2018 February - Pro Football Rumors

Dave Toub Possible Colts Contingency Plan?

February 4th, 2018 at 8:04pm CST by Sam Robinson

Josh McDaniels has been linked as the next Colts coach for two weeks, with the parties — just as the Lions and Matt Patricia have — reaching an unofficial agreement.

But if McDaniels is having second thoughts and ends up backing out of this setup, Chris Ballard may have a contingency option.

Although Chiefs special teams coach Dave Toub did not interview, he is viewed by some around the league as a candidate if an in-case-of-emergency situation arises, Adam Caplan of ESPN.com tweets. This has been on the radar, to some degree, for over a year.

In January 2017, a report emerged the Colts had a Ballard/Toub partnership in mind. And earlier this year, Charean Williams of Pro Football Talk reported Toub was expected to draw interest. However, the franchise zeroed in on McDaniels soon after.

Toub interviewed with the Broncos and Chargers last year but remained with the Chiefs for a fifth season. The 55-year-old Toub was the Bears’ ST coordinator from 2004-12 and has been in the same organization as Ballard twice, with the current Indianapolis GM spending 12 years in Chicago prior to coming to Kansas City.

Josh McDaniels Not Viewed As Lock To Leave Patriots?

February 4th, 2018 at 7:02pm CST by Sam Robinson

Although reports already have the Colts being in line to hire certain coordinators, Josh McDaniels may not be 100 percent committed to leaving New England.

“Increasing” buzz around the league has the possibility the longtime Patriots offensive coordinator staying with the team in play, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk offers.

Florio reports McDaniels has not yet told the Patriots he’s leaving, despite numerous reports circulating for weeks he’s heading to Indianapolis. Some around the NFL believe McDaniels would stick around in the event Bill Belichick surprises the franchise and retires after the game, Florio writes. However, if Belichick operates as expected and remains as New England’s HC for 2018, McDaniels would likely require a pay bump and a promise he will be the next Pats head coach when the time comes.

This would certainly qualify as stunning given how long the Colts and McDaniels have had an unofficial agreement in place. And given how poorly McDaniels’ first HC run went, it might be difficult for another team to trust him enough to offer him an HC job again if he spurns the Colts.

Latest On Larry Fitzgerald’s Plans

February 4th, 2018 at 6:49pm CST by Sam Robinson

Larry Fitzgerald plans to decide about returning for a 15th season this month.

Despite the Cardinals potentially not knowing what quarterbacks are going to be on the roster until possibly the draft, the 34-year-old said he intends to let his team know “in a week or so” (Twitter link, via Ian Rapoport of NFL.com).

The future Hall of Fame wideout added he’s “excited about what the future holds,” and he’s confident in Steve Keim acquiring the right pieces to help the Cardinals re-emerge as a contender.

“I’m contemplating it, absolutely,” Fitzgerald said, regarding a return for 2018, during an NFL Network appearance (via ESPN). “I’m excited about what the future holds. Obviously there’s some things that need to happen in terms of personnel, draft and things like that to help our team improve,” he said. “but I’m confident that [general manager] Steve Keim and his group are going to do a good job with that.”

Drew Stanton and Blaine Gabbert are free agents as well for the Cardinals, who are expected to be in the Kirk Cousins sweepstakes. Although, Arizona’s cap situation is not as friendly as the other teams expected to vie for Cousins.

Regardless, Fitzgerald committing to come back in February would not give him much intel about the offense he would be coming back to. The former Pitt dynamo did, however, commit to returning last season on February 1, so he appears to be operating on a similar timeline. Palmer, though, was in the picture at that point.

Fitzgerald signed a one-year, $11MM extension for 2018 and stands to carry a $15.85MM cap number. So, it would help the Cardinals — projected to have just $8.7MM in cap space — to know if their top receiver was returning for planning purposes.

Brandin Cooks To Miss Rest Of Super Bowl

February 4th, 2018 at 6:34pm CST by Sam Robinson

The jarring hit Brandin Cooks absorbed in the second quarter will end his first Super Bowl. Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports reports (on Twitter) the Patriots’ top deep threat is done for the game.

Malcolm Jenkins delivered the blow that will leave the Patriots without their prized offseason acquisition. For the second straight game, New England will be without one of its key pass-catchers after a first-half collision.

The first-year Patriots wide receiver suffered a concussion, Doug Kyed of NESN.com tweets.

New England has a bevy of receiving options and was able to survive the Jaguars’ effort in the AFC title game without Rob Gronkowski, who was lost for that game due to a concussion, in the second half. But Cooks is the Pats’ top long-range weapon. The Patriots traded for Phillip Dorsett just before this season, and the former Colts first-round pick could now see time.

Acquired from the Saints for a first-round pick this offseason, Cooks has not missed a game since his 2014 rookie season. He reeled off his third straight 1,000-yard season, and the 16.6-yard average is the 24-year-old’s highest per-catch figure of his career. Cooks was the Patriots’ second-leading receiver this season, behind Gronkowski.

Brian Flores, Chad O’Shea Favorites For Patriots’ Coordinator Jobs

February 4th, 2018 at 5:26pm CST by Sam Robinson

As Josh McDaniels and Matt Patricia get set to oversee Super Bowl LII units before departing for head-coaching positions, the Patriots are zeroing in on their successors.

Both are expected to be in-house choices. Linebackers coach Brian Flores has been mentioned as the Patriots’ preferred Patricia successor, and Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk confirms that’s still the thinking in New England. Florio adds wide receivers coach Chad O’Shea, who has been previously mentioned as a possible candidate, is viewed as the frontrunner to take over the 2018 Pats’ offense.

A report from NBC Sports Boston’s Gary Tanguay indicates (Twitter link) the Patriots are planning to interview Ohio State DC Greg Schiano for the DC job, but Florio hears that if Schiano joins the New England staff it will be in a different position.

A possible Schiano route to the Pats’ DC job, per Florio, would then come as a result of Flores being hired as a head coach elsewhere. Considering he was in the mix for the Cardinals’ job for weeks, that could well happen soon.

Florio adds an outside chance exists that assistant quarterbacks coach Jerry Schuplinski succeeds McDaniels, but the belief is he has not been coaching with the team long enough make this ascent. McDaniels has coached the Pats’ QBs and run the offense. Schuplinski was an offensive assistant from 2013-15 before taking over as the assistant quarterbacks coach in 2016.

O’Shea, meanwhile, has been the Patriots’ wideouts coach for the past nine seasons. The 45-year-old assistant’s been a full-time position coach since 2004, when he made his NFL debut as the Chiefs’ assistant special teams coach.

Bills QB Tyrod Taylor Won’t Accept Pay Cut

February 4th, 2018 at 4:51pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor accepted a pay cut in order to remain in Buffalo a season ago, but he’s not prepared to do the same in 2018, according to Vic Carucci of the Buffalo News (Twitter link).

Taylor is technically under contract through the 2021 campaign, but the 2019-2021 seasons are void years, designed to allow the Bills to spread out Taylor’s signing bonuses. For all practical purposes, Buffalo owns Taylor’s rights through 2018: he’s scheduled to earn a $10MM base salary and a $6MM roster bonus, and count for $18.08MM on the Bills’ salary cap. If Taylor is released, Buffalo would be on the hook for $8.64MM in dead money but save $9.44MM in cap space.

The Bills aren’t necessarily committed to releasing Taylor, as they could allow him to compete with another signal-caller for the club’s starting job in 2018. Theoretically, Buffalo could also seek to trade Taylor, but given that the 2018 quarterback market is suddenly flush with options (Kirk Cousins, Case Keenum, Nick Foles, at least four viable first-round draft candidates), the Bills could struggle to find a taker. If Buffalo does deal Taylor, it will create $10.4MM in cap space.

Taylor, 28, has been the Bills’ starting quarterback for the past three seasons. In 2017, Taylor started 14 games while completing 62.6% of his passes four 14 touchdowns and four interceptions. Taylor ranked 15th in both passer rating and adjusted net yards per pass attempt, and finished 22nd in DVOA, Football Outsiders‘ per-play value metric. He also added another 427 yards and four scores on the ground, and ranked as the fifth-most effective rushing quarterback, per FO.

Tom Brady Confirms He’ll Play In 2018

February 4th, 2018 at 4:03pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Tom Brady and the TB12 method will return for yet another NFL campaign, as the Patriots quarterback confirmed in a pre-Super Bowl interview with Westwood One’s Jim Gray that he will indeed play in 2018.

“Yeah, you’re gonna see me playing football next year,” Brady said. “I don’t envision not playing. You’re at the end of the race but you’ve got your biggest mountain to climb right at the end. Hopefully all the lessons we’ve learned have allowed us to be at our very best for this moment and that’s what it’s going to take and that’s what we’re prepared for and that’s what I go out and expect our team to do.”

Even at age-40, Brady was terrific in 2017, leading the league in passing yardage on the way to his third MVP trophy. Reported turmoil in the Patriots’ organization had lent some credence to the notion that Brady could retire after the season, but New England has refuted many of the details in that original ESPN.com report. Both Brady and head coach Bill Belichick are expected to return for a 19th season together.

Brady, who will attempt to secure his sixth career Super Bowl title later today, is signed through the 2019 campaign. Next season, he’ll earn a $15MM base salary and count for $22MM on the Patriots’ salary cap.

5 Key NFL Stories: 1/28/18 – 2/4/18

February 4th, 2018 at 3:40pm CST by Dallas Robinson

It’s Super Bowl Sunday! All the trades, signings, draft selections, coaching hires, front office additions, game-planning, and practice sessions have led to this: Super Bowl LII between the Eagles and Patriots. New England will have tight end Rob Gronkowski available after he suffered a concussion in the AFC Championship Game, but the club is expected to lose coordinators Josh McDaniels and Matt Patricia to head coaching jobs once the contest concludes. Philadelphia, meanwhile, will go into today’s game with backup quarterback Nick Foles, and they too could lose a respected staffer — quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo — following the Super Bowl. And by the way: Brandin Cooks was nearly an Eagle!

Redskins trade for a new quarterback. Kirk Cousins always seemed unlikely to return to the nation’s capital in 2018, so Washington found itself a new QB by trading for the Chiefs’ Alex Smith. The Redskins gave up a 2018 third-round pick and promising young cornerback Kendall Fuller (and inked Smith to a four-year, $94MM extension), but they now have a quarterback in place for the foreseeable future. Reports today have indicated Washington could still franchise tag Cousins again despite having acquired Smith, but that’s likely an empty threat.

…but the Jaguars will stick with their signal-caller. Jacksonville is planning to retain Blake Bortles and his $19MM+ salary in 2018, but the team likely doesn’t have much of a choice. Bortles recently underwent wrist surgery, meaning he may not be able to pass a physical by the time the new league year rolls around in March. If that’s the case, his injury guarantees will kick in, meaning Bortles will collect his base salary (which is courtesy of his exercised fifth-year option) whether he’s on the Jaguars’ roster or not.

Ravens plan front office transition. Ozzie Newsome has been leading Baltimore’s front office since the Ravens’ inception in 1996 (although he didn’t officially become the NFL’s first African-American general manager until 2002), and has led the club to continued success and two Super Bowl titles during that time. While Newsome will remain with the organization as an adviser, longtime assistant GM Eric DeCosta — who has consistently turned down interviews with other teams around the NFL — will take charge of personnel after the 2018 campaign.

Cardinals expected to cut Adrian Peterson. While Peterson has claimed he’d like to play four-to-five more years in the NFL, it likely won’t be in Arizona, as the Cardinals are likely to release the future Hall of Famer this offseason. Arizona acquired the 33-year-old Peterson from the Saints at midseason, but he managed only 3.5 yards per carry on 129 rushes and scored twice in the desert. With superstar David Johnson returning from injury, the Cards don’t have a pressing need for a back like Peterson.

Eagles Open To Trading QB Nick Foles

February 4th, 2018 at 2:59pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Eagles are expected to receive trade interest in quarterback Nick Foles this offseason, and they’re open to dealing their backup signal-caller for the right price, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (video link).

Following Carson Wentz‘s ACL tear, Foles led Philadelphia to a 2-1 record during the final three games of the regular season, and posted five touchdowns against two interceptions during that time. The 29-year-old Foles further stepped up his performance during the Eagles’ first two postseason contests, as he’s managed a 77.8% completion rate, three touchdowns, and no picks.

Although the 2018 quarterback market boasts several competent alternatives, Foles would offer a cheap stop-gap option. While he’s technically signed through 2021, the 2019-21 campaigns are void years. An acquiring club would be picking up Foles for only one season (barring an extension), during which he’d earn a $4MM base salary ($3MM of which is fully guaranteed) and a $3MM roster bonus. The Eagles would take on the remaining signing bonus proration of Foles’ contract, which amounts to $2.4MM.

It’s unclear what kind of return Philadelphia could hope to reap in exchange for Foles. While he’s been successful over the past month or so, Foles’ career track record is consistent with that of an average-to-below-average quarterback. Just last offseason, Foles hit the open market and was only able to land a backup job. The Eagles and general manager Howie Roseman, for their part, have been extremely active in the trade market over the past few years, and have expressed an openness for deals that include either draft picks or other established players.

The key benefit for Philadelphia in a Foles trade would be removing his salary cap charge from its 2018 books. At present, the Eagles are a projected $9.5MM over the cap next season, so clearing $5.2MM by trading Foles would be the club’s first step towards getting right with the cap.

Colts LB Edwin Jackson Killed By Alleged Drunk Driver

February 4th, 2018 at 2:16pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Colts linebacker Edwin Jackson was killed early Sunday morning after being hit by a suspected drunk driver near Indianapolis, according to Justin L. Mack and Emma Kate Fittes of the Indianapolis Star.

Per the Indiana State Police, Jackson and another man — 54-year-old Jeffrey Monroe — were killed while standing on the shoulder of Interstate 70. Monroe had reportedly stopped to help Jackson on the side of the road when both were struck by a pickup truck which had driven into the emergency shoulder. The driver of the pickup attempted to flee the scene but was quickly apprehended, and is suspected to have been intoxicated at the time of the accident.

Jackson, who was only 26 years old, entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent out of Georgia Southern in 2015. After a brief stint with the Cardinals, Jackson spent time on Indianapolis’ practice squad before appearing in all 16 games (eight starts) with the Colts in 2016, managing 42 tackles and four sacks during that campaign. He spent the entire 2017 season on injured reserve.

By all indications, Jackson was an exemplary man on and off the field. He originally earned a spot on Georgia Southern’s roster as a walk-on, and was subsequently nominated for both the Danny Wuerfall Trophy and a spot on the AllState Good Works Team for his service in the community. Stephen Holder of the Indianapolis Star, who penned an excellent profile of Jackson in 2016, tweeted today: “I cannot possibly explain to you how nice a human being Edwin Jackson was.”

PFR extends its sincerest condolences to Jackson’s family, friends, and teammates during this extremely difficult time.