2020 September - Pro Football Rumors

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/13/20

September 13th, 2020 at 8:52pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

Jacksonville Jaguars

Expected to sign: CB Josh Nurse

This move won’t process until early this week, but Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle tweets that it’s expected to happen. Nurse is a rookie UDFA who was in camp with the Ravens. He was only a one-year starter with the Utes. The Jags have completely remade their secondary after trading away Jalen Ramsey, A.J. Bouye, and Ronnie Harrison and it’s now one of the youngest units in the league, so it makes sense that they’re taking all possible flyers.

Chargers LB Drue Tranquill Likely Has Broken Ankle

September 13th, 2020 at 7:35pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

The Chargers escaped with a narrow victory over the Bengals in Week 1, but they didn’t make it out unscathed. Linebacker Drue Tranquill was carted off with an ankle injury, and the initial belief is he broke his ankle, a source told Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link).

Assuming that’s the case, then his season is likely over. It’s a tough break for the young Notre Dame product, who was drafted in the fourth-round last year. He started three games while appearing in 15 and playing around 40 percent of the defensive snaps. He was ticketed for an even bigger role this time around, which makes this a devastating blow.

The Chargers’ defense is loaded with talent on the defensive line and in the secondary, but linebacking is the one question mark. Guys like Kyzir White and first-round rookie Kenneth Murray will be even more important now.

The unit played well and mostly held Joe Burrow in check Sunday, but this isn’t the first significant injury to the defense. All-Pro safety Derwin James, of course, was just lost for the season with a knee injury. Another year, another crop of health issues for the Chargers…

Saints Sign LB Demario Davis To Three-Year Extension

September 13th, 2020 at 6:49pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

Alvin Kamara isn’t the only Saint with a big new deal. New Orleans has signed linebacker Demario Davis to a three-year extension, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network tweets. (FOX’s Erin Andrews was first to report the news).

Rapoport notes that the deal has a base value of $27MM, with $18.35MM of that being guaranteed. He’ll also have Pro Bowl incentives of $500K in each of the three seasons. Davis signed in New Orleans on a three-year, $24MM deal back in March of 2018, and had been scheduled to become a free agent after the year.

As Tom Pelissero of NFL Network tweets the Saints recently tweaked defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins’ deal to clear up $4MM in cap space, perhaps helping to facilitate this deal. A third-round pick of the Jets in 2012, Davis spent the first four years of his career in New York, then spent a year with the Browns, then went back to the Jets.

A first-team All-Pro selection last season, Davis has never missed a game in his eight-year career. In 16 starts last year he had 111 tackles, four sacks, an interception, and 12 passes defended. New Orleans’ defense looked pretty good against Tom Brady in Week 1, and Davis will be a big part of that unit moving forward.

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/13/20

September 13th, 2020 at 5:08pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

We’ll post today’s practice squad moves here:

Tennessee Titans

Signed: LB Daren Bates

Tennessee is adding some veteran insurance to their defense. An UDFA back in 2013, he’s bounced around the league the last handful of years. He spent 2017-19 with the Titans, playing mostly on special teams, so there’s plenty of familiarity here.

Colts Fear RB Marlon Mack Has Torn Achilles

September 13th, 2020 at 4:08pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

The Colts were upset by the Jaguars in embarrassing fashion on Sunday, but that might not even be the worst of it. Indianapolis appears to have lost their starting running back for the season, as the team fears Marlon Mack tore his Achilles during the loss to Jacksonville, sources told Tom Pelissero of NFL Network (Twitter link).

While it’s a brutal blow this early in the season, the Colts at least have a deep backfield. Rookie second-round pick Jonathan Taylor will now be counted on for an even bigger role, and Nyheim Hines should see his snaps increase as well.

It’s devastating for Mack personally, as he’s set to become a free agent at the end of the season and will now likely see his market severely deflated. A fourth-round pick out of South Florida in 2017, Mack was the Colts’ starter the past two seasons.

He had 1,091 yards and eight touchdowns on the ground in 14 games last year. He averaged a solid 4.4 yards per carry, but the drafting of Taylor indicated they weren’t sold on him as the longterm starter anyway. The Philip Rivers era hasn’t gotten off to a great start in Indianapolis.

Lions Restructure Matthew Stafford’s Contract

September 13th, 2020 at 12:25pm CST by Rory Parks

The Lions have reworked QB Matthew Stafford‘s contract. Per Adam Schefter of ESPN.com, the Lions will convert $7.8MM of Stafford’s 2020 base salary into a signing bonus (Twitter link).

As Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press observes, Stafford’s renegotiation in 2019 gave the Lions the ability to exercise a $7.2MM option bonus by yesterday (Twitter link). That would have resulted in a $15MM total salary, so the club instead elected to make $7.8MM of that amount a signing bonus in order to spread out the cap charge a bit.

Stafford, 32, was the subject of trade speculation earlier this year, though Lions GM Bob Quinn was quick to shoot down those rumors. There was also some thought that Detroit could use its No. 3 overall pick in the 2020 draft to select a future heir to Stafford, but that didn’t happen either. As of right now, it seems as if Stafford will remain in Detroit at least through the end of his current contract, which expires after the 2022 season (with a voidable year in 2023 for cap purposes).

The No. 1 overall pick of the 2009 draft was in the midst of a very strong season in 2019 before a serious back injury suffered in November put an end to his streak of 136 consecutive starts and ultimately landed him on IR. Prior to that, he had compiled nearly 2,500 passing yards and 19 TDs against just five interceptions, good for a career-best 106.0 QB rating.

Stafford is now fully healthy and is ready to lead his team against the division-rival Bears in this afternoon’s season opener.

Zach Ertz: I’m Not Sure If Eagles Want Me Here

September 13th, 2020 at 11:50am CST by Zachary Links

Sep. 13: Rapoport says that Ertz and GM Howie Roseman got into an animated and heated discussion after a practice this week (video link). That discussion took place in front of several players, leading Rapoport to speculate that Ertz’s future in Philadelphia may be even more in doubt.

In a subsequent tweet, however, RapSheet said that the exchange also included owner Jeffrey Lurie and ended on a professional note. So clearly there is some tension there, but the situation does not appear to be beyond repair.

Sep. 10: Eagles tight end Zach Ertz says he wants to stay in Philadelphia, but he doesn’t “know for sure if that feeling is mutual,” (Twitter link via Ian Rapoport of NFL.com). Talks recently broke off between the Eagles and Ertz, who characterized the process as “frustrating at times” and “difficult.”

Ertz is believed to be eyeing numbers similar to those achieved by George Kittle and Travis Kelce, who pushed the TE ceiling to $15MM per year. Meanwhile, the Eagles’ last offer to the 29-year-old was reportedly worth less over the next four years than Austin Hooper‘s four-year, $42MM Browns deal. Of course, it’s important to note the framing of those numbers – Ertz has two years to go on his current deal, so the mashup of old money and new money isn’t exactly fair.

Ertz is set to earn base salaries of $6.7MM and $8.3MM in 2020 and ’21, the final seasons of the five-year, $42.5MM pact he inked in 2016. Overall, that deal averages out to $8.5MM/year, which ranks seventh among TEs. With no guaranteed money to go, Ertz wants a raise, and additional security.

Last year, Ertz racked up 88 catches for 916 yards and six touchdowns – an especially solid stat line given the Birds’ up-and-down season. In 2018, he notched career highs in just about every category with 116 receptions (also an NFL record for TEs), 1,163 yards, and eight touchdowns. A Pro Bowler in each of his last three seasons, Ertz has 525 grabs, 5,743 receiving yards, and 35 touchdowns to his credit across seven pro seasons. Meanwhile, he’s led the team in catches and receiving yards in each of the last four seasons.

Patriots Considered Trading Stephon Gilmore

September 13th, 2020 at 11:20am CST by Rory Parks

The Patriots and Stephon Gilmore recently agreed to a sizable pay raise for 2020, but the club considered trading the star cornerback before this year’s draft and during training camp, as Albert Breer of SI.com reports (via Twitter). It’s unclear who the interested teams were and what the compensation might have been, but trading Gilmore obviously would have had a significant detrimental impact on New England’s 2020 prospects.

Breer suggests that the trade discussions may have been financially motivated, as he says the Patriots’ high number of opt-outs and the corresponding salary cap room those opt-outs created “changed the equation.” New England is carrying a significant amount of dead money on its books this season, but the club still has the second-most cap room in the league right now, at roughly $31.5MM. The opt-outs certainly help that number, but the opt-outs were finalized in early August. So if trade discussions were indeed happening during training camp, perhaps there were other factors at play (like the desire to trade Gilmore while his value is at its peak).

In any event, the extra cap space did make it a little easier for the team to give Gilmore the above-referenced pay bump and bring his 2020 salary more in line with the top of the CB market. He still has two years left on the five-year contract he signed prior to the 2017 season, and the two sides could explore extension talks following the 2020 campaign.

New England certainly would have had plenty of suitors for Gilmore, who will turn 30 this week and who pulled down Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2019. The Pats still have enough juice to be competitive this season, but some believe that the team could be in for a difficult rebuild in the post-Tom Brady era, so extra draft capital would have helped that cause.

On the other hand, a rejuvenated Cam Newton could help New England return to the playoffs, and with Bill Belichick at the helm, a rebuild for the Pats might look different than it would for other teams.

Vikings, Eric Kendricks Agree To Reworked Deal

September 13th, 2020 at 10:16am CST by Rory Parks

The Vikings just agreed to a five-year extension for running back Dalvin Cook, and in order to create sufficient cap room for that deal, the club restructured the contract of LB Eric Kendricks. Per Adam Schefter of ESPN.com, Minnesota converted $6MM of Kendricks’ base salary into a signing bonus to spread out his cap charge (Twitter link).

This is the second year in a row that the Vikings and Kendricks have come together on a reworked deal. Last May, the club and Kendricks agreed to a similar restructure that may have allowed TE Kyle Rudolph to remain in Minnesota.

Of course, these types of kicking-the-can-down-the-road maneuvers always carry some risks, especially considering that the 2021 cap is expected to decrease. But Kendricks, who signed a five-year extension in 2018 that runs through the 2023 campaign, continues to play at a high level. As of right now, it looks like he will see the end of his contract — or sign another extension before then — so the dead cap charges that increase in a restructure like this one may never come into play.

Kendricks, 28, posted his fourth consecutive 100+ tackle campaign in 2019. He tallied 110 tackles in 15 games (all starts), and he graded out as the second-best LB in the league per Pro Football Focus’ advanced metrics. That effort led to a Pro Bowl nod and First Team All-Pro selection in 2019, the first such honors of his career.

49ers To Host Ziggy Ansah For Second Time

September 13th, 2020 at 9:26am CST by Rory Parks

It would seem that the 49ers are interested in former Lions and Seahawks defensive end Ziggy Ansah. The club met with Ansah last month, and as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports, Ansah will be back in San Francisco today to undergo COVID-19 testing in advance of a workout on Tuesday (Twitter link).

Though Ansah’s salary is unlikely to be particularly large, it would not be surprising to see interest in his services pick up after Week 1 in order to prevent that salary from becoming fully guaranteed. The 49ers are trying to prevent other clubs — like the Ravens and Bills, who are reportedly interested in Ansah — from swooping in to sign the 31-year-old.

Though the 49ers have several high-profile talents that can wreak havoc off the edge, like Nick Bosa and Arik Armstead, Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle says the club is “starving” for pass rush depth (Twitter link). Ansah certainly fits the description of a high-reward, low-risk pickup that could provide a jolt to the Niners’ DE rotation.

The No. 5 overall pick of the 2013 draft, Ansah posted a double-digit sack campaign as recently as 2017. A shoulder injury marred his 2018 season and delayed his 2019 debut, but he is now another year removed from that injury, so while he may not be the sack leader in anyone’s locker room at this point, he may still be able to provide starter-caliber play.

The 49ers kick off their season against the Cardinals this afternoon and will hope that their current group of edge defenders can make life difficult for Arizona QB Kyler Murray.