2020 July - Pro Football Rumors

Month: November 2024

De Smith, J.C. Tretter On COVID-19 Latest

July 17th, 2020 at 2:42pm CST by Rory Parks

Union chief DeMaurice Smith and president J.C. Tretter held a conference call with media members today, during which they discussed various COVID-19 issues.

Starting on the financial side of things, Smith told reporters that the salary cap could decrease by as much as $70MM in 2021, unless the union and league come up with a solution to spread out that damage over several years (Twitter link via Dan Graziano of ESPN.com). Obviously, the union would prefer the latter option, and it has summarily rejected the NFL’s most recent economic proposals. Smith said he does not want players to bear the brunt of the financial burden when they are also the ones exposing themselves to the virus (Twitter link via Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area).

Of course, the league has made the decision to start training camp on time, and Smith concedes that the union has no ability to fight that. Instead, the NFLPA’s objective is to ensure that the players are as safe as possible (Twitter link via Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times). To that end, the union has been in touch with team doctors, who have said, with a couple of reservations, that it is safe to open camp as planned (Twitter link via Condotta).

Indeed, a source familiar with talks between the NFL and NFLPA told Mark Maske of the Washington Post that those discussions were moving in the right direction and that there was reason to believe training camp could start on time (Twitter link). As Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network tweets, the Chiefs are telling players that camp is a go, with rookies and QBs to report for COVID-19 testing on Monday, July 20, and Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter) says Texans players were told the same (the Texans and Chiefs play each other in the regular season opener). The full team is scheduled to report on July 25, and Pelissero adds in a separate tweet that multiple clubs have been sending tentative reporting dates to players.

Needless to say, there is plenty that still needs to be resolved. For instance, Texans star J.J. Watt, who has been involved in player calls, said yesterday (via Twitter) that players had yet to receive a single valid Infectious Disease Emergency Response (IDER) plan, and as Ben Volin of the Boston Globe tweets, players aren’t supposed to report to camp until IDER plans have been approved. Per Graziano, “some teams” began sending to those plans to the union last night, which the union will need to review to ensure that they are in compliance with the negotiated protocols (Twitter link).

Meanwhile, Tretter says that the union has consulted with team doctors in hotspot markets to discuss how to report to camp safely (Twitter link via Graziano). It’s unclear what, if any, additional protocols will be put in place for such regions, and Tretter also brought up another point that has largely been overlooked (via Darin Gantt of Pro Football Talk). He said, as a center, he is in close contact with every player in the offensive huddle and every defensive lineman during practice. If he tests positive, how would the league determine how many people to quarantine, and for how long?

That is one critical unanswered question, and Smith conceded there is no firm answer as to how many positive tests it would take to force an entire team to shut down. He did emphasize that the union continues to push for daily testing, which the league is still opposing.

Smith also said he is unaware of any players who have elected to opt out of the 2020 season (Twitter link via Condotta). We covered the most recent updates on the opt-out situation earlier this week.

Latest On Quinton Dunbar-Deandre Baker Case

July 17th, 2020 at 1:45pm CST by Rory Parks

Amidst allegations that he facilitated a payoff of victims in an effort to convince them to change their stories, Michael Grieco, defense attorney for Seahawks CB Quinton Dunbar, has withdrawn his appearance, as Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times tweets. Dunbar will move forward with the counsel he hired last week, Michael D. Weinstein.

Grieco offered the following statement: “We agreed that new counsel would allow for continued advocacy of Mr. Dunbar’s innocence without any collateral distractions.” Indeed, Grieco was under criminal investigation for his role in the alleged payoff as of June, though it’s unclear whether that investigation is still ongoing.

Given these new developments, it does not sound as if the cases against Dunbar and Giants CB Deandre Baker are going away anytime soon. And John Clayton of 710 ESPN Seattle hears from one of the Miami Herald reporters who is covering the story, David Ovalle, that courts in the region are so backed up due to coronavirus closures that it could take until 2021 or 2022 for the matter to proceed to court.

Clayton’s story does not reference how courts are handling criminal defendants’ speedy trial rights in the wake of COVID-19, but assuming that the cases for Baker and Dunbar do indeed get pushed back that far, their immediate NFL futures become even more difficult to predict (not to mention their long-term futures as free member of society). In ordinary circumstances, the league might put them on the commissioner’s exempt list until there is a resolution — which Clayton suggests could still happen — but our COVID-19 reality is anything but ordinary. And while the league could suspend the players, it would have to be an indefinite suspension that could last several years.

So, for now, it seems as if Dunbar and Baker are free to play, assuming their respective teams allow them to do so. Clayton confirms earlier rumors that the Giants are considering cutting Baker, but we have not yet heard that Seattle plans to move on from Dunbar.

A.J. Green Signs Franchise Tender

July 17th, 2020 at 12:59pm CST by Rory Parks

Bengals wide receiver A.J. Green has signed his franchise tender, the team announced. With that, the soon-to-be 32-year-old will report to training camp on-time later this month.

It seemed unlikely that the two sides would agree to a long-term deal prior to Wednesday’s deadline given Green’s age and his recent injury history. But Cincinnati was not about to let him walk in free agency this year, so the club slapped the seven-time Pro Bowler with the franchise tag.

Green had previously expressed that he was not a big fan of the tag, but he also said he would not hold out if he did not get the multi-year pact that he was seeking. However, the fact that he signed the tender is still notable. Prior to signing it, he could have skipped training camp and the preseason and still earned his full salary, and there was recent speculation that the Bengals might consider rescinding the tag because of how much it costs (roughly $18MM) and the current financial climate. Considering Green’s abilities and the fact that the team will have rookie QB Joe Burrow under center, rescinding the tag never felt like a real possibility, but now both sides know they will be together from training camp forward.

Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic says the Bengals still want to sign Green long-term (Twitter link). While they of course cannot negotiate again until after the 2020 campaign, Dehner expects the team to make a “hard push” for a new deal at season’s end if Green looks anything like his old self.

And the interest, apparently, is mutual. Green said he wants to play for another four seasons and retire as a Bengal (Twitter link via Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com). If he does, Green will surpass Chad Johnson to become the team’s all-time leader in receptions, receiving yards, and receiving TDs. He is currently trailing Johnson in all three categories, but not by much.

Fallout From Negotiations Between Broncos, Justin Simmons

July 17th, 2020 at 11:33am CST by Rory Parks

Talented Broncos safety Justin Simmons will play out the 2020 season under the franchise tag, as player and team were unable to come to terms on an extension prior to Wednesday’s deadline. Simmons was not alone in that regard, as only two of the league’s franchised players this year ended up signing long-term deals.

As Mike Klis of 9News.com writes, Denver put forth what it believed to be a competitive offer, a proposal that would have made Simmons one of the top five or six highest-paid safeties in the game. Currently, the Ravens’ Earl Thomas is the fifth-highest-paid safety in terms of AAV ($13.75MM), but the sixth-highest, the Patriots’ Devin McCourty, has an AAV of $11.5MM. Simmons’ franchise tender will pay him just shy of $11.5MM this year, so it could be that a long-term pact featuring a similar yearly average was not appealing to him.

Of course, it’s unclear how much the Broncos were offering in terms of guaranteed money, but Simmons was shooting for a top-of-the-market deal that would have paid him an average of roughly $15MM per year with around $30MM in guarantees. It does not sound like Denver was prepared to go that high, particularly in light of the current financial uncertainty.

Interestingly, negotiations between the two sides were always described as tension-free. Simmons said earlier this year that he was content to play on the tag, and when a deal was not reached by the deadline, Klis noted that Simmons and the Broncos “amicably agreed to disagree.”

But Simmons certainly seems annoyed that the did not get the deal he was hoping for. “If the Broncos wanted to get a deal done, they would’ve,” he said on today’s episode of Good Morning Football (link via Kevin Patra of NFL.com). “And so the reality is another year on the franchise tag is like a contract year all over again.”

The 26-year-old defender said he should be even better in his second year in head coach Vic Fangio‘s defensive scheme, and if he is, he will surely bring home a top-dollar deal in 2021. He graded out as Pro Football Focus’ No. 2 overall safety last season and led all safeties with 15 passes defensed. He also intercepted a career-high four passes.

Titans Still “Monitoring” Jadeveon Clowney

July 17th, 2020 at 9:44am CST by Zachary Links

Will Jadeveon Clowney find a new home in Nashville? Titans GM Jon Robinson continues to play coy on the situation, though he did tell ESPN’s Dianna Russini (Twitter link) that the team is still “monitoring the situation.”

Robinson added that he “may or may not” have had contact with Clowney’s camp in the last week – a not-so-subtle hint that the two sides have had recent talks. In the past, Robinson has indicated that he wants a thorough and in-person physical performed on Clowney before potentially signing him.

“Anytime you are dealing with whatever the contract is going to command, you want to make sure that the player is healthy, that you are able to allow your doctors to see him, to look at it, to make sure everything is going to be good,” Robinson said.

The Titans put at least one offer on the table for Clowney earlier this year, but the former No. 1 overall pick rejected it. The Seahawks, Raiders, and Browns also saw their offers declined. The Browns reportedly offered Clowney the best multi-year deal of any club this year, but that opportunity has gone out the window. Earlier this month, the Browns reworked Olivier Vernon‘s deal to give him $11MM in guaranteed cash, solidifying his spot as the bookend opposite of star Myles Garrett.

NFL Proposes $40MM Salary Slash

July 17th, 2020 at 9:23am CST by Zachary Links

The NFL has backed off of its pitch to place 35% of player salaries in escrow. Instead, as Tom Pelissero of NFL.com hears, they’re now proposing a $40MM reduction of the 2020 salary cap and/or player benefits. Needless to say, that’s a non-starter for union leadership.

“No thanks,” one anonymous player told Pelissero. “Not taking the COVID risk and (the) financial burden.”

The league, however, did make one key concession. Under their proposal, players would be permitted to opt out of the 2020 season by providing written notice by August 1. It’s not immediately clear whether those players would receive a portion of their salaries under that proposal, however. Ideally, the union would like those players to have full compensation – or something close to it – plus an accredited season towards free agency.

The clock is ticking for both sides, but we could see some movement today. League owners are expected to hold a virtual meeting this afternoon to huddle up on the training camp schedule, opt-outs, testing protocols, and other high-priority items. Reportedly, the NFL has agreed to a modification of the injured reserve rules that will allow players to be placed under a new “COVID-19” designation, should they test positive for the coronavirus.

Cardinals To Sign Kelvin Beachum

July 17th, 2020 at 9:09am CST by Zachary Links

The Cardinals have agreed to sign Kelvin Beachum, according to John Gambodoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 FM (on Twitter). The former Jets blocker will ink a one-year deal and compete for a first-string job opposite of D.J. Humphries.

There was no room for Beachum in New Jersey after the Jets revamped their offensive line. Before the remodeling, Beachum started in 45 of his 48 games for the Jets across four seasons. For his career, Beachum has 99 starts under his belt for the Steelers, Jaguars, and Jets, with mixed results.

Beachum has struggled with penalties over the years. In 2018, he tied for the Jets’ team lead with seven accepted penalties and nine flags in total.

Some of his best work came with the Steelers early on in his career, though a 2015 knee injury sidetracked him. In 2014, he performed as an elite left tackle, ranking No. 5 on Pro Football Focus’ list. When he returned in 2016, he graded as just the league’s No. 63 ranked tackle out of 78 qualified players.

The Cardinals likely won’t be getting the 2014 iteration of Beachum, but he should provide solid backup support, at the very least. At maximum, he could be the club’s new starting right tackle.

This Date In Transactions History: Steelers Extend Cameron Heyward

July 16th, 2020 at 6:43pm CST by Ben Levine

As Cameron Heyward continues to hunt for his next contract, we’ll go back to a transaction from five years ago. On July 16, 2015, the defensive lineman signed a six-year, $59.25MM extension with the Steelers.

Pittsburgh selected the Ohio State product with the 31st pick of the 2011 draft. It took a while for Heyward to settle into a starting role, but he never looked back after starting 13 games during the 2013 campaign. After combining for 12.5 sacks between the 2013 and 2014 seasons, the Steelers decided to make a lengthy commitment to the lineman. However, the deal did provide the organization with some flexibility at only $15MM in guaranteed money.

Heyward has more than lived up to that deal. He’s earned Pro Bowl appearances in each of the past three seasons, and he received first-team All-Pro honors in 2017 and 2019. The veteran has only missed a single regular season game over the past three years, averaging just under 10 sacks per season.

Following a 2016 campaign where he was limited to only seven games, Heyward agreed to restructure his contract (he also restructured prior to the 2018 season). Now, the 31-year-old is looking to get paid.

With Heyward set to hit free agency following the 2020 season, some sources believe he could get a contract that’s pushing Aaron Donald‘s six-year, $135MM deal ($50MM guaranteed). Sure, Heyward is on the wrong side of 30, but his versatility and continued production means he’ll surely find a lucrative deal. Considering the uncertainty of the 2021 cap, it’s uncertain if the Steelers will even be able to retain their defensive captain.

While Heyward’s future in Pittsburgh may be a bit uncertain, the team can at least rest easy knowing they inked the lineman to an excellent deal five years ago today.

15 Former Female Redskins Employees Allege Sexual Harassment

July 16th, 2020 at 5:20pm CST by Ben Levine

15 former female Redskins employees told Will Hobson and Liz Clarke of the Washington Post that they were sexually harassed during their tenure with the organization. This follows news from earlier today that the team had hired DC-based attorney Beth Wilkinson in anticipation of the story.

“The Washington Redskins football team takes issues of employee conduct seriously … While we do not speak to specific employee situations publicly, when new allegations of conduct are brought forward that are contrary to these policies, we address them promptly,” the team said in a statement.

14 of the women spoke on condition of anonymity, fearing litigation after signing nondisclosure agreements that prevented them from speaking negatively about the organization. The Redskins declined a request from the Washington Post to release those individuals from those agreements. Owner Dan Snyder also declined “several requests” for an interview.

Notably, three team employees have abruptly left the organization in recent weeks. Director of pro personnel Alex Santos and assistant director of pro personnel Richard Mann II were fired from their positions, while longtime radio personality Larry Michael left his position earlier this week.

As the article details, the allegations stem from 2006 to 2019, and the allegations include “unwelcome overtures or comments of a sexual nature, and exhortations to wear revealing clothing and flirt with clients to close sales deals.” Among those accused of harassment are “three former members of Snyder’s inner circle and two longtime members of the personnel department.” Besides the aforementioned individuals, the Post identifies former president of business operations Dennis Greene and former COO Mitch Gershman as harassers.

While none of the women accused Snyder nor former team president Bruce Allen of harassment, the women “expressed skepticism the men were unaware of the behavior they allege.” The women also cited Snyder’s “understaffed human resources department” and a “sophomoric culture of verbal abuse among top executives.”

The article is filled with anecdotes, text messages, and internal company documents that seem to substantiate the claims. As Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com notes, this certainly won’t be the end of the story. While Snyder refused to be interviewed for the Washington Post story, he can’t stay silent forever, and there will surely be increased calls for him to sell the team.

AFC North Notes: OBJ, Green, Andrews, Steelers

July 16th, 2020 at 4:54pm CST by Ben Levine

It’s been almost three years since Odell Beckham Jr. fractured his left ankle, and while the star wideout has yet to return to the Pro Bowl, he’s managed to put up back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons. However, in an alternative universe, OBJ may have decided to hang up his cleats following that 2017 campaign.

Appearing alongside Cam Newton, Todd Gurley, and Victor Cruz on his YouTube series The Bigger Picture, Beckham admitted that he almost retired following the injury.

“I said this in college, I said, ‘I fear the day that they make this game a business and not what I love,’” Beckham said. “And when I seen that for the first time after breaking my ankle, like I thought about like not playing no more. Like this is not really it for me because they’ve ruined the game of football for me a little bit.”

OBJ didn’t elaborate on what the Giants did to upset him during that 2017 campaign, although it’s worth noting that the receiver had rushed back from a preseason ankle sprain. The veteran’s tenure with New York ended last offseason when he was traded to the Browns, and the 27-year-old proceeded to appear in all 16 games for the first time since 2016.

Let’s check out some more notes from around the AFC North…

When we learned yesterday that A.J. Green wasn’t going to sign an extension with the Bengals, it was made clear that he’ll willingly play the 2020 season under the franchise tag. Of course, that could be temporary lip service; since the wideout hasn’t signed the tender, he could skip training camp and preseason and still earn his full salary. However, as Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com notes, until Green officially signs the tender, the Bengals have the ability to rescind the franchise tag. This would save the organization almost $18MM, and while it’d be a somewhat unprecedented move, Florio notes that “in an unprecedented year, it’s impossible to rule anything out.”
The Steelers have made some changes to their coaching staff. As Josh Alper of ProFootballTalk.com passes along, Blaine Stewart is now the assistant wide receivers coach and Denzel Martin is now the assistant outside linebackers coach. The duo had previously served as coaching assistants. The organization also shook up their scouting department, promoting Chidi Iwuoma from BLESTO scout to a college scouting position and Dennis MacInnis from scouting intern to BLESTO scout.
While Ravens tight end Mark Andrews has Type 1 diabetes, he made it clear that he won’t be opting out of the 2020 season due to health concerns. “We’ve got a big year coming up,” Andrews said (via Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com). “I want to be able to do a lot of things, and … just being able to help this team win is exciting for me.” The former third-rounder earned his first Pro Bowl nod last season after hauling in 64 receptions for 852 yards and 10 touchdowns.

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