HEADLINES

Matt Flynn

North Notes: Carr, Ravens, Bears, Flynn

March 28th, 2014 at 3:30pm CST by Luke Adams

On a busy Friday for NFL signings (Maurice Jones-Drew, LeGarrette Blount) and cuts (DeSean Jackson), let’s check out some of the latest headlines from around the league’s two North divisions….

  • Derek Carr‘s private workout with the Browns is scheduled for Monday, a source tells Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com.
  • In a round-up of Ravens notes, Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun says he gets the sense from talking to people around the team that Corey Graham was the toughest free agent departure this month. Zrebiec also writes that that if Baltimore doesn’t draft a quarterback, the club could wait until after the draft to see if a team that does take a QB jettisons one of its veterans.
  • As Dan Wiederer of the Chicago Tribune details, Bears head coach Marc Trestman has a number of traits he’s looking for in a No. 2 quarterback.
  • It appears likely that the Packers will ultimately end up re-signing Matt Flynn to compete with Scott Tolzien for the team’s backup job, writes Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com.
  • As Nick Fairley heads into the 2014 season without the security of the Lions picking up his fifth-year option for 2015, Kyle Meinke of MLive.com says the team shouldn’t reward Fairley with a lucrative contract next year even if he has a strong ’14.
  • Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap.com has the details on a pair of new contracts: Vlad Ducasse inked a one-year, minimum salary benefit deal with the Vikings that includes a $65K signing bonus, while Domata Peko‘s two-year extension with the Bengals includes a $4.4MM roster bonus for 2014 and is worth $9MM in total.

NFC Notes: Ware, Jordan, Eagles, Packers

March 25th, 2014 at 9:30pm CST by Zachary Links

The Cowboys had to let veteran DeMarcus Ware go this offseason, but head coach Jason Garrett says it was far from an easy decision to make.

“DeMarcus Ware is one of the best players the franchise has ever had,” Garrett told Calvin Watkins of ESPNDallas.com. “He played his position over the past eight or nine years as well as anybody has in the National Football League. Those are very difficult and challenging decisions. There’s a lot of different factors that go into making a decision like that and we just felt like at this time, the best thing for us to do was to not compete to the extent that we would have had to to keep him in a Cowboys uniform. A great player, a great human being, one of the cornerstones of our franchise. But you have to make some of these hard decisions and you have to be disciplined to do that.”

Here are a few more NFC links:

  • Coach Andy Reid says Akeem Jordan’s versatility and reliability will help the Redskins, writes Mike Jones of the Washington Post. Reid coached Jordan for six seasons in Philadelphia, and then brought him with him to Kansas City last season. Now, Jordan has traveled east to join him in Washington D.C.
  • The Eagles are going to have to make several difficult and most likely unpopular decisions in the next year to get under the 2015 salary cap, explains Reuben Frank of CSNPhilly.com. 13 players have a combined 2015 cap hit of $68,025,140, or 47 percent of the Eagles’ current 2015 total cap figure. Aside from LeSean McCoy and Jason Peters, any of those players could wind up as cap casualties after the 2014 season.
  • Packers coach Mike McCarthy told reporters, including Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com, that they shouldn’t put a label on newly-acquired veteran Julius Peppers. Peppers will play a combination of outside linebacker and defensive lineman that Green Bay will refer to as an “elephant.” This means means Peppers will not work directly under defensive line coach Mike Trgovac, who was Peppers’ defensive line coach and defensive coordinator with the Panthers from 2002-08.
  • McCarthy wants to have unrestricted free agent Matt Flynn back in the fold, but he’s realistic and knows it might not be in the cards. “I’d like to have Matt back,” the Packers coach said, according to Jason Wilde of ESPNWisconsin.com. “I thought Matt was a good addition to our football team. I have great respect and admiration for him, just being around him a lot on a positional basis. Yeah, I’m hoping financially it works out.”

Packers Notes: Flynn, Jones, Finley, Cap

February 21st, 2014 at 10:15am CST by Luke Adams

Packers coach Mike McCarthy and GM Ted Thompson have already addressed the media this morning in Indianapolis, so let’s round up some of the highlights from their respective sessions….

  • McCarthy indicated that a report suggesting Green Bay wants to get lighter on the defensive line isn’t necessarily accurate. McCarthy conceded that the defensive front may look a little different next season, but said he never wants his line to get smaller (Twitter links via Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com).
  • Asked about a few pending free agents, McCarthy expressed interest in bringing back quarterback Matt Flynn, as well as pass-catchers James Jones and Jermichael Finley (Twitter links via Demovsky and Tyler Dunne of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel).
  • Thompson deflected questions about his team’s biggest draft need and whether the Packers would use the franchise tag on cornerback Sam Shields (Twitter links via Dunne).
  • While some execs and experts have been lavish in their praise of this year’s draft class, Thompson was more restrained, telling reporters, including Pete Dougherty of the Green Bay Press-Gazette (Twitter link), that it’s hard to evaluate draft classes in the moment. In Thompson’s view, it won’t be possible to know how strong or deep this year’s group is until several years down the road.
  • Much has been made of the Packers’ cap flexibility, but Thompson says the team tries not to approach the offseason focusing too heavily on cap space: “We don’t talk much about the cap. We try not to make decisions based on the cap. We try to make football decisions” (Twitter link via Jason Wilde of ESPN Wisconsin).
  • Thompson added that there are always “surprises” during free agency, but that Green Bay is approaching the free agent period intent on keeping their own players (Twitter links via Dougherty).

Extra Points: Verner, Flynn, Clowney, Farmer

February 13th, 2014 at 3:00pm CST by Luke Adams

Coming off his rookie contract, Pro Bowl cornerback Alterraun Verner is set to hit the open market next month, and Jim Wyatt of the Tennessean believes it may be difficult for the Titans to lock him up before March 11 (Twitter link). According to Wyatt (via Twitter), there has been “little to no movement” in talks between the two sides so far, though they’ll likely meet at next week’s scouting combine. After snatching five interceptions and defending 23 passes in 2013, Verner will be in line for a nice raise on 2013’s $1.32MM base salary, meaning he could be looking forward to gauging his value on the open market.

Let’s round up a few more Thursday items from around the NFL….

  • New Packers QB coach Alex Van Pelt praised Matt Flynn’s track record and indicated that he’s “excited to hopefully get him back in here,” according to Wes Hodkiewicz of the Green Bay Press-Gazette. Flynn is eligible for unrestricted free agency this offseason.
  • Texans safety D.J. Swearinger tells Brian T. Smith of the Houston Chronicle that he keeps in contact with former South Carolina teammate Jadeveon Clowney, who is pushing hard to be the No. 1 pick in the draft. “He’s talking about, ‘Man, what’s the word [on the Texans’ pick]?’ I’m like, ‘I don’t know. I’m going to try my best to do what I can to get you here,'” Swearinger said.
  • In the second half of a two-part Q&A with Ray Farmer, Tony Grossi asked the new Browns GM about the importance of landing an elite quarterback, as well as discussing Farmer’s philosophy in approaching free agency and the draft.
  • Cornerback Jabari Greer is taking yesterday’s release from the Saints in stride, as he tells Mike Triplett of ESPN.com. While Greer didn’t expect to be cut, he noted that “you can’t ever be surprised” by it, particularly when you’re on the wrong side of 30.
  • Rick Spielman‘s long-term future as the Vikings‘ general manager may depend on his ability to find the team a solution at quarterback, an issue he’ll address this offseason, writes Ben Goessling of ESPN.com.