year ago.

Cousins also confirmed that he did not present the Redskins with an offer during this round of talks. He considered doing so as the deadline approached, but ultimately he held off.

“Up until a week ago, I was praying over whether we should send them an offer,” Cousins said. “I felt peace about not making an offer and leaving it in the team’s court.”

If the lowball offer wasn’t insulting enough, then one might think that Cousins was offended by team president Bruce Allen referring to him as “Kurt” Cousins during a statement to the media on Monday afternoon. When it came to that, Cousins took the high road.

“I‘ve been called Kurt my entire life. … [It] doesn’t matter. It is what it is. It’s fine. Not a big deal.”

Cousins says his first choice is to stay with the Redskins, but we’ll find out if he really means it next offseason.

Fallout From Steelers, Bell Talks

July 18th, 2017 at 9:01am CST by Zachary Links

With the franchise tag extension deadline in the rear view mirror, Le’Veon Bell is set to play out the season on a one-year, $12.12MM deal. Here’s the latest on the Steelers and their star running back:

Bell says he’s taking it upon himself to push the market for running backs. “It’s a little frustrating, but it’s a business,” Bell said of this round of negotiations (via ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler). “I’m not in a rush to sign for something I’m not valued at if I feel I’m worth more than what they are offering me. … The running back market definitely took a hit, and I can’t be the guy who continues to let it take a hit. We do everything: We block, we run, we catch the ball. Our value isn’t where it needs to be. I’m taking it upon myself to open up some eyes and show the position is more valuable.”
Any absence by Bell gives his backup more playing time and that could theoretically cause problems for him, Kevin Gorman of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review writes. That wasn’t a concern with veteran DeAngelo Williams as his backup, but if Bell misses time it will crack the door open for rookie James Conner. The Steelers also improved their receiving corps with the addition of wide receiver Juju Smith-Schuster, so the two rookies could theoretically fill in for Bell’s rushing and pass catching. At the same time, it’s hard to see the rookies combining to match Bell’s production.
Now that Bell’s contract cannot be addressed until after the season, the Steelers would like to do long term deals with defensive end Stephon Tuitt and linebacker Ryan Shazier, Aditi Kinkhabwala of NFL.com tweets. She also notes that left tackle Alejandro Villanueva remains unsigned. Villanueva has not signed his Exclusive Rights Free Agent tender with the hope that he will be offered a more lucrative deal.

Latest On Panthers’ GM Candidates

July 17th, 2017 at 9:50pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Panthers shocked the NFL world earlier today by firing general manager Dave Gettleman, but they may have done so with candidates in mind. Carolina “loves” Titans director of player personnel Ryan Cowden, Bills assistant GM Joe Schoen, and Panthers director of college scouting Jeff Morrow, a source tells Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk.

All three potential contenders for the Carolina position have ties to the Panthers organization. Cowden, who interviewed for the Chiefs’ vacancy last month, spent 16 years with the Panthers before taking a position with Tennessee last summer. Likewise, Schoen worked for Carolina from 2001-08, and is now under the employ of former Panthers executive Brandon Beane in Buffalo. Morrow, the only internal candidate named in Florio’s report, was promoted to director of college scouting as part of a Panthers’ personnel reshuffling in May.

As Florio notes in a separate piece, it seems unlikely the Panthers would move on from Gettleman at this time of year without having a general idea on replacements. However, given the timing of the move, an interim general manager could also make sense, as Joseph Person of the Charlotte Observer wrote earlier today.

Minor NFL Transactions: 7/17/17

July 17th, 2017 at 8:51pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Today’s minor moves:

The Falcons have placed offensive lineman Trevor Robinson on the reserve/retired list, according to Adam Caplan of ESPN.com (Twitter link). An undrafted free agent in 2012, Robinson has bounced around between the Bengals, Chargers, and Falcons during his NFL tenure. In 2015, he was a full-time starter with the Bolts, but could only land a reserve/futures deal this spring. Expected to compete for a reserve role with Atlanta, Robinson has instead decided to hang up his cleats.
The Jaguars have waived rookie defensive back Charlie Miller with an injury settlement, the club announced today. Miller went undrafted out of Dartmouth earlier this year. He can return to Jacksonville, but he’ll have to wait three weeks plus the length of the settlement.

Reaction To Kirk Cousins/Redskins Talks

July 17th, 2017 at 7:48pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Redskins’ final offer to quarterback Kirk Cousins was fewer than $110MM over five years, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. (Notably, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com reported earlier today that Washington had increased its offer to more than $20MM, but less than $24MM annually). Given that Cousins is already due a guaranteed $24MM in 2017, the Redskins’ proposal was essentially six years, $134MM, an untenable total from Cousins’ point of view. Having failed to reach an extension, Cousins will now play out the season under the franchise tender.

Here’s more reaction to the negotiations between Cousins and the Redskins:

As Pelissero indicated earlier today, Washington effectively wanted to hand Cousins $53MM over two years and then control him via series of one-year options. But that type of contract structure has no benefit for players, as Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk writes. Going year-to-year is the far more profitable strategy, especially for quarterbacks. Cousins, indeed, has played the free agent game correctly, as he’s been unwilling to lock himself into a deal that would contain a multitude of non-guaranteed years tacked on at the end.
In a separate piece, Pelissero polled five executives regarding Cousins’ value, and all five ranked the Redskins’ signal-caller as a top-15 quarterback, while three graded as near or in the top-10. “[H]e’s a good point guard, knows where to go with it,” said one personnel man. “I never was sold on the guy too much, and then last year watching him — I know the money’s just getting ridiculous, but that’s what guys are getting.” It’s anecdotal data, to be sure, but the execs’ opinions could hint at a league-wide opinion of Cousins.
Given that the Redskins have made no serious attempt to keep Cousins around for the long haul, it could make sense for the club to trade Cousins now, opines Bill Barnwell of ESPN.com. If Washington simply allows Cousins to leave via free agency next spring, it will only acquire a compensatory pick in 2019. The Redskins could recoup more than that immediately, argues Barnwell, who suggests the 49ers could send a second-round choice and Brian Hoyer to Washington, while the Browns could be willing to send Houston’s first-rounder plus a restructured Brock Osweiler to the nation’s capital.
The Redskins’ statement on the Cousins negotiations said the club made its offer to Cousins on May 2, and that date should tell observers two things, according to Jason Fitzgerald of Over the Cap. First, Washington could have been shopping Cousins during the draft, which ended on April 30. In fact, trade rumors did surround Cousins during the draft, but he ultimately stayed put. Second, the Redskins may have been hoping one of Cousins’ preferred destinations — possibly San Francisco — selected a quarterback relatively early, negating any need for Cousins.

Rams Want To Extend DB Lamarcus Joyner

July 17th, 2017 at 6:42pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Although the contract statuses of cornerback Trumaine Johnson and defensive tackle Aaron Donald may take precedence at the moment, the Rams also want to reach a long-term extension with defensive back Lamarcus Joyner, according to Alden Gonzalez of ESPN.com. Los Angeles is interested in a new deal for linebacker Alec Ogletree, as well, per Gonzalez.

Joyner, 26, will be seeing time at a new position this season, as he’ll be shifting to free safety after lining up at slot cornerback for the first three years of his NFL career. A second-round pick in 2014, Joyner has appeared in 40 games (14 starts) for the Rams, and last year managed 76 tackles, five passes defensed, and one sack. Overall, Joyner graded as the league’s No. 30 corner, per Pro Football Focus.

Scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent next spring, Joyner will earn a $1.106M base salary in 2017 and carry a cap charge of $1.601MM. While the Rams could conceivably use the franchise tag on Joyner next year if no extension is hammered out, that tender would come with a cost north of $11MM. While Joyner has been a valuable player during his time with the Rams, he’s probably not worth that price tag.

Los Angeles’ interest in extending Ogletree, meanwhile, dates back to at least February of 2016. Because he was a first-round selection, Ogletree is under team control in 2018 the fifth-year option, which will pay him $8.369MM. In 16 starts a season ago, Ogletree played nearly every defensive snap for the Rams, but only ranked as the No. 57 linebacker among 88 qualifiers, according to PFF.

Anquan Boldin To Visit Unknown Team

July 17th, 2017 at 5:34pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Free agent wideout Anquan Boldin has spoken with several clubs about a contract and will visit an unidentified team on Sunday, according to Omar Kelly of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Twitter link).

Boldin, 36, reportedly may seek to sign with a club that plays closer to his Florida residence, which could rule out a reunion with the Lions (although Detroit is open to re-signing him). Perhaps seeking to avoid the grind of training camp, Boldin is apparently willing to wait for a new deal, and could look to ink a contract later in the offseason.

Signed to a one-year, $2.75MM deal prior to last season, Boldin appeared in all 16 games for the Lions in 2016. On 95 targets, Boldin managed 67 receptions for 584 yards and eight touchdowns. While the yardage total was the lowest of Boldin’s career, his eight scores were the most he’s posted since 2008. Boldin, a three-time Pro Bowler, played on 80% of Detroit’s offensive snaps as the club’s third receiver behind Golden Tate and Marvin Jones.

Last month, PFR ranked Boldin as the best available receiver left on the open market.

Fallout From And Reactions To Panthers Firing Dave Gettleman

July 17th, 2017 at 4:59pm CST by Zachary Links

It has never been more treacherous to be an NFL GM, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. Over the last five seasons, we have seen 15 GMs fired in December/January, one fired in February, and two canned during the season. Now, we can add four spring/summer firings to the list. Scot McCloughan (March 9), Doug Whaley (April 30), John Dorsey (June 22), and Dave Gettleman (July 17) were all fired at unusual times.

Where did things go wrong for the Panthers and Gettleman? And what’s next in Carolina? Here’s the latest:

Panthers owner Jerry Richardson remains high on coach Ron Rivera, Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com tweets. There will be major changes for the Panthers this year, but that apparently won’t extend to the sideline.
There were rumblings that all was not well with Gettleman and Richardson after star cornerback Josh Norman was allowed to walk, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. Prior to the 2016 season, the Panthers rescinded the franchise tag from Norman, leading the way for him to sign a gargantuan deal with the Redskins. The Panthers lost one of the game’s best cornerbacks for nothing and their secondary suffered as a direct result. Apparently, the move did not sit well with Richardson and he never completely got over that bold miscalculation from Gettleman.
Gettleman took over what was probably the second worst cap situation in the NFL, Jason Fitzgerald of Over The Cap (on Twitter) opines. Although the 2016 season was difficult, Fitzgerald isn’t sure that the Panthers could have asked for much more during Gettleman’s time in charge. In the 2015 season, the Panthers went 15-1 and reached the Super Bowl.
Earlier this summer, DeAngelo Williams said that he would not return to the Panthers if he was given a contract offer. Now that Gettleman is gone, he is singing a different tune. Norman and former Panthers great Steve Smith also seem pretty happy about Monday’s news.

Redskins Issue Statement On Kirk Cousins

July 17th, 2017 at 3:21pm CST by Zachary Links

The Redskins failed to extend quarterback Kirk Cousins before the Monday afternoon deadline. Already, the public relations campaign to try and soothe irked fans is underway. Team president Bruce Allen read the following statement to reporters at Redskins park (Twitter link via Nona Princiotti‏ of The Washington Times):

“After discussions with Kirk face-to-face over the weekend, I want to clarify our negotiations for this year. Kirk is obviously important to our team and fans, and they deserve to know where things stand.

Our goal was to sign Kirk to a long-term contract with the final objective of having him finish his career with the Redskins.

On May 2nd, right after the draft, we made Kirk an offer that included the highest fully guaranteed amount upon signing for a quarterback in NFL history ($53MM) and guaranteed a total of $72MM for injury. The deal would have made him at least the second highest-paid player by average per year in NFL history.

But despite our repeated attempts, we have not received any offer from Kirk’s agent this year.

Kirk has made it clear that he prefers to play on a year-to-year basis. While we would have liked to work out a long-term contract before this season, we accept his decision.

We both share high hopes for this season and we are looking forward to training camp starting next week. And we remain hopeful that a long-term contract will be signed in the future.”

The Redskins want fans to know that they offered a great deal of money to Cousins before Monday’s deadline. While that is true, it does not tell the whole story. Cousins already has a $24MM guarantee for the coming season and the team’s final offer only provided him with $29MM in new guarantees, meaning that the new pact really only gave him two guaranteed years out of a presumed five.

When it comes to Cousins, it seems that the Redskins are one year behind the times. Cousins’ camp likely would have accepted this offer – or something similar – prior to the 2016 franchise tag extension deadline. After turning in another quality season, the price has gone up, but the Redskins have not moved accordingly.

The real headline here is that the Redskins claim they have not received a counter-offer from Cousins’ agent. If that is the case, then there might be no amount of money that could keep the QB in D.C. for the long run.

No Deal For Cousins, Bell, Johnson

July 17th, 2017 at 3:07pm CST by Zachary Links

The franchise tender extension deadline has come and gone. With no deals struck for the three players in question, we now know that Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins, Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell, and Rams cornerback Trumaine Johnson will be playing out the 2017 season on one-year deals.

We’ve believed this to be the most expected outcome for a while now, though Bell was the most likely to sign of the trio. Although Bell might have liked to sign a multi-year deal before this afternoon’s deadline, all three players are still in great shape for the coming year. Cousins will make roughly $24MM on his second straight franchise tag. Johnson will make $16MM on his second time on the tender. Bell will collect a $12MM+ salary on his first ever franchise tag.

The Redskins, Steelers, and Rams can all use the franchise tag on these players next year, but the price would be uncomfortably high in the cases of Bell ($14MM) and Cousins ($34MM) and downright outlandish in the case of Johnson ($20MM). If all goes right for them in 2017, they’re all in position to get paid in 2018 and beyond, one way or another.