HEADLINES

Month: September 2024

Rams Eyeing 2020 Jared Goff Extension?

June 7th, 2019 at 9:05pm CST by Sam Robinson

The only player picked ahead of Carson Wentz in the 2016 draft will naturally shift to the forefront now that the Eagles and Wentz finalized their extension agreement. If the Rams are on the clock, they might be there for a while.

When asked Friday on a Jared Goff timetable, Rams COO Kevin Demoff said (video link via Lindsey Thiry of ESPN.com) said the team’s goal on this front will be to assess this situation during the 2020 offseason. Two years remain on the 24-year-old passer’s deal.

“I don’t want this to sound hollow, but I don’t think (the Wentz extension) affects our conversations that much,” Demoff said, via Thiry. “It’s been reported for a few months that the Eagles and Carson were talking about a contract. We were well aware of that, and they seem to be on a different timetable. I think people mistake timeline and getting deals done with multiple years left for commitment.

“This franchise is committed to Jared Goff. Your love for a player and how badly you want him doesn’t always come down to when they sign.”

Sean McVay also said recently (via Thiry) he is confident Goff will be the Rams’ quarterback for a “very long time,” despite the former No. 1 overall pick arriving during Jeff Fisher‘s final season. But the Rams’ recent run of re-ups — chief among them deals for Aaron Donald, Todd Gurley and Brandin Cooks — will make a 2019 Goff accord more difficult. Additionally, the Rams have Aqib Talib, Marcus Peters, Dante Fowler and Andrew Whitworth in contract years. Their cap space spikes from $6MM-plus to $54MM-plus (projected) between now and the 2020 offseason.

“I think the numbers would be tough, quite frankly,” Demoff said regarding a Goff extension being completed before this season.

Wentz’s deal included a $32MM new-money average and $66MM in full guarantees — fourth and fifth among quarterbacks, respectively. Goff has not been a late-season MVP candidate like Wentz was in 2017, but he is two years younger, coming off two Pro Bowls and has no significant injury history. This moving into the 2020 offseason would stand to point to Goff eclipsing Wentz’s numbers.

Jets Hire Joe Douglas As General Manager

June 7th, 2019 at 7:20pm CST by Sam Robinson

The favorite ended up winning out. On one of the most action-packed June Fridays in recent NFL history, the Jets named Joe Douglas their next general manager. While Douglas beat out three other candidates, he was the frontrunner from the start. The Jets will make a six-year commitment to Douglas, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets.

Howie Roseman will lose one of his top lieutenants, with Douglas having served as the Eagles’ VP of player personnel since 2016. Adam Gase has been believed to have preferred Douglas since Mike Maccagnan‘s ouster. The two worked together with the 2015 Bears, when Douglas served as their college scouting director while Gase was Chicago’s OC. Prior to that, Douglas spent 15 years in the Ravens’ personnel department.

Gase, who served as Jets interim GM, will cede 53-man roster control to Douglas, Rich Cimini of ESPN.com tweets. Both will report to CEO Christopher Johnson.

This comes at an interesting time. The Texans fired Brian Gaine on Friday afternoon, and with the team having attempted to interview Douglas for that post last year, it stood to reason the AFC South franchise would try again. The Jets and Douglas were believed to be apart on salary, with CBS Sports’ Jason La Canfora tweeting a chasm of around $1MM per year existed. But we now have a June day featuring two GM moves, an obviously uncommon NFL occurrence.

Douglas, 42, becomes the Jets’ fourth GM in the past eight years, following Maccagnan (2015-19), John Idzik (2013-14) and Mike Tannenbaum (2006-12).

Douglas certainly appears to have resisted the Jets’ initial overtures, with Schefter reporting (via Twitter) he repeatedly turned the team down. But the Jets continued their aggressive pursuit. This comes a few days after a report surfaced about some candidates being leery of the Jets’ atypical ownership situation. Christopher Johnson is working as CEO while Jets owner Woody Johnson serves as an ambassador in the Trump administration. A six-year deal would cover any amount of time the president would serve in office, though as the Texans showed earlier today by cutting bait on Gaine’s five-year deal after one season, long-term pacts are tenuous. But the team appears to have made an effort to help assuage any concerns about its ownership status.

Breaking into the NFL as a scout for the Super Bowl champion 2000 Ravens, Douglas also played a key role in helping the franchise win its second Lombardi trophy. He brought Joe Flacco‘s name to Ozzie Newsome, per Jamison Hensley of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Douglas has been part of three Super Bowl champions.

The Jets have not been to a Super Bowl in 51 years and have missed the past seven AFC playoff brackets. They are the only team to have failed to win six games in each of the past three seasons. Their most recent coach-GM experiment deteriorated rapidly. Gase and Maccagnan differed on some 2019 decisions, most notably the Le’Veon Bell contract, and that led to an awkward draft. But the first-year Jets HC will likely have more confidence in Douglas. Interestingly, with Douglas now signed up, he, Gase and Sam Darnold share an agent (Jimmy Sexton).

Texans To Make Another Run At Patriots’ Nick Caserio?

June 7th, 2019 at 6:09pm CST by Sam Robinson

A common figure in recent GM searches, Nick Caserio looks set to come up in another one. The Texans requested an interview with the longtime Patriots executive in 2018 and are expected to pursue him again, according to Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero of NFL.com (on Twitter).

The Patriots denied the Texans permission to interview Caserio and college scouting director Monti Ossenfort last year. The Texans fired Brian Gaine on Friday afternoon and will begin a replacement search immediately.

Caserio and Bill O’Brien are close, and the Houston Chronicle’s John McClain tweets this is almost certainly an avenue the Texans will explore in their effort to replace Gaine. O’Brien, who is set to coach alongside a third GM in Houston, spent five seasons as a New England assistant.

Caserio and Josh McDaniels pulled out of the 49ers’ GM/HC searches two years ago and remain key Patriots decision-makers. Caserio has worked as the Patriots’ player personnel director since 2008, serving as a central figure in the Bill Belichick-run operation.

Jets Re-Sign RB Bilal Powell

June 7th, 2019 at 5:51pm CST by Sam Robinson

Bilal Powell will return to the Jets. The team announced the veteran running back reached an agreement to re-sign. Powell worked out for the Jets on Friday. It’s a one-year deal, per Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News (on Twitter), and Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets that Powell will receive a $90K signing bonus. That’s not a huge guarantee, but it is sizable for this time of year, and it likely speaks to the Jets’ belief in Powell’s health.

Cleared from a scary neck injury that was believed at one point to be a career-threatening malady, per Rapoport (on Twitter), Powell is now signed on to play a ninth season in New York. The backfield has obviously changed since Powell’s last time in a Jets uniform, with Le’Veon Bell now almost certainly set for a three-down role, and Powell’s addition crowds the group.

Elijah McGuire, Trenton Cannon and Ty Montgomery join Bell on New York’s depth chart. Adam Gase said this week he wanted increased competition at certain spots, and despite this looking like a fairly well-stocked backfield, the 30-year-old Powell stands to provide some. He holds a career 4.4-yard average per carry and combined for more than 2,100 yards from scrimmage between 2016-17.

A fourth-round pick during the Rex Ryan years, Powell recently wrapped up a three-year, $11.25MM deal. He will team with another Pro Bowl back, having already worked with LaDainian Tomlinson and Matt Forte. While Powell does not figure to be a lock to make the Jets’ roster, he provides far more experience than any of Gang Green’s other backup candidates.

Seahawks Finalize Draft Class Contracts

June 7th, 2019 at 5:28pm CST by Sam Robinson

Linebacker Cody Barton became the latest third-round pick to agree to the terms of his rookie contract. This signing (Instagram link) rounds out the Seahawks’ 2019 rookie deals.

Eighteen third-round picks are still unsigned. This round’s contract agreements drag out every year because of CBA language, but as teams approach minicamps, that number figures to drop dramatically. Barton was Seattle’s lone third-round selection. The Seahawks began this draft with four first-round picks, but numerous trades turned that number into 11.

Chosen 88th overall out of Utah, Barton became the first of two linebackers the Seahawks selected. Ben Burr-Kirven (Washington) joined the team as a fifth-round pick. Both Pac-12 products figure to back up Bobby Wagner, K.J. Wright and Barkevious Mingo as rookies. Barton made a career-high 117 tackles for the Utes as a senior and registered eight sacks between the 2017 and ’18 seasons.

Here is the Seahawks’ 2019 draft class:

Texans Fire GM Brian Gaine

June 7th, 2019 at 4:23pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Texans GM job is again vacant. The team announced Friday Brian Gaine will no longer serve in that capacity. Gaine began running Houston’s front office in January 2018.

Gaine signed a five-year contract with the Texans, so to see them move on at this juncture — and after the 2018 team compiled the second-most wins in franchise history — is stunning. Senior VP of football administration Chris Olsen will take over in the interim. The Texans went 11-5 and won the AFC South in 2018. They will now join the Jets in conducting a mid-offseason GM search, potentially set to meet with some of the same candidates.

Despite the short duration of Gaine’s tenure, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets no one incident is believed to have prompted this.

Prior to Gaine’s hiring, the Texans dealt with frequent friction in their front office. Reports of Rick Smith, who stepped away after the 2017 season to tend to his ailing wife, and Bill O’Brien butting heads emerged often. O’Brien signed a five-year deal when Gaine was hired and was believed to have a close relationship with him. O’Brien served on the search committee that produced the Gaine hire.

Prior to a 2017 stay in Buffalo as Bills player personnel director, Gaine spent three years with the Texans. Smith promoted from director of pro personnel to director of player personnel in 2015, but he left to take a job under Brandon Beane. Considering Smith received 12 years Texans GM — his first five seasons ending shy of the playoffs — this decision figures to have considerable fallout.

Gaine only oversaw two drafts as Houston’s top front office bastion, and thanks to Texans trades in 2017, the first did not involve first- or second-round picks. This year, Gaine used the Texans’ first-rounder on small-school tackle prospect Tytus Howard. This came after Deshaun Watson was sacked 62 times in 2018 — the most any quarterback has been dropped in a season since Jon Kitna in 2006.

Last year, the Texans sought interviews with seven candidates but ended up meeting with just two — Gaine and assistant GM Jimmy Raye III. Among those on Houston’s 2018 list: Joe Douglas, who is currently the favorite to become the next Jets GM. The Eagles denied the Texans permission to speak with Douglas last year, and the Patriots exercised the same action regarding execs Nick Caserio and Monti Ossenfort.

Before Smith vacated this post last year, the Texans had not had a GM vacancy since the Charley Casserly-to-Smith changeover in 2006.

This Date In Transactions History: Issac Bruce

June 7th, 2019 at 3:09pm CST by Zachary Links

On this date in 2010, the 49ers shipped Issac Bruce to the Rams. However, this wasn’t an ordinary trade. The deal was facilitated in order to allow Bruce, 37 at the time, to retire with his original franchise. 

Bruce started his career with the Rams in 1994, the team’s final season in Los Angeles. The second-round pick played sparingly as a rookie, but he broke out as an NFL sophomore in St. Louis with 119 catches, 1,781 yards, and 13 touchdowns, all of which went down as his career bests. In his 14 illustrious years with the Rams, Bruce amassed four Pro Bowl trips and eclipsed 1,000 yards receiving in eight different seasons.

“Sixteen years was enough for me,” Bruce said at his farewell press conference. “I think a lot was done. But that second training camp practice (in two-a-days) may have played a part in it. I was ready to move on and do something else other than playing football.”

After so many productive seasons in the NFL, Bruce had little left to prove. Bruce was the leading wide receiver in the Rams’ “Greatest Show On Turf” Super Bowl-winning season and left the team as its all-time receiving leader with 14,109 yards. His second act with the Niners was not quite as flashy with 835 yards in his first SF season and 264 yards in his 2009 finale.

“The two years I was away, I kept tabs on this organization,” Bruce said. “I played against this organization, I played against its players. The funny thing is I found myself encouraging them when things didn’t look bright for them. I looked down and saw myself in a different colored uniform. It was honestly just to me personally — it just wasn’t right.”

So, with the trade, Bruce returned back to the Rams and became the last member of the Rams’ first Los Angeles run to hang ’em up. Later, his No. 80 jersey was retired by the team.

Bruce was denied entry into the Pro Football Hall of Fame for the third time in 2019, but he remains a candidate for induction down the road.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Rams Wrap Entire Draft Class

June 7th, 2019 at 2:10pm CST by Zachary Links

And just like that, the Rams’ entire draft class has been signed. After inking three of their rookies on Friday morning, the Rams following up by signing third-round running back Darrell Henderson, third-round cornerback David Long, third-round tackle Bobby Evans, fourth-round defensive tackle Greg Gaines, and fifth-round tackle David Edwards. 

Second-round safety Taylor Rapp was the highest-selected player in the Rams’ rookie class, but most of the attention is on Henderson, who rushed for 1,909 yards and 22 touchdowns on just 214 carries last year. His 8.9 yards per rush was no fluke, as he posted the exact same average as a sophomore in 2017. Henderson could see a decent amount of work behind star Todd Gurley and he’ll really be in the limelight if Gurley’s knee issues remerge in 2019.

Here’s the full rundown of the Rams’ draft class:

Rams Sign Second-Round Pick Taylor Rapp

June 7th, 2019 at 12:24pm CST by Zachary Links

In recent years, the Rams have been the last team to start signing their incoming rookies. On Friday, they finally put a dent in their draft class by signing second-round safety Taylor Rapp as well as seventh-round picks Nick Scott and Dakota Allen. 

Rapp, a University of Washington product, notched 59 tackles, six tackles for loss, five sacks, two interceptions, and three fumble recoveries last season. In his first year with the Rams, he’s expected to support starters Eric Weddle and John Johnson.

Rapp profiled as one of the best open-field tackling safeties in this year’s class and has a strong football IQ for a player of his age. After he opened his collegiate career with four interceptions but saw that number tail off with time, it’ll be interesting to see if he has a nose for the ball at the pro level.

With Rapp, Scott, and Allen signed, the Rams are left with five unsigned rookies to go, as shown in PFR’s tracker.

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