2020 May - Pro Football Rumors

Former Dolphins, Bears TE Dion Sims Retires From NFL

May 1st, 2020 at 1:04pm CST by Zachary Links

Dion Sims is calling it a career. On Friday, the former Bears and Dolphins tight end announced his retirement from the NFL.

“Decided to hang my cleats up after 20 years of playing American football,” Sims tweeted. “God is good and I’m grateful!!!!!”

Sims spent six of those football playing years in the NFL – four with Miami and two with Chicago. We haven’t seen him on the field since 2018, however, so his retirement doesn’t come as a shock.

Sims, who turned 29 in February, never topped 30 receptions or 300 yards receiving during his six-year run. However, he was a solid blocker for most of his career. He also earned some solid money in his playing days: $11MM+ in total, with the bulk of it coming from the Bears.

The Bears gave Sims a three-year, $18MM deal in 2017, a solid payday at the time. That free agent class also featured TEs Vernon Davis, Jared Cook, Martellus Bennett, Jack Doyle, and Luke Willson.

Sims exits the sport with 91 receptions for 888 yards and nine touchdowns.

49ers To Decline Solomon Thomas’ Option

May 1st, 2020 at 10:52am CST by Zachary Links

The 49ers will turn down Solomon Thomas‘ fifth-year option, as Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets. This was the expected move – Thomas has been a letdown for SF since being selected No. 3 overall back in 2017.

The Stanford product started at least 12 games in each of his first two seasons but was first string just three times in 2019. After playing on just 41% of the Niners snaps, he’s more of a role player than the star SF envisioned.

In 2017, Thomas was widely regarded as the second-best defensive lineman in the class, behind only Myles Garrett. On draft night, the Niners sent their No. 2 overall pick to the Bears and tapped Thomas, even though they already had a loaded defensive front featuring Arik Armstead and DeForest Buckner. With that, the Bears got Mitchell Trubisky and the 49ers got a king’s ransom for sliding down just one spot. Unfortunately, they missed on Thomas.

In three seasons, Thomas has registered six sacks in total while starting just 28 games. Now that the 49ers have first round pick Javon Kinlaw in the fold, they have little reason to commit to Thomas and risk being stuck with his salary in the event of an injury.

Titans To Pick Up Adoree’ Jackson’s Option

May 1st, 2020 at 10:39am CST by Zachary Links

The Titans will exercise Adoree’ Jackson’s fifth-year option, according to Paul Kuharsky (Twitter link). He’s now under contract for the 2021 season for roughly $10MM. Meanwhile, wide receiver Corey Davis’ option has been turned down.

Last year, Jackson graded out as the eighth-best cornerback in the NFL, according to the advanced metrics at Pro Football Focus. Even with a raise to an eight-figure salary, the 24-year-old (25 in September) profiles as a major bargain. After this, the Titans are expected to discuss a long-term deal with the USC product to keep him out of reach for rival teams in early 2022.

Jackson has offered solid defense as an outside corner, but GM Jon Robinson recently suggested that the Titans may kick him over to nickel this season. Alternatively, they could use some combination of rising sophomore Amani Hooker and second-round rookie Kristian Fulton to handle the slot.

As shown in PFR’s fifth-year option tracker, there are still a number of decisions that need to be made on 2017 first-round picks between now and the Sunday deadline.

Titans Decline Corey Davis’ Option

May 1st, 2020 at 10:33am CST by Zachary Links

The Titans will decline Corey Davis‘ fifth-year option, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL.com (on Twitter). The wide receiver is now on course for unrestricted free agency following the 2020 season.

Davis was the first of three wide receivers selected in the 2017 NFL Draft. Unfortunately, the No. 5 overall pick has yet to realize his potential at the pro level. He showed promise in 2018 with 65 catches, 891 yards, and four touchdowns (all career highs), but he regressed last year. In 2019, Davis finished out with just 43 grabs for 601 yards and two TDs. For his career, Davis has found pay dirt only six times.

The option would have paid Davis $15.68MM in 2021, far too much given his track record. Instead of guaranteeing his year for injury at an exorbitant rate, the Titans will let the year play out and take it from there.

Davis’ hip injury didn’t help matters, of course. While he was hampered, second-round rookie A.J. Brown stepped up as the team’s WR1, eclipsing 1,000 yards and scoring eight times.

Meanwhile, the Titans have exercised the fifth-year add-on for cornerback Adoree’ Jackson, the No. 18 overall pick in the ’17 class.

Titans, Seahawks Still Interested In Jadeveon Clowney

May 1st, 2020 at 9:31am CST by Zachary Links

The Titans and Seahawks are still interested in edge rusher Jadeveon Clowney, Dianna Russini of ESPN.com tweets. Clowney’s asking price and sense of urgency haven’t changed either. Despite multiple offers from both clubs, Clowney isn’t close with either team and he isn’t in a rush to put pen to paper.

For now, Clowney’s plan is to wait until the pandemic eases up so that he can take a physical with interested teams, Jordan Raanan of ESPN.com tweets. A passed (and thorough) physical with team doctors would give Clowney the best payday, he believes, though he could also lose out on available spots and dollars by waiting.

Recently, Seahawks GM John Schneider said he’d still consider the former No. 1 overall pick, though that was before the draft. Then, earlier this week, Jarran Reed caused a bit of a stir when he announced his new jersey number for the 2020 season – No. 90 – Clowney’s number with Seattle last year. For his part, Schneider says that he has not approved any sort of number change, so we can’t really read into Reed’s uni.

“I think you’re buying into it, because I don’t remember approving that yet, so I don’t know,” the GM said (via Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times). “I don’t know where that came from, but yesterday morning it was definitely, something was going on.”

The Titans had roughly $21MM in cap space before the draft, but their frosh will chip away at that figure. Clowney could help bolster their edge rush, though they have already beefed up in that area by signing Vic Beasley.

Clowney, 27, has 32 career sacks to his credit, though he logged just three sacks in 13 games last year.

Jaguars Won’t Rule Out QB Signing

May 1st, 2020 at 8:56am CST by Zachary Links

Even while offering his support to Gardner Minshew, Jaguars head coach Doug Marrone admitted that he’s still keeping an eye out for experienced quarterbacks.

“He’s our QB there’s no doubt about it..but one of the things we’re doing, we’re still looking to make sure we’re upgraded at each position,” Marrone told Peter Schrager of NFL Network (Twitter link). “There are some vets out there we might look at to bring in.”

One of those vets could be Andy Dalton, the longtime Bengals starter who was released by the club on Thursday. Jaguars offensive coordinator Jay Gruden got the best out of Dalton when he was Cincinnati’s head coach and he’d be a logical fit as Minshew’s safety net.

Of course, given Minshew’s up-and-down track record, a new veteran in Jacksonville could potentially take the reins. Dalton, for his part, is looking for an opportunity to start. Already, the Jaguars – and Patriots – have reportedly discussed Dalton. At the same time, the Bengals didn’t get a whole lot of interest from the Jags when they discussed Dalton in the past.

Minshew was thrust into the starting job when Nick Foles suffered a broken collarbone. Then, when Foles couldn’t get the job done in back-to-back blowout losses, Minshew was restored as the QB1 in December.

Dolphins To Trade Charles Harris To Falcons

May 1st, 2020 at 8:21am CST by Zachary Links

The Dolphins have agreed to trade defensive end Charles Harris to the Falcons (Twitter link via Jason Butt of The Athletic). In exchange, Atlanta will send a 2021 seventh-round pick to Miami, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets.

The Dolphins have been doing some spring cleaning with former first-round picks this week. On Thursday, they released defensive lineman Taco Charlton. Today, they’re moving on from Harris, who was the No. 22 overall pick in the 2017 draft.

The 6’3″ edge rusher impressed in his final two seasons at Missouri, combining for 30.5 tackles for loss and 16 sacks. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to keep up the good work at the pro level. In three years, Harris has just 3.5 sacks to his credit. He’s also made just eight starts in his 41 games.

Now, with reduced expectations, he’ll try to get his career back on track with the Falcons. He’ll provide support behind Dante Fowler Jr., the former No. 3 overall pick who broke out just in the nick of time to find free agent riches. Harris, still only 25, is under contract for just $1.94M this season.

Without Harris, the Dolphins will forge ahead with Shaq Lawson and Emmanuel Ogbah as their top bookends. Ogbah inked a two-year, $15MM deal to take his talents to South Beach in March. Lawson, who notched a career-high 6.5 sacks with the Bills last year, agreed to a three-year, $30MM free agent contract.