2022 February - Pro Football Rumors

Month: November 2024

Rams Want To Re-Sign Von Miller, OBJ

February 1st, 2022 at 7:06pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Rams’ splashy midseason acquisitions came through to help them to Super Bowl LVI, and the team in perpetual win-now mode wants both Von Miller and Odell Beckham Jr. back for next season.

The NFC champions are interested in extending both Beckham and Miller, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. Both standouts are set to be free agents in March. Neither has hit the market to start a league year previously, though Beckham was available after his in-season Browns exit.

Projected to be more than $14MM over the cap for 2022, the Rams have not let financial limitations interfere with big-ticket moves. They have been forced to let role players walk in free agency annually, however. But the team paid up to keep Leonard Floyd last March, doing so after eating a then-record dead-money sum as a result of the Jared Goff trade. Interest in retaining Miller and OBJ also comes as Matthew Stafford enters the final year of his Lions-constructed contract. An extension that bumps Stafford toward the top of the quarterback market would stand to free up money in the short term.

Miller said recently, via SI.com’s Greg Bishop, he wants to stay with the Rams. Prior to the former Super Bowl MVP playing a game with his new team, the sides discussed extension parameters. No such talks with Beckham are known to have taken place. Both players have done well to help push the Rams back to the Super Bowl. The NFC championship doubled as Beckham’s first 100-yard game since 2019, while Miller registered seven sacks from Week 15 through the Rams’ divisional-round win in Tampa.

Beckham, 29, might have a greater interest in hitting the market, considering his unconventional November free agency was not centered around money. More money will be available come March, with the cap spiking and additional teams likely interested. The Rams also have Cooper Kupp and Robert Woods tied to lucrative extensions, and the former’s dominance this season makes his $15.75MM-per-year deal look like a bargain for the Rams. This stands to complicate Beckham staying in Los Angeles. Miller, 33 in March, has never been a free agent. He is finishing up his six-year, $114.1MM extension. Despite his advancing age, the future Hall of Famer would command considerable interest on the market.

Broncos To Interview Packers’ Justin Outten For OC; Klint Kubiak On Radar

February 1st, 2022 at 6:13pm CST by Sam Robinson

Nathaniel Hackett‘s offensive coordinator search has hit multiple snags, with the Packers nixing meetings with multiple candidates. The new Broncos HC is still aiming to bring over a Green Bay assistant to be his right-hand man on offense in Denver.

Packers tight ends coach Justin Outten is expected to interview for the Broncos’ OC job, Mike Klis of 9News reports. Outten has been with the Packers since 2019. Although Outten was never a position coach prior to the Green Bay gig, he spent time under Kyle Shanahan with the Falcons as an intern in 2016. A high school assistant coach for eight years prior to trekking to Atlanta, Outten spent three seasons with the Falcons and emerged on the Broncos’ radar over the weekend.

The Broncos are also planning to interview Klint Kubiak, Klis adds, though they might not be targeting him for their OC job. The second-generation coach is being considered for another top staff position. This could mean a gig as quarterbacks coach, Kubiak’s role in Minnesota prior to rising to offensive coordinator in 2021. Klint Kubiak was with the Broncos as an offensive assistant from 2016-18, the first of those seasons coming during father Gary Kubiak‘s HC stint. The Panthers interviewed Klint Kubiak, 34, for their OC role last month.

The Packers promoted Hackett’s initial Broncos OC target, O-line coach Adam Stenavich, to replace him as OC. Matt LaFleur also nixed Hackett’s plans to interview Green Bay wide receivers coach Jason Vrable. This led the Broncos to Outten, who joins Chargers tight ends coach Kevin Koger as OC candidates. It is interesting this job could come down to two tight ends coaches with a combined four years of position-coaching experience. But Hackett is planning to bring the West Coast Offense back to Denver; Outten and Kubiak have recent experience in this system. Hackett is expected to call plays for the Broncos.

While the Broncos requested a defensive coordinator interview with Ravens D-line coach Anthony Weaver, Rams secondary coach Ejiro Evero — a longtime friend of Hackett’s — can probably be considered the favorite for that job.

Brian Flores Sues NFL, Dolphins, Giants, Broncos

February 1st, 2022 at 5:00pm CST by Sam Robinson

Brian Flores filed a class-action lawsuit against the NFL and three teams — the Dolphins, Giants and Broncos — on Tuesday, alleging racial discrimination, Marcel Louis-Jacques of ESPN.com reports. The Dolphins’ decision to fire him after three seasons, along with the Giants and Broncos choosing other candidates in 2022 and 2019, respectively, are at the root of this suit, which he filed in New York.

The Dolphins stunned most by firing Flores after back-to-back winning seasons, but the 2019 season — one in which the team was connected to tanking for the 2020 No. 1 overall pick — comes up frequently in Flores’ suit. The since-fired HC alleges Dolphins owner Stephen Ross offered him an additional $100K for each loss that season and that GM Chris Grier informed Flores that Ross was mad when the team’s wins down the stretch that season compromised its 2020 draft position. The Ross allegations are particularly explosive, and the Dolphins owner came up in another part of this lawsuit as well.

Miami likely fielded the NFL’s worst roster in 2019, having gutted it at the start of a rebuild, but Flores went 5-11 to push the team’s 2020 draft slot down to No. 5. The Dolphins were connected to Tua Tagovailoa for over a year, but they had changed course and wanted Joe Burrow after his record-setting Heisman campaign. Instead, the Bengals landed the LSU superstar and rebuffed the Dolphins’ attempt to trade up from No. 5.

Flores also alleged Ross wanted Flores to recruit a “prominent quarterback” at the end of the 2019 season — before free agency, which would have violated the NFL’s tampering rules. This, per Flores, included a meeting on a yacht before the legal tampering period. When Flores refused to go through with this meeting, he claims he was met with “treated with disdain and held out as someone who was noncompliant and difficult to work with.” The Dolphins cited collaboration issues as part of the reason they fired Flores last month.

The unnamed quarterback is believed to be Tom Brady, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports (video link). The Dolphins were linked to Brady, whom Flores spent over a decade with in New England, but were not believed to be among the finalists for the future Hall of Fame passer by the time the tampering period began.

The Giants hired Brian Daboll over Flores, who called his interview process with the team “a sham” meant to comply with the NFL’s Rooney Rule, which mandates teams interview two minority candidates for HC positions. Flores, who spoke with the Giants before they hired GM Joe Schoen and later interviewed with Schoen and Co. in person, cites Bill Belichick texts about his pursuit of the job in his suit. In the messages, Belichick claimed that he had “Buffalo and NYG that you are their guy.” Flores’ former boss later texted his apologies for misunderstanding the situation. The suit claims Flores’ in-person meeting with the Giants came after they had already decided to hire Daboll, via the New York Post.

Flores also alleges members of the Broncos’ interview contingent, including former GM John Elway, arrived for his 2019 HC interview an hour late and hungover. The Broncos ended up hiring Vic Fangio to replace Vance Joseph that year, leading Flores to Miami. Calling Flores’ account “blatantly false,” the Broncos detailed their 2019 interview process with Flores (via the Washington Post’s Nicki Jhabvala, on Twitter). The Dolphins and Giants have also rejected Flores’ claims.

Flores conducted a second interview with the Texans on Monday, and the Saints did go through with their interview Tuesday at the Senior Bowl, ESPN.com’s Mike Triplett tweets. This lawsuit certainly complicates Flores’ chances of landing a job this year. His suit against the NFL aims, among other matters, for the league to increase the number of Black coordinators, incentivize the hiring and retention of Black GMs, HCs and coordinators and provide transparency of the salaries attached to GMs, HCs and coordinators.

“God has gifted me with a special talent to coach the game of football, but the need for change is bigger than my personal goals,” Flores said. “In making the decision to file the class action complaint today, I understand that I may be risking coaching the game that I love and that has done so much for my family and me. My sincere hope is that by standing up against systemic racism in the NFL, others will join me to ensure that positive change is made for generations to come.”

The NFL called Flores’ claims meritless in a swiftly released statement. The league changed its Rooney Rule multiple times during Flores’ Miami tenure but currently features just one team employing a Black head coach. Two others — Washington and the Jets — employ minority HCs.

“The NFL and our clubs are deeply committed to ensuring equitable employment practices and continue to make progress in providing equitable opportunities throughout our organizations,” the NFL said in a statement, via Rapoport (on Twitter). “Diversity is core to everything we do, and there are few issues on which our clubs and our internal leadership team spend more time. We will defend against these claims, which are without merit.”

Latest On Packers’ Coaching Staff

February 1st, 2022 at 3:35pm CST by Adam La Rose

More changes have been made official today on the Packers’ coaching staff. The most notable of them, as Tom Silverstein of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports, is that special teams coordinator Maurice Drayton will not return (Twitter link).

That news certainly doesn’t come as a surprise to many, given the unit’s struggles throughout the season. After ranking dead last in the league in terms of special teams DVOA, the issue came to a head in Green Bay’s loss to the 49ers in the Divisional round. With a blocked field goal at the end of the first half, and a blocked punt that was returned for a touchdown late in the fourth quarter, the unit’s performance played a large role in yet another 13-win season coming to a premature end.

Problems in the third phase of the game are nothing new in Green Bay. As The Athletic’s Jason Wilde tweets, the news of Drayton’s departure continues a seemingly never-ending trend of new coordinators cycling in and out. The new ST coordinator will be the fourth in the past five seasons for the team. As ESPN’s Rob Demovsky notes, Drayton is the eighth consecutive ST coach to either be fired or forced out (Twitter link).

With Nathaniel Hackett and Luke Getsy being hired by the Broncos and Bears, respectively, other changes were necessary on the offensive staff. It has already been reported that Adam Stenavich has been promoted to OC, which left a vacancy in the role of offensive line coach. To fill it, Luke Butkus, who had previously been an assistant o-line coach in Green Bay for three seasons, got promoted (Twitter link via The Athletic’s Matt Schneidman).

Schneidman adds that Ryan Mahaffey is being promoted to assistant o-line coach after one season in Green Bay. As well, Connor Lewis has been promoted to assistant QBs coach following six seasons with the team. Lastly, wide receivers coach Jason Vrabel, who has spent three years with the Packers, including two in that role, has had passing game coordinator added to his title.

Broncos Officially Up For Sale

February 1st, 2022 at 2:42pm CST by Adam La Rose

Today, it has been made official that the Denver Broncos are up for sale. While this has long been expected, the announcement confirms the beginning of the sale process, which could very well end up as the most lucrative in NFL – if not North American professional sports – history.

[Related: Broncos To Be Sold]

In a pair of tweets, the team relayed statements from president Joe Ellis and the Pat Bowlen family. The former notes that the franchise has retained Steve Greenberg as a financial advisor and Joe Leccese as legal advisor for the sale process, which the team hopes to have finished by the beginning of the 2022 season. It concludes: “The Broncos are a special franchise that is part of the fabric of this region and whoever emerges as the new owner will certainly understand what the team means to our great fans and this community”.

The latter, meanwhile, acknowledges the fanbase’s role in the team’s success during Bowlen’s tenure as owner and CEO: “our family is overwhelmed with gratitude for what this organization and community have meant to us. There are truly no words to express our deep appreciation to all of Broncos Country for its unwavering support during the past four decades”. It continues, “From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for this incredible ride. It has been the honor of our lifetime”.

As Ryan O’Halloran of the Denver Post details, this sale will be somewhat unique in that it is an auction, the proceeds of which will go from trustees to the beneficiaries (seven of Bowlen’s eight children). Again, that was already know prior to today, but it is part of the reason this sale is expected to be so lucrative. It is widely believed, and has been for quite some time, that the price will end up around the $4B mark, part of which may be covered by Broncos icon John Elway. That figure would easily break the NFL record for sale price, which was set in 2018 when David Tepper bought the Panthers for $2.275B. It would also eclipse the North American record of $2.35B, set by the Brooklyn Nets’ sale.

Jimmy Garoppolo To Have Surgery

February 1st, 2022 at 1:41pm CST by Adam La Rose

There has been plenty of speculation surrounding 49ers’ quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo throughout the season. While it is still widely believed he has played his last game in San Francisco, the first order of business for him is to undergo surgery on his injured thumb, reports NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport (via Twitter).

Rapoport says the surgery is expected to take place “as soon as it can be scheduled”. Garoppolo was able to play through the ailment for the latter part of the season and into the playoffs, but not without feeling pain in his throwing hand after every pass attempt. While the injury was originally thought to be a sprain, it was revealed in December that he suffered a torn ligament in his right thumb.

The 30-year-old missed two games in 2021 – adding to his already notable total of absences, though certainly not to the same extent as previous years. He totalled 3,810 passing yards, 20 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. His completion percentage (68.3%) and yards per attempt (8.6) were both right on par with his carer averages. Between that, and the Niners’ run to the NFC title game, Garoppolo has made the most out of what could have been a disastrous ‘lame-duck’ campaign.

There will be quite the market for Garoppolo in the event that, as expected, San Francisco decides to move on from him. A number of teams already have QB vacancies, not to mention those like the Raiders and Vikings, whose signal callers find themselves in the same position as Garoppolo in that they have one year remaining on their contracts. A trade would, of course, represent the team handing the reins over to 2021 No. 3 pick Trey Lance, something they seemed destined to do considering the draft capital given up to acquire him.

Bills Name Ken Dorsey Offensive Coordinator

February 1st, 2022 at 12:43pm CST by Adam La Rose

After spending a bit of time looking at external candidates for their offensive coordinator vacancy, the Bills have landed on the internal name they were first linked to. Ken Dorsey, the team’s quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator, has been promoted to OC (Twitter link via Mike Garafolo of NFL Network).

It had been expected that Dorsey would soon become an OC; the question was simply whether or not it would be in Buffalo or New York, after Brian Daboll was named the new head coach of the Giants. Rather than hiring one of the two outside coaches they interviewed, allowing Dorsey to follow Daboll to New York, the Bills have kept the 40-year-old in house to keep a degree of stability on offense.

Buffalo certainly had competitors for Dorsey’s services. As WGRZ’s Vic Carucci tweets, there were “at least a half-dozen teams” interested in him. If he had left the Bills, that means it actually may not have been a guarantee the Giants would have been his ultimate destination.

Dorsey has been with the Bills since 2019, beginning with the same QBs coach role he held for five years with the Panthers. For the past two seasons, he has had the added title of passing game coordinator, helping lead the team to a third place finish in points per game in 2021. More generally, he has played a crucial role in developing Josh Allen into an MVP candidate following the accuracy concerns early in his career.

Meanwhile, for the Giants, the list of their preferred (remaining) candidates is down to three, according to Garafolo. He tweets that the finalists are Pep Hamilton, the QBs coach/passing game coordinator for the Texans, Mike Kafka, who holds the same titles with the Chiefs, and Chad O’Shea, the WRs coach/pass game coordinator with the Browns.

Ravens Expected To Retain OC Greg Roman

February 1st, 2022 at 11:44am CST by Adam La Rose

It is already know that the Ravens will have a new defensive coordinator in 2022. However, head coach John Harbaugh made it clear on Monday he plans on retaining Greg Roman as the team’s offensive coordinator (Twitter link via ESPN’s Jamison Hensley).

During his press conference, Harbaugh gave Roman a vote of confidence as the man at the helm of the offense. “I’m excited about that”, he said. “I think we have a really good vision of what we want to build offensively”. The team took a major step back on the offensive side of the ball, in particular down the stretch, though injuries to a number of key contributors played a big role in that.

From quarterback Lamar Jackson, to left tackle Ronnie Stanley, to running backs J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards, the unit wasn’t at full strength at any point in the campaign. While backup QB Tyler Huntley generally filled in admirably for the former MVP, scoring increasingly became a problem during the team’s six-game losing streak to finish the season. Baltimore finished 17th in points per game this season (22.8), in large part due to struggles on third down (36.4%, 26th).

The team’s passing game was a sore spot, especially late in the year. After the best start to his career, Marquise Brown didn’t top 55 receiving yards in a game from Week 10 onwards. The lack of a downfield passing attack is nothing new for Roman-led offenses, though 2021 did also see tight end Mark Andrews set a franchise record in receiving yards (1,361).

The 49-year-old has been with the Ravens since 2017, and the offensive coordinator for the past three years. His overall body of work – predicated on the ground game, just as it was when he was in San Francisco and Buffalo – has earned him at least one more season at the controls. The offensive staff is already going to be different, however, as The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman tweets that tight ends coach Bobby Engram is leaving to become the OC at Wisconsin. In addition, it came out yesterday that wide receivers coach Tee Martin is a candidate for the Bills’ OC position.

With, presumably, healthier personnel, along with a familiar play-caller in 2022, the Ravens will look to reclaim their place as one of the league’s most unique, and most effective, offenses.

Jaguars Interview Rick Spielman For Non-GM Position

February 1st, 2022 at 10:42am CST by Adam La Rose

Amidst the confusion and controversy surrounding the Jaguars’ head coaching search, there has been a development of the front office side of the organization. According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, the team conducted an in-person interview with former Vikings general manager Rick Spielman on Monday (Twitter link).

Rapoport details that Spielman interviewed for a “high-level front office position”. However, as his colleague Mike Garafolo tweets, the role he is potentially taking on is not that of GM. That would mean incumbent Trent Baalke, who has been the source of much dismay in the Jags’ fanbase and is thought to be an impediment to the teams’ search for a head coach, is likely to remain in place.

Further to that point, Mark Long of the Associated Press reports (via Twitter) that Baalke was thought to be looking for an executive “to take on an assistant GM role to handle day-to-day operations”. The reason for that, he continues, would be to allow Baalke “to be more hands-on with players on the field”. It would appear, then, that a hire like this would alter, but in a sense, expand, Baalke’s duties in Jacksonville.

Spielman was fired along with HC Mike Zimmer on ‘Black Monday’. That brought his 16-year tenure with the team – which included the last 10 seasons as GM – to an end. While the team is clearly set to move in a new direction, there was a good deal of success during the 59-year-old’s time there. If he were to come to Jacksonville, he would at a minimum represent an experienced voice in front office decisions, and potentially even quell the concerns of interested candidates wary of having to work under Baalke.

Washington OL Jaxson Kirkland Withdraws From 2022 Draft

February 1st, 2022 at 9:44am CST by Adam La Rose

There was some unfortunate news surrounding this year’s draft yesterday. According to a report from Pro Football Network’s Tony Pauline, University of Washington offensive linemen Jaxson Kirkland is having surgery and withdrawing his name from the draft.

Kirkland, one of the higher ranked offensive tackles in this year’s class, suffered an ankle injury early in the season. It slowed him down through October and November, but certainly didn’t derail the campaign entirely. The senior was one of three Huskies to earn First Team All-Pac 12 honors in 2021. With a 74.9 grade this season, PFF has him ranked as their 75th overall prospect, within the second tier of tackles beyond the sure-fire top 15 picks at the position.

Standing in at six-foot-seven and 310 pounds, Kirkland certainly has the size to handle playing on the outside on the NFL level. With mobility still a concern as a result of the injured ankle, though, he is petitioning the NCAA to be able to return to college next season and enter the 2023 draft. ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweets that the surgery will take place today, and that Kirkland is expected to make a full recovery.

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