2019 January - Pro Football Rumors

Eric Berry Likely To Need Offseason Surgery

January 20th, 2019 at 1:42pm CST by Micah Powell

Though he is slated to return to the field for today’s AFC Championship matchup with the Patriots, Chiefs safety Eric Berry is likely headed for offseason surgery on his heel, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport tweets.

Sidelined by the injury for the majority of the season, the three-time First Team All-Pro selection has been limited to just two games this season and hasn’t played since a Week 16 tilt vs. the Seahawks. He will give it a go today, however, hoping to fight through the pain to deliver Kansas City to the Super Bowl for the first time since the 1969 season.

Earlier in the season, Berry was diagnosed with a Haglund’s deformity in the achilles. NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo gave a synopsis of the issue in late September:

“He’s got what’s called a Haglund’s deformity in that Achilles,” Garafolo said. “That’s a bone spur that basically digs into the Achilles. Shaun O’ Hara, our colleague at NFL Network, he had it. I spoke to him this week. He said it is extremely painful. He actually used a more colorful word that I won’t use here.”

Should he undergo the surgery, a timetable for his recovery will be available at a later date.

Saints’ Dennis Allen, Dan Campbell On Expiring Contracts

January 20th, 2019 at 12:35pm CST by Rory Parks

Saints defensive coordinator Dennis Allen and assistant head coach/tight ends coach Dan Campbell are on the last year of their respective deals, per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter). New Orleans wants to keep both men on board, so the club will have some work to do when its season is over.

Allen flopped as the Raiders’ head coach earlier this decade, but his run with New Orleans has been largely successful. He replaced Rob Ryan during the 2015 season as the team’s interim defensive coordinator and was retained the following offseason. The Saints’ D has made big strides since then, and in 2018, Allen’s unit ranked second in the league against the run and tied for fifth in the NFL in sacks. He scored an interview for the Dolphins’ head coaching gig earlier this month, and while he did not land the job, he has clearly reestablished himself as a top assistant.

Campbell, meanwhile, has quickly moved up the ranks since starting his post-playing career as a coaching intern with the Dolphins in 2010. He served as Miami’s interim head coach in 2015, and he impressed during that brief run. He has been with the Saints since 2016, and while the Dolphins wanted to interview him for their HC vacancy this year, Campbell had no interest in a South Beach reunion. He did, however, have head coaching interviews with the Browns, Cardinals, and Packers, so like Allen, he is clearly a respected figure in coaching circles.

The Saints will take on the Rams in the NFC title game this afternoon, and while it seems as though New Orleans will be able to retain Allen and Campbell in 2019, there is no guarantee they will be in the Big Easy in 2020.

East Rumors: Foles, Kitna, Belichick

January 20th, 2019 at 12:10pm CST by Rory Parks

It is all but certain that the Eagles will part ways with Nick Foles this offseason, and there has been plenty of speculation as to how that might happen given Foles’ present contract situation. The most-discussed scenarios involve the team basically forcing Foles to buy his way into free agency for $2MM, and even then, the Eagles could put the franchise tag on Foles and trade him, thus eliminating any voice that Foles might have in the matter.

But as Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports writes, Foles and the Eagles have an excellent relationship, as evidenced by the team’s most recent gesture of goodwill. As such, JLC suggests that Philadelphia could pick up Foles’ 2019 option, thereby triggering a $20MM salary, and then orchestrate a trade to a team of Foles’ liking. Realistically, there are only a handful of teams that will be in the market for Foles, so by going that route, Foles could keep the above-referenced $2MM and still end up with a team that he would have signed with anyway (and he and his new team would likely enter into a long-term pact whether he is traded or signs as a free agent). As La Canfora observes, the Dolphins and Jaguars are the two clubs who have been linked to Foles thus far.

Now for a quick roundup of a few more east-related items:

We learned earlier today that the Cowboys could hire Jon Kitna as their QB coach and name Kellen Moore as their new OC. Per ESPN’s Adam Schefter (via Twitter), Kitna will indeed become Dallas’ QB coach, which means that Moore — who served as the team’s QB coach in 2018 — may very well take the OC reins. Schefter’s ESPN colleague, Chris Mortensen, reports that head coach Jason Garrett is “in line” to serve as the team’s offensive play-caller in 2019 regardless of who the OC is (Twitter link).
In the past couple of years, we have heard a lot about the tension among the three pillars of the Patriots‘ franchise: owner Robert Kraft, head coach Bill Belichick, and quarterback Tom Brady. But as Mike Reiss of ESPN.com observes, when Belichick recently commented on the upcoming 25th anniversary of Kraft’s ownership, he said, “[h]ope we can continue it for a long time.” That brief but telling statement is in keeping with what Reiss has been sensing of late, which is that Belichick, 66, will be coaching New England for the foreseeable future.
Alex Marvez of SiriusXM NFL Radio tweets that the Bills could promote offensive assistant Chad Hall to wide receivers coach to replace Terry Robiskie, who recently joined the Jaguars’ coaching staff.

Chiefs Plan To Extend Patrick Mahomes After 2019; Mahomes Could Earn $200MM+

January 20th, 2019 at 11:28am CST by Rory Parks

The Chiefs are expected to pursue extensions for a few key members of their roster this offseason, and it makes sense for the club to get those commitments out of the way, because it will have a particularly big order of business to take care of after the 2019 season. At that point, quarterback Patrick Mahomes will be eligible for a long-term extension of his own, and Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports that Kansas City is expected to work out a second contract with him before the 2020 campaign.

That contract, per Schefter’s sources, could be the league’s first $200MM deal. If that’s the case, Mahomes would dwarf Matt Ryan‘s recent extension with the Falcons, which has a total value of $150MM, and Schefter suggests that Mahomes’ new pact would include an average annual value that far eclipses Aaron Rodgers‘ $33.5MM mark.

Mahomes is also expected to become much more visible this offseason, according to his agent, Leigh Steinberg. Mahomes will likely be named the league’s MVP this season, but Steinberg has instructed Mahomes to keep a low public profile to this point. Now that his client has taken the football world by storm, Steinberg says that Mahomes is in line for multiple marketing deals and television commercials.

Speculatively, Kansas City could attempt to frontload expected extensions for players like Tyreek Hill and Chris Jones to create more flexibility when Mahomes cashes in. Mahomes, just 23, passed for 5,097 yards and a league-leading 50 touchdowns in 2018, and he will lead the Chiefs against the Patriots in a much-anticipated AFC title game this afternoon.

A Super Bowl appearance or two will only increase Mahomes’ otherworldly asking price.

Chiefs To Prioritize Extensions For Tyreek Hill, Chris Jones; Latest On Dee Ford

January 20th, 2019 at 10:55am CST by Rory Parks

The Chiefs are presently benefiting from having star quarterback Patrick Mahomes playing under his rookie contract, which means they will have some money to sign other key members of their roster to long-term deals. Per Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network (video link), Kansas City plans to explore an extension for wide receiver Tyreek Hill this offseason, and a new deal for Hill is perhaps the team’s top offseason priority.

Hill could hardly have had a better start to his professional career, having earned three Pro Bowl nods and two First Team All-Pro selections in his first three seasons in the NFL. The former fifth-round pick out of West Alabama is under contract through the 2019 campaign and will be eligible for an extension for the first time this offseason. His current deal would pay him a $720K base salary next season, which is laughably low for someone of his caliber. Indeed, Rapoport suggests that Hill could become the highest-paid receiver in the NFL, and it would not be surprising to see him land a contract paying him $18MM or more per season with a $40MM+ guarantee.

The Chiefs are also expected to pursue an extension for third-year defensive end Chris Jones, a significant part of the team’s fearsome pass rush who racked up 15.5 sacks this season in a true breakout performance. Given the ever-increasing price tag for quality pass rushers, particularly ones who are just entering the primes of their careers, Jones will also be in line for a major payday.

Another pillar of Kansas City’s pass rush, Dee Ford, is eligible for unrestricted free agency this offseason. Ford had something of an up-and-down career before 2018, but his 13 sacks this year will put him in high demand should he reach the open market. We heard just last week that Ford would have the opportunity to explore free agency, as the Chiefs are not planning to put the franchise tag on him, but Rapoport hears differently. Rapoport says the team has not ruled out putting the tag on Ford, and they certainly have enough cash to do so.

Saints Sign J.T. Barrett To Practice Squad (Again)

January 20th, 2019 at 10:26am CST by Rory Parks

Ordinarily, a team signing a free agent to its practice squad would not merit much national attention. But Field Yates of ESPN tweets that the Saints have signed quarterback J.T. Barrett to their practice squad, and as Jeff Nowak of The Advocate observes (via Twitter), this marks the 13th time this season that New Orleans has signed Barrett. Nowak notes that Barrett has been involved in a whopping 25 transactions during the 2018 campaign and has been cut 12 times.

Barrett has yet to see any regular season action, but the fact that New Orleans keeps bringing him back can be construed as a positive. The former Ohio State signal-caller signed with the Saints in May after going undrafted, and he reportedly drew interest from several other clubs, including the Colts. New Orleans head coach Sean Payton had good things to say about him after he was signed the first time.

His overall athletic ability suggests that the Saints — or some other team — could deploy Barrett the way that Tayson Hill has been utilized this year, even if Barrett does not get a chance to serve as a primary signal-caller. He completed 63.5% of his passes over four years at Ohio State with 104 touchdowns against 30 picks, and he also ran for 43 scores while posting a 5.0 yards-per-carry mark.

In a corresponding move, the Saints cut wide receiver Paul Turner. The team signed Turner and cut Barrett just four days ago.

Coaching Rumors: Cowboys, Gruden, Bengals

January 20th, 2019 at 9:56am CST by Rory Parks

The Cowboys‘ offensive coordinator position is now vacant after the team parted ways with Scott Linehan several days ago, and we learned that tight ends coach Doug Nussmeier may be the favorite to replace Linehan. However, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com suggests that Dallas could look to promote quarterbacks coach Kellen Moore — whom Rapoport described as “fast-rising” and “impressive” — to the OC job (Twitter link). If that happens, RapSheet suggests that the team could add another one of its former QBs to the coaching staff by hiring Jon Kitna, most recently the offensive coordinator for the AAF’s San Diego Fleet, as the new quarterbacks coach.

As Jerry Jones mulls the coaching credentials of his former signal-callers, let’s take a look at other coaching rumors from around the league:

Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports believes that the Redskins‘ failed pursuit of Todd Bowles and Gregg Williams does not bode well for head coach Jay Gruden‘s future in Washington. La Canfora writes that owner Dan Snyder put the “full-court press” on Bowles, and if Bowles had said he would only join the Redskins as a head coach, Snyder may have gone for it. Gruden will return in 2019, but if he does not lead the Redskins to a playoff berth, La Canfora would not be surprised if Snyder reaches out to Bowles and Williams again, perhaps to discuss a head coaching position.
If the Patriots prevail in today’s AFC Championship Game, the Dolphins will meet with New England de facto defensive coordinator and future Miami head coach Brian Flores during the week before the Super Bowl to discuss staffing and other issues, per Rapoport (via Twitter). The Fins can formally commit to Flores as their next HC at that time.
The Bengals have been very hands-off with their presumptive new head coach, Zac Taylor, but Rapoport (video link) says that is only because the team is closely adhering to league rules regarding coaching hires (Taylor, of course, is the Rams’ quarterbacks coach, and the Rams’ season isn’t over yet). Rapoport says Cincinnati still fully intends to hire Taylor, and he names Jack Del Rio as a potential defensive coordinator on Taylor’s new staff. La Canfora agrees that Del Rio is a DC target, and he adds John Fox as another possibility. Both JLC and RapSheet say that Raiders QB coach Brian Callahan is a top choice for offensive coordinator.
Former Cardinals tight ends coach Jason Michael will join the Colts in the same capacity, a source tells Albert Breer of The MMQB (on Twitter). Michael served as the Titans’ offensive coordinator from 2014-15 and was the team’s QB coach from 2016-17.

Rams To Discuss Extension With Sean McVay

January 20th, 2019 at 8:55am CST by Rory Parks

Rams head coach Sean McVay has been remarkably successful in his brief tenure with the club, and his run with LA has compelled other teams in search of a head coach to look for candidates with his personality and background and to give serious consideration to younger coaching talent.

And although McVay still has three years remaining on the five-year contract he signed with the Rams in January 2017, the two sides are expected to discuss a contract extension in the offseason, per Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports. The soon-to-be 33-year-old is probably near the bottom of the head coaching pay scale at the moment, given that he became the youngest head coach in the modern era when he signed his contract, but any extension will likely catapult him up that list.

The Raiders’ Jon Gruden is making $10MM per season, the Seahawks’ Pete Carroll just signed an extension giving him $11MM per year, and it would not be a surprise to see McVay land somewhere in that stratosphere if he and the Rams finalize their own extension in the coming months. If he leads the Rams to a Super Bowl appearance, and certainly if he leads them to a Super Bowl victory, his price will only increase.

After all, he has become the face of the franchise in many respects, and he has helped make the Rams a hit not only in the Los Angeles market, but on the national level as well. With the team set to open a new stadium in 2020, adding some time onto McVay’s present deal makes sense.

NFL Expected To Conclude Kareem Hunt Investigation By March

January 20th, 2019 at 8:27am CST by Rory Parks

The NFL’s investigation into the three incidents that have put former Chiefs star Kareem Hunt‘s playing career in jeopardy is still ongoing, per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. However, Rapoport writes that the league is expected to conclude its investigation before free agency opens in March, which means that any clubs interested in signing Hunt will have all the information they need prior to addressing their running back situation.

For now, Hunt remains on the Commissioner’s Exempt List, but once the investigation is over, the league will announce a suspension for Hunt, which is expected to be at least six games. But Rapoport suggests that, since Hunt was placed on the list with five weeks left in the 2018 regular season, he could see the length of his ban reduced.

Many have believed that the supremely talented 23-year-old would be playing in 2019, and the information that Rapoport passes along this morning certainly supports that notion. While he may be sidelined to start the 2019 campaign, it appears that he could be eligible to return to game action no later than October.

Although the Bears are the only team that we know has contacted Hunt since he was placed on the Commissioner’s Exempt List, Rapoport notes that several clubs have touched base with him and have been keeping tabs on him. Adam Schefter of ESPN.com agrees, saying that multiple teams are interested in Hunt and that he is expected to sign with a new team sooner rather than later.

For his part, Hunt has not spoken publicly since an interview he gave to ESPN shortly after his release, and Rapoport says he has been quietly attempting to turn his life and career around.

Hunt has undergone counseling for anger and alcohol issues.

Jaguars Re-Sign S Jarrod Wilson

January 19th, 2019 at 7:08pm CST by Zachary Links

The Jaguars re-signed safety Jarrod Wilson to a three-year contract, according to a team announcement. Wilson was set to become a free agent this offseason, but the new deal will keep him under club control through the 2021 season.

Wilson first joined the Jags as an undrafted free agent in 2016. Since then, he has appeared in 47 games for Jacksonville, including two starts. The soon-to-be 25-year-old had 21 tackles, two pass deflections, and a forced fumble in 2018, all of which were career watermarks.

Wilson briefly got in hot water in October when he and three other Jaguars defensive backs were detained in London over an unpaid $64K bar tab. As it turns out, expensive bottles of alcohol were being sent to the players’ table and they believed someone else was paying for them. Cops spoke with Barry Church, D.J. Hayden, Ronnie Harrison, and Wilson, but no charges were filed.