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Month: September 2024

PFR’s NFL Glossary: Supplemental Draft

June 20th, 2019 at 3:00pm CST by Zachary Links

The supplemental draft allows NFL teams to select players who, for one reason or another, were barred from entering the regular draft in the spring. When a team selects a player in the supplemental draft, they forfeit the corresponding pick in the regular draft next year. For example, if a team selects a player in the sixth round of the supplemental draft this year, they will have to give up their 2020 sixth round selection. 

There were no players taken in the supplemental draft in 2016 or 2017, but the Giants snapped the cold streak when they selected Western Michigan cornerback Sam Beal in the third round of last year’s draft. Then, the sixth round, the Redskins tapped Virginia Tech cornerback Adonis Alexander.

In the past, teams have found gems in the supplemental draft. In 2011, the Raiders selected Ohio State quarterback and future standout NFL receiver Terrelle Pryor. In 2012, the Browns used a second round pick to take the talented and troubled Josh Gordon. Other supplemental draft alums include quarterback Bernie Kosar (Browns, 1985), wide receiver Cris Carter (Eagles, 1987), running back Bobby Humphrey (Broncos, 1989), wide receiver Rob Moore (Jets, 1990), nose tackle Jamal Williams (Chargers, 1998), and linebacker Ahmad Brooks (Bengals, 2006).

The date has not been set for this year’s supplemental draft, but it’s likely to take place in the second week of July. On Thursday, West Virginia wide receiver Marcus Simms became the first known entrant.

Note: This is a PFR Glossary entry. Our glossary posts explain specific rules relating to free agency, trades, or other aspects of the NFL’s Collective Bargaining Agreement. 

Marcus Simms Enters Supplemental Draft

June 20th, 2019 at 1:44pm CST by Zachary Links

West Virginia wide receiver Marcus Simms has filed paperwork to enter the supplemental draft, Tony Pauline of DraftAnalyst.com tweets. Simms is expected to work out for teams in early July. 

This spring, Simms entered his name into the NCAA transfer portal, signaling a desire to play for a different school. Instead, he’ll go pro with one year of college eligibility remaining.

Simms hauled in 87 career receptions for 1,457 yards and eight touchdowns with the Mountaineers, but fell out of favor under new head coach Neal Brown. He skipped most of the team’s spring practices due to a reported hamstring injury, but Brown later said that the receiver was dealing with a personal issue.

No date has been set for the 2019 NFL Supplemental Draft just yet, but it’s likely to take place in mid-July.

Extra Points: XFL, AAF, Saints

June 20th, 2019 at 12:16pm CST by Zachary Links

The new XFL is confident that it can succeed, in large part because of its willingness to take on players who are not yet eligible for the NFL Draft, as ESPN.com’s Kevin Seifert writes. Players who are forced to wait three years until after leaving high school could jump to Vince McMahon‘s football experiment 2.0 to jumpstart their professional career rather than play for free in college while risking injury.

XFL commissioner Oliver Luck estimates that his league will feature somewhere between five and 15 of these players in 2020. To establish a pipeline of young talent, he hopes to work in concert with the NCAA.

“The NCAA would have a pretty good argument,” Luck said, “to be able to say, ‘Hey, you don’t have to go to college to play professional football in the NFL.’ You could spend a year in college and then go to the XFL, and then in a couple of years you could be in the NFL that way.”

From a business perspective, it would be a major boon – the XFL could add players who already have a fan base at a fraction of what they’ll earn at the NFL level. In fact, establishing this pipeline could be the XFL’s only real path to success. Otherwise, the league will have to draw from the outer fringes of the football world to fill out its rosters, which could make it tough for the league to keep fan interest in the long run.

Here’s more from the world of football:

  • Speaking of alternative football leagues, Seth Wickersham and Michael Rothstein of ESPN.com took a deep dive into the short-lived Alliance of American Football. The AAF crumbled in the midst of its inaugural season when new investor Tom Dundon decided that the league did not have a path to profitability. As Wickersham and Rothstein write in their must-read investigative piece, the ambitious spring league lacked a common vision among its key figures, resulting in a mess of damaged reputations, bankruptcy, and lawsuits.
  • Free agent defensive tackle Tomasi Laulile, who was on the Saints‘ practice squad last season, has been suspended by the NFL for the first two games of the season, veteran NFL reporter Howard Balzer tweets. Laulile re-signed with the club on a reserve/future contract in January, but was waived on May 13.

Bears Wrap Draft Class

June 20th, 2019 at 10:19am CST by Zachary Links

On Thursday, the Bears announced the signing of sixth-round cornerback Duke Shelley. With Shelley in the fold, the Bears have now wrapped up their entire 2019 NFL Draft class. 

[RELATED: Champ Kelly To Stay With Bears]

Shelley, a 5’9″ Kansas State product, will compete for time as a slot corner and special teams player. He might not see a ton of defensive snaps in 2019, but he showed future promise for the position with three interceptions last year.

Here’s the full rundown of the Bears’ draft class, via PFR’s tracker:

After Shelley’s signing, there are just 15 unsigned draft picks remaining in the NFL.

Lions Negotiating With Domata Peko

June 20th, 2019 at 10:06am CST by Zachary Links

Free agent Domata Peko told TMZ Sports that he met with the Lions last week. The defensive tackle added that he “had a nice visit” in Detroit and that his agent is “trying to work some stuff out” for a contract. 

Peko also indicated that he would be interested in joining the Rams, though it’s not clear if that interest is being reciprocated.

“I would like to be with Aaron Donald, man,” Peko says … “Hell yeah! That would be dope.”

Peko spent the first eleven years of his career with the Bengals before joining the Broncos on a two-year, $7.5MM deal in 2017. Over the past two seasons, Peko has only missed two games, racking up 44 tackles (eight for loss) during that time frame. In 2018, Pro Football Focus ranked Peko as the No. 39 interior defender among 112 qualifiers.

Peko wouldn’t necessarily start for the Lions, but he could be a solid rotational piece for the team’s defensive front. He’d also give the team some extra firepower as Trey Flowers continues to rehab from shoulder surgery and Damon Harrison stays away from the club amidst his contract dispute.

Release Candidate: Tavon Austin

June 20th, 2019 at 8:19am CST by Zachary Links

In 2013, the Rams were blown away by the blazing speed of Tavon Austin and used the No. 8 overall pick draft to secure him. In 2016, the Rams inked him a four-year, $42MM extension, making him the 12th highest-paid wide receiver in the NFL at the time. Today, Austin finds himself on the Cowboys’ roster bubble. 

Austin still possesses game-changing speed, but injuries continue to hold him back. Last year, a groin pull limited him to just seven games in which he caught eight passes for 140 yards and two touchdowns, which more or less sums up his career to date – Austin put up a DeSean Jackson-type yards per catch average, but couldn’t stay on the field.

Austin also holds appeal for his ability to play out of the backfield and serve as a slippery returner, but both roles seem to have been filled in Dallas. The Cowboys tapped Memphis product Tony Pollard in the draft to play as the change-of-pace back behind star Ezekiel Elliott and return kicks. Meanwhile, newcomer Randall Cobb is slated to be the Cowboys’ main slot receiver.

Wide receivers Amari Cooper, Michael Gallup, and Cobb are locks for the roster and Allen Hurns isn’t far behind in the pecking order. That leaves one, or possibly two, WR spots on the 53-man roster, and Noah Brown and Jon’Vea Johnson both seem to have a leg up on Austin, who was limited in OTAs and minicamp.

The Cowboys re-upped Austin on a one-year deal in the spring, but the pact includes just $500K guaranteed. Unless Austin can quickly prove that he is healthy and ready to make an impact, he’ll likely be released in the coming weeks.

NFC West Notes: Gurley, Gaines, Cardinals

June 19th, 2019 at 9:30pm CST by Sam Robinson

Todd Gurley‘s limited offseason (and the Rams‘ cryptic remarks on their All-Pro running back’s injured knee) has created some uncertainty about how the fifth-year player will be used this season and if he will be as healthy as he looked to start last season. A March report indicated Gurley is dealing with arthritis in his knee, and while Gurley nor the Rams confirmed that, his trainer did. But Travelle Gaines does not believe Gurley’s limitations now, which have induced an individualized workout plan, should point to the 24-year-old runner being on a pitch count when the Rams’ playoff push ensues.

“Everybody knew when Todd came out of Georgia that there would be some kind of arthritic component to his knee, which is part of every surgery whether it’s a shoulder, a knee, an ankle,” said Gaines, via CBS Sports, about his client, who underwent knee surgery in 2014. “He’s now at the year-five mark; all we’re doing is managing that. If we can pound him less in the offseason while keeping his weight down, working on his strength, working on his agility in short areas, that’s going to give him a better chance to be healthy Weeks 14 through 17 when they really count.”

Gurley missed Weeks 16 and 17 but bounced back to blaze for 115 yards on 16 carries in the divisional round. However, he gained just 45 yards the rest of the way, leading to speculation about the severity of his injury. He and the team have insisted the knee problem isn’t a major concern, but it will be hard to know for sure until the regular season begins. Here is the latest news coming out of the NFC West:

  • Considering the changes made to their coaching staff and quarterback room, the Cardinals may be this offseason’s most overhauled team. Steve Keim also is open to more changes before training camp. “We had a lot of success in the past when we have had late-summer signings,” Arizona’s GM said (via Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com) to the rest of the front office in the trailer for the latest Flight Plan, which is chronicling the team’s offseason. “There are players out there that we can find that will make this football team better.” The Cardinals have added talent late in the offseason, from John Abraham to Tre Boston, in recent years. They ranked 32nd in both yards and points last season, so further offensive augmentation wouldn’t be uncalled for.
  • One of Keim’s top defensive investments ran into off-field trouble recently. Robert Nkemdiche was arrested for speeding and driving on a suspended license on June 6, Clayton Klapper of ABC 15 reports. The former first-round defensive lineman told police he was on his way to a Cardinals OTA workout that morning. Police also found a “white powdery substance consistent with cocaine” in a credit card case in the vehicle, Klapper adds. However, police did not and will not test the substance. The Cardinals, who did not pick up Nkemdiche’s fifth-year option in May, alerted the NFL in regards to the personal conduct policy.
  • Moving back to the Rams, their defensive line will have a new starter — after Ndamukong Suh‘s free agency departure — and one of their rookies may be tabbed for the job. Fourth-round defensive tackle Greg Gaines may be the frontrunner to start at Los Angeles’ nose spot, Vincent Bonsignore of The Athletic writes (subscription required). The 300-plus-pound Gaines played alongside Vita Vea at Washington in 2017 and in 2018 recorded a career-high 4.5 sacks.

John Elway Not Eyeing Broncos Ownership

June 19th, 2019 at 7:32pm CST by Sam Robinson

Pat Bowlen‘s death will bring the situation regarding his successor to the forefront. But the player most associated with the franchise since Bowlen bought the team in 1984 does not have interest in becoming its owner.

John Elway has been in place as the Broncos’ top front office executive since 2011. While rumors have persisted about Elway one day buying the team or organizing a group to do so and becoming the franchise’s controlling owner, the Broncos’ current GM attempted to shut that talk down.

“No,’’ Elway said, laughing, via 9News’ Mike Klis when asked about one of these scenarios coming to fruition. “No. 1, I don’t have the money. I wish I did. I wish that wasn’t an issue.”

Elway is one of the NFL’s highest-paid GMs and has other income avenues in Denver. Forbes, however, valued the Broncos at $2.7 billion. The Broncos gave Elway a five-year contract two summers ago, and he plans to continue serving in the same capacity.

“It’s a different galaxy,” Elway said on the difference between front office money and ownership capital. “I’m happy with where I am. I’m proud to work for the organization and the opportunity they provide and so we’ll continue to work our tail off.”

The current battle between Beth Bowlen Wallace and the Broncos’ trustees, who have been running the team since Pat Bowlen’s Alzheimer’s struggle required him to step away, featured the latter party regarding the late owner’s daughter as unqualified at this time to serve as the franchise’s controlling owner. That fight continues, with former 49ers executive Carmen Policy serving as the NFL arbiter.

Pat Bowlen’s brother, Bill, has also filed suit to remove Broncos CEO Joe Ellis and two other trustees from the Bowlen Trust. The trustees believe Bill Bowlen is suing on Bowlen Wallace’s behalf, Klis writes. But Brittany Bowlen, 29, has been viewed as the favorite to one day take the reins. Brittany Bowlen is expected to take a business-side job with the Broncos this year.

AFC Rumors: Gordon, Jets, Steelers, Colts

June 19th, 2019 at 6:23pm CST by Sam Robinson

Tuesday marked a significant day for the Jets, with their new front office power players forming. A day later, more clarity has emerged on how Joe Douglas‘ first staff will look. While the respective roles for Rex Hogan (assistant GM) and Chad Alexander (director of player personnel) became known Tuesday, the Jets announced Phil Savage‘s a day later. The former Browns GM and Ravens player personnel director will serve as a senior football advisor. Savage has not worked on an NFL staff since the 2012 season.

Additionally, the Jets filled some front office positions by promoting holdovers brought in by previous regimes. Eleventh-year Jets staffer Greg Nemjeh will become the team’s new director of pro personnel, and 13th-year Jets staffer Dan Zbojovsky the team’s new director of personnel operations. Kevin Murphy, a Jets pro scout the past two years, will rise to the position of pro scouting director. The team also added Chris Nolan as a college scout. Nolan was an Eagles staffer during Douglas’ Philadelphia stay. Nolan will serve as an area scout, per veteran NFL reporter Howard Balzer (on Twitter).

Here is what’s going on outside the Big Apple in the AFC Wednesday:

  • A video featuring Tom Brady throwing passes to suspended Patriots wide receiver Josh Gordon surfaced Wednesday (Instagram link via Brady), but there is still no telling when or if this duo will be able to do this in a more organized setting again. An NFL spokesman informed The Athletic’s Jeff Howe there has been no movement on Gordon’s status, nor does a timeline exist for a final answer here (Twitter link). Multiple violations of the substance abuse policy have the long-embattled wideout suspended. Gordon, 28, signed his RFA tender — worth $2.025MM — so he would stand to be a Patriot if reinstated.
  • With Justin Houston joining the Colts, Tyquan Lewis looks like he will be changing positions. The Colts have used Lewis at defensive tackle this offseason, Tyler Kraft of the Indianapolis Star notes. The 2018 second-round pick played defensive end as a rookie and at Ohio State. Lewis, who spent much of his rookie season on IR, is at bit small for an inside defender. He’s listed at 6-foot-3, 269 pounds, a similar build to 2018 free agent addition Denico Autry (6-5, 270). The recently re-signed Margus Hunt, however, brings more size at nearly 300 pounds. Houston and Jabaal Sheard stand to reside as the team’s top defensive ends. The Colts also drafted defensive end Kemoko Turay in the 2018 second round.
  • Two years after Alejandro Villanueva‘s situation, the Steelers have another ERFA who has been a regular contributor. Slot cornerback Mike Hilton has been vocal about wanting a long-term deal. He does not have much leverage, but his situation is different from Villanueva’s. The left tackle was late entering the NFL and was 29 when he lobbied for a new contract — what turned out to be a three-year, $24MM deal. Hilton is 25 and could bet on himself by playing for $645K. While he is voicing displeasure now, it doesn’t sound like the former UDFA is too upset with the Steelers. “I want to show the team I want to be here and want to be a part of this organization,” Hilton said, via ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler. “… As players, you feel like of course you want to earn more. Hopefully things work out in the long run, but if not, I’ll do my best to go out there and help this team win.”
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