HEADLINES

Month: November 2024

Dolphins Expected To Acquire RB1 In Offseason

March 7th, 2021 at 12:15pm CST by Rory Parks

Whether it happens via the draft or free agency, Cameron Wolfe of ESPN.com expects the Dolphins to acquire a feature running back this offseason. The club is currently rostering 2019 seventh-rounder Myles Gaskin and 2020 UDFA Salvon Ahmed, and while both were useful players last season, Wolfe views them more as complementary pieces than anything else.

We learned last month that there is mutual interest between the Dolphins and Packers RB Aaron Jones, but right now, it appears as if Green Bay might put the franchise tag on Jones. That would leave the Cardinals’ Kenyan Drake and the Seahawks’ Chris Carson as arguably the top RBs eligible for unrestricted free agency, and of those two, Drake — whom Miami traded to Arizona in 2019 — seems more likely to leave his current club.

However, the Dolphins have a number of needs, including at wide receiver — Wolfe expects the team to add at least one starting-caliber wideout — and major free agent deals for RBs have often been regrettable investments. A one-year flier on a player like Marlon Mack could make sense, but otherwise, the ‘Fins may look to the draft for their RB1.

Although a trade for Deshaun Watson would probably empty out a good chunk of the Dolphins’ premium draft capital in 2021, the team currently boasts four top-50 selections, including No. 3 and No. 18 overall, and that second first-rounder might be ticketed for Alabama RB Najee Harris. Harris was a force on the ground and through the air for the Crimson Tide, and UNC’s Javonte Williams is a similarly appealing option who could be had in the second round.

If the Dolphins don’t trade for Watson, the need to upgrade their skill position talent around Tua Tagovailoa becomes even more pronounced. While the club is not as flush with cap space this year as it was last year, it has enough cash and certainly enough draft capital to add several significant pieces to the offensive side of the ball.

Chargers LB Denzel Perryman To Test Market

March 7th, 2021 at 11:21am CST by Rory Parks

Chargers linebacker Denzel Perryman will hit the open market. The 28-year-old has not ruled out a return to the Bolts, but he will first look to see what other clubs have to offer, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports (Twitter link).

LA’s fortunes have been undermined by injuries in recent seasons, and Perryman has certainly dealt with his fair share of health problems. He appeared in only seven games in 2017, only nine the following year, and has never played in more than 14. Even in his injury-marred campaigns, though, he generally operated as a starter. But in 2020, he was utilized in more of a rotational role, starting a career-low six contests.

Despite that, 2020 may have been one of his best seasons. He scored a terrific 83.3 overall grade from Pro Football Focus — which would have been fifth-best in the entire league if he had met PFF’s snap minimum — and he demonstrated a marked improvement in his coverage abilities. Long lauded for his hard hitting and run-stuffing prowess, Perryman was more of a complete player last season, which certainly won’t hurt his value.

However, his injury history and the reduced salary cap are both working against him, and those factors could force him to accept a modest one-year pact, as many “middle class” free agents are expected to do in 2021. And with the Chargers also rostering younger players like Kenneth Murray, Drue Tranquill, and Kyzir White, Perryman may feel that a one-year deal on a club that will utilize him in a more prominent role will give him a better chance to make hay in 2022.

WFT Unlikely To Re-Sign Reuben Foster

March 7th, 2021 at 10:49am CST by Rory Parks

It does not appear that Reuben Foster will ever suit up for the Washington Football Team. WFT’s prior regime claimed Foster off waivers from the 49ers in November 2018 — a controversial decision at the time, given that he had been arrested twice in a matter of months, with the second arrest stemming from a domestic abuse allegation — and he landed on the commissioner’s exempt list shortly after he was claimed. That precluded him from playing for the rest of the 2018 campaign.

He was reinstated in the spring of 2019, but in his first practice with Washington, Foster suffered a torn ACL, LCL, and MCL. He also dealt with nerve damage that left him without feeling in his toes for several months. Last April, WFT made the no-brainer decision to decline his fifth-year option for 2021 — which would have been guaranteed for injury — and though Foster was activated from the PUP list in August 2020, it was clear that he was not anywhere close to his old self. As such, he was shut down again and spent all of 2020 on IR.

Despite all of that, there has been some chatter that Foster could be an integral part of the team’s LB corps in 2021. But as JP Finlay of NBC Sports Washington writes, that appears highly unlikely.

Foster is still young enough to be a high-level performer from an age standpoint, as he will turn just 27 next month. Still, he has not played in a game since October 2018 and has not yet been able to overcome his serious leg injuries, so it would be unwise for any club to expect too much of him at this point. Because WFT declined his fifth-year option, he is eligible for unrestricted free agency and will almost certainly need to settle for a minimum contract.

Although there is nothing stopping Washington from being the team to give Foster such a deal, Finlay does not expect that to happen. Instead, Finlay believes the team will seek LB upgrades in the draft and free agency.

OLB Cole Holcomb performed reasonably well in his second pro season, and MLB Jon Bostic is under contract at a reasonable rate in 2021, but Kevin Pierre-Louis is a free agent, and the cupboard is mostly bare beyond that. Washington’s linebackers played better down the stretch in 2020 following head coach Ron Rivera‘s comments that he needed to see more from the group, but some reinforcements are clearly in order.

Rivera has had no problems cutting ties with players brought in prior to his arrival, and Foster, who in 2017 looked primed to become one of the league’s very best LBs, does not appear to be in Rivera’s plans.

Vikings Want To Retain RB Mike Boone

March 7th, 2021 at 9:51am CST by Rory Parks

With Dalvin Cook, Alexander Mattison, and Mike Boone, the Vikings have boasted an enviable RB depth chart over the past several seasons. In order to keep that trio together, however, Minnesota will need to make a decision on Boone, a restricted free agent.

As Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports, the club wants to retain Boone (Twitter link). The question, though, is if the Vikings want to hand him an RFA tender or if they want to non-tender him and hope they can re-sign him to a less expensive contract.

An RFA tender at the original-round level — the only realistic tender for Boone — would cost Minnesota $2.133MM, though it would give the team the right of first refusal if another club signed Boone to an offer sheet. If the Vikings declined to match the offer sheet, they would not receive any draft pick compensation.

A $2.133MM salary for a young and talented insurance policy doesn’t seem like much of a commitment, but the Vikes are still over the 2021 cap at the moment, so they need to cut costs wherever they can. GM Rick Spielman may feel that another team would not offer Boone more than $2.133MM if he were to be non-tendered, and he may be right. Although Boone has flashed during his three professional seasons, he has not had many opportunities.

The Cincinnati product has just 71 career carries to his name, and he had only 11 totes in 2020. He does boast a 5.3 YPC average over that small sample size, and there is reason to believe he would perform well in a larger role, but he probably shouldn’t bank on a significant raise over the $750K he pocketed last year.

Eagles To Restructure Brandon Graham, Lane Johnson Contracts

March 7th, 2021 at 9:13am CST by Rory Parks

The Eagles recently created some much-needed cap space by handing a new deal to center Jason Kelce and restructuring the contract of cornerback Darius Slay. Of course, the club still has plenty of work to do to get under the reduced 2021 salary cap, so the expectation is that right tackle Lane Johnson and defensive end Brandon Graham will soon see their deals reworked as well.

In fact, Geoff Mosher of InsideTheBirds.com says that Johnson has already agreed to a restructure, though if that’s true, we don’t yet have any details. Mosher confirms that the Eagles will address Graham’s contract situation, and speculatively, that could mean an extension as opposed to a restructure.

As Mosher observes, these contractual machinations are nothing new for the Eagles, but the difference this year is that executive vice president of football operations Howie Roseman has been forced to rework the deals of players who are on the wrong side of 30 as opposed to younger talent. So if those players should experience a sudden decline or suffer a major injury, it will be more difficult for Philadelphia to get out from under their contracts (see, e.g., Alshon Jeffery). But most expect the salary cap to spike in 2022, and Roseman, like many execs around the league, is banking on that becoming a reality as they navigate this year’s cap crunch.

Johnson, who will turn 31 in May, just agreed to a restructure at the start of the 2020 campaign, and his cap number for 2021 sits just shy of $18MM. He played in just seven games last year due to a painful ankle injury, but he earned Pro Bowl bids in each of the prior three seasons. Graham, meanwhile, has played in at least 15 games in each of the past nine seasons, and he is coming off his first career Pro Bowl nomination. The soon-to-be 33-year-old edge defender also has a 2021 cap number just under $18MM.

Kelce’s new deal does indeed include dummy years, according to Mosher. That allows the Eagles to spread out his $9MM in guarantees, but player and team would need to agree to yet another restructure if Kelce — who has previously flirted with retirement — wants to return to the field in 2022.

In other Eagles news, the club is moving defensive end Genard Avery to linebacker, as Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk passes along. Philadelphia acquired Avery in a trade with the Browns in October 2019, but the 2018 fifth-rounder has seen limited defensive reps over the past several seasons. At just 250 pounds, Avery may have been miscast as a DE, and he will have a chance to remake himself as he enters the final year of his rookie contract.

He compiled 40 tackles and 4.5 sacks as a first-year pro in Cleveland in 2018 but totaled just 18 tackles and two sacks over the following two years.

The NFL’s Post-June 1 Cuts, Explained

March 6th, 2021 at 8:00pm CST by Zachary Links

NFL teams will often use contract bonuses as a way to spread out a cap hit that might otherwise be exorbitant. For example, if a player’s four-year deal includes a $8MM signing bonus, that money can be paid immediately but spread out over four years for cap purposes. This way, the cap charge for the bonus amounts to $2MM per year for cap purposes, rather than $8MM in year one.

There’s an obvious benefit to kicking the can down the road, but it can also hurt teams if they want to terminate that deal. If the club in the above scenario wanted to release the player in the second year of his contract, it would still have to account for that remaining prorated bonus money. Rather than counting on the cap as $2MM per year for two seasons, that dead money “accelerates,” and applies to the cap for the league year in which the player is released. In other words, the remaining $4MM in prorated bonus money immediately counts against the cap.

Although these rules apply to many cuts, a different set of rules is in place for players released after June 1. In that case, a team can spread the cap hit across two seasons rather than one — for the current season, the prorated bonus figure stays at its original amount, with the remaining bonus balance accelerating onto the following season. Referring again to the above scenario, that means the player would count against the cap for $2MM in the league year in which he was cut, with the remaining $4MM applying to the following league year.

The guidelines for pre-June 1 and post-June 1 cuts are fairly straightforward, but things become a little more complicated when we take into account that teams are allowed to designate up to two players as post-June 1 cuts even if those players are released before June. Last offseason, we players like Trey Burton (Bears), Desmond Trufant (Falcons), Trumaine Johnson (Jets), and Todd Gurley (Rams) designated as post-June 1 cuts well before the actual date.

In the case of Johnson, the Jets were initially slated to pay him $11MM in base salary. Under typical circumstances, the release would have left Gang Green with a $12MM dead money obligation for 2020. However, through the post-June 1 designation, they unlocked $11MM in cap space with just $4MM in dead money. This year, they’ll wrangle with the remaining $8MM charge.

Of course, teams won’t always opt for the dead money deferral. For example, the Panthers just recently terminated Kawann Short’s contract, which left $11MM lingering on the cap. Rather than spreading it out, the Panthers chose to take it all on the current cap for a cleaner long-term slate. And, even if the team doesn’t use that cap space for summer free agents, it can come in handy for signing draft picks.

Bucs, Tom Brady Discussing New Contract

March 6th, 2021 at 4:48pm CST by Sam Robinson

With Tom Brady recently moving the goal posts on his long-established play-until-he’s-45 target, the Buccaneers are discussing a new deal with their quarterback. And the sides are making progress, according to veteran NFL reporter Josina Anderson (on Twitter).

Brady is on Tampa Bay’s books at $28.4MM in 2021. An extension would be a way to reduce that number and help the Super Bowl champions retain some of their high-profile free agents. GM Jason Licht said last month a Brady extension was on the radar.

Coming off a rather successful age-43 season, Brady has said he is open to playing past age 45 now. (Brady will turn 44 in August.) His two-year, $50MM contract runs through 2021.

The Bucs have $11MM in cap space and can only retain one of their marquee free agents with the franchise tag. Chris Godwin and Shaquil Barrett are Tampa Bay’s tag candidates, and the team also has Lavonte David, Rob Gronkowski, Antonio Brown, Ndamukong Suh and Leonard Fournette looming as free agents-to-be. Free agency opens March 17, but the legal tampering period begins two days earlier.

The Bucs have said they want to keep everyone in this group, and some of these cogs have indicated they would like to return. While Brady’s presence and the Bucs’ status as defending champions stands to be a draw for veterans during a year in which many could be available — due to the likely reduced salary cap — the aforementioned contingent played a significant part in Tampa Bay claiming its second Super Bowl title. Losing a few from the group would sting.

Although Brady did not make the Pro Bowl, he climbed back into the top 10 in QBR (seventh) after a spotty 2019 season in New England. The future Hall of Fame quarterback bounced back from a three-INT second half in the NFC championship game, throwing three TD passes in the first half of Super Bowl LV. He will miss much of the Bucs’ offseason program due to knee surgery and may be out until June. However, Brady having spent a year in Bruce Arians‘ offense figures to make this offseason less important than last year’s for the 21-year veteran.

NFC West Notes: Seahawks, Watt, 49ers

March 6th, 2021 at 4:45pm CST by Sam Robinson

Following a season in which the Seahawks failed to reach the NFC championship game for a sixth straight year, Russell Wilson set about communicating his goals for what he views as the second half of his career with his camp. Those goals center around returning the Seahawks to a Super Bowl-caliber team. Wilson then brought those to Pete Carroll, per Albert Breer of SI.com, who notes the perennial Pro Bowl passer communicated he wants more say regarding the direction of the team.

Wilson also mentioned to Carroll he would like the Seahawks to make a genuine investment in a high-end offensive lineman, Breer adds. The Seahawks did trade for Pro Bowl left tackle Duane Brown in 2018, but he will turn 36 this year and is signed only through 2021. And they have not otherwise made big moves on their offensive front in recent years. Beyond guard Damien Lewis, the Seahawks could certainly use more help up front. One of Wilson’s goals — a new offensive philosophy — has come to pass, with Breer adding Wilson was “fully on board” with new OC Shane Waldron.

For what it’s worth, the 32-year-old quarterback does not expect to be traded. But he has, as you may have heard, revealed a destination list. And the Bears are taking that quite seriously. Here is the latest from the NFC West:

  • The Seahawks have a few of their defensive contributors on track for free agency. One of those UFAs-to-be, Shaquill Griffin, is not certain he will return to Seattle. “I would love to be back in Seattle, but I know there’s a business aspect behind it,” Griffin said during an appearance on the NFL Network’s Good Morning Football (via OregonLive.com). “But that organization knows I love it over there — the fans and coaches know how much I love Seattle. But at the end of the day, I know it’s strictly business.” This puts him in a similar position to K.J. Wright, who wants to stay — but not on a hometown discount. The Seahawks have less than $5MM in cap space, so the franchise will need to create a bit more cap room going into free agency.
  • In order to preserve some cap space in a year in which the cap is expected to decline for only the second time ever, the Cardinals structured J.J. Watt‘s contract unusually. Watt’s two-year, $28MM deal ($31MM max value, via incentives) will only count $4.9MM on Arizona’s 2021 cap sheet, per OverTheCap. The Cards have tacked on three void years to prorate Watt’s signing bonus. Those years will void in 2023, creating $7.2MM in dead money, CBS Sports’ Joel Corry tweets. With the cap expected to go up again starting in 2022, it is not surprising to see the Cardinals opt to preserve cap space this year and worry about additional charges down the line. They still hold $12MM-plus in cap room; that sits in NFL’s top half.
  • Even though Trent Williams has expressed interest in staying in San Francisco, the 49ers are unlikely to keep the decorated left tackle off the market. Williams cannot be tagged. Were Williams to depart, the 49ers would have a major void up front. They should not be considered a destination for disgruntled Ravens tackle Orlando Brown, per Matt Barrows of The Athletic, who notes Brown’s 345-pound frame and mobility issues make him a poor fit for Kyle Shanahan‘s scheme (subscription required). The Ravens are listening to offers on Brown, who wants to play left tackle.

Bills Re-Sign LB Andre Smith

March 6th, 2021 at 3:28pm CST by Sam Robinson

One of many ex-Panthers who played for the Bills last season, Andre Smith will stay in Buffalo for the 2021 campaign and beyond.

The Bills agreed to terms with the would-be restricted free agent linebacker Saturday. It is a two-year deal worth as much as $3MM, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. This contract comes in below the RFA tender threshold and puts off Smith’s unrestricted free agency bid by a year.

Buffalo traded for Smith last year and used him in 12 games, primarily as a special-teamer. Smith made nine tackles and forced a fumble last season. He joined Mario Addison, Josh Norman, A.J. Klein, Daryl Williams and Vernon Butler among ex-Panthers to join the Bills last year. GM Brandon Beane and Sean McDermott, of course, have extensive ties to Carolina. However, neither was with the franchise when it drafted Smith.

Originally a seventh-round pick in 2018, Smith is still just 23. The North Carolina alum played in 19 games with the Panthers, who used him in the same capacity the Bills did. He is now signed through the 2022 season.

Cardinals GM: Free Agency Not Deadline For Larry Fitzgerald Decision

March 6th, 2021 at 2:33pm CST by Sam Robinson

Larry Fitzgerald has played the past five seasons on one-year contracts, but the future Hall of Fame wide receiver had decided on a return by this point in each of those preceding offseasons.

Over the past three years, Fitzgerald decided to return in February 2018 — honoring a one-year extension he inked the previous November — and in January of 2019 and 2020. In each of the past five seasons, Fitzgerald’s going rate has been $11MM. Another such payment will be difficult to justify, given the Cardinals’ cap situation and Fitz’s performance in 2020.

But the 37-year-old wideout still appears to have a place on the 2021 team, Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com writes, should he decide he wants to play an 18th season. Fitzgerald said in February he did not have a timetable on whether he would retire or return. He was similarly mum when the topic resurfaced last week.

“I’ve said it a few times that you know he deserves that space,” Cards GM Steve Keim said. “At some point in time, I’m sure we’ll talk to him here in the near future.”

Last season, Fitzgerald fell off the consistent track he had traveled. He averaged just 7.6 yards per reception (54 catches, 409 yards, one touchdown) and missed three games. Fitz was one of many NFLers to contract COVID-19, and he experienced symptoms that sidelined him for two games. He then missed Week 17 because of a groin injury — his first injury-related absence since the 2014 season.

The Cards have DeAndre Hopkins signed to a $27.3MM-per-year pact, but he is on their 2021 cap sheet at just $12.5MM. Christian Kirk has one season remaining on his rookie contract. Arizona has $12.5MM in cap space and has younger pending free agents in Patrick Peterson, Haason Reddick and Kenyan Drake.

Even if Fitzgerald comes back, the team will still likely add at the receiver position to provide Kyler Murray more help. But a decision should be expected soon, and it will almost certainly determine if Fitzgerald heads to Canton in 2027 or 2028. He ranks second all time in receptions, with those 1,432 catches leading active active pass catchers by more than 500. Fitz’s 17,492 receiving yards are also second; that number leads active players by over 4,500 yards.

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