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Jarryd Hayne

NFC West Notes: 49ers, Hayne, Smith

March 2nd, 2015 at 6:29pm CST by Zachary Links

The 49ers have emerged as the frontrunners for Australian rugby league star Jarryd Hayne, according to Michael Chammas of The Sydney Morning Herald. There has been mutual interest between the two sides for some time and Chammas hears that the 49ers are likely to be the call when he announces his decision on Tuesday. Hayne is also considering offers from the Lions and Seahawks, according to the report. Here’s more from the NFC West..

  • Justin Smith is contemplating retirement, but there’s cautious optimism among the 49ers that he’ll return for one last season, according to Matt Barrows of The Sacramento Bee. Smith is set to meet with head coach Jim Tomsula later this week to discuss a potential future together. Despite the injuries he has dealt with, Smith is still regarded as one of the top defensive linemen in the league. Smith, for his part, looks like he’s in great shape and from just looking at him it would seem like he’s not ready to ride off into the sunset.
  • While veteran cuts are likely coming for the 49ers, it doesn’t appear as if linebackers Patrick Willis and NaVorro Bowman are going anywhere, says Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com.
  • Examining the Seahawks‘ coming offseason, Jason Fitzgerald of Over The Cap writes that the team probably doesn’t need to make a major push to bring back any of its unrestricted free agents. Byron Maxwell, specifically, could command a contract that exceeds his true value, given the limited number of top cornerback options available, Fitzgerald writes.

Luke Adams contributed to this post.

NFC West Notes: Palmer, Dockett, Seahawks

February 25th, 2015 at 7:03pm CST by Luke Adams

While he appeared over the weekend to be headed to Detroit, Australian rugby league star Jarryd Hayne still hasn’t officially signed with an NFL team. That leaves the door open for another suitor to swoop in, and agent Jack Bechta confirms to Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com that there’s mutual interest between Hayne and the 49ers. Per Maiocco, the Niners don’t have a standing offer out to Hayne, but could still put something on the table — the former rugby player is expected to decide on his NFL team early next week.

  • The Cardinals may decide to restructure Carson Palmer‘s contract in order to create some cap flexibility, tweets Mike Jurecki of 910 Fox Sports Arizona. Palmer’s has a $9.5MM roster bonus coming up in March, which could be converted into a signing bonus to free up a chunk of cap room for 2015.
  • Kent Somers of Arizona Republic dives into the Darnell Dockett situation in Arizona, explaining why the Cardinals will likely have a harder time finding common ground with the veteran defensive lineman than they did with wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald.
  • We heard earlier today that Ricky Jean-Francois has visits lined up with Washington and the 49ers, and those aren’t the only teams that he’s scheduled to meet. According to Pro Football Talk (via Twitter), a visit with the Seahawks is also on the free agent defensive lineman’s docket for this week.
  • With the idea of a fully guaranteed contract for Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson gaining steam (at least among reporters), Joel Corry of CBSSports.com notes that one difficult aspect of such a deal would involve team ownership having to put the entire amount of the contract in escrow up front. While that wouldn’t be an issue for Seahawks owner Paul Allen, who is one of the richest men in America, if it were to set a precedent, other owners may be reluctant to sign off on fully guaranteed deals where $50-100MM could be tied up.

Tuesday Roundup: Cassel, Winston, Peterson

February 24th, 2015 at 8:38pm CST by Rory Parks

Vikings GM Rick Spielman said that nothing definitive has been decided about bringing Matt Cassel back to the team, but Spielman was complimentary of his veteran signal-caller when discussing him earlier this week. “We went through our process, we evaluated all of our players,” Spielman said, according to Brian Hall of FOXSportsNorth.com. “We looked at everything from what they bring to our football team, in the locker room, off the field, what they bring to us on the field. But we also have to look at where they’re at from a standpoint of their contract, where we’re at from a cap standpoint…Matt’s done a great job. Came in and has won some games when he had to play. He’s a great locker-room guy. Matt has a lot of value to us.” Cassel is signed for the 2015 season at a salary of $4.15MM, and he’ll count $4.75MM against the cap.

Now for some more links from around the league on this Tuesday evening:

  • Tahir Whitehead filled in capably for Stephen Tulloch when Tulloch went out last season, and that leaves the Lions with an interesting choice this offseason, as Kyle Meinke of MLive.com writes. Detroit could continue to roll with Whitehead at middle linebacker and carve out some space by parting ways with Tulloch. The 30-year-old is slated to count $5.8MM against the cap next season. Whitehead, meanwhile, costs just $713K.
  • The consensus around the league is that the Buccaneers will draft Jameis Winston with the No. 1 overall pick, according to a tweet from the NFL Network (citing its own Ian Rapoport).
  • The Colts are in dire need of a running back, and Mike Wells of ESPN.com writes that the team will be closely monitoring the Adrian Peterson situation. If Peterson and the Vikings part ways, Indianapolis GM Ryan Grigson, a noted risk-taker, may pull the trigger.
  • Falcons defensive end Osi Umenyiora has no plans to retire, writes Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com. Umenyiora, 33, will become a free agent on March 10, and he said he would like to play at least one more season. If he could choose, Umenyiora stated that he would like to finish his career where it started: with the Giants.
  • Packers fullback John Kuhn is one of the last members of a dying breed, but the impending free agent reaffirmed his importance to the Green Bay offense in 2014, earning first team All-Pro honors for the first time in his career. As Weston Hodkiewicz of PackersNews.com writes, there is mutual interest in Kuhn’s return to the Packers.
  • Former Australian rugby star Jarryd Hayne, who has garnered interest from at least a dozen teams, is expected to sign with a club this week, according to Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun (writing for the National Football Post).
  • Bill Williamson of ESPN.com believes middle linebacker Nate Irving could be a fit with the Raiders if the impending free agent is not re-signed by the Broncos.
  • Parys Haralson, who signed a one-year deal with the Saints in February, hopes to end his career in New Orleans, writes Katherine Terrell of the Times-Picayune.
  • Jason Fitzerald of OverTheCap.com provides the Panthers‘ salary cap outlook for the 2015 season.

Luke Adams contributed to this post.

 

No Agreement Yet For Lions, Jarryd Hayne

February 23rd, 2015 at 4:25pm CST by Dallas Robinson

MONDAY, 4:25pm: Hayne’s announcement scheduled for tonight may not be about a contract after all, according to Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press, who says the rugby star hasn’t yet agreed to or signed a deal (Twitter links). Per Birkett, Hayne’s media session in Australia will be to discuss the process so far.

SATURDAY, 7:12pm: The Lions have agreed to a deal with rugby star Jarryd Hayne, according to Matt Logue of the Daily Telegraph. The 27-year-old Aussie will announce the futures deal at a press conference in Sydney next week.

Hayne also drew interest from the 49ers and the Seahawks, but as Logue writes, Hayne chose to sign with Detroit due to its “proven record in player development.” Indeed, the Lions signed another rugby star — Carlin Isles — to a futures deal last season, so perhaps that fact gave Hayne a level of comfort in heading to the Motor City.

Hayne will play running back in the NFL, and he’ll look to latch onto a Lions roster that is already full at the RB position, employing Reggie Bush, Joique Bell, Theo Riddick, and George Winn. Additionally, one AFC executive told Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press (Twitter link) that Hayne might not be fast enough to play running back in the NFL. Nevertheless, Birkett believes that Hayne will be able to contribute on special teams if he makes the 53-man roster (link).

North Notes: AP, Jennings, Steelers, Shanahan

January 7th, 2015 at 4:54pm CST by Luke Adams

If Adrian Peterson feels as if he needs a fresh start away from the Vikings next season, head coach Mike Zimmer would respect that decision, he said today in an appearance on Pro Football Talk Live.

“I would respect Adrian’s decision,” Zimmer said. “I’ll always be honest with him and up front but I’m gonna try to explain to him the reasons why I would like to him to be here. But it has to be a two way street and he has to get his life taken care of — but we’ll sit down and talk, but I’m a pretty good recruiter, too.”

Of course, Peterson remains under contract in Minnesota, so it’s not as if he’ll simply have the opportunity to sign elsewhere right away when he’s reinstated from his suspension. But it’s unlikely that the Vikings will want to keep the star running back at his current 2015 cap number ($15.4MM), so Peterson will have leverage to reach the open market if he declines to take a pay cut.

Here are some more Wednesday links from out of the NFL’s two North divisions:

  • Bears cornerback Tim Jennings was arrested today in Georgia on charges of speeding, DUI, and reckless driving, according to a report by Jeff Dickerson and Michael C. Wright of ESPN.com. Jennings could face disciplinary measures from the league or from the Bears, who released a statement indicating they’re in information-gathering mode.
  • Mark Kaboly of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review examines what a new contract for Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger might look like, concluding that something in the range of five years and $100MM would make sense.
  • Steelers cornerback Ike Taylor is open to playing one more year in Pittsburgh if the team wants to bring him back, and hopes to remain with the organization after ending his playing career, as Kaboly details. “I can be in the office. I can be at the bottom and work my way up. I can be an assistant,” Taylor said. “I don’t mind working my way from the bottom up.”
  • If Kyle Shanahan decides to leave his offensive coordinator position with the Browns this offseason, he prefers to try to establish his own identity as a coach rather than necessarily teaming up again with his father, tweets Ed Werder of ESPN.com.
  • The Lions announced 12 reserve/futures signings yesterday, but rugby star Jarryd Hayne wasn’t among them. The team still intends to finalize a contract with Hayne once a work visa issue is cleared up, writes Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press.

NFC North Notes: Peterson, Lions, Hayne

December 15th, 2014 at 4:53pm CST by Luke Adams

The NFLPA formally filed its lawsuit on behalf of Adrian Peterson today, in the hopes of getting the Vikings running back reinstated from his suspension prior to the start of the 2015 league year in March. We’ve got plenty of Peterson-related updates to pass along in this afternoon’s round-up of NFC North notes, along with one item on the division-rival Lions. Let’s dive in….

  • As Jason Cole of Bleacher Report explains, Peterson’s camp wants the running back reinstated by March so that if the Vikings decide to cut him, he can be involved in the first wave of free agency — if he’s reinstated in April or later, Peterson’s leverage would be significantly reduced in the event that Minnesota approaches him about a pay cut.
  • The NFLPA’s lawsuit crafted on Peterson’s behalf is “a masterpiece,” according to ESPN.com legal analyst Lester Munson. However, as Munson points out, judges almost never overturn the decisions of arbitrators, so the suit is unlikely to change anything for the running back.
  • According to Mike Garafolo of FOX Sports, the NFLPA attempted to reach a compromise with the NFL before Henderson issued his ruling — the NFLPA proposed that Peterson would sit out the rest of the season, but would recoup some of the $4MM+ in salary he has lost, and would be reinstated well before April 15. Needless to say, the league didn’t agree to those terms.
  • After paying a visit to the Lions last week, rugby star Jarryd Hayne is in town again today, and the team has expressed interest in signing him, writes Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. Agent Jack Bechta tells Birkett that “no decision is imminent, as we have to explore all options,” but it sounds as if Detroit could have interest in signing Hayne to the same sort of deal Carlin Isles signed a year ago — Isles, another rugby standout, joined the Lions’ practice squad in December, giving the team first shot at him for a reserve/futures contract at season’s end.

Extra Points: Saints, Kromer, Patriots, Lions

December 12th, 2014 at 10:49pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Saints are known for pushing the limits of the NFL’s salary cap, and the club will have some tough decisions to make prior to the 2015 season, as Bill Barnwell of Grantland and Mike Triplett of ESPN.com outline. For his part, Barnwell classifies New Orleans’ offseason strategies as high-variance — when the team hits on free agents, the plan works, but when new additions struggle, the scheme fails. While Barnwell believes that the Saints will be in “salary cap hell” when Drew Brees‘ play begins to deteroriate, Triplett thinks it’s possible that the team continues with its current tactics, cutting players and restructuring contracts year-after-year in order to create financial relief. Here’s more from around the league…

  • In his latest notes column for NFL.com, Albert Breer looks at some potential general manager candidates, looks at the free agency case of Patriots safety Devin McCourty, and points to the Falcons head-coaching job as perhaps the most desirable position that could be available this offseason.
  • Bears offensive coordinator Aaron Kromer isn’t considering resigning after revealing that he was the source for a story that painted Jay Cutler in a negative light, tweets Michael C. Wright of ESPN.com.
  • The Patriots worked out former LSU defensive back Delvin Breaux, according to Mike Reiss of ESPN.com. Breaux, 24, currently plays for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League. As Reiss notes, New England could be looking at players to sign to reserve/futures contracts.
  • Rugby star Jarryd Hayne visited with the Lions today, writes Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post. Hayne, who has also met with the 49ers and Seahawks, is trying to start his NFL career as a running back.

West Notes: McGahee, Hayne, 49ers, Raiders

December 9th, 2014 at 10:18pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The latest out of the West divisions…

  • Ex-Broncos running back Willis McGahee apparently hasn’t found an NFL team willing to take him on, because he’s trying his luck at a different sport altogether…rubgy. According to Adam Schefter of ESPN (Twitter link), McGahee will try out at the National Rugby Football League combine January 12 in Los Angeles. The 33-year-old played in the NFL just last season with the Browns, but was largely ineffective.
  • Improbably, we have more rugby-related news, as Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post reports that Australian rugby star Jarryd Hayne visited the Seahawks today; Wilson reported that the 26-year-old met with the division rival 49ers yesterday. We last heard in October that Hayne, who would likely play running back, could fit with Seattle.
  • 49ers rookies Brandon Thomas and Keith Reaser will both remain on the reserve/NFI list after their practice periods ended today, tweets Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com. Thomas, a guard, was chosen in the third round of this year’s draft, while Reaser, a cornerback, was a fifth-round pick.
  • As both a current Raider and a Michigan alum, Charles Woodson has a unique perspective on Jim Harbaugh’s potential choice between Oakland and Ann Arbor. So what does Woodson think Harbaugh should do? “If the choice was out there, it would definitely be Michigan,” Woodson told NFL Network (link via CSNBayArea.com). “As a guy that played there, I think the fans would love it, I think it would be great for recruiting and all of that. Just to have a guy that’s proven, he’s won everywhere he’s been as a coach and I don’t think it would be any different if he went to Michigan. I would say ‘yeah.’ Go Blue.”

49ers Notes: Tryouts, Kaepernick, Bowman

December 8th, 2014 at 7:27pm CST by Ben Levine

49ers coach Jim Harbaugh was not a man of many words following his team’s loss to the lowly Raiders on Sunday. After the game, reporters wanted to question the coach’s future with the organization, but Harbaugh made his intentions clear.

“My priorities are: No. 1, winning football games,” Harbaugh said (via Paul Gutierrez of ESPN.com). “No. 2, the welfare of our players, coaches and our staff. And lastly, is what my personal/professional future is.”

So, does the coach want to remain with the 49ers next season?

“My priorities,” he said, “are winning games.”

As we try to decipher Harbaugh’s comments, let’s take a look at some more notes out of Santa Clara…

North Notes: Rice, McPhee, Vikings, Lions

October 21st, 2014 at 2:46pm CST by Luke Adams

A date has been set for Ray Rice‘s appeal hearing, which will get underway on November 5 and conclude the following day, a source tells Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun. The investigations being conducted by Robert Mueller and the NFLPA into the league’s and the Ravens‘ handling of the Rice incident almost certainly won’t have concluded in time for the hearing. Still, Rice’s camp is expected to argue that the running back was punished twice for the same infraction, and that the league’s decision to increase Rice’s punishment was based on a video that was edited by TMZ.

Here’s more from around the NFL’s two North divisions:

  • Ravens defender Pernell McPhee may be in the process of pricing himself out of the team’s plans beyond this season, says Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun. Although Zrebiec expects the Ravens to try to bring McPhee back when his contract expires, he figures the 25-year-old will have plenty of suitors.
  • Free agent cornerback DeMarcus Van Dyke, who auditioned for the Dolphins earlier this week, worked out for the Vikings today, according to Rand Getlin of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter).
  • Lions head coach Jim Caldwell didn’t shoot down the idea that the team might be interested in Australian rugby star Jarryd Hayne, but was noncommittal when asked about the possibility. “Obviously, there are a lot of good athletes around this country, and there are a bunch of them playing other sports,” Caldwell said, per The Detroit Free Press. “Basketball, baseball, rugby, which is similar to our sport, and there is a lot of carryover. So, we’ll see.”
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