Month: November 2024

Sean Lee To Start In 2019

Thanks in large part to his injury troubles, Cowboys linebacker Sean Lee has been surpassed on the team’s depth chart by Leighton Vander Esch and Jaylon Smith. There was speculation earlier this year that Lee could retire, but he did not want to call it quits just yet, so he indicated back in February that he would return in 2019 (albeit with a significant pay cut).

The thought was that Lee would serve as a backup to Vander Esch and Smith this season, but as Clarence E. Hill Jr. of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram writes, Lee’s role will be larger than initially anticipated. Although Lee will indeed spell Vander Esch at weakside linebacker and Smith at middle linebacker from time to time, Hill says that Lee will see his name in the starting lineup as Dallas’ strongside ‘backer. Lee will replace Damien Wilson, who signed with the Chiefs in March.

But while it’s a starting job, Lee is still unlikely to see a ton of playing time. Strongside linebackers typically play on running downs, and Wilson took part in only 27.93% of the Cowboys’ defensive snaps last year. If Lee also sees some action at the weakside and middle linebacker spots, he may see a higher percentage of snaps than that, but nowhere near the burn that Smith and Vander Esch get.

And that makes sense, as Lee is still effective when he’s on the field, and his instincts are still first-rate, but if Dallas wants to take advantage of those tools, it will have to keep him fresh and healthy. As he enters his age-33 season, the 2016 First Team All-Pro still figures to be an important piece of the Cowboys’ defense, just not as important as he once was.

Raiders Trade K Eddy Pineiro To Bears

Robbie Gould might not be coming back to Chicago after all. On Monday, the Bears acquired kicker Eddy Pineiro from the Raiders, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter). The deal will net the Raiders a 2021 seventh-round pick, provided that Pineiro is on Chicago’s active roster for five games.

After last weekend’s rookie minicamp, the Bears trimmed their kickers down from four to two. Now, they have three kickers to audition in Pineiro, Elliott Fry, and Chris Blewitt.

Pineiro, who joined the Raiders as a UDFA out of Florida last year, has yet to kick in a regular season game. In the preseason last year, he made all three of his field goal tries, plus his lone XP attempt.

Minor NFL Transactions: 5/6/19

We’ll keep track of today’s minor moves here:

Baltimore Ravens

Chicago Bears

Cleveland Browns

Green Bay Packers

Kansas City Chiefs

  • Reserve/non-football injury list: DE Tim Ward

Los Angeles Rams

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants 

  • Signed: G Austin Droogsma

New York Jets

Oakland Raiders

San Francisco 49ers

49ers, DeForest Buckner Far Apart On Talks

The 49ers and star defensive lineman DeForest Buckner have had contract negotiations for a long-term deal, but but they remain far apart on terms, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter) hears. Agent Chafie Fields has talked with team brass over the last few days, but there is no deal in sight. 

The Niners exercised Buckner’s fifth-year option last week and a long-term pact remains a priority for the club. The former No. 7 overall pick is coming off a breakout 2018 campaign in which he graded out as Pro Football Focus’ 23rd-best defensive lineman. He started all 16 games, and racked up 12 sacks while also being a force against the run.

For now, the fifth-year option is slated to pay Buckner $12.378MM in 2020. The Niners can ill-afford to lose him after that, especially since 2017’s No. 3 overall pick Solomon Thomas hasn’t panned out so far.

The good news for the 49ers is that Buckner isn’t necessarily in a rush to ink a multi-year pact.

“We’ve had conversations here and there. Honestly, it’s very early,” Buckner said in April. “Just because I’m eligible for a new contract going into my fourth year, it’s still very early in the process.”

Bucs To Sign Kerwynn Williams

The Bucs are signing running back Kerwynn Williams, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). Williams, who was released by the Lions last week, offers familiarity with head coach Bruce Arians and offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich from their time together with the Cardinals. 

In Arizona, Williams saw a decent amount of work as a reserve and even started in a handful of games in 2017, his final season with the team. All in all, he averaged 4.5 yards per carry, though the ’17 season was the only campaign in which he cracked 100 attempts on the year.

In other Bucs news, defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul was recently involved in a car accident. Fortunately, JPP was not seriously injured in the crash.

Dolphins Interested In Nick Perry

The Dolphins have made overtures to free agent edge rusher Nick Perry, according to Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald. Perry, unlike other veteran free agents, would not count against the Dolphins’ 2020 compensatory pick formula. 

The Packers ate a considerable amount of dead money to move Perry’s deal off their books in March and revamped their outside linebacker corps by signing Preston Smith and Za’Darius Smith. Ending the past two seasons on IR, Perry did not live up to the deal he signed with Green Bay in 2017. But, the 29-year-old pass rusher is said to be fully healthy for the first time in months.

Perry has never played 16 games in a season, but prior to the 2018 campaign that saw him miss seven games, the former first-round pick had played in at least 12 from 2014-17. He finished with 18 sacks between the 2016 and ’17 seasons and would profile as a reasonable upgrade for Miami. In fact, he may be the best remaining edge rusher left, save for Ezekiel Ansah.

Perry would make sense for the Dolphins – Patrick Graham, the Dolphins’ new defensive coordinator, was Perry’s position coach in Green Bay last year. Meanwhile, the Dolphins have to reload after losing both Cameron Wake and Robert Quinn.

With that in mind, Beasley also says that former Bills defender Jordan Mills is a player to watch for the Dolphins. Mills would impact the Dolphins’ comp pick formula, so Miami may not ramp things up on that front until the end of the week.

Panthers Cut S Da’Norris Searcy

The Panthers cut safety Da’Norris Searcy, according to a team announcement. In a related move, the club also waived offensive tackle Isaiah Battle

Searcy joined the Panthers on a two-year, $5.7MM deal lasty offseason with the ability to make up to $3.1MM in 2017. A former fourth-round pick, Searcy managed 12 tackles and one interception in his first year with Carolina while grading as the NFL’s No. 61 safety among 87 qualifiers, per Pro Football Focus.

Last year, Searcy missed eight games due to a pair of concussions suffered in September and did not make it back to the field despite being designated for return in late November. By releasing him, the Panthers will incur a modest $650K cap hit while saving $1.76MM.

Without Searcy, 2018 third-round pick Rashaan Gaulden appears to be in line for a starting safety spot opposite of Eric Reid. It’s also possible that the Panthers could add a veteran safety in the offseason to compete for the gig.

Battle, 26, joined Carolina on a futures deal in January. The 6’7″ Clemson product has bounced around the league since entering as a supplemental pick of the Rams in 2015, but has yet to see live action.

Extra Points: Elliott, Jets, Titans, Suh, Texans

Let’s check out some notes from around the NFL as we wrap up the weekend:

  • Could the Cowboys be preparing for a future without Ezekiel Elliott? Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk thinks that could be the case, as the writer believes the team could be taking “the DeMarco Murray approach” of running their star back into the ground before moving on. Florio cites a recent quote from COO Stephen Jones, who compared fourth-round running back Tony Pollard to Saints star Alvin Kamara.
  • Sam Darnold and Trevor Siemian are slotted in atop the Jets quarterbacks depth chart, but there will be some competition behind the duo. As ESPN’s Rich Cimini writes, the organization is likely to only carry four quarterbacks to training camp, meaning one of Luke Falk, Davis Webb, or Brandon Silvers will likely be without a job. Cimini notes that head coach Adam Gase likes Falk’s potential, explaining why the Jets claimed him off waivers earlier this week.
  • Would the Titans consider bringing in veteran defensive lineman Ndamukong Suh? Jim Wyatt of TitansOnline.com says he has not “heard a lot of internal buzz about this.” Suh did visit with the Titans last offseason before he landed with the Rams, and Wyatt notes that the veteran enjoyed his visit with Tennessee. Plus, Suh has a relationship with Titans defensive-line coach Terrell Williams and lineman Cameron Wake, so perhaps a deal isn’t all that unrealistic.
  • Safety Jahleel Addae‘s one-year deal with the Texans is worth $1.105MM, according to Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle (via Twitter). The deal includes an $805K base salary, $150K signing bonus, and up to an $150K roster bonus. Addae, 29, was released by the Chargers just prior to the start of free agency after spending six years with the club.

Browns Add Three UDFAs

The Browns signed 15 undrafted free agents earlier this week, but they still had an additional 34 rookies participate in their rookie minicamp on a tryout basis. Ultimately, Cleveland signed three of those 34 players to contracts (per Nate Ulrich of Ohio.com):

As Ulrich notes, Dean was a standout during the Browns’ rookie minicamp, as he had an interception and a pass defended during the first practice. Of course, the defensive back will still have an uphill battle to make the roster; the team used a pair of their draft picks on cornerbacks in Greedy Williams (second round) and Donnie Lewis Jr. (seventh round). The team also added undrafted free agent Jermaine Ponder (Saint Francis Pa.).

The same could be said for Harvey Jr., as the Browns selected a pair of linebackers during the draft in Sione Takitaki (third round) and Mack Wilson (fifth round). Cleveland also added an undrafted linebacker, Anthony Stubbs (Prairie View A&M).

With Gray and Dean under contract, the Browns now have eight former Miami Hurricanes on their roster. The six-foot-2, 235-pound Gray served mostly as a block running back during his collegiate career.

Bears Waive Two Kickers, Trim Kicking Competition

The battle to replace Cody Parkey in Chicago is getting a little tighter. The Bears have released kickers Redford Jones and John Baron II as part of a handful of roster moves made Sunday, they announced on Twitter.

After Parkey’s now infamous double-doink eliminated the Bears from the playoffs last year, they’ve gone all out in their search for his replacement. They just had eight kickers at their rookie minicamp for tryouts, and they had four on the roster before making this move. Jones is the former Tulsa kicker who the Bears signed back in January. Baron was an undrafted free agent from San Diego State who Chicago just added last week.

With Baron and Jones gone, only Elliott Fry and Chris Blewitt are left. The Bears have left no stone unturned, and it wouldn’t be surprising if they weren’t done adding to the kicking group just yet. Fry shined in the recently-folded AAF, while Blewitt is the former Pitt kicker signed back in March.

Jones and Baron weren’t the only ones who got bounced from the 90-man roster, as defensive back Adarius Pickett and defensive end Lawrence Marshall were both cut as well. Pickett and Marshall were both rookie undrafted free agents who were just signed recently, from UCLA and Michigan respectively.

The Bears signed two rookie undrafted free agents to take their place, offensive lineman Tommy Doles from Northwestern and defensive lineman Jalen Dalton from North Carolina. Both players participated in the minicamp.

The Bears have had an unstable kicking situation recently, and it’s one of the team’s biggest needs as they look to repeat as NFC North champions in 2019. The battle will be closely monitored in training camp.