HEADLINES

Month: November 2024

Latest On Allegations Against Deshaun Watson

March 21st, 2021 at 9:12am CST by Rory Parks

As of March 18, Houston-based attorney Tony Buzbee had filed three lawsuits against Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson on behalf of three massage therapists alleging inappropriate conduct and sexual assault. Now, Buzbee has filed a total of seven suits, and as Sarah Barshop of ESPN.com writes, at least five more will be on the way.

No criminal charges or complaints have been filed against Watson, but according to Barshop, Buzbee is pushing to change that. The attorney plans to submit affidavits and evidence concerning the alleged misconduct to the Houston Police Department and the Houston DA on Monday morning, and he will also request that a grand jury consider the evidence.

Obviously, that is part of Buzbee’s effort to increase his leverage in his civil suits, and the fact that he is submitting affidavits and evidence to the DA’s office does not mean that the DA will believe those materials represent probable cause to initiate criminal proceedings. Still, it’s clear that this matter is not going away, and Watson’s attorney, Rusty Hardin, says a response is forthcoming.

“I’m extremely proud to represent Deshaun Watson and wholly stand behind him against what we believe are meritless allegations,” Hardin said. “However, we will wait to comment in detail until we’ve completed our review of the numerous, evolving allegations from Mr. Buzbee. We will respond next week and ask you to keep an open mind until we do so.” (Twitter link via Mark Berman of FOX 26).

Up until the suits were filed, Watson had been all over the headlines for football-related reasons. He and the Texans were playing a game of chicken over the three-time Pro Bowler’s trade demand, and on March 19 — even after the seventh lawsuit — Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle reported that several clubs remained interested in swinging a trade for Watson. That includes the Eagles, whose interest had not been reported previously.

“We need to know more facts before making a firm decision on a trade, but, yes, we’re still interested,” said one NFL executive. “How could you not be interested in Deshaun Watson possibly being your quarterback? The guy is an incredible talent.”

Said another exec, “[w]hat Deshaun Watson has been accused of obviously doesn’t match up at all with what we’ve heard and know about him as a really great person, but you can’t ignore these serious allegations. What that means is making sure you’re doing your homework and making sure you have all the facts before you get heavily involved in trade negotiations. There’s the NFL investigation, the court stuff and you have to let it all play out and make an informed decision. Yes, we’re still very interested in Deshaun Watson. What he has done on the field checks every box for quarterback play.”

If these allegations are not resolved in Watson’s favor in short order, you can expect that interested teams will stop their pursuit of the Texans’ signal-caller.

Broncos Open To Kareem Jackson Return

March 20th, 2021 at 9:51pm CST by Zachary Links

Kareem Jackson says the door to a Broncos return is “not entirely closed.” And, over the weekend, Broncos GM George Paton echoed those sentiments, as Troy Renck of Denver7 tweets.

“With Kareem, we had great conversations with his agent,” Paton said. “We tried to get something done but we couldn’t. We left the door open for Kareem to come back.”

When the two sides couldn’t agree on a restructured deal, the Broncos declined the veteran safety’s option to save $7.1MM in cap space. Jackson, 32, joined the Broncos on a three-year, $33MM deal back in 2019. He quickly became a favorite among teammates and the coaching staff for hard-hitting style. Over the last two years, he started in all 29 of his games for Denver, tallying 160 tackles, 14 passes defended, and three interceptions.

One way or another, the Broncos need to fill the safety spot alongside Justin Simmons. However, it’s likely that Jackson will explore his options before considering a lesser offer from the Broncos. Meanwhile, Paton says he won’t rush the process.

“It’s a priority,” Paton said of the position. “It definitely is but we have a long time. There’s free agency, there’s a lot of safeties on the market, including Kareem, and then we have the draft. There’s also the trade market. The good thing is we don’t play a game for a while. We have a lot of time.”

Lions Re-Sign LS Don Muhlbach

March 20th, 2021 at 6:45pm CST by Sam Robinson

A Lion since midway through the franchise’s Matt Millen era, Don Muhlbach agreed to come back for an 18th season with the team.

The Lions have again re-signed their longtime long snapper. Muhlbach, who will turn 40 in August, has played on one-year deals worth the veteran minimum for the past eight years. It seems unlikely this contract will break the trend. He made $1.05MM in base salary last season; that is firmly in the well-defined long snapper tax bracket.

Muhlbach suited up for 16 games last season, moving his career total up to 260. While that ranks in the top 10 all time for games with one franchise, it interestingly is not No. 1 in Lions history. Jason Hanson‘s 327 games are the most any NFLer has played with one team. Muhlbach snapped to the since-retired kicker for nine seasons.

The enduring former UDFA will play under a sixth head coach next season (Dan Campbell), should he make the Lions’ 53-man roster. Muhlbach’s most recent camp challenger, Steven Wirtel, is now with the Rams.

Lions, Michael Brockers Agree To New Deal

March 20th, 2021 at 6:25pm CST by Sam Robinson

Michael Brockers agreed to two contracts in free agency last year, coming to terms with both the Ravens and Rams. The veteran defensive lineman now has another new deal, this time with the Lions.

After acquiring Brockers for just a seventh-round pick, the Lions agreed to a new contract with the nine-year vet. Brockers is now attached to a three-year, $24MM contract with the Lions, Mike Garafolo of NFL.com tweets.

This deal will benefit Brockers in guarantees. After no guarantees remained on his latest Rams extension — also a three-year, $24MM pact — the Lions have included $11MM in guarantees for their newly acquired interior defender. This should move Brockers from being signed through 2022 to being under Lions control through 2023.

After Brockers’ Ravens three-year, $30MM Ravens agreement fell through, the Rams swooped in and re-signed him last March. Aaron Donald‘s longtime D-line sidekick registered five sacks and matched his career high with 10 QB hits in 2020.

Brockers joins Jared Goff in heading from Los Angeles to Detroit, with new GM Brad Holmes bringing in some familiar players to start a rebuild in Detroit. Brockers, 30, has been an ultra-reliable player over the course of his career. He has missed just six games in nine seasons, and one of those came because he landed on the Rams’ reserve/COVID-19 list late last season.

Jaguars Extend P Logan Cooke

March 20th, 2021 at 5:47pm CST by Sam Robinson

Although the Jaguars are now under a new regime’s direction, the Urban Meyer-led staff evidently likes the work of the previous regime’s punter. They agreed to an extension with Logan Cooke on Saturday.

Cooke’s second Jaguars contract will come in at around $3MM annually, according to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport (on Twitter). The Jags have used Cooke as their punter since acquiring him with a seventh-round pick in 2018. He became extension-eligible in January, and the team opted to lock him down going into his contract year.

The 47.7 yards per punt Cooke averaged last season ranked sixth. Although Cooke missed two games last season, landing on the Jags’ reserve/COVID-19 list, he has played in every other Jags contest since debuting. Cooke’s Week 15 absence led to the Jags going without a true punter, using Aldrick Rosas in that regard, but their usual punter returned for the team’s Week 17 game.

Jacksonville entered Saturday with the most cap space in the NFL, with just more than $43MM.

Colts To Re-Sign CB Xavier Rhodes

March 20th, 2021 at 5:19pm CST by Sam Robinson

Xavier Rhodes will stay in Indianapolis. After catching on with the Colts last year, the former first-round pick agreed to terms to re-sign with the team, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com tweets.

The Colts are giving Rhodes another one-year contract worth $6.5MM, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport tweets, locking in a key piece of their defense for the 2021 season. Last year, the Colts received strong value on the one-year, $3MM accord they agreed to with Rhodes. They will look to keep that going, while Rhodes may have his eye on a bigger payday in 2022.

Jettisoned after a woeful 2019 season in Minnesota, Rhodes bounced back in Matt Eberflus‘ zone-heavy defense. Pro Football Focus tabbed Rhodes as its No. 9 overall corner in 2020. He played a key role in Indianapolis’ defensive improvement, joining fellow new arrival DeForest Buckner in that regard, and will stick with the team for his age-31 season. Quarterbacks completed an astounding 82% of the passes they threw at Rhodes in 2019; he dropped that figure to 52% last season.

Under GM Chris Ballard, Indianapolis has used a measured approach to free agency. That has usually led to the team sitting on extensive cap space, though this year the Colts have cornerstone players Quenton Nelson and Darius Leonard eligible for extensions. These prospective re-ups will need to be accounted for, but the Colts came into Saturday with the NFL’s second-most cap space ($35MM-plus). They should have some interesting opportunities to bolster their team in the second wave of free agency. Another T.Y. Hilton contract remains on the team’s radar as well.

Texans Restructure Laremy Tunsil, Brandin Cooks Contracts

March 20th, 2021 at 5:13pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Texans have restructured Laremy Tunsil‘s top-market tackle contract, Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle notes. This will create $10.1MM in cap space for the rebuilding team.

Tunsil’s 2021 base salary will drop to $990K, with the funds being transferred to a $15.1MM signing bonus, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. The highly paid left tackle’s deal still runs through the 2023 season.

Despite being in clear rebuilding mode, with Deshaun Watson‘s murky status with the team making the stage of that rebuild somewhat uncertain, the Texans have been active in free agency and on the trade market. They traded for Shaq Lawson and Marcus Cannon and signed the likes of Phillip Lindsay, Tyrod Taylor, Jordan Jenkins, Desmond King and others. Tunsil’s restructure helped; so did a recent Brandin Cooks move.

The Texans’ Cooks restructure created $6MM in cap space, with ESPN.com’s Sarah Barshop noting the deal does adjust the duration of Cooks’ contract. Cooks’ five-year, $80MM Rams extension ran through the 2023 season. His recent restructure voided one of those years, putting the 27-year-old wideout under contract through 2022.

Broncos To Sign CB Kyle Fuller

March 20th, 2021 at 4:33pm CST by Sam Robinson

Less than an hour after Kyle Fuller officially became a free agent, he has a deal in place. The Broncos will sign the recently released cornerback, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets.

This pact will reunite Fuller with former Bears defensive coordinator Vic Fangio. The Broncos, who were expected to be interested, will sign Fuller to a one-year deal worth $9.5MM. Fuller’s 2018 All-Pro season came in Fangio’s defense, and he will join ex-Bears teammate Bryce Callahan in Denver. On this quickly developing deal, Fuller will collect $9MM fully guaranteed, per Pelissero.

The Broncos freed up some cap space by extending Justin Simmons on Friday. They now have three veterans in place at corner, with Fuller and Ronald Darby joining Callahan. While the Broncos had assembled a top-tier corner crew in the mid-2010s, their No Fly Zone troops are all now either retired or elsewhere. The team lacked depth at this position over the past two seasons but will now boast extensive experience here.

Fuller, 29, struggled early in his Bears career. Chicago did not pick up his fifth-year option in 2017, but after Fuller’s breakthrough 2018 campaign (NFL-high seven interceptions), they gave him the transition tag and matched a Packers offer sheet for him. However, the Bears cut him after seven seasons this week. Fuller made immediate sense for the Broncos, with Fangio having coached him for four seasons. Fuller has made two Pro Bowls — in 2018 and ’19 — and helped the Bears to three straight top-10 DVOA defenses, though Pro Football Focus rated his 2020 work just outside the top 50 at his position.

While the Broncos have three veteran salaries at corner now, none of the cogs are earning more than $10MM per year. Darby is at $10MM annually, while Callahan is going into the third and final year of his $7MM-AAV pact. Callahan played well when available last season, ranking as a top-five corner in the view of Pro Football F0cus, but the standout slot defender has missed 22 games since signing with the Broncos in 2019.

This signing lessens the Broncos’ need at corner, where mock drafters frequently have connected them with their No. 9 overall pick. GM George Paton has (understandably) said quarterback will be in play with that selection.

Bears Likely To Keep Akiem Hicks?

March 20th, 2021 at 4:31pm CST by Sam Robinson

In an eventful week for the Bears, Akiem Hicks emerged on the trade block. The standout defensive lineman is entering the final year of his contract. However, a trade may not end up materializing.

The Bears now look likely to keep Hicks for the 2021 season, according to the Chicago Tribune’s Brad Biggs (on Twitter). Hicks is due a $10.4MM salary next season.

The former All-Pro interior defender is entering the final season of his four-year, $48MM contract. The interior defender market has moved significantly since Hicks signed that deal in September 2017. Most notably, Leonard Williams is now attached to a three-year, $63MM pact. Hicks may push for an extension, with Biggs previously noting his contract was a key matter in a potential trade. As of now, an extension does not appear to be in the cards.

Keeping Hicks would allow the Bears some stability on a defense that just lost top cornerback Kyle Fuller, who officially became a cap casualty Saturday. Hicks has been with the Bears since signing a two-year, $10MM contract in 2016. While Hicks missed most of the 2019 season due to injury, he returned to play 15 games last season. He will turn 32 later this year.

Minor NFL Transactions: 3/20/21

March 20th, 2021 at 4:14pm CST by Sam Robinson

Here are the minor moves from Day 4 of official free agency:

Arizona Cardinals

Houston Texans

Jacksonville Jaguars

Los Angeles Chargers

San Francisco 49ers

 

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