HEADLINES

Month: November 2024

Patriots OT Marcus Cannon Is Not Retiring

February 16th, 2020 at 2:06pm CST by Marc Delucchi

In an unexpected turn of events this Sunday afternoon, rumors began swirling on social media that Patriots starting right tackle Marcus Cannon decided to retire. However, it turned out to be just another internet myth. Doug Kyed of NESN reports that the Twitter rumors are indeed false and Cannon is not retiring.

The Patriots selected Cannon in the fifth round of the 2011 NFL Draft. Since, he has emerged as one of the biggest steals from that draft. He served as the team’s swing tackle until 2015 and then became a permanent starter along the team’s offensive line. Given the uncertainty surrounding the New England organization this offseason as Tom Brady enters free agency, the Pats are surely taking a sigh of relief that they will not need to be looking to fill a hole along the offensive line.

It’s also worth noting that New England’s current starting guard Joe Thuney is set for unrestricted free agency, so they were already trying to fill one spot up front. Brady, the franchise cornerstone, has been clear that if he returns to New England this offseason, he wants to see clear upgrades throughout their roster and losing Cannon, would have made that much more difficult.

While the reports were proven false, the incident reiterated one strange new phenomenon in the league. Cannon is only 31-years old, but that no longer seems too old for a player to call it quits. The NFL has seen a number of players retire at younger and younger ages over the past decade as they react to recent research on the long-term health risks of playing football. At least for now though, Cannon-who is set to make roughly $7MM over the next two seasons, will continue his playing career.

AFC Notes: Patriots, Brady, Jets

February 16th, 2020 at 11:23am CST by Zachary Links

No surprise here, but the Patriots and Tom Brady have still yet to discuss a potential new deal, as Mike Reiss of ESPN.com writes. This echoes the non-update updates that we’ve heard over the past few weeks – Brady is still on course for free agency with the intent of exploring all options before considering a New England reunion.

At this point, the Patriots can only hope for a heads up on Brady’s intentions before the “legal tampering” period gets underway. At this point, they’ll have to account for every possible scenario in their offseason puzzle while their biggest piece remains up in the air.

More from the AFC:

Latest On CBA, Expanded Season

February 16th, 2020 at 10:33am CST by Zachary Links

The players may be willing to expand the regular season to 17 games, but they want to adjust the owners’ proposed window for activation, sources tell PFT’s Mike Florio. The NFL is seeking the option to implement the longer season sometime between 2021 and 2023. The players want to take 2021 off the table and push that off until 2022 or 2023.

This is, in part, due to logistical reasons. With many players contracted through 2021, and approximately 70 players under contract through 2023, those players would need to be given additional compensation on their existing deals in order to make something work. The later the start date, the easier it becomes to facilitate that.

Despite plenty of opposition to the longer season within the union, it seems as though the NFLPA is warming up to a compromise. And we’d speculate that the later start date would be more palatable to players for other reasons. For example, veterans who are in the final years of their career could be more open to the proposal if they are only facing one or two extended seasons.

We should know more about where the NFLPA stands after their meeting on Thursday, which could include a vote among union leadership. In exchange for the 17-game season, owners have reportedly some key concessions, including a revamp of the fifth-year option for first round picks, relaxed testing for marijuana, and a larger cut of league revenue.

Giants Rumors: Williams, Solder, Tate

February 16th, 2020 at 9:51am CST by Zachary Links

The Giants sacrificed two draft picks in order to acquire Leonard Williams from the Jets. Now, there’s a chance that the defensive lineman could depart in free agency, which would effectively turn the trade into a rental.

Ralph Vacchiano of SNY ran down the Giants options, including the transition tag, which they haven’t used in roughly 15 years. The transition tag would extend a one-year tender to Williams at the average of the top ten salaries for defensive tackles, rather than the franchise tag, which is the average of the top five salaries at the position. The franchise tag would amount to a one-year, $15MM tender, keeping Williams locked in with the possibility of an extension before the summer deadline. The transition tag, meanwhile, would be a one-year, $12MM tender – the Giants could match any offer, but they’d receive no compensation if they declined.

Williams, the former No. 6 overall pick in the draft, doesn’t figure to have tons of suitors throwing major money at him, so the transition tag wouldn’t be a major risk. But, if one team is aggressive enough, the Giants could come away from the Williams deal virtually empty handed. While his departure would leave them with improved position in the compensatory pick formula, it wouldn’t guarantee them a third-round pick to replace the one they gave up for him, nor would it bring back the fifth-round choice they also traded to the Jets. Also worth noting: If the Giants extend Williams before the start of free agency, that conditional 2021 fifth-rounder becomes a fourth-round choice.

Here’s more on the G-Men:

  • The Giants’ spring cleaning could see the departure of some big names, as Paul Schwartz of the New York Post writes. His list starts with linebacker Alec Ogletree, who our own Rory Parks profiled as a release candidate late last week. Others on the block, as Schwartz notes, include tight end Rhett Ellison, defensive end Kareem Martin, and safety Antoie Bethea. Those four cuts would amount to a combined savings of more than $20MM, though the dead money charges would be even steeper. Other big names like left tackle Nate Solder and wide receiver Golden Tate, in theory, could be dropped, but Schwartz expects the Giants to stick with both.
  • More from Schwartz, who expects first-year head coach Joe Judge to get a longer leash from the Giants than his predecessors Ben McAdoo and Pat Shurmur. Shurmur, the most recent coach to get the axe, went 9-23 in his two seasons at the helm.
  • The Giants will have the No. 4 overall pick in the draft as they look to reshape the team under Judge. The full rundown of the first-round draft order can be found here.

Extra Points: CBA, XFL, 49ers, Kittle

February 15th, 2020 at 9:52pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

There apparently could be a CBA vote coming on Thursday, and we now know of an interesting new provision. The proposed CBA would change the way fifth-year options for first-round picks work, letting some top players cash in before they can get to free agency, sources told Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com. “If a first-round pick makes it to the Pro Bowl twice in his first three seasons, the amount of the fifth-year option would spike to the franchise tag for his position,” Florio writes. The current system is a bit complicated, with players drafted in the top 10 getting the transition tag price for their position in their fifth years.

Players not drafted in the top 10 get even less. Obviously this would only apply to a narrow slice of players, but it would represent a big pay bump for some of the league’s elite players prior to hitting the open market. As Florio points out Jalen Ramsey, the fourth overall pick in 2016, is set to make $13.7MM in 2020, which is the transition tag price for cornerbacks. Under the new proposed system he would’ve been set to make $16.4MM due to hitting the Pro Bowl requirement. We just got another update on the proposed marijuana policy, and we should hear a lot more about the new CBA this week.

Here’s more from the football universe:

  • The XFL has received a fair amount of buzz, and things certainly appear to be better set up than they were for the ill-fated AAF. One way for them to get even more buzz would be to land a big name amateur player, and the league is keeping that option on the table. “We do have the ability to sign a college freshman or sophomore. …. We haven’t dipped our toe in that pond, but we could in the future,” XFL commissioner Oliver Luck said during a recent appearance on the Dan Patrick Show, via Andrew Perloff (Twitter link). The XFL has had a fairly successful launch, but given that they currently aren’t even offering six-figure salaries, it’s still a bit hard to envision a top college player willingly departing the NCAA ranks.
  • We’ve heard that the 49ers plan to make an offseason extension for George Kittle a priority, and it probably can’t be overstated just how much Kittle is going to reset the market. The report from a couple of weeks ago was that Kittle’s floor would be around $13MM annually, and as former NFL agent and current CBS Sports analyst Joel Corry points out, the top of the market has been stuck at around $10MM annually for a while. Corry notes that Jimmy Graham became the first $10MM tight end all the way back in 2014, but that the market has been completely stagnant ever since. In Corry’s piece, which is well worth a read, he takes a look at how the salaries for the position are going to change big time around the league. Hunter Henry and Austin Hooper are about to be free agents, and several other big names are going to get new deals soon. It’ll be very interesting to see what number Kittle ends up getting.

Cardinals Could Trade David Johnson, Want To Retain Kenyan Drake

February 15th, 2020 at 7:45pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

We heard a lot of Cardinals news yesterday, including that general manager Steve Keim said the team won’t be cutting running back David Johnson. Releasing Johnson would result in an astronomical $16.2MM dead cap hit, essentially making it impossible. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean Johnson will be back in Arizona in 2020, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network cautions (Twitter video link).

Rapoport says that the Cardinals could look to trade Johnson this offseason, looking for a deal where they would eat some of his salary. He also floated the possibility of Arizona attaching a draft pick with Johnson to get a team to take on his deal, similar to what the Texans did with Brock Osweiler a few years ago. Johnson’s reps certainly did a great job negotiating his contract, and it’s now one of the most burdensome pacts in the entire league. Just a couple of years ago Johnson was viewed as one of the best running backs in the league, which earned him a three-year, $39MM deal.

He cratered immediately after signing it, and he struggled with injuries last year. Even when he was healthy he simply wasn’t a difference maker, and the team pretty much completely stopped giving him the ball late in the year. Down the stretch he took a backseat to Kenyan Drake, who the Cardinals acquired in a trade with the Dolphins.

Speaking of Drake, Rapoport also said that the team wants to keep the impending free agent in the desert, either with a new deal or on the franchise tag. Drake dominated during the second half of the season with Arizona, rushing for 643 yards and eight touchdowns in only eight games while averaging 5.2 yards per carry. If the Cardinals aren’t able to work something out with Drake and he walks, maybe Johnson will be able to salvage his career, but right now it looks like he won’t be regaining his featured role in Kliff Kingsbury’s offense anytime soon.

Antonio Brown To Attend Combine, Wants To Meet With Teams

February 15th, 2020 at 6:25pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

The NFL Scouting Combine is when the offseason truly starts to heat up, with all sorts of discussions being had by team executives. There’s a lot of wheeling and dealing going on, and Antonio Brown is hoping to use the event to jumpstart his currently derailed career.

Brown plans on attending the combine and meeting with teams there, he told TMZ Sports. He’ll “be out there ready to get things back on the right page,” the embattled receiver declared. Brown has been striking a more conciliatory tone recently, and he seems to realize that he has a lot of work to do to get back in the league. Even if he does go to the combine and is able to pitch himself to teams, he might not find that receptive of an audience. Brown had received “little or no interest” prior to being dropped by agent Drew Rosenhaus, a source told Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com.

Florio also notes that Brown has yet to hire a new agent. Even if he manages to convince a team that he has turned a corner and is ready to put the past behind him, there are still several hurdles. The league’s investigation into a lawsuit that accuses Brown of sexual assault is still ongoing, and he very well could be facing a suspension for that.

He’s also currently out on bail after an arrest for battery and burglary. There’s very real potential for league discipline stemming from that incident as well. It’s hard to ever predict what’s going to happen with Brown, but it would be a surprise if a team signed him anytime soon.

Latest On NFL’s Marijuana Proposal

February 15th, 2020 at 4:56pm CST by Sam Robinson

Marijuana represents one of the key issues the NFL is targeting to entice the players to agree to a 17-game schedule, and with the CBA talks at a critical point, more details regarding the league’s plan to loosen marijuana restrictions have emerged.

The NFL’s latest CBA proposal would dramatically reduce the marijuana testing window from nearly four months to two weeks, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reports. This would apply to all players who are not already in the league’s substance-abuse program, which requires more frequent tests. The current testing window runs from late April to August.

It is not known when the two-week window would open and close, but slashing it down to two weeks would represent a significant change. The league in 2014 already raised the threshold for what it takes to be suspended for marijuana, and weed-based bans would be far less frequent considering the limited time players would have to test positive for the substance. And even if a player would test positive under these guidelines, suspensions would only occur in “extreme” cases, Florio adds.

Jerry Jones said in December he expects more leniency on the marijuana front, and the league last year commissioned a study that included the examination of weed as a pain-management tool. Recreational marijuana use is legal in 11 states; medical marijuana is permitted in 33. Seven teams — the Cowboys, Texans, Panthers, Titans, Falcons, Colts and Packers — play in states in which neither type of usage is legal, however.

Barely a month remains before the 2020 league year, the 17-game schedule poses as the top sticking point for the players. And the March election of a new NFLPA president is almost certainly prompting owners to push for the CBA’s finalization before that changeover. While an NFLPA vote is coming next week, the prospect of the extra game — likely without an extra bye — could force the players’ side to dig in for the long haul.

Franchise Tag In Play For Jordan Phillips?

February 15th, 2020 at 3:58pm CST by Sam Robinson

An interesting name has surfaced as a possible franchise tag candidate — one that appeared on the waiver wire during the 2018 season.

The Bills drafted Ed Oliver at No. 9 overall last year, have promising 2018 third-rounder Harrison Phillips coming back from injury and are set to retain Star Lotulelei for a third season. Nevertheless, teams are expecting the Bills to tag defensive tackle Jordan Phillips, according to CBS Sports’ Jason La Canfora.

That scenario would represent a remarkable rise for the elder of the Bills’ two D-line Phillipses. Buffalo claimed the former second-round pick off waivers from Miami in 2018. A key cog in the Bills’ top-tier pass defense, Jordan Phillips registered 9.5 sacks last season — nearly twice as many as he collected from 2016-18. Phillips also recorded 16 quarterback hits but graded as Pro Football Focus’ No. 103 interior defenders (out of 113 full-time players).

The 6-foot-6, 341-pound defender would collect approximately $16.7MM on a franchise tag in advance of his age-28 season. That would be a significant raise for the part-time starter, who signed a one-year, $4.5MM deal in March 2019 to stay with the Bills.

While the Bills have several notable investments at defensive tackle, they do possess plenty of cap space to afford a tag. Buffalo is projected to hold more than $82MM in space — third-most in the league. Should the Bills tag Phillips, it would give them a deep stable of interior defenders and further illuminate the need for an outside pass rusher. Shaq Lawson is a free agent, and Trent Murphy has not exceeded 10 QB hits in either of his two Bills seasons.

It would still be interesting to see Phillips’ name included with the likes of Chris Jones, Matt Judon or Yannick Ngakoue — all potential tag recipients. Those pass rushers will carry much greater name recognition going into the tag window. Teams can apply tags from Feb. 25-March 10.

AFC Notes: Burrow, Harris, Texans, Raiders

February 15th, 2020 at 3:20pm CST by Sam Robinson

Holding the No. 1 overall pick for the first time since they drafted Carson Palmer 17 years ago, the Bengals have been widely linked to Ohio native Joe Burrow with this selection. While Cincinnati is considering Burrow, Tua Tagovailoa, Justin Herbert and Chase Young at No. 1, the prospect of a Burrow-Bengals partnership not happening would surprise many in the NFL. It has become “quite clear” in the minds of several execs the Bengals will draft Burrow, Matt Miller of Bleacher Report notes. Unless a team comes in with a Ricky Williams-type trade, as one coach relayed to Miller, the Bengals are not expected to get cute with their pick. (The Saints traded their entire 1999 draft, plus first- and third-round picks in 2000 to the Redskins for Williams. The Bengals receiving any offer on this level would be shocking.) With the Bengals set to work with Andy Dalton on a trade, signs continue to point Burrow heading back to Ohio.

Here is the latest from the AFC:

  • The Broncos have a decision to make on Chris Harris. The four-time Pro Bowler will hit free agency for the first time, and a defection would give the Broncos their biggest cornerback need since before they traded for Champ Bailey 16 years ago. Nevertheless, the prospect of Harris seeing a better offer in free agency leads 9News’ Mike Klis to predict the 30-year-old defender will depart after nine seasons in Denver. The Broncos wanted to keep Harris, offering him a $12MM-AAV deal before last year’s trade deadline. However, Klis notes that deal only included one guaranteed season. Harris has long said he wants to retire in Denver but wanted to test free agency after signing a team-friendly extension back in 2014.
  • Despite the Texans releasing Vernon Hargreaves before the vesting of his fifth-year option, it is not out of the question they bring him back, Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle notes. The former Buccaneers first-round pick was set to make $9.59MM in 2020, and the Texans will consider re-signing him at a lower price. That will, however, depend on how Houston fares in free agency and the draft, per Wilson. So this process may take a while. Hargreaves, whom the Texans claimed off waivers late last season, would understandably explore his options elsewhere in the meantime.
  • Linked to Tom Brady, the Raiders also have a major need at wide receiver. This deficiency led Sheil Kapadia of The Athletic to predict the Vikings will send Stefon Diggs to Las Vegas (subscription required). The Raiders guaranteed Tyrell Williams‘ salary but remain on the lookout for receiving help, which will likely be required to entice Brady to leave New England (a scenario Kapadia also includes as one of his bold predictions). Diggs is signed through the 2023 season, and his $14.5MM cap hit will be much tougher for the Vikings to absorb than the Raiders. Still, Minnesota’s top-heavy setup at wide receiver will not make Diggs cheap. At 26, he is three years younger than Adam Thielen, thus raising the price of a prospective trade.
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