HEADLINES

Month: September 2024

Browns Rumors: Berry, OBJ, Landry, Van Pelt

February 9th, 2020 at 2:00pm CST by Marc Delucchi

The Browns dominated last year’s NFL offseason storylines. After their strong finish to the 2018 season, lead executive John Dorsey made a number of aggressive moves, highlighted by the acquisition of Odell Beckham Jr. However, while that momentum led them to be a pundit favorite to win their division and potentially reach the Super Bowl, those predictions never came close to fruition. They finished the season 6-10 and moved on from Dorsey and rookie head coach Freddie Kitchens.

New general manager Andrew Berry though, seemed to suggest he will at least follow Dorsey in his willingness to make bold moves. In her weekly mailbag, Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com noted that Berry was clear in his introductory press conference that he was looking to be aggressive and would not shy away from big moves.

Here are more notes from around the Browns organization:

  • Jay Glazer of The Athletic does not expect Cleveland to make any moves to unload either Beckham or Jarvis Landry this offseason. Glazer noted that new head coach Kevin Stefanski would likely want as many offensive weapons as possible given his focus on offense. Glazer did note that both Beckham and Landry have to be invested in Stefanski for that to work. He could still see a trade occurring if they are unwilling to buy-in.
  • Cleveland has yet to announce if there will be a quarterbacks coach on Stefanski’s staff. In a separate part of her mailbag, Mary Kay Cabot suggested there is a pretty good chance that offensive coordinator Alex Van Pelt will serve the dual role as coordinator and QB coach considering his lengthy experience at that position.

Shaq Barrett Willing To Give Bucs Hometown Discount?

February 9th, 2020 at 12:43pm CST by Rory Parks

If he were to hit the open market, Buccaneers pass rusher Shaq Barrett would be one of the most sought-after players in the league. However, Tampa head coach Bruce Arians recently indicated the team would not let Barrett get away, and Barrett himself expressed his desire to remain with the Bucs.

In fact, Barrett may be willing to give Tampa a hometown discount in order to facilitate a deal. In a recent interview with SiriusXM Mad Dog Radio (via Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk), Barrett said, “If [other teams] offer me more than Tampa…I’m going to look at what their taxes is compared to Tampa’s. Because I ain’t going to live in L.A. and get taxed crazy. I’m not going to take drastically less but I am open to doing what I think is best for my career, and I think that would be staying in Tampa.”

Barrett understandably likes the fact that Florida does not have a state income tax, and he talked about how much he dislikes moving, which could also play a role in his decision. And though the Bucs have enough cap space to accommodate him while addressing other areas of need, they surely wouldn’t complain if Barrett gives them a discount.

Obviously, Tampa would like to get something done before other teams get a chance to whisper sweet nothings in Barrett’s ear. His 2019 effort with the Bucs was a stunning improvement over his output during his five years in Denver, but he did show enough flashes with the Broncos to suggest that his performance last season was not a fluke, so he stands to get paid like a premium pass rusher.

Last season, which culminated with Barrett’s first Pro Bowl bid, the 27-year-old posted a league-leading 19.5 sacks to go along with an interception and six forced fumbles.

East Notes: Rivers, Jets, Ogletree

February 9th, 2020 at 11:57am CST by Rory Parks

The Patriots drafted edge rusher Derek Rivers in the third round of the 2017 draft, but the Youngstown State product has played in just six regular season games over his first three years in the pros. His entire rookie campaign was wiped out due to a torn ACL, he had a limited workload in 2018, and he sustained a knee injury during a preseason game in August that landed him on IR for all of 2019.

But as Mike Reiss of ESPN.com writes, Rivers still features heavily in New England’s plans. Reiss says Rivers remains a constant presence at the team’s facility, and if the team cannot retain free agent Kyle Van Noy — which is quite possible, given the amount of cap space that will need to be devoted to the offensive side of the ball, including the quarterback position — Rivers will need to step up.

Now for more from the league’s east divisions:

  • Ralph Vacchiano of SNY.tv takes a look at a few Jets who could be cap casualties this offseason. Most of them — like CB Trumaine Johnson, whom we recently discussed as a release candidate — are obvious choices, but players like Jonotthan Harrison and Avery Williamson are more difficult calls. Vacchiano believes the club would be wise to retain Harrison at least as a depth option, and he suggests Williamson could be back on a reworked contract.
  • In a separate piece, Vacchiano names a few players the Jets should target in free agency, assuming their current teams don’t retain them. Unsurprisingly, he believes Gang Green should target the top of the O-line (Brandon Scherff, Jack Conklin) and WR (Amari Cooper, Emmanuel Sanders) markets.
  • Vacchiano undergoes the same exercises for the Giants that he did for the Jets. For Big Blue, he names LB Alec Ogletree as the most likely player to be cut on his list of seven names, and he also believes Conklin would be a perfect fit for the G-Men.
  • Sheil Kapadia of The Athletic summarizes the changes to the coaching staff that the Eagles recently made official. We had previously passed along most of those names, though Kapadia’s list also includes Andrew Breiner (hired as pass game analyst) and Dino Vasso (promoted to assistant defensive coordinator). He also offers his take on the changes, including his observation that the offensive staff now includes coaches who have very different schematic backgrounds, which suggests that Philadelphia will try to incorporate a wide variety of looks in 2020.

49ers’ Dee Ford Will Not Need Surgery

February 9th, 2020 at 10:59am CST by Rory Parks

The 49ers acquired edge rusher Dee Ford from the Chiefs last offseason via tag-and-trade and then signed him to a five-year, $85MM contract. When healthy, Ford played reasonably well in 2019, but injuries limited him during his first season in the Bay Area.

The 28-year-old (29 in March) dealt with knee, quad, and hamstring injuries throughout the year, and he ultimately played in just 11 regular season contests. Even when he did suit up, San Francisco sometimes kept him on a pitch count, and he ultimately played in just 22% of the team’s defensive snaps.

Luckily, the 49ers had a great deal of depth along their defensive front, so they could withstand Ford’s absence. But the team doesn’t have a ton of cap space and needs to address the contract situations of defensive linemen DeForest Buckner and Arik Armstead, as well as tight end George Kittle. Armstead is reportedly open to playing out the 2020 season under the franchise tag, but San Francisco may need to cut ties with him, and if that happens, Ford will become much more important to the club’s pass rush.

And despite the list of ailments that Ford suffered through, he is not expected to need surgery this offseason, according to GM John Lynch (via Chris Biderman of the Sacramento Bee). “Not as we know right now,” Lynch said. “We’ll have those conversations. But, I think Dee is in good health right now.” 

That could go a long way towards helping Lynch sort out his offseason priorities. If he can reasonably rely on a healthy offseason from Ford, that may allow him to save money on Armstead while addressing arguably more important free agents, like WR Emmanuel Sanders.

Poll: Who Will Tom Brady Play For In 2020?

February 9th, 2020 at 10:05am CST by Rory Parks

As expected, Tom Brady‘s name has become a mainstay in NFL headlines as we creep closer to the opening of free agency in March. Even as the 2019 season was in progress, his future in the league was often discussed, and several teams were rumored as potential landing spots if he should continue his playing career and elect to leave the Patriots.

And while Brady put an end to any retirement drama immediately after New England’s ouster from the playoffs by saying he would return to the field in 2020, the question of where he will play is still very much unsettled.

The Chargers, long rumored as a possible fit, were definitively linked to Brady just last week, when Ian Rapoport of NFL.com confirmed that the Bolts would make a push for the six-time Super Bowl champ. Given the talent that LA boasts at the skill positions and the fact that the club could incorporate Brady’s TB12 workout facility into its brand new stadium — not to mention Brady’s connections to SoCal — a Chargers-Brady partnership is a logical one.

But LA’s division rival, the Raiders, are also planning to pursue the future Hall of Famer. Adding Brady at this point in his career would not necessarily represent a slam-dunk upgrade over Derek Carr, but it would make a ton of sense from a marketing perspective for the Las Vegas-bound outfit and for Brady, and if the Raiders improve their receiving corps — which they are fully expected to do — they could compete for a wildcard berth in 2020.

The Colts and Titans have been more speculative fits than anything else, but the Colts hung around the playoff picture for much of the 2019 season, the AFC South looks like it will be up for grabs again in 2020, and Brady could be the boost that gets Indianapolis back to the postseason. The Colts are also flush with cap space, so they could afford to sign Brady while also providing him with a couple of additional weapons, though they already have a few talented pieces at the skill positions.

Of course, the Titans were the team that ended the Patriots’ 2019 playoff run, and they advanced to the AFC Championship game behind a dominant running game and good defense. Ryan Tannehill was more of a game manager in the playoffs than he was in his regular season renaissance, and recent reports have suggested that Tennessee may not be as committed to him as was once believed. If Brady is interested, the Titans may be, too.

And then there’s the Patriots, who became one of the all-time great dynasties in sports with Brady under center. Owner Robert Kraft has made it clear that he wants Brady back, but some around the league believe the 42-year-old will leave Foxborough, leaving the Pats without a definitive answer at QB for the first time in 20 years.

So what do you think? Will Brady remain with the only team he has ever known, or will he play out the remainder of his career trying to bring glory to another franchise? Vote in the poll below and show your work in the comments.

Latest On 49ers WR Trent Taylor

February 9th, 2020 at 8:58am CST by Rory Parks

Despite Deebo Samuel‘s strong rookie season and the acquisition of veteran Emmanuel Sanders at the trade deadline, the 49ers have some question marks at wide receiver heading into next season. For instance, Sanders is ticketed for free agency, and while San Francisco will surely attempt to re-sign him, the club does have other key players with contract issues that need to be resolved and not a ton of cap space.

Plus, 2018 second-rounder Dante Pettis has failed to impress in his first two seasons in the league, 2019 third-rounder Jalen Hurd spent his entire rookie campaign on IR, and Marquise Goodwin will almost certainly be cut. So, in short, there is still an opportunity for Trent Taylor to have an impact on the team moving forward.

The Niners selected Taylor in the fifth round of the 2017 draft, HC Kyle Shanahan‘s and GM John Lynch‘s first in San Francisco. He showed promise as a receiver and as a punt returner in his rookie season, but he underwent back surgery prior to the 2018 campaign and said he never felt fully healthy that year.

He then missed all of 2019 due to a broken foot, so he is entering a critical moment in his career. He obviously needs to prove he can stay healthy and prove he can perform on the field, and that is especially important given that he will be eligible for unrestricted free agency in 2021.

Last week, Taylor underwent five different procedures on his foot, per Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com (Twitter link). He is currently in a walking boot, and while he is expected to be out of the boot soon, there is no set timetable on his return. At this point, we don’t know if he will be fully recovered in time for offseason workouts.

As such, the Niners can’t afford to rely on Taylor in 2020. If he should perform well, that will be an added bonus, but the team needs to retain Sanders and may add a receiver or two in a WR-rich draft.

Extra Points: Redskins, Agholor, Spagnuolo

February 8th, 2020 at 9:49pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

The Redskins and Ron Rivera are making a historic hire. Washington is hiring Jennifer King as an offensive assistant, a source told Adam Schefter and David Newton of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The news of the potential hire was first reported by Rhiannon Walker of The Athletic (Twitter link). King will now be the first full-time African American female assistant coach. As Schefter points out there’s some familiarity here, as Rivera had hired King as a summer intern when he was with the Panthers. It furthers a trend we’ve seen developing the past couple of years, as women continue to make more inroads into the coaching ranks. Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians has been a champion of female coaches, and he hired two women to full-time coaching positions on his staff before last season. King also coached with the Arizona Hotshots of the short-lived AAF.

Here’s more from around the league:

  • The Eagles fired offensive coordinator Mike Groh after the season ended, and it looks like they could be headed for a lot of turnover on that side of the ball. Receiver Nelson Agholor is “unlikely to return” next year, writes Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer. A first-round pick back in 2015, Agholor just finished the fifth-year option on his rookie contract, and is slated for unrestricted free agency. He missed the last month-plus of the 2019 campaign, but was pretty much always a full-time starter for Philly when healthy. He struggled with inconsistency and drops, but also had plenty of good moments with the Eagles. He scored eight touchdowns in 2017, and had at least 736 yards in each of his last two full seasons. Despite the sometimes maddening inconsistency, the 26-year-old USC product should draw plenty of interest on the open market.
  • Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo just won another Super Bowl, and he earned a ton of praise for his work with Kansas City’s defense. The unit made major strides from last season after he took over, and it sounds like he hopes to parlay the success into another shot at a head coaching gig. “Oh, certainly,” Spagnuolo told Zach Gelb of CBS Sports Radio when asked if he’d be interested in being a head coach again, via Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com. “Listen, that desire and passion never changes. But I will say this . . . I’m a blessed man to have the job I have. If it’s not in God’s plans, I’m OK with that. But I’ve always kept preparing myself that way. It would be great if it happened, and if not, again, I’m very fortunate to be where I am.” The thought would’ve seemed like a huge reach a year ago, but Spags bounced back in a big way. He first rose to prominence as the Giants’ defensive coordinator, and his success in New York led to him becoming head coach of the Rams. He was fired after going 10-38 in three years as St. Louis’ head coach. He also served as New York’s interim coach for four games in 2017 after Ben McAdoo was fired.

Colts Make Staffing Additions

February 8th, 2020 at 8:20pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

The Colts are just about finished rounding out their coaching staff for 2020. We heard earlier this week that they had hired former Eagles OC Mike Groh to be their new receivers coach, and now we have a few new additions to pass along. They’ve hired Brian Baker as defensive line coach and Tyler Boyles as assistant to the head coach, with Parks Frazier being promoted to offensive quality control coach.

They also named Kevin Patullo as their pass game specialist. Patullo had previously been receivers coach, but was reassigned when Groh was hired. Baker is a longtime veteran of the coaching game with 36 years in the business under his belt. Most recently, he served as an associate head coach and defensive line coach at Alabama last year. He spent 19 years as an assistant in the NFL from 1996-2014. Boyles is more of a fresh face who spent the past handful of years at Middle Tennessee State. This will be his first NFL experience.

Frazier had previously served as assistant to the head coach, the role Boyles was just hired for. He came from the college ranks as well, and interestingly also had a stint at Middle Tennessee in 2015. Overall Indy is retaining both of their coordinators, and Frank Reich has had very little turnover on his staff since taking over.

NFC East Notes: Redskins, Haskins, Giants

February 8th, 2020 at 6:58pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

New Redskins coach Ron Rivera has insisted he wants to have a quarterback competition, and that nothing will be handed to second-year incumbent Dwayne Haskins. Haskins doesn’t have any problem with that, and he said as much to reporters during a recent community event. “That’s cool,” Haskins said of Rivera’s remarks, via Peter Hailey of NBC Sports. “I’m just going to have to work hard and eventually take it over. Just do your best to be accountable for what you have to do and be ready to go.” That’s obviously the type of attitude that his new coaching staff will like to hear.

Rivera specifically shouted out Alex Smith recently and indicated he could even be back with the team in 2020, although that still seems pretty unlikely. By all accounts, Haskins will almost certainly be under center for the Redskins in Week 1 even though the staff plans to make him earn it. Haskins took over for Case Keenum midway through last season, and was up and down like most rookies. The Ohio State product struggled early on, but started to play a lot better in his last couple of games.

Here’s more from the NFC East:

  • The Giants traded for Leonard Williams at the deadline even though they weren’t headed to the playoffs and he was set to be a free agent, putting a lot of pressure on them to extend him. To that end, the team is “intent” on re-signing him this offseason, according to Ralph Vacchiano of SNY. However, he isn’t going to come cheaply. Vacchiano thinks the defensive lineman will be seeking a contract worth around $15MM annually. The sixth overall pick back in 2015, Williams has always been high on talent but a bit underwhelming on the field. He made the Pro Bowl in 2016, but has been more up and down since then. Still only 25, he should still be entering the prime of his career. New York gave up third and fifth round picks for him.
  • Speaking of the Giants, new head coach Joe Judge put together an interesting inaugural staff with some notable hires. Speaking recently, Judge dished on his thought process when bringing his staff together, via Paul Schwartz of the New York Post. “To me, it’s a big trust factor with the guys I have on the staff,’’ Judge said. “I have a personal relationship with a lot of these guys, professional relationships with nearly all of them.” There are a number of high profile coaches on the staff, including recently fired Browns and Cowboys head coaches Freddie Kitchens and Jason Garrett. Despite that, the rookie head coach insisted that he didn’t hire them because of their experience leading teams. “I didn’t set out to hire anyone with former head coaching experience,’’ Judge said. “That ended up being a plus of what different guys brought to their area.” On Kitchens specifically he said “what I love about Freddie is he brings an element of toughness and discipline to his room. He brings outside-the-box thinking a lot of times to how he approaches the game from a game-plan perspective.’’

Latest On Tom Brady, Patriots

February 8th, 2020 at 4:58pm CST by Sam Robinson

Tom Brady‘s free agency decision is set to overshadow the rest of this year’s market. And with the Chargers and Raiders already linked to pursuing the future Hall of Fame passer, the Patriots’ offseason will be quite complicated.

A report surfaced recently indicating the Pats are prepared to give Brady a contract that pays him at least $30MM per season, which would put the 42-year-old quarterback near his top peers after several years of accepting team-friendly discounts. That report proved to be an annoyance to the Patriots, per NBC Sports Tom Curran, who adds the team has not delved into financial specifics just yet.

While it would still be somewhat surprising to see Brady part ways with Bill Belichick after the partnership produced six Super Bowl titles, some NFL insiders expect that to happen. Some around the league believe Brady departing is “all but a done deal,” Mike Jones of USA Today reports. Others within league circles expect the Pats to retain him, due to their lack of a successor in place and Robert Kraft‘s desire to see Brady stay.

Kraft has made his intentions clear; Belichick has not. The 21st-year Patriots coach, however, will not be forced to keep Brady, Curran adds. Although Kraft denied he pushed Belichick to trade Jimmy Garoppolo in 2017, a report indicated that happened. So the Kraft-Belichick dynamic will naturally be interesting as Brady prepares to be a first-time free agent.

Brady is expected to gauge the market, which will place the Pats in a bind. If they cannot extend Brady by March 17 — the final day of the 2019 league year — they will be tagged with $13.5MM in dead-money charges in 2020. If Brady re-signs, the Pats can spread that cap hit — created by the Patriots’ usage of void years to redo Brady’s deal last summer — across two seasons. Brady sought a multiyear commitment from the Patriots last year but did not receive it. The Patriots’ level of commitment may be more important to Brady than money, per Curran.

The Pats going into free agency with that dead-money hit and without an answer from Brady, however, will make improving their team more difficult. In an offseason that could feature more quarterback movement than usual, the Patriots would surely be in the market for a veteran passer to replace Brady. But not knowing if they’ll need to do so would tie the Pats’ hands.

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