2021 June - Pro Football Rumors

Latest On Titans LT Taylor Lewan

June 16th, 2021 at 9:19pm CST by Rory Parks

We heard several weeks ago that Titans left tackle Taylor Lewan, whose 2020 season was cut short due to an ACL tear in October, was on track to return for training camp. That might not be the case, however.

As Kayla Anderson of WKRN.com writes, Lewan — who turns 30 next month — hopes to be ready for the start of the regular season. “I could sit here and predict a bunch of things, but you never know what can happen in these next six to seven weeks,” he said. “I expect it to go swimmingly, smooth, but you never know what could happen.”

Lewan said that he’s pleased with the way his rehab is progressing, but there is no definitive timetable at this point. Tennessee expects to have a powerhouse offense in 2021, and having its three-time Pro Bowler anchoring the blindside for the full season would be a major boost to the club’s championship aspirations.

Lewan signed a five-year, $80MM extension in July 2018, which positioned him as the highest-paid offensive lineman in NFL history at the time. He rewarded the Titans with a Pro Bowl effort that season, but due to the ACL tear and a PED suspension, he has played in just 17 of a possible 32 games over the past two years.

Baker Mayfield “In No Rush” To Sign Extension

June 16th, 2021 at 8:15pm CST by Rory Parks

Browns QB Baker Mayfield is under club control through the 2022 season after Cleveland exercised the fifth-year option of his rookie contract earlier this year. That option is worth a fully-guaranteed $18.858MM, a healthy sum to be sure, but there are 14 quarterbacks making more than that on an annual basis.

Still, Mayfield doesn’t sound too concerned about when he will secure his place among the league’s high rollers. The No. 1 overall pick of the 2018 draft told reporters today, “I’m in no rush because I’m just trying to win games. Like I said, it’ll handle itself. I’m sure [agents] Tom and Jack Mills are handling that. I don’t try and feed too much into that because it’s like wasting my time and energy and thought process on things I’m not in control of right now. So I’m going to handle what I can control” (via Myles Simmons of Pro Football Talk).

The last we heard, the Browns had not yet initiated extension talks with Mayfield’s camp. Owner Jimmy Haslam, however, made it clear that his team has every intention of keeping Mayfield in Cleveland for the long haul, which is why the Browns — a trendy Super Bowl pick — are not interested in disgruntled Packers star Aaron Rodgers.

Both sides do have reason to wait, though. After all, Mayfield was a mess in his sophomore campaign, and while he appears to have righted the ship under the steady hand of head coach Kevin Stefanski last season, the Browns might want him to prove that he can sustain his success. And Mayfield — who said today that he has no problems betting on himself — may prefer to have 2018 draftmates Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen ink their big-money extensions first.

Barring an All-Pro type season, Mayfield is unlikely to earn as much on his next contract as Jackson and Allen will on theirs, but their deals will still help push Mayfield’s price point a little higher.

Bengals OL Hakeem Adeniji Could Be Out For Season

June 16th, 2021 at 6:45pm CST by Ben Levine

Hakeem Adeniji is likely done for the season. Bengals head coach Zac Taylor revealed that the offensive lineman will likely be sidelined for the entire 2021 campaign after undergoing surgery (via Geoff Hobson of the team’s website).

Adeniji tore a pectoral muscle less than two weeks ago, necessitating the surgery. There’s a chance that the recovery time only takes a few months, but it sounds like Taylor is assuming that the lineman will be out for the entire season.

This is a tough break for the 23-year-old. The 2020 sixth-round pick had an opportunity to build off an impressive rookie campaign that saw him appear in 15 games with five starts. Adeniji ultimately saw time in 22-percent of his team’s offensive snaps and 13-percent of his team’s special teams snaps.

The lineman logged snaps at both tackle spots and even tight end last season, and his versatility meant he was likely to retain his spot on the roster. As Hobson notes, there was even some optimism that Adeniji could start at one of the guard spots, meaning the Bengals will have to dig into their offensive line depth to replace the second-year pro. Per Hobson, D’Ante Smith could see more snaps at offensive tackle, while the team could turn to a handful of guard candidates (including Xavier Su’a-Filo, Quinton Spain, and Michael Jordan).

Falcons To Sign WR Jeff Badet

June 16th, 2021 at 5:49pm CST by Ben Levine

Jeff Badet has found a new gig. The wideout has signed with the Falcons, per Tom Pelissero of NFL Network (via Twitter). Badet worked out for Atlanta earlier today.

Badet had a standout career at Kentucky, including a junior season where he hauled in 31 receptions for 670 yards and four touchdowns. Instead of declaring for the NFL Draft, the wideout decided to transfer to Oklahoma for his senior year, where he’d receive passes from the likes of Baker Mayfield and backup Kyler Murray. Badet’s numbers ended up going down during his lone season with the Sooners, and he went undrafted in 2018.

Badet spent most of his rookie season with the Vikings organization, but after getting cut prior to the 2019 campaign, the receiver declared for the XFL Draft. Badet ended up being the fourth skill player off the board, and he proceeded to haul in 16 receptions before the league folded.

The 26-year-old finally got to see the field for an NFL game this past season with Washington. Badet ultimately saw time on 21 offensive snaps for WFT.

Badet earned a name for himself thanks to his speed; he previously won the ’40 Yards of Gold contest,’ which intended to crown the NFL’s fastest player. The Falcons receivers depth chart is a bit uncertain behind Calvin Ridley, but Badet’s best chance of making the roster is probably as a return man.

TE Chase Harrell Suspended For Entire 2021 Season

June 16th, 2021 at 4:30pm CST by Ben Levine

Chase Harrell is out for the 2021 campaign. The tight end has been suspended for the entire season, per ESPN’s Field Yates (via Twitter).

We haven’t received an explanation for the tight end’s current suspension, but it’s worth noting that Harrell was slapped with a six-game ban last October after violating the NFL’s PED policy.

Harrell spent three years at Kansas, hauling in 30 receptions for 302 yards and five scores. He had a standout pro day (including a 4.53 40-yard time) prior to the 2020 draft, and he ultimately signed with the 49ers as an undrafted free agent. The organization initially signed him as a defensive lineman, but the team website continued to list him as a tight end.

Harrell spent time bouncing on and off the 49ers practice squad in 2020, and he was finally waived by the organization back in April. Considering the 12-month ban, it’ll be a while before Harrell gets another shot at the NFL.

NFL, NFLPA Agree To 2021 COVID Protocols

June 16th, 2021 at 3:52pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

Fans will be back in the stands, and things are slowly returning to normal, but COVID-19 will still loom over the 2021 NFL season in some capacity. On Wednesday afternoon, the league and the NFLPA agreed to the COVID protocols for the upcoming season, a source told Tom Pelissero of NFL Network (Twitter link).

There are going to be two sets of rules for those who have been vaccinated and those who haven’t been. Pelissero tweeted out the memo detailing the restrictions for unvaccinated players, and they’re significant. Unvaccinated players will have to be tested every day, wear masks in the facility, and travel to road games separately. When on the road they can’t have guests at their hotels or see friends and family. As Pelissero writes in his thread, it essentially boils down to “fly by yourself and sit in your room until kickoff.”

Importantly, players who have been vaccinated won’t have to isolate for five days if they’re deemed a high-risk close contact to someone who tests positive. Those close contact isolations caused a lot of key players to miss games in 2020.

Unvaccinated players will also be hit with fines of up to $50K for things like going to bars or large gatherings. Clearly, the league is doing everything they can to push players to get vaccinated without actually mandating it.

As for what the numbers look like, Pelissero tweeted yesterday that a source told him over 50 percent of NFL players had received at least a first dose of a vaccine. He added that every team has at least 90 percent of their Tier 1/2 staff vaccinated, so clearly coaches and employees are getting it at a higher rate than players. 16 of 32 teams have had at least 51 of the 90 players on their offseason rosters vaccinated.

It’s a lot to digest, and there are significant implications here. A number of high profile players have indicated they aren’t planning on getting the vaccine, so it’ll be interesting to see how this all shakes out. If one thing is for certain, it’s that there will be some drama to come as a result of these new protocols.

Matt Nagy: Andy Dalton Is Our Starter

June 16th, 2021 at 2:51pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

A couple of weeks ago there was a report that the Bears were planning to enter Week 1 with Andy Dalton as their starter, which a lot of people dismissed.

Now, Bears head coach Matt Nagy has more or less confirmed that report publicly in a recent appearance on Cris Collinsworth’s podcast (Twitter video link). When asked by Collinsworth if there was any possible scenario where rookie Justin Fields is under center come Week 1, Nagy said “No.” Fields, of course, was just drafted 11th overall by Chicago.

“I mean Andy is our starter. And again, I can’t predict anything, you know how it goes. I mean there’s so many things that could happen between today and that Week 1. But Andy is our starter and Justin is our number two, and we’re going to stick to this plan,” he continued.

It sounds like the team wants to do right by Dalton, as he was publicly anointed as the starter after signing a one-year, $10MM deal back in March.

It’s worth keeping in mind that only four quarterbacks chosen in Round 1 since 2011 — when that year’s CBA changed first-rounders’ earnings and timelines — did not become a primary starter in Year 1. They were Patrick Mahomes, Jake Locker (2011), Johnny Manziel (2014) and Paxton Lynch (2016).

Both Nagy and GM Ryan Pace are on very thin ice. If the Bears struggle this season, they’ll almost certainly both be fired. As such, it’s hard to believe they’ll have too much patience. Unless Dalton comes in and immediately catches fire and leads the team to victories, it’s hard to see them waiting more than a few weeks to pull the trigger.

If Dalton is anything other than excellent, the pressure from fans and the media will be intense to unleash Fields, the former Ohio State star. We should learn a lot more about the situation in training camp and the preseason.

Bears To Sign Second-Round OT Teven Jenkins

June 16th, 2021 at 1:55pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

The Bears got Justin Fields‘ deal wrapped up last week, and now they’re inking their second pick. Chicago has agreed to terms with second-round offensive tackle Teven Jenkins and he’ll sign his rookie contract later today, a source told Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (Twitter link).

As Rapsheet points out, that will wrap up the team’s draft class with all seven rookies being signed. The Bears drafted Jenkins 39th overall out of Oklahoma State. Chicago gave up a third-round pick to trade up with the Panthers from No. 52 and nab Jenkins.

Just a couple of days after drafting Jenkins the team released long-time tackle Charles Leno. They reportedly plan on plugging in Jenkins as a starter right away at left tackle. He’ll be tasked with protecting the blindside of Fields and/or Andy Dalton as a rookie.

Jenkins was a three-year starter at Oklahoma State and broke out this past season, earning first-team All-Big 12 honors. Germain Ifedi will start opposite him at right tackle.

Harbaugh: Lamar Jackson ‘Going To Get Paid’

June 16th, 2021 at 12:42pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

It seems like only a matter of time before Lamar Jackson gets a mega-extension. Speaking to the media Wednesday, Ravens head coach John Harbaugh seemed to indicate it’s already set in stone.

Harbaugh was asked whether Jackson would be affected if he didn’t get a new contract before the season starter, to which he replied “absolutely not,” via Jamison Hensley of ESPN.com (Twitter link).

“He’s going to get paid. He knows that. The question becomes what’s his legacy going to be as a QB? The other thing is a done deal,” Harbaugh continued. We heard back in February that the two sides were apparently far apart on financial terms. Reports got better after that, with both Harbaugh and Jackson saying publicly they weren’t concerned.

We’ve since heard that they’ve commenced actual talks, and it sounds like the financial side of things is getting better. Jackson said last month that he isn’t concerned whether an extension happens this year or next.

He’s under contract through the 2022 campaign after the team picked up his fully guaranteed $23.1MM fifth-year salary for that season. After becoming a unanimous MVP a couple years ago Jackson, who currently operates as his own agent, will surely be looking for a payday in line with the league’s other top passers.

Dak Prescott got four years and $160MM back in March, and it’ll be very interesting to see how Jackson’s forthcoming extension compares to that. Either way, don’t anticipate much drama in these talks like there have been with other quarterbacks, as everyone involved continues to insist it’ll be smooth sailing.

Jaguars To Hold QB Competition

June 16th, 2021 at 11:43am CST by Zachary Links

Trevor Lawrence is the Jaguars’ quarterback of the future, but that doesn’t mean he’s their starter of the present. On Wednesday, Jags passing game coordinator Brian Schottenheimer stressed that the team has yet to name its QB1.

“It’s still too early to say how this thing’s going to play out,” Schottenheimer said (Twitter link via ESPN.com’s Michael DiRocco).

Gardner Minshew was the Jaguars’ rookie sensation not too long ago and he’s still on the roster as Lawrence’s expected QB2. At the same time, there’s been months of trade speculation around him. In 2019, Minshew set franchise records in yards (3,271) and touchdowns (21) for rookie QBs. Last year, he flip-flopped with Mike Glennon amidst the Jags’ 15-game losing streak. All in all, he was 1-7 in his starts with 2,259 yards and 16 touchdowns against five interceptions. Needless to say, it was assumed that the No. 1 overall pick would start immediately.

For his part, Lawrence says he’s still getting to know the playbook. So, presumably, he’s okay with competing for his spot alongside Minshew and the rest of the camp QBs, including Tim Tebow.

“I want to just master the offense,” Lawrence said. “I want to have complete control, know everything and be comfortable. You can’t really play free and play really well if you don’t know what you’re doing. That’s the goal, to master the offense by the time training camp comes around so in training camp we can focus everything forward on being the best team we can come August 14 and then going on into the regular season as well.”