HEADLINES

Month: November 2024

Browns To Meet With Vontae Davis

February 16th, 2018 at 1:54pm CST by Zachary Links

Vontae Davis will visit with the Browns on Friday, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter). There are more visits coming down the pike for the former Colts cornerback next week, Schefter hears. "<strong

[RELATED: Vontae Davis Gains Medical Clearance]

Davis kicked off his free agent tour on Thursday when he met with the Bills. He left Buffalo without a deal and it wouldn’t be a surprise if he also leaves Cleveland without signing a contract. Davis likely wants to consider all of his options and free agency won’t begin for most of the league’s players for another four weeks, so it stands to reason that he will wait patiently for the right opportunity.

After two Pro Bowl seasons, Davis’ play began to tail off in 2016. Last year, injuries slowed Davis down and ultimately led the Colts to release him in November. The veteran was also said to be angry about the prospect of being bumped from the starting lineup. At this stage of his career, it’s not clear if any club is willing to guarantee Davis a first-string job.

In other Browns news, Cleveland may be a team to watch as A.J. McCarron enters unrestricted free agency.

Colts Hire Nick Sirianni As OC

February 16th, 2018 at 1:39pm CST by Zachary Links

It’s official. The Colts have hired Chargers wide receivers coach Nick Sirianni as their new offensive coordinator, according to a team press release. Nick Sirianni (Vertical)

Before Josh McDaniels backed out of the Colts’ head coaching job, it appeared that the team would hire either former Seahawks play caller Darrell Bevell or Raiders quarterbacks coach Jake Peetz as OC. New head coach Frank Reich inherited several assistants from McDaniels’ would-be staff, but he had some say in this choice and the team landed on Sirianni as his right-hand man on offense.

Reich and Sirianni spent multiple seasons together in San Diego. Reich was the Bolts’ quarterbacks coach in 2013 before graduating to offensive coordinator in 2014 and 2015. Sirianni was an offensive quality control coach in ’13 before advancing to QB coach when Reich was promoted.

Reich did not have the opportunity to call plays when he worked under Doug Pederson in Philadelphia, so it stands to reason that he will call the plays in Indianapolis. Still, this is a big step up for the 36-year-old Sirianni.

La Canfora On T. Johnson, Crabtree, Marshall

February 16th, 2018 at 1:03pm CST by Zachary Links

Cornerback Trumaine Johnson will not be back with the Rams, according a league source who spoke with Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com. Johnson is coming off of his second straight franchise tag and there is no realistic chance of the team hitting him with a third tender for $20MM, but it appears that the team is not interested in keeping him on board altogether.

Johnson graded out as Pro Football Focus’ No. 68 corner out of 121 players at the position this past year and it’s safe to say the Rams expected more after investing $37MM in him over the past two seasons. The Rams may feel that Johnson’s reputation will drive up his cost on the open market, making a new deal untenable.

Here’s more from JLC:

  • Safety Sean Smith and wide receiver Michael Crabtree are not in the Raiders’ plans, JLC hears. If that’s the case, moving on from both players will create about $16MM in cap and cash savings. It’s no surprise to hear that Smith is likely out of the picture in Oakland – he underperformed in 2017, he is facing felony assault charges, and his entire $8.5MM cap charge can be wiped clean from the books. Crabtree’s status isn’t so cut and dry, particularly after Jon Gruden‘s recent comments indicating that he was looking forward to working with the veteran.
  • Giants wide receiver Brandon Marshall feels that he has multiple seasons left in the tank, but JLC hears that he is not in the team’s plans for 2018. Marshall, who will turn 34 in March, can be released in order to create $5.1MM in cap space with just $1MM in dead money. The veteran missed the bulk of the season after undergoing ankle surgery.
  • League sources believe that Bears quarterback Mike Glennon will not be back with the team this season. The Bears signed Glennon three-year, $45MM deal last March with the hope that he could hold down the starting job for at least one year while Mitch Trubisky learned on the sidelines. After Glennon faltered for the first month of the season, he was given the hook in favor of the team’s top draft pick. The Bears could save $11.5MM by releasing or trading Glennon with $4.5MM left on the cap.
  • JLC also hears that cornerback Kyle Fuller will not be retained by the Bears. Chicago declined Fuller’s fifth-year option last offseason which was something of a no-brainer after he spent all of 2016 on IR. This year, Fuller looked sharp as he totaled 68 tackles and placed as PFF’s No. 22 ranked cornerback over the likes of Ronald Darby, Byron Maxwell, Jason McCourty, Richard Sherman, and other notables.

NFC East Notes: Eagles, Graham, Redskins

February 16th, 2018 at 12:02pm CST by Zachary Links

Eagles linebacker/defensive end Brandon Graham is ready to cash in after turning in the best season of his career. The 29-year-old (30 in April) has one more season to go on his contract, but he’s looking for an extension that will reflect his performance.

“For me, it’s all about getting as much as you can while you can play because when it’s over, it’s over,” he said (via Dave Zangaro of NBC Sports Philadelphia). “I know Howie [Roseman] and those guys, if they want me here, they’re going to make sure that they get me here. For me, I want to be here. Everybody knows I want to be here. They see the passion I have and I’m happy to be able to bring the trophy back to Philly…Now, it’s just all about just making sense, just getting me protected for the future. Because obviously I want to retire here and I know I’m going to retire here because I’ve been here a long time. I would love to retire here. It’s all on what they want to do. I’m just going to embrace it, whatever it is.”

In 2017, Graham racked up a career high 9.5 sacks to go along with 47 total tackles. He also graded out as the eighth-best edge defender in the NFL with a 91.6 overall score from Pro Football Focus, nearly matching his 93.9 grade from 2016.

Last year, the Eagles rewarded Graham with an extra $1.5MM in incentives for the final two years of his deal as a showing of good faith. This time around, Graham is looking for something more substantial as he enters the final year of his pact. As it stands, Graham is set to carry an $8MM cap number in 2018, which ranks just 13th amongst 4-3 DEs in the NFL.

Here’s more from the NFC East:

  • Here’s a crazy scenario raised by Mike Florio of PFT: If Kirk Cousins is franchise tagged and signs the tender before March 14, Florio wonders aloud if the Redskins could back out of the Alex Smith trade. Cousins signing the tender would trigger a one-year, $34.47MM contract and it’s hard to see a team giving up a lot in a trade for a player who is only under contract for one year at that exorbitant price. As we learned on Thursday, Cousins could also fight a franchise tag by filing a grievance against Washington. Redskins president Bruce Allen is apparently thinking about going the petty route, but that could wind up backfiring. Ultimately, the best move the Redskins could make would be to do nothing and allow Cousins to hit the open market.
  • Many teams will consider parting with high-priced veterans this offseason, but the Redskins appear to have no real cap casualty candidates, as Rich Tandler of NBC Sports Washington writes. The Redskins, with roughly $31MM in cap space after factoring in Smith’s contract, don’t have much flexibility snce nearly all of their expensive players are necessary. The only potential cut would be defensive lineman Terrell McClain, who is set to carry a $4.7MM cap number in 2018. However, the Redskins wouldn’t save much by dropping him. Cutting tight end Jordan Reed, who has a $10.1MM cap hit, would only save the team $4.7MM when considering the dead money hit, so it seems likely that the team will hold on to him and see if he can stay healthy.
  • The Giants announced that they’ll keep multiple coaches from the previous staff.

Greg Hardy Still Hoping For NFL Opportunity

February 16th, 2018 at 11:16am CST by Zachary Links

Former Panthers and Cowboys defensive end Greg Hardy is now focusing on mixed martial arts, but he still hopes to find his way back to the NFL. Hardy says he is “damn ready at all times” to play in the NFL, though he knows that call might never come. Greg Hardy MMA (vertical)

“That’s the tricky part,” Hardy said when asked if he deserves another chance (link via Mark Francescutti of the Dallas Morning News). “I have to use everything I learned in martial arts and learn to let it go. I won’t force it. It’s them not giving me an opportunity.”

Hardy says he has agreed to play in 13 games with the Richmond Roughriders of the American Arena League with a contract that will allow him to opt out for an NFL deal. In the meantime, he is getting ready for an amateur MMA bout on Friday night. If the NFL never gives him another chance at taking the field, Hardy says his long-term goal is to become the UFC’s heavyweight champion.

Back in July, agent Drew Rosenhaus admitted that the window on Hardy’s NFL career is closing. Hardy did reasonably well for the Cowboys in 2015 as he started 15 games and graded out as the league’s 28th-best edge defender out of 110 qualified players, according to Pro Football Focus. On the other hand, he’s a public relations nightmare and he was frequently late or absent from team meetings during that season, which marked his first “second chance”. Teams know that signing Hardy, 30 in July, would upset a good portion of the fan base and possibly disturb the locker room.

Right now, it still doesn’t seem likely that he’ll get another crack at redemption in the NFL. But, for what it’s worth, Hardy has not given up on the idea.

Photo via Pro Football Rumors on Instagram.

Bengals Won’t Face Penalty Over McCarron

February 15th, 2018 at 11:18pm CST by Zachary Links

On Thursday, Bengals quarterback A.J. McCarron scored two victories against his employer. The most notable, of course, is that he will be an unrestricted free agent this offseason. The other W came in the way of restitution for the year he spent on the non-football injury (NFI) list. McCarron will recoup his lost salary for that time, but the Bengals will not be fined for the move, Mike Florio of PFT reports. A.J. McCarron (vertical)

“The NFL Management Council represented the club in the grievance,” league spokesman Brian McCarthy said via email.

When asked whether this means that the league agreed with the team’s decision to place McCarron on the NFI list in 2014, McCarthy responded in the affirmative. McCarron did not agree with the decision, of course, and an arbitrator sided with him against the team.

The Bengals drafted the Alabama product in 2014 and placed him on the NFI list at the start of training camp due to a shoulder injury. McCarron later argued that he was healthy enough to come off of NFI during camp, but the Bengals did not activate him until December of that year. Placing McCarron on the NFI list allowed the Bengals to effectively stash an extra player on the roster and also gave them grounds to argue that he did not accrue a full year of service time that would allow him to reach UFA status in 2018.

McCarron is now set for unfettered free agency, where he figures to make a whole lot more than the one-year, ~$4MM tender he likely would have gotten from the Bengals.

North Notes: Vikings, Browns, McCarron

February 15th, 2018 at 9:58pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Now that’s been declared an unrestricted free agent, Bengals quarterback A.J. McCarron says he’s “open to everything,” according to Jim Owczarski of the Cincinnati Enquirer. “It’s just awesome just to be free now and to hopefully get that opportunity and be able to compete somewhere,” said McCarron. “That’s all I’ve ever wanted. I’m just super excited.” McCarron, who won a grievance against the Bengals, will now join a free agent signal-caller class that includes Kirk Cousins, Case Keenum, and Sam Bradford, among others. In what sounds like speculation, the Browns (who nearly traded for McCarron last year) and the Vikings are two team to “keep an eye on” as McCarron hits the open market, per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (video link).

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

  • The Steelers rank as a bottom-three NFL club in terms of 2018 cap space, and they’ll likely clear more room by releasing defensive backs Mike Mitchell and J.J. Wilcox over the coming weeks, as Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes. Pittsburgh can clear $5MM by cutting the 30-year-old Mitchell, and Dulac says it’s “become apparent” to the Steelers coaching staff that Mitchell can’t run as well as he used to. Wilcox, meanwhile, was a preseason trade acquisition who ended up playing only 14% of the Pittsburgh’s defensive snaps a year ago. If the Steelers do end up altering their defensive backfield, former second-round pick Sean Davis will likely transition from strong to free safety.
  • While Mitchell and Wilcox could be forced off the Steelers‘ roster, offensive tackle Chris Hubbard is likely to leave of his own accord, according to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com. Hubbard, 26, had only started four games during the first three years of his career, but was inserted into Pittsburgh’s lineup for 10 games in 2017. During that time, Hubbard offered league-average production, grading as the No. 40 tackle among 81 qualifiers, per Pro Football Focus. Per Fowler, Hubbard is going to “get paid elsewhere, and the Steelers know it.”
  • Bears linebacker Jerrell Freeman is expected to retire or be released, writes Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune. Freeman, 31, inked a three-year, $12MM contract with Chicago prior to the 2016 season, but injuries and two performance-enhancing drug suspensions have limited him to just 13 games over the past two years. Without Freeman, the Bears will likely field Danny Trevathan and Nick Kwiatkowski at inside linebacker.
  • Updating a previous report, former Redskins general manager Scot McCloughan is indeed still running his scouting service and has not been hired full-time by the Browns, per Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. McCloughan is providing consulting work for multiple NFL clubs.

Coaching Rumors: Jets, Cowboys, Giants

February 15th, 2018 at 9:02pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Josh McDaniels‘ decision to break his agreement to become the Colts’ next head coach could hypothetically push the NFL to change its hiring rules, as Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk writes. Currently, teams aren’t allowed to formally hire coaches who are still employed by playoff clubs, but that hadn’t been an impediment given that no presumptive head coach had backed out of a reported deal. Had McDaniels been able to be officially offered the Indianapolis job several weeks ago, the Colts may have been aware of his wariness at the time. The NFL discussed a possible hiring rule change in 2017, but tabled the discussion, per Florio.

Here’s more from the 2018 coaching carousel:

  • The Jets announced that Jeremy Bates, who was recently promoted to offensive coordinator, will also retain his role as the club’s quarterbacks coach. While Bates will have two jobs, he’ll be able to rely on the expertise of assistant quarterbacks coach Mick Lombardi and longtime NFL offensive coordinator — and new New York offensive line coach/run game coordinator — Rick Dennison. Bates & Co. will likely be working with at least one new signal-caller in 2018, although the Jets are open to re-signing veteran passer Josh McCown.
  • Former Patriots assistant Ray “Bubba” Ventrone will be hired as the Colts‘ new special teams coordinator, according to Alex Marvez of the Sporting News. Ventrone, who played for four NFL teams, had been a New England staffer since 2015, but this will be his first run as a coordinator. Indianapolis is also expected to hire ex-Lions defensive backs coach Alan Williams for the same role, per Marvez, while Field Yates of ESPN.com reports (Twitter link) former Buccaneers assistant Dave Borgonzi will become the Colts’ next linebackers coach.
  • The Cowboys have finalized their 2017 coaching staff by hiring Doug Colman as their assistant special teams coach, per Todd Archer of ESPN.com. Colman spent the past four seasons in the same role for the cross-state Texans. He’s expected to be the last major hire on Jason Garrett‘s staff after Dallas promoted Keith O’Quinn to ST coordinator and hired Doug Nussmeier as tight ends coach.
  • Florida Atlantic University defensive coordinator Chris Kiffin is joining the NFL ranks, as he’s agreed to become the 49ers‘ pass rush specialist, according to Bruce Feldman of Sports Illustrated. Kiffin comes from a long line of NFL coaches, as he’s the brother of Lane Kiffin and the son of Monte Kiffin. In San Francisco, he’ll work with young defenders Arik Armstead, Solomon Thomas, and DeForest Buckner.
  • The Giants have announced new head coach Pat Shurmur‘s staff, and the new list of assistants contains several holdovers. Rob Leonard (assistant linebackers), Ryan Roeder (offensive assistant) and Bobby Blick (defensive assistant) will all stick around.

First Prospective Panthers Buyer Emerges

February 15th, 2018 at 7:37pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Panthers are the only NFL team up for sale, and the club may have its first serious bidder. South Carolina businessman Ben Navarro is “actively” exploring a potential purchase of the Carolina franchise, according to Jourdan Rodrigue and Katherine Peralta of the Charlotte Observer.Panthers Helmet (Featured)

Incumbent owner Jerry Richardson put the Panthers on the market earlier this year following allegations that he not only sexually harassed female employees, but used a racial slur against a team scout. Richardson ceded day-to-day control of the club in December, but he remains under NFL investigation. Carolina, of course, is also without a long-term general manager, as interim GM Marty Hurney is dealing with his own off-field issues.

Navarro, for his part, formerly worked at Citigroup, but now runs a debt collection firm in Charleston, per the Observer scribes. Naarro’s father, Frank, has ties to the football realm, as he served as head coach at four colleges — Williams, Columbia, Walsh, and Princeton — from 1963-84.

While the price to acquire the Panthers is unknown, the last NFL team to be sold — the Bills — went for more than $1 billion. Per NFL rules, Navarro would need to be able to purchase at least 30% of the Panthers up front.

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