HEADLINES

Month: November 2024

Browns Haven’t Ruled Out Sheldon Richardson Return

April 22nd, 2021 at 5:39pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

Sheldon Richardson became the latest high profile cap casualty when the Browns released him last week to save $11MM in space.

While Cleveland wanted to clear a hefty salary off the books to help make room for Jadeveon Clowney‘s contract, it didn’t mean they were unsatisfied with Richardson as a player. In fact, when speaking to the media this week, Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski left the door open for Richardson to return, Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com writes.

“I hope there’s a scenario,” where Richardson comes back, the second-year head coach said. “Sheldon in particular played really productive football for us. He played through injuries, and he took great pride in getting to the playoffs for the first time in his career. He was a big part of that,” Stefanski raved.

“Those are the hard decisions that are made. I really want to point out that Sheldon was such a big part of what we did last year.” Richardson spent the past two seasons with the Browns, never missing a game.

He’s still only 30 and won’t lack for interest on the open market, but it sounds like a reunion is a real possibility if he’s willing to come back at a reduced price.

Minor NFL Transactions: 4/22/21

April 22nd, 2021 at 4:25pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

We’ll keep track of today’s minor moves here:

Dallas Cowboys

Tennessee Titans

The first two defensive players the Titans took flyers on, Hector and Bello, both spent a little bit of time in Philadelphia with new Tennessee defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz. Jones started three games for the Vikings last year.

Seahawks Re-Sign Geno Smith

April 22nd, 2021 at 3:24pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

Russell Wilson isn’t the only Seahawks quarterback staying put for 2021. Seattle has re-signed backup signal-caller Geno Smith, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets.

Smith has been Wilson’s clipboard holder for the past two seasons now. It’s been a pretty relaxing job as Smith has only appeared in one game over the past two years, attempting five passes last season. The 39th overall pick of the 2013 draft, Smith spent his first two pro seasons as the Jets’ starter.

Since then he’s started only two games, one more for the Jets in 2016 and one for the Giants in 2017. He then backed up Philip Rivers with the Chargers in 2018. Smith isn’t exactly young anymore, as he’ll turn 31 in October.

As such, it wouldn’t be surprising if the Seahawks drafted a quarterback in the middle rounds next week, especially with Wilson’s future with the team still somewhat up in the air.

Bengals Wanted Giovani Bernard To Take Pay Cut

April 22nd, 2021 at 2:39pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

Giovani Bernard‘s time in Cincinnati is done, as the pass-catching back signed with the defending champion Buccaneers a couple weeks ago.

His old team apparently wasn’t set on seeing him walk out the door, but they wanted him to stay on their own terms. Bengals exec Duke Tobin said this week the team had wanted Bernard back at a lower salary, per Ben Baby of ESPN (Twitter link). Bernard declined to take a pay cut, which is what led to his somewhat surprising release.

Bernard had been a staple of the franchise for most of the past decade after they drafted him in the second-round back in 2013. He had been set to earn a $3.7MM base salary with a $4.76MM cap hit in 2021 before getting cut. Bernard elected to chase a ring with Tampa despite interest from the 49ers and Seahawks.

Meanwhile, we also now have the details on Bernard’s contract with the Bucs, which we didn’t have when he first signed. Bernard signed for the vet minimum salary of $1.075MM along with a modest signing bonus of $137.5K, Greg Auman of The Athletic tweets.

It’s quite possible Bernard signed for significantly less money to team up with Tom Brady, considering the interest from San Francisco and Seattle. Either way, it’s a great value signing for the Super Bowl champs, as Bernard remained productive while reeling in 47 catches last year.

Broncos GM Paton: Haven’t Called About Moving Up, Will Bring In QB Competition

April 22nd, 2021 at 1:41pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

We heard just a couple of days ago that the Broncos were a team potentially looking to move up in the draft. Speaking to the media today, new GM George Paton made it sound like that’s not something he’s planning on as of right now.

Paton says the team has not made any calls about moving up in the draft from their current ninth spot, James Palmer of NFL Network tweets. Paton also said has received calls from teams looking to move up next week. If Denver truly does stand pat at nine, they likely wouldn’t be able to draft one of the true top passers.

That’s relevant, because notably Paton did confirm bluntly that the Broncos are going to bring in a new quarterback to push Drew Lock. “We want to bring in competition at the quarterback position,” Paton said, via Mike Klis of Denver 9 News (Twitter link).

It doesn’t get much clearer than that. Lock certainly can’t be considered etched in stone as the Broncos’ Week 1 starter at this point. Paton also didn’t rule out moving up in the draft, saying something could materialize on draft day, only that nothing is in the works right now. If the team doesn’t draft a quarterback early it’s unclear what kind of competition they’d bring in, since the veteran market has mostly dried up. Paton did refer to a “trade market,” so maybe they could swing a deal for another team’s veteran backup.

It’s possible that if the Broncos don’t trade up and miss out on the first-round guys, they could draft a quarterback on Day 2. At that point, Davis Mills of Stanford, Kyle Trask of Florida, and Kellen Mond of Texas A&M would all be realistic options.

Draft Trade Rumors: Bears, Falcons, Bengals

April 22nd, 2021 at 11:37am CST by Rory Parks

Here’s a few of the latest draft rumors, with a focus on teams that could be moving up or down the board in the first round:

  • The Bears, who hold the No. 20 overall pick, have been rumored as a team that could be climbing up the draft board to grab a QB, but as Albert Breer of SI.com writes, they haven’t been particularly active in trade discussions just yet. A lot can happen in a week, and Breer says rival clubs do expect Chicago to at least consider a bold trade to land a top passer. On the other hand, such a deal will be very expensive in terms of draft capital, and Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune hears from some sources that GM Ryan Pace might try to protect his draft assets to fill his club’s multiple needs. Still, Pace’s job and HC Matt Nagy‘s job are very much in jeopardy, and unless the duo is particularly high on a second-tier QB like Florida’s Kyle Trask, expect the team to exhaust all possible avenues for a trade up.
  • The Falcons may be open to all options when it comes to their No. 4 overall pick, but Breer is getting the sense that Atlanta is perfectly content to stay right where it is. Whether the Falcons take a QB with that pick or the top non-QB prospect in the draft remains an open question, but they have put a very high price on their selection, and it sounds like they will need to be overwhelmed by a trade offer to move it.
  • The buzz around the Bengals has pointed towards the team keeping its No. 5 overall pick and selecting LSU WR Ja’Marr Chase. Director of player personnel Duke Tobin said that he has engaged in talks with teams looking to move up to No. 5, but he wants to stay put and select a premier talent (Twitter link via Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com).
  • Other teams are expecting the Dolphins to keep the No. 6 selection, but GM Chris Grier says that he will continue listening to trade offers up until the pick is in (Twitter link via Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald). If he does get an offer that convinces him to move down, he won’t want to slide too far.
  • Connor Hughes of The Athletic says Jets GM Joe Douglas could try to engineer a trade up from the No. 23 overall pick, especially if an OL like Northwestern’s Rashawn Slater or USC’s Alijah Vera-Tucker should start to fall. However, he doesn’t see Douglas moving into the top-15.

Eagles Planning Quarterback Competition?

April 22nd, 2021 at 10:10am CST by Rory Parks

New Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni says that he will not automatically anoint Jalen Hurts as the team’s starting quarterback. Instead, as James Palmer of the NFL Network tweets, Sirianni plans to hold an open competition for the starting job.

At present, the only other QB on the roster is veteran Joe Flacco, whom Philadelphia signed to a one-year, $3.5MM deal last month. Flacco has enjoyed plenty of success in his lengthy career, highlighted by a Super Bowl MVP award, but he has dealt with injuries in recent seasons and has not been a full-time starter since the first half of the 2018 campaign. Hurts, meanwhile, is entering his second season in the league, and while there are still questions about his long-term viability, his brief audition in 2020 had its share of promising moments.

Barring a complete disaster, Sirianni’s job won’t be on the line in 2021, so he shouldn’t feel any pressure to lean on the more experienced hand over a high-upside talent like Hurts. And considering owner Jeffrey Lurie‘s recent comments that he wants his club to build around the second-year pro, it would be very surprising to see anyone other than Hurts under center on Week 1. Perhaps the rookie HC is simply honing his coach-speak skills.

Of course, Sirianni’s alleged plans for a QB competition immediately spurred speculation that the team could take a quarterback with its first-round choice in next week’s draft. But if the Eagles were going to do that, they probably wouldn’t have traded down from the No. 6 overall pick to No. 12. By the time they are on the clock with the No. 12 selection, all five top QB prospects could be gone.

A recent report suggested that Philadelphia could be eyeing a move back into the top-10, but that same report indicated that the team is also interested in another trade down. Further, if the Eagles were to move back up the board, it might not be for a QB at all, but for a cornerback or wide receiver.

At this point, unless Hurts should suffer an injury or spectacularly underperform during training camp, he still looks like the odds-on favorite to be the Eagles’ starting QB, Sirianni’s “open competition” remarks notwithstanding.

Antonio Brown, Britney Taylor Settle Suit

April 22nd, 2021 at 9:33am CST by Sam Robinson

Apr. 22: Brown is not out of the woods quite yet with respect to potential NFL discipline. As Stroud tweets, the league is still reviewing the matter for a potential violation of the personal conduct policy. Speculatively, that could mean that Brown will have to wait a little longer to re-sign with the Bucs or agree to terms with any other club.

As Greg Auman of The Athletic observes, GM Jason Licht was fairly non-committal after the news of the settlement. “We’ve had discussions throughout the offseason … we’ve put an emphasis on bringing back players from last year … [Brown] would be no different,” Licht said. “[The settlement is] not necessarily the deciding factor on whether we’re going to continue to talk” (Twitter links).

Apr. 21: The civil suit that Britney Taylor filed against Antonio Brown over a year ago has been settled, according to one of Brown’s representatives (via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport, on Twitter).

A former Brown trainer, Taylor accused him of multiple instances of sexual assault. This matter was folded into the NFL’s investigation of the veteran wide receiver. Brown’s 2020 suspension did not cover Taylor’s accusation, and the threat of an additional ban loomed because of it.

This suit, which the COVID-19 pandemic delayed, was supposed to go to trial in December 2021. However, the 32-year-old receiver appears in the clear on this front now.

This matter surfaced after Brown signed with the Patriots in 2019. Brown denied the allegations, but both he and Taylor separately met with the NFL in September 2019. After another sexual misconduct allegation emerged, Brown’s sending of threatening text messages to that accuser ended up leading him out of New England.

However, the Buccaneers signed him midway through the 2020 season. He ended up making key contributions to the team’s second Super Bowl championship. The Bucs have made a host of re-signings this offseason, doing plenty to keep their championship core together. Brown remains on the team’s radar, and the Tampa Bay Times’ Rick Stroud expects Wednesday’s resolution to pave the way for another Brown deal with the Bucs in the near future (Twitter link).

Latest On Sam Darnold, Panthers’ Draft Plans

April 22nd, 2021 at 9:00am CST by Rory Parks

Shortly after the Panthers’ trade for quarterback Sam Darnold was completed, it was reported that Carolina would pick up Darnold’s fifth-year option for 2022. After all, it wouldn’t make sense for the team to trade three draft picks for a young passer without giving that passer at least two seasons to show what he can do.

However, the club has not exercised the option just yet. As Joe Person of The Athletic points out, virtually no teams have made official decisions on the fifth-year options for their 2018 first-rounders (the deadline to do so is May 3). So it could simply be that the Panthers’ brass just hasn’t gotten around to it.

Or, it could mean that the club is waiting to see if a collegiate passer it likes falls to its No. 8 overall selection. According to Person, the Panthers are not in love with Trey Lance or Mac Jones, and it’s a foregone conclusion that Trevor Lawrence and Zach Wilson will be the first two players off the board. So if Ohio State signal-caller Justin Fields — who is said to “intrigue” the Carolina front office — is there for the taking at No. 8, perhaps he could be the pick, which could lead to Darnold having his fifth-year option declined.

A source tells Person that Darnold’s option is still expected to be exercised. And with the Panthers having emerged as a legitimate trade-down candidate, perhaps this is all part of a ploy to drive up the price of the No. 8 pick. A trade down the board would allow Carolina to recoup some much-needed draft capital while still putting the team in range for one of the draft’s top cornerbacks (according to Person, the Panthers are high on several first-round CB prospects). Although Oregon’s Penei Sewell will likely be gone by the time the Panthers are on the clock, another quality LT could be had at No. 8 or a little bit later if the team chooses to move down.

In addition to Darnold, Carolina also has another 2018 first-rounder, D.J. Moore, to make a fifth-year decision on. The Panthers will almost certainly exercise his option, which checks in at $11.116MM, so the team may need to part with Robby Anderson in 2022. Which means, as David Newton of ESPN.com writes, a wide receiver like Alabama’s DeVonta Smith or Jaylen Waddle could be in play. Either receiver would go a long way towards helping Darnold both this year and in the future.

Eagles GM Discusses Trading Back, Draft Flexibility, Owner

April 21st, 2021 at 10:19pm CST by Ben Levine

The Eagles have already made headlines this offseason when they traded the No. 6 pick to the Dolphins for No. 12 and a future first. While the front office might not be done trading, they’re making their final preparations for the draft. Armed with 11 picks, the Eagles have the most flexibility they’ve had in the draft in several years, and executive vice president/general manager Howie Roseman recognizes how crucial it is to be ready for whatever opportunities present themselves.

Speaking alongside executive Andy Weidl and head coach Nick Sirianni during a press conference today, Roseman provided some notable details on why the Eagles decided to trade down, how they plan to proceed with all of their picks, and how the team owner is involved throughout the process (h/t to Dave Spadaro and Vaughn Johnson of the team’s website and Zach Berman of the The Athletic):

On the front office’s logic for trading back from No. 6 to No. 12:

“Flexibility creates opportunity. When you go back and look at things that are hard to acquire, that’s one of the toughest things to acquire, a team’s first-round pick in the following year.

“What we really had to do is sit there and go, who are the 12 best players in this draft that we would feel really good about? Are there 12 players in this draft that we really feel good about? That’s what we’re going to do throughout this draft. If you move back, it’s because you feel like you have a bunch of guys that are the same value and to be really happy getting one and getting the extra volume from that pick. If you move up, it’s because your board kind of drops off at that point.

“You have to feel like you’re getting a premium and we felt like we were getting a premium to do that.”

On the front office’s preparation for the draft, especially considering they’re armed with 11 draft picks:

“The process this year with the coaches, with the scouts, has allowed us to really sit down and talk about a lot of these things and figure out the best way to maximize our 11 picks in this draft. We’re really excited about the opportunity to add to this football team next week.”

On how the team overcame the limitations presented by COVID when evaluating prospects:

“Our coaches did an unbelievable job of taking all the guys that we would have interviewed at the Combine in Indianapolis and would have had here in Philadelphia and interviewing all of those guys.

“So just really appreciative of coach and his staff to take all the time to do that, and we continue to do the other things that we do, the psychological reports, and put ourselves in the best possible situation for next week.”

On whether the Eagles would consider Heisman Trophy winner DeVonta Smith, who finished last year with 1,856 yards and 23 touchdowns, despite him only weighing in at 166 pounds:

“Good players come in all shapes and sizes, and so we’re not going to discriminate based on any of those things.”

On owner Jeffrey Lurie’s role in the draft process:

“He’s there to make sure that he’s looking through our process, and if he’s got any questions about why we’re doing things, we’re going to go and have those discussions about why the process looks like it does, why our draft board — just based on the descriptions that the coaches and the scouts are giving of this player. He’s taking notes on those. Those aren’t his evaluations, those are based on the coaches and scouts and making sure they fit in terms of what he’s looking for from that value, that spot. If we’re talking about a guy in the first round and we’re talking about him as a role player, he may stand up and say, ‘Wait a minute, is that really what we’re looking for in a first-round pick?’ He’s not saying this is my opinion, this guy is a role player or not. In terms of his role in the draft room, the draft room, 90 percent of the time, the work is done. It’s all done, and you’re just picking them off based on where it is.”

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