2020 June - Pro Football Rumors

Luke Kuechly To Join Panthers’ Front Office?

June 3rd, 2020 at 12:59pm CST by Zachary Links

Tuesday marked the official end of an era as the Panthers officially placed Luke Kuechly on the reserve/retired list. Now, the linebacker is considering a role in the team’s front office as a pro scout (via Bill Voth of the team website).

“I think it’s great if it works out if it’s what he wants to do,” head coach Matt Rhule said. “Obviously, the pro side (scouts) are the guys who are evaluating other NFL players. Their mission is twofold: They’re helping us build the roster by finding other guys that fit what we do, and they’re also providing advanced scouting each week on the opponent. If there’s someone who was built for that, it’s probably Luke Kuechly with his preparation and work.”

Kuechly’s tireless work ethic and film review helped propel him to seven Pro Bowl selections, a Defensive Player of the Year trophy, and an appearance in Super Bowl 50. His retirement announcement in January took many by surprise, but few were taken off guard by his reported desire to stay involved with the game of football.

“In my heart I know it’s the right thing to do,” Kuechly said earlier this year. “There’s only one way to play this game since I was a little kid – play fast, play physical and play strong. And at this point I don’t know if I am able to do that anymore.”

Kuechly could also advance up the ladder from here. The 29-year-old said to have some interest in coaching as well.

Seahawks Sign TE Colby Parkinson

June 3rd, 2020 at 10:38am CST by Zachary Links

The Seahawks have officially signed fourth-round tight end Colby Parkinson, as Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets. With that, the Stanford product has become the first Seattle draft pick to put pen to paper this year.

Parkinson will now vie for time in the Seahawks’ crowded tight end room, alongside vets Greg Olsen, Will Dissly, Luke Willson, and Jacob Hollister. Heading into the draft, the Seahawks seemed well set at the position, but GM John Schneider opted for insurance and future potential. In Seattle, Parkinson will over a safety net for the oft-injured Dissly and, eventually, could emerge as one of their primary tight ends. Olsen, Hollister, and Willson are all set for free agency after the 2020 season and Olsen could very well retire before 2021.

Parkinson put himself on the map at Stanford with a strong 2018 and seven touchdowns. Last year, he set new career bests with 48 grabs for 589 yards, though he only scored once.

The Seahawks still have some work to do in their draft class, including the signing of their other Day 3 tight end. Here’s the full rundown of their class, courtesy of PFR’s 2020 NFL Draft Tracker:

1-27: Jordyn Brooks, LB (Texas Tech)
2-48: Darrell Taylor, OLB (Tennessee)
3-69: Damien Lewis, G (LSU)
4-133: Colby Parkinson, TE (Stanford): Signed
4-144: DeeJay Dallas, RB (Miami)
5-148: Alton Robinson, DE (Syracuse)
6-214: Freddie Swain, WR (Florida)
7-251: Stephen Sullivan, TE (LSU)

No Extension Talks Yet For Steelers’ James Conner

June 3rd, 2020 at 10:27am CST by Zachary Links

James Conner has one year to go on his contract but he has yet to begin extension talks with the Steelers, as Ed Bouchette of The Athletic writes. Meanwhile, the running back says he isn’t too worried.

“My goal is to win,” Conner said. “I have the opportunity to do that. The special team we got, pieces that were out last year coming back healthy. I’m not playing for a contract or playing not to get hurt. I’m playing to win, that’s what it’s about, to be part of Super Bowl No. 7 for the organization.”

The former third-round pick is set to earn just $825K in base salary in the final year of his rookie deal. The slotted four-year pact pays Conner just $3.24MM in total and he’s undoubtedly eager to secure a pay bump on a multi-year extension. The Pitt product has said that it would “be hard” to ever play for another team and it stands to reason that the Steelers will want to keep him as well.

However, there are a few complications. First and foremost, there’s the current climate, which has put deals on hold for players all around the league. Then, there’s the matter of Conner’s down year. In 2018, he was the Steelers’ breakout replacement for Le’Veon Bell – he ran for 973 yards, averaged 4.5 yards per carry, and tacked on 497 receiving yards for good measure. Last year was a different story – he was limited to just 464 yards on the ground and six games, thanks to knee and shoulder trouble.

The Steelers, meanwhile, have safeguarded their RB depth chart a bit by drafting Anthony McFarland Jr. in the fourth round. Still, Conner stands as the Steelers’ RB1 heading into 2020, the leader of a group that also includes Benny Snell and Jaylen Samuels.

Texans Call Off Timmy Jernigan Deal

June 3rd, 2020 at 8:59am CST by Zachary Links

Timmy Jernigan won’t be joining the Texans after all. Just a couple months after agreeing to a one-year deal, the defensive tackle announced on Instagram that he will not be heading to Houston.

Jernigan, who has had health issues in the past, never passed a physical with the team, Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle hears. However, a league source tells Wilson that the defensive tackle has since been medically cleared by Dr. Robert Watkins.

Jernigan missed the bulk of the 2018 season and a good chunk of games last year. In ’18, a back injury and subsequent surgery to fix a herniated disk put Jernigan on the sideline. In ’19, he missed time with a broken foot. Before that, the former Ravens second-round pick totaled 13 sacks and 35 quarterback hits in three years with Baltimore.

Despite the injuries, the Texans saw a value opportunity in the 27-year-old (28 in September). They agreed to a one-year, $3.75MM deal with $1.25MM guaranteed, far less than the four-year, $48MM extension he got from the Eagles in the not-too-distant past. With the Texans, Jernigan could have had a tremendous platform to restore his value – he was slated to play alongside J.J. Watt on a defensive line that saw standout D.J. Reader leave in free agency.

Panthers Place Luke Kuechly On Reserve/Retired List

June 2nd, 2020 at 5:43pm CST by Sam Robinson

Months after Luke Kuechly‘s retirement announcement, the Panthers officially placed the perennial All-Pro linebacker on their reserve/retired list, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.

By waiting until after June 1 to do so, the Panthers will spread out Kuechly’s $11.8MM in dead money over two years. For 2020, it will create almost $6MM in cap space for the Panthers, Joe Person of The Athletic tweets.

This will give Carolina some additional breathing room, bumping its cap-space figure north of $8MM. That will be necessary for the franchise to sign its draft class, though the Panthers have already signed first-round pick Derrick Brown.

Kuechly retired at 28, with two seasons left on his five-year, $61.8MM contract. The future Hall of Famer would have been set for a mammoth extension, with top peer Bobby Wagner taking the off-ball linebacker market to $18MM per year in 2019 and the Panthers having recently inked Shaq Thompson to a more lucrative deal than the one on which Kuechly finished his career. But Kuechly, who battled concussions in previous years, opted to walk away after eight seasons.

The Panthers attempted to address their considerable void by signing ex-Lions and Raiders starter Tahir Whitehead, who played for Matt Rhule at Temple. Although the Panthers made seven draft picks on defense, they did not use any of those selections on a linebacker.

NFL, NFLPA Bracing For Salary Cap Talks

June 2nd, 2020 at 5:13pm CST by Sam Robinson

As a COVID-19-altered season looms, the NFL and NFLPA are expected to engage in negotiations regarding future salary caps, Ian Rapoport, Judy Battista and Mike Garafolo report.

With the likelihood fans will either not be permitted to attend games or much smaller spectator counts will be on hand for them, revenue losses could be in the billions leaguewide. Negotiations were inevitable. But in addition to the prospect of the 2021 salary cap going down, marking the first such decline since 2011, the NFL.com report indicates the possibility of cuts this year exists.

A scenario of the league borrowing against future revenue to offset the major losses COVID-19 will cause this year was believed to be in play to prevent the 2021 cap from a steep decline from the current $198MM figure. But Battista, Rapoport and Garafolo note the league may suggest reducing players’ 2020 base salaries to help prevent a future in which the cap drops dramatically, thus impacting extensions and teams’ roster management. Extension talks are already being affected, NFL.com reports.

A full fan-less season would, according to NFL.com, cost the league more than $4 billion — nearly a third of the league’s revenue. Forbes has reported a $5.5 billion loss could occur under these circumstances. Without the NFL and NFLPA reaching a resolution to stabilize next year’s cap, it could be reduced by as much as $80MM, per NFL.com. Considering the commitments teams have already made to players beyond this year, that is almost certainly a non-starter. Adjustments will have to be made if a fan-less season is a reality.

Without the ability to reduce player salaries unilaterally, the NFL may have a tough time convincing players to accept 2020 salary cuts. This year’s salary cap is set, and Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk notes the NFL has no leverage on this front. Even in a season featuring a reduced number of games, the players would arguably receive their money, Florio adds. The league, however, may not consider a scenario in which players receive full paychecks for abbreviated seasons as tenable, per NFL.com. This will heighten the stakes for the upcoming negotiations.

These will be the sides’ third set of seminal negotiations this year. The league and the union finalized a CBA in March and hammered out a virtual offseason plan in April. The parties would need to discuss the fallout for scenarios like the season starting late, COVID-19 causing the season to stop and start again, and how to navigate a partial season without fans instead of a full fan-less slate.

These negotiations do not have to be finalized by training camp, though parts of them do in order to officially end the virtual offseason and ensure new safety guidelines for camps. The salary cap part of these talks could drag into the preseason, but NFL.com reports the hope is a resolution occurs before training camps begin. Both sides would like to avoid the quagmire Major League Baseball has encountered.

NFL: Teams Cannot Leave Facilities For Training Camp

June 2nd, 2020 at 3:49pm CST by Sam Robinson

No outside cities will be used for this year’s training camps. Shortly after reports indicated the Panthers are not heading to South Carolina for their training camp, the NFL has informed teams no training camps can occur outside team facilities, Todd Archer of ESPN.com reports.

Many teams already hold training camps at their facilities, but several still use outside sites for their late-summer work. This will alter the latter group’s plans. The coronavirus has already changed this offseason significantly. This marks a change to teams’ preseason routines.

The Cowboys and Panthers both leave their respective home states for camp, the former using Oxnard, Calif., and the latter holding camp in Spartanburg, S.C., since 1995. The now-Nevada-based Raiders were scheduled to hold one more camp in Napa, Calif., but had begun discussions to stay at their Henderson, Nev., headquarters.

The Chiefs have headed north to St. Joseph, Mo., for theirs for the past 10 years. The Bills (Rochester, N.Y.), Colts (Westfield, Ind.), Rams (Irvine, Calif.) and Redskins (Richmond, Va.) were also among the teams scheduled to leave their facilities for camp. The Steelers have held camp at St. Vincent College — in Latrobe, Pa. — for 54 years. None of these trips will take place this year.

While this means the three California teams will conduct camp in the state after all, it signals a key change as teams continue preparations for what could be a historically unusual season.

Thus far, the COVID-19 pandemic had not significantly impacted non-offseason activities. The schedule remains at 17 weeks, though Weeks 3-4 feature no division games in an effort to create a scenario in which the NFL could adjust its slate because of the virus, and many states have announced camps can occur on time. Tuesday’s announcement marks a major adjustment, with training camps being a key opportunity for fans to see their respective teams up-close and interact with players. COVID-19 will likely nix or severely alter fan-player interaction this year, preceding a season that is set to feature either no fans in stadiums or a limited number at games.

Panthers To Hold Training Camp At Team Facility

June 2nd, 2020 at 3:43pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Panthers have trekked to Wofford College in Spartanburg, S.C., for training camp every year since the franchise’s 1995 debut. The COVID-19 pandemic will force the team to break that tradition.

This year, the Panthers will hold their training camp at the team’s facility in Charlotte, Pete Yanity of WSPA reports. The Athletic’s Joe Person confirmed (via Twitter) the team will stay home for camp and added the NFL does not want teams leaving their facilities for camps this year.

While teams have opted over the years to avoid training camp trips, some teams still leave their facilities. And four teams’ camps are based in California, where no green light to conduct camps has been given as of yet. As such, the 49ers and Cowboys — who use Oxford, Calif., as their campsite — have discussed leaving the state for camp. The NFL may be against travel of this sort, pointing to California being open for business for camps come late July and the Cowboys staying in Texas rather than packing up for their annual late-summer trip.

Earlier this month, the Panthers had hoped they could keep camp at Wofford. Owner David Tepper said last year the team’s only two options for camp were Spartanburg and in its home facility. The latter option appears to be the course of action in this historically unusual offseason.

Browns Offered Jadeveon Clowney $12MM/Year?

June 2nd, 2020 at 1:13pm CST by Zachary Links

Jadeveon Clowney recently rejected an offer from the Browns, one that is rumored to be the most lucrative of any he’s received thus far. Still, it sounds like it was a far cry from the type of coin that Clowney has become accustomed to. The Browns’ proposal was believed to be worth around $12MM per year in base salary, agents tell Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com.

That’s the “word in the agent community,” per La Canfora. The full and true details of the offer are only known to Clowney’s representatives and those in the Browns’ front office. It’s also not immediately clear whether the Browns were offering a one-year deal or a multi-year arrangement. Either way, the Browns haven’t been totally turned off – they’re reportedly still interested.

When Clowney was traded from the Texans, he made the Seahawks promise not to use the franchise tag on him for a second consecutive season. The Seahawks probably wouldn’t have given him a 20% bump over his ’19 salary, but as JLC notes, a one-year, $18MM tether for 2020 would have been preferable to his current situation. So far, the Browns offer is apparently the best Clowney has been able to scare up, and the base compensation is about 25% less than Matthew Judon’s DE/LB hybrid tag for this year.

Clowney seems prepared to wait things out, even though most of the league’s dollars have dried up and many of his potential suitors have backed out. The Giants, Eagles, and Jets are putting their energy elsewhere, leaving the Browns and Titans as the likely frontrunners. Right now, Clowney seems unlikely to get anywhere near his original $20MM ask, unless the Ravens make a surprise pivot by trading Judon and signing the former No. 1 overall pick.

Jets Sign Rookie CB Bryce Hall

June 2nd, 2020 at 12:54pm CST by Zachary Links

The Jets have signed fifth-round cornerback Bryce Hall, according to Field Yates of ESPN.com (Twitter link). In accordance with his slot, Hall will receive a four-year deal worth about $3.6MM with a $315K signing bonus.

Hall notched five interceptions and 38 passes defended over the course of his four-year career. Unfortunately, he didn’t get a chance to really build on those totals in his final year on campus. In October, Hall suffered a serious ankle injury and had to be carted off of the field. Before that, Pro Football Focus rated Hall as the nation’s top cornerback in the 2018 season. Had he declared for the draft one year early, Hall would have gone much earlier – the Jets see him as a potential Day 3 steal.

Hall is the first member of the Jets’ draft class to agree to terms. With the Virginia product in the fold, they’ve got eight more rookies to go, as shown in PFR’s 2020 NFL Draft tracker:

1-11: Mekhi Becton, T (Louisville)
2-59: Denzel Mims, WR (Baylor)
3-68: Ashtyn Davis, S (California)
3-79: Jabari Zuniga, DE (Florida)
4-120: Lamical Perine, RB (Florida)
4-125: James Morgan, QB (Florida International)
4-129: Cameron Clark, OT (Charlotte)
5-158: Bryce Hall, CB (Virginia): Signed
6-191: Braden Mann, P (Texas A&M)