2020 January - Pro Football Rumors

Month: September 2024

AFC East Notes: Dolphins, Fitzpatrick, Jets

January 15th, 2020 at 1:21pm CST by Zachary Links

The Dolphins enter the offseason with tons of cap room and a bevy of draft capital. Will GM Chris Grier‘s capitalize on those picks? History suggests that he just might. ESPN.com’s Cameron Wolfe took a trip down memory lane recently, and highlighted some of Grier’s biggest hits over the past three years.

Successful selections include offensive lineman Laremy Tunsil (2016 first-round pick), cornerback Xavien Howard (2016 second-round pick), cornerback Minkah Fitzpatrick (2018 first-round pick), and linebacker Jerome Baker (2018 third-round pick). Of course, Grier wasn’t as fortunate in 2017 as he whiffed on first-round defensive end Charles Harris and third-round corner Cordrea Tankersley.

The Dolphins are currently set to pick at Nos. 5, 18, and 26 overall in the first round, but they’re also expected to move around as they kick their rebuild into high gear.

Here’s more from the AFC East:

For what it’s worth, Grier says the Dolphins‘ plan “right now” is for Ryan Fitzpatrick and Josh Rosen to both be on the offseason roster, as Wolfe writes. It remains to be seen whether Fitzpatrick, 37, will return for another season, but the quarterback has confessed that retirement would be difficult for him. As it stands, Fitzpatrick is under contract for $8MM in 2020 with $4MM guaranteed. Pairing Fitzpatrick with a rookie quarterback like Tua Tagovailoa – who will be ready to throw in April – would make a lot of sense. Meanwhile, it’s hard to see Rosen fitting into the picture.
When asked about the power dynamic between head coach Adam Gase and general manager Joe Douglas, Manish Mehta of the Daily News pointed to the lengths of their respective contracts. Gase, who came along first, received a four-year deal from the club. Douglas, who joined late in the 2019 offseason after Mike Maccagnan‘s ill-time ouster, got a six-year deal with Gang Green. Gase helped push the Jets to hire Douglas, and has influence on personnel decisions, but Mehta writes that Douglas indeed has the upper hand on 53-man roster matters. In other words, as Mehta writes, a tie goes to Douglas.
The Bills could lose assistant GM Joe Schoen to the Browns.

Giants Meet With Jason Garrett

January 15th, 2020 at 12:15pm CST by Zachary Links

Former Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett could land with his longtime rival. On Wednesday, Garrett met with Giants brass to interview for the vacant offensive coordinator position, according to Mike Garafolo of NFL.com (on Twitter).

Garrett could provide the Giants with tons of offensive knowhow, plus years of coaching experience to support first-time head coach Joe Judge. Garrett also helped to groom Day 3 pick Dak Prescott into one of the league’s best quarterbacks, so the Giants are undoubtedly interested to hear about what he could do for youngster Daniel Jones.

On the flipside – Garrett has long been accustomed to running his own show, and it’s unlikely that he would see an OC role as his final stop. The Giants may, or may not, be wary of hiring a coordinator who will surely be in the head coaching mix this time next year.

Although Garrett’s Cowboys disappointed in 2019, he had his fair share of accomplishments in Dallas, including a 6-0 record against the G-Men over the last three seasons. All in all, Garrett coached the Cowboys to an 85-67 record since taking over as HC midway through the 2010 season.

The Giants requested to interview Garrett for their head coaching position earlier this month, but that meeting was 86’d when they hired Judge. Garrett also has history with the franchise, having played for them as a backup quarterback between 2000 and 2003.

Raiders, Denzelle Good Agree To Extension

January 15th, 2020 at 11:20am CST by Sam Robinson

For the second straight year, the Raiders plan to bring back Denzelle Good on a one-year extension. The 2018 Oakland waiver claim will join the Raiders in Las Vegas, with The Athletic’s Vic Tafur tweeting the re-up will soon be official.

Last year, the former Colts seventh-round pick signed for one year and $1.7MM. This time around, he’ll get $2.3MM, including $1.4MM guaranteed, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets. The deal can reach a maximum of $3.3MM, via playtime incentives.

Good started five games for the Raiders last season, doing so at first because of Richie Incognito‘s two-game suspension and then in the season’s final two weeks because of an Incognito injury. The Raiders recently extended Incognito and will bring back his backup as well.

After they focused on other needs in the 2019 draft, the Raiders initially had Good atop their left guard depth chart alongside Gabe Jackson. But the team quickly pivoted to Incognito, who supplanted Good. But the former 20-game Colts starter played in 16 Raiders games last season, doing so after starting three times for the 2018 Raiders.

Seahawks Hope To Keep O-Line In Tact

January 15th, 2020 at 8:40am CST by Zachary Links

The Seahawks’ entire offensive line could wind up with a face lift in March. With several key linemen headed towards free agency, head coach Pete Carroll says he wants to keep the band together.

“I hope we can keep our guys connected here,” Carroll said (Twitter link via ESPN.com’s Brady Henderson). “I think the whole group, it could be a really solid group coming back. I’d like to see the guys that have played for us stay with us.”

Carroll is aiming for continuity, because the unit “made good progress” in 2019. But, to keep the O-Line in tact, they’ll have to work out new deals with right tackle Germain Ifedi, left guard Mike Iupati, and backup left tackle George Fant, all of whom are set to be unrestricted free agents. Center Joey Hunt, meanwhile, will be a restricted free agent.

Seahawks coaches might have liked what they saw out of the offensive line, but the advanced metrics saw things differently. The Seahawks graded out 30th in pass blocking and 14th in run blocking, according to Pro Football Focus.

The individual rankings for the pending free agents weren’t so hot, either. Out of 214 qualified offensive linemen, PFF had Fant (No. 133), Iupati (No. 135), Ifedi (No. 150), and Hunt (No. 180) all positioned as below average players.

Meanwhile, the Seahawks have bigger fish to fry with six other key players headed towards the open market, including defensive end Jadeveon Clowney and defensive tackle Jarran Reed. On the plus side, they have upwards of $58MM in projected cap space this offseason, giving them the most flexibility they’ve had in seven years.

Patriots Notes: Brady, Collins, Thuney

January 15th, 2020 at 8:04am CST by Zachary Links

The Patriots are projected to have roughly $30MM in cap space this offseason but, as ESPN.com’s Mike Reiss notes, they also have a litany of key free agents to consider. That list, of course, starts with superstar Tom Brady, who is planning to explore free agency for the first time in his career. It’s hard to imagine Brady leaving New England, but the Pats are notoriously opposed to sinking too many dollars into any one player. With countless suitors out there with more cash to burn than the Patriots, Reiss pegs his odds of returning at just 80%.

While you ponder the unthinkable, here’s more on the Pats:

Among the free agents with less than 50% odds of returning, in Reiss’ estimation: linebacker Jamie Collins, wide receiver Phillip Dorsett, special teams ace Nate Ebner, linebacker/fullback Elandon Roberts, outside linebacker Kyle Van Noy, and left guard Joe Thuney. Thuney isn’t the biggest name on the list, but he might land the biggest pay day of them all as a four-year starter who has never missed a game. Thuney also just turned 27 in November, which means that other clubs will be eager to sign him through his prime years. Given their history, the Patriots seem unlikely to match exorbitant offers for him.
Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels missed out on the Browns head coaching gig and Ben Volin of the Boston Globe (on Twitter) sees that as a promising sign for Brady’s return. Regardless, Brady is still expected to test the waters in March.
Earlier this week, New Hampshire prosecutors dropped their charges against Patriots safety Patrick Chung. Chung was arrested in 2019 when police found cocaine in his house.

NFL To Consider Changes To Rooney Rule

January 14th, 2020 at 9:58pm CST by Sam Robinson

The NFL’s Rooney Rule again drew scrutiny during a hiring period that featured one of the five head coaching positions filled by a minority candidate, and the league will examine the rule.

In place since 2003, the rule mandates NFL teams interview at least one minority candidate for HC positions. In 2019, that resulted in just one of the eight available coaching jobs going to a minority candidate (Miami’s Brian Flores). This year, Ron Rivera‘s Redskins hire doubled as the only non-white coach to fill one of the five vacancies.

“I think where we are right now, is not where we want to be, not where we need to be,” Steelers owner Art Rooney II said, via NFL.com’s Steve Wyche. “We need to take a step back and look at what’s happening with our hiring processes.”

The Browns, Cowboys, Giants and Panthers opted for white candidates during this year’s coaching cycle. In 2018, eight teams employed minority head coaches. That number is down to three, the same number as when the Rooney Rule was created in 2003.

“As it appears right now, there just weren’t very many minorities in the process at all this year. And I’m not sure why that is,” Rooney said. “It doesn’t need to be that way. We have about one-third of the coaches in the National Football League are from the minority communities. That’s really not a bad pipeline. And so, the question is, why aren’t more of those people getting interviews? Why aren’t more of those people advancing through the process?”

Rooney also discussed the prospect of expanding the rule to include coordinator positions, which would seemingly help form a clearer path to HC positions. Giants co-owner John Mara also expressed support for going in this direction.

“We’re obviously using the Rooney Rule for the head coaching candidates, but I think we may have to use the rule for the feeder positions, especially on the offensive side of the ball because that’s where so many of the head coaches come from,” Mara said, via NBC Sports’ Peter King. “We talked in December on the Workplace Diversity Committee about feeding the pipeline further. I can tell you: This is a real concern of the commissioner and the league.”

49ers Add T Leonard Wester On Reserve/Futures Deal

January 14th, 2020 at 8:47pm CST by Sam Robinson

Leonard Wester agreed to a Jaguars deal in April but did not end up playing this season. The veteran tackle will have a chance to return to action in 2020. The 49ers signed him to a reserve/futures deal Tuesday.

A Division II success story out of Missouri Western, Wester caught on with the Buccaneers and played three years with the franchise in a mostly reserve capacity. The 6-foot-6 blocker started one game in 2018 and appeared in 27 from 2016-18 with the franchise.

The Jaguars cut the 27-year-old lineman after the preseason’s conclusion, doing so after the Bucs non-tendered him as a restricted free agent. Wester played a career-high 116 snaps in 2018; he caught a touchdown pass in 2017.

The 49ers have their starters in place, in Joe Staley and Mike McGlinchey, and drafted Justin Skule in the 2019 sixth round. They are also carrying second-year tackle Jaryd Jones-Smith on their practice squad. Wester retains practice squad eligibility.

Luke Kuechly Announces Retirement

January 14th, 2020 at 7:36pm CST by Sam Robinson

One of this era’s defining defenders, Luke Kuechly delivered a stunner Tuesday night. The perennial All-Pro announced his retirement at age 28.

Kuechly made his seventh straight Pro Bowl this season and is a five-time first-team All-Pro. The 28-year-old linebacker has dealt with concussions for years. He suffered three from 2015-17. While Kuechly is not the first to retire early due to health issues in recent years, he is one of the highest-profile players to step away early in modern NFL history.

While Kuechly did not miss any time from 2018-19, the former first-round pick indicated he had considered retirement for a while. The Cincinnati native said he wants to continue playing but knows coming back for a ninth season would not have been the best course of action.

“In my heart I know it’s the right thing to do,” Kuechly said (video link). “… There’s only one way to play this game since I was a little kid – play fast, play physical and play strong. And at this point I don’t know if I am able to do that anymore.”

One of the best players in the Panthers’ 25-year history, Kuechly has anchored Carolina defenses since being selected in the 2012 first round. He started all 118 games in which he played and led the Panthers to four playoff berths from 2013-17. Kuechly broke up J.J. Watt‘s string of defensive player of the year honors, winning the award in 2013. Two years later, he spearheaded Carolina’s 15-1 season and run to Super Bowl 50. Kuechly tore one of his shoulder labrums late that season but played through the injury and started in each of Carolina’s three playoff games, making 10 tackles and sacking Peyton Manning in the Super Bowl. But concussion issues obviously overshadow any other malady the Boston College product overcame.

The Panthers middle linebacker missed three games because of his 2015 concussion and one after suffering a head injury in 2017. However, the concussion he suffered on national television in November 2016 ended his season and indicated this may well be a long-term concern for the stalwart defender. While Kuechly racked up two All-Pro seasons after that hiatus, he will prioritize his health instead of playing into his 30s.

No linebacker whose career began in the 21st century has more first-team All-Pro honors than Kuechly’s five. Patrick Willis, who also opted to leave the game after eight seasons, accumulated five such distinctions. Bobby Wagner, who joined Kuechly in the 2012 draft, does as well. No other Panthers player earned more than two first-team All-Pro honors. Kuechly began his career with three 150-tackle seasons and will finish with 1,092 — the most in the NFL since 2012. He added 18 interceptions — the most among linebackers since 2012. He will almost certainly end up in the Hall of Fame.

Two years remained on Kuechly’s five-year, $61.8MM contract. Agreed to in 2015, Kuechly’s deal represented the standard for off-ball linebackers for a time. C.J. Mosley and Wagner transformed that market in 2019, and Kuechly could have been expected to top his peers’ $17MM-plus-AAV deals if he chose to. Instead, he will walk away from a $10.3MM salary in 2020.

The Panthers will have seen their longtime linebacker tandem of Kuechly and Thomas Davis depart in consecutive years. The team recently gave Shaq Thompson a lucrative extension; the 2015 first-round pick will slide into a centerpiece role for Matt Rhule‘s team.

Tua Tagovailoa Expected To Throw For Teams By April

January 14th, 2020 at 7:23pm CST by Sam Robinson

Tua Tagovailoa will have a pre-draft workout process; it just may be limited compared to most quarterbacks who have entered the draft. But the Alabama prospect is expected to be ready to throw by April, according to agent Leigh Steinberg (via Mike Rodak of The Birmingham News).

Tagovailoa, who declared for the draft last week, plans to hold an approximate 40-minute session in which he throws 60-80 passes for teams, Steinberg said. It is not certain the southpaw will be ready to throw by Alabama’s March pro day, but the other plan would be to hold an independent session closer to the draft.

Given the nature of his hip injury, this spring session might be all teams have to go on (as far as pre-draft work) going into the April 23 event. But as of now, the plan is for Tagovailoa to also work out for teams individually before the draft, per Rodak. As for the Combine, Tagovailoa will do interviews but will not go through the drill circuit or throw.

The two-year college starter is expected to be a first-round pick, with many mocking him to the Dolphins at No. 5 overall. The Crimson Tide superstar rocketed into the NFL draft picture with a dominant 2018 season, which ended with the then-sophomore throwing 43 touchdown passes and six interceptions for a one-loss team. This season, Tagovailoa had a 33-3 TD-INT ratio before being carted off in a mid-November game against Mississippi State. He underwent surgery soon after and is expected to make a full recovery, though he cautioned he may need to make some adjustments to account for his surgically altered hip.

Iowa T Tristan Wirfs Declares For Draft

January 14th, 2020 at 6:41pm CST by Sam Robinson

Shortly after Iowa’s first-round edge defender prospect declared for the draft, the Hawkeyes’ Round 1 tackle hopeful did the same. Tristan Wirfs will forgo his senior season to be part of the 2020 draft, he announced (via Instagram).

Wirfs is not rated quite as highly as A.J. Epenesa, with Scouts Inc. tabbing the junior edge blocker as the No. 52 draft-eligible prospect. Wirfs, however, was a first-round mock pick, per ESPN’s Todd McShay, and rates 17th in this class, per Bleacher Report’s Matt Miller.

Interestingly, Wirfs primarily played right tackle in his Iowa career. He spent all of his 2018 sophomore season on the right side and started nine games there this season, while playing the remainder of the campaign on the left edge. The Iowa native earned Big Ten lineman of the year acclaim this season.

Wirfs joins a stronger-than-usual tackle class this year. Georgia’s Andrew Thomas and Alabama’s Jedrick Willis look set to go off the board early in this draft. No draft has seen three tackles go in the first half of the first round since 2016, when Ronnie Stanley, Jack Conklin and Laremy Tunsil were off the board by No. 13.

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