HEADLINES

Andy Levitre

Falcons Acquire Andy Levitre From Titans

September 4th, 2015 at 12:03pm CST by Luke Adams

12:03pm: The Titans have officially confirmed the trade, per Jim Wyatt of Titans Online, who tweets that Tennessee will get a 2016 sixth-round pick and a conditional pick in a future year from the Falcons.

11:31am: The Falcons are acquiring a veteran guard in a trade with the Titans, according to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, who reports (via Twitter) that Andy Levitre is heading to Atlanta. Levitre himself first hinted at the move, tweeting out the message “#RiseUp” from his official account.

Levitre, 29, has started all 16 games for the Titans at left guard in each of the past two seasons, and has never missed a game in his six-year NFL career. However, while his consistency and ability to stay on the field is an asset, Pro Football Focus (subscription required) ranked the veteran lineman as just the 45th-best guard out of 78 qualified players last season, giving him a -5.8 grade.

There had been plenty of speculation that Levitre would be released by the Titans before the season, since his cap charge for 2015, and for each of the following two seasons, is an exorbitant $8.6MM. By trading Levitre, the Titans will still be on the hook for $2.1MM in dead money this year and $4.2MM next year, but it would reduce his cap hit significantly.

As for the Falcons, they’d take on Levitre’s $6.5MM salary, which seems like an awfully steep price to pay for a guard who’s not among the league’s best. Atlanta released another veteran guard, Justin Blalock, earlier this offseason, and Blalock didn’t carry as large a cap number as Levitre does.

Still, we don’t have the full details on the move yet, so it’s possible there are other factors in play here — Levitre may have accepted a pay cut as part of the deal, or the Titans may be paying a portion of his 2015 salary, for instance.

AFC Notes: Pats, Iosefa, Levitre, Chargers

September 3rd, 2015 at 12:56pm CST by Luke Adams

Until the NFL’s slate of Week 4 preseason games gets underway tonight, there’s only one story dominating the headlines, and that’s Judge Richard Berman’s decision to vacate Tom Brady‘s four-game suspension today. We’ll have a few more reactions and notes on that decision coming up later this afternoon, in the wake of the NFL’s announcement that it will appeal the ruling.

In the meantime, let’s check in on a few more items from around the AFC, including an additional tidbit on Brady’s Patriots….

  • The Patriots are bringing in fullback Joey Iosefa for a visit and a workout today, according to Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times (via Twitter). Iosefa is the rare draftee who didn’t survive his team’s first round of cuts this week — he was selected in the seventh round by the Buccaneers in May.
  • While there’s been some speculation that veteran Titans guard Andy Levitre is on the verge of losing his roster spot in Tennessee, it sounds like the team will keep him as a backup, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. Levitre will earn a base salary of $6.5MM this season and will have a cap hit of $8.6MM. Those figures remain the same in 2016 and 2017, so he’ll be a release candidate going forward.
  • Rooke kicker Josh Lambo has shown he deserves to be on every general manager’s emergency short list, but Nick Novak is the clear choice for the Chargers‘ job as the team makes its cuts to 53 players, writes Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune.

AFC Notes: Levitre, Brown, Raiders, Dolphins

August 28th, 2015 at 7:54pm CST by Rob DiRe

Big money guard Andy Levitre isn’t starting for the Titans in the preseason for the second straight week, which doesn’t bode well for his chances of making the team, writes Jason Cole of Bleacher Report (via Twitter). Cole expects the team to release him, and picks the Dolphins and Eagles as possible landing spots.

Here are some other notes from around the AFC:

  • The Texans released Stevie Brown earlier today, and Tania Ganguli of ESPN writes that the timing is interesting because it was clear he wouldn’t make the team but the early release will help him find work elsewhere (via Twitter). Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle adds that there could be better opportunities for playing time elsewhere in the league (via Twitter).
  • Speaking of Brown, the Raiders could be in play for his services, according to Bill Williamson of ESPN (via Twitter). The Raiders were in play for him in free agency, and still have a need at the position.
  • The Dolphins went all in this offseason for Ndamukong Suh, and could sacrifice buying potential in future offseasons due to the amount of money they committed to the All-Pro defensive tackle. However, the future could still be bright if they can develop their young talent, as James Walker of ESPN notes that the team is rich with under-25 talent on the roster, ranking second in the NFL by Football Outsiders (subscription required). The Cowboys are the only team with better young talent.

Extra Points: McCourty, Levitre, Broncos

August 25th, 2015 at 10:14pm CST by Zachary Links

The Rams announced today that they have hired Bud Sasser as their External Football Affairs Coordinator. The wide receiver, as you might recall, was the team’s sixth-round pick in this year’s draft. However, the Rams learned that he would be unable to take the field due to a previously unknown pre-existing heart condition. Despite that, the team signed him to a contract that paid him a signing bonus of more than $113K before releasing him with the non-football related illness designation in June. Now, he’ll work for the organization in a different capacity.

Here’s tonight’s look around the NFL..

  • After undergoing groin surgery, Titans cornerback Jason McCourty could be out for the first three games of the season and return after the team’s bye week, sources tell Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter).
  • Andy Levitre, who signed a blockbuster six-year, $46.8MM free-agent contract in 2013 with the Titans, is openly wondering if there is a spot for him on the team’s roster, David Climer of The Tennessean writes. “If it doesn’t work out here, there’s other places,” Levitre said. Levitre has started all 32 games since joining the Titans but has not lived up to expectations.
  • The Broncos‘ signing of Evan Mathis could hurt Ben Garland‘s chances of making the roster, Troy Renck of the Denver Post tweets.

AFC Links: McCourty, Chargers, Titans

January 9th, 2015 at 2:38pm CST by Ben Levine

Ravens wideout Steve Smith will be facing off against the Patriots this weekend, and the veteran acknowledged that he was pursued by New England during the offseason.

“Yeah, I talked to [Bill Belichick] and it was a great opportunity as well,” Smith told Aaron Wilson of The Baltimore Sun. “Anytime you have an opportunity to go to some teams, it’s always good. When your phone stops ringing, you need to start thinking about if I’m in the right profession.”

Let’s see what else is going on around the AFC…