2020 February - Pro Football Rumors

Javon Hargrave Hires Drew Rosenhaus

February 15th, 2020 at 12:51pm CST by Ben Levine

Javon Hargrave is preparing for free agency, so the nose tackle hired new representation. The lineman has hired Drew Rosenhaus as his agent, according to the agency on Twitter.

Following a standout career at South Carolina State, the Steelers selected Hargrave in the third round of the 2016 draft. The lineman has spent his entire career with Pittsburgh, missing only a single regular season game. Hargrave built off his breakout 2018 campaign, finishing 2019 with 60 tackles, four sacks, and one forced fumble.

While the Steelers will presumably look to retain their defensive tackle, it may be tough. For starters, the team is already eyeing limited cap space, and the organization will also be looking to retain Bud Dupree. While the team could manipulate some current contracts to open up additional space, they’ll still be restricted.

Plus, the front office previously handed out significant contracts to Stephon Tuitt and Cameron Heyward, so it’s uncertain if they’ll want to invest even more money on the defensive line. Considering Hargrave’s new representation, he probably won’t be taking any kind of discount.

CB Bashaud Breeland Wants To Stay With Chiefs

February 15th, 2020 at 11:50am CST by Ben Levine

Cornerback Bashaud Breeland is showing his hand a bit before hitting free agency. The veteran told SiriusXM NFL Radio that he’s “looking forward to being a part of the” Chiefs organization next year.

“It’s been a great journey for me, man. You know what I mean? I’m just enjoying the journey, you know what I mean? And when free agency hits, it hits,” Breeland said (via Josh Alper of ProFootballTalk.com). “If I’m back in Kansas City, I’m going to life life to the fullest. If I’m not, I’m gonna live it to the fullest. I’ll cross that bridge when I cross it. But at this point in time, I’m looking forward to being a part of the Kansas City Chiefs.”

Breeland’s 2018 campaign was a bit of a mess. After inking a three-year, $24MM contract ($11MM guaranteed) with the Panthers, his contract was voided due to an infected foot. He had to wait until late September of that season until he finally caught on with the Packers, but he was hampered by a hamstring injury throughout his Green Bay tenure.

The 28-year-old had to settle for a one-year deal with the Chiefs last offseason, and he had a bounce-back season in 2019. He appeared in all 16 regular season games (15 starts) for Kansas City, compiling 48 tackles, eight passes defended, and a pair of interceptions. He also came up big during the Chiefs’ Super Bowl win, compiling seven tackles and snagging a pick.

This Date In Transactions History: Roddy White Retires

February 15th, 2020 at 9:55am CST by Ben Levine

Three years ago today, an Atlanta Falcons legend decided to hang up his cleats. We learned on February 15th, 2017 that wideout Roddy White was calling it quits.

Similar to most professional athletes, it didn’t sound like White necessarily went out on his own terms. After having one of the least-productive seasons of his career in 2015 (43 receptions, 506 yards, one touchdown), the receiver struggled to find his next gig. After getting cut by Atlanta, there were rumblings that he’d catch on with the Patriots, but the team ended up opting for Nate Washington (kind of ironically, the Falcons and Pats would meet up in that season’s Super Bowl).

He was approached by the Vikings midway through the 2016 campaign, but the team was out of the playoff picture by the time White was in game shape. The Titans and Buccaneers also expressed interest, but the veteran was content on only signing with a contender. White ultimately sat out for the entire 2016 season, leading to his retirement decision.

White retired having compiled 808 receptions for 10,863 yards and 63 touchdowns. The 2005 first-rounder spent his entire career with the Falcons, making four Pro Bowls and earning a First-Team All-Pro nod in 2010. He also owns a number of franchise records, both for a career (receiving touchdowns, receptions) and for a single game (including most receptions in a playoff game (11)). White was was inducted into the Falcons Ring of Honor this past December.

NFC Notes: Falcons, Quinn, Freeman, 49ers

February 14th, 2020 at 9:22pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

Falcons coach Dan Quinn managed to save his job by rattling off some wins down the stretch last year. If his team has a repeat performance in 2020, he won’t be so lucky. It’s the consensus of just about everyone that Quinn will be fired if Atlanta doesn’t get things turned around next year, and Falcons owner Arthur Blank more or less confirmed as much in recent comments to the media. Blank wouldn’t divulge the exact number of wins he was expecting, but he did say “yep,” when asked if making it back to the postseason was the standard he was setting, via Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com. “I can definitely say that’s right.”

Blank went on to say some nice things about Quinn and the team’s turnaround in the second half of the season, but it’s clear that Quinn will be on a short leash. Just about everyone thought he was a goner before the Falcons finished the year 6-2, so perhaps he’ll pull a rabbit out of his hat once again. The former Seahawks DC fired both of his coordinators after a lackluster 2018 campaign, and it didn’t help much right away. Matt Ryan is already 34 and Julio Jones is 31, so Blank’s impatience makes a lot of sense as he wants to capitalize on the core that took his team to the Super Bowl just a few short seasons ago.

Here’s more from the NFC as we head into the weekend:

We heard earlier this week that Falcons running back Devonta Freeman could be on the chopping block, and Blank certainly didn’t do anything to quash that story. “Well, I love him, too,” Blank said of Freeman in McClure’s same piece. “But this has nothing to do with love. It has to do with building a roster. The salary cap is not unlimited.” That’s not exactly a ringing endorsement, and that doesn’t bode well for Freeman’s chances of sticking on the roster. “Sure, I love what [Freeman] brings to the team. I also know we’ve drafted well and we’ve got some really good backups now today. We’ll see how all that works out,” he continued. Freeman has three years left on the five-year, $41.25MM pact he signed with Atlanta a couple years ago, and he seems increasingly unlikely to be back with the team in 2020. As of right now, it looks like the team will be moving on. The Falcons can save around $3MM against the cap by releasing him, but they’d still be taking a significant dead cap hit by shedding his expected $6.5MM salary.
49ers linebacker Kwon Alexander tore a pec in November, and was expected at the time to miss the remainder of the season. He improbably battled his way back with remarkable speed, and ended up being activated off injured reserve for San Francisco’s playoff run. Not only was Alexander dealing with the pec issue, he also played in the playoffs and the Super Bowl with a significant bicep injury that required surgery, sources told Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (Twitter link). Rapsheet reports that Alexander underwent the procedure on his bicep Friday, and will make a full recovery for the 2020 season. The 49ers signed him to a big contract last offseason, and he’s one of their leaders on defense. This kind of grit shows why. Alexander has been bit by the injury bug recently, as his 2018 season in Tampa was cut short by a torn ACL. Hopefully he can stay healthy this year as San Francisco gears up for another run.

Browns, Joe Schobert To Talk Extension Again

February 14th, 2020 at 8:12pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

It looks like Joe Schobert might be getting an extension offer from the Browns after all. We heard back in November that the two sides had discussed a deal, but then a month later there was a report Cleveland wasn’t interested in extending him and was prepared to let him walk in free agency.

A lot has happened with the franchise since then, including the firings of head coach Freddie Kitchens and GM John Dorsey, and now Schobert returning seems like a real possibility. Andrew Berry is in charge of the front office now, and Schobert said in a recent interview with Sirius XM NFL Radio that he’d already met with the new general manager, via Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal. Berry “said he’d be reaching out and talk to my agent over the course of the next couple weeks,” Schobert revealed.

Interestingly, Schobert confirmed that Dorsey’s firing helped spark hope of an agreement again. “[Berry and I have] communicated since [he’s] been hired, which kind of had broken down, I think, with the previous regime,” he said. The linebacker reiterated that he wants to stay a Brown, but was willing to move on as well. “If both sides can reach an agreement, then that’d be great. I’d love that, but you never know.”

Berry had declined to reveal whether he’d speak with Schobert’s reps at his introductory press conference, but it sounds like he will. As Ulrich points out, Berry was the vice president of player personnel in Cleveland back in 2016 when the Browns drafted Schobert in the fourth-round, and that connection certainly doesn’t hurt. The Wisconsin product has been playing at a high level the past few years, and he made the Pro Bowl in 2017. He started all 16 games this past year, racking up 133 tackles, four interceptions, two sacks, and nine passes defended.

Minor NFL Transactions: 2/14/20

February 14th, 2020 at 6:48pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

We’ll keep track of today’s minor moves here:

Washington Redskins

Released: DB Kenny Ladler, DE Chris Odom

Ladler spent some time with Washington in 2018, and then was signed off the street for Week 17 this past season, playing almost the entire game. Odom was on and off the practice squad and appeared in four games this past year, racking up two sacks.

Cardinals ‘Very Optimistic’ About Re-Signing LT D.J. Humphries

February 14th, 2020 at 5:27pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

The Cardinals weren’t very good this past year, but the first season of the Kliff Kingsbury/Kyler Murray partnership was by all accounts a modest success relative to expectations. They now have a pivotal offseason ahead of them, and it sounds like locking up Murray’s blindside protector is a priority.

Arizona GM Steve Keim said during a recent radio interview with 98.7 FM that he’s “very optimistic” about the team’s chances of bringing back left tackle D.J. Humphries, via Bob McManaman of the Arizona Republic. Keim added that the entire organization is “very confident” that Humphries is “one of the better tackles” in the league. The Cardinals drafted Humphries in the first round back in 2015, and his career got off to a very shaky start.

His rookie season was a disaster, as he couldn’t move past third-string on the depth chart and was inactive for all 16 games. He started his second season at right tackle, starting 13 games. He was the left tackle the following year, but knee issues limited him to only five appearances. In 2018 he started nine games at left tackle before another knee injury ended his season. This past year he finally stayed healthy, starting all 16 contests.

Humphries received solid grades from Pro Football Focus, and the Cards clearly don’t plan on letting him walk. When asked about using the franchise tag on him, Keim indicated he would rather work out an extension. “You always want to tie up your players that you feel good about and you want to come to an agreement moving forward to a longer-term deal than having to use those things,” he said. McManaman thinks that Arizona will have to pay the 26-year-old around $14MM annually.

49ers Release Ethan Westbrooks

February 14th, 2020 at 3:53pm CST by Zachary Links

That was fast. Two days after signing Ethan Westbrooks, the 49ers have released the defensive lineman, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.

It’s not clear why the Niners have reversed course so quickly, but this sort of thing usually happens when players are flagged on their physicals. Soon, we’ll probably hear more on why the NFC champs dropped him.

Westbrooks saw a good amount of playing time for the Rams during his five seasons. In 2017, he saw snaps at multiple DL spots and notched four sacks in 16 games, which included nine starts.

Last year, Westbrooks signed an offseason deal with the Raiders but did not survive final cuts. He didn’t hook on elsewhere after that, leaving him out of football in 2019.

The Niners will turn their attention to more pressing matters on the defensive line, starting with Arik Armstead‘s impending free agency.

Texans Release Vernon Hargreaves

February 14th, 2020 at 3:43pm CST by Zachary Links

The Texans have released cornerback Vernon Hargreaves, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. By cutting the one-time first-round pick, the Texans will avoid paying him $10MM in 2020, his fifth-year option season.

The fifth-year option is guaranteed for injury only, so the Texans will not be left with any dead money on the cap by dropping Hargreaves. The 24-year-old (25 in June) was dropped by the Bucs last year after he clashed with head coach Bruce Arians, but the Texans were largely complimentary of his effort in the second half of the season.

“Vernon came in here, he works very hard,” Texans coach Bill O’Brien said in January (via Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle). “Very hard worker, guy that really showed up to practice every day, learned the system. I don’t think that’s easy to be able to come in, in the middle of a season, and really later than that, and play that nickel position is not easy…So, I give a lot of credit to Vernon. There’s a lot of things that he’s going to work hard to improve upon. We’re going to help them with that, but I think Vernon stepped into a tough situation and really made the best of it.”

With that in mind, it’s possible that the Texans could circle back to Hargreaves at a lesser rate. As a former No. 11 overall pick, there’s still plenty of room for him to grow. Besides, the Texans will need some capable bodies at cornerback.

With the Texans, Hargreaves notched 21 tackles, one tackle for a loss, and two passes defended in six games.

Ravens To Release Tony Jefferson

February 14th, 2020 at 2:17pm CST by Zachary Links

The Ravens will release safety Tony Jefferson, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. Jefferson was set to count for just under $12MM against the cap in 2020. Instead, the Ravens will erase a big chunk of it by cutting him.

After making a name for himself with the Cardinals, Jefferson signed a four-year, $34MM deal with the Ravens in 2017. Since then, he’s started in all of his games for the Ravens over the last three seasons. Last year, he saw his season cut short by an October ACL tear.

The move does not come as a surprise – Jefferson only played in five games last year and he was gone for most of the Ravens’ incredible 12-game win streak. Earlier this month, they extended fellow safety Chuck Clark, adding $15MM+ and three years to his last remaining contract year. Clark and Earl Thomas will start at safety for Baltimore in 2020 while Jefferson moves on to a new team.

After dropping Jefferson, the Ravens will have an additional $7MM as they head into the offseason. They’ll still be on the hook for $4.7MM in dead money, but that’s preferable to paying ~$12MM for a backup.

The Ravens appear poised to contend once again in 2020, but they’ll have some key issues to address this offseason. The to-do list includes the status of Pro Bowl outside linebacker Matt Judon, who could be tagged-and-traded. They’ll also look to extend left tackle Ronnie Stanley, who helped Lamar Jackson capture the MVP trophy.