HEADLINES

Month: December 2024

Seahawks, Paul Richardson Agree To Deal

August 29th, 2020 at 2:00pm CST by Sam Robinson

Paul Richardson‘s Seahawks visit indeed produced a contract offer. The former Seahawks second-round pick agreed to rejoin the team on Saturday, Mike Garafolo of NFL.com tweets.

The six-year veteran wide receiver resurfaced on the free agency radar by trekking to Seattle, where he played from 2014-17. The recent Washington cap casualty will attempt to reignite his career in a familiar place.

Richardson enjoyed his best season (44 catches, 703 yards, six touchdown receptions) in his 2017 contract year and parlayed it into a five-year, $40MM deal with Washington. However, injuries plagued the ex-Colorado prospect in the nation’s capital. Washington released him in February, taking on some dead money to do so.

Connected to higher-profile veteran receivers for months now, the Seahawks are adding Richardson to a stable that includes Tyler Lockett, D.K. Metcalf and Phillip Dorsett. The latter, however, is currently sidelined with a foot injury. John Ursua, a 2019 draftee, is dealing with a hamstring injury.

Richardson, 28, probably cannot be considered a lock to make the Seahawks’ roster — given his inconsistent career that includes just one 300-plus-yard season in six tries. The Seahawks have also changed offensive coordinators since his previous run with the team. But if the now-two-time Seahawk is healthy, he will bolster the team’s depth for the time being. The Seahawks have been the team most closely connected to Antonio Brown and Josh Gordon. Those suspended talents will likely remain on the team’s radar, though no resolutions are in sight for either player.

Eagles’ Jason Peters Wants Pay Raise To Play LT

August 29th, 2020 at 12:47pm CST by Zachary Links

Jason Peters is willing to fill the Eagles’ left tackle void, but he wants a pay bump in exchange for moving back to his natural position (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo). From here, the Eagles will have to weigh the benefits of having Peters step in for Andre Dillard versus the added cost. 

[RELATED: Eagles’ Andre Dillard Done For Year]

Peters would be an obvious replacement for Dillard in the wake of his season-ending biceps injury, but Peters gave the Eagles a discount with the assumption that he’d be playing on the interior, to replace Brandon Brooks. As it stands, Peters is under contract for $3MM in base pay, plus $3M in incentives tied to playing time. The package includes some easily achievable bonuses ($400K for 75% playing time), plus some trickier ones ($350K for 75% PT + Super Bowl victory; $1MM for 90% PT + First-Team All-Pro selection).

It’s not clear what Peters is looking for, but a compromise could be found by converting Peters’ entire incentives package into guaranteed base salary. But, even then, Peters would be playing at a tremendous discount for a starting-caliber left tackle.

While the 38-year-old has lost a step, he still turned in a solid 2019 – Pro Football Focus graded him as the league’s sixth-best tackle among 81 qualifiers in 2019. Peters is also planning to stick around for a while. His goal is to play for a few more years, joining Hall of Famers Jackie Slater and Ray Brown as the only tackles to play past the age of 40.

Jets To Sign Donte Moncrief

August 29th, 2020 at 9:54am CST by Zachary Links

The Jets are set to sign Donte Moncrief (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). The deal, pending a physical and COVID-19 testing, will give the Jets some sorely needed depth at wide receiver. 

[RELATED: Dolphins Trade Kalen Ballage To Jets]

Moncrief made his name with the Colts, playing as a featured regular in Andrew Luck‘s offense. The former third-round pick totaled 13 touchdown receptions between the 2015-16 season and set a career-high in ’15 with 733 yards. Since then, things have been a bit rocky for the 27-year-old. Last year, he appeared a grand total of eight games for the Panthers and Steelers, resulting in four catches for 18 yards.

The Jets are curious to see what Moncrief can offer at this stage, especially since they’re dealing with a rash of injuries at WR. Newcomer Breshad Perriman and highly-touted rookie Denzel Mims are both banged up; ditto for reserves Vyncint Smith, Jeff Smith, and Lawrence Cager. That’s left the Jets with only a handful of recognizable receivers, including Jamison Crowder, Braxton Berrios, and Chris Hogan. Moncrief will look to show a bit of his old form and make the fast-approaching final cut.

Dolphins Trade LB Raekwon McMillan To Raiders

August 29th, 2020 at 9:12am CST by Zachary Links

The Dolphins have agreed to trade linebacker Raekwon McMillan to the Raiders, according to a source who spoke with Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald (on Twitter). In exchange, the Raiders are sending a 2021 fourth-round pick to Miami, but they’ll also receive a 2021 fifth-round pick along with McMillan (Twitter link via ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter). 

[RELATED: Raiders’ Tyrell Williams Battling Labrum Tear]

In 2019, McMillan ranked as the Dolphins’ best defensive player, according to Pro Football Focus. Earlier this year, the Dolphins were said to be considering an extension for McMillan, but the pandemic threw a wrench into those talks. The Dolphins also had their doubts about McMillan’s pass coverage, and they were planning to mostly use him on run downs this year. DeVante Parker, Jesse Davis, Allen Hurns, and Jakeem Grant all received extensions recently, but the Dolphins ultimately did not want to lock down the young ‘backer.

McMillan, who has one year and $1.1MM left on his deal, will now try to make his case in Las Vegas. There, he’ll support a revamped linebacker group that previously had depth concerns, despite the additions of Cory Littleton and Nick Kwiatkoski.

McMillan wasn’t the right fit for Brian Flores‘ 3-4 hybrid scheme, but he could fare better with Jon Gruden. He comes to the Raiders with ample experience, having started 28 of his 29 games since entering the league as a second-round pick in 2017.

AFC East Rumors: Williams, Jets, Dolphins

August 28th, 2020 at 6:28pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Patriots appear to be putting their cornerback depth to good use. One of the Pats’ corners, Joejuan Williams, is now attending meetings exclusively as a safety, Michael Giardi of NFL.com tweets. New England’s 2019 second-round pick, Williams only played 80 defensive snaps as a rookie. But the Vanderbilt product was stuck behind the likes of Stephon Gilmore, Jason McCourty and Jonathan Jones. Those three are back in 2020, but the Pats’ safety group looks considerably different.

The team’s longtime Devin McCourty–Patrick Chung–Duron Harmon trio is down to just McCourty, though the Pats did sign former Charger Adrian Phillips and drafted Kyle Dugger in Round 2. Dugger, however, played at a Division II school and has not had much time this offseason for on-field work. At 6-foot-3, 212 pounds, Williams has the size to transition to safety. The Pats frequently used three safeties in coverage over the past several years.

Here is the latest from the AFC East:

  • Le’Veon Bell has not enjoyed a quality training camp, with Brian Costello of the New York Post rating the Jets‘ starting running back as the team’s third-most impressive back in camp — behind Frank Gore and rookie fourth-rounder La’Mical Perine. Bell enjoyed his worst season in 2019, but the Jets featured a bottom-tier offensive line. They have since made several upgrade attempts. The Jets have Bell under contract for three more seasons, but just one of them features guaranteed money. Bell, 28, is set to count $15.5MM against the Jets’ cap this season.
  • More than a week after bringing Donte Moncrief in for a workout, the Jets again summoned the wideout to their facility. Moncrief visited the Jets on Friday. This comes after the former third-round pick and veteran auxiliary wide receiver met with the 49ers. San Francisco went in a different direction, however. The 6-4 target amassed 668 receiving yards with the 2018 Jaguars but did not make an impact with the Steelers or Panthers last season.
  • The Jets’ wideout interest stems partially from being without Denzel Mims. The second-round rookie has missed all of the team’s work in pads, with The Athletic’s Connor Hughes noting Mims is not yet doing individual drills (subscription required). Mims suffered the injury during the team’s ramp-up period earlier this month. With 2020 already presenting unfavorable circumstances for rookies, Mims may well face an uphill battle to be an early-season contributor.
  • Dolphins first-round pick Noah Igbinoghene is competing with Jakeem Grant and recent addition Chester Rogers for return jobs, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald notes. A cornerback out of Auburn, Igbinoghene notched two kick-return touchdowns in college. He did not return any punts at Auburn, however, so this would seemingly leave the punt-return competition to the two veterans. The elusive Grant has four NFL return TDs, including two on punt returns.
  • Fellow Dolphins rookie Solomon Kindley still has a chance to be one of the team’s starting guards, with Jackson noting that the fourth-round rookie may be a bit ahead of second-round O-lineman Robert Hunt. The Dolphins still view Hunt as a player who could contribute at both guard and tackle, while Kindley — the No. 111 overall pick out of Georgia — is showing well at right guard. The Dolphins signed Ereck Flowers to play left guard this offseason, and guard-tackle hybrid Jesse Davis may be set to again open as the team’s right tackle.

NFL Workout Updates: 8/28/20

August 28th, 2020 at 6:21pm CST by Sam Robinson

Here are the workouts that took place around the NFL on Friday:

Buffalo Bills

Chicago Bears

Detroit Lions

Kansas City Chiefs

  • DB Hasan Sharif

Las Vegas Raiders

Pittsburgh Steelers

Bears Work Out LB Alec Ogletree

August 28th, 2020 at 4:44pm CST by Sam Robinson

After more than six months in free agency, Alec Ogletree has resurfaced on the NFL radar. The Bears brought in the former Rams first-round pick for a Friday workout, per Albert Breer of SI.com (on Twitter).

The Giants made Ogletree a cap casualty in February. This marks the first Ogletree news since then. The 29-year-old linebacker started 26 games for the Giants over the past two seasons, but the team dropped him before signing Blake Martinez to a lucrative deal.

Ogletree was largely unable to live up to his four-year, $42MM Rams extension in New York, but he did produce in 2018. The former No. 30 overall pick intercepted five passes and notched two defensive touchdowns in his first Giants season. He has started at least 15 games in a season four times (all with the Rams) and has four defensive TDs and 12 forced fumbles on his resume as well.

In Danny Trevathan and Roquan Smith, the Bears have two clear starters at linebacker. Behind them, however, Chicago’s roster houses 2018 fourth-round pick Joel Iyiegbuniwe and two recent UDFAs. Despite suiting up for 31 career games, Iyiegbuniwe has played just 26 defensive snaps. Both Smith and Trevathan have battled injuries in recent years, and the Bears lost longtime backup/spot starter Nick Kwiatkoski in free agency.

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/28/20

August 28th, 2020 at 4:18pm CST by Rory Parks

We’ll keep track of today’s minor moves in this post. In addition to the transactions listed below, note that Broncos DT Joel Heath and Giants CB Shakial Taylor, who had previously been listed as cut, actually opted out of the 2020 season. As Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network tweets, both players were reinstated to their teams’ rosters and placed on the Reserve/Opt-Out List. The full (and final) opt-out tracker can be found here:

Baltimore Ravens

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

Pittsburgh Steelers

South Notes: Ngakoue, Benson, Campbell

August 28th, 2020 at 2:55pm CST by Rory Parks

A little over a week ago, Michael Lombardi of The Athletic reported that the Jaguars were on the verge of a deal that would ship disgruntled defensive end Yannick Ngakoue out of Jacksonville. Jags GM Dave Caldwell refuted the report, saying no trade involving Ngakoue is imminent.

But Lombardi has doubled down and insists a trade will happen soon (subscription required). He says Ngakoue is not motivated by money right now, he is motivated by a change of scenery, so he is not worried about missing game checks. According to Lombardi, if Ngakoue is not traded, he will not report until the 10th game of the season, the deadline for him to be able to count the 2020 season as an accredited year towards free agency. And at that point, the trade deadline will be in the rear-view mirror and the Jaguars will be left with nothing but a comp pick when Ngakoue signs elsewhere.

On the other hand, Lombardi’s second report linked above was published on August 21, and nothing has materialized on the Ngakoue front since then. It is, as ever, a situation to keep an eye on.

Now for more from the league’s south divisions:

  • Saints owner Gayle Benson tested positive for COVID-19, the team announced. Luckily, the 73-year-old was not hospitalized and is recovering at her New Orleans home. Benson is the second NFL owner to test positive, joining the Cardinals’ Michael Bidwill. Bidwill was hospitalized for his symptoms but appears to have made a full recovery, and it sounds as if Benson will do the same.
  • Mike Chappell of Fox 59 reports that Colts wide receiver Parris Campbell is in the concussion protocol following a minor car accident earlier this week. Indianapolis nabbed the Ohio State speedster in the second round of last year’s draft, and after his rookie campaign was derailed due to injury, he was in the midst of a solid training camp this year. He is a roster lock, of course, but it’s unfortunate that his positive momentum has been slowed a bit.
  • The Texans activated Gareon Conley from the PUP list earlier this month, and Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle reports that the 2017 first-rounder is progressing well from his offseason arthroscopic ankle surgery. Houston declined Conley’s fifth-year option for 2021, so he will be eligible for free agency next year and could cash in with a strong platform campaign. However, Wilson says second-year pro Lonnie Johnson and Conley are neck-and-neck for a starting job, as Conley has been inconsistent since his return to the field.
  • We learned earlier today that the Buccaneers are interested in extending longtime LB Lavonte David.

Rams, Jalen Ramsey Not Close On Extension

August 28th, 2020 at 12:11pm CST by Rory Parks

The Rams and cornerback Jalen Ramsey are not close to an agreement on a contract extension, per veteran NFL reporter Josina Anderson (via Twitter). However, Anderson’s source notes that it’s still early in the process, thereby implying that there is no real tension between player and team at this time.

Of course, given that Los Angeles ponied up two first-round picks and a fourth-rounder to obtain the outspoken star last October, the club will do everything in its power to keep him around on a long-term basis. Ramsey, the No. 5 overall pick of the 2016 draft, did not maintain the same high level of play during after his trade to the Rams that he displayed during his 3+ years with the Jaguars, but there is no reason to believe that he cannot return to form and serve as one of the game’s top corners for years to come.

Indeed, Rams head coach Sean McVay recently indicated that he views Ramsey as a player who can reset the CB market, which certainly won’t hurt Ramsey’s leverage. Currently, Darius Slay is the leader in the cornerback clubhouse with an average annual value of $16.7MM, so Ramsey is likely shooting for at least a $17MM AAV. And given that he won’t turn 26 until October, he is likely eyeing the ~$57MM in guarantees that Byron Jones took home from the Dolphins this offseason.

The Rams’ cap space could be a complicating factor in negotiations. According to OverTheCap.com, LA has roughly $4MM of room right now. Ramsey is presently slated to take home a $13.7MM salary this season with a corresponding cap charge, and while an extension could theoretically bring that number down a bit, the team also has future salary cap concerns, exacerbated by the fact that the 2021 cap could decrease by as much as $23MM.

So talks could extend into the season, but look for the two sides to come to an agreement at some point before the end of the 2020 campaign.

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