Brandon Flowers - Pro Football Rumors

AFC Mailbags: Chiefs, Raiders, Colts, Jags

October 18th, 2014 at 12:03pm CST by Ben Levine

It’s Saturday, and that means a fresh batch of mailbags from ESPN.com’s NFL writers. Let’s take a look at some of the interesting tidbits from the AFC…

The Chiefs may have some second thoughts about releasing cornerback Brandon Flowers following his success with the Chargers, writes Adam Teicher.
The Raiders need to either sign a top free agent wideout next offseason or use one of their top draft picks at the position, opines Bill Williamson.
If the Colts were going to release LaRon Landry, they would have done so already, writes Mike Wells. The writer notes that cutting ties with the safety would be “admission” that the team made the wrong choice in signing him to a four-year deal.
Michael DiRocco would be shocked if the Jaguars selected an offensive lineman with their upcoming first-rounder. Instead, the writer says the team should focus on pass-rushers, linebackers and safeties.
Paul Kuharsky can’t envision the Titans re-signing Jake Locker to be a backup. The writer believes if the team is in fact done with the quarterback, they should completely move on.

AFC Notes: Raiders, Mathis, Gordon, Jets

October 1st, 2014 at 5:16pm CST by Luke Adams

As speculation swirls around the idea of Jon Gruden reuniting with the Raiders, the Monday Night Football analyst did his best to quell that talk in an appearance on ESPN Radio’s Mike & Mike today, as Dan Hanzus of NFL.com writes. Meanwhile, it’s not a certainty that GM Reggie McKenzie will be the person to make the next coaching hire. McKenzie himself acknowledges that he’s on the hot seat. “I work every day like my job is on the line. That’s just the way I am. No one has to tell me my job is on the line. No one,” McKenzie said, according to Scott Bair of CSNBayArea.com. Here’s more out of the AFC..

Mike Wells and Field Yates of ESPN.com provide a breakdown of the one-year extension Robert Mathis signed with the Colts. The 2016 year includes a $1.5MM roster bonus on the fifth day of the league year, a $3.5MM base salary, and escalators worth up to $1MM depending on how many sacks he totals in ’16. Interestingly, Mathis’ 2015 roster bonus, worth $3MM, has been changed to $3MM in per-game roster bonuses. Because the veteran pass rusher won’t play in 2014, that should remove that bonus money from the Colts’ 2015 cap for the time being.
Browns wideout Josh Gordon, who has six games remaining on his suspension, spoke to Elizabeth Merrill of ESPN The Magazine about his suspension, and denied that he has a drug problem. “Definitely not,” Gordon said. “I wouldn’t know what I was addicted to because I don’t do anything.” According to Gordon, who believes he was already in stage two of the drug program when he entered the league, he has taken roughly 180 drug tests since being drafted in 2012.
With the Jets still seeking consistent play from their cornerbacks this season, head coach Rex Ryan acknowledged today that the club had interest in signing Brandon Flowers this past offseason before he landed in San Diego (Twitter link via Brian Costello of the New York Post).
While many of the notable free agents signed by the Jaguars in the spring haven’t impressed much during their first season with the team, Hays Carlyon of the Florida Times-Union points out that Jacksonville can easily move on from just about all of those players without having to carry much dead money next year or beyond.

Zach Links contributed to this post.

Chargers Notes: Offseason, Flowers, Davis

July 26th, 2014 at 8:51pm CST by Luke Adams

As part of their NFL training camp tour, SiriusXM NFL Radio was on location at Chargers camp tonight, and spoke with several key members of the team, as well as general manager Tom Telesco and head coach Mike McCoy. The decision-making duo shared a few interesting comments, which we’ll round up below (all links via SiriusXM’s Twitter):

While he was encouraged by 2013’s results, Telesco knew heading into the offseason that he needed to add speed, athleticism, and youth to the roster, as well as finding more defensive playmakers. In the GM’s view, the 2014 roster is “definitely stronger” than last year’s because of its depth.
Per Telesco, the Chargers were monitoring the status of Brandon Flowers throughout the offseason, even before he was cut by the Chiefs, and jumped at the opportunity to sign him when he became available. Before the Chiefs released him, Flowers was rumored to be on the trade block, so it seems likely that San Diego kicked the tires on the possibility of a deal.
Former Auburn cornerback Chris Davis, the hero of last season’s Iron Bowl, has been very impressive since signing with the Chargers as an undrafted free agent, and has a legitimate shot to stick with the club, says Telesco.
According to McCoy, San Diego headed into the draft prioritizing the cornerback and outside linebacker positions, and managed to address both spots in the first two rounds, selecting Jason Verrett and Jeremiah Attaochu.
McCoy also praised Chargers owner Dean Spanos for allowing him and Telesco to continue to implement the plan they prepared in 2013.

AFC Notes: Pats, Flowers, Raiders, Chiefs

July 17th, 2014 at 4:26pm CST by Luke Adams

The Patriots made a pair of roster moves today in advance of training camp, parting ways with two undrafted rookie receivers. According to a press release, Jeremy Johnson and Reese Wiggins were cut by the team, and will become free agents assuming they clear waivers. The cuts give New England three total openings on the club’s 90-man roster, so it shouldn’t be long before we get word on which players will be occupying those open spots.

Let’s round up a few more items from around the AFC….

Appearing on SiriusXM NFL Radio today (Twitter links), Brandon Flowers said he signed with the Chargers because he saw while he was with the Chiefs that the AFC’s other Wild Card team was close to being a legit contender. The veteran cornerback also downplayed the idea that he was a poor fit in Bob Dutton’s defense last year in Kansas City, pointing to injury woes instead as the reason for his 2013 struggles.
Oakland City Council voted last night to approve the Athletics’ lease to remain at O.co Coliseum, but only if a handful of small tweaks to the agreement were agreed upon by the MLB club. Will Kane of the San Francisco Chronicle and Matthew Artz of the Oakland Tribune have the details on the latest developments, and how they could affect the Raiders.
We haven’t heard any concrete updates lately on the progress made by Alex Smith and the Chiefs toward an extension, but Smith reiterated today that he loves the city, his coaches, and his teammates, and would like to get something done (Twitter link via Randy Covitz of the Kansas City Star).
The Jaguars committed twice as much guaranteed money this offseason to Zane Beadles as they did to any other free agent, prompting Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times-Union to explore what kind of impact the team’s new offensive lineman will make.
As was the case a year ago, Cameron Wake and Mike Wallace were once again Jason Fitzgerald’s selections for the best and worst contracts on the Dolphins‘ books (link via OverTheCap.com).
The pressure will be on Eric Decker to produce like a No. 1 receiver for the Jets in 2014 and beyond, according to Brian Costello of the New York Post, who takes a closer look at the club’s top free agent addition.

Raiders Notes: Coliseum, Tuck, Hayden

June 30th, 2014 at 12:56pm CST by Ben Levine

The ten-year lease that would have kept the Oakland Athletics playing in the Coliseum for at least a decade has not been made official. That’s because Oakland representatives and Alameda County representatives can’t decide whether they want to continue with the deal. The four Oakland officials failed to show up to Friday’s vote, boycotting the process. As a result, neither side is too pleased. Via Matthew Artz of the Oakland Tribune…

“We are constantly frustrated by the actions of our partners,” the Alameda County supervisor, Nate Miley, said. “Not being able to vote on this deal today, I think that sends a chilling message… to Major League Baseball that is very disappointing.”

Oakland representative Larry Reid responded:

“Nate shouldn’t be trying to run the [Joint Powers Authority] like a dictatorship.”

Meanwhile, A’s co-owner Lew Wolff remains optimistic:

“We understand the city will take one last look at the transaction early next week. And we would expect a formal vote by the JPA by the end of the week.”

The Raiders are certainly monitoring the entire situation. As Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com points out, the team only has a one-year lease and can move anywhere as soon as 2015.

Let’s check out some more Coliseum and Raiders news…

Dr. David Chao, a former NFL head team physician with 17 years of experience, wrote a piece for the National Football Post detailing the injury risks associated with playing in the Coliseum. He particularly focused on the risks of playing on dirt, which could lead to leg injuries, risky skin abrasions and severe concussions. Furthermore, the 50-year-old stadium doesn’t cater to injured players, who have to climb three flights of stairs to reach the stadium’s x-ray room.
Justin Tuck is enjoying his time in the Bay Area, but he admitted to Conor Orr of the Star-Ledger that he expected to be back with the Giants. “You spend nine years in one place. You have a lot of success there and a lot of great friends. So yeah, it’s going to be weird but I understand the business side of things and you need to move forward…To answer your question, I am still surprised I’m not a New York Giant.”
The Raiders were very active this offseason, but ESPN.com’s Paul Gutierrez says the team still could have improved their wide receiver and tight end depth. The writer brings up an analogy from head coach Dennis Allen, who compared it to “sitting on Santa’s lap and not getting quite everything you asked for.”
The Raiders’ lack of interest in Brandon Flowers indicates that the team is comfortable with D.J. Hayden and may not pursue a veteran cornerback, Gutierrez writes.

Poll: How Will Flowers Fare In San Diego?

June 25th, 2014 at 9:08pm CST by Zachary Links

Earlier this month, the Chiefs cut ties with defensive mainstay Brandon Flowers. Even though Flowers was seen as a trade candidate, it was still a surprise to see him outright released. Plenty of teams showed interest in adding the former second-round pick, but he decided that San Diego was the place for him after a multi-day visit with the club. In fact, Flowers never made it out to check in with the other clubs that were showing serious interest.

Flowers is a big name, especially for someone who became available in late June, but it’s hard to say exactly what the Chargers are getting here. Pro Football Focus’ advanced metrics (subscription required) show that 2013 was a down year for Flowers. Much of that can probably be attributed to a poor fit with new Chiefs defensive coordinator Bob Sutton’s scheme, but he still ranked as just the 87th-best CB in the league among 110 qualified players. On the other hand, PFF rated Flowers as a top-seven corner in both 2011 and 2012, and Flowers is still just 28.

If you want to know what Flowers’ motives are with this deal, look no further than the terms of the contract. It’s a one-year deal that comes with a $1.5MM signing bonus, $1.5MM in base pay, and up to $2MM in incentives. It’s not a major payday, but if Flowers can get back to his old self in SD, he can cash in next offseason. After all, Flowers will be just 29 years old and could be in line for a hefty multi-year pact. Flowers surely wants to win in 2014, but he’ll have a little extra motivation with so much money on the line. Ultimately, do you think the signing will work out for the Chargers? Let us know in the poll and in the comments section.

AFC Notes: Dolphins, Flowers, Bills, Luck

June 25th, 2014 at 3:48pm CST by Luke Adams

Free agent offensive lineman Andre Gurode, who has plenty of experience at center and guard and played for the Raiders last season, has reached out to the Dolphins to see if they have any interest in signing him in the wake of Mike Pouncey‘s labrum surgery, says Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. However, as of Tuesday evening, the club has yet to return his call. While Miami doesn’t necessarily need to add any veteran free agents for camp, the team has been making “brief preliminary inquiries” on potential options, according to Jackson. Our Dallas Robinson took a closer look at a few of the Dolphins’ possible targets earlier this week.

Here’s more from around the AFC:

In a conversation with Ricky Henne of Chargers.com, Brandon Flowers spoke about signing with the Chargers and the impact he hopes to have on the team and on rookie cornerback Jason Verrett. According to Flowers, his former Virginia Tech teammate Eddie Royal gave him a hard sell on the team, the city, and the fans.
It has been said that the Bills need a new stadium to remain in Western New York, but governor Andrew Cuomo isn’t sure about that, writes Robert J. McCarthy of the Buffalo News. “The state would do its part; the county would do its part, but only if you really need a new stadium, which, frankly, I am not convinced of,” Cuomo said. “It would be more a function of what the new buyer and the NFL say is the condition to keep it here. We have to see how it develops down the road.”
In a conversation at NFL.com, Gregg Rosenthal, Chris Wesseling, and Kevin Patra debate which NFL player would earn the most money as a free agent on the open market right now, and two of the three scribes opt for Colts quarterback Andrew Luck.
Executive vice president Bryan Wiedmeier has signed a contract extension with the Browns, per Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal.

Zach Links contributed to this post.

Chargers Sign Brandon Flowers

June 25th, 2014 at 3:30pm CST by Luke Adams

WEDNESDAY, 3:30pm: The Chargers have waived cornerback Brandon Jones in order to clear a spot on the roster for Flowers, the team announced today (Twitter link).

TUESDAY, 6:24pm: Field Yates of ESPN.com (Twitter link) has the exact breakdown of Flowers’ deal. The veteran gets $1.5MM to sign, $1.5MM in base salary, and up to $2MM in incentives. In order to earn that full $2MM in incentives, Flowers needs to play in 92.5% of the Chargers defensive snaps and the team must advance to the AFC Championship (link).

5:53pm: Flowers’ deal can earn him up to $5MM, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. The cornerback will now have the opportunity to prove himself this season and cash in next offseason at the age of 29.

4:01pm: The Chargers have reached an agreement on a contract with free agent cornerback Brandon Flowers, reports Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (via Twitter). According to Mike Garafolo of Fox Sports (Twitter link), it’ll be a one-year pact for Flowers in San Diego.

After being cut by the Chiefs earlier in the month, Flowers paid a free agent visit to the Chargers last week, and later met with the 49ers as well, according to Garafolo (Twitter link). By joining the Chargers, Flowers will remain in the AFC West and face his old team twice in the 2014 season, and will also be signing with the team that topped last week’s PFR poll asking where the cornerback would land.

Pro Football Focus’ advanced metrics (subscription required) suggest 2013 was a down year for Flowers as he struggled to fit in new Kansas City defensive coordinator Bob Sutton’s scheme, ranking as just the 87th-best CB in the league among 110 qualified players. However, PFF rated Flowers as a top-seven corner in both 2011 and 2012, and the former Chief is still only 28 years old. That makes him an intriguing option for a Chargers team whose corners all had even worse PFF grades than Flowers in ’13.

By signing a one-year contract with San Diego, Flowers will have the opportunity to show that 2013 was an aberration, and will be eligible to hit the open market again at age 29. Considering the kind of deals we saw this year’s group of top cornerbacks sign in free agency, a bounce-back year from the former Virginia Tech standout could result in another nice payday next March. It would also go a long way toward solidifying a Chargers secondary that also added first-round cornerback Jason Verrett.

The Vikings, Ravens, Falcons, and Lions were among the other clubs who reportedly had some level of interest in Flowers, who received inquiries from about 10 teams when he first became available. However, if those teams – and others – are still on the lookout for veteran cornerback help, they’ll have to turn to a group of free agents that looks significantly less appealing without Flowers heading it up. Chris Houston, Terrell Thomas, and Drayton Florence are among the players still available, as our list of FAs shows.

The Chargers filled the 90th and final spot on their roster last week by claiming Chas Alecxih off waivers, so they’ll have to make a corresponding move in order to officially add Flowers.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Extra Points: OTAs, Packers, Titans, Brady

June 22nd, 2014 at 9:12pm CST by Peter Sowards

Minicamps are finished. The 2014 NFL season awaits.

Players have left their respective clubs until the opening of training camp, and as ESPN.com’s John Clayton notes, coaches now will cross their fingers that they don’t receive the 3 a.m. phone call alerting them of the star player’s transgressions.

Clayton, the Worldwide Leader’s senior NFL writer, outlines seven things learned from the offseason programs, with No. 1 being the lack of readiness for rookie quarterbacks. Reading into Clayton’s words, he believes that no rookie quarterback will open the season as the team’s starting signal caller. Teddy Bridgewater is the most pro-ready, Clayton says, but Matt Cassel will get the first snap on opening day.

Taking a page out of Pete Carroll‘s playbook, Clayton writes that teams around the league are gravitating toward taller defensive backs. Case in point, the Kansas City Chiefs, who released 5-foot-9 cornerback Brandon Flowers in a cap-saving move. They’ll look to replace Flowers with 6-foot-1 Phillip Gaines, 6-foot-2 Marcus Cooper and 6-foot David Van Dyke, each of whom are first- or second-year players.

Other news and notes from around the league…

Among the 10 Packers stories to watch before training camp opens by Tyler Dunne of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is peace of mind at backup quarterback. It wasn’t pretty for the Pack at QB when Aaron Rodgers went down in a Week 9 loss to the Bears, but coach Mike McCarthy should feel better about this year’s situation with Matt Flynn and Scott Tolzien backing up the All Pro, Dunne writes.
Quarterback Jake Locker, receiver Kendall Wright and the defense’s front seven are all things Titans fans should feel good about, The Tennessean’s Jim Wyatt writes. Locker should be at 100% coming off foot surgery in November and had started the 2013 season with a bang, while Wright will team with Nate Washington and Justin Hunter to ease Locker’s return to health.
Tom Brady‘s private quarterback coach, Tom House, admitted in an interview with SiriusXM radio that the three-time Super Bowl champion has struggled as of late to connect on the deep passes. “As he’s getting a little older you lose a little strength, you lose a little flexibility,” House said. “And what was happening was he was noticing that his accuracy and his long ball weren’t what they were three or four years ago. So we ran him through the computer, compared him to the models we have created for movement efficiency, and there were really, really small things that were causing his issues.”

AFC Notes: Flowers, Fitzpatrick, Ravens, ‘Fins

June 22nd, 2014 at 4:59pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Free agent cornerback Brandon Flowers, released by the Chiefs on June 13, is expected to sign with a new team by the middle of the week, reports Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports (Twitter link). We heard similar news a few days ago, so it appears that Flowers, whom La Canfora notes has “plenty of suitors,” has at least narrowed down his possible destinations. Our own Luke Adams mentioned the Lions as a landing spot for Flowers, given that Detroit has not downplayed its interest in the 2013 Pro Bowler. I would posit that the Chargers, who are in desperate need of secondary help, and the Ravens, who have a history of signing high-level players who have been cut, could also be options for the 28-year-old Flowers.