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Sunday Roundup: Fitz, Polamalu, Suh

January 4th, 2015 at 12:34pm CST by Rory Parks

As soon as Larry Fitzgerald‘s 2014 season ended with an unceremonious whimper yesterday, talk regarding his cloudy future with the Cardinals began anew. Our Luke Adams wrote that Arizona is unlikely to cut Fitzgerald, but they could trade him or ask to him to restructure his contract. Although Carson Palmer recently signed a three-year extension with the club, Fitzgerald, who of course would like to add a Super Bowl ring to his Hall-of-Fame resume, will have to consider if his odds of winning it all might not be greater somewhere else before he accepts such a restructure or pay cut (which was deemed unlikely last week).

We noted earlier this morning that the Patriots will once again emerge as a logical landing spot for Fitzgerald. Tom Brady would offer him the caliber of quarterback that he has rarely enjoyed in his career, and New England is seemingly always on the lookout for upgrades at the wide receiver position.

Any decision on Fitzgerald, of course, will likely have to be made before March, when he is owed an $8MM roster bonus. For his part, Fitzgerald says he has not thought about his 2015 destination just yet. “The taste of defeat is the only thing I can think about right now,” Fitzgerald said. “It’s all that’s on my mind. It’s been a great season competing with these fellas and this coaching staff.”

Now for some links from around the league as Day 2 of Wildcard Weekend gets underway.

  • Steelers safety Troy Polamalu says it is fair to wonder if he has played his last game, tweets Scott Brown of ESPN.com. Mark Kaboly of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review adds (via Twitter) that there is virtually no chance Polamalu returns next season.
  • Rob Rossi of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review ponders the futures of several other Steelers veterans, including Ike Taylor and James Harrison.
  • Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network tweets that the Lions hope Ndamukong Suh will test his value on the free agent market and ultimately return to Detroit.
  • Suh may have a number of suitors, and although Rich Tandler of CSNWashington.com notes that Washington will have some salary cap room to work with in free agency, Suh should not be one of the team’s targets.
  • Andrew Kulp of CSNPhilly.com writes that the recent front office “shake-up” in the Eagles organization, which ostensibly gave head coach Chip Kelly full control over the team’s roster, does not really present much of a change. After all, as Kulp says, “[W]hat moves have the Eagles made in the two years since Kelly’s arrival that didn’t have his fingerprints all over them?”
  • Ann Killion of the San Francisco Chronicle writes that the 49ers‘ lack of a consistent approach to their head coaching search makes their hiring process just as difficult to understand as the decision to cut ties with Jim Harbaugh.
  • Terez A. Paylor of the Kansas City Star lays out the difficult decisions the Chiefs have to make this offseason, including what to do with Dwayne Bowe and Tamba Hali, the release of whom could give the team some much-needed cap space.
  • Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians said that suspended linebacker Daryl Washington has “protocols” to pass before he can be reinstated, and Arians, team president Michael Bidwill, and GM Steve Keim will “sit down and talk about” Washington’s future (Twitter links from Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com).
  • Arians also stated that he believes Cardinals quarterback Logan Thomas has a great future, which is one of the reasons Arians chose not to play him down the stretch and into the playoffs; he did not want to put Thomas through “growing pains” (Twitter link to Urban).
  • In yet another tweet, Urban reports that Cardinals wideout Jaron Brown fractured his scapula in yesterday’s loss to Carolina and is expected to be out four to six months.

Poll: Which Rookie QB Will Be Best In 2014?

August 14th, 2014 at 8:55am CST by Luke Adams

ESPN’s Ron Jaworski made comments earlier this week that raised a few eyebrows, suggesting that he believed Cardinals signal-caller Logan Thomas has been the best rookie quarterback he’s seen so far this summer (link via Marc Sessler of NFL.com).

“When I plugged the tape in yesterday morning and I saw Logan Thomas, I was shocked,” Jaworski said on ESPN yesterday, referring to the Cards’ contest against Houston. “He was fantastic in this game. He’s big, strong and he can rip throws. … Of all the rookie quarterbacks that I’ve watched so far – yes, early in the preseason – Logan Thomas has been the best that I have seen.”

Even if Jaworski’s assessment of Thomas is spot-on, the sixth quarterback selected in this year’s draft may not have the opportunities for playing time that many of the guys selected ahead of him will have. Carson Palmer isn’t an elite QB, but for a Cardinals team expecting to compete for a postseason berth, he’s the more reliable option than the rookie at this point.

On the other hand, players like Johnny Manziel, Teddy Bridgewater, Blake Bortles, and Derek Carr will play for teams who combined for a total of 17 wins in 2013. While the Browns, Vikings, Jaguars, and Raiders may have aspirations of a playoff spot, it would be somewhat surprising if any of those clubs actually earned one.

As such, those situations are more ripe for a rookie quarterback to receive a more significant opportunity, to help him develop and learn his new team’s system in preparation for contention in a year or two. Perhaps a strong performance from one of those rookie signal-callers in 2014 could even help his club contribute immediately.

Still, for now, veterans like Brian Hoyer, Matt Cassel, Chad Henne, and Matt Schaub remain penciled in as starters, so there’s no guarantee that any one of those rookies makes a huge impact this season. What do you think? Which rookie do you expect to have the most productive 2014 campaign?

Extra Points: Cardinals, Lions, Redskins

June 21st, 2014 at 10:55pm CST by Ben Levine

Here are a handful of extra notes to wrap up this Saturday evening…

Draft Signings: Jaguars, Vikings, Cardinals

May 21st, 2014 at 12:48pm CST by Luke Adams

Earlier today, I recapped where things stood with 2014’s draft pick signings, which are moving along quickly. Since then, another handful of draftees have agreed to terms with their respective teams, so let’s round up the latest….

  • Fourth-round cornerback Aaron Colvin has signed his rookie contract with the Jaguars, the team announced today (Twitter link). Six Jacksonville picks still need to ink their deals, including first-round quarterback Blake Bortles, but Colvin’s signing ensures that three Jags draftees are now under contract.
  • In addition to confirming Anthony Barr‘s signing, which was reported yesterday, the Vikings also announced today (via Twitter) that sixth-round defensive back Antone Exum has been locked up. As the 182nd overall pick in the draft, Exum is in line for a signing bonus worth about $116K, according to Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap.com.
  • The Cardinals have signed two more draftees, according to multiple reports. Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com tweets that fourth-round quarterback Logan Thomas has signed his rookie contract, while agent agent Brian McLaughlin told Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun (Twitter link) earlier today that sixth-round receiver Walter Powell has also inked his deal. The moves leave first-rounder Deone Bucannon as the only unsigned Arizona draft pick.

Cardinals Notes: Peterson, Thomas, Draft

May 16th, 2014 at 6:26pm CST by Rob DiRe

Cardinals’ general manager Steve Keim spoke about Patrick Peterson‘s upcoming contract extension, saying “We’re hoping to try to get something done here in the near future,” reports Josh Weinfuss of ESPN.com (via Twitter). Weinfuss notes that Keim knows he has time to get the deal done.

Here are some other notes from the Cardinals organization:

  • Cardinals’ fourth-round pick Logan Thomas believes he will sign sometime early next week, according to Weinfuss (via Twitter). The quarterback will likely serve as a backup to Carson Palmer this season, and could ultimately become head coach Bruce Arians’ big armed starter in the future.
  • Keim had a favorite quarterback in the draft, but never had a chance to draft him because Blake Bortles was off the board with the third-overall pick, reports Ryan O’Halloran of Jacksonville.com. He had high praise for the quarterback out of Central Florida.“We liked Blake Bortles a lot … when you looked at his size, his athleticism, his ability to improvise. He doesn’t quite have the arm strength that Ben Roethlisberger had, but he has some of the same skill set with his foot speed and [the] athleticism to get out of the pocket and make plays with his feet as well as stand tall in the pocket and make some of the throws down the field,” said Keim. “And he’s a guy, being a junior coming out, he still had some developing to do … but we think his upside is really big.”
  • Another player coveted by the Cardinals was linebacker Marcus Smith, according to the Eagles’ Insider Twitter Feed. Smith said he heard rumors that the Cardinals and Redskins were interested in him if the Eagles had let him fall past pick number 26.

NFC West Notes: Seahawks, Rams, 49ers, Sam

May 11th, 2014 at 12:07pm CST by Peter Sowards

General manager John Schneider and coach Pete Carroll have worked five drafts together with the Seahawks, and as The News Tribune’s Todd Dybas writes, the duo has developed a penchant for taking lesser-known players.

Examples of this include Middle Tennessee State defensive tackle Jimmy Staten, Marshall offensive tackle Garrett Scott and Arkansas fullback Kiero Small, none of whom received much notoriety in the days leading up to the draft.

Schneider talked about the ambitious nature of his team’s roster and a mentality his players must possess: “There’s so much competitiveness. These guys are on edge. They’re confident, so you have to have a certain mentality to be able to battle. You’ve got to bring it right away. Right when you walk in the door, you’ve got to bring it.”

More notes from the division of the reigning Super Bowl champions below…

  • The unpredictably consistent Seahawks need five or six of the nine draft picks to hit for Schneider and Carroll to retain the title of draft geniuses, penned Jerry Brewer of The Seattle Times.
  • A roundup of the Rams‘ 11 draft picks by Joe Lyons of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. With two first-round picks, St. Louis solidified the trenches, going with Auburn tackle Greg Robinson No. 2 overall and Pittsburgh defensive tackle Aaron Donald at No. 13.
  • At No. 249, the Rams made one of the more memorable picks in the draft, selecting Missouri DE/OLB Michael Sam, who will become the first openly gay player to play in the NFL. As Jim Thomas of the Post-Dispatch writes, now Sam needs to prove that he can also play football in addition to breaking barriers.
  • USA TODAY Sports’ Tom Pelissero named the Rams as one of five teams that should expect instant impact from its rookies in 2014.
  • 49ers general manager Trent Baalke was happy for Sam, but wished that the Missouri rusher landed outside the NFC West and thus avoiding facing him twice a year, Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com writes.
  • South Florida outside linebacker Aaron Lynch, standing an impressive 6-foot-6 and 244 pounds, lauds himself as a first-round talent with mistakes in his past. He slipped to the 49ers in the fifth round because of those mistakes, and head coach John Harbaugh says Lunch needs direction, according to Eric Branch of SFGate.com.
  • Despite the availability of SEC quarterbacks Zach Mettenberger (LSU), Aaron Murray (Georgia) and A.J. McCarron, the Cardinals took a developmental project instead, Virginia Tech’s Logan Thomas, writes Kent Somers of AZcentral.com.

Poll: Best Late Round Quarterback?

May 10th, 2014 at 3:52pm CST by Rob DiRe

Just because they don’t have the fanfare of a Johnny Manziel or Teddy Bridgewater doesn’t mean the day three quarterbacks are destined to be career backups. A handful of high-caliber NFL quarterbacks do get selected in the later rounds.

Not every quarterback drafted in the sixth round is going to turn into Tom Brady–most first-round quarterbacks won’t accomplish half of what Brady has–but many if not all of these fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh-round quarterbacks will have a chance to push for a starting job at some point in their career, either by performance or by injury.

The question is, which of these quarterbacks is going to have the best chance to find success as a starter in the NFL? That takes a combination of talent and opportunity, where some of these draftees have definite roadblocks in front of them in the form of quarterbacks entrenched as starters.

Of course, a few more quarterbacks will still come off the board in the next 50+ picks, and a couple more will be snagged as undrafted free agents. Maybe Stephen Morris of Miami, Tahj Boyd of Clemson, Garrett Gilbert of SMU, Keith Price of Washington, Brett Smith of Wyoming, or Connor Shaw of South Carolina ends up being the best of the group, although they are still waiting to hear their names called.

AFC North Roundup: Browns, Savage, Bengals

May 5th, 2014 at 11:16am CST by Dallas Robinson

The Browns are interested in trading up in the latter half of Thursday’s draft, from the 26th pick to the 18-22 range, and the Dolphins, who hold the 18th pick, could be a match, reports Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald (on Twitter). Cleveland, which also holds the fourth overall selection, could be looking to move up and add a franchise quarterback, while Miami could try to move down, acquire more picks, and then supplement their offensive line.

More news from the AFC North awaits:

  • While Pittsburgh quarterback Tom Savage didn’t privately meet with or workout for the Ravens, he did speak with the team a few times, tweets Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun.
  • Savage was the only quarterback to visit with the Bengals in Cincinnati, but the team also privately worked out Logan Thomas, and met with A.J. McCarron and Zach Mettenberger, according to the NFL Network’s Albert Breer (via Twitter).
  • Paul Dehner, Jr. of the Cincinnati Enquirer believes that the Bengals purported interest in Teddy Bridgewater is merely a smoke screen, and that Cincinnati hopes a team with a quarterback need will offer to trade for the 24th pick.
  • The Ravens could look to draft a defensive lineman to replace the departed Arthur Jones, writes Matt Zenitz of the Carroll County Times. Zenitz posits Ra’Shede Hageman and Stephon Tuitt as two possible fits for Baltimore.
  • Much of the Ravens’ draft history is based on talented players falling to them, writes Jamison Hensley of ESPN.com, pointing to Ed Reed, Terrell Suggs, and Haloti Ngata as prospects whom Baltimore was lucky to acquire. But that likely won’t happen this year, as potential Ravens targets Taylor Lewan, Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, and Eric Ebron probably won’t fall to the 17th pick.
  • The Steelers could use a nose tackle, but due to the limited playing time available to the position in the modern NFL, probably shouldn’t take one at pick No. 15, says Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Sulia link).
  • Steelers GM Kevin Colbert says the team won’t trade up in the first round, tweets Alan Robinson of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
  • Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (on Twitter) has more from Colbert, who says the Steelers would take an outside linebacker in the first round if a “great player” was available, despite the presence of 2013 first-rounder Jarvis Jones.

Jon Gruden Talks Quarterbacks

May 3rd, 2014 at 8:23pm CST by Peter Sowards

Nobody is more enamored with quarterbacks than former NFL head coach Jon Gruden, and he’ll be the first to tell you so.

“Oh yeah, I like quarterbacks,” Gruden said to azcentral.com’s Bob McManaman and other reporters on a conference call Saturday. “I’ve been accused of that.”

In addition to his Monday Night Football analyst duties, Gruden runs the popular series on ESPN in which he breaks down film with quarterbacks, testing athletes on their ability to draw up plays, as well as putting them through a series of on-field workouts. “Chucky” hit on a number of quarterbacks that have been talked about as first- or second-round picks, as well as a couple late-round candidates.

On Fresno State’s Derek Carr:

I do like Carr. I like the fifth-year seniors,” he said. “I think Carr is going to come in and be further along than a lot of these guys because of his vast background, two different systems. I think he’s got an excellent arm. I think he’s been challenged from a protection standpoint … (but) the fifth-year seniors will be the guys that are obviously most ready.

On Texas A&M’s Johnny Manziel:

“I realize he’s under 6 feet tall. Maybe he can’t see over the pocket. But we blew that theory in the water last year with (Russell) Wilson and (Drew) Brees. I know he can learn. I spent two days with him and I know he wants to learn.”

“He had four different offensive coordinators at Texas A&M. He had two different head coaches. It didn’t matter. He adapted and did extremely well. This is the first Heisman Trophy winner as a freshman. In two years at Texas A&M, he had the most productive back-to-back seasons in SEC history. I don’t know what you want him to do. He threw for eight thousand (yards), ran for two thousand, he has 93 touchdowns. All I know is I want Manziel.”

On Alabama’s A.J. McCarron:

“I can see him certainly going in the first round. McCarron’s production speaks volumes: 36 wins, four losses, all-time record holder at Alabama in a lot of different categories. … I think he’ll be a good acquisition for someone that has a long-term plan.”

On Georgia’s Aaron Murray:

“He’s in my top five. I realize he’s got some injuries, not just the knee that he’s rehabbing right now. I don’t think many kids have thrown for 3,000 yards for four straight seasons in that conference. I just like what he is off the field.”

On Clemson’s Tajh Boyd:

“What I like about Boyd is he’s a finisher. He went back to Clemson to finish with his teammates. He is a quarterback that has a live arm. He can run. He has production passing and running. The show we did on him that I think is relative to his performance; it’s all about peaks and valleys.”

On Louisville’s Teddy Bridgewater:

“I’ve done a lot of individual workouts in my past as a receivers coach, as a quarterback coach, even as a head coach. If the player didn’t work that well for me, I didn’t move them down, I took them off our board. … I’d be concerned if I were any person and I didn’t have good private workouts or I had a typically bad pro date.”

On Pittsburgh’s Tom Savage:

“Savage is one of the great American mysteries right now. Rutgers, he lost his job. He left and went to Arizona. Rich Rodriguez brought the spread offense to Tucson. He left Arizona and went to Pitt. He threw for over 60 percent. He’s a pocket passer. You can see he has a big arm. … There’s not a lot of quarterbacks in college football that drop back and throw it anymore and Savage is clearly one of them.”

On Eastern Illinois’ Jimmy Garoppolo:

“He’s not a finished product. He’s going to have some growing to do because of the system he comes from. But he’s a big, sharp prospect that I know a lot of people like.”

On Virginia Tech’s Logan Thomas:

“He reminded me of Cam Newton for obvious reasons. A dual threat that had physical presence at the position that was rare. He just hasn’t come along as a passer, a consistent passer, like maybe some people think.”

AFC East Notes: Bills, Ebron, Dolphins, Jets

April 22nd, 2014 at 8:49am CST by Luke Adams

Over the weekend, we heard that former Bills quarterback Jim Kelly has interest in being part of the team’s next ownership group, but Kelly isn’t the only Bills legend who wants to play a role in keeping the franchise in Buffalo. As Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk details, a group called the Buffalo Fan Alliance announced on Monday that former Bills wide receiver Andre Reed and kicker Steve Christie are members of its advisory board. The group’s goal is to raise between $100-170MM, which would serve as interest-free loan to the Bills’ new ownership group as a way to entice the new owners to keep the club in Buffalo.

Florio expresses some skepticism about how practical the idea really is and makes some good points, but at the very least, having big names like Kelly, Reed, and Christie involved in the process can’t be a bad thing for Buffalo football fans.

Here’s more from around the AFC East:

  • We heard yesterday that UNC tight end Eric Ebron believes the Lions are a potential landing spot for him, and in an interview on SiriusXM NFL Radio, he suggested that the Bills fall into that category as well. “Those are the two teams that I believe are the highest upon me,” Ebron said, according to Curtis Crabtree of Pro Football Talk. “Now are they telling the same things they are telling me to everybody else? I don’t know. But from my perspective and my point of view, those are the two teams that I believe if they could have signed me that day would have.”
  • Alex Marvez of Fox Sports suggests (via Twitter) that free agent offensive lineman Daryn Colledge, who drew some interest from the Dolphins early in free agency, is a name to continue monitoring as a possible Miami target.
  • Jamar Taylor, who was selected by the Dolphins out of Boise State in the second round of the 2013 draft, told Chadd Cripe of the Idaho Statesman last week that there were times during his injury-plagued rookie season when he was seriously considering retiring from the NFL. However, he worked through that adversity and is looking forward to turning “a lot of heads” in his second season.
  • The Jets are hosting Virginia Tech quarterback Logan Thomas for a pre-draft visit today, reports Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (via Twitter).
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