2019 April - Pro Football Rumors

Marshawn Lynch Retires From NFL

April 24th, 2019 at 8:55am CST by Zachary Links

Marshawn Lynch has retired. Again.

After returning from his first retirement to play for the Raiders, the running back is not planning to take the field again, league sources tell ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter.

Lynch, who just turned 33, leaves the game with a legacy as an exciting fan favorite. Beast Mode earned five Pro Bowl nods throughout his career and even secured a 2012 First-Team All-Pro selection when he tallied 1,590 yards and eleven touchdowns. He also led the league in rushing touchdowns on multiple occasions and racked up 1,200 yards or more in each season from 2011 through 2014.

With the Raiders, Lynch was effective, though not super consistent. Lynch rushed for 1,267 yards on 297 carries in his 21 games for Oakland, giving him an average of 4.3 yards per attempt in silver and black. Last year, Lynch lost the bulk of the season to a groin injury and was unable to return down the stretch.

Without Lynch, the Raiders will move forward with a backfield headlined by Isaiah Crowell, Jalen Richard, DeAndre Washington, and Chris Warren. They may also look to bolster the group in the draft.

PFR wishes Lynch the best in retirement.

Broncos CB Chris Harris Jr. Requests New Contract Or Trade

April 23rd, 2019 at 9:49pm CST by Rory Parks

Broncos cornerback Chris Harris Jr., who has not reported to minicamp, has formally requested a new contract or trade, as Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports (via Twitter). Mike Klis of 9News.com classifies this report as an “ominous turn,” and he adds that Harris is seeking a contract that will pay him at least $15MM per year (Twitter link).

Reports last week indicated that Harris would not be attending this week’s minicamp, which was not much of a surprise given that Harris also skipped voluntary workouts earlier in the month. It has been clear for some time that Harris, who is entering the final year of his current contract, is pushing for a new deal.

Denver is open to giving him one, but the $15MM/year figure would make Harris the highest-paid CB in the league on an AAV basis (the Redskins’ Josh Norman is also earning $15MM per year). But he does have leverage, as he has become one of the best corners in the league and is the heart and soul of the Broncos’ secondary.

Perhaps he is hoping that he can pressure the Broncos into giving into his demands so that they do not feel obligated to select a CB during this week’s draft, but if that was his plan, he should have made the request more than two days prior to the draft. Ryan O’Halloran of the Denver Post tweets that it was a misplay for Harris’ camp to make the request at this point, and Klis says in a separate tweet that a trade may be the best option for Harris and Denver.

After all, as good as Harris is, Klis says Broncos GM John Elway is highly unlikely to hand him a $15MM/year deal. Harris is nearly 30 and is coming off a fractured fibula, though considering the value of quality corners in today’s league, it would not be altogether surprising to see some team swinging a trade and at least coming close to meeting Harris’ demands.

Suddenly, the Harris situation has become one to pay close attention to, though Elway has made it clear that he is not going to address Harris’ contract until after the draft is over (Twitter link via Troy Renck of Denver7). He also indicated that a new contract might not get done, which is notable since most GMs in this situation will at least offer lip service suggesting that they expect the player in question to be with the team for the long haul.

Saints CB Ken Crawley Signs RFA Tender

April 23rd, 2019 at 9:39pm CST by Rory Parks

Saints CB Ken Crawley has signed his original round RFA tender, as veteran NFL reporter Howard Balzer tweets. We learned last week that Crawley would be signing the tender, as he had not garnered any interest from rival clubs.

The lack of interest is not surprising, even though a team that signed Crawley to an offer sheet would not have needed to send any draft compensation to the Saints (since Crawley entered the league as an undrafted free agent). Crawley was demoted from his starting role prior to New Orleans’ Week 3 matchup last year, and although he was reinstated as a starter for the next three contests, he wound up appearing in only ten games and did not return to the starting lineup.

That was quite a contrast from his 2017 campaign, when he started all 13 games that he appeared in. But in 2018, Crawley finished as a bottom-three cornerback, per Pro Football Focus‘ advanced metrics, and although he is now under contract for 2019, his $2.025MM salary is not guaranteed, so he could be cut without any cap repercussions.

For his career, Crawley has 128 tackles, an interception, a forced fumble, and 31 passes defensed.

Trade Rumors: Cardinals, Armstead, Haskins

April 23rd, 2019 at 8:29pm CST by Rory Parks

The Seahawks and Chiefs agreed to a blockbuster trade earlier today that will send Frank Clark to Kansas City. And as Albert Breer of SI.com writes, the veteran trade market is expected to remain hot this week. Breer says that rival clubs are “keeping an eye” on Cardinals‘ DL Robert Nkemdiche, and given that Nkemdiche suffered a torn ACL in December, it’s possible that he could be had for minimal compensation. He has battled injuries throughout his career and has not really lived up to his potential when on the field, but as a former first-round pick who won’t turn 25 until the regular season starts, it makes sense that he would draw some interest. He did post 4.5 sacks in 10 games (six starts) last year.

Now for more trade rumblings from around the league:

Assuming the Cardinals draft Kyler Murray with the No. 1 overall pick, ESPN’s Chris Mortensen expects the club to be patient with a Josh Rosen trade (Twitter link). If they cannot get fair value for Rosen prior to the draft, the Cards could wait until after a few signal-callers come off the board and QB-needy teams start to get a little anxious. We heard earlier today that Arizona is still undecided as to what it will do with the first pick in the draft, but if the Cardinals don’t nab Murray, it would be a major surprise.
Breer writes that 49ers‘ DE Arik Armstead is also expected to draw some trade interest, though he remains in San Francisco’s plans. Raiders‘ DT Justin Ellis is also said to be available, while Cowboys WR Allen Hurns is the best wideout that could be had via trade [SOURCE LINK].
In a separate piece, Breer writes that rival clubs are monitoring Jaguars LB Telvin Smith and Broncos CB Chris Harris Jr. as potential trade targets, though neither player is on the trade block just yet.
Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports continues to hear that the Lions and Jets are interested in trading down from their current first-round slots, and he sees the Falcons as a potential partner for Detroit (Twitter link). Interestingly, Breer hears the same [SOURCE LINK]. Clemson DT Christian Wilkins could be the target if Atlanta wants to move up, though Breer says the team has been “nosing around” offensive linemen as well as defensive linemen.
As La Canfora writes in a separate piece, the Redskins could be the Jets‘ trade partner if Washington feels it needs to trade up to land Ohio State QB Dwayne Haskins. One way or another, JLC believes the Redskins will come away from the draft with Haskins in tow. This is at least the second time La Canfora has written about a potential deal between Washington and New York.
The Chargers are open to trading down from the No. 28 overall pick in Thursday’s draft, per the team’s official website. But given that there is a lot of depth in this draft and not many obvious first-round talents, GM Tom Telesco could find it difficult to execute such a deal.

Extension Looming For Steelers CB Joe Haden?

April 23rd, 2019 at 6:48pm CST by Rory Parks

The Steelers may be nearing a massive extension for quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, and as Mark Kaboly of The Athletic writes, a re-up for cornerback Joe Haden may not be too far behind.

In a piece that explores whether the Steelers should spend their first-round pick on a cornerback, Kaboly says that an extension for Haden is “looming.” After a long run with the division-rival Browns, Haden is entering the last year of the three-year pact he inked with Pittsburgh in August 2017. He is owed $10MM for the 2019 campaign, and although he is now 30, his two-year stint in Pittsburgh has gone about as well as could be expected. And, given Pittsburgh’s struggles in acquiring/drafting quality cornerbacks, it makes sense that the club would want to extend its relationship with Haden.

Haden has started every game that he has played in with the Steelers, and he has reestablished himself as a shutdown cover corner despite drawing the No. 1 WR on opposing offenses. This year, he will be joined by former Chiefs CB Steven Nelson, who signed a lucrative free agent deal with Pittsburgh in March.

The team is still high on youngsters like Mike Hilton and Cam Sutton, but keeping Haden on board for at least the next couple of seasons may be one of the Steelers’ priorities over the coming months.

49ers Sign OL Ben Garland

April 23rd, 2019 at 6:06pm CST by Rory Parks

The 49ers have signed veteran offensive lineman Ben Garland, per Cam Inman of the Bay Area News Group (via Twitter). The team later announced the deal, which will be a one-year pact. Garland will provide depth at both guard positions, and he could theoretically push starters Laken Tomlinson and Mike Person for playing time.

Garland spent the last three seasons with the Falcons, and 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan was Atlanta’s OC in 2016, the first of those seasons. We heard back in February that the Falcons would not re-sign Garland.

Garland first entered the league as a defensive lineman, but he later transitioned to the O-Line. Last season, the Falcons retained him via the $2.9MM second-round tender for restricted free agents, but he was not in the club’s plans for the 2019 campaign.

He has never been a full-time starter, having started just seven games in his career (three in 2017 and four in 2018). But despite the limited action, Pro Football Focus’s advanced analytics were fond of his 2018 performance, rating him as an above-average guard.

Josh Gordon Signs RFA Tender

April 23rd, 2019 at 5:39pm CST by Rory Parks

Patriots WR Josh Gordon has signed his original round RFA tender, as ESPN’s Field Yates tweets. Although Gordon is uncertain to play in 2019, if he does suit up, it will be for the Pats.

The last we heard from Gordon, he was considering applying for reinstatement by the league this spring. Gordon was traded from the Browns to the Patriots last season, and he had some initial success before suddenly stepping away from the team. Shortly thereafter, it was announced that the league was suspending him indefinitely for violating the terms of his previous reinstatement.

Another report also said Gordon could be back by training camp, although that’s obviously far from a guarantee. Gordon has always been ultra-talented, but he hasn’t been able to stay on the field. In 11 games with the Patriots last year, he caught 40 passes fro 720 yards and three touchdowns.

The original round tender will pay Gordon $2.025MM in 2019, assuming he’s able to play.

Steelers Want To Extend Ben Roethlisberger Before Draft

April 23rd, 2019 at 5:12pm CST by Rory Parks

The Steelers are working hard to extend quarterback Ben Roethlisberger prior to the draft on Thursday, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports (Twitter link). Big Ben has one year left on his current deal, but the club wants to keep him “well beyond” the 2019 season. And, according to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com (via Twitter), contract talks are moving in the right direction.

We recently heard that Roethlisberger was not necessarily pushing for a new contract, but that discussions between player and team were ongoing. The two sides have been discussing a re-up at least since January, and given that Roethlisberger could earn upwards of $60MM in the 2020-21 campaigns if the team used the franchise tag on him, that figure could be a primary benchmark in negotiations.

Whether Roethlisberger is a good teammate or not has been a hot topic of late, but his on-field production continues to be top-notch, as he set career-highs in completions (452), pass attempts (675), passing yards (5,129), and touchdowns (34) this past season. Advanced metrics lauded Roethlisberger’s work as well, as he finished fourth in Total QBR and eighth in adjusted net yards per attempt. Meanwhile, Roethlisberger ranked fifth in Football Outsiders‘ DYAR, which measures value over a replacement level player, and eighth in DVOA, meaning he was effective on a per-play basis. His status in the locker room, whatever it might be, does not figure to be a factor in contract talks.

The Steelers, of course, narrowly missed the playoffs in 2018 despite Big Ben’s impressive statistics, and the team is now without Antonio Brown. But Pittsburgh has never had a losing season with Roethlisberger at quarterback, and despite the trade of Brown, the club should once again compete for the AFC North crown.

Roethlisberger is set to carry a cap charge of $23.2MM this season, and an extension would lower that figure and give the Steelers a little more breathing room.

Rams Exercise Jared Goff’s Option

April 23rd, 2019 at 4:55pm CST by Rory Parks

The Rams have exercised Jared Goff‘s fifth-year option, according to a team announcement. With that move, the quarterback is now under contract through the 2020 season.

Some of this year’s fifth-year option calls may be tricky, but this one goes in the no-brainer category. After a rough start to his professional career, Goff has been named to the Pro Bowl in each of the past two years under the tutelage of head coach Sean McVay. He of course led the Rams to an NFC Championship and a Super Bowl appearance in 2018, and his stat line from last season — 32 TDs against 12 interceptions, a 64.9% completion percentage, and a 101.1 QB rating — indicate that he will be the club’s signal-caller for a long time.

Los Angeles has not yet broached a re-up with Goff, but given that he is now under club control through 2020, there’s not a ton of urgency on that front just yet. When asked about an extension recently, Goff said, “Not on my mind at all. I know the deal and understand that I hired an agent for that reason, and things always work out. You continue to play well, it will work itself out.”

Goff will earn a little over $4.2MM this year, and the fifth-year option will pay him $22.783MM in 2020 if the two sides do not work out a long-term deal before then. His 2020 salary is guaranteed for injury only, but McVay indicated recently he is pleased with Goff’s career track, despite Goff’s shaky Super Bowl outing, so it is hard to imagine Goff and the Rams parting ways anytime soon.

Zach Links contributed to this post.

Tension Between Cardinals, Patrick Peterson?

April 23rd, 2019 at 3:53pm CST by Zachary Links

There could be trouble brewing in Arizona. Apparently, cornerback Patrick Peterson is not happy with the Cardinals after someone in the front office said something that “pissed him off,” Kent Somers of the Arizona Republic tweets. Meanwhile, Josh Weinfuss of ESPN.com tweets that Peterson is disappointed with some of the decisions being made by the club’s front office. Weinfuss adds that Peterson is unlikely to report to the team’s minicamp the rest of the week.

This might help to explain Tuesday morning rumors of a pending Peterson trade, though Somers’ source says the situation is not “that big of a deal..yet.” In any event, it’s a situation worth monitoring.

When it comes to trade buzz, this isn’t P2’s first rodeo. He demanded a deal in 2018, though he apologized for his trade request in January and said he’s in Arizona “to stay.”

The Cardinals were 1-6 when P2 originally made his request last year and ultimately finished with a 3-13 record, their worst mark during Peterson’s eight-year run in the desert. Teams like the Saints and Eagles were reportedly interested in acquiring Peterson, but he rescinded his trade demand only two days after making it.

Peterson, a three-time first-team All Pro and eight-time Pro Bowler, is signed through the 2020 campaign thanks to the five-year, $70MM+ extension he inked with the club in 2014. He’s slated to carry cap numbers of $11.9MM and $13.184MM in each of the next two seasons.

Last year, Peterson extended his games played/started streak to 128 and tallied two interceptions, five pass deflections, one sack, and 54 tackles. He earned his eighth consecutive Pro Bowl nod and graded out as Pro Football Focus’ No. 5 ranked CB in the NFL, edging out Jason McCourty, Kyle Fuller, Bryce Callahan, Prince Amukamara, and Jonathan Joseph. Only Stephon Gilmore, Desmond King II, Chris Harris Jr., and Levi Wallace placed ahead of him.