HEADLINES

Month: September 2024

Cowboys WR Lance Lenoir Could Be Promoted

January 6th, 2019 at 7:54pm CST by Ben Levine

With wideout Allen Hurns expected to land on the injured reserve, the Cowboys could promote a wideout from their practice squad to take his place. Coach Jason Garrett said that practice squad wideout Lance Lenoir is a “viable” option to take a spot on the 53-man roster (via The Athletic’s Calvin Watkins on Twitter).

The 23-year-old Lenoir has appeared in seven games with Dallas this season, appearing mostly on special teams. The 2017 undrafted free agent out of Western Illinois previously impressed during his collegiate career, earning a pair of All-Missouri Valley Football Conference nods. Dallas clearly likes his potential, as he’s split time between the practice squad and active roster over the past two years. The wideout has displayed his talent during the past two preseasons, including a 2018 stretch that saw him haul in 12 receptions for 91 yards and one touchdown.

Of course, even with Hurns out of the lineup, it’s unlikely that Lenoir will see many (if any) reps at wide receiver during next week’s playoff matchup against the Rams. Amari Cooper, Michael Gallup, and Cole Beasley will continue to see the majority of the targets at wide receiver, with Noah Brown and Tavon Austin potentially earning more reps.

Hurns suffered a dislocated ankle during the Cowboys win over the Seahawks last night. The 27-year-old has already undergone surgery and is expected to be ready in August.

Buccaneers Want To Retain WR Adam Humphries

January 6th, 2019 at 6:52pm CST by Ben Levine

The Buccaneers are focused on retaining one of their top wideouts. General manager Jason Licht told Greg Auman of The Athletic that Tampa Bay is “going to do everything [they] can to get Adam Humphries back in the mix” (Twitter link).

As Auman notes, the team previously tried to extend the impending free agent. However, Humphries decided to bet on himself, and it ultimately worked out in the 25-year-old’s favor. Humphries had his best professional season in 2018, finishing with 76 receptions, 816 yards, and five touchdowns. This performance earned him the 30th-best score among 122 eligible wideouts, per Pro Football Focus.

A former undrafted free agent out of Clemson, Humphries has spent his entire four-year career in Tampa Bay. He’s finished with at least 600 receiving yards in each of the past three years, and he’s also spent plenty of time on special teams. Humphries finished the 2018 season with 21 punt returns for 139 yards.

The organization is hoping Humphries will be back in Tampa Bay in 2019, but it sounds like one of his fellow wideouts probably won’t be sticking around. Veteran receiver DeSean Jackson has expressed a preference to move on from the Buccaneers this offseason.

Patriots Preparing For Josh McDaniels To Leave

January 6th, 2019 at 5:45pm CST by Ben Levine

Stop us if you’ve heard this one before. According to Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com, the Patriots are preparing for Josh McDaniels to leave for a head coaching gig this offseason.

Of course, as we learned last offseason, this won’t mean a whole lot until McDaniels is formally introduced and/or starts performing head coaching tasks for his new team. Last year, McDaniels was announced as the head coach of the Colts before he suddenly decided to stick around with New England. At the time, it was assumed that the 42-year-old was going to stay with the Patriots until Bill Belichick retired, at which time McDaniels would take over the reigns.

There may be a slight difference this time around. As Florio writes, the Patriots offensive coordinator “will only interview with teams that he’d be willing to coach.” This sentiment was emphasized by McDaniels accepting an interview with the Packers and declining an interview with the Bengals. As Florio points out, reports have indicated that there’s also mutual interest between McDaniels and the Browns.

Despite his fiasco with Indy, McDaniels has still proven to be a relatively hot commodity on the head coaching circuit. McDaniels had underwhelming results as the head coach of the Broncos, but he’s seen a lot more success during his two stints as the Patriots offensive coordinator. New England made him one of the highest paid coordinators last offseason, but we heard back in December that McDaniels had hired a new agent and was ready to explore new opportunities.

2019 NFL Head Coaching Search Tracker

January 6th, 2019 at 5:00pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Several NFL teams are currently hunting for a new head coach, and amidst reports about interview requests and potential candidates, it’s easy to lose track of the latest updates in the shuffle. So we’ll use this space – which will be updated until every team has hired a new head coach – to keep track of the most recent news and rumors. It can be found on the right-hand sidebar under “PFR Features.”

Listed below are the head coaching candidates that have been linked to each of the teams with vacancies, along with their current status. If and when other teams decide to make head coaching changes, they’ll be added to this list. Here’s the current breakdown:

[Updated: 2/5/19, 8:17am CT]

Arizona Cardinals

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Denver Broncos

Green Bay Packers

Miami Dolphins

New York Jets

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Eagles RB Darren Sproles Could Play In 2019?

January 6th, 2019 at 4:42pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Although he had previously declared his intention to retire following the 2018 campaign, Eagles running back Darren Sproles has indicated to teammates and coaches that he’ll “seriously” consider extending his career by at least one more season, according to Chris Mortensen of ESPN.com (Twitter link).

Sproles originally hinted that 2017 would be his final NFL campaign, but backtracked on that sentiment even before multiple injuries ended his season early that year. Sproles not only suffered a torn ACL, but a broken arm during the first month of the 2017 season, which concluded with Sproles having played in just three games.

After inking a one-year deal that contained $1MM in guarantees for 2018, Sproles muddled through another injury-riddled campaign. A hamstring injury limited him to just six appearances this season, but he’s played well when on the field. Additionally, the Eagles won four-of-five games and snuck into the playoffs after Sproles returned, which could motivate the 35-year-old to return for a 15th NFL season.

“I think Darren Sproles would be a great addition [in 2019],” Eagles head coach Doug Pederson said last month. “He’s a great leader. he works hard, he’s a great mentor to a lot of young players. I think anybody would love to have a Darren Sproles. I mean, I would.”

On the season, Sproles has rushed for 120 yards and one touchdown on 29 carries while adding 15 receptions for 160 yards and two scores in the passing game. Among backs with fewer than 25 catches, Sproles was the league’s 10th-most effective receiver in DYAR, Football Outsiders’ receiving metric.

NFC South Rumors: Bucs, Falcons, Panthers

January 6th, 2019 at 4:20pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Former Jets head coach Todd Bowles has already been drawing interest as a potential defensive coordinator, and — perhaps unsurprisingly — Bowles’ most likely destination could the Buccaneers, provided that Bruce Arians (currently viewed as the favorite) lands the head coaching job in Tampa Bay, according to Josh Weinfuss of ESPN.com (Twitter link). If Arians is hired by the Bucs, he’s expected to “get the band back together” by hiring a number of his ex-Cardinals assistants. Bowles served as Arians’ DC in Arizona from 2013-14, leading units which each ranked top-seven in defensive DVOA.

Here’s more on NFC South coaching jobs:

  • If Arians does end up with the Buccaneers, former Falcons special teams coach Keith Armstrong could take the same role in Tampa Bay, tweets Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com. Armstrong, who had been Atlanta’s ST coach since 2008, was fired last week as the Falcons cleared out each of their coordinator roles. Based purely on performance, Armstrong posted a strong effort in 2018, as Atlanta ranked 10th in special teams DVOA. The 55-year-old Armstrong took two interviews for the Cardinals’ head coaching job last season, and was one of two candidates Arians personally recommended as a successor (the other being incumbent DC James Bettcher).
  • Speaking of the Falcons, they have officially completed an interview with Darrell Bevell, whom they are considering for their offensive coordinator vacancy, per Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (Twitter link). Bevell, who was out of the NFL in 2018 after being fired by the Seahawks, is one of three candidates known to have interviewed to replace Steve Sarkisian, joining former Titans head coach Mike Mularkey and former Buccaneers head coach Dirk Koetter. Ex-Broncos head coach Gary Kubiak was also on Atlanta’s list of candidates, but the Broncos reportedly denied permission for an interview.
  • Panthers wide receivers coach Lance Taylor will not return in 2019, reports Alex Marvez of SiriusXM NFL Radio (Twitter links). Taylor had been leading Carolina’s wideouts since 2017, and was in his second stint with the Panthers’ franchise. Changes had been expected to the Panthers’ staff: although head coach Ron Rivera will be back next season, Taylor may not be the final Carolina assistant to move on. Taylor, for his part, may join the University of Alabama staff if he doesn’t land another NFL gig, per Marvez.

NFL Reserve/Futures Contracts: 1/6/19

January 6th, 2019 at 3:48pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Here are the latest reserve/futures contract signings from around the NFL. These deals will go into effect on the first day of the 2019 league year, with players joining their respective clubs’ offseason 90-man rosters:

Chicago Bears

  • LB Jameer Thurman

New York Jets

Pittsburgh Steelers

AFC Coaching Notes: Bengals, Dolphins, Jets

January 6th, 2019 at 3:12pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Bengals have already interviewed eight candidates (and attempted to meet with a ninth) for their head coaching position, but their search could expand in the coming days, according to Mike Garafolo of NFL.com (Twitter link). Cincinnati has interest in assistants who were coaching during Wild Card weekend, but preferred not to disturb those coaches in advance of such critical games. While no new names have yet surfaced, potential candidates who coached this weekend Colts defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus, Cowboys defensive backs coach Kris Richard, Ravens defensive coordinator Don Martindale, Bears defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, and Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz.

Here’s more from the AFC coaching carousel:

  • As had been expected, Richard will interview with the Dolphins and Jets today, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones confirmed to Todd Archer of ESPN.com (Twitter link). “It doesn’t surprise me at all that clubs have the interest that they have in him,” said Jones. “There are no secrets in the NFL when it comes to people that can help you win football games. And he’s a winner.” Assistants preparing for a Wild Card playoff matchup aren’t allowed to interview in the week preceding said game, so Richard had to wait until Dallas completed its victory over Seattle on Saturday night. Richard is also meeting with the Buccaneers on Sunday.
  • In a bit of record-keeping, the Dolphins announced that they completed their head coaching interview with Saints defensive coordinator Dennis Allen on Saturday, while the Browns did the same with Patriots defensive coordinator Brian Flores. Allen, 46, flopped as the Raiders’ head coach earlier this decade, but has transformed New Orleans’ defense from a laughingstock to a respectable unit over the past four seasons. Flores, meanwhile, interviewed for only one head coaching job in 2018 (Cardinals), but has lined up four sit-downs in the 2019 cycle (Broncos, Packers, and Dolphins in addition to Browns).
  • Broncos offensive line coach Sean Kugler and linebackers coach Reggie Herring are drawing interest from around the league, tweets Mike Klis of 9News. However, both assistants are still under contract with Denver, and the Broncos presumably won’t let either leave until their new head coach decides if he wants to retain them. Kugler, previously the head coach at UTEP, joined Denver in 2018 and guided a Broncos front five which ranked as a top-12 unit in both adjusted line yards and adjusted sack rate. Herring came to Denver in 2015 after having coached with Houston, Dallas, and Chicago.

Vikings Unlikely To Hire Hue Jackson As OC

January 6th, 2019 at 2:06pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Although previous reports had indicated Hue Jackson was a “real possibility” to fill the Vikings’ vacant offensive coordinator position, Jackson is unlikely to land in Minnesota, according to Chris Mortensen of ESPN.com (Twitter link).

While Jackson may not be the choice, the Vikings are expected to have a new offensive play-caller in place “soon,” per Mortensen. Minnesota is presumably still considering incumbent Kevin Stefanski, who was installed as OC for the club’s final three games following the firing of John DeFilippo. Stefanski, whose contract with the Vikings expires on Tuesday, has interviewed for the Browns’ head coaching job.

Jackson, of course, hasn’t posted any success as a head coach (as his 11-44-1 overall record indicates), but he’s been relatively competent as an offensive coordinator in the past. While his work as a dual head coach/OC with the Browns was ineffective, Jackson did lead the Bengals to a No. 2 ranking in offensive DVOA in 2015, his last season as solely an offensive play-caller.

Jackson, who joined the Bengals after being fired the Browns and has subsequently interviewed for Cincinnati’s open head coaching gig, would have offered familiarity with Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer, as the overlapped in the Queen City from 2012-15.

Buccaneers Interested In John Harbaugh?

January 6th, 2019 at 1:36pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Buccaneers are the second NFL team — along with the previously-reported Dolphins — which has mulled a trade for Ravens head coach John Harbaugh, according to Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com.

Harbaugh, whose contract expires after the 2019 campaign, hasn’t conduced any substantive extension discussions with Baltimore, but reports have indicated he’s still likely to return as the Ravens’ coach next season. However, La Canfora reports many around the NFL feel clubs are “slow-playing” their head coaching searches with the hope that Harbaugh will somehow become available.

The Ravens also need to determine how their new front office and coaching hierarchy will be structured, per La Canfora. Harbaugh has long reported to general manager Ozzie Newsome, but it’s unclear if that setup will continue once new GM Eric DeCosta formally takes over. Therefore, other teams could potentially lure Harbaugh with the idea that he’d report directly to a franchise owner, rather than a personnel executive.

Tampa Bay, for its part, has thus far interviewed four coaches for its vacancy: former Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians, Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, Cowboys defensive backs coach Kris Richard, and Vikings defensive coordinator George Edwards. Arians is currently viewed as the favorite for the position, but the potential availability of Harbaugh could shake up the Buccaneers’ search.

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