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Ja’Wuan James

Extra Points: Cowboys, Burfict, Savage

May 15th, 2014 at 10:04pm CST by Zachary Links

In this week’s chat, a reader asked Tim Cowlishaw of the Dallas Morning News which Dallas professional sports coach will be the first to get fired. While Rangers skipper Ron Washington is in some trouble, Cowlishaw believes there’s even more pressure on Cowboys coach Jason Garrett to succeed. Another 8-8 season wouldn’t bode well for Garrett’s future but at the same time, Jerry Jones is very fond of him. More from around the NFL..

  • Reps for Vontaze Burfict met with the Bengals this week and sides are making progress on a new deal, sources tell Mike Garafolo of FOX Sports (via Twitter). As it stands, the linebacker is set to earn $570K in 2014 before reaching restricted free agency.
  • Tom Savage‘s deal with the Texans is a four-year pact worth $2.52MM, according to Mark Berman of FOX 26 (on Twitter). As previously reported, Savage’s signing bonus is just over $300K. The fourth-round pick out of Pittsburgh picked up interest from a number of teams in April including the Patriots, but ultimately Houston snagged him. Now, Savage will vie with Ryan Fitzpatrick, Case Keenum, and T.J. Yates for playing time under center.
  • Geoff Mosher of CSNPhilly.com (Twitter links) runs down the rookies who will be attending camp with the Eagles: linebacker Blaze Caponegro, tight end Jamie Childers, linebacker Ryan Donohue, linebacker Anthony Larry, center Mackey MacPherson, defensive back Davon Morgan, and tackle Baker Steinkuhler.
  • Dolphins General Manager Dennis Hickey told SiriusXM NFL Radio (on Twitter) that Billy Turner, a third-round tackle out of North Dakota State, will play guard. Hickey went on to say (link) that first-round Ju’Wuan James was a highly-targeted player for the Dolphins, which was a bit of an open secret heading into the draft. Miami is expecting the athletic, strong tackle to “play right away.”

AFC East Notes: Watkins, Jets, Easley

May 9th, 2014 at 10:40am CST by Matt Feminis

Sammy Watkins is considered by some the best prospect in the draft, drawing grades comparable to elite receiver prospects Julio Jones and A.J. Green. Just as the Falcons did to acquire Jones, the Bills paid a significant price to jump up and snag Watkins. Mike Rodak at ESPN.com compared the two trades: “Essentially, the Falcons moved up 16 more spots in the first round than the Bills did, with the difference in the trades being Atlanta’s current-year second- and fourth-round selections included in the deal.”

There’s never a shortage of news of notes coming from the AFC East. Here’s some more:

  • Rich Cimini of ESPNNewYork.com wonders if Calvin Pryor‘s hard-hitting style will fly in today’s NFL. The Jets‘ first round pick has said that approaches his game like NFL safeties Kam Chancellor and Dashon Goldson, two big hitters that have a tendency to pick up flags and fines.
  • Jets General Manager John Idzik refused to say whether quarterback Johnny Manziel was in the cards, writes Cimini. Idzik acknowledged that they “fielded plenty of calls” from teams picking below them, presumably teams interested in trading up for Manziel. One of them may have been the Browns (26th), who wound up trading places with the Eagles (22nd) to take the former Texas A&M star. “We won’t get into who was in consideration,” Idzik said. “Suffice it to say, we stuck to our philosophy and we stuck to our board.”
  • The Dolphins reached for first-round pick Ja’Wuan James at No. 19, tweets Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald, but only after trying to trade down. They didn’t find a partner willing to meet their asking price. Dave Hyde of the Sun-Sentinel elaborated on the topic, saying the Dolphins could have traded down and had their pick of right tackle prospects, but “They were that much in love with James.”
  • Assuming Patriots first-rounder Dominique Easley is healthy after recovering from his second ACL tear, he brings explosiveness and versatility to the defensive line, in the opinion of ESPNBoston’s Field Yates, who compares Easley to Lamarr Houston.
  • Ben Volin of the Boston Globe added some insight into the Easley selection as well as his personality. Among the tidbits: Bill Belichick valued Easley’s performance against good competition… and he’d rather watch SpongeBob than football.

Zach Links contributed to this post.

Dolphins Exploring First-Round Trades

May 7th, 2014 at 1:49pm CST by Luke Adams

As draft night nears, the Dolphins are very much open for business, according to Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald, who reports that the team has fielded and initiated multiple calls to other clubs, exploring potential trades up or down in the first round.

Salguero notes that the team’s apparent willingness to trade up from No. 19 is somewhat surprising, and he doesn’t have any specific details on possible moves up for Miami. In my view, it may be worth sliding up a few spots if an offensive tackle like Zack Martin or Taylor Lewan slips into the mid-teens. However, a trade down looks like the more likely scenario, particularly since the Dolphins only hold seven picks in this year’s draft, which doesn’t give them a whole lot of ammo to move up.

According to Salguero, the Dolphins have had “preliminary discussions” with the Eagles (No. 22), Browns (No. 26), and Saints (No. 27). The club has also spoken to the Niners, who hold the 30th pick, but may not want to drop behind the Panthers (No. 28), since Carolina also figures to be targeting an offensive tackle with its first pick.

As for specific targets, Salguero identifies Tennessee offensive tackle Ja’Wuan James and Ohio State linebacker Ryan Shazier as a couple players the Dolphins “love,” and adds that prospects like LSU wideout Odell Beckham Jr., USC receiver Marqise Lee, Virginia Tech cornerback Kyle Fuller, and Virginia offensive tackle Morgan Moses are also on Miami’s radar.

Titans Notes: Draft Visits, Locker, RBs

April 8th, 2014 at 9:42am CST by Luke Adams

Earlier this morning, we heard that UCLA linebacker Anthony Barr has a visit scheduled this week with the Jaguars. However, before he heads to Jacksonville, Barr will visit with the Titans today, according to Jim Wyatt of the Tennessean (Twitter link). The young linebacker is one of several prospects the Titans are hosting, so let’s turn to Wyatt for a few more updates on the club….

  • Florida State defensive tackle Timmy Jernigan and Colorado State linebacker Shaquil Barrett recently paid pre-draft visits to the Titans, says Wyatt (Twitter links).
  • Tennessee offensive tackle Ja’Wuan James also has a visit lined up with the Titans this week, according to Wyatt (via Twitter).
  • As he continues to recover from foot surgery, Jake Locker recognizes that he’s entering a make-or-break season in Tennessee (link via Wyatt). The Titans have no plans to exercise Locker’s fifth-year option, so the signal-caller will have to prove with his play on the field in 2014 that the club doesn’t need to pursue potential replacements.
  • Titans coach Ken Whisenhunt confirmed that his team is still on the lookout for running back help, as Wyatt details. “We are not at our number that we’d carry into training camp,” Whisenhunt said. “So we are going to look at … having enough players at that position.” Given the lack of notable running backs left on the free agent market, it may be a position the club addresses in the draft.

Draft Notes: Manziel, Matthews, Mettenberger

April 7th, 2014 at 7:31pm CST by Ben Levine

As the NFL Draft quickly approaches, Alan Robinson of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review takes a look at five players the Steelers could draft in the first round. The list includes receivers Mike Evans and Kelvin Benjamin, cornerbacks Darqueze Dennard and Justin Gilbert and defensive lineman Louis Nix. Robinson also brings up Pittsburgh defensive lineman Aaron Donald, but believes that the defender is not a good fit for the Steelers. Pittsburgh has the 15th pick in the first-round of this year’s draft.

Here are some more prospect notes…

  • Johnny Manziel will begin meeting with the Jaguars tomorrow, reports Albert Breer of the NFL Network (via Twitter). Manziel spent that last two days with the Raiders.
  • Texas A&M offensive tackle Jake Matthews will visit with the Bills tomorrow, tweets Joe Buscaglia of WGR Sports Radio.
  • While the team will meet with the quarterback, the Titans have no intention of working out Zach Mettenberger, according to Jim Wyatt of Tennessean (via Twitter).
  • University of Tennessee offensive lineman Ja’Wuan James is scheduled to visit the Titans this week, tweets Terry McCormick of TitanInsider.com.
  • Running back De’Anthony Thomas will visit with the Bears, Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun tweets.
  • Scouts for the Bills and Saints were at Terrance West‘s pro day, Wilson tweets. The Bengals also met with the Towson running back (via Twitter). West ran for 2295 yards last season.
  • Center Bryan Stork will visit the Saints this week, according to Larry Holder of NOLA.com (via Twitter). The Florida State alumni won the Rimington Trophy as the nation’s best center.
  • Former Boise State defensive tackle Ricky Tjong-A-Tjoe met with the Chargers, reports Michael Gehlken of U-T San Diego (via Twitter). According to Gehlken, the Amsterdam-native is relatively new to the sport.
  • Eagles coach Bob Bicknell worked out Rutgers receivers Quron Pratt and Brandon Coleman, tweets Tony Pauline of DraftInsider.net.
  • The Dolphins hosted offensive tackle Garrett Scott, writes James Walker of ESPN.com. The team has already added linemen Shelley Smith, Branden Albert and Jason Fox during free agency.