HEADLINES

Month: December 2024

Coaching Rumors: Blackburn, Bears, Browns

January 18th, 2018 at 6:37pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Panthers will be making a change atop their special teams staff. Incumbent special teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey is out, Joe Person of the Charlotte Observer tweets, and the Sporting News’ Alex Marvez reports (on Twitter) Chase Blackburn will now run Carolina’s special teams units. A former linebacker who won two Super Bowls with the Giants and finished his career with the Panthers, Blackburn had been working as the Panthers’ assistant ST coach for the past two years.

Here’s the latest from the coaching ranks.

  • For the first time since 2010, someone other than Chris Tabor will oversee the Browns‘ ST units. Amos Jones will relocate to Cleveland to take over as the team’s special teams boss, Marvez tweets. Jones coached the Cardinals’ ST groups during Bruce Arians‘ five-year stay in Arizona. Tabor is now the Bears’ ST coordinator.
  • Rumored to be a candidate to stay in Chicago despite the Bears‘ coaching change, Dave Ragone will indeed stay on as the team’s quarterbacks coach, Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune reports. This comes after the Bears interviewed both ex-Raiders OC Todd Downing and Texans assistant Pat O’Hara for the job. Ragone could be in line for an extension, Biggs notes, with one year remaining on his Bears contract.
  • Biggs also notes Vic Fangio believes most, if not all, of his defensive assistants will remain on staff. The Bears finished as the No. 14 DVOA defense in 2017 and retained Fangio despite his contract having expired.
  • The Titans‘ Steve Wilks HC interview took place Thursday. Both Wilks and Texans DC Mike Vrabel interviewed for this job today. Wilks remains a candidate for the Cards’ HC job.
  • Speaking of the Cardinals‘ HC position, Kent Somers of the Arizona Republic tweets James Bettcher likely won’t need a second interview to be hired. Should the Cards determine their current DC is the right man for the job, Somers notes his five years of experience working with the team should be a sufficient judge rather than a second meeting for the HC job.
  • The Raiders continued to add to their coaching staff this week, bringing aboard four new assistants to Jon Gruden 2.0’s first staff. Recently jettisoned Packers defensive line coach Mike Trgovac will land in Oakland as its D-line instructor, and Byron Storer will be the team’s assistant special teams coach. Trgovac coached Green Bay’s defensive lines from 2009-17. The 33-year-old Storer played for Gruden as a fullback in Tampa Bay from 2007-08 but hasn’t coached in the NFL since working with the 2013 Chargers. Additionally, Tim Berbenich and Travis Smith will be offensive and defensive quality control coaches, respectively. Smith’s been a Raiders assistant for most of this decade. He served as outside linebackers coach in 2017 after being promoted from the quality control group last year.

Falcons To Interview Bevell, Dorsey

January 18th, 2018 at 4:53pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Falcons are interviewing multiple free agent coaches for their vacant quarterbacks coach position. Recently fired assistants Darrell Bevell and Ken Dorsey are set to interview for the post, D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

Bevell has spent the past 12 seasons as an offensive coordinator, with the Vikings from 2006-10 and Seahawks from 2011-17. He will interview for this lower-level perch nonetheless. Mike Shula won’t, however, with Ledbetter reporting the ex-Panthers offensive coordinator wants to catch on as an OC somewhere else.

The Falcons also interviewed Greg Knapp and Jedd Fisch for this job, one that’s becoming quite the competition. The Falcons already announced Steve Sarkisian will return for a second season as OC, and the team looks set to add a big name to work under him.

These coaches are vying to replace Bush Hamdan, who left at season’s end to become OC at the University of Washington.

Bevell last worked as a QBs coach from 2003-05, when he oversaw Brett Favre‘s work with the Packers. Dorsey coached Panthers passers from 2013-17. Bevell and Quinn worked together as coordinators in Seattle from 2013-14.

Steelers Promote Randy Fichtner To OC

January 18th, 2018 at 2:51pm CST by Zachary Links

The Steelers have promoted quarterbacks coach Randy Fichtner to offensive coordinator. The news was first reported by Chris Mortensen of ESPN.com (on Twitter). Randy Fichtner (vertical)

[RELATED: Ben Roethlisberger To Play 3 More Years?]

This was the anticipated outcome after the team allowed Todd Haley‘s contract to expire. Fichtner has a good working relationship with Ben Roethlisberger and the same could not be said for Big Ben and Haley. Given the rumblings of serious discord between the QB and Haley, it wouldn’t be surprising if Roethlisberger played a hand in the coaching switch.

Fichtner, 54, spent his career in the college ranks from 1986-2006. In 2007, he joined the Steelers as their wide receivers coach. In 2010, he was re-assigned as the QBs coach and held down that job for eight seasons. With a total of eleven years working alongside Mike Tomlin, Fichtner is well-versed in the Steelers’ way of doing things.

Former Steelers running backs coach Kirby Wilson was also said to be in the mix for the job.

Falcons Notes: Coleman, Ryan, Bryant

January 18th, 2018 at 1:36pm CST by Zachary Links

Over the summer, the Falcons locked up Devonta Freeman with a five-year extension worth more than $41MM. That’s a big chunk of change to dedicate to the running back position, but GM Thomas Dimitroff seems to think that there will be enough room to also keep Tevin Coleman in the fold after his contract expires next year (Twitter link via Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com).

Coleman, a third-round pick in the 2015 draft, is slated to carry a cap number of just $978K in his final year under contract. The Falcons love having him as a complement to Freeman, but with a career average of 4.3 yards per carry, Coleman figures to attract starter money on the open market in 2019. If the Falcons are intent on keeping the tandem together, their best bet might be to extend Coleman in the coming weeks, before RBs like Isaiah Crowell, Carlos Hyde, Dion Lewis ink new contracts.

Here’s more from Atlanta:

  • No surprise here, but Dimitroff says a contract extension for Matt Ryan will be a top focus for the team as they look to create flexibility going forward (Twitter link via McClure). As it stands, the quarterback is signed through 2018 and is slated to carry a cap charge in excess of $21MM. Of course, re-upping the MVP of the 2016 season won’t be cheap. Ryan turned in another strong season in 2017, tying with Drew Brees as the second-best quarterback in the league, per Pro Football Focus, placing him behind only Tom Brady. He also eclipsed 4,000 passing yards for the seventh consecutive season, though his 4,095 total was his lowest since 2010.
  • Dimitroff says the team will talk to kicker Matt Bryant soon about a contract extension (Twitter link via McClure). Bryant will turn 43 in May, but it sounds like the kicker is intent on continuing his career. In 2017, Bryant connected on 34 of 39 field goal attempts (87.2%) and made all 35 of his extra point tries. Bryant was money from long distance, nailing 8 of 9 kicks from 50+ yards.
  • The Falcons have decided to stick with Steve Sarkisian as their offensive coordinator.

Latest On Dolphins, Jarvis Landry

January 18th, 2018 at 12:19pm CST by Zachary Links

If the Dolphins re-sign Jarvis Landry, it won’t come cheap. The wide receiver’s agent says that his client has no interest in taking any sort of hometown discount to remain in Miami. "<strong

“How long has this franchise been around?,” agent Damarius Bilbo said (via Joe Schad of the Palm Beach Post). “It’s always going to be here. Take a discount? Absolutely not. This may be Jarvis’ first and last time to set himself up and his family up. He needs to strike and strike while the iron is hot. Plenty of guys that were drafted ahead of Jarvis have not performed to his level. Look at Jarvis’ performance level. If you want to compare him to the T.Y. Hiltons and the Doug Baldwins, those deals were done two or three years ago. It’s his time now. He’s next man up.”

Landry and Bilbo could be eyeing Davante Adams‘ deal with the Packers, which pays $14.5MM per year. As Bilbo is quick to point out, Adams did not take a hometown discount in those negotiations.

For reference, Hilton earns $13MM/year and Baldwin makes $11.5MM. From the sound of it, Landry’s camp is aiming higher than that since the cap has increased and the WR market has progressed.

Instead of a long-term deal, the Dolphins could retain Landry with either the franchise tag or transition tag. Starting on February 20, the Dolphins can tag Landry at the franchise rate of $16.5MM or the transition rate of $14.2MM. The cheaper transition tag would grant the Dolphins the right to match any offer, but they would not receive any draft pick compensation if they decline. The Fins have until March 6 to apply either tag.

This week, Landry said that Miami’s most recent offer was “disrespectful.”

PFR Glossary: Contract Incentives

January 18th, 2018 at 11:56am CST by Zachary Links

With the offseason just around the corner, we wanted to give a refresher on contract incentives and their various forms. Signing bonuses can sweeten the pot for free agents and are largely self-explanatory, but incentives are a bit trickier.

At the most basic level, contract incentives are designed to reward a player for his performance — in some cases, these financial rewards are linked to individual or team production, while other incentives can be earned simply by the player earning a spot on his team’s active roster from week to week. These incentives are divided into two categories: Likely to be earned (LTBE) and not likely to be earned (NLTBE).

Under the NFL’s definition, a likely to be earned incentive is generally one that was achieved the year before. So if a running back racked up 1,300 yards on the ground in 2017 and has an incentive in his contract that would reward him for surpassing 1,200 yards in 2018, that incentive is viewed as likely to be earned and counts against his cap hit from the start of the year. On the other hand, a back who has never surpassed 700 rushing yards in a season could have an incentive on his deal for 2014 that would reward him for rushing for 800 yards — such a bonus would be considered not likely to be earned, and wouldn’t count against the player’s cap number.

Because the player’s or team’s performance in a given season dictates whether or not the incentive is actually earned, the player’s cap number is sometimes altered after the fact. For instance, there’d be no change if a player met the criteria for a $50K LTBE incentive, but if he failed to earn that incentive, his team would be credited with $50K in cap room for the following season. Similarly, if a $50K NLTBE incentive isn’t reached, nothing changes, but if a player does earn that incentive, his club’s cap space for the following season is reduced by $50K.

A simple incentive linked to yardage or touchdown totals in a season isn’t too hard to track, but there are more convoluted forms of bonuses. Let’s say a player coming off an injury that limited him to six games played signs a contract that would pay him $500K in per-game roster bonuses. That player would be considered likely to appear in six games, but unlikely to appear in more beyond that. So, of his $500K in roster bonuses, $187,500 would initially count against the cap, as the LTBE portion.

Here are a few more notes on contract incentives and how they work:

  • Any incentive that is considered to be in the player’s sole control, such as weight bonuses, or his presence at workouts, is considered likely to be earned.
  • Any incentive in the first year of a rookie contract is considered likely to be earned.
  • Individual performance incentives can be linked to most basic statistical categories, such as yardage, yards per attempt, and touchdowns. However, more obscure stat categories typically aren’t allowed for individual incentives. For instance, a receiver couldn’t have an incentive tied to receptions of 20+ yards. Meanwhile, a defender could have an incentive linked to sacks or interceptions, but not to tackles for a loss.
  • In some cases, individual performances can also dictate the value of traded draft picks. For example, the Jaguars making the playoffs this year altered their trade for Marcell Dareus. The Bills received a conditional 2018 sixth-round pick for Dareus in the parties’ October trade, but that pick became a fifth-rounder when the Jags reached the postseason.

Note: This is a PFR Glossary entry, modified from an earlier entry by editor emeritus Luke Adams. Our glossary posts will explain specific rules relating to free agency, trades, or other aspects of the NFL’s Collective Bargaining Agreement. Information from Russell Street Report, Over The Cap, and Salary Cap 101 was used in the creation of this post.

Top 3 Offseason Needs: New York Jets

January 18th, 2018 at 9:11am CST by Zachary Links

In advance of March 14, the start of free agency in the NFL, Pro Football Rumors will detail each team’s three most glaring roster issues. We’ll continue this year’s series with the New York Jets, who were more competitive than expected in 2017.

Depth Chart (via Roster Resource)

Pending Free Agents:

Top 10 Cap Hits for 2018:

  1. Muhammad Wilkerson, DE: $20,000,000
  2. Kelvin Beachum, T: $9,500,000
  3. Buster Skrine, CB: $8,500,000
  4. Brian Winters, G: $7,000,000
  5. James Carpenter, G: $6,805,000
  6. Ben Ijalana, T: $6,000,000
  7. Leonard Williams, DT: $5,928,004
  8. Jamal Adams, S: $5,058,820
  9. Jermaine Kearse, WR: $5,000,000
  10. Bilal Powell, RB: $4,883,334

Other:

  • Projected cap space (via Over the Cap): $74,579,406
  • Sixth pick in draft
  • Must exercise or decline 2019 fifth-year option for DT Leonard Williams

Three Needs:

Identify their next starting quarterback: Josh McCown did a solid job last year, but his contract expires in March and his 39th birthday is coming in July. Meanwhile, backups Bryce Petty and Christian Hackenberg stand as the Jets’ only QBs under contract. Petty, a Baylor product who was selected in Mike Maccagnan‘s first draft as GM, completed less than 50% of his passes upon taking over for McCown at the end of the season. Hackenberg, a second round pick in 2016, has yet to play a down of real NFL football.

It is possible that the Jets will look to re-sign McCown as their Week 1 starter after he turned in a handful of brilliant performances last year. In each of the Jets’ five wins, McCown completed more than 70% of his passes. He also helped Gang Green get out to a 14-0 lead over the Patriots in October before Tom Brady & Co. came roaring back to win by a final of 24-17. Still, that’s only a viable scenario if the Jets draft a promising but raw QB in April. Otherwise, the Jets will only consider keeping McCown as a high-priced backup, provided that he would be willing to serve in that capacity and the Jets can justify spending ~$7MM on a reserve.

The good news for the Jets is that this year’s potential free agent QB crop has a handful of quality options. With tons of cap room (though, not as much as some other teams have), you can expect the Jets to make a run at Kirk Cousins if he becomes available. The Redskins reserve the right to hit him with a third consecutive franchise tag or this could be the offseason that they finally give him the lucrative long-term contract that he’s looking for. But, if the Redskins allow him to test the open market or even the restricted market, the Jets won’t hesitate to get in on the bidding. This past season was not Cousins’ finest, but he has shown that he can be a backend top-10 signal caller when surrounded with the right personnel. If he reaches free agency, he’ll be the best QB up for grabs in years. 

The Chiefs are expected to move on from Alex Smith this year and if they can’t find a viable trade for him, they might release him outright. Adding Smith wouldn’t be as sexy of a move as signing Cousins, but Smith did lead the Chiefs to the postseason when many expected him to crash and make way for Patrick Mahomes. You also might be surprised to learn that Smith graded out as Pro Football Focus’ sixth-best quarterback of the season, tying him with Russell Wilson and putting him ahead of Jimmy Garoppolo, Aaron Rodgers, and Matthew Stafford.

Case Keenum, PFF’s No. 8 ranked QB, shocked the world with his performance this year and he just might help the Vikings reach the Super Bowl for the first time since 1976. It’s hard to imagine Minnesota letting him get away at this point, but if he’s out there, the Jets will at least put feelers out for him. Of course, the clear downside with Keenum is that he accomplished very little before this season. Has Keenum, almost 30, finally come into his own? Or was his success the product of Pat Shurmur‘s system? On the plus side, Keenum looks the part of a postseason winner in this limited sample, something that could not necessarily be said for Smith. Smith is 2-5 in his playoff career with his last postseason W coming in 2015.

Beyond those three, there are some intriguing, yet risky, QBs who could be available. Teddy Bridgewater looked the part of a rising star in his first two NFL seasons, but he has not seen real playing time since the end of the 2015 campaign. Tyrod Taylor, at times, has looked the part of a legitimate NFL starter, but he would be more of a bridge option than anything for the Jets. Ditto for Bridgewater’s teammate, Sam Bradford, who is also scheduled to reach free agency in March.

Although he’s largely untested, QB-needy teams like the Jets will be keeping an eye A.J. McCarron‘s grievance case. If he wins, the Bengals QB will go from an restricted free agent to a UFA, allowing him to finally cash in and get his opportunity as a starter. It’s unclear how the Jets’ decision makers feel about McCarron, but the Browns’ old regime was willing to part with a second-round pick and a third-round pick to land him before the trade deadline.

Technically speaking, Drew Brees is also slated to be a part of this group, but he is widely expected to remain with New Orleans. Other big names like Eli Manning might become available, but the Jets have gotten an up close look at the two-time Super Bowl champ and are certainly aware of his sharp decline. There’s no scenario in which the Jets would sign Manning to be their starter for multiple seasons, nor is there a scenario in which Manning agrees to groom a top draft pick only to step out of the way during the season.

Sam Darnold (Featured)Armed with the No. 6 pick, the Jets will have a crack at this year’s best quarterbacks, though they would have to get ahead of the Giants at No. 2 in order to have their pick of the litter. Despite their hiccups in 2017, USC’s Sam Darnold and UCLA’s Josh Rosen remain the top arms in this year’s class with Darnold representing the perceived safer choice and Rosen possibly having the higher ceiling. If the Jets stay at No. 6 and miss out on both, they could entertain the likes of Josh Allen, Baker Mayfield, and Lamar Jackson.

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West Notes: Raiders, Hawks, 49ers, Ziggy

January 17th, 2018 at 10:00pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Although the Raiders failed to lure ex-Packers executive Eliot Wolf to Oakland (Wolf ultimately accepted a new role with the Browns), they’re still aiming to hire a “young” assistant general manager and may also add an executive vice president of football operations, according to Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com. Wolf would have seemingly been the ideal candidate for Oakland given his ties to general manager Reggie McKenzie, who is also a former Green Bay staffer. There’s no word as to whether the Raiders ever pursued yet another former Packers executive in Alonzo Highsmith, who — like Wolf — ultimately landed in Cleveland. No matter who Oakland hires, McKenzie is expected to share roster control with new head coach Jon Gruden.

Here’s more from the NFL’s two West divisions:

  • Prior to the Seahawks hiring Ken Norton Jr. as their new defensive coordinator, they also interviewed incumbent defensive line coach Clint Hurtt for the position, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. Although Hurtt was passed over for the job, he will stay on Seattle’s staff going forward, per Rapoport. Hurtt, who was the Bears’ outside linebackers coach from 2015-16, was hired by Seattle last January after an odd dance in which it seemed he’d land with the Jets. Hurtt’s decision to remain with the Seahawks shouldn’t obfuscate the fact that Seattle has revamped its defensive staff this month by firing both former DC Kris Richard and assistant head coach/linebackers Micahel Barrow.
  • The concept of pending free agent Lions defensive end Ezekiel Ansah signing with the 49ers is being discussed in NFL circles, reports Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee. As Barrows notes, this is an “all smoke, no fire” situation, as there have been no reports officially linking Ansah to the Bay Area. However, Ansah — who rebounded with 12 sacks in 2017 after a two-sack 2016 — could theoretically thrive in San Francisco’s 4-3 scheme as opposed to what will be a Matt Patricia-led defense in Detroit, so this is something to file away for later.
  • While Broncos quarterback Paxton Lynch certainly hasn’t been successful through two NFL seasons, he’s also had to deal with two head coaches, three offensive coordinators, and three different offensive schemes, as Nicki Jhabvala of the Denver Post opines. Lynch, the Broncos’ first-round pick in 2016, has only four games in two years with Denver, and lost the starting quarterback job to former seventh-rounder Trevor Siemian in both campaigns.

2018 NFL Draft Order

January 17th, 2018 at 9:20pm CST by Dallas Robinson

With the 2017 NFL regular season now in the books, the majority of the 2018 draft order is in place. The final four slots will be determined by the results of the remainder of the postseason, but picks No. 1 through No. 28 are locked in. Here is the full list:

1. Cleveland Browns (0-16)

2. New York Giants (3-13)

3. Indianapolis Colts (4-12)

4. Cleveland Browns (via the 4-12 Houston Texans)

5. Denver Broncos (5-11)

6. New York Jets (5-11)

7. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5-11)

8. Chicago Bears (5-11)

T-9. Oakland Raiders (6-10)

T-9. San Francisco 49ers (6-10) (Note: The Raiders and 49ers have identical records and the same strength of schedule. The tie will be broken by a coin flip with the winner getting pick No. 9 and the other club receiving the No. 10 pick.)

11. Miami Dolphins (6-10)

12. Cincinnati Bengals (7-9)

13. Washington Redskins (7-9)

14. Green Bay Packers (7-9)

15. Arizona Cardinals (8-8)

16. Baltimore Ravens (9-7)

17. Los Angeles Chargers (9-7)

18. Seattle Seahawks (9-7)

19. Dallas Cowboys (9-7)

20. Detroit Lions (9-7)

21. Buffalo Bills (9-7)

22. Buffalo Bills (via the 10-6 Kansas City Chiefs)

23. Los Angeles Rams (11-5)

24. Carolina Panthers (11-5)

25. Tennessee Titans (9-7)

26. Atlanta Falcons (10-6)

27. New Orleans Saints (11-5)

28. Pittsburgh Steelers (13-3)

NFC North Notes: Vikings, Packers, Bears

January 17th, 2018 at 9:01pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Vikings safety Andrew Sendejo left Sunday’s Divisional Round game after taking a hit to the head, and while he remains in the concussion protocol, he was able to perform limited individual work during Wednesday’s practice, tweets Lindsay Jones of USA Today. While there’s no definitive word on Sendejo’s status, the mere fact that he was able to participate in practice should be a positive sign as Minnesota prepares to face Philadelphia in the NFC Championship Game. If Sendejo can’t go, fellow defensive back Jayron Kearse — who played 60% of the Vikings’ defensive snaps following Sendejo’s injury — would see more action.

Let’s take a quick spin around the NFC North:

  • Colts defensive line coach Gary Emanuel has interviewed for the same position with the Packers, according to Alex Marvez of the Sporting News (Twitter link). Emanuel is currently in limbo given that Indianapolis is expected to hire head coach Josh McDaniels and defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus, so he’s taking meetings in the interim. After spending six seasons with the Colts, Emanuel would replace Mike Trgovac as Green Bay’s defensive line coach. Trgovac was fired earlier this month as part of a Packers house-cleaning that also included the termination of defensive coordinator Dom Capers.
  • The Bears are expected to hire Shane Toub as an offensive quality control coach, Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune writes. Toub, the son of Chiefs special teams coordinator Dave Toub, had been working as a graduate assistant at the University of Illinois. Additionally, Chicago has also decided to retain linebackers coach Glenn Pires and assistant defensive backs coach Roy Anderson, sources tell Marvez (Twitter link).
  • In case you missed it, the Bears may have interest in adding former Seahawks offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell to their offensive staff. Bevell isn’t the only ex-play-caller in contention for a role with Chicago, as former Raiders OC Todd Downing is also interviewing with the club.
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