Marcus Mariota - Pro Football Rumors

Extra Points: Woodson, Wilson, Joseph

June 23rd, 2015 at 9:45pm CST by Zachary Links

Raiders veteran Charles Woodson is down to make whatever changes new head coach Jack Del Rio and defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr. want to, Tyler Moorehead of Raiders.com writes. “We need it,” Woodson said. “My take is that, the last couple of years that I’ve been here, it’s been three wins and four wins. Whatever different that comes in and feels good, you welcome it. We feel good about not only him, but all of the guys that they’ve brought in. They all have that fire. It’s been fun.” Here’s more from around the NFL..

Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times looked at the Seahawks‘ offense by position and the most pressing storyline for each group. When it comes to quarterback, the biggest question is whether Russell Wilson will play 2015 without a contract. Much was made of a radio interview Wilson gave recently in which he said he’s “been moved around before,’’ but Condotta largely chalks that up to a negotiating ploy more than anything. Meanwhile, the Seahawks also have to find their new starter at center following the trade of longtime starter Max Unger.
Johnathan Joseph can earn up to $15.5MM in the first two seasons of his extension, according to Adam Caplan of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Of that money, $11.5MM is fully guaranteed for the Texans cornerback.
Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota is the last first-round draft pick left unsigned, but he told SiriusXM NFL Radio (on Twitter) that he’s “not worried about it at all” earlier today. “Obviously, it’s a business deal,” the No. 2 overall pick said. “It’s going to take some time. That’s why you hire your agent.” Recently, Titans GM Ruston Webster acknowledged that it’s possible that Mariota could miss a few days of training camp if the two sides can’t come to a deal.

Klemko On Heyward, Brady, Mathis, Wilson

June 22nd, 2015 at 9:00am CST by Luke Adams

With Peter King taking his summer vacation, Robert Klemko of TheMMQB.com stepped in this week to publish the latest Monday Morning Quarterback column, and his piece includes a number of interesting tidbits, including an explanation for why teams ought to attempt two-point conversions more often now that the extra-point kick has been moved back. Here are a handful of other notable items from Klemko’s piece:

Cameron Heyward is entering the final year of his contract, and is negotiating an extension with the Steelers, though he says he’d rather not think about his contract situation. The defensive lineman tells Klemko that he thinks he can play better than he did in 2014, when he ranked as Pro Football Focus’ sixth-best 3-4 defensive end. “I hope last year wasn’t a breakout season because I think I can achieve way more,” Heyward said. “I still have a mentality where I think of myself as a bust. I’ve got to prove everybody wrong including myself. I want to get better, and I want to shut people up.”
Tom Brady‘s camp will call many of the witnesses central to the AEI report – which criticized the Ted Wells report – to testify during the Patriots‘ signal-caller’s appeal, a source tells Klemko. As Klemko points out, Brady and the NFLPA could file a lawsuit in federal court after the appeal process is complete, challenging Roger Goodell for violating due process by declining to recuse himself as arbitrator. However, Klemko thinks that Brady’s four-game ban will be reduced to a one-game suspension, and the QB will forgo legal action to put the issue to rest.
Klemko hears that 10 teams are interested in Evan Mathis, which echoes what agent Drew Rosenhaus said last week. The MMQB.com scribe views the Dolphins as the favorite for the Pro Bowl guard, who may have drawn interest from even more teams if he had reached the open market sooner.
Based on the numbers Klemko is hearing out of the Russell Wilson extension talks, he believes the team and the player are divided on the QB’s value. Klemko predicts that the Seahawks will ultimately franchise Wilson after the 2015 season, then perhaps let him walk a year later.
Klemko disagrees with Titans GM Ruston Webster, who said last week that he wouldn’t be concerned if Marcus Mariota misses the first few days of training camp while the two sides finalize his rookie contract. As Klemko writes, that may be fine for a defensive tackle or safety, but a rookie quarterback – who is expected to start – needs all the training camp reps he can get. I’m inclined to agree that Webster’s comments are “a bad attempt to gain leverage” — there’s really no reason the Titans shouldn’t be able to agree to terms within the next few weeks.

Titans Sign Jeremiah Poutasi

June 19th, 2015 at 3:56pm CST by Luke Adams

The Titans have reached a deal with third-round offensive lineman Jeremiah Poutasi, according to Jim Wyatt of the Tennessean (Twitter link). The agreement means that only four 2015 draft picks have yet to sign with their respective teams.

Poutasi, the 66th overall pick out of Utah, was the third consecutive offensive player selected by the Titans to start this year’s draft, after the club also nabbed quarterback Marcus Mariota and wide receiver Dorial Green-Beckham. While DGB signed his rookie contract a few weeks ago, Mariota is one of those four players who has yet to agree to a deal. Still, that’s not a cause for concern for the Titans or GM Ruston Webster, who addressed the contract situation for the No. 2 overall pick today, per Paul Kuharsky of ESPN.com.

“We have had good conversations. We’ll continue to have good conversations,” Webster said. “Looking forward to getting that done and him being in here for camp. I personally don’t see there being a major issue. … I don’t concern myself too much with it if a guy misses a few days. We’ve had good talks. We’re motivated. Marcus is motivated. So I would expect that we would be able to get something done.”

As for Poutasi, his four-year contract with the Titans will be worth just over $3MM, including a signing bonus of about $802K. He’ll count for about $636K against Tennessee’s cap this season.

Latest On Marcus Mariota, Titans, Offsets

May 17th, 2015 at 5:10pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Thanks to the new contractual bargaining agreement’s rookie slotting system, more than half (18 of 32) of 2015’s first-round draft picks are already under contract. Six out of the top seven selections have signed deals, and the lone holdout — quarterback Marcus Mariota of the Titans — will begin rookie contract negotiations on Monday, a source tells Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. Talks should proceed smoothly (again, thank the CBA), but one issue in the discussions could be the subject of offsets, writes Florio.

As Luke Adams explained in a PFR Glossary entry last June, offset language refers to what happens to a player’s salary if he’s cut during the life of his rookie contract. The player wants such language omitted from the contract — if he’s waived at some point, he’d collect not only his guaranteed money from his former employer, but whatever cash he can score on the open market. The club, alternatively, wants offset language included in the deal, as it releases them from a portion of the contact provided the player finds a new club.

As Florio notes, No. 1 overall pick Jameis Winston didn’t force the issue on offsets; rather, he quickly caved and agreed to a contract with the Buccaneers the day after he was drafted. In fact, only one player selected in the top 10 has a deal that contains offset language — third overall pick Dante Fowler Jr. Given that Mariota was drafted earlier than Fowler Jr., it stands to reason that he could fight to include offsets.

It probably makes sense for the Titans to capitulate for two reasons. First, as Florio writes, if Mariota’s play is poor enough that he’s waived before his rookie contract expires, all off Tennessee’s decision-makers will have likely been fired anyway. In other words, there’s no sense in general manager Ruston Webster digging in on the issue of offsets, as he won’t be around much longer if Mariota fails.

Second (and this is my personal view), the Titans should yield on the offset issue because if Mariota is bad enough to be waived in the coming seasons, he won’t earn enough with a second club to make a dent in Tennessee’s books. As the second overall pick, Mariot will get every opportunity to succeed with the Titans. If he fails to the level of being cut inside of four years, what would his market be in free agency? Not very large, I would guess, meaning that the relief felt by Tennessee would be small anyway.

According to the rookie estimates provided by Over the Cap, Mariota should be in line for a four-year deal worth $24.21MM, with a signing bonus of roughly $15.87MM.

Titans Select Marcus Mariota With No. 2 Pick

May 1st, 2015 at 12:35pm CST by Dallas Robinson

FRIDAY, 12:35pm: Despite reports suggesting that Mettenberger was seeking a trade, his agent, Joe Linta, told NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport that the quarterback does not want to be moved (Twitter link). Instead, last year’s sixth-round pick just wants an opportunity to compete with Mariota.

THURSDAY, 7:21pm: The Titans have selected Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota with the second overall pick. Mariota, the 2014 Heisman trophy winner, will head to Tennessee, despite rampant rumors of the Titans trading down.

Mariota passed for more than 4,000 yards and 40 touchdowns, leading Oregon to the National Championship Game against Ohio State. Multiple clubs were reportedly interested in trading up to the second overall pick to draft Mariota, with Mariota’s former college coach, Philadelphia’s Chip Kelly, among those most interested in moving up. The Browns, Bears, and Chargers all had varying levels of interest in moving up for Mariota, but he’ll be a Titan instead.

2014 draftee Zach Mettenberger, the Titans’ incumbent QB, presumably now has no future with the club, and as such, his agent wants his client traded, per Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal (Twitter link). On the flip side, the Titans aren’t expected to trade Mariota, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter).

AFC Draft Notes: Pats, Browns, Chargers, Titans

May 1st, 2015 at 12:25pm CST by Ben Levine

The Patriots have had a number of successful drafts during Bill Belichick‘s tenure, but Malcom Brown is confident he’ll be regarded as one of the best picks in team history.

Following the Patriots’ selection of the hulking defensive lineman last night, the University of Texas standout expressed his confidence to reporters (including Phil Perry of CSNNE.com):

“Ya’ll about to get the best player ya’ll have ever drafted so just be ready for when I touch the field.”

Of course, that may be a bit of an overstatement, especially since the team stole future Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady in the sixth round. However, Brady made similar comments following the 2000 draft (also via Perry):

“I’m the best decision this organization has ever made.”

Let’s take a look at some more draft notes out of the AFC…

Browns GM Ray Farmer denied trying to move up to the No. 2 pick for quarterback Marcus Mariota, as Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer writes. “No, no, no,” Farmer said. “Again, I’ve tried to tell people without telling them specifically, but the answer is no. There were no conversations of trading.”
The Chargers traded up to No. 15 because Melvin Gordon was the last of seven “impact players” left on their board, Michael Gehlken of U-T San Diego writes.
Meanwhile, Chargers general manager Tom Telesco told reporters (including Michael Gehlken of UTSanDiego.com) that he’s open to trading down either Friday or Saturday.
ESPN.com’s Rich Cimini examines some possible targets for the Jets on the second day of the draft. Among the possibilities are Virginia outside linebacker Eli Harold and Ohio State wideout Devin Smith.
The Titans like Dorial Green-Beckham, and Terry McCormick of TitanInsider.com says he wouldn’t be “shocked” if the team selects the wideout with the 33rd pick (via Twitter).

Zach Links contributed to this post.

East Rumors: Jets, Flowers, Giants

May 1st, 2015 at 9:36am CST by Zachary Links

The Jets had cursory talks with the Titans about moving up for the No. 2 , but they weren’t exploring the move to try and land Marcus Mariota, Rich Cimini of ESPN.com tweets. Here’s more from the AFC and NFC East..

Brandon Scherff was higher on the Giants‘ board than Ereck Flowers, but they did not expect Scherff to get to No. 9, Ralph Vacchiano of the Daily News tweets. Many speculated that the Giants were left scrambling at No. 9 with Scherff off the board, but it sounds like they were never banking on the Iowa standout.
The Giants did not make any effort to trade up to the Jets‘ No. 6 pick when USC defensive end Leonard Williams fell to the Jets at that spot, Vacchiano tweets.
Despite a report to the contrary, Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald (on Twitter) says the Dolphins have never expressed interest in Evan Mathis of the Eagles.
More from Salguero (link), who notes that the Dolphins wanted Todd Gurley. According to a team source, they were prepared to move up for him, but didn’t expect him to go as high as he did. “It’s not like we sat on our hands while he went No. 13. He went No. 10,” the source said.
The Cowboys taking Byron Jones in the first round should create some leverage for a Brandon Carr pay cut and give the Cowboys the upper hand in Orlando Scandrick‘s contract dispute, Joel Corry of CBSSports.com tweets.

Extra Points: Mariota, Welker, Forte, Gurley

April 30th, 2015 at 8:27pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Titans will not trade Marcus Mariota after selecting him second overall, GM Ruston Webster said, per Paul Kuharksy of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Moreover, he’ll be the Week 1 starter, says head coach Ken Whisenhunt (Twitter link via Jim Wyatt of the Tennessean). Additionally, despite reports that Zach Mettenberger wants to be traded, Webster says he think the incumbent QB will come to embrace his new backup role, adding that Mettenberger won’t be traded (link).

Free agent receiver Wes Welker has been cleared to play by a top concussion expert, according to Mike Klis of 9 News, who writes that Dr. Stanley Herring (a member of the NFL’s Head, Neck, and Spine Committee) has given Welker the green light. The 33-year-old Welker indicated in February that he intends to play in 2015 despite a myriad of health concerns.
Despite the fact that he wasn’t present at voluntary workouts, Bears running back Matt Forte doesn’t intend to stage a training camp holdout as he angles for a new contract, per Jeff Dickerson of ESPN.com. Though Forte admits he wants an extension, and says he and GM Ryan Pace discussed such a deal earlier this offseason, Forte realizes he has little to no leverage in the situation.
Todd Gurley was the No. 1 player on the Rams’ board, so choosing him at No. 10 was an easy call, per Albert Breer of NFL.com (Twitter link).
The Eagles apparently aren’t interested in players with character concerns, as neither Marcus Peters nor Dorial Green-Beckham is on their board, reports Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link).

Details On Eagles’ Proposed Trade Package

April 30th, 2015 at 7:05pm CST by Luke Adams

According to multiple reports, the Eagles have been most aggressive in their efforts to move up to the top of the draft to land quarterback Marcus Mariota, having had discussions with both the Titans at No. 2 and the Buccaneers at No. 1. Now, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com has details on what Chip Kelly and the Eagles are offering to move up from No. 20.

According to Rapoport (via Twitter), Philadelphia’s proposed package would include two first-round picks (including this year’s), a third-round pick, defensive lineman Fletcher Cox, cornerback Brandon Boykin, linebacker Mychal Kendricks, and more. Rapoport adds that Sam Bradford has also been included in the Eagles’ offers (Twitter link).

Rapoport’s report on the Eagles’ proposal backs up Jason La Canfora’s tweet that Philadelphia’s offer is “substantial.” According to La Canfora, the Browns remain willing to include both their first-round picks in an offer to the Titans, but Cleveland likely won’t come close to trumping the Eagles’ offer (Twitter links).

For now, at least, the Titans and Buccaneers both appear inclined to stay put.

Bears Discuss No. 2 Pick With Titans

April 30th, 2015 at 6:33pm CST by Luke Adams

6:33pm: Besides the Eagles, the Bears are the team pushing hardest for the No. 2 pick, tweets Paul Kuharsky of ESPN.com. Kuharsky passes along word from ESPN’s Bob Holtzman (Twitter link) that the Bears have tried to stir up interest in Cutler, but the Titans have no interest.

2:51pm: A handful of teams, including the Eagles, Browns, Jets, and Rams, continue to be cited as potential Marcus Mariota suitors, linked to the second overall pick in the draft. Now, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com has added another club to that list. According to Rapoport (Twitter links via Shayne L. Marsaw), the Bears have touched base with the Titans about the possibility of moving up to No. 2.

The Bears, who currently hold the No. 7 overall pick, would certainly have an easier time moving up from their spot than a team like the Eagles (No. 20) would, but there are several notable roadblocks impeding a potential deal. For one, the team has Jay Cutler under contract, and while the new regime hasn’t exactly been overflowing with praise for the incumbent quarterback, the guaranteed money still left on his contract would make it difficult to simply move on from him.

Additionally, the Bears have a number of other holes on their roster, and will likely be in the market for players who will fit their new defensive scheme — surrendering multiple picks to move up for Mariota would significantly hinder the club’s ability to add talent at several different positions.

Dan Pompei of Bleacher Report (Twitter links) suggests that the Bears’ primary needs are at wide receiver, tight end, cornerback, and safety, and landing a pass rusher wouldn’t hurt either. Giving up another premium pick to move up from No. 7 to draft a quarterback would leave Chicago with plenty of question marks, putting pressure on the club to nail its mid-round picks.