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Month: December 2024

Eagles Sign Fourth-Round CB Kelee Ringo, Finalize Draft Class Deals

July 17th, 2023 at 12:22pm CST by Adam La Rose

With training camp continuing to draw closer, the Eagles have finished the business of signing their draft class to their initial NFL contracts. The team announced on Monday that cornerback Kelee Ringo has inked his four-year rookie deal.

Philadelphia continued its recent practice of adding ex-Georgia defenders during the 2023 draft. Both of the team’s first-rounders (defensive tackle Jalen Carter and edge rusher Nolan Smith) spent their college careers with the Bulldogs, as did Ringo. The latter was a key contributor in the secondary of the team’s back-to-back national title campaigns.

Ringo recorded a pair of interceptions and eight pass breakups in 2021, which led to increased expectations (and plenty of buzz regarding his draft stock) entering last season. The 6-2, 210-pounder once again notched two picks, and added seven PBUs, but his work in coverage led to underwhelming reviews. In a deep cornerback class, Ringo found himself having to wait until Day 3 to hear his name called.

Aside from the long list of college teammates Ringo will have in Philadelphia, the NFC champions represent a positive environment for him to begin his NFL tenure in. The Eagles retained Darius Slay on a two-year deal after appearing to be on the verge of releasing him, and gave fellow CB starter James Bradberry a three-year, $38MM pact. The continued presence of those two veterans will give Philadelphia notable stability in the secondary considering the exodus of several other key players in free agency, and allow Ringo to be brought along slowly as he adapts to the pro game.

With Ringo on the books, here is the final breakdown of the Eagles’ 2023 rookie class:

Round 1, No. 9 (from Bears): Jalen Carter, DT (Georgia) (signed)
Round 1, No. 30: Nolan Smith, LB (Georgia) (signed)
Round 3, No. 65 (from Texans): Tyler Steen, G (Alabama) (signed)
Round 3, No. 66 (from Cardinals): Sydney Brown, S (Illinois) (signed)
Round 4, No. 105 (Texans through Cardinals): Kelee Ringo, CB (Georgia) (signed)
Round 6, No. 188 (from Saints through Texans): Tanner McKee, QB (Stanford) (signed)
Round 7, No. 249 (from Chiefs through Lions): Moro Ojomo, DT (Texas) (signed)

Latest On Packers DC Joe Barry

July 17th, 2023 at 11:05am CST by Adam La Rose

The quarterback position will understandably receive plenty of attention in 2023 for the Packers, but the team’s defense will be subject to considerable scrutiny as well. The coordinator leading the unit could be facing a make-or-break situation.

[RELATED: Recapping Packers’ Offseason]

Defensive coordinator Joe Barry has been in place for the past two seasons, overseeing a group littered with first-round picks. However, that hasn’t yielded the desired results in terms of on-field performance. Green Bay ranked 13th and 17th in points allowed in 2021 and ’22, respectively, a far cry from expectations given the pedigree of the team’s roster. That has led to increasing criticism of the 53-year-old, though he received an endorsement from head coach Matt LaFleur in January and again in April.

In spite of that, Barry should not be considered safe over the long term. A strong sentiment that 2023 will be his final opportunity to retain the DC role exists entering training camp, as noted by The Athletic’s Matt Schneidman (subscription required). A step forward from Green Bay’s front seven in particular would go a long way in aiding Barry’s chances of remaining in place beyond the coming campaign.

The Packers allowed just under 140 rushing yards per game last season, which ranked 26th in the league. The ACL tear suffered by Rashan Gary also crippled the team’s pass rush, and they finished the year in 27th in the NFL with 34 sacks. The secondary fared much better by comparison, especially later in the campaign, but shortcomings on defense contributed in large part to Green Bay’s 8-9 record and the resultant failure to qualify for the postseason.

A healthy Gary (who, Schneidman adds, still does not have a firm recovery timeline), along with first-round rookie Lukas Van Ness, should give Green Bay upside in the edge rush department. As for the defensive interior, progression from recent draftees T.J. Slaton and Devonte Wyatt could give two-time Pro Bowler Kenny Clark much-needed support. Expectations will likewise be high in Year 2 for former first-round linebacker Quay Walker.

Pressure will no doubt increase on Barry if the Packers struggle out of the gate defensively, something which could foreshadow a third straight season of underwhelming play. For now, he has the public backing of his head coach, but the extent to which that may change will be a key storyline at the onset of the regular season.

No Deal Expected Between Cowboys, RB Tony Pollard

July 17th, 2023 at 9:36am CST by Ely Allen

JULY 17: Josina Anderson of CBS Sports tweets that talks are still ongoing between team and player in this situation, which could leave the door open to an eleventh-hour agreement. However, the Dallas Morning News’ Calvin Watkins and Michael Gehlken add (via Twitter and Threads) that Pollard can still be expected to play out the 2023 season on the tag.

JULY 16: Cowboys running back Tony Pollard was the only one of the franchise tagged running backs to report to team activities after signing his tag back in March. This still left the door open for Pollard and Dallas to work towards a long-term extension, but according to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN, it’s seeming unlikely that the two sides will reach a new deal by tomorrow’s 3pm central deadline. Pollard will play out the 2023 season on the $10.09MM franchise tag.

Despite the team tagging Pollard and the veteran back signing the tag, the team made it clear that they weren’t planning on Pollard playing out next season on a one-year tryout. Pollard wisely chose to take the money in hand while still keeping the possibility of a new deal open in the future. It was established early that Dallas would continue working towards a new deal with Pollard, albeit not one quite as lengthy as the one they gave Ezekiel Elliott.

Elliott’s six-year, $90MM extension was cut short with four seasons remaining when the team designated him as a post-June 1 cut. In order to avoid making the same mistakes twice, the Cowboys were reportedly eyeing an extension for a term of closer to three or four years for Pollard. Even if they weren’t going to dedicate a long-term deal to him, a medium-term extension was still in the cards for the 26-year-old.

Fortunately, because Pollard signed the tag, the two sides have an additional eight months to work out the terms of a possible extension. In the meantime, Pollard will play out the year under the guaranteed money of the franchise tag. If the Cowboys fail to extend Pollard, they’re unlikely to tag him in consecutive years, so this season should result in a new contract for Pollard, regardless. Whether that contract is a re-signing with Dallas or a new deal in free agency will be determined down the road.

Giants, Saquon Barkley To Re-Engage In Contract Talks; No Deal Imminent

July 17th, 2023 at 8:52am CST by Adam La Rose

Today marks the deadline for franchise tag recipients to sign multi-year deals and avoid playing on the one-year tag for the 2023 season. That leaves only a few hours for the Giants and running back Saquon Barkley to come to an agreement.

Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post reports that the sides are expected to conduct further negotiations ahead of the 3pm central deadline (Twitter link). He adds that periods of contract talks have been few and far between in recent weeks, as New York has remained firm at its price point while the 26-year-old has attempted to use his limited leverage to achieve a larger guarantee than the $22MM he would earn on consecutive franchise tags.

With plenty of ground left to cover in a matter of hours, ESPN’s Jordan Raanan tweets that neither party is optimistic a deal will be reached today. That sentiment is echoed by Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports (via Twitter), who adds that a contract for Barkley, Josh Jacobs of the Raiders or Cowboys‘ back Tony Pollard would come as a surprise at this point. Only Pollard has signed his $10.1MM franchise tag as of now.

As a result, both Barkley and Jacobs would not be obligated to attend their respective training camps if they exited today without a long-term deal in hand. Both backs have been named as a candidate to sit out during Week 1, though the prospect of choosing to miss out on game checks would make such a scenario an unlikely one. Playing on the tag in 2023 would be an unwanted consolation for both players looking to reverse a downward trend in the running back market, something highlighted this offseason in particular.

To date, the highest guarantee figure Giants have been willing to offer is $19.5MM, but that appears to have recently changed. Dunleavy tweets that New York has submitted an offer “in the ballpark” of $22MM in terms of guarantees, but with a decreased annual average value compared to the one including $19.5MM. General manager Joe Schoen has shown a willingness to change the team’s position as circumstances shift. After their last-minute deal was worked out with quarterback Daniel Jones in March, the Giants withdrew the standing offer which was in place for Barkley, allowing them to apply the franchise tag. How far the team decides to go in terms of length, AAV and guarantees will be worth watching closely, especially as it relates to negotiations between Jacobs and the Raiders.

Barkley enjoyed a career year on the ground in 2022 (1,312 rushing yards), serving as the focal point of New York’s offense. The past campaign was only his second one spent at full health, however, and the team has Jones on the books through 2026 and a modified pass-catching corps led by tight end Darren Waller in place to help him take what they hope will be a notable step forward this season. The degree to which Barkley fits into the Giants’ intermediate- and long-term plans will be determined soon.

NFL Staff Updates: Cowboys, Falcons, Ravens, Lions, Chiefs, 49ers, Saints, Caminiti

July 16th, 2023 at 9:43pm CST by Ely Allen

Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy has made analytics a focus since joining the staff three years ago. That trend has continued into 2023 as Dallas made three hires this week, all of them in the analytics department. The Cowboys even took a page out of another sport’s book, as baseball has taken the lead in analytics over the past several years.

Bryant Davis will join the team as a strategic football analyst, according to Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. For the last four years, Davis has been a research and development analyst for the Tampa Bay Rays of the MLB. Even in a sport that’s already more analytical than football, the Rays are one of the more advanced teams in their use of analytics.

Joining Davis as a strategic football analyst, according to Jori Epstein of Yahoo Sports, is William Britt, a former Steelers staffer. Britt spent the past two seasons as a data analyst in Pittsburgh. Along with Davis and Sarah Mallepalle, this is the third person the Cowboys have hired to that role this offseason.

Finally, Dallas has convinced Max Lyons to return to the NFL in the role of football data engineer, according to Marcus Mosher of Pro Football Focus. Lyons has been out of the league for about ten years, founding and maintaining the website Gridiron Rank over that period. After working with the Eagles and Jaguars all the way back in 2012, he finally makes his return to the league.

Here are some other staff updates from around the NFL:

  • After joining the Falcons as a scouting assistant a year ago, Hakeem Smith has been promoted to assistant pro scout, according to Neil Stratton of SucceedinFootball.com. Before coming to the NFL, Smith had spent three years working in the Pittsburgh Panthers recruiting department. Another scouting assistant hired last summer out of the college ranks, James McClintock has been promoted to a BLESTO scout for Atlanta, according to Stratton. McClintock’s time in the collegiate ranks was spent at Auburn, North Carolina, and Liberty.
  • The Ravens are also reportedly hiring out of the college arena. According to Matt Zenitz of On3 Sports, Baltimore is expected to hire Adam Neuman as chief of staff and special advisor to the president. Not to be confused with Adam Neumann, the founder of WeWork, Neuman has served the last four years as chief of staff for strategy and operations for college football’s Big Ten conference.
  • There’s been a promotion in the Lions‘ analytics department, according to Seth Walder of ESPN. After joining the team in 2020 as an analytics assistant, Caio Brighenti will now be in the role of football information manager. Brighenti has served as football information analyst for Detroit since March 2021.
  • Chiefs‘ staffer Anthony McGee has finally climbed the ranks to become a pro scout, according to Stratton. After interning for the team in different roles from 2018 to 2021, McGee was hired in the personnel department as a player personnel assistant. Two years later, he’ll get his chance at a scouting role.
  • A personnel staffer who got his chance as a pro scout last year, J.P. Crowley Hanlon of the 49ers has been promoted to West Coast area scout, according to Stratton. Crowley Hanlon joined San Francisco after gaining some experience with the Eagles and a sports agency.
  • The Saints poached an analytics staffer from the Jets this week, according to Walder. After serving in New York as football analytics coordinator since 2020, Zach Stuart will head south to New Orleans as director of analytics.
  • Lastly, the Patriots will lose a scout this summer, according to Stratton. Chris Caminiti will be departing for a role to head the Disruptive Sports firm’s coaching representation division. Caminiti has been an area scout for New England since 2021 after serving in operations and coaching roles previously with the Browns, Chiefs, and Chargers.

Pats’ Offer To DeAndre Hopkins Fell Short

July 16th, 2023 at 7:51pm CST by Ely Allen

In case you missed it, the Titans won the sweepstakes for three-time All-Pro wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins. Tennessee signed him to a two-year, $26MM contract that can be boosted up to $32MM with a few incentives. It seemed coming into the weekend that it was a two-team race between the Titans and Patriots, but New England ended up just falling short, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.

For weeks, Tennessee and New England were the only visits Hopkins had taken, but a deal didn’t seem imminent with either organization, despite an unofficial soft deadline of training camp to get a deal done. Many seemed to think that Hopkins was waiting for more teams to jump into the mix. Perhaps Kansas City would find a way to clear some cap space by extending defensive tackle Chris Jones, effectively allowing them into the race. Or, maybe, another team with cap space might suffer an injury that leaves them in need of a No. 1 receiver.

Even if new suitors emerged, the Patriots felt they were in a strong position after Hopkins’s visit. The veteran receiver was well-received by current players, and the presence of offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien in New England only helped the team’s case. Some of Hopkins’s most impressive seasons came with O’Brien as his head coach in Houston. The idea of reuniting with his former head coach kept the Patriots in contention, alongside Tennessee.

The feeling for weeks has been that New England liked Hopkins, according to Phil Perry of NBCS Boston. He clearly still has gas in the tank and is familiar with their new offensive coordinator’s system. He would also provide some veteran depth and leadership at a position that has two players with significant injury history in JuJu Smith-Schuster and DeVante Parker. Providing their young, developing quarterback with a star receiver could prove invaluable.

As much as they like him, though, nobody was expecting them to pay the big bucks to obtain him. They reportedly had the ability to match the Titans offer. According to Perry, they could’ve beaten Tennessee’s offer if they really wanted to. Instead, Fowler reports that New England’s “base financial package wasn’t in the same ballpark as what (the) Titans offered.” Hopkins will head to Nashville, and the Patriots will have to hope that their wide receiving corps will have what it takes to get the job done.

Falcons TE Kyle Pitts Expected To Be Healthy By Week 1

July 16th, 2023 at 4:05pm CST by Adam La Rose

The start of the Desmond Ridder era on offense in Atlanta will include several questions about the quarterback’s ability to retain the full-time starting role. He is likely to have one of the team’s top skill-position players available to start the season, though.

Head coach Arthur Smith expects tight end Kyle Pitts to be fully healthy in time for Week 1, as detailed by Scott Bair of the team’s website. No definitive timeline is in place at the moment, but that confidence is of course positive news for the Falcons and their highly-touted seam-stretcher.

Pitts has been dealing with a hamstring issue, a separate ailment from the MCL tear he suffered in Week 11 of the 2022 campaign. The latter injury cost the 22-year-old the remainder of his second season in the NFL, and prevented the Year 2 jump many were expecting him to make in terms of production. Returning to full health in time for the fall could set Pitts up for a strong showing in 2023, however.

The Florida product entered the league with massive expectations as the No. 4 pick in his draft year. Pitts earned a Pro Bowl nod after recording 68 catches and 1,026 yards as a rookie, although he was only able to find the endzone once in 2021. His touchdown total doubled last season, but Pitts’ catch percentage (47.5%) and yards per reception average (12.7) both took signficant steps back compared to the previous year.

Atlanta made a number of moves to upgrade their defense during free agency, but they turned to the draft once again to add playmakers on offense. For the third consecutive year, the Falcons used their top selection on a skill-position player (Pitts in 2021, receiver Drake London in 2022 and running back Bijan Robinson this past April). That trio will be leaned on heavily as the team looks to return to the postseason, though trade acquisition Jonnu Smith will provide the Falcons with a veteran at the TE spot who can contribute in run blocking in particular.

Bair notes that the Ridder-led offense will likely involve more balance compared to the pass-happy scheme used with Matt Ryan under center and the very run-heavy approach employed with Marcus Mariota at the helm for most of last season. That should leave plenty of targets available for Pitts, whose participation in training camp starting later this month will be worth watching closely.

Packers LB De’Vondre Campbell Dealt With Shoulder Injury In 2022

July 16th, 2023 at 11:22am CST by Rory Parks

The Packers’ low-risk acquisition of inside linebacker De’Vondre Campbell in June 2021 paid huge dividends for player and team, as Campbell turned in a First-Team All-Pro performance that year and parlayed that into a five-year, $50MM deal from Green Bay last March. His first season of that new contract was marred to some degree by a knee injury that cost him four games, and Campbell recently said that he also dealt with a nagging shoulder injury for much of the year (Twitter link).

The former fourth-round pick of the Falcons returned an interception for a touchdown during the Packers’ Week 7 loss to the Commanders, and he says that he was “just hitting my stride” in that contest after playing through the shoulder pain for the first third of the season (pain that he never reported to anyone). Unfortunately, he suffered the knee injury the following week in a contest against the Bills.

Campbell, 30, returned to his full-time role in Week 13, and despite the shoulder and knee ailments, his performance did not suffer much, at least in the eyes of the advanced metrics. Pro Football Focus assigned him a 75.6 overall grade, a mark that included a particularly high 81.0 score in the all-important “coverage” category and positioned him as the NFL’s 15th-best linebacker among 81 qualifiers. In his standout 2021 season, PFF gave him an 85.0 overall grade.

Campbell says he is now completely healthy, and the Packers will need him to continue playing at a high level. Green Bay still has a puncher’s chance of winning a questionable NFC North, or to at least earn a wildcard berth, despite transitioning from Aaron Rodgers to Jordan Love at quarterback. If that happens, it will likely be because the club’s defense, a middling unit in 2022, returns to the top-10 form it displayed the year prior. Campbell, who calls the defensive signals, will be central to that effort.

The Packers were of course not going to move on from Campbell this offseason given their financial commitment to him and his importance to the defense. Still, it is notable that the team did not make any draft or FA investments at the ILB position, so it is clear that Green Bay has plenty of faith in Campbell and his running mate, 2022 first-rounder Quay Walker.

Lions TE Sam LaPorta To Have Significant Role In 2023

July 16th, 2023 at 10:33am CST by Rory Parks

Fantasy football managers are well aware that rookie tight ends often face a steep learning curve, and that expectations for those players should generally be tempered. But Lions TE Sam LaPorta, a second-round pick in this year’s draft, has a real chance to make significant contributions to Detroit’s offense in his first professional season.

According to Tim Twentyman of the team’s official website, LaPorta was one of the Lions’ most impressive players during OTAs and minicamp. TE coach Steve Heiden was especially pleased with LaPorta’s instincts and feel for the game, traits that were honed during his time in a pro-style Iowa offense that gives tight ends a great deal of responsibility. In addition to those intangibles, LaPorta also offers prototypical size (6-4, 249) and athleticism and displayed considerable receiving and YAC ability at the collegiate level.

As such, Twentyman expects LaPorta to have a major role right out of the gate. He will be aided in that regard by a depth chart that, in the wake of the trade that sent T.J. Hockenson to the Vikings at last year’s deadline, is light on proven talent.

After the trade, James Mitchell, Brock Wright, and Shane Zylstra saw expanded playing time, and while those players combined for nine touchdown grabs following Hockenson’s departure, none of them offer LaPorta’s upside. Wright and Zylstra are both former UDFAs, and Mitchell was a fifth-round pick in the 2022 draft.

Nonetheless, Heiden has (predictably) spoken highly of all of his charges, and given that offensive coordinator Ben Johnson‘s scheme relies heavily on tight ends, Twentyman believes there is a good chance that Detroit’s Week 1 roster will include four TEs, just as it did in 2022. LaPorta’s ability to line up out wide will, in addition to increasing his own snap share, make it even more likely that the team keeps four tight ends. That is especially true since WR Jameson Williams‘ six-game suspension creates an immediate need for outside-the-numbers talent that LaPorta can fill, thereby opening up more in-line opportunities for the players below him in the pecking order.

Of the above-mentioned players, Twentyman believes that Zylstra’s job security is the most tenuous, while LaPorta, Mitchell, and Wright appear to be roster locks. The Lions’ TE allotment could also be influenced by the presence of Jason Cabinda, who can play both fullback and tight end.

Panthers Have Made Contract Offer To Brian Burns

July 16th, 2023 at 9:09am CST by Rory Parks

The Panthers and edge rusher Brian Burns commenced extension talks last month. The two sides have reached one significant milestone in those discussions, as Carolina has submitted a contract offer to Burns, according to Darin Gantt of the team’s official website.

The details of that offer are presently unclear, so it is difficult to handicap the likelihood of an agreement coming together before the start of the regular season. Additionally, as Gantt observes, Burns may want to wait until the 49ers’ ongoing negotations with Nick Bosa, another standout pass rusher from the 2019 draft class, are completed before he puts pen to paper on his own contract. While Burns’ next deal will not be as lucrative as Bosa’s, the 2022 Defensive Player of the Year, the aphorism “a rising tide lifts all boats” is applicable here.

Regardless of what happens with Bosa, Burns is expected to land a contract that places him among the top-five or top-six highest-paid edge defenders. In the current market, such a deal would include an average annual value upwards of $22MM and practical guarantees of more than $53MM, though it is possible that Burns will top those figures by a comfortable margin.

The Panthers may want to wrap their talks with Burns sooner rather than later in light of the ever-rising price tag for high-end pass rushers, but there is no real urgency from a club control persepctive. Burns is set to play out the 2023 season on the fifth-year option of his rookie deal — which will pay him just north of $16MM — and the team can hit him with the franchise tag next year if it so chooses. The value of the tag is projected to be in the $24MM-$25MM range, which is roughly what Burns’ AAV on an extension would be anyway.

Burns’ on-field performance has obviously set a high baseline for his second NFL contract. Though Pro Football Focus’ advanced metrics suggest that his run defense could still use some work, teams place a higher value on pass rushing ability these days, and Burns has that in spades. He set a career-high with 12.5 sacks in 2022, and since he turned pro in 2019, he has generated 38 sacks, which is the 11th-highest total in the league over that four-year timeframe. He has also earned Pro Bowl acclaim in each of the last two seasons.

Another factor that will help him in negotiations is the fact that the Panthers rebuffed a trade proposal from the Rams prior to last year’s deadline that would have netted Carolina 2024 and 2025 first-round selections and a 2023 second-rounder in exchange for Burns. Obviously, that gives the Florida State alum some extra leverage, and it is certainly possible that the Panthers’ shift to a 3-4 front under new DC Ejiro Evero could improve his all-around performance, which would drive his value even higher.

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