HEADLINES

Month: December 2024

Giants’ Andrew Thomas Had Offseason Ankle Surgery

February 17th, 2022 at 1:48pm CST by Adam La Rose

There was an update on the health status of Giants left tackle Andrew Thomas recently. As Dan Duggan of The Athletic reports, Thomas underwent ankle surgery late last month (Twitter link). 

Duggan notes that it’s the same ankle that was injured in his rookie season, which is a worrying sign. Still, all parties involved hope that this second procedure will put an end to the problem. The 23-year-old landed on injured reserve in October as a result of the nagging ailment. He ended up missing four games, after playing the full 16 games of his rookie campaign, including 15 starts.

The fourth overall pick out of Georgia in 2020, Thomas didn’t perform at a level on par with such a high draft slot or his pedigree coming out of college. However, he showed a great deal of improvement in year two, allowing only two sacks in pass protection; that led to an impressive PFF grade of 82.8. His absence, when injured, was felt for a Giants offensive line that has struggled to find consistency in recent years.

Duggan notes that Thomas is expected to have fully recovered in time for the Giants’ offseason program. However, he adds that the team “will likely exercise caution” given both his injury history and overall importance to the franchise.

Update On Broncos’ Fant, Chubb, Gordon

February 17th, 2022 at 12:53pm CST by Adam La Rose

With a new head coach in place, the Broncos now face a number of key decisions on their roster. In a recent conversation with the team’s website, general manager George Paton outlined his views on a number of players and position groups, including tight end Noah Fant, edge rusher Bradley Chubb and running back Melvin Gordon. 

The team needs to decide by May whether or not to pick up Fant’s fifth year option. Considering Paton waited until after the draft to make that same decision with Chubb, it may be a while before the former 20th-overall pick learns his fate. When asked about Fant, Paton said, “he probably wasn’t as productive as he would have liked… He needs to work in the run game, and he knows that”, while still acknowledging his pass-catching ability. Fant has put up almost identical numbers the past two seasons, averaging 65 catches for just over 630 yards and seven total touchdowns in that span.

As for Chubb, who is entering the final year of his rookie contract, Paton remains optimistic that he can recover from the ankle surgery that cut his 2021 season short. Even though Chubb was held without a sack in seven games, Paton said “I expect great things from him”. More work will be done with the team’s pass rushers, though, as Malik Reed and Stephen Weatherly are pending restricted and unrestricted free agents, respectively. Paton made clear his desire to add a “mismatch-type rusher”, especially given the void left by Von Miller.

Finally, Paton seemed to open the door to Gordon returning. The 28-year-old signed with Denver two years ago, but is now a pending UFA. While he topped 1,100 scrimmage yards in both seasons with the Broncos, the presence of 2021 second round pick Javonte Williams has many feeling the veteran will need to find a new home. Paton said, though, that Gordon “had a heck of a year”, adding ” I like Melvin a lot”.

The decisions made with those three players – and within their respective position groups – will go a long way to shaping the rest of the team’s offseason moves, and in turn, their attempt to return to the postseason.

Lions Re-Sign FB Jason Cabinda

February 17th, 2022 at 11:50am CST by Adam La Rose

The Lions are keeping fullback Jason Cabinda in place for the near future. Per a team announcement, he has signed an extension that runs through the 2023 season, preventing him from becoming a restricted free agent in March.

The 25-year-old signed as an undrafted free agent out of Penn State with the Raiders in 2018. At that point, he was a linebacker, and made 21 tackles across ten games as a rookie. He signed on to the Lions’ practice squad at the start of the following season, however, which started his process of transitioning to the offensive side of the ball.

A core special teamer, Cabinda didn’t see notable offensive playing time until 2020. He logged 130 snaps that season, and another 141 in 2021, totalling 10 touches and 47 scrimmage yards between the two campaigns. 2021 also included his first career touchdown.

Cabinda also made his presence felt off the field, as he was the Lions’ nominee for the Walter Payton Man of the Year award this past season. That’s part of the reason he became one of head coach Dan Campbell‘s favorite players, earning him a new contract to stay in place as the team attempts to turn around from having the NFC’s worst record from last year.

Latest On Bengals’ Jessie Bates

February 17th, 2022 at 10:51am CST by Adam La Rose

While much of the offseason focus for the Bengals will revolve around upgrading the team’s offensive line, they have an important piece of business to take care of with one of their best defenders. Safety Jessie Bates is a pending unrestricted free agent, though Jay Morrison of The Athletic writes that other teams shouldn’t be counting on him reaching the open market. 

Bates, 24, will see his rookie contract expire next month, which would make him a free agent. However, as Morrison states, “that will not happen”. The Bengals’ options are to sign him to a long-term deal or, at a minimum, apply the franchise tag to keep him on the team through 2022 and buy time to negotiate a new pact. If Bates were to play on the tag, it would come with a value of around $13MM.

Things didn’t go smoothly last offseason when the former second rounder wanted a big contract. Talks between the sides stalled, leaving both sides where they are now. Before the 2021 season started, Bates said, “I guess I haven’t done enough yet to be considered one of the top safeties in the league, which is fine”. His play leading up to that point certainly warranted consideration that he could reset the safety market, as he registered at least 100 tackles and exactly three interceptions in each of his first three campaigns.

Bates had a down year in 2021 compared to the standards he had set previously. In 15 games, he totalled 88 tackles, one interception and four passes defensed . More worryingly, he gave up a career-worst 122 passer rating in coverage, which contributed to a 56.2 PFF grade – a stark contrast to the position-leading grade he received in 2020. On the other hand, he did record six pass breakups and two interceptions (including one in the Super Bowl) during the Bengals’ playoff run.

Newly-extended head coach Zac Taylor expressed a desire to keep Bates in the fold, saying in part, “he’s a big part of what we do. We’re really proud of how he’s led this team and how he’s played for us, really over the last four years… I think everyone knows we want Jessie to be a part of this”. If the two sides are able to hammer out a new deal, one of the biggest pieces to the Bengals’ roster would be in place to help keep the team in Super Bowl contention.

Panthers Re-Sign LB Frankie Luvu

February 17th, 2022 at 9:53am CST by Adam La Rose

The Panthers are bringing back one of their pending free agents. Linebacker Frankie Luvu has agreed to a two-year deal with Carolina, per ESPN’s David Newton (Twitter link). Aaron Wilson of Pro Football Network adds that the contract is worth $9MM.

Luvu, 25, signed with the Panthers last offseason. That came after three years to start his career with the Jets, where he flashed potential as at least an effective rotational player. While he had the second-lowest sack total of his career in 2021 with 1.5, he set a new mark with 43 total tackles (including eight for a loss) in 16 games. He also collected one pass breakup, one forced fumble and three fumble recoveries.

While Luvu, who went undrafted in 2018, saw almost exactly as many snaps on defense as he did in his final campaign with the Jets, he continued an upward trend of playing time on special teams, reaching a new career high of 71% of snaps. PFF’s Doug Kyed tweets that he “was expected to draw significant interest as a free agent”.

Luvu will now remain on a Panthers defense that ranked second in the league in yards allowed in 2021. With a front seven including the likes of Derrick Brown, Brian Burns and fellow linebacker Shaq Thompson, he seems to have carved out a useful role on the team which has earned him some short-term stability.

Patriots Considering Moving Matt Patricia To Offensive Staff?

February 17th, 2022 at 8:54am CST by Adam La Rose

The Patriots have undergone plenty of change on the sidelines and in the front office recently. In trying to reshape the coaching staff, in particular on the offensive side of the ball, there seems to be a growing chance of Matt Patricia becoming more involved. 

[Related: Raiders Hire Josh McDaniels As HC]

As ESPN’s Mike Reiss writes, “the possibility of Patricia joining the offensive staff in some capacity has come up” within NFL circles. He served under the title of senior football advisor last year, following his return to New England.

The 47-year-old only spent his first two seasons (2004 and 2005) with the Patriots as a member of the offensive staff, and in a minor capacity at that. He is, of course, best known for his six years as the team’s defensive coordinator, which ultimately landed him his first head coaching job in Detroit. That certainly didn’t go according to plan, as the Lions finished last in the NFC North in his two full seasons, and he was fired in November 2020.

Still, Patricia is a trusted lieutenant of Bill Belichick, just like Joe Judge. It was announced last week that the latter is being brought back into the fold, also on the offensive staff. As Reiss notes, however, Judge’s only experience on that side of the ball came during one year as the Patriots’ wide receivers coach in 2019 before his similarly ill-fated stint as head coach of the Giants. Not surprisingly, given their inexperience, neither he nor Patricia have called plays on offense at the NFL level.

After losing not only longtime OC Josh McDaniels to the Raiders, but also a host of valued assistants on the offensive staff, many feel Patricia and Judge could help ease the transition to a new power structure on the sidelines. While Reiss stresses it surely isn’t the primary motivation, he also notes how both of them are still being paid by their former teams after initially signing five-year deals, which reduces the cost of their services for the Patriots.

Whatever changes New England makes, it could of course have a domino effect throughout the staff. As PFF’s Doug Kyed tweets, either Patricia or Belichick himself taking on a workload on offense would likely shift more defensive responsibility to position coaches Steve Belichick or Jerod Mayo. In any event, Reiss writes, Patricia shifting from a quasi-front office role back to purely coaching is a “scenario that bears watching”.

Dolphins To Add Sam Madison To Staff

February 16th, 2022 at 10:59pm CST by Sam Robinson

Sam Madison is set to return to Miami. The former Pro Bowl Dolphins cornerback agreed to join their coaching staff Wednesday night, per ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter (on Twitter).

A Chiefs assistant for three seasons, Madison will join Mike McDaniel‘s Dolphins staff as a passing-game specialist and cornerbacks coach. Madison played nine seasons as a Dolphins cornerback, earning four Pro Bowl bids and notching first-team All-Pro honors twice.

Madison originally came to Miami in 1997 as a second-round pick, starting 127 games — most by a corner in Dolphins history — before signing with the Giants in 2006. His 31 interceptions rank third in franchise history. Madison, 47, spent three years coaching the Chiefs’ cornerbacks — a group featuring mid- or late-round picks or low-cost free agents throughout Madison’s tenure — and is in line to oversee high-priced corners Xavien Howard and Byron Jones in 2022. Madison will also follow ex-teammate Wes Welker back to Miami. The Dolphins hired Welker as their wide receivers coach last week.

This move comes shortly after previous Dolphins cornerbacks coach Charles Burks agreed to join the Bengals in a similar role, Schefter tweets. Despite Burks being a holdover from Brian Flores‘ staff, the Dolphins were planning to retain him.

The Dolphins are also hiring Tyrone McKenzie as their new outside linebackers coach, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. McKenzie, 36, coached the Titans’ inside linebackers from 2018-19 and headed up the Lions’ linebackers in 2020.

NFC Coaching Notes: Nielsen, Vikings, Giants

February 16th, 2022 at 9:35pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Saints promoted from within to fill their head coach position and halted their offensive coordinator search to keep Pete Carmichael in that role. Their other top staff job may involve a similar process. Defensive line coach Ryan Nielsen is a candidate to take over as defensive coordinator, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com notes. Nielsen, 42, has been with the Saints for the past five seasons, each as the team’s D-line coach. Nielsen has DC experience, but it came at the mid-major (Northern Illinois) and Division I-FCS (Central Connecticut State) levels. The Saints also have a former NFL defensive coordinator on staff, in secondary coach Kris Richard. The former Seahawks DC should receive a look as well. He met with both the Ravens and Steelers about their DC vacancies last month. The Saints have met with multiple outside candidates, Michael Wilhoite and Aubrey Pleasant, for the position as well. Wilhoite began his coaching career in New Orleans, working as a lower-level assistant from 2019-20.

Here is the latest from the NFC’s coaching ranks:

  • New Vikings HC Kevin O’Connell is interested in more Rams assistants. Minnesota requested permission to interview Los Angeles assistant DBs coach Jonathan Cooley, per Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic (on Twitter). The Vikes are eyeing Cooley for their secondary coach/passing-game coordinator position. After gigs at multiple MAC schools from 2018-19, Cooley joined the Rams in 2020. The Rams are already lost their top secondary coach, Ejiro Evero, to the Broncos. They are also expected to lose tight ends coach Wes Phillips and offensive assistant Chris O’Hara to the Vikings, who are interviewing Rams running backs coach Thomas Brown for their OC job.
  • The Vikings are poaching another assistant from the Broncos, being poised to hire Justin Rascati as their assistant offensive line coach, Mike Klis of 9News tweets. Rascati served as an offensive quality control coach in Denver last season. O’Connell is already bringing ex-Broncos staffers Ed Donatell and Curtis Modkins to Minnesota.
  • Bryan Cox is back on an NFL staff. The Giants are hiring the former NFL linebacker, per Aaron Wilson of ProFootballNetwork.com. Cox will be the Giants’ assistant D-line coach under Don Martindale. This will be Cox’s first NFL gig since the Falcons fired him following Super Bowl LI five years ago.
  • The 49ers are promoting offensive quality control coach Brian Fleury to their tight ends coach spot, Matt Barrows of The Athletic notes. Fleury, who will replace new Dolphins tight ends coach Jon Embree in this role, has been with the 49ers for three seasons.

Saints To Keep Pete Carmichael As OC

February 16th, 2022 at 7:32pm CST by Sam Robinson

Pete Carmichael was believed to be ticketed for a non-offensive coordinator role in 2022, but the Saints are now planning to keep him in the same post.

Sean Payton‘s right-hand man on offense has been with the Saints since Payton arrived in 2006, and he rose to the OC level ahead of New Orleans’ 2009 Super Bowl-winning season. Despite the Saints bringing in candidates for OC interviews, they are keeping Carmichael on board here, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.

Although Payton leaving will present a massive play-calling void, Carmichael sticking around will help ensure continuity. Carmichael is the NFL’s longest-tenured offensive coordinator. The 2022 season will bring a new challenge for Carmichael, with Dennis Allen‘s promotion to head coach clearing the way for a play-calling opportunity. Although the Saints’ quarterback spot remains uncertain, it appears the team has identified its next offensive play-caller. Carmichael, 50, called plays sparingly under Payton, but his next assignment will obviously represent new territory.

The Saints interviewed Jay Gruden, Colts running backs coach Scottie Montgomery and new Cowboys wideouts coach Robert Prince for the OC job. They also hired former Payton lieutenant Doug Marrone, who vacated the New Orleans OC post after leaving to become Syracuse’s HC in 2009. Carmichael, who turned down the opportunity to interview for the Saints’ HC job, and Marrone are positioned to be Allen’s top offensive staffers.

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