HEADLINES

Jermaine Kearse

South Rumors: Foster, Falcons, Martin, Jags

February 25th, 2016 at 12:48pm CST by Luke Adams

Texans running back Arian Foster, entering the final year of his contract, is set to make a $6.5MM base salary, with an overall cap hit of nearly $9MM. Those figures make him a potential release candidate, but if general manager Rick Smith says Houston won’t cut the veteran back because of his salary.

“As it relates to all the free agent conversations, I’m never really going to tell you one way or the other what we are doing, but I will tell you this: his salary is not a reason why we would cut Arian,” Smith said.

That doesn’t necessarily close the door on the Texans releasing Foster, since the team could have concerns about his health or his production. But if they’re comfortable paying a healthy Foster $6.5MM, it increases the odds that he’ll be back in Houston for the 2016 season.

Let’s check in on a few other items from around the NFL’s South divisions….

  • Head coach Dan Quinn and the Falcons will be monitoring wide receivers closely in both free agency and the draft, writes Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com. According to McClure, the Falcons have “done their homework” on this year’s pending free agent wideouts, including Travis Benjamin, Mohamed Sanu, Jermaine Kearse, and Nate Washington.
  • Buccaneers GM Jason Licht confirmed that he met with Brian Murphy, the agent for Doug Martin, on Wednesday at the scouting combine. However, as Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times tweets, no agreement between the two sides will be reached in Indianapolis.
  • The Jaguars will head into the free agent period armed with a ton of cap space, according to GM David Caldwell, who suggests that estimates of $75MM “might be a little low,” per Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times-Union. In a separate piece, O’Halloran also passed along a few notable comments made by Jacksonville head coach Gus Bradley during his media availability.
  • Craig Stevens‘ new one-year contract with the Titans features a $1.15MM base salary, a $250K workout bonus, and per-game roster bonuses worth up to $500K, says Paul Kuharsky of ESPN.com. A report last week indicated that the tight end’s deal could be worth up to $2.6MM via incentives.

NFC Notes: Watson, Lions, White

February 6th, 2016 at 11:10am CST by Ben Levine

Impending free agent Ben Watson had an excellent season with the Saints. Despite being 35-years-old, the tight end finished with a career-high 74 catches for 825 yards and six touchdowns. Predictably, the veteran would like to stick around New Orleans.

“I had a good conversation with Sean (Payton) and Mickey (Loomis), and I love the Saints organization,” Watson told Joel A. Erickson of The Advocate. “I’d love to be playing there. If not there, we’ll see where else. I think I’ll know more in about a month or so.” 

Of course, Watson understands that it’s no guarantee that he’ll be back in black and gold.

“It is exciting to have the possibility to return there, but as an NFL veteran, you know how it works,” Watson said.

Let’s check out some more notes from the NFC…

  • Possible Lions cap casualties include linebacker Stephen Tulloch, running back Joique Bell, and tight end Brandon Pettigrew, writes ESPN.com’s Michael Rothstein.
  • When it comes to Calvin Johnson, Rothstein believes it’d be best for the Lions if the wideout stuck around for one more season. That way, the team could draft a young receiver who could learn from the superstar. However, if Johnson does decide to hang it up, the writer believes the team could pursue Marvin Jones or Jermaine Kearse.
  • While the ultimate decision will be up to coach Dan Quinn, Falcons owner Arthur Blank is hopeful that receiver Roddy White will finish his career in Atlanta. “I have nothing but respect for Roddy and I love Roddy,” Blank told ESPN.com’s Vaughn McClure. “I love what he’s done for our franchise. And I love the type of leadership that he has. And I love his role as a father…When it comes to where Roddy is in the future, that’s where the owner doesn’t get involved. That’s a decision that will be made by the coach, the coaching staff and personnel. When they’re ready to do it, they’ll do it. They’re in the process of going through the roster evaluation now. They’ve had some discussions. They’ll have more discussions.”

Jermaine Kearse Not Interested In Taking Hometown Discount

January 21st, 2016 at 9:58am CST by Luke Adams

Seahawks wide receiver Jermaine Kearse was born in Lakewood, Washington, and played his college ball at the University of Washington, so it makes sense that he’d want to continue playing for his local NFL team as he becomes eligible for free agency this winter. Still, while he has expressed a desire to re-sign with Seattle, Kearse isn’t interested in taking a hometown discount to remain with the team, as Adam Schefter of ESPN.com details.Jermaine Kearse

“I love my hometown, but I’ve put in too much hard work to give a discount,” Kearse said in a text message to Schefter. “My number one priority is to take care of my family’s future, so I will consider all opportunities.”

Having been an undrafted free agent back in 2012, Kearse was on a minimum-salary contract for the first three years of his career before getting a bump to $2.356MM in 2015 as a restricted free agent. As such, it’s hard to blame him for wanting to make the most of what might be his best opportunity to secure a multi-year deal that features a chunk of guaranteed money.

Kearse, who turns 26 next month, established new career highs this past season with 49 receptions, 685 yards, and five touchdowns. Those aren’t eye-popping stats, but they should earn him a raise. As Jason Fitzgerald of Over the Cap recently tweeted, players with similar numbers generally land three-year contracts with salaries in the range of $3.25MM-$3.75MM annually.

With left tackle Russell Okung also eligible for free agency and several core players already locked up to pricey contracts, the Seahawks will likely be careful not to overpay for Kearse or anyone else this offseason. The team’s top 11 highest-paid players currently account for more than $101MM on the 2016 cap.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Extra Points: Titans, Schwartz, Kearse, Harrison

January 17th, 2016 at 9:29pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

A look around the NFL as divisional weekend wraps up. . .

  • The Titans’ owners chose Jon Robinson as the team’s general manager and promoted Mike Mularkey from interim head coach to the full-time role largely because neither came at a high price, according to CBS Sports’ Jason La Canfora. Further, the decision by Titans ownership to skip a recent league meeting in Houston, home of managing partner Amy Adams Strunk, and announce the Mularkey news during a playoff game aren’t sitting well with the NFL, per La Canfora – who notes that the Titans could change hands by 2017.
  • The Jaguars have interviewed Jim Schwartz for their vacant defensive coordinator position, Fox Sports’ Alex Marvez reports (on Twitter). Though the Jags (and others) are courting Schwartz, the 49-year-old is being selective about his future and could take a second straight season away from the sideline, La Canfora reports. Schwartz last served as Buffalo’s D-coordinator in 2014, helping the unit to a fourth overall ranking.
  • Seahawks receiver Jermaine Kearse just finished a career season, catching 49 passes for 685 yards and five touchdowns. The four-year veteran, a pending free agent, doesn’t want to parlay his successful 2015-16 showing into a job elsewhere; he’d rather stay where he is. ”I mean I grew up in the state of Washington. I would love to be here,” the soon-to-be 26-year-old said Sunday, per The Seattle Times’ Bob Condotta (Twitter link). Jason Fitzgerald of Over the Cap expects Kearse’s next deal to sit in the $3.5MM-per-year range (Twitter link).
  • Like Kearse, Steelers great James Harrison also faces an uncertain future. The five-time Pro Bowl linebacker is unsure whether he’ll return next season, which would be his age-38 campaign. “I’ve been doing this for 13, 14 years now, so it’s not something I can easily give a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer to right now,” he said Sunday, according to Ralph N. Paul of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Harrison is due a $1.25MM base salary in 2016.

Seahawks Re-Sign Jermaine Kearse

May 5th, 2015 at 10:03pm CST by Zachary Links

Jermaine Kearse signed his restricted free agent tender from the Seahawks today, a source tells Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter). Seattle put a second-round tender on him in March.

By extending the second-round tender, the Seahawks offered up a one-year deal worth $2.356MM, ensuring that if Kearse signed an offer sheet with another team and that sheet went unmatched, the Seahawks would receive a second-round pick as compensation.

Kearse, 25, caught just 38 balls for 537 yards and a touchdown for the Seahawks during the regular season last year, but hauled in a pair of TDs in the postseason. Most notably, after Russell Wilson‘s threw four interceptions trying to get him the ball in the NFC Championship game, Kearse hauled in his first reception of the day in overtime, in the end zone, to send Seattle to the Super Bowl.

The deadline to find a new offer came and went on April 24th, so Kearse didn’t have a ton of options when it came to his contract. Having just turned 25 in February, Kearse will have the opportunity for big money down the line if he can build off of his playoff success.

Kearse, Lamur Receive RFA Tenders

March 6th, 2015 at 8:14am CST by Luke Adams

A pair of potential restricted free agents have received one-year contract tenders at the second-round level, according to Field Yates of ESPN.com, who reports (via Twitter) that the Seahawks have tendered wide receiver Jermaine Kearse, while the Bengals have tendered linebacker Emmanuel Lamur.

When a player is eligible for free agency, his team can choose to submit one of three contract tenders to him — the higher the offer, the higher the compensation for his club if he ends up signings elsewhere. In the cases of Kearse and Lamur, their respective teams offered them one-year deals worth $2.356MM, ensuring that if either player signs an offer sheet with another team and that sheet goes unmatched, the Seahawks or Bengals would receive a second-round pick as compensation.

Neither Kearse nor Lamur has signed their one-year tender yet, and I’d imagine the agents for both players will at least poke around on the open market next week to see if a rival suitor is willing to make a long-term offer. It’s possible though that both players will simply end up signing the one-year offer from their current clubs — they’ll have until April 24 to find offer sheets elsewhere.

Kearse, 25, caught just 38 balls for 537 yards and a touchdown for the Seahawks during the regular season last year, but hauled in a pair of TDs in the postseason. Most notably, after Russell Wilson‘s threw four interceptions trying to get him the ball in the NFC Championship game, Kearse hauled in his first reception of the day in overtime, in the end zone, to send Seattle to the Super Bowl.

As for Lamur, in over 900 defensive snaps for the Bengals, he graded as a below-average in pass coverage, run defense, and as a pass rusher, per Pro Football Focus (subscription required), which ranked him 39th out of 40 qualified 4-3 outside linebackers. However, the team clearly viewed the 25-year-old’s performance more favorably, with his 97 tackles and two interceptions earning him a one-year offer that will almost certainly keep him in Cincinnati.

The Bengals may have been wary about assigning the low-end tender to Lamur after doing so with Andrew Hawkins a year ago and eventually losing him to the Bengals. That tender would only have been worth about $1.54MM, but it would have allowed other teams to sign Lamur to an offer sheet without risking any draft picks.