Brian Dawkins

East Rumors: Kendricks, Jets, Patriots

May 22nd, 2018 at 9:53pm CST by Sam Robinson

The long-rumored Mychal Kendricks/Eagles divorce will officially be classified as a post-June 1 cut, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets. The defending Super Bowl champions will see a $6MM cap spike on June 2 instead of seeing $4.4MM in savings by eschewing the post-June 1 cut category. That will help a franchise that, as of Tuesday night, holds barely $300K in cap space. As for why Kendricks was finally axed after years of being the subject of trade rumors, the defender’s standing as the No. 3 linebacker on a team that spends most of its time in sub-packages was not a status he preferred, per Zach Berman of Philly.com (on Twitter). Former Eagles teammate Emmanuel Acho, indicating he spoke with Kendricks on Tuesday, confirmed as much (via Twitter).

During Chip Kelly‘s year running football operations, the Eagles signed Kendricks to a four-year, $29MM extension that ran through the 2019 season. But Jordan Hicks and Nigel Bradham, the latter being recently re-signed for $40MM over five years, reside as Philly’s top-two linebackers under optimal circumstances. Kendricks played a key role in the Eagles’ first Super Bowl title, stepping in alongside Bradham after Hicks went down, but the previous status quo is now back in place. And Kendricks should be a coveted commodity on the market.

Here’s the latest on Tuesday’s other big transaction, as well as more from some eastern-based franchises.

The Jets tried to trade Christian Hackenberg during the draft, Rich Cimini of ESPN.com reports. This began after Sam Darnold went to the Jets at No. 3, per Cimini, but judging by the terms of Tuesday’s trade, no strong interest came New York’s way for its 2016 second-round pick. “We had one too many (quarterbacks) to get all of them reps,” Todd Bowles said Tuesday. “We just want to go with the three quarterbacks we have and let these guys battle it out. … I like the talent (Hackenberg) had. Obviously, it didn’t cultivate here. Sometimes it takes a team or two or three to find your spot.” After cutting Bryce Petty and trading Hackenberg, Gang Green’s quarterback setup is clear now. Darnold, Josh McCown and Teddy Bridgewater will likely be the team’s three passers heading into training camp. However, as Calvin Watkins of Newsday notes (on Twitter), Bowles aid the Jets are open to adding another quarterback. This could be contingent on Bridgewater’s health.
Despite these circumstances centering around one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history, Bill Belichick still opted for a time-honored cliche. Asked if he’s spoken to Tom Brady, the 19th-year Patriots coach said via Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter), “I’m not going to talk about the people that aren’t here. The guys who are here are improving, they’re working hard. Those are the guys we’re going to focus on.” Brady remains absent from OTAs, and the 19th-year quarterback is rumored to want a revised contract. With Josh McDaniels spurning the Colts and remaining in place as OC, New England’s system likely will not change much, lessening the impact of Brady missing these voluntary workouts.
Recent Hall of Fame inductee Brian Dawkins will step down from his role in the Eagles front office, James Palmer of NFL.com tweets. The former Eagles safety will stay on as a part-time consultant.

East Notes: Bills, Lawson, Jets, Eagles, Dawkins

August 16th, 2016 at 5:41pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Bills already lost one of their best defenders earlier today when the league announced a four-game suspension for defensive tackle Marcell Dareus, and now defensive end Manny Lawson may also be absent for a contest, as Tim Graham of the Buffalo News reports (Twitter links) that Lawson is facing a one-game ban as a result of a domestic violence incident. Lawson’s agents, Schwartz & Feinsod, deny that Lawson has ever been involved in any such episode (Twitter link). Lawson can still appeal the suspension, per Graham, but if he loses, he’ll be yet another key Buffalo defensive player that will be sidelined. In addition to Lawson and Dareus, the Bills have now lost Reggie Ragland, Shaq Lawson, and IK Enemkpali for varying amounts of time.

Here’s more from the NFL’s two East divisions:

With suspensions for Karlos Williams, Dareus, and now potentially Lawson, the Bills will now be forced to pay a fine based on the NFL’s remittance policy, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. As explained by Schefter in 2013, the policy forces clubs to pay a portion of the forfeited money that the banned player is missing out on. Buffalo could have to remit 25% of Dareus’ forfeiture (with a max of $200K) and 33% of Lawson’s forfeiture (with a max of $350K).
Wide receiver Jalin Marshall is among the unheralded players that have played their way on to the Jets‘ roster bubble in recent weeks, Brian Costello of the New York Post writes. An undrafted free agent out of Ohio State, Marshall has been the breakout star of camp. On Thursday night against the Jags, Marshall returned a kick 84 yards and set Gang Green up for a touchdown. At this point, Costello seems to think that Marshall is a virtual lock for the roster, unless something goes wrong. For a full view of the Jets’ depth chart, check out their page on Roster Resource.
Brian Dawkins is headed back to Philadelphia, as the Eagles have hired the former safety as a football operations executive, according to Dave Zangaro of CSNPhilly.com. Dawkins originally joined the club’s scouting department two weeks ago as part of a fellowship program, and will now be joining the front office in a full-time capacity.
The Cowboys are working out former Alabama wide receiver Richard Mullaney, Todd Archer of ESPN.com tweets. Mullaney was originally signed earlier this year by the Texans as an undrafted free agent, but was waived last month.

Zach Links contributed to this post.

Eagles Notes: Sproles, Bradford, Dawkins

July 30th, 2016 at 11:44am CST by Ben Levine

The Darren Sproles extension follows a trend by the organization to extend their veteran players. As Jeff McLane of Philly.com writes, the team has already wrapped up 31-year-old tight end Brent Celek and 34-year-old offensive tackle Jason Peters this offseason. However, executive vice president of football operations Howie Roseman said the team isn’t following any set rules.

“I think we’re more looking at each individual case as it comes,” said Roseman. “When you talk about those guys, we know what they can still bring to our football team on and off the field. And when you’re implementing some young players it’s good to have a nice mix of guys who have done it before and understand what it was like when teams have had success.”

Instead, Roseman believes extending his veterans sends the right message to their younger teammates.

“I think it’s the message that you’re sending to the team and the players. . . . You do the right thing here, and you’re productive, and you got a chance to stay here,” Roseman said. “And we want people to feel that way on and off the field.”

Let’s take a look at some notes out of Philly…

Sproles may have signed a one-year extension yesterday, but the running back is already eyeing the end of his career. “When I’m done playing, I’m going to be an Eagle,” the 33-year-old told Zach Berman of Philly.com. When asked how many productive seasons he has left in the tank, Sproles replied “this year and next year.”
The Eagles are slated to have the least amount of cap room in 2017 and 2018, leading some to assume that the team would eventually move on from quarterback Sam Bradford. However, Jimmy Kempski of PhillyVoice.com explains why the team could keep Bradford in 2017, with the writer citing a recent quote by Roseman. “We’re not in the business of losing good players,” Roseman said. “That’s our job to figure out scenarios and figure out ways to do that, and we’ve gone through all those scenarios. It’s tighter than it’s been since I’ve been here, but we also felt like it was an opportunity now with where our players were that the longer we waited, the more players we’d probably have to lose. Time is never helpful in these things. We went into it knowing that, but, for sure.”
Longtime Eagles safety Brian Dawkins has joined the team’s scouting department, tweets Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Zach Berman of Philly.com notes that Dawkins is the “inaugural recipient” of the Nunn-Wooten Scouting Fellowship, a program that “introduce[s] former players to scouting.”