2021 May - Pro Football Rumors

Charles Leno On Broncos’ Radar

May 11th, 2021 at 2:52pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Broncos are doing extensive research in their effort to fill Ja’Wuan James‘ right tackle post. Four veterans — Bobby Massie, Dennis Kelly, Jermaine Eluemunor and Cameron Fleming — have come up thus far. Each is set to visit the team.

Denver has also expressed interest in Charles Leno. The right tackle-needy team has spoken with the longtime Bears left tackle-turned-free agent about the sudden vacancy, according to ESPN.com’s John Keim (on Twitter). However, Leno’s goal at the moment is to catch on with a team and play left tackle, Keim adds. The Broncos signed Ryan Pope earlier Tuesday but remain in the market for a starter-level tackle.

Leno worked as the Bears’ starting left tackle from 2015-20 and graded as a top-30 tackle, per Pro Football Focus, last season. But Chicago cut him shortly after drafting Teven Jenkins in the second round. Leno, 29, went through a Monday workout with Washington, and it sounds like he remains in play for a stopgap role. Washington also drafted a tackle in Round 2, Texas’ Samuel Cosmi, but Leno’s visit signals the team is hunting for a short-term fix at Trent Williams‘ former spot.

No left tackle vacancy exists in Denver, with Garett Bolles having turned his career around in 2020. Bolles signed an extension to stay with the Broncos last year. The Broncos may well have considered another left tackle-to-right tackle conversion, but timing scuttled it. Days before James went down, the Ravens took Alejandro Villanueva off the market. They are prepared to move the longtime Steelers left tackle to the right side, where he is ticketed to replace Orlando Brown Jr. Villanueva worked under Broncos O-line coach Mike Munchak for several years in Pittsburgh.

Four of Leno’s pro seasons took place when Broncos HC Vic Fangio worked as the Bears’ defensive coordinator. For now, however, Massie is the more realistic option to follow Fangio from Chicago to Denver. Other free agent options include Mitchell Schwartz, Ricky Wagner and 2020 Broncos spot starter Demar Dotson.

Former NFL QB Colt Brennan Passes Away

May 11th, 2021 at 1:44pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

Truly tragic news to pass along, as former NFL quarterback Colt Brennan has passed away at the age of 37, his father Terry Brennan told Stephen Tsai of the Star Advertiser.

“He was doing so well, the spark was back in his eyes, and he was healthy and doing great, and it happened,” the elder Brennan said, explaining his son had been in the fifth month of a program at an inpatient rehab facility. ““He had been doing really (well),” Brennan said. “These guys were no-nonsense guys. It just got away from him. I don’t know how else to explain it. Maybe one day I’ll be able to explain it better.”

Brennan shined on the football field, becoming a superstar in college and elevating Hawaii’s program to heights nobody thought possible. In his record-shattering 2007 season, he led Hawaii to a perfect 12-0 record and an appearance in the Sugar Bowl. Between the 2006 and 2007 seasons, he threw for nearly 10,000 yards and 96 touchdowns. He was a Heisman Trophy finalist in 2017.

After wrapping up his decorated college career, Brennan was drafted by Washington in the sixth-round in 2008. After a couple of years with Washington he had a brief stint with the Raiders, and then in the UFL, CFL, and AFL.

All of us here at PFR are sending our thoughts to Brennan’s family.

Contract Notes: Bucs, Rodgers, Rudolph, Pats

May 11th, 2021 at 1:07pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

We’ve got a handful of interesting notes on contracts to pass along, including for several quarterbacks:

The Buccaneers’ quarterbacks room is a bit crowded now with Kyle Trask getting drafted in the second-round. One of Blaine Gabbert and Ryan Griffin will be the odd man out, since Bruce Arians won’t be keeping four signal-callers. “Their new contracts tell you who’s ahead” in the competition to hold Tom Brady‘s clipboard in 2021, Greg Auman of The Athletic tweets. Auman reports that Gabbert got $1.5MM in guaranteed money, $750K in base salary and a $750K signing bonus. On the other hand, Griffin only got a $75K signing bonus guaranteed. Gabbert has always been Bruce Arians’ guy, while Tampa’s front office has loved Griffin enough to keep him around since 2015. If these financial figures tell us anything, and they usually do, it’s that Gabbert will be back for the title defense while Griffin won’t be.
The language of Aaron Rodgers‘ contract is going to get a lot of attention if his current beef with the Packers turns into a real holdout. Rodgers earned a $6.8MM roster bonus on the third day of the league year, but he hasn’t actually received that money yet since it’s to be “paid concurrently with his 2021 base salary,” former NFL agent and current CBS Sports analyst Joel Corry tweets. Corry notes that Green Bay has “the right to take fines & any recapture of signing bonus due to a training camp holdout from this money.” There was talk of Rodgers having to pay back that $6.8MM, but it turns out he hasn’t even gotten it yet. The Packers can start chipping away at that the moment he doesn’t show up for mandatory practices.
One last quarterback note. Mason Rudolph recently got a one-year contract extension from the Steelers to keep him under team control through 2022, and it turns out the team gave him some real money. Rudolph’s new pact with Pittsburgh is worth $5MM for the 2022 season, which included a $2MM signing bonus, Mark Kaboly of The Athletic tweets. As Kaboly points out, Rudolph is the only passer the team has under contract for 2022. Rudolph hasn’t exactly looked like a franchise quarterback in his nine career starts, but with Ben Roethlisberger‘s status more than uncertain beyond this year, it makes since why the Steelers would want to make sure they have someone at least somewhat competent under center just in case.
When Trent Brown got traded from the Raiders back to the Patriots, he reworked his contract from having two years and $29.5MM left to a one-year pact for $11MM. Turns out that new one-year deal has some interesting details. The massive offensive tackle’s contract has a series of weight-based incentives, Ben Volin of the Boston Globe writes. The 6’8 behemoth will have earned $150K if he weighed “385 pounds or less on the first day of the offseason program (April 19).” Brown will have an opportunity to earn another $150K if he clocks in at or below 375 pounds on June 1, and another $200K for 365 pounds on July 15. That’s a total of a half million bucks in weight-based incentives. Brown was with the Patriots for one season back in 2018, and won Super Bowl LIII with the team.

Broncos To Sign OT Ryan Pope

May 11th, 2021 at 11:56am CST by Zachary Links

The Broncos are set to sign offensive tackle Ryan Pope (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero). Pope agreed to terms shortly after his Tuesday workout, though the team will still consider other options after their Wednesday session.

Dennis Kelly, Cameron Fleming, and Bobby Massie are among the veteran tackles who will audition for the Broncos this week. The team has cast a wide net ever since Ja’Wuan James‘ season-ending injury, though they’re unlikely to find a long-term solve at this stage of the offseason. Former Bears starter Charles Leno is also available as of this writing, though he may be ticketed for the Washington Football Team instead.

Pope, a 6’7″, 315-pound blocker, has made the rounds since leaving San Diego State, but he has yet to see live action in the NFL. Last year, he missed the Jaguars’ final cut and spent the bulk of the year on the Packers’ practice squad.

Broncos To Host Jermaine Eluemunor

May 11th, 2021 at 11:35am CST by Zachary Links

The Broncos’ right tackle seminar will also include Jermaine Eluemunor, according to Matt Lombardo of FanSided (Twitter link). The former Patriot will compete alongside Dennis Kelly, Bobby Massie, and Cameron Fleming as the Broncos look for help up front.

[RELATED: Broncos Meet With Cameron Fleming]

Eluemunor started out as a 2017 fifth-round pick of the Ravens. After starting in two games as a rookie and one game as an NFL soph, they traded him to the Patriots for a low-round draft choice. At that point, the Texas A&M product shifted from guard to right tackle and saw eight starts in 2020.

The Broncos are leaving no stone unturned as they look to replace Ja’Wuan James. Massie may be the most attractive option of the bunch, though he’s had injury trouble of his own. Last year, his season was cut short by a knee injury. And, in 2019, he was limited by an ankle issue. In total, he was limited to 64 games (all starts) for the Bears across the last five seasons.

Broncos Meet With Cameron Fleming

May 11th, 2021 at 11:25am CST by Zachary Links

The Broncos are set to meet with Cameron Fleming, as Mike Klis of 9News tweets. He’ll show his stuff alongside Dennis Kelly and Bobby Massie as the Broncos look for solutions at right tackle.

Fleming started 16 games for the Giants last year. However, the G-Men let him walk after his one-year, $3.5MM deal expired. Before that, Fleming spent four seasons in New England and two in Dallas playing under Joe Judge and Jason Garrett. From 2017-2020, Fleming played between 230-400 snaps per season, working as a part-time starter throughout that stretch. If all goes well, the former fourth-round pick could spend his age-29 season in Denver.

Ja’Wuan James‘ latest injury has left the Broncos searching high and low for answers. The Broncos furnished James with a four-year, $51MM deal in 2019. Unfortunately, between knee trouble, a 2020 opt-out, and his new Achilles tear, James has seen just 63 snaps as a Bronco.

Falcons Cut K Elliott Fry

May 11th, 2021 at 11:18am CST by Zachary Links

The Falcons have released kicker Elliott Fry, per a club announcement. Now, Younghoe Koo currently stands as the only kicker on Atlanta’s roster.

Fry, a South Carolina product, spent time in the short-lived Alliance of American Football before signing a string of NFL deals. After stints with the Bears, Ravens, Panthers, and Buccaneers he joined the Falcons’ taxi squad last year. He appeared in one game, making one field goal plus two extra point tries.

In college, Fry converted on 66 of 88 field goal attempts. He was expected to vie for the Falcons’ job this year, though he was a longshot to beat out Koo. Koo, a 2020 Pro Bowler, nailed 37 of 39 FG tries while nailing 33 of 36 XPs.

Patriots’ Cameron McGrone To Miss Season?

May 11th, 2021 at 9:25am CST by Zachary Links

The Patriots might not see fifth-round pick Cameron McGrone on the field until next year. Due to the torn ACL he suffered late last year, the Michigan linebacker may have to shift his focus to 2022, according to head coach Bill Belichick.

“We’re not really sure what the expectation of availability is for him, but we’re prepared certainly to not have him available this year,” Belichick said (via Mike Reiss of ESPN.com). “There are no false expectations here. He should have a good recovery and be a good player; we’ll just have to see what the timing is on that.”

The Patriots tapped McGrone with the knowledge that his rehab could take a while. They’ve also backstopped their LB group by signing Harvey Langi, so they’re prepared to wait, if necessary. As Reiss notes, the Patriots have drafted injured players in the past and some have panned out pretty well. That includes 1995 third-rounder Curtis Martin, who would later amass a Hall of Fame career with the Jets.

McGrone, the No. 177 overall pick, played in just 16 total games for the Wolverines. Up until his knee injury against Rutgers, he recorded 91 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, three sacks, and a forced fumble between 2019 and 2020.

Panthers Cut Frank Herron, Sign Two UDFAs

May 10th, 2021 at 9:41pm CST by Ben Levine

Frank Herron‘s stint with the Panthers lasted less than a month. The Panthers waived the defensive tackle today, per the NFL’s transaction report.

The 26-year-old has bounced around the NFL since going undrafted out of LSU in 2018, spending time with the (inhales) the Patriots, Seahawks, Patriots (second stint), Titans, Lions, Dolphins, Lions (second stint), and Panthers (exhales). Herron has seen time in seven career games, collecting 11 tackles and one tackle for loss.

After spending much of the 2020 season bouncing on and off the Lions active roster (he ultimately saw time in four games), he was let go a final time in early January. Then, in mid-April, he ended up finding his next gig with the Panthers, although he didn’t even make it to training camp with his new squad.

The Panthers likely made this move to carve out some extra roster space, especially after they added two undrafted free agents today. Per the league’s transaction report, the team signed Alabama-Birmingham running back Spencer Brown and Northwestern linebacker Paddy Fisher.

WR Davante Adams Discusses Future With Packers

May 10th, 2021 at 6:38pm CST by Ben Levine

Don’t worry, Packers fans…Davante Adams isn’t pushing for a trade out of Green Bay. However, when asked about the Aaron Rodgers rumors during an appearance on The Herd with Colin Cowherd, the star receiver admitted that a Rodgers trade would certainly make him rethink his own future in Green Bay.

“That’s the only [quarterback] that I’ve played with, and we’ve built up a special connection over the years that has put us both in really good positions in our careers,” Adams said (video via The Athletic’s Matt Schneidman on Twitter). “We’ve established a lot together. It would change a lot. It doesn’t mean potentially I’d be gone, but I’d definitely have to do some extra thinking if my guy wasn’t here.”

For starters, it’s not a huge surprise that Adams would be so supportive of his quarterback; other than the 2017 season where Brett Hundley had to briefly fill in, the wideout’s only received passes from Rodgers since he entered the NFL in 2014. Since that time, Adams has made four Pro Bowls, he’s twice exceeded 1,300 yards in a season, and he’s hauled in 62 touchdowns (including 58 scores since 2016). In other words, it’d be a little weird if Adams wasn’t wary of a Rodgers trade.

On the other side, it’s not necessarily a ringing endorsement for the Packers organization (or, if you want to dig a bit deeper, 2020 first-round pick Jordan Love). Unfortunately for Green Bay, they won’t have much of a say in the matter, as Adams is set to hit free agency following the 2021 season (the team could obviously retain the wideout for an additional season or two via the franchise tag, but drama would soon prevail). In the hypothetical world where the Packers do indeed trade Rodgers, it could make sense for the front office to shop Adams even if the receiver doesn’t explicitly ask for a trade.