2019 January - Pro Football Rumors

AFC Rumors: Broncos, Crennel, Rhule, Henry

January 6th, 2019 at 12:21pm CST by Rory Parks

Mike Munchak is once again a popular head coaching candidate, with at least four teams interested in his services. But we heard last night that Munchak has strong interest in the Broncos‘ opening, and Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network (video link) reports that Munchak has emerged as the early favorite for that position. Helping the Broncos’ cause is the fact that Munchak has family, including a granddaughter, in the Denver area.

Now for more rumors and rumblings from the AFC:

The Broncos are blocking other teams from interviewing senior personnel adviser Gary Kubiak for offensive coordinator jobs, per Adam Schefter of ESPN.com. Kubiak wants to remain in Denver anyway, but he has expressed interest in returning to the sidelines as an OC, and the Broncos would like him to serve in that role under whomever they hire as their next head coach (assuming that person is comfortable with such an arrangement). The Bengals and Falcons had requested interviews.
Texans free agents-to-be Kareem Jackson and Tyrann Mathieu want to be back in Houston next year, per Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle. There has been no word on whether the Texans will move to re-sign Jackson, but the team does want Mathieu back, as we learned yesterday.
Romeo Crennel is expected to return as the Texans‘ DC in 2019, per head coach Bill O’Brien (via Wilson on Twitter).
The Jets have interest in interviewing Baylor head coach Matt Rhule for their own HC vacancy, and Rich Cimini of ESPN.com suggests that Gang Green will get an interview with Rhule (Twitter link). The team is in Dallas interviewing Cowboys defensive backs coach Kris Richard today, and Albert Breer of SI.com believes New York brass could interview Rhule while they’re in Texas (Dallas is about 90 minutes from Waco).
Patriots defensive end Trey Flowers should be able to land a lucrative free agent deal this offseason, but since he is not a prototypical speed-rushing DE, Mike Reiss of ESPN.com believes it is difficult to pin down what his value will be on the open market. Reiss suggests Flowers could return to New England after testing the free agent waters.
The Chargers will remain without tight end Hunter Henry for today’s playoff bout in Baltimore, but if LA wins today, Rapoport says that Henry will be activated tomorrow in the hopes of suiting up against New England next week.
Rapoport reiterates that Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco will not be back in Baltimore next season, but Flacco (unsurprisingly) wants to continue his playing career, and Rapoport suggests that he will get an opportunity as a starter (video link). The only real question is whether Baltimore will be able to trade him or if the club will be forced to cut him.
In addition to Flacco, the Ravens will need to decide what to do with impending free agent C.J. Mosley in the offseason. It would probably be unwise to sink too much money into an inside linebacker who struggles in coverage, but Mosley’s leadership abilities for a defense that could be losing a number of key veterans will certainly be a factor in contract negotiations, per Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic.

Steelers Expected To Trade Antonio Brown By March?

January 6th, 2019 at 10:36am CST by Rory Parks

Not only will the Steelers be entertaining trade offers for Antonio Brown, but ESPN’s Chris Mortensen expects Brown to be dealt by the first week of March (video link). Mortensen says the star wideout has ignored phone calls from ownership and from head coach Mike Tomlin, and while he has had some communication with support staff, it looks as though he is trying to separate himself from Pittsburgh.

Brown is due a $2.5MM roster bonus when the new league year begins in March, and Mortensen believes the Steelers will trade Brown before they have to pay that bonus. While Brown’s significant salary cap hit has been cited as a deterrent to such a trade, Mortensen observes that the Steelers will be credited with $14.5MM towards the 2019 cap because of the Le’Veon Bell situation, and if the team extends quarterback Ben Roethlisberger as expected, that could open up more cap space.

Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com tweets that one NFL GM believes Brown will not be traded and that the Steelers will be able to resolve their differences with him. But if that does not happen, Pittsburgh may have enough cap flexibility to make a trade feasible.

The Steelers are said to be seeking at least a first-round pick in exchange for the increasingly-mercurial Brown.

Cowboys WR Allen Hurns Dislocates Ankle, Expected To Make Full Recovery

January 6th, 2019 at 9:53am CST by Andrew Ortenberg

Sunday, 9:53am: Hurns suffered a dislocated ankle, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, who adds that Hurns has already had surgery on the ankle (Twitter link). It was a horrible injury to watch, but Schefter says that Hurns should be ready to return to football in August if there are no complications.

Saturday, 7:52pm: Just minutes into the Cowboys’ wild card playoff game, receiver Allen Hurns went down with a devastating injury, and had to be carted off.

It’s unclear what the exact injury is at this point, but something in Hurns’ leg clearly broke as his leg was bent back at a terrible angle. Hurns’ season is definitely done no matter how deep of a playoff run Dallas ends up making. It’s particularly bad news for the Cowboys’ passing game, as fellow receiver Cole Beasley also aggravated a lower leg injury in the first quarter.

It’s terrible news for Hurns, as the offseason acquisition was already having a rough year. Signed to a two-year $12MM deal this past March, Hurns was never able to establish himself in the offense. He initially looked like he might be the team’s number one receiver after Dez Bryant was cut, but ended up catching just 20 passes for 295 yards and two touchdowns.

The Miami product spent the first four years of his career with the Jaguars, and had a breakout year in 2015. That season, he caught 64 passes for 1,031 yards and ten touchdowns. Many expect Beasley to depart in free agency this offseason, so Hurns should be back with the team next year in a depth role behind Amari Cooper.

John Harbaugh Likely To Remain With Ravens In 2019

January 6th, 2019 at 9:33am CST by Rory Parks

The Ravens’ announcement that they would retain head coach John Harbaugh in 2019 has not done much to quiet speculation concerning Harbaugh’s future in Baltimore. Indeed, we recently heard that the Dolphins are mulling a trade offer for Harbaugh, and Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reported this morning that two teams are considering such an offer (presumably, the Dolphins are one of them). The fact that Harbaugh and the Ravens have not engaged in substantive extension talks, coupled with the fact that Harbaugh’s current contract only keeps him under club control through 2019, has kept the rumor mill churning.

Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network (video link) reports that Baltimore brass did speak with Harbaugh’s agent last Monday, but no real progress was made. Nonetheless, the Ravens want Harbaugh to return in 2019, and Harbaugh — despite speculation to the contrary — is perfectly content to head into next year without an extension.

Harbaugh wants to return to the Ravens and has no intention of forcing his way out. Plus, Rapoport says that Harbaugh does not really want to be traded, because he does not want the team that would acquire him to be weakened by having to send draft compensation to Baltimore. So as of right now, it sounds as though Harbaugh and the Ravens will spend a 12th year together.

Meanwhile, Harbaugh’s defensive coordinator, Don Martindale, has generated some head coaching buzz for the work he has done with the Ravens’ defense this year, though we have not heard of any interview requests for him. Per Jamison Hensley of ESPN.com (via Twitter), Martindale does want to be a head coach at some point, but he is also happy to remain in Baltimore as Harbaugh’s DC as long as Harbaugh wants him to.

Latest On Buccaneers’ Coaching Search

January 6th, 2019 at 9:00am CST by Rory Parks

The Buccaneers will interview Cowboys defensive backs coach Kris Richard for their head coaching vacancy today, per Albert Breer of SI.com. We already heard that Richard would also be interviewing with the Dolphins and Jets today, so his Sunday will be pretty full.

But if Richard is going to land a head coaching gig in 2019, it does not appear that it will be with Tampa Bay. Just yesterday, the team interviewed former Colts and Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians, and reports suggested that momentum was building towards a Arians-Bucs union.

Today, Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network (video link) reports that Arians’ summit with the Buccaneers went very well, and that the 66-year-old could be announced as the team’s next head coach within the next few days. Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times posits that no candidate for the Bucs’ job checks as many boxes as Arians, who has something of a reputation as a quarterback whisperer and who may be able to get the most out of Jameis Winston.

Arians stepped down from his Cardinals post after last season, having guided the club to two playoff berths and three 10-win campaigns. He spent the 2018 season working as a broadcaster with CBS.

If the Bucs do end up hiring Arians, they will not owe the Cardinals any compensation.

Eagles Will Attempt To Trade Nick Foles

January 6th, 2019 at 8:29am CST by Rory Parks

The Eagles are expected to try and trade quarterback Nick Foles this offseason, per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. And, given that Foles appears to be the best quarterback available on the trade and free agent markets, and considering the lack of high-end QB talent in this year’s draft, Rapoport says that Philadelphia will have takers.

Foles may not fetch the first-rounder and more that the Eagles were able to land for Sam Bradford when they shipped him to Minnesota, but Rapoport suggests that a first-round pick is not out of the question. Indeed, Foles has proven to be a clutch signal-caller with enough talent to be a regular starter, and there will be plenty of teams looking for such a player.

We heard last week that the Eagles are committing to Carson Wentz as their long-term QB, despite his recent injury woes. We also learned about the mechanisms the team could employ to deal Foles. Philadelphia could tag Foles and trade him, or the club could pick up his $20MM option, but since Foles would likely pay $2MM to buy his way out of that option, it appears as if the Eagles will be tagging Foles one way or another.

Foles will attempt to lead the Eagles on another improbable playoff run, a journey that begins in Chicago this afternoon

Extra Points: Ravens, Cowboys, Rams, Bills, Falcons

January 5th, 2019 at 9:22pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

We’ve been hearing mixed things about John Harbaugh for a while now. The Ravens announced they hope to keep the coach longterm with an extension, but rumors have continued to swirl that Harbaugh isn’t willing to commit to Baltimore and that he may want to explore his options elsewhere. Numerous teams have been reported to be interested in trading for the coach, including the Broncos and Dolphins.

We have a new update on Harbaugh today, as Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports reports the Ravens have “yet to have any dialogue” with Harbaugh about a new contract. La Canfora writes that the “situation is being watched closely” by other front offices, and that several teams still have hopes of trading for him after the year. If the Ravens have a quick playoff exit, it could increase the chances that the two sides part ways this offseason. It’ll be one of the biggest stories to monitor the next few weeks, and we should know a lot more after the team’s game against the Chargers tomorrow.

Here’s more from around the league:

The Cowboys have a bunch of young players they’ll need to pay soon, and Ezekiel Elliott would like to be first in line. The third year running back has one more year left on his deal after this season plus his 2020 fifth-year team option, but he’d like to be extended this offseason, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (Twitter link). While Rapsheet notes that it “makes sense given his workload”, it’s unclear at what price the team values him. We heard back in November that the team might not be in any rush to extend Elliott, so it will be very interesting to see what the team does here.
By gaining more than 1,200 rushing yards, Todd Gurley got a $1MM bonus this season, Rapoport tweets. It brings the total value of Gurley’s extension with the Rams to four years and $58.5MM. Gurley got off to a red hot start to the year and was on pace to break the single season touchdowns record for a while, and while he cooled off a little bit during the second half of the season, he still had another dominant year. He’s been dealing with some knee soreness recently, but should be a full go for the Rams’ playoff run.
We also got details on Matt Barkley‘s recent extension with the Bills, that Mike Rodak of ESPN tweeted out. Barkley’s two year deal will pay him $1.25MM in 2019 and $1.5MM in 2020. Interestingly, Rodak notes that the team gave Barkley a $600K signing bonus. Getting that large of an amount of guaranteed money would suggest he has a significant leg up on Derek Anderson in the race to be Josh Allen‘s backup next year. Buffalo signed Anderson to a one year deal earlier this week. The deal also includes active roster and playing time bonuses for Barkley, who showed very well in his one spot start this season.
Locking defensive tackle Grady Jarrett up longterm is a priority for the Falcons this offseason, according to GM Thomas Dimitroff, per Darin Gantt of ProFootballTalk.com. “We would like to have Grady back for many years to come”, Dimitroff said. Jarrett was one of the few bright spots on a Falcons defense that regressed mightily this season, and he received elite grades from Pro Football Focus. Jarrett, a fifth round pick in 2015, is set to be a free agent this offseason and should be in for a huge payday.

Coaching Updates: Arians, Bucs, Cardinals, Bowles, Eberflus, Browns, Munchak, Broncos

January 5th, 2019 at 6:54pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

Ever since Bruce Arians stepped away from his job with the Cardinals, his name has been buzzed about as a potential head coaching candidate. He sat out the 2018 season while calling games for CBS, but appears set to return to the sidelines. He’s been publicly lobbying for the Browns’ job for a while now, but has seemingly now set his sights on the Buccaneers’ job. Because Arians retired with time still left on his contract with Arizona, the consensus was that whatever team would want to hire Arians would need to give some compensation to the Cardinals, but that’s apparently not the case, according to Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com.

Florio notes in a tweet that the Cardinals would’ve needed to exercise their option on Arians in order to have a claim on him, which they didn’t do. As such, Florio writes in his article that the Buccaneers didn’t even bother to notify the Cardinals they were interviewing him. As of now, Arians seems like a strong favorite to be Jameis Winston‘s next coach.

Here’s more from the coaching carousel:

We’ve heard that former Jets coach Todd Bowles will be in high demand as a defensive coordinator and possibly even head coach, and he might be even more sought after than anyone realized. Multiple head coaching candidates in this cycle are telling people they’ll try to get Bowles to be their defensive coordinator, according to Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports (Twitter link). It’s unclear exactly what teams might be in the mix, although there have been rumors he could reunite with Arians wherever he lands. Bowles was Arians’ defensive coordinator in Arizona for two seasons before being hired by the Jets.
We heard on Black Monday that the Browns were hoping to interview Colts defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus for their vacancy, and now the interview has been scheduled. Eberflus will meet with Cleveland’s team tomorrow, the day after his team’s playoff win over the Texans, according to Dan Graziano of ESPN (Twitter link). Eberflus has done a great job running Indy’s young defense this year, and has been a hot name in this cycle.
Steelers offensive line coach Mike Munchak has “strong interest” in the Broncos’ opening, sources told Adam Schefter of ESPN. Schefter notes that Munchak has “professional and personal ties to Denver” and that he shares an agent with Broncos GM John Elway. Munchak, who turned down a head coaching job last year according to Schefter, was the Titans’ head coach for three years before being fired and landing in Pittsburgh. Schefter writes that Munchak has been very reluctant to leave “because of his feelings for the Steelers”, but it sounds like the Broncos will be able to pull him away if they want to.

Kliff Kingsbury Could Resign From USC To Pursue NFL Opportunities

January 5th, 2019 at 5:42pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

We first heard a few days ago that the Jets and Cardinals were interested in interviewing former Texas Tech coach Kliff Kingsbury for their head coaching vacancies. Kingsbury was hired to be the offensive coordinator at USC shortly after the college season ended, and we heard earlier today that USC was denying the NFL teams permission to talk to him.

Now we have more details, and a possible scenario for Kingsbury to circumvent his current employer. It’s specifically USC athletic director Lynn Swann who is blocking any potential interviews, and Kingsbury may resign in response, according to Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com. Multiple sources told Florio that Kingsbury’s contract with USC has a “very low buyout”, so he might “simply resign his position as Trojans offensive coordinator and move on.”

If he does decide to quit and pursue NFL opportunities, Florio thinks he’ll “undoubtedly find work at least as an offensive coordinator”, and if that’s true it makes plenty of sense why he’d want to leave. Both the Jets and Cardinals are likely looking for offensive coaches to pair with Sam Darnold and Josh Rosen, and Kingsbury would be a young outside the box hire.

While Kingsbury’s reign at Texas Tech was never particularly successful in terms of wins and losses, he always had one of the most innovative and dynamic offenses in the country, and is a highly respected offensive mind. It’s been reported for a while now that NFL teams were looking to pick his brain, and he was linked to the Cowboys’ offensive coordinator job before Dallas’ staff saved their jobs with a strong finish.

Texans Eyeing Clowney, Mathieu Deals

January 5th, 2019 at 4:23pm CST by Sam Robinson

Although their playoff opener is not going too well thus far, the Texans entered Saturday with clear offseason goals. They want both Jadeveon Clowney and Tyrann Mathieu to be part of their 2019 team.

While re-signing both long-term may be difficult, that is the path Houston wants to take, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com notes (video link). Both defenders are set for free agency come March.

Talk of a Clowney extension cooled off considerably in 2018, when the standout defender was battling another knee injury. But he has played well this season, making his third straight Pro Bowl. The Texans want to, at the very least, keep Clowney around for 2019 via the franchise tag. Rapoport calls that move a “very viable option.” This has been rumored for a bit now, even though it is not the Texans’ preferred option.

This would force the Texans to re-sign Mathieu long-term, if they want to keep him around. That’s a scenario the former All-Pro safety is interested in unfolding. With the safety market taking odd turns this year, Mathieu had to settle for a one-year commitment. It’s likely he will be able to do better in 2019.

Earl Thomas, Landon Collins, Lamarcus Joyner, Tre Boston, Kenny Vaccaro and Ha Ha Clinton-Dix may hit the market, or at least a few members of this group. That would make for another interesting offseason involving safeties. As for Clowney, his asking price surely spiked when the deals for Aaron Donald and Khalil Mack were finalized.

Houston is projected to possess $72MM-plus in cap space, which is in the top 10. The Texans already extended Benardrick McKinney and will have Deshaun Watson becoming extension-eligible after this season. And after J.J. Watt reclaimed his place on the All-Pro first team, the Texans will probably have to carve out room for another major extension for the three-time defensive player of the year.