Malcolm Jenkins

East Notes: Jets, Eagles, Jenkins, Bills

Muhammad Wilkerson, who inked a monster extension with the Jets last year, appears to be extremely out of shape, according to multiple scouts who saw him at Temple’s Pro Day (via Manish Mehta of the Daily News). Wilkerson’s listed weight last season was 315 pounds and it’s unclear how heavy he is at the moment. The Jets effectively chose Wilkerson over fellow defensive lineman Sheldon Richardson last year by giving him the long-term deal and, so far, it’s not clear if Wilkerson will reward the Jets for their confidence in him. Last year Wilkerson had just 4.5 sacks, the lowest total since his rookie season. This year, he’s set to carry a $18MM cap number with a fully guaranteed $14.75MM base salary, so a trade is probably out of the question. Meanwhile, Brian Costello of the New York Post (on Twitter) posted a picture of Wilkerson from just last week in which he appears to be in the same shape he was last year.

A bit more from the NFL’s East divisions:

  • Eagles GM Howie Roseman continues to shoot down rumors that he offered up Malcolm Jenkins in trade talks for Brandin Cooks. His latest denial is the firmest one to date (Twitter link via 97.5 The Fanatic). “The Brandin Cooks, Malcolm Jenkins thing kind of gets under my skin. We were never going to trade Malcolm Jenkins,” Roseman said.
  • Initially reported as a four-year deal, kicker Steven Hauschka‘s pact with the Bills is actually a three-year contract, per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link). It’s worth $8.85MM, nearly half of which ($4MM) is guaranteed.
  • In case you missed it, Gang Green agreed to a deal with longtime Cowboys cornerback Morris Claiborne on Thursday.

Eagles Included Jenkins In Cooks Trade Offer

Prior to the Patriots being the winner of the Brandin Cooks sweepstakes, the Eagles made an offer that included veteran safety Malcolm Jenkins, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reports.

However, the rest of the Eagles’ offer wasn’t quite sufficient enough for the Saints to send Cooks to Philadelphia. Philly offered a third- and a fourth-round pick to the Saints for Cooks, per Florio, who adds the Saints wanted Jenkins and a second-round selection. The Patriots landed Cooks for the No. 32 overall pick, along with a 2017 third-rounder.

Jenkins, of course, spent the first five seasons of his career with the Saints before signing with the Eagles in 2014. He made his first Pro Bowl for the Eagles a year later. Now entering his age-29 season, Jenkins is signed through the 2020 campaign after inking a second Eagles contract — for four years and $35MM — last year.

The Eagles attempted to trade for Cooks at the 2016 deadline and resurfaced with interest last week, joining the Titans and Patriots in pursuit of the coveted 23-year-old wide receiver. The team held Cooks in high regard dating back to the 2014 draft. Philly was reportedly eliminated from the running earlier than Tennessee, which made a standing offer for the fourth-year wideout that may have been better than the Eagles’ Jenkins-fronted package.

However, the Eagles revamped their 2017 receiving corps without making a trade. They signed both Alshon Jeffery and Torrey Smith, and while neither is as young or cheap as Cooks, both figure to make a big impact on what was a depleted Philly wideout corps prior to this week.

Eagles Sign Malcolm Jenkins To Extension

2:06pm: According to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter), the value of the four new years on Jenkins’ extension is $35MM. If the safety earns Pro Bowl salary escalators, the total value can increase to $36MM, which would be an average of $9MM annually, tweets Joel Corry of CBSSports.com.

Rapoport says the deal features $21MM in guaranteed money, though only $16MM is fully guaranteed, per Corry (Twitter link). One portion of that fully guaranteed money is the signing bonus, which Jason Cole of Bleacher Report says is worth $7.5MM (Twitter link).

12:22pm: The Eagles and safety Malcolm Jenkins have agreed to terms on a new five-year contract, the team announced today in a press release. Jenkins had been set to enter the final year of his current deal, but the new extension will keep him under team control through the 2020 season, tweets Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer.Malcolm Jenkins

[RELATED: PFR previews the Eagles’ offseason]

Jenkins, who signed a three-year, $15.5MM contract with the Eagles in 2014, quickly turned into one of the best bargains on the roster. In his two seasons with Philadelphia, the ex-Saint has only missed a total of seven defensive snaps, appearing in more total plays than any other player during that time. That huge snap count can be attributed both to Jenkins’ durability and to former head coach Chip Kelly, whose offensive style resulted in the Eagles’ defense seeing the field more than any other team’s D.

In his two seasons with the Eagles, Jenkins has averaged 92 tackles per season, grabbed five total interceptions – including two for touchdowns – and earned his first Pro Bowl nod in 2015. Pro Football Focus ranked him as the league’s second-best safety in ’15, behind only Harrison Smith of the Vikings.

Based on his performance in Philadelphia so far, Jenkins figures to be in line for a nice raise on his new deal. He had been set to earn a base salary of $5MM and a roster bonus of $500K in 2016, with a total cap hit exceeding $7MM. The extension may slightly reduce that cap figure, depending on its structure, but a bump to an average annual salary of at least $8-9MM seems probable. PFR’s Connor Byrne recently pointed to Devin McCourty‘s five-year, $47.5MM contract as a potential comparable for Jenkins’ next deal.

Jenkins’ contract is the latest extension in what has been an offseason full of them for the Eagles. The team has already locked up Zach Ertz, Brent Celek, Vinny Curry, and Lane Johnson to new deals, and is said to be working on an extension for Fletcher Cox as well.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

East Notes: Bills, Jets, Eagles

Given his 2016 cap hit ($19.9MM) and apparent inability to fit into head coach Rex Ryan‘s scheme, there’s a strong likelihood defensive end Mario Williams will play his final game with the Bills on Sunday. The 30-year-old has totaled just 17 tackles and a career-low four sacks this season, grading a terrible 94th out of 107 edge defenders by Pro Football Focus’ standards (subscription required). Williams’ downturn in performance could be symptomatic of his attitude, as an anonymous teammate alluded to (Twitter link via The Buffalo News’ Tyler Dunne).

“We could easily have 5 solid players contributing than 1 guy who doesn’t give a s—,” the player stated.

Williams issued a retort (Twitter link via Dunne).

“I could just literally not be out there,” he said. “When I get my opportunity, do it. Everybody who said that, they’ll see.”

More from the NFL’s two East divisions:

  • Running back Bilal Powell‘s offseason decision to re-sign with the Jets on a one-year deal is paying dividends for both him and the team, the New York Daily News’ Manish Mehta writes. Powell had to choose between the Bills (and Ryan, his ex-coach) and Jets, whose backfield was less crowded than Buffalo’s at the time. Powell ended up staying in New York, and has been an important dual-threat weapon for a club that could be headed to the playoffs. Powell is averaging 4.5 yards per rush this season and, as Mehta notes, leads all NFL backs in receiving yards (299) and broken tackles on passing plays (12) since Week 11. In assessing Powell, head coach Todd Bowles said, “He’s been more of a complete back than even I thought he was coming in. He can block. He can run. He’s not just a pass catcher. He does a bunch of things for us.” Of course, what’s bittersweet for the Jets is that, as a pending free agent, Powell’s success could lead him to a raise and a different uniform in the coming months.
  • Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie needs to clarify vice president of football operations Howie Roseman‘s role and hold him accountable for it – just as Lurie did with Chip Kellysubmits Jeff McLane of Philly.com. Lurie should give full control of the Eagles’ personnel department to Roseman and sink or swim with him in that position, according to McLane. Roseman’s say over the roster diminished when Kelly took the reins, which is ironic when you consider Roseman was key in the hiring of Kelly. He now has some of that power back with Kelly gone, but Lurie said that Roseman’s work with the personnel department will be “as a collaborator.” That isn’t enough for McLane, who believes someone needs to be in position to take the lion’s share of responsibility for building the roster. McLane also notes that Roseman could drive away potential head coaching candidates because he doesn’t have a scouting background and is perceived as a difficult person with whom to work. Nevertheless, Lurie and team president Don Smolenski will follow Roseman’s lead with respect to Philly’s coaching search, McLane reports.
  • Earlier this week, after the Eagles fired Kelly, offensive tackle Lane Johnson claimed strife between Kelly and Roseman took a toll on the players. Johnson also stated players were hesitant to approach Kelly. Safety Malcolm Jenkins, Johnson’s teammate, disagrees. Regarding Johnson’s opinion on the Kelly-Roseman feud, Jenkins said (per Les Bowen of Philly.com) that Johnson “reads too many articles.” On Johnson’s notion that Kelly wasn’t approachable, Jenkins added, “I think the perception was not necessarily the reality.”

NFC East Links: Melton, Eagles, Skins, Giants

If new Cowboy Henry Melton can match his career high of seven sacks in 2014, the team will more than likely pick up the final three years of his contract, writes Todd Archer of ESPN.com in his mailbag. Picking up the rest of the deal will guarantee Melton $9MM in 2015.

Archer also discusses whether the Cowboys keep three of four tight ends on their active roster, and picks James Hanna as the odd man out if they only keep three. Hanna is the weakest blocker of the group, and the team has not been able to take advantage of his standout athleticism in his two years in Dallas.

He also highlights Bruce Carter, Justin Durant, and Kyle Wilber as the three players most likely to start at linebacker for the Cowboys’ defense in 2014.

Here are some more links from around the NFC East:

  • The Cowboys‘ have lost their players to the third most games due to injury over the last two seasons, totaling 133 games missed over that time period, writes Brandon George.of DallasNews.com. The team has employed more protective equipment during practices, and the use of two ProFlex stretching machines, two other stretching machines designed for the core and lower body, one World Cup skier’s plyometric apparatus, one Dynamic Edge skier’s machine, and a vibration machine in attempt to increase their players’ resistance to injuries.
  • The Eagles are better and deeper than they have been in years past, writes Geoff Mosher of CSNPhilly.com. The addition of Malcolm Jenkins should provide consistency, and Nate Allen improved again last year after regression in years prior. Backup Earl Wolff has been working with Jenkins, and will find his way onto the field in certain packages and situations, or to spell the two starters.
  • Mosher also examined why the Eagles decided they didn’t need to get bigger on the defensive line this offseason, despite allowing success on the ground in their playoff loss to the Saints. Despite criticism of being too small, he notes that the unit was tenth in the league in rushing yards allowed, and were even better on a per carry basis, where they ranked fourth.
  • Chris Chester struggled in 2013 as the Redskins‘ right guard, but he is still the frontrunner to start in 2014, writes Rich Tandler and Tarik El-Bashir of CSNWashington.com. However, third-round pick Spencer Long will challenge for the starting spot, and backup Josh LeRibeus could be in the mix as well.
  • The Redskins have many issues they need to improve on special teams, but maybe none more than their touchback percentage, writes Chris Russell of ESPN980.com (via Twitter). According to Russell, Kai Forbath produced a touchback on only 24.6% of his kickoffs in 2013. The league average number was 48.8%.
  • There is disagreement over who will return punts for the Giants in 2014, but fortunately they have a number of promising options according to the writers at Giants.com. Michael Eisen sees the job as Rueben Randle‘s to lose, as he performed well in that role in 2013, although he is not a home run threat. John Schmeelk envisions Odell Beckham Jr. taking over as a rookie, as he displayed explosive ability to do so at LSU. Finally, Dan Salmone chose the 5’5″ Trindon Holliday to be the big play threat the Giants have been missing in their special teams.

NFC East Notes: Manning, Freeman, Allen, Smith, Melton

After having arthroscopic knee surgery on April 10, Giants quarterback Eli Manning is participating in OTAs with no limitations. That’s two months ahead of schedule, notes Giants.com Senior Writer/Editor Michael Eisen, who quoted head coach Tom Couglin: “He’s so far ahead. When we started out I didn’t think I would have him for anything. We’re about two or three days into the phase two (when the offense and defense worked separately) and he’s running around. I’m trying to slow him down but he feels good. I’m not surprised at all.”

In other NFC East notes…

East Rumors: Giants, Jets, Pats, Eagles

A couple of rumblings from the teams in the Eastern divisions…

  • Jacoby Jones turned down more money from the Giants to re-sign with the Ravens, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.
  • Linval Joseph, who was signed by the Vikings, said today that the final offer he got from the Giants was nowhere close to what he got from Minnesota, tweets Paul Schwartz of the New York Post.
  • The Jets have expressed interest in recently reinstated cornerback Brandon Brownertweets Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News. However, at this time, it appears unlikely that he’ll end up with Gang Green.
  • Jason Avant, who hit the market early after being released by the Eagles, will visit with the Patriotstweets Field Yates of ESPN Boston.
  • Ben Volin of the Boston Globe (on Twitter) surmises that if another team really wanted Patriots free agent receiver Julian Edelman, he’d be signed by now. The wide receiver market isn’t terribly hot at the moment.
  • Malcolm Jenkins said the Raiders and Rams showed interest before he decided to sign with the Eagles, says Geoff Mosher of CSNPhilly (via Twitter). As Mosher points out, Rams’ defensive coordinator Greg Williams was Jenkins’ coach with the Saints.

Zach Links contributed to this post.

Contract Details: Whitner, Jenkins, Blackmon

The latest particulars from various contracts signed today..

  • Donte Whitner‘s four-year, $28MM deal with the Browns includes $11MM fully guaranteed in 2014, tweets Tom Pelissero of USA Today.
  • Malcolm Jenkins‘ three-year deal with the Eagles is worth $15.5MM, Pelissero tweets. He gets $6MM fully guaranteed in 2014, plus $2.5MM of the $4MM base in ’15 now guaranteed for injury.
  • Will Blackmon‘s two-year, $1.725MM deal with the Jaguars included $500K guaranteed, Pelissero tweets. He earn up to $250K with playing time in ’14 and ’15.
  • Zane Beadles‘ five-year, $30MM deal with the Jaguars has $12.5MM in guaranteed money, Pelissero tweets. He’s scheduled to get roster bonuses of $4.5MM in ’14 and $2MM in ’15 is guaranteed for skill/injury.

Malcolm Jenkins Signs With Eagles

Safety Malcolm Jenkins will join the Eagles defense in 2014, reports Adam Schefter of ESPN (via Twitter). The former first-round pick of the Saints has agreed on a three-year deal with the Eagles, worth $16.25MM. Jeff McClane of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports that the contract includes $8.5MM in guaranteed money (via Twitter).

Jenkins was one of the second-tier safeties available, and while the Eagles have been linked to both T.J. Ward and Jairus Byrd at points this offseason, it is unclear if that will take those players out of the running.

Free Agent Notes: Pierre Thomas, Ravens, Bears, Giants

Miscellaneous news and notes, including free agent primers for the Bears and Giants:

  • Malcolm Jenkinstweet indicates Pierre Thomas won’t be back with the Saints, points out NOLA.com’s Larry Holder (via Twitter).
  • The Ravens have made an offer to retain free agent receiver/returner Jacoby Jones, according to team insider Aaron Wilson (per Twitter).
  • Ravens free agent cornerback Corey Graham “should have a healthy market,” according to Wilson (via Twitter). Graham, a 2007 fifth-rounder, broke in with the Bears, made a name for himself as a Pro Bowl special teams player and earned a two-year, $3.95MM deal with the Ravens in 2012. He played a more prominent role in Baltimore, where he started 13 games over two seasons and contributed as a productive sub-package defender, tallying 74 tackles, 12 passes defended and four interceptions. The team wants Graham back, but will be unable to compete if another team is willing to pay him like a starter, says Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun (via Twitter).
  • The Bears will target defensive ends in free agency, according to the Chicago Tribune’s Brad Biggs, who breaks down four groups of free agents the Bears will sift through: big-ticket targets (such as Michael Bennett or Everson Griffen); “budget buys” (similar to Matt Slauson, who signed an inexpensive one-year deal last year, started all 16 games and earned a four-year extension); cap casualties (veterans with “a little juice left,” as Biggs puts it); and the club’s own (most notably, Henry Melton, Charles Tillman and D.J. Williams).
  • Expect the Giants to act quickly in free agency, says NJ.com’s Jordan Raanan, who predicts the team will land a priority free agent, likely an offensive lineman, in a matter of days. Raanan cites recent history as an indicator, reminding the team signed Antrel Rolle on the first day of free agency in 2010, signed David Baas in two days in 2011 and added Martellus Bennett three days into the 2012 signing period.