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Month: January 2025

Tua Tagovailoa Undergoes Medical Re-Check

April 2nd, 2020 at 1:57pm CST by Zachary Links

Earlier today, Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa underwent a voluntary medical re-check facilitated by the league office and an independent doctor. The results were “overwhelmingly positive,” according to NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo (on Twitter).

[RELATED: Latest On NFL Draft]

All 32 of the NFL’s team doctors and trainers were allowed to provide input on what exams they wanted to see conducted and those suggestions were blended to create a comprehensive exam for Tagovailoa, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. Now that the results have been shared every team in the league, Tua’s reps say that the QB has tackled all of his medical obligations.

Many see the Dolphins at No. 5 overall as Tagovailoa’s floor. If he slips past the ‘Fins, he probably won’t fall too much further, especially after today’s thumbs-up medical.

Before Tagovailoa’s devastating hip injury and subsequent surgery, he was widely regarded as the most promising QB in the 2020 class. He’s no longer in the mix for the No. 1 overall pick – that mantle almost certainly belongs to LSU’s Joe Burrow – but his future remains bright.

“He’s moving really, really well,” Chris Cabott, co-agent to the QB, said recently. “To this point, we don’t have any medical concerns. Obviously in any given situation, it’s a day-by-day situation, but his road to return has not been interrupted.” 

Meanwhile, theTagovailoa has remained focus on the road to recovery.

“My main goal is not to win the 40, not to win the bench press, but to win my medical,” Tagovailoa said earlier this year. “I’m going to go over there looking to win my medical and then go in and interview with the teams. That’s pretty much what I’m going to do. And then hopefully there’s a pro day down the line, either late March or early April.”

Giants Unlikely To Re-Sign Markus Golden

April 2nd, 2020 at 1:39pm CST by Zachary Links

There probably won’t be a reunion for the Giants and Markus Golden. The linebacker’s asking price has scared away the incumbent G-Men – and other pass rushing clubs – leaving him in no-man’s land in the latter stages of free agency, ESPN.com’s Jordan Raanan hears. 

After notching ten sacks in 2019, Golden expected lavish offers in free agency. However, sounds like he’ll have to temper his expectations before finding a home.

“[He’s asking for] too much money,” sources have told Raanan.

Golden showed that he’s back in full force with a performances reminiscent of his best days in Arizona, before the serious knee injury in 2017. He placed sixth in the league in quarterback hits (27) and placed in the top 15 with 13 tackles for a loss. A deeper look, however, reveals some warts – ranked just 73rd among edge rushers with 26 total pressures, an indication that his sack total may have been something of a fluke.

In the last few weeks, the Giants have signed outside linebacker Kyler Fackrell and it doesn’t sound like they’re looking to make any sort of edge rush splash beyond that. Jadeveon Clowney, who also overestimated his market, is not on the Giants’ radar either, according to Raanan. Instead, they’re likely to focus on cheaper options like Cameron Wake, Jabaal Sheard, and Vinny Curry.

Saints To Re-Sign CB P.J. Williams

April 2nd, 2020 at 12:24pm CST by Rory Parks

The Saints have agreed to re-sign cornerback P.J. Williams, per Nick Underhill of NewOrleans.Football. It will be a one-year deal for the Florida State product, as Underhill tweets. Ian Rapoport of NFL.com adds that Williams will earn a fully-guaranteed $2MM (Twitter link).

Though he was once considered a first-round talent, Williams slipped to the third round of the 2015 draft, perhaps due to a DUI arrest shortly before that draft. He was arrested for DUI again in January 2019, which led to a two-game suspension last season. But on the field, Williams has finally found his niche as a slot corner.

He has never been a darling of the advanced metrics, but he has continued to play a critical role in the Saints’ secondary. His work as a nickel back certainly passes the eye test, even if sites like Pro Football Focus don’t love him, and he also brings valuable positional versatility.

As Underhill points out, the Saints have very little boundary CB depth behind Janoris Jenkins and Marshon Lattimore, and while Williams won’t win any awards for his work outside the numbers, he represents a marked improvement over players like Patrick Robinson in that regard. And even though New Orleans certainly hopes Williams won’t need to play a ton of snaps at safety in 2020, he performed very well at that position last year as an injury replacement.

Williams, who is particularly effective as a tackler and against the run, has four interceptions and 24 passes defensed in his career.

Lions To Sign CB Darryl Roberts

April 2nd, 2020 at 11:51am CST by Rory Parks

The Lions and veteran cornerback Darryl Roberts are in agreement on a one-year contract, per Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network (Twitter link). Roberts was released by the Jets last week.

After trading Darius Slay to the Eagles, Detroit was in need of an experienced boundary corner. Although the club did sign Desmond Trufant, the second option on the depth chart before the Roberts signing was slot man Justin Coleman.

The Lions have been linked to Ohio State CB Jeff Okudah, one of the most talented defenders in this year’s draft, and adding Roberts will certainly not preclude Detroit from selecting Okudah, who is said to be very high on the team’s draft board. On the other hand, the Lions do have a number of holes to fill and they already own four of the first 85 picks in the draft, so they may now be more amenable to trading down from the No. 3 pick to further stock up on draft capital while still giving themselves the opportunity to draft a player like Derrick Brown.

Roberts, 29, is not one of the league’s best corners, but he does have 56 appearances and 26 career starts to his credit, including back-to-back 10-start seasons in 2018-19. The former seventh-round pick inked a three-year, $18MM deal with the Jets in March 2019, but he graded out as an average-at-best player, per Pro Football Focus’ advanced metrics. So the Jets’ new regime dropped him in order to save $6MM against the books.

In his four years of regular season action, Roberts has accumulated 172 tackles to go along with three interceptions and 27 passes defensed.

Derrick Henry Signs Franchise Tender

April 2nd, 2020 at 11:35am CST by Rory Parks

Titans running back Derrick Henry has signed his franchise tender, as Dianna Russini of ESPN.com reports (via Twitter). If he plays out the 2020 season under the tender, he would earn $10.2MM while counting for an equivalent charge against Tennessee’s salary cap.

However, we heard yesterday that the Titans want to complete a long-term extension with the 2019 rushing champion in advance of the July 15 deadline, and Adam Schefter of ESPN.com confirms that is still the case (Twitter link). Henry, understandably, is just as committed to getting a deal done as Tennessee is.

Of course, running back negotiations have been rife with complications in recent years, and the performances that players like Todd Gurley, David Johnson, and Le’Veon Bell turned in after signing their own big-money deals could make a team like the Titans hesitant to commit to a lucrative multi-year pact for an RB. On the other hand, Gurley and Johnson have dealt with serious injury issues, and Bell saw a ton of touches with Pittsburgh before holding out an entire season. Ezekiel Elliott, despite having a lot of miles on his odometer, performed at a Pro Bowl level in 2019 after signing his new contract, which currently leads all RB deals with a $15MM AAV.

Henry, on the other hand, was used relatively sparingly in his first three years in the league before being unleashed on opposing teams in 2019. The Titans rode the bruising Alabama product to a berth in the AFC Championship Game last season, and if the club makes another deep postseason run in 2020, Henry will almost certainly be a big reason why. He piled up 1,540 rushing yards and 16 TDs on the ground in 2019, to go along with another 206 yards and two TDs through the air. Though the Chiefs managed to contain him for the most part in the AFCCG, he made a mockery of the Patriots’ and Ravens’ highly-touted defenses in the prior two playoff contests.

He will likely top Elliott’s $15MM annual payout and Elliott’s $28MM in full guarantees. But luckily for Tennessee, Henry cannot now stage a training camp holdout.

NFC North Notes: Lions, Okudah, Foles

April 2nd, 2020 at 11:06am CST by Rory Parks

The Lions will have a major impact on how the quarterback dominoes fall in this year’s draft. Although they are unlikely to select a rookie signal-caller themselves with the No. 3 overall pick, they have long been rumored as a team that could trade down with another club that has a bigger QB need. And if standout Ohio State pass rusher Chase Young is off the board by the time Detroit is on the clock, Albert Breer of SI.com says the Lions will indeed be open for business, as they could move down to the No. 5 or No. 6 pick and still pick up an elite defender like Jeff Okudah, Isaiah Simmons, or Derrick Brown.

However, both Breer and Justin Rogers of the Detroit News believe the Lions’ preference among the non-Young defenders is Okudah, who may be gone if Detroit trades back, and Rogers does not see an immediate fit for Simmons in the club’s defense. So unless the Lions are blown away by an offer, they could stand pat and select one of Young or Okudah.

Now for more from the NFC North:

  • New Bears quarterback Nick Foles restructured his contract after being traded to Chicago from Jacksonville, and Ian Rapoport of NFL.com passes along a few more details on the restructure (Twitter link). Foles will earn $8MM in base salary over each of the three remaining years on his contract for a total of $24MM in salary, $21MM of which is guaranteed. Each of those three seasons also comes with an additional $6MM in available incentives, and for every dollar of incentives that Foles earns, his base salary for the following year increases (so if he earns $3MM of incentives in 2020, his salary in 2021 will increase from $8MM to $11MM).
  • As we heard previously, Foles will have the opportunity to void the 2021 or 2022 seasons if he meets certain performance thresholds, so as Rapoport notes in a separate tweet, the former Super Bowl MVP has landed jelly-side up despite a disappointing 2019 season with the Jags. He was paid $30MM for his one year in Jacksonville, keeps the guaranteed money from his Jaguars contract, and has the opportunity to hit free agency as soon as next year if he performs well with the Bears.
  • The Vikings have managed to carve out some salary cap space for themselves this offseason, and after setting aside the funds necessary to sign their 2020 draft class, they have about $8.4MM of space still available, per Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press (via Twitter). Tomasson says that the team is continuing to look at veteran cornerbacks, which makes sense given the mass CB exodus that Minnesota witnessed last month. Dre Kirkpatrick and Logan Ryan are among the top corners still available.
  • Tomasson adds that the Vikings are still looking into a Dalvin Cook extension, which echoes his report from several weeks ago.

Seahawks Waive S Tedric Thompson

April 2nd, 2020 at 10:17am CST by Andrew Ortenberg

Apr. 2: Contrary to the earlier report suggesting that Thompson had fully recovered from his torn labrum, Brady Henderson of ESPN.com says that the 25-year-old was waived with a failed-physical designation (Twitter link). Thompson has cleared waivers and is now free to sign with any team, but given his uncertain health status and the restrictive policies currently governing free agent physicals, he may not find a new home for a while.

Mar. 31: Tedric Thompson‘s time with the Seahawks is coming to an end. Seattle will waive the safety, according to Josina Anderson of ESPN.com (Twitter link).

We heard a couple of weeks ago that Thompson had been given permission to seek a trade, but obviously they weren’t able to find any takers. Thompson had been set to earn $2.3MM in 2020, and the Seahawks will save $2.1MM by cutting him. Thompson only appeared in six games last season because of a torn labrum, and a source tells Anderson that Thompson is now fully healthy. Before going down he had started all six games and had two interceptions, but received poor marks from Pro Football Focus.

Seattle drafted Thompson in the fourth-round out of Colorado back in 2017 and after playing sparingly as a rookie, he started ten games in 2018. The Seahawks’ defense was a bit of a disappointment last season, and Thompson was made especially expendable by their trade for safety Quandre Diggs last fall.

Thompson is still only 25, and with his recent starting experience he should be scooped up pretty quickly by another team. Seattle will roll with Diggs and Bradley McDougald as their starting safeties, and are hoping their recent trade for Quinton Dunbar will help bolster the secondary.

Latest On Chargers’ Mike Pouncey, QB Situation

April 2nd, 2020 at 9:50am CST by Rory Parks

Chargers head coach Anthony Lynn spoke at length with reporters yesterday, and two of the most significant topics he covered were the team’s quarterback situation and center Mike Pouncey‘s status.

Pouncey, who spent the first seven years of his career with the Dolphins, was released by Miami in March 2018 and quickly caught on with the Chargers. The pickup proved to be a savvy one for the Bolts, as Pouncey rewarded the team with a Pro Bowl performance and agreed to a one-year extension prior to the 2019 campaign that kept him under club control through 2020.

Unfortunately, the 2019 season did not go as planned for Pouncey or the Chargers. Pouncey landed on IR with a neck injury that required surgery, and as Lynn observed, the 30-year-old pivot has not yet been cleared for football activities (Twitter link via Jeff Miller of the Los Angeles Times). However, Lynn does expect Pouncey to be cleared by the time players reconvene — whenever that is — and he suggested that he is comfortable with the club’s other options in the event Pouncey is not ready to go. Dan Feeney, currently penciled in at left guard, and 2018 fifth-rounder Scott Quessenberry combined to fill the void left by Pouncey, but neither player performed particularly well in that role.

As for the team’s QB situation, Lynn confirmed that Tyrod Taylor is the team’s starter for now, as Lindsey Thiry of ESPN.com writes. That is not at all surprising given that the only other signal-caller currently on the roster is 2019 fifth-rounder Easton Stick, but Lynn did create a little intrigue. Per Thiry, Lynn was asked specifically about the Chargers’ interest in Cam Newton, and after initially avoiding a similar question, Lynn said, “[w]e’re looking at everybody. I want to turn over every single rock, so yeah, we’re looking at everybody.”

More likely than not, that statement is basic coach-speak. After all, we heard just a couple of weeks ago that the Chargers have no intention of acquiring another veteran QB to compete with Taylor, and it seems more plausible that the club will select a QB with the No. 6 overall pick and roll into the 2020 season with Taylor and the rookie passer at the top of the depth chart. On the other hand, Los Angeles is built to win now, and its offseason moves were clearly made with an eye towards competing in 2020. If healthy, Newton is a dramatic upgrade over Taylor — whose release would free up $5MM of cap space — so it stands to reason that Lynn would at least consider that option.

Details On Xavier Rhodes’ Deal With Colts

April 2nd, 2020 at 8:42am CST by Zachary Links

Late last month, the Colts agreed to sign former Vikings cornerback Xavier Rhodes to a one-year deal. At the time, it was reported that he’d earn somewhere around $5MM. On Thursday, we learned that it’s not quite that lucrative. 

Rhodes ‘s deal has a base value of $3MM including a $1MM signing bonus, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets. Outside of the signing bonus, the deal has no other guarantees, though he can add an extra $250K if he hits certain incentive milestones.

The Vikings dropped Rhodes midway through March, terminating his five-year, $70MM+ deal with three seasons to go. The new contract represents a serious pay cut for the former first-round pick – his average annual value has dropped by $11MM and he’ll have to play up to par in Indy in order to keep his value strong moving forward.

Rhodes, 30 this summer, had a rough 2019 in Minnesota. The 2016 and 2017 Pro Bowler looked like a shell of his former self – he notched five interceptions in ’16; he offered Swiss cheese D last year, as evidenced by his 127.8 passer rating.

The Vikings reportedly tried to re-sign Rhodes, but his Colts contract indicates that it probably wasn’t a very strong offer. Or, perhaps, the Vikes made him a similar pitch, but he wanted a change of scenery. Either way, the Vikings are now down three former first-round corners after watching Rhodes, Trae Waynes, and Mackensie Alexander switch conferences.

Now with the Colts, Rhodes will try to fill the void left by the Pierre Desir release along with slot specialist Kenny Moore and Rock Ya-Sin.

AFC South Notes: Colts, Ngakoue, Titans

April 1st, 2020 at 9:29pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Colts clearly made a quarterback upgrade a top priority this offseason. In addition to the research done on Philip Rivers and Tom Brady, and a Nick Foles trade inquiry with a division rival, the Colts looked into Andy Dalton. The Colts discussed Dalton with the Bengals, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets (video link). It is not clear how far the discussions progressed, but Rapoport suggests Dalton would have needed to agree to reduce his 2020 salary. The veteran quarterback is set to make $17.5MM in base salary. The Colts viewed Rivers as a better option than Foles, Rapoport adds, and may well have felt the same about the prospect of giving up assets for Dalton as opposed to paying Rivers $25MM.

Here is the latest from the AFC South:

  • Yannick Ngakoue still wants out of Jacksonville. The franchise-tagged defensive end insists he wants a trade from the Jaguars because of issues with the franchise that do not involve money, the disgruntled defensive end tweets. The Jaguars fired executive VP Tom Coughlin late last season. Grievances came the Jags’ way due largely to Coughlin’s actions, and Jalen Ramsey expressed issues with the since-dismissed exec. Ngakoue still harboring ill will toward the franchise suggests he took issue with Jaguars staffers beyond Coughlin. Ngakoue left Jags OTAs last year, skipped minicamp and broke off extension talks with the organization. The Jags were believed to have taken the unusual step of offering Ngakoue a short-term deal. It appears he will be traded this offseason.
  • Logan Ryan remains a free agent, but it does not seem the door is closed on the veteran cornerback returning to Tennessee. The Titans have maintained talks with Ryan’s representation, Tennessee GM Jon Robinson said Wednesday. The last we heard on Ryan, the longtime starter was holding out hope for a $10MM-per-year offer. That being nearly two weeks ago points to Ryan maybe needing to settle for less.
  • Robinson expressed similar strategies regarding his team’s backup quarterback and backup running back situations. The Titans are not satisfied with these spots, though they are not ruling out respective promotions for Logan Woodside and Dalyn Dawkins. However, Robinson said the team will keep monitoring the free agent market and look in the draft for potential upgrades. The Titans released Dion Lewis, their complementary back of the past two years, and predictably let Marcus Mariota walk in free agency.
  • The Titans also will hold a kicking competition. They signed Greg Joseph off the Panthers’ practice squad last year and moved on from Ryan Succop this offseason, but Robinson adds that the team will bring in another kicker to vie for the job with Joseph. Tennessee kickers made a stunning eight field goals last season, going 8-for-18 on the season.
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