2019 July - Pro Football Rumors

Fallout From Michael Thomas’ Deal With Saints

July 31st, 2019 at 2:09pm CST by Zachary Links

On Wednesday, Michael Thomas and the Saints agreed to a deal that will keep the standout wide receiver in the fold through the 2024 season. The contract was initially reported to be worth $100MM over five years, but those numbers don’t quite tell the whole story.

Here’s the latest on Thomas’ shiny new pact:

Thomas extension has a base value of $19.25MM per year, Mike Florio of PFT tweets. He can get to $20MM per year – giving him the initial reported value of $100MM in total, but as Florio’s source puts it, “He has to do some crazy sh-t in the last two years of the deal.”
Thomas’ new contract is the first real movement at the wide receiver position since A.J. Green‘s 2015 extension, Jason Fitzgerald of Over The Cap tweets. The yearly record set by Green’s deal has been broken multiple times in the last four years, but this is the first contract to truly top its $20MM in inflated annual value.
The Thomas deal will play well in the Saints’ locker room, Jeff Duncan of the The Athletic tweets. The team’s core of young stars – including Alvin Kamara, Marshon Lattimore, Ryan Ramczyk, and Sheldon Rankins – will know they’ll be taken care of if they continue to produce.
The holdout-ending deal was the smart move by the Saints, NJ.com’s Darryl Slater opines. The monster numbers could come back to haunt them, but Slater’s feeling is that it was worthwhile to end Thomas’ holdout, especially considering the fact that Drew Brees has a limited championship window.

Redskins Discussing Trent Williams Trade

July 31st, 2019 at 1:28pm CST by Zachary Links

The Redskins are having trade discussions regarding tackle Trent Williams, according to a source who spoke with Jeff Howe of The Athletic (Twitter link). It’s unclear as to what they’re seeking in a trade, but there’s a feeling around the league the Patriots would be involved, Howe hears.

There’s reportedly no end in sight to Williams’ holdout with the Redskins, so it only makes sense for the club to see what’s out there. They also just added veteran Donald Penn to the mix, so there’s a safety net in place in case they can’t smooth things out with Williams.

Williams has two years to go on his contract with $24MM in total remaining. He also hasn’t played a full season since 2013 and has missed 13 games over the last three years, but he is still an elite LT when on the field.

With depth issues at tackle, the Patriots would be a natural landing spot for Williams. It also helps that the Patriots carved out additional cap space by restructuring Marcus Cannon‘s contract on Wednesday. Still, even after the adjustment, the Pats only have $7.49MM in cap room and would have to fit Williams’ $11MM base pay under the cap.

Ravens Release Jordan Lasley

July 31st, 2019 at 10:58am CST by Zachary Links

The Ravens released wide receiver Jordan Lasley, according to a team announcement. When speaking with reporters, head coach John Harbaugh explained that the 2018 fifth-round pick was cut because of football reasons and not his conduct in a chippy practice on Monday.

Earlier this week, Lasley traded blows with cornerback Cyrus Jones and the two had to be separated by players and coaches. Soon after he returned to the field, Lasley caught a touchdown pass and launched the ball over the fence into a nearby pond.

“When you score in the red zone [and] you get a touchdown, you launch it in the pond,” Lasley said. “I learned that from Michael Crabtree.”

Still, it was not the airborne ball that got Lasley cut, nor was it the scrap. Harbaugh explained that he’d never cut a player for getting into a fight at practice. Rather, Lasley, who did not play last year, simply wasn’t a fit for Baltimore.

Without him, the club still has Willie Snead, Marquise Brown, Chris Moore, Miles Boykin, Michael Floyd, and a host of other wide receivers to consider.

Saints, Michael Thomas Agree To Deal

July 31st, 2019 at 8:06am CST by Zachary Links

It’s a done deal. And it’s one for the record books (for now, at least).

On Wednesday morning, the Saints and Michael Thomas agreed to a five-year, $100MM extension with $61MM guaranteed, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. The new deal makes him the league’s highest-paid receiver of all-time on a yearly basis.

With the new deal, Thomas is tied to New Orleans through the 2024 season. In 2019, he’ll still earn a paltry $1.148MM in the final year of his rookie contract, but he’s already locked in plenty of dough at signing.

The deal marks plenty of firsts for the Saints as well. They’ve never paid a non-QB skill-position player more than $10MM per year, but they’re now paying Thomas $20MM per annum. The previous watermark was owned by tight end Jimmy Graham, who banked $10MM/season before being traded to the Seahawks in 2015.

Last season, Thomas set Saints records with 125 catches and 1,405 yards while adding nine touchdown grabs. He was wildly efficient, too – Thomas’ catch rate of 84.5% was the highest of any NFL receiver since at least 2001.

With Thomas’ deal done, the attention will now shift to fellow standout wide receivers in search of their own monster contracts. Unlike Thomas, Falcons star Julio Jones has participated in training camp, but he is expecting a contract that will either match or exceed Thomas’ in average annual value. There’s also Bengals star A.J. Green to consider, though his recent injury may be a barrier in talks.

Down the line, Thomas’ new deal will also have ramifications for the Cowboys and Chiefs as they consider extensions for Amari Cooper and Tyreek Hill.

West Notes: Chiefs, Hill, Reaser, Seahawks, Collier, Gruden, Peterman

July 30th, 2019 at 9:41pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

Just a few months ago, it looked like Tyreek Hill‘s time with the Chiefs was coming to an end. Since then the situation has changed completely, and Hill didn’t even get suspended by the league. The team reportedly always felt like Hill was being honest with them, and they stood by their star receiver despite taking a lot of heat. Kansas City apparently never considered disciplining Hill on their own outside of the league’s investigation, according to Albert Breer of SI.com.

In Breer’s piece, he also notes that Chiefs owner Clark Hunt spoke recently on his first conversation with Hill since this saga started. “So I had a good visit with him earlier in this week. I’m not going to get into the details of that conversation, but it was a very frank conversation, talking to him about responsibility as he comes back to be a Kansas City Chief,” Hunt said. Now that Hill has been cleared by the league, he’s reportedly likely to get an extension soon.

Here’s more from the league’s western divisions:

Speaking of the Chiefs, it sounds like they may have gotten some tough injury news. Chiefs coach Andy Reid said it looks like cornerback Keith Reaser may have an Achilles tendon tear, according to Brooke Pryor of the Kansas City Star (Twitter link). Teams usually know right away but have to wait for MRI confirmation, so it’s almost certainly an Achilles tear for Reaser if Reid would say that publicly. Assuming that’s the case, he’ll miss the entire season. Reaser spent parts of the last two seasons with the Chiefs, and also played for the Orlando Apollos in the AAF. Kansas City’s already thin cornerback group just got a little less deep.
Speaking of injuries, it sounds like Seahawks first-round pick defensive end L.J. Collier is going to be on the shelf for a while. Collier, the 29th overall pick in April’s draft, is dealing with a high ankle sprain, a source told Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Collier almost certainly won’t be playing in the preseason, and it sounds like he’s in danger of missing regular season time. The Seahawks traded away their best pass-rusher in Frank Clark this offseason, and they’re counting on Collier to play a big role for them in 2019. If he’s sidelined for regular season action, it’ll be a huge blow to their already depleted pass-rush.
Raiders coach Jon Gruden caused quite the uproar online earlier today when he raved about quarterback Nathan Peterman. Speaking to the media at camp, Gruden said “this Nate Peterman is growing on me,” per Michael Gehlken of the Las Vegas Review-Journal (Twitter link). Gruden also said “I know he’s got some nightmare performances in the NFL, but when you watch the film, you can see why: It’s not all his fault.” Peterman, of course, has become somewhat of a punchline during his brief NFL career due to a couple of brutal performances. In his first career start as a rookie for the Bills in 2017, he threw five interceptions before being benched. He was equally as disastrous last year, tossing seven interceptions in just two starts and two relief appearances. After being cut by Buffalo, the Pittsburgh product latched on with Oakland. He’s battling with Mike Glennon for backup duties, and it sounds like he has a very real chance to hold Derek Carr‘s clipboard in 2019.

Minor NFL Transactions: 7/30/19

July 30th, 2019 at 8:26pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

Today’s minor moves:

Baltimore Ravens

Waived: OLB/DE Markus Jones

Buffalo Bills

Retired: OL Isaac Asiata

Detroit Lions

Signed: DT Frederick Jones
Waived: WR Brandon Reilly

Indianapolis Colts

Signed: WR Roger Lewis, OG Ian Silberman
Waived: LB Drew Lewis, OG William Poehls

New England Patriots

Signed: OT Martez Ivey
Waived/Injured: OL Cole Croston

New York Jets

Signed: OL Ryan Anderson, CB Dee Delaney
Waived: LB Jeff Allison, OL Toa Lobendahn

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Placed on IR: TE Troy Niklas

Seahawks Extend LS Tyler Ott

July 30th, 2019 at 7:14pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

The Seahawks are making sure their long snapper sticks around a while longer. Seattle is extending Tyler Ott, they announced on Twitter.

Terms of the deal weren’t immediately disclosed, but the team’s announcement said it was a “multi-year” contract. An undrafted free agent from Harvard, Ott originally signed with the Patriots back in 2014. He never made the 53-man roster and after a brief stint with the Rams, he landed with the Giants. After a short stay in New York and another one with the Bengals, he finally settled in Seattle.

He’s snapped in all 16 games for the Seahawks each of the past two seasons. As Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times pointed out in a tweet, Ott would’ve been a restricted free agent after this season prior to this extension. Seattle should have a solid special teams unit for years to come with Ott, punter Michael Dickson, and kicker Jason Myers all in the fold.

Jets Meet With Sam Young

July 30th, 2019 at 6:11pm CST by Zachary Links

The Jets met with free agent tackle Sam Young, according to Mike Florio of PFT. Young could be a depth option for the Jets after the Brent Qvale was carted off the field on Sunday.

Young, 32, spent three years with the Dolphins under coach Adam Gase. His history with the new Jets head coach could lead to a deal and an easy-in for making the 53-man roster.

Over ten years, Young has 88 career regular season appearances, including 21 starts. Before his three-year stretch with the Fins, he appeared in games for the Cowboys, Bills, and Jaguars.

A.J. Green Now Expected To Miss Games?

July 30th, 2019 at 4:13pm CST by Sam Robinson

Hours after a report indicated an A.J. Green Week 1 return was realistic, the timetable for the Bengals’ top player looks bleaker. Green is now expected to miss regular-season time, according to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport (on Twitter).

The cleanup on Green’s injured ankle revealed more damage, with Rapoport noting this discovery looks set to cost the ninth-year wide receiver a few games. Green has missed regular-season games in two of the past three years, including a career-most seven in 2018. Zac Taylor acknowledged (via The Athletic’s Paul Dehner Jr., on Twitter) “a couple games” might be the best-case scenario.

“There’s a good chance he’s going to miss a couple games,” Taylor said. “We’re hopeful he’s back at the beginning of the season. A little more extensive than we initially thought. … Hopefully he’ll be ready to go at the beginning half of the season.”

The only wide receiver in NFL history to begin his career with seven straight Pro Bowls, Green missed 13 games since the 2016 season. He tore ligaments in his ankle to start his ninth NFL camp. This comes in a contract year for the 31-year-old wideout. The Bengals have taken care of their No. 2 receiver, Tyler Boyd, via four-year extension.

Ravens’ Marquise Brown Medically Cleared

July 30th, 2019 at 3:51pm CST by Sam Robinson

Marquise Brown‘s stay on the Ravens’ active/PUP list looks to be nearing an end. The first-round wide receiver received medical clearance on Tuesday, Jamison Hensley of ESPN.com tweets.

After passing his conditioning test last week, Brown has since passed his physical. The Oklahoma-produced deep threat has been rehabbing a Lisfranc injury since before the Combine. Brown, who underwent foot surgery in January, is now on track to play in each of Baltimore’s preseason games, Hensley adds (on Twitter).

This is welcome news for a Ravens team that has a few new skill-position contributors around a developing quarterback. John Harbaugh recently said this new Ravens offense will “change the way offensive football is played in the National Football League.” Brown stands to play a major role in that lofty aspiration coming to fruition.

Brown joins Mark Ingram and third-round pick Miles Boykin as key Ravens newcomers. But the former Sooner represents the team’s top offseason investment. He posted two 1,000-yard seasons at Oklahoma and averaged north of 17 yards per catch in each.