2020 May - Pro Football Rumors

LeSean McCoy “Could See” Himself With Eagles

May 13th, 2020 at 2:24pm CST by Zachary Links

This week, we learned that the Eagles are interested in Carlos Hyde. Could their search for a veteran running back lead them to old friend LeSean McCoy instead?

“I could see that,” McCoy told the NFL Network on Wednesday (h/t Reuben Frank of NBC Sports Philadelphia). “On another note, since I left, you haven’t seen the [No.] 25 active in green, so you never know. I’m going to keep my options open, though. I could see myself there in Philly. Like I said, that’s home, so you never know.”

Shady spent his first four seasons with the Eagles where he did some of his finest work. With the Birds, McCoy earned three trips to the Pro Bowl and twice earned First-Team All-Pro honors (2011, 2013). In 2013, he led the league with 1,607 yards on the ground – more than 100 yards per game. He also added 52 catches for 539 yards that year, just for good measure.

Last year, the Bills dropped McCoy just before the start of the season. Soon after, he was scooped up by Andy Reid‘s Chiefs on a one-year, $3MM deal. Before that, the Eagles, Patriots, and Chargers all touched base with the six-time Pro Bowler.

His Chiefs season ended with a Super Bowl, but the campaign was a weird one on the whole. Early on, he saw 10-plus touches in seven of the Chiefs’ first eight games. Later, he missed time, and he was hardly seen down the stretch. Still, McCoy averaged 4.6 yards per carry in 2019, after a career-worst 3.2 YPC figure with the Bills in 2018. He could be an interesting addition to the Eagles backfield, especially if they can’t strike a deal with Hyde.

Florida Allows Pro Sports To Resume

May 13th, 2020 at 2:04pm CST by Zachary Links

It’s open season for professional sports in Florida. On Wednesday, Governor Ron DeSantis announced that teams “are welcome here for practicing and for playing” (via Daisy Ruth of WFLA).

“What I would tell commissioners of leagues is, ‘If you have a team in an area where they just won’t let them operate, we’ll find a place for ya in the state of Florida. Because we think it’s important and we know that it can be done safely,’” DeSantis said.

DeSantis’ announcement comes on the heels of a similar one from the state of Arizona. On Wednesday, Arizona Governor Doug Ducey gave major sports leagues the green light to play in his state, effective Saturday. In early May, the NFL asked teams to get plans in place for May 15th, which is this coming Friday. But, earlier today, they extended their virtual OTA protocols through the end of the month.

On June 1st, the Jaguars, Dolphins, and Buccaneers may be permitted to conduct practices, though they won’t be able to have fans in attendance. Teams in states with stay-at-home orders could also explore Florida as an option. But, for at least the next two weeks, they’ll be limited to Zoom chats.

T.Y. Hilton Wants To Be With Colts “For Life”

May 13th, 2020 at 1:50pm CST by Zachary Links

On Wednesday, wide receiver T.Y. Hilton told reporters that he wants to “be a Colt for life,” (Twitter link via Zak Keefer of The Athletic). Still, as Hilton noted, it takes “two sides to get it done” and he has one non-guaranteed year left on his deal.

Hilton, who turns 31 in November, inked a five-year, $65MM extension with the Colts in 2015. It’s a sizable sum for sure, but the deal was estimated to have just $11MM in full guarantees at signing, plus another $28MM guaranteed for injury only (h/t Over The Cap). For now, Hilton is set to count for a $14.54MM cap hit in 2020, but the Colts could release or trade him without any fiscal penalty, if they wanted to.

Last year, a nagging calf injury limited Hilton to just ten games. He finished out the year with 45 catches for 501 yards – well below his usual production. Before 2019, he averaged 16 yards per catch with per-season averages of 72 catches, 1,157 yards, and ~6 touchdowns.

Meanwhile, Hilton says his next contract will be his last one. Whether he signs on for two years, three years, or four, “that’ll be it” for the veteran. “It’s up to Mr. Irsay and [GM] Chris [Ballard]. I wanna be here,” Hilton said (Twitter link). Hilton added that the two sides were in talks before the pandemic, so it stands to reason that they’ll get back in touch this summer. While he waits to hear from Mr. Irsay and Mr. Ballard, Hilton says he’s working out and preparing for a healthy season in the fall.

“I kind of let my teammates down last year being hurt, being injured, things you really can’t control,” Hilton said (via Mike Wells of ESPN.com). “It’s not like you’re playing Madden (on video games) and cutting injuries off. …I’m working out twice a day, so I don’t let my teammates down. My motivation is to getting back to where I was, and that’s getting back on top of the game.”

NFL Extends Virtual Offseason

May 13th, 2020 at 12:35pm CST by Zachary Links

The NFL’s virtual offseason has been extended through end of May, a source tells ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter (on Twitter). The original plan called for V-OTAs through May 15th, but they’ll keep it remote through the end of the month to keep players safe and comply with government ordinances.

The virtual OTAs mean no on-field practices or gatherings of any sort at team facilities. The NFL’s memo extends to all 32 clubs, which means that teams won’t be permitted to have in-person offseason activities in any state, even the ones that are in the early phases of reopening. On Tuesday, the governor of Arizona announced that professional sports can resume, effective Saturday. Still, the Cardinals will not be allowed to conduct business at their facility. Ditto for the clubs that camp in California – the 49ers, Rams, Cowboys, and Chargers – who may explore out-of-state options.

The announcement does not come as a surprise. Testing is still sparse and the global situation remains as fluid as ever. The news also doesn’t have much bearing on the league’s scheduled 2020 regular season, one way or the other.

Earlier this month, the NFL asked teams to prepare for a reopening of facilities with a hopeful target date of 5/15. A “safe and phased reopening” is still on the radar, but it won’t happen earlier than June 1.

“It is impossible to project what the next few months will bring,” Goodell wrote. “Uninformed commentary that speculates on how individual clubs or the league will address a range of hypothetical contingencies serves to constructive purpose and instead confuses our fans and business partners, complicates the operations of other clubs, and distracts from the careful planning that is needed right now.”

Meanwhile, in Michigan, Governor Gretchen Whitmer says she expects limited attendance – or no attendance – at Lions games this fall.

Chargers’ Mike Pouncey Medically Cleared

May 13th, 2020 at 11:38am CST by Zachary Links

Chargers center Mike Pouncey, who missed most of the 2019 season with a neck injury, has been medically cleared, as Pouncey himself told reporters this morning (Twitter link via Ian Rapoport of NFL.com). In April, GM Tom Telesco provided a positive status report (Twitter link via Fernando Ramirez of NBC Sports), and Pouncey has now taken the last step in his recovery.

Pouncey, a four-time Pro Bowler, suffered the neck injury in an early October game and was forced to undergo surgery. It was just one of several injuries for the Bolts in 2019, but this one was serious enough to have lifelong ramifications. Fortunately, Pouncey appears to have dodged a major bullet.

Pouncey spent his first seven NFL seasons with the Dolphins before his release in 2018. The Chargers gladly picked him up off the pile and he turned in a Pro Bowl performance for his new team. Then, before the start of last season, he inked a one-year, $9MM deal to extend his stay through 2020.

When Pouncey went down last year, the Chargers moved Dan Feeney from left guard to the middle to replace Pouncey, and plugged Forrest Lamp into Feeney’s spot. They also used 2018 fifth-round pick Scott Quessenberry to help fill the void. Of course, they will be much better off with the 30-year-old (31 in July) on the field.

The Bolts did not select an interior offensive lineman in this year’s draft, which is perhaps indicative of their faith in Pouncey’s successful return.

NFC East Notes: Crawford, Eagles, Giants

May 13th, 2020 at 10:58am CST by Rory Parks

Let’s take a quick swing around the NFC East:

The Cowboys plan to start Tyrone Crawford at defensive end opposite DeMarcus Lawrence, and Crawford recently provided some positive news on his surgically repaired hips. “Surprisingly, I’m feeling great,” Crawford recently said (via the team’s official website). “Obviously, double hip surgery is nothing to play around with. But I’m feeling awesome, ready to go.” The 30-year-old’s hip problems date back to the 2018 campaign, and between him, Randy Gregory, Aldon Smith, and fifth-round rookie Bradlee Anae, there is plenty of promise — but not a ton of certainty — in Dallas’ pass rushing contingent.
The Eagles surprisingly selected Oklahoma quarterback Jalen Hurts in the second round of this year’s draft, but the team plans to deploy Hurts as a gadget player in much the same way the Saints have used Taysom Hill. Given that, and given Carson Wentz‘s injury history, Eliot Shorr-Parks of 94 WIP believes Philadelphia needs to go out and sign a veteran signal-caller. The Eagles believe they can be a championship contender in 2020, and a player like Cam Newton or Joe Flacco could keep the club afloat in the event of a Wentz injury. In Shorr-Parks’ estimation, the same cannot necessarily be said for Hurts, Kyle Lauletta, or Nate Sudfeld.
Like it or not, the Giants‘ offense will not contain too many elements from what the team ran last year and will instead look a lot like the system that new OC Jason Garrett ran in Dallas (Twitter link via Kimberly Jones of the NFL Network). Garrett garnered plenty of criticism over the years, but the Cowboys did finish first in yards per game and second in offensive DVOA in 2019. New York head coach Joe Judge clearly believes 2019 is a good indicator of what a Garrett offense can do.
Yesterday, we learned that the Giants are exploring training camp sites outside of New Jersey, one of the states hit hardest by COVID-19.

Deshaun Watson To Sign Extension Before Patrick Mahomes?

May 13th, 2020 at 10:03am CST by Rory Parks

We heard back in January that the Texans would try to sign QB Deshaun Watson to an extension this offseason, and indeed, the two sides are in the preliminary stages of contract discussions. And according to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com, some execs believe Watson will sign his new deal before Chiefs mega-star Patrick Mahomes signs his (Twitter link).

As both Watson and Mahomes were selected in the 2017 draft and have three years of service time under their belts, they are now eligible for extensions. The January report referenced above indicated that Watson wanted to sign his next contract after Mahomes so that he could try to trump it, but if what Fowler’s sources are saying is true, it seems as if the Texans are trying to prevent that from happening.

Per Fowler, Houston has more “urgency” to get something done with Watson, which makes sense if the team wants to avoid having to top a Mahomes deal. But it’s unclear if the Texans should really be worried about that. After all, as good as Watson is, Mahomes is otherworldly, so Watson’s desire to top a Mahomes deal and any Texans’ fears in that regard both seem a little misplaced. Plus, given that the salary cap may go down in the next several years as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, it would seem that the club has more bargaining power than it may have anticipated.

As it stands, it may make more sense for Mahomes’ camp to wait until his Houston counterpart puts pen to paper. Recent projections for Watson’s contract are in the $40MM-$42MM/year range, which exceeds the initial estimates on Mahomes’ deal. If Watson gets an extension of that size, it may not be too much of a stretch to see Mahomes push for $50MM per year, though the reigning Super Bowl MVP has previously indicated that he wants to keep the Chiefs’ core together.

One way or another, Watson and Mahomes aren’t going anywhere. But when the contracts will get done and how much they will be worth remain up in the air, and with Bill O’Brien involved in the Watson negotiations, those questions are tough to answer.

Contract Details: 5/13/20

May 13th, 2020 at 9:33am CST by Rory Parks

We will round up the contract details of recent signings/restructures right here as they come in today:

Ted Ginn Jr, WR (Bears): One year. Veteran salary benefit worth $1.187MM. $137.5K signing bonus, $1.05MM salary ($750K guaranteed). Cap charge of $887,500 (Twitter link via Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle).
Cooper Rush, QB (Giants): Restructure. One-year, $1.25MM. $100K signing bonus. $900K salary ($50K guaranteed). Up to $250K in per game active roster bonuses (Twitter link via Wilson).

Clearly, while Rush got some guaranteed cash through his restructure — as opposed to the non-guaranteed $2.113MM tender he was scheduled to play on — it “only” amounts to $150K. So that may not tell us too much about Big Blue’s plans for him.

Lions To Play In Empty Stadium?

May 13th, 2020 at 9:01am CST by Rory Parks

The NFL is going full steam ahead in its efforts to play the 2020 regular season as it otherwise would, but the optimism generated by a recent report indicating the league may be able to (mostly) proceed as normal has been tempered in recent days. For instance, the CFL’s statement that it is likely to cancel its season and reports of NFL teams exploring out-of-state options for training camp feel like harbingers of things to come rather than blips in the radar.

And as Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press writes, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer said in a radio interview yesterday that she does not expect to see Ford Field, the Lions’ home stadium, full of fans in the fall. The league has said that if it plays the 2020 season, it plans to do so in front of capacity crowds, but obviously that will be dependent on each state.

“There is reason to feel some confidence here,” Whitmer said. “But we also have to measure (peoples’) expectations and say life’s going to be different. We’re not going to be filling stadiums in the fall.”

It’s unclear whether that means Whitmer is amenable to playing with partially full or empty stadiums, and as Birkett notes, the governor was interrupted before she could finish her thought. A follow-up email from her deputy press secretary did not do much to clarify matters.

“Medical experts have made it clear that COVID-19 spreads when people are in close contact with one another, and without a vaccine, our best strategy in combating the virus is to practice social distancing,” the email read. “In regards to stadiums, our administration will continue to make informed decisions on re-engagement based upon data and medical expertise.”

Even if the NFL season is delayed, it does not sound as if Whitmer is prepared to green-light capacity crowds.

“Certainly as governor I want to give people the confidence that our plan will be met on days certain,” she said. “But the fact of the matter is, COVID-19 is a novel virus and that means it’s like nothing we’ve ever seen before. We’re learning a tremendous amount. Every week that goes by, we’ve learned so much more about this disease and what it’s going to take to keep us safe and to avoid that second wave.”

Whitmer’s stance is likely to be echoed by leaders across the country, which means that if the 2020 season does get off the ground, there will be games played without fans, and teams in more restricted states may need to play in states like Arizona, which authorized the resumption of play for major sports leagues effective May 16.

The Lions, meanwhile, issued a generic statement on the matter last week:

“The Detroit Lions are following the NFL’s lead in preparing to play a full 2020 season in front of fans. Given the evolving circumstances surrounding COVID-19, contingencies are needed and will be in place. We are evaluating all facets of the game day experience, and will do what is required to maintain a safe and healthy environment at Ford Field where our fans can feel comfortable.”

Giants May Move Training Camp

May 12th, 2020 at 7:58pm CST by Zachary Links

Add the Giants to the list of teams that may move their training camp site. Instead of New Jersey – one of the nation’s most hard-hit areas – head coach Joe Judge says the Giants could hold training camp at a different facility in another state (Twitter link via ESPN.com’s Jordan Raanan).

Ideally, Judge says the Giants would keep things as-is, but they’re exploring all of their options and working on multiple plans. They’re far from alone in that: the Cowboys, 49ers, Chargers, and Rams are all set to run their practices in California, and they may have to pivot to another part of the country after Los Angeles County extended its sheltering orders for another three months.

“Our opps [operations] department is doing a great job right now mapping out a lot of different scenarios in terms of if, for some reason, we have to relocate,” Judge said. “They’re making connections around the area and around the country as to whatever we may need to do. We’re waiting on directions from the league in terms of making decisions on that,” Judge said (via Newsday).

Judge knew he’d be in for a completely new experience when he signed on to be the Giants’ head coach this year, but he couldn’t have anticipated a situation like this. As he eases into his new role, he’ll have help from offensive coordinator Jason Garrett, who spent nearly ten years running his own practices as the Cowboys’ head coach.

In other Giants news, Judge says the team is thinking about re-signing edge rusher Markus Golden. Previously, a reunion was viewed as unlikely at best.