Matt Flynn - Pro Football Rumors

Patriots Notes: Brady, Flynn, Allen

July 28th, 2015 at 8:55am CST by Luke Adams

As the Patriots, along with the rest of the NFL, continue to wait for Roger Goodell to announce a ruling on Tom Brady‘s suspension appeal, let’s round up a few of the latest notes out of New England….

Appearing on ESPN today, Adam Schefter said the NFL isn’t “inclined to budge much” on Brady’s appeal, adding that he expects the suspension to remain at four games (Twitter link via Mark Daniels of the Providence Journal). If Schefter’s prediction turns out to be accurate, Brady and the NFLPA will almost assuredly fight the decision in court.
As Mike Reiss of ESPN.com writes, Brady is hardly the only one whose 2015 outlook will be significantly altered by Roger Goodell’s ruling on his suspension appeal — Matt Flynn‘s odds of making the Patriots‘ 53-man roster hinge largely on whether or not Brady will be available.
Ben Volin of the Boston Globe (Twitter link) and Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post (Twitter links) have the details on Ryan Allen‘s new contract extension with the Patriots. Allen’s deal is worth $6.685MM, including a $2MM signing bonus and $3MM in new guarantees. The contract also features $200K in annual per-game roster bonuses from 2016 to 2018, and an annual $50K incentive for making the Pro Bowl.

East Notes: Mathis, Flynn, Bills, McClain

June 16th, 2015 at 10:42am CST by Luke Adams

Speaking to reporters today, Eagles head coach Chip Kelly addressed the team’s release of Pro Bowl guard Evan Mathis for the first time, explaining that Mathis’ agent asked multiple times for his client’s release. According to Kelly (all Twitter links), the club didn’t intend to alter Mathis’ contract, so after discussing all the possibilities, Philadelphia decided to let him go if he didn’t want to be there. The Eagles waited as long as they could to explore trade possibilities and to see how the draft and free agency played out before cutting the offensive lineman last week.

Kelly’s explanation doesn’t come as a real surprise, though I’m still somewhat skeptical that the Eagles couldn’t secure even a late-round pick for Mathis. It’s also worth noting that, in a similar situation, the Vikings didn’t give in to Adrian Peterson‘s agent demands, and now Peterson is saying all the right things as he prepares to play for Minnesota in 2015 without a reworked contract. The Eagles could’ve held their ground with Mathis, but it’s clear that Kelly prefers not to keep a player on the roster if he doesn’t view that player as a culture fit for his club.

Here’s more from around the NFL’s two East divisions:

The NFLPA saw no wrongdoing on the Eagles‘ part regarding Mathis’ release, which was viewed as a contractual decision, so the team has been cleared, tweets Albert Breer of the NFL Network.
Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun has the details on Matt Flynn‘s one-year contract with the Patriots, tweeting that the quarterback gets a $20K signing bonus and a $60K roster bonus on his minimum salary benefit deal.
Former Seahawks offensive lineman Nate Isles is trying out for the Bills today, per Mike Rodak of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Isles, who signed a futures contract with Seattle at season’s end, was cut by the team last month.
Offensive linemen Seantrel Henderson and Chris Williams aren’t in attendance for the Bills‘ first day of mandatory minicamp, according to Vic Carucci of the Buffalo News (Twitter links).
Linebacker Rolando McClain was one of the Cowboys‘ best bargains last season, and he could be again in 2015, writes Todd Archer of ESPNDallas.com. As Clarence Hill of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram tweets, McClain has reported to Dallas’ minicamp after being absent from earlier offseason activities.

Patriots Sign Matt Flynn

June 12th, 2015 at 2:19pm CST by Luke Adams

FRIDAY, 2:19pm: The Patriots have officially signed Flynn, the team announced today in a press release.

THURSDAY, 3:10pm: The Patriots have agreed to terms on a contract with quarterback Matt Flynn, reports Dianna Marie Russini of ESPN.com (via Twitter). Russini reported earlier today (Twitter link) that Flynn was working out for New England. Shalise Manza Young of the Boston Globe has the corresponding move, tweeting that the Pats are waiving QB Garrett Gilbert.

Russini notes (via Twitter) that she has been told by several sources that the signing has “nothing to do” with Tom Brady‘s situation, and that the Pats simply want to have a veteran quarterback in camp. Still, it makes sense that New England would want a veteran in the mix to start the regular season as well. The team is bullish on Jimmy Garoppolo, Brady’s backup, but if the four-game ban for the reigning Super Bowl MVP is upheld, having a No. 2 QB on the roster with more experience than Gilbert make sense.

Flynn, who turns 30 later this month, has spent most of his career with the Packers, parlaying a huge Week 17 game in 2011 into a three-year contract with the Seahawks in free agency. After never starting a game in Seattle, Flynn bounced around the league a little, joining the Bills and Raiders before returning to Green Bay.

Last season, Flynn backed up Aaron Rodgers once again, completing eight of 16 passes when he saw the field. The Packers carried both Flynn and Scott Tolzien on their roster in 2014, but after they re-signed Tolzien this past March, reports indicated that they weren’t interested in retaining Flynn as well.

NFC Rumors: Peterson, Hoyer, Eagles, Cards

March 8th, 2015 at 4:09pm CST by Dallas Robinson

If Adrian Peterson is able to work his way out of Minnesota, his preferred destination would be Arizona, tweets Charles Robinson of Yahoo! Sports, who adds that the veteran running back’s other top landing spots are the Colts, Cowboys, Buccaneers, and Chargers. For their part, the Cardinals have denied any interest in the Vikings running back, adds Robinson’s colleague Rand Getlin (via Twitter). However, Getlin does tweet that a source told him the Cards’ release of Darnell Dockett was done to clear out cap room for Peterson.

Let’s check out the latest from the NFC as free agency approaches…

Both the Vikings and the 49ers have expressed interest in quarterback Brian Hoyer, according to Josina Anderson of ESPN (Twitter link). But with other teams like the Jets and Texans (who could potentially offer a starting role) showing interest, as well, I’d bet the Hoyer would look unfavorably upon joining Minnesota or San Francisco, where he’d be the clear backup.
Though they’re about to add Byron Maxwell, the Eagles could still use another corner, but the club hasn’t shown interest in either Buster Skrine or Chris Culliver, tweets Geoff Mosher of CSNPhilly.com, who adds in a separate tweet that Walter Thurmond is also not on Philly’s radar.
Washington appears set on adding help along the defensive line — they’re intrigued by Terrance Knighton, and they’ve also expressed interest in free agents Stephen Paea and Dan Williams, per John Keim of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
After re-signing Scott Tolzien earlier today, the Packers aren’t interested in retaining fellow backup QB Matt Flynn, tweets Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.
The Cardinals are interested in linebacker Brian Orakpo, per Mike Jurecki of FOX Sports 910 (Twitter link). Arizona is also interested in Trent Cole (Twitter link via Adam Caplan of ESPN), so it looks like they’re targeting OLB help.
The Buccaneers are looking for safety help, and there is mutual interest between the club and FA Ron Parker, according to Roy Cummings of the Tampa Tribune (Twitter link).

NFC Notes: Rams, Sam, Packers, Washington

February 9th, 2015 at 11:24am CST by Luke Adams

It has been a little over a month since Rams owner Stan Kroenke announced his plan to build a new NFL stadium in Los Angeles, and it’s inching a little closer to becoming a reality, writes David Hunn of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. According to Hunn, developers have begun to clear land and lay water lines at Hollywood Park in Inglewood, and the stadium still looks like a go, regardless of whether an NFL team like the Rams is lined up to play in it.

“If you have the most modern, the most beautiful NFL stadium in the world, you’re not going to have any problem populating it,” Inglewood mayor James T. Butts said. “If the NFL wants to migrate here, we would welcome it. But that’s not what this is about. This is ‘Field of Dreams’ stuff. Build it and they will come.”

Here are a few more Monday notes from around the NFC:

Former Rams seventh-rounder Michael Sam has applied for one of approximately 100 spots in the NFL’s inaugural veteran combine later this month, according to Tom Pelissero of USA Today. While the former Missouri standout is hoping that leads to an NFL contract offer, Pelissero says Sam has a one-year contract offer from the CFL’s Montreal Alouettes on the table as a fallback option. The 25-year-old spent some time on the Cowboys‘ practice squad last season, but wasn’t active for any regular season games.
Veteran 49ers offensive line coach Mike Solari will be leaving San Francisco to join the Packers, reports Alex Marvez of Fox Sports. While it’s not immediately clear what Solari’s role will be in Green Bay, his hiring appears to be part of a larger shake-up to the team’s offensive staff, as we heard yesterday.
The Packers will have to make a decision at quarterback this offseason, with backup signal-callers Scott Tolzien and Matt Flynn both eligible for free agency. As Jason Wilde of ESPNWisconsin.com writes, the team’s coaching staff likes Tolzien’s potential, but Flynn gives the club a “security-blanket feel.” For his part, Aaron Rodgers would like to see both backups re-signed.
Free agency may offer more problems than solutions for Washington, but the team may still need to dip into the open market to find stopgap options for certain positions, writes Rich Tandler of CSNWashington.com.
Joseph Person of the Charlotte Observer takes a look at some key issues facing the Panthers this winter, including a possible long-term deal for Cam Newton, finding a solution at left tackle, and adding immediate contributors in the draft.

NFC North Links: Packers, Briggs, Bell, Smith

February 7th, 2015 at 1:59pm CST by Rob DiRe

The Packers kept three quarterbacks on the active roster last season for the first time in five years, but it is unclear whether the team will elect to do so again in 2015, writes Weston Hodkiewicz of PackersNews.com. Matt Flynn served as Aaron Rodgers‘ backup but the team was worried that putting Scott Tolzien on the practice squad would leave him vulnerable to being signed away from the roster.

If the Packers need the extra roster spot next season, they will have to make a choice between the two players. However, Rodgers hopes that he will once again get a chance to have both of them in the room with quarterbacks coach Alex Van Pelt. “Both different personalities, but great teammates,” Rodgers said. “Those guys are a lot of fun. It would be great to have them back.”

Here are some other links from around the NFC North:

Longtime Bears stalwart Lance Briggs could be looking for a new team for the first time in his career. However, there is one team that he has already crossed off his list, in the division rival Packers, writes David Just of the Chicago Sun-Times. Briggs said so very succinctly when asked yesterday about the possibility (via Twitter).
Lions running back Joique Bell is coming back from offseason surgery, and looking forward to another chance at getting into the playoffs, writes Justin Rogers of MLive.com. The biggest thing for Bell is bringing back star defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, suggesting that Calvin Johnson will have to restructure his contract to make sure they can re-sign him. “We’ll have to talk to Calvin, see if he can do something,” Bell said. “We just need him back. Come back, Suh.”
Vikings safety Harrison Smith is also coming back from surgery and focused on his future. As he is coming closer to free agency, he has made sure the team knows he is interested in staying in Minnesota for a while, writes Matt Vensel of StarTribune.com. “That’s all I’ve thought of doing,” Smith said. “I have no intentions of going anywhere else. I’ll just let [my agency] handle it. I’m just here to play football and we’ll see what happens.”

NFC North Notes: Munnerlyn, Lions, Packers

August 23rd, 2014 at 8:10pm CST by Ben Levine

When Vikings newcomer Captain Munnerlyn signed with the team in March, he envisioned being the starting cornerback to start the regular season. Even after he was listed beside Josh Robinson as a “co-starters” on the team’s first depth chart, the 26-year-old is still convinced that the starting gig belongs to him.

“Basically, I didn’t know that I was going to come off the bench and just slide into the nickel,” he told Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. “I don’t think that was the plan. I always thought I would start outside and slide in… I’ve played a lot of football in this league. I’ve started a lot of games.

“I really didn’t even know there was any competition.”

Let’s see what else is happening in the NFC North…

Lions rookie T.J. Jones will remain on the team’s PUP list when the season begins. While this wasn’t the best-case scenario for the wide receiver, Tim Twentyman of DetroitLions.com writes that it could ultimately help the player, who would have had a tough time making the final squad.
In the same article, Twentyman notes that Lions defensive end George Johnson has continued to move up the depth chart. “He played pretty well,” said head coach Jim Caldwell. “Lot of effort plays, he was active, he was tough and threw his body around, he did a nice job in the scrimmage plays and special teams, as well.”
Instead of keeping three quarterbacks, Pete Dougherty of the Green Bay Press-Gazette thinks it’d be best for the Packers to keep only one of Matt Flynn or Scott Tolzien. With the extra spot, Dougherty suggests the team carry an extra linebacker, safety, tight end or receiver.

Extra Points: OTAs, Packers, Titans, Brady

June 22nd, 2014 at 9:12pm CST by Peter Sowards

Minicamps are finished. The 2014 NFL season awaits.

Players have left their respective clubs until the opening of training camp, and as ESPN.com’s John Clayton notes, coaches now will cross their fingers that they don’t receive the 3 a.m. phone call alerting them of the star player’s transgressions.

Clayton, the Worldwide Leader’s senior NFL writer, outlines seven things learned from the offseason programs, with No. 1 being the lack of readiness for rookie quarterbacks. Reading into Clayton’s words, he believes that no rookie quarterback will open the season as the team’s starting signal caller. Teddy Bridgewater is the most pro-ready, Clayton says, but Matt Cassel will get the first snap on opening day.

Taking a page out of Pete Carroll‘s playbook, Clayton writes that teams around the league are gravitating toward taller defensive backs. Case in point, the Kansas City Chiefs, who released 5-foot-9 cornerback Brandon Flowers in a cap-saving move. They’ll look to replace Flowers with 6-foot-1 Phillip Gaines, 6-foot-2 Marcus Cooper and 6-foot David Van Dyke, each of whom are first- or second-year players.

Other news and notes from around the league…

Among the 10 Packers stories to watch before training camp opens by Tyler Dunne of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is peace of mind at backup quarterback. It wasn’t pretty for the Pack at QB when Aaron Rodgers went down in a Week 9 loss to the Bears, but coach Mike McCarthy should feel better about this year’s situation with Matt Flynn and Scott Tolzien backing up the All Pro, Dunne writes.
Quarterback Jake Locker, receiver Kendall Wright and the defense’s front seven are all things Titans fans should feel good about, The Tennessean’s Jim Wyatt writes. Locker should be at 100% coming off foot surgery in November and had started the 2013 season with a bang, while Wright will team with Nate Washington and Justin Hunter to ease Locker’s return to health.
Tom Brady‘s private quarterback coach, Tom House, admitted in an interview with SiriusXM radio that the three-time Super Bowl champion has struggled as of late to connect on the deep passes. “As he’s getting a little older you lose a little strength, you lose a little flexibility,” House said. “And what was happening was he was noticing that his accuracy and his long ball weren’t what they were three or four years ago. So we ran him through the computer, compared him to the models we have created for movement efficiency, and there were really, really small things that were causing his issues.”

Packers Re-Sign Matt Flynn

April 24th, 2014 at 10:30am CST by Luke Adams

APRIL 24: Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun provides the details of Flynn’s new deal with the Packers, tweeting that the base value is about $968K. That includes a $730K base salary, a $75K signing bonus, a $25K workout bonus, and up to about $138K in per-game active roster bonuses. Flynn can also earn another $100K via incentives.

APRIL 22: The Packers have officially announced their new deal with Flynn, tweets Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com.

APRIL 15: The Packers have reached an agreement to re-sign free agent quarterback Matt Flynn, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter). We heard earlier this afternoon that Flynn’s visit with the Giants was no longer on the docket, and I speculated that it could be because the signal-caller was close to signing with another team. It appears that was the case, as the Packers didn’t let him get away.

Flynn, 28, spent his first four NFL seasons in Green Bay before joining the Seahawks, Bills, and Raiders over the last two years. Flynn rejoined the Packers last season and was effective down the stretch in place of the injured Aaron Rodgers, completing 61.4% of his passes for 1,146 yards, seven touchdowns, and four interceptions in five games (four starts).

With Flynn back in the fold, the Packers will retain three of the four quarterbacks that started games for the club last season. Flynn and Scott Tolzien figure to jockey for the No. 2 spot behind Rodgers, while Seneca Wallace remains a free agent, unlikely to return to Green Bay.

Josh Freeman Visiting Giants

April 15th, 2014 at 1:01pm CST by Luke Adams

TUESDAY, 1:01pm: It now appears that Flynn’s visit with the Giants may not be on the docket, according to Jordan Raanan of NJ.com (Twitter links). There are a number of possible explanations for that — perhaps the Giants are close to an agreement with Freeman, or Flynn is close to signing with another team. It also could just be a matter of a visit coming at a later date.

MONDAY, 11:36am: Flynn is expected to work out for the Giants tomorrow as well, tweets Kimberly Jones of the NFL Network. Both free agent QBs will arrive in town today, and Caplan tweets that he gets the sense New York wants to add a veteran prior to training camp.

11:09am: Freeman’s visit with the Giants is scheduled for Tuesday, according to ESPN.com’s Adam Caplan (via Twitter).

FRIDAY, 11:15am: According to Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News, Freeman may work out for the Giants, though nothing has officially been set up yet. Vacchiano adds (via Twitter) that the team has also reached out to Flynn.

8:40am: Free agent quarterback Josh Freeman will work out for the Giants next week, perhaps as early as Tuesday, a source tells Mike Freeman of Bleacher Report (Twitter link). With most potential backup signal-callers off the market, Freeman represents one of the more noteworthy names still available, along with Matt Flynn and Rex Grossman.

Freeman, 26, recently visited the Bears. However, even if Chicago saw a fit with the former Buccaneer, the team has yet to strike a deal to bring him aboard, so the QB’s free agency tour will continue. The Giants re-signed Curtis Painter a month ago and still have Ryan Nassib under contract to back up Eli Manning, but Manning opted this week to undergo surgery on a troublesome left ankle. Although the longtime Giants starter is expected to recover from that procedure in plenty of time for the season, it seems the club may be considering further insurance policies, just in case.

Freeman was Tampa Bay’s full-time starting quarterback from 2010 to 2012, but saw the wheels come off last year and was cut by the team. Freeman joined the Vikings and performed poorly in his lone start, though Mike Freeman says (via Twitter) that general managers feel like the former first-round pick was “thrown to [the] wolves” in Minnesota.