2021 April - Pro Football Rumors

Month: November 2024

Texans To Consider Alex Smith As Deshaun Watson Replacement?

April 2nd, 2021 at 12:42pm CST by Zachary Links

The Texans have yet to engage in trade talks for Deshaun Watson, but the calls are still coming in — even in the midst of Watson’s off-the-field situation. If the Texans move on from Watson or lose him to league discipline, former Washington quarterback Alex Smith could be considered for the role, according to NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero (Twitter link).

Smith suffered his horrific leg injury against the Texans in 2018, but managed to return to the field in 2020. According to the QB, Washington didn’t necessarily want him back. Smith went on to go 5-1 in his starts and help WFT capture the NFC East title. Smith was, understandably, not at his best. Last yar, he threw for six touchdowns against eight interceptions with a 78.5 QB rating.

“When I decided to come back, I definitely threw a wrench in the team’s plan,” Smith said earlier this year. “They didn’t see it, didn’t want me there, didn’t want me to be a part of it, didn’t want me to be on the team, the roster, didn’t want to give me a chance.”

Ron Rivera & Co. went on to cut Smith, saving $14.7MM against the cap. Although they didn’t want to give Smith a chance – or a 2021 return — the Texans could be willing to give him an opportunity.

Watson is facing upwards of 20 lawsuits alleging a variety of sexual misconduct. The league office could move to place Watson on the commissioner’s exempt list, which would keep him off the field while the legal situation plays out.

Giants’ Isaac Yiadom Takes Pay Cut

April 2nd, 2021 at 11:27am CST by Zachary Links

Isaac Yiadom has accepted a pay cut in order to keep his place on the Giants’ roster (Twitter link via Dan Duggan of The Athletic). The cornerback was initially slated to earn a non-guaranteed $2.15MM in 2021. Instead, he’ll earn $1.07MM with $100K locked in.

After being traded by the Broncos, Yiadom appeared in every game for the Giants last year, including ten starts. He finished out with 46 tackles, one forced fumble, and a shared sack. With 45 career games to his credit, Yiadom hit a salary escalator for the fourth and final year of his rookie contract. The Giants were prepared to cut him loose, so the two sides worked out a different arrangement.

This year, the former third-round pick will support a revamped CB group that now includes newcomer Adoree’ Jackson. Jackson and James Bradberry will serve as the starting outside corners. Jackson’s three-year deal cost the Giants a whopping $39MM, which meant that cuts and restructures would be needed. Thanks to cooperation from Yiadom, the Giants have gone from about $4.5MM in cap room to approximately $5.6MM.

Bears To Start Andy Dalton

April 2nd, 2021 at 11:15am CST by Zachary Links

On Monday, Bears GM Ryan Pace anointed Andy Dalton as his starting quarterback for 2021 (Twitter link via ESPN.com’s Jeff Dickerson). Dalton, who inked a one-year deal with Chicago earlier this year, is years removed from his best work. Still, Pace believes that Dalton can turn things around for the Bears, who have turned in two straight .500 seasons.

Dalton’s one-year, $10MM deal was a solid indicator that he’d be starting, or at least considered for the starting role. Still, it wasn’t the splashiest choice for a team that watched Mitchell Trubisky decline over the last couple of years. For what it’s worth — the 49ers and Broncos were keenly interested in Dalton, so the Bears aren’t the only club that believes in the 33-year-old.

Both Pace and head coach Matt Nagy are on the hot seat, so there’s a lot riding on Dalton’s arm. For now, he’s slated to be backstopped by Nick Foles, though no one would be surprised to see him traded in the coming months.

Dalton enjoyed success during his run as the Bengals’ starter, earning three Pro Bowl nods and five straight postseason berths. But, after his tenure from 2011-19, the Bengals let him walk. After Dak Prescott‘s season-ending injury, he took over under center for the Cowboys. In eleven games and nine starts, the veteran finished with 14 touchdowns against eight interceptions while averaging 6.5 yards per attempt.

Ron Rivera: No Rush To Solidify WFT’s QB

April 2nd, 2021 at 9:14am CST by Zachary Links

Ryan Fitzpatrick will enter training camp as Washington’s top quarterback, but he’ll have to earn his starting role through competition. Meanwhile, head coach Ron Rivera says he’s in no real rush to find the team’s QB of the future.

“If you put all the other pieces into place and now you start going forward, when that guy does show up, when that guy is in the right position, you can grab him,” said Rivera (via Rhiannon Walker of The Athletic). “I went through it the other way my first stint as a head coach in Carolina. We drafted the guy of the future for us in the first round.…At that point, we had not put all the other pieces around Cam Newton.

“So, I’ve always thought if you can do it the other way where you put all the other pieces around and then go out and get your quarterback, that might be a pretty good situation, too. I’ve seen a lot of teams that have had things in place then drafted their quarterback next year. This could be one of those situations where we put all the other pieces in place and then a year or two from now, the right guy is there and we can make that move.”

For now, WFT is set to move forward with Fitz, Taylor Heinicke, Kyle Allen, and Steven Montez on the depth chart. At N0. 19 overall, they won’t be in the mix for top QBs Trevor Lawrence, Zach Wilson, or Trey Lance. From the sound of it, they won’t be vaulting up to the top five unless they’re especially keen on one of those passers.

Texans Rework Shaq Lawson’s Deal

April 2nd, 2021 at 8:50am CST by Zachary Links

The Texans have converted $7MM of Shaq Lawson‘s contract into a signing bonus, as Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets. The move will carve out $5.2MM in breathing room for Houston while adding two voidable years to the edge rusher’s deal.

Lawson arrived a couple weeks back in the trade that sent inside linebacker Benardrick McKinney to Miami. He was the second player from Miami’s 2020 front-seven spending spree to be jettisoned in a matter of days, following the release of Kyle Van Noy.

Lawson turned in a solid, if unspectacular, 2020 campaign with the Dolphins. Previous to that, Lawson recorded a career-high 6.5 sacks for the Bills in 2019. For all intents and purposes, Lawson’s is set to continue on the three-year, $30MM he inked with the ‘Fins last spring. But, thanks to those voidable years, the Texans can kick the can down the road a bit.

For his career, Sack-a-Shaq has 20.5 sacks across five pro seasons. Barring any further changes to his deal, he’s due to make $8.9MM in 2022.

North Notes: Clowney, Vaitai, Parks

April 1st, 2021 at 9:19pm CST by Rory Parks

Let’s round up a few notes from the North divisions:

For the second year in a row, Jadeveon Clowney is drawing interest from the Browns. Though Clowney’s recent visit to Cleveland did not result in a contract, Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com says the Browns still want to sign him if the price is right (and assuming the team is comfortable with his health). Clowney ultimately settled for a one-year, $13MM pact from the Titans last year after originally seeking a multi-year contract with an AAV of $20MM, and any deal he signs this year will likely be for much less than last year’s $13MM salary. But new Browns acquisition Malik Jackson believes Cleveland has what it takes to win the Super Bowl in 2021, and he suggested that Clowney should jump at the chance to sign up with the Browns. “If you want to hop on board, come hop on board,” Jackson said. “I understand the free agency market is not what he probably wants, but things are bigger than monetary value. You get a chance to be on a good team and set yourself up in the future.”
When the Lions signed Halapoulivaati Vaitai to a five-year, $50MM contract last offseason, most expected he would suit up at right tackle. He missed six games in 2020 due to injury, but he played five games at guard, four games at tackle, and he split time between the two positions in one other game. New head coach Dan Campbell says he currently plans to slot the TCU product at guard (via Tim Twentyman of the team’s official website). “[W]e’re a little intrigued about moving him inside to guard.” Campbell said. “That does intrigue us. We may as a starting point work there and see where we’re at.” Campbell should have a solid group to protect QB Jared Goff, with Taylor Decker at LT, Jonah Jackson at LG, Frank Ragnow at C, Vaitai at RG, and a deep OL draft to add a quality rookie at RT.
Before the Vikings signed former Cowboys safety Xavier Woods as part of their overhaul in the secondary, they tried to land Will Parks, as Darren Wolfson of KSTP tweets. Parks spent the first four years of his career in Denver before signing a one-year pact with the Eagles last offseason. He didn’t make it through the 2020 season with Philadelphia, as he was waived late in the season and was claimed by the Broncos (though the Vikings put in a claim as well). But according to Wolfson, Minnesota wanted to bring in Parks on a veteran minimum pact — which the club also tried with Woods — and Parks turned them down.

Giants Owner John Mara On Expectations, Dave Gettleman

April 1st, 2021 at 8:05pm CST by Rory Parks

The Giants have lost double-digit games in four consecutive seasons. GM Dave Gettleman has presided over the last three of them. Although club co-owner John Mara did not explicitly say so, Ralph Vacchiano of SNY.tv says it is inconceivable that Gettleman will be back in 2022 if Big Blue suffers through another losing season.

Of course, it was far from a sure thing that Gettleman would keep his job after the 2020 campaign. Even in late December, there were reports that ownership was more comfortable getting rid of Gettleman, who turned 70 in February, and bringing in a new top exec to work alongside head coach Joe Judge.

But the G-Men have traditionally given their GMs a long leash, and Gettleman has proven to be no exception. Several seasons ago, Mara knew that the team was embarking on a multi-year rebuild, and last season, he knew that a new HC with new systems and a new culture could delay that rebuild a bit. So it stands to reason that a team that favors continuity anyway would stay the course with a GM that was dealt a difficult hand.

That said, Gettleman’s personnel decisions have been a mixed bag at best. He did make some savvy pickups last offseason in cornerback James Bradberry, linebacker Blake Martinez, and defensive back Logan Ryan, and he was vindicated for his gamble on defensive lineman Leonard Williams. Those acquisitions were probably what saved his job, but like most GMs, Gettleman will ultimately be judged on if he made the right call at quarterback. And the jury is very much out on Daniel Jones, the No. 6 overall pick of the 2019 draft (though Mara did say that he thinks very highly of Jones).

Clearly, the team feels that it can compete this season, and it authorized a few significant contracts in free agency, the most notable of which was the four-year, $72MM whopper for WR Kenny Golladay. Mara admits that his hopes for his club this season are higher than they have been in recent seasons, and as a result of those expectations and the major financial commitments that were made in an effort to realize them, Gettleman is surely feeling the pressure.

When asked directly if Gettleman would be retained if 2021 turns into another disappointment, Mara said, “I’m not going to speculate that right now. Let’s just see how the season plays out.” But he also said, “I’m tired of the losing and of having the postseason press conference trying to explain what went wrong, why I think we’re making progress. It’s time for us to start winning some more.”

It would be surprising to see Judge ousted if the team struggles this year, given how much ownership and the locker room seems to like him, though Vacchino suggests it could be a possibility. But even if Judge could survive a sub-.500 finish, it seems clear that Gettleman will not.

49ers Monitored Deshaun Watson

April 1st, 2021 at 7:17pm CST by Rory Parks

Prior to swinging a deal for the No. 3 overall pick in this year’s draft — which they have admitted they will use on a quarterback — the 49ers monitored Deshaun Watson‘s availability, as Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com writes. That’s not terribly surprising, as the Niners were reportedly high on Watson’s list of preferred destinations, and San Francisco has been connected in some way or another to many of the quarterbacks that were on the trade and free agent markets this offseason.

Ultimately, after the club managed to retain key players like left tackle Trent Williams and fullback Kyle Juszczyk, and after Watson’s off-field situation made a trade for him infeasible, GM John Lynch approached ownership with the proposal to acquire the No. 3 pick from Miami. Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan believe the roster is championship-ready, and while they feel they can win with Jimmy Garoppolo under center — after all, the Garoppolo-led 49ers were in the Super Bowl about 14 months ago — they knew they needed a backup plan given Jimmy G’s injury history. And, with the 2022 class of collegiate QBs looking like an uninspiring group at the moment, San Francisco decided the time was right to make a bold move to secure a top prospect who would represent a Garoppolo fallback plan this year and who has a real chance of becoming a top-flight passer down the line.

The fact that the club was looking at players like Joe Flacco and Andy Dalton even after they had initiated talks to make a move up the draft board underscores the fact that the team is not comfortable with Garoppolo on a long-term basis and was considering trading him and replacing him with a different veteran that could have served as a bridge to a younger passer. Of course, a trade for Watson would have obviated the need for a rookie signal-caller, but even if Watson weren’t facing legal issues, there would have been stiff competition for his services, if the Texans had chosen to move him at all. While a player like Trey Lance, Justin Fields, or Mac Jones are hardly the sure thing that Watson is, we know that Shanahan prides himself on his ability to get the most out of his quarterbacks.

Garoppolo, meanwhile, was understandably unhappy when he learned that the team was drafting his replacement, and it sounds as if Shanahan made no bones about the fact that 2021 is looking like Garoppolo’s last year in San Francisco. As Wagoner writes, Shanahan said Garoppolo ultimately understood the plan to bring him back for “one more go” and “rehabilitate his value” (presumably for a trade in 2022).

“I’m sure Jimmy was a little pissed off from it, just like I would be, too,” Shanahan said. “The more mad Jimmy gets, usually the better he gets. (If) Jimmy just gets madder and stays healthy, this is going to be a good thing for Jimmy, too, which could be a great problem for the 49ers.”

As for who the 49ers might take at No. 3? Jones is a highly accurate passer, especially on intermediate throws, and boasts a terrific deep ball. In other words, he checks a lot of Shanahan’s boxes. He is also said to have high-level football IQ and excellent leadership abilities, and while many pundits have suggested his ceiling is lower than that of Lance or Fields, ESPN’s Adam Schefter cites one NFC GM who says teams have Jones graded much higher than the media does (via Dalton Johnson of NBC Sports Bay Area). As such, Schefter says he would not be surprised if the 49ers pull the trigger on Jones.

Chiefs To Sign FB Michael Burton

April 1st, 2021 at 5:35pm CST by Ben Levine

Michael Burton is heading to the AFC. The veteran full back is signing with the Chiefs, reports Herbie Teope of the Kansas City Star (via Twitter). It’s a one-year deal for the 29-year-old worth $1.27MM, including more than $700K guaranteed, per Aaron Wilson (on Twitter).

Despite playing for four different organizations, Burton has spent his entire career in the NFC. He entered the NFL as a fifth-round pick out Rutgers in 2015, and following a pair of seasons with the Lions to begin his career, he spent another two years with Chicago between 2017 and 2018. After spending the 2019 campaign with Washington, Burton joined the Saints last offseason, marking it his second stint with the organization (the fullback had spent the 2019 preseason with the team).

During his lone season in New Orleans, Burton appeared in 19 percent of his team’s offensive snaps, his highest percentage since 2017. While the veteran is generally known for his blocking prowess, he did manage to compile a career-high 46 (yep, that’s it) yards from scrimmage. He added another 15 yards in two postseason games.

The Chiefs have presumably been hunting for a fullback since Anthony Sherman, their starter for the previous eight years, announced his retirement. Burton will now have the responsibility of protecting quarterback Patrick Mahomes and starting running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire.

Steelers Host S Karl Joseph

April 1st, 2021 at 4:51pm CST by Ben Levine

Following one season in Cleveland, Karl Joseph could find his next opportunity with another AFC North squad. Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle reports (via Twitter) that the free agent safety visited the Steelers.

The Raiders’ 2016 first-round pick earned PFWA All-Rookie Team honors as a rookie, and he had a solid campaign as a sophomore in 2017. However, he bounced in and out of the starting lineup in 2018, and the Raiders decline his fifth-year option prior to the 2019 campaign. That 2019 season ended up being Joseph’s final year with the organization. and he was limited to only nine games after suffering a foot injury.

He signed a one-year deal with the Browns last offseason, and he proceeded to play 14 games (eight starts) for his new squad. He finished the year having compiled 67 tackles, two tackles for loss, four passes defended, and one interception. He also came up big in the playoffs for the Browns; he recovered a botched Steelers snap for a touchdown, and he intercepted a pass by Chiefs quarterback Chad Henne.

While Joseph probably wouldn’t push either Minkah Fitzpatrick or Terrell Edmunds for playing time, he could serve a role as a solid backup safety. Pittsburgh’s 2020 backups, Sean Davis and Jordan Dangerfield, are both free agents.

Load More Posts