HEADLINES

Mike Pope

NFC East Notes: Eagles, Cowboys, Giants

March 1st, 2017 at 9:00pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

The Eagles are entering free agency in need of help at wide receiver. Fortunately for them, “several” unsigned wideouts regard the idea of playing with Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz as intriguing, according to Tim McManus of ESPN.com. Unsurprisingly, one of those players is the Redskins’ DeSean Jackson, who has made it clear he’d be open to returning to Philadelphia, where he starred from 2008-13. “Carson Wentz, he came in and had a heck of the year as a rookie. I don’t think a lot of people saw that coming,” Jackson told ESPN’s Adam Schefter. The 30-year-old added that Wentz “has all the intangibles in being a big-time quarterback in this league.”

More from the NFC East:

  • Despite a report claiming that right tackle Doug Free is mulling retirement, Cowboys coach Jason Garrett says he has heard no such talk (Twitter link via Jon Machota of the Dallas Morning News). The 33-year-old Free just finished his 10th season and sixth with 16 starts. He’s entering a contract year and due a base salary of $5MM in 2017.
  • Although Ereck Flowers was the ninth overall pick in the draft just two years ago, Giants head coach Ben McAdoo was unwilling to call him the team’s answer at left tackle going forward, writes Tom Rock of Newsday. Flowers was disastrous for a large part of last season, as he allowed 59 QB pressures and took a league-high 13 penalties. However, he’s still just 22, of which McAdoo is cognizant. “You can make a case that he could be here right now preparing to go out and run in the Combine,” said McAdoo. “He’s a young player who has a lot of room to grow and we expect him to grow. We have confidence he’s going to grow.”
  • Cowboys tight ends coach Mike Pope is retiring after three years on Garrett’s staff, reports Brandon George of the Dallas Morning News. The Cowboys will replace the 75-year-old Pope with senior offensive assistant Steve Loney. Pope coached in the league for 34 years, during which he won four Super Bowls with the Giants.

Zach Links contributed to this post.

NFC Notes: Cardinals, Cowboys, Buccaneers

January 24th, 2016 at 6:14pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

Cardinals running back Chris Johnson hasn’t played since late November because of a fractured tibia, but the team will activate him for Super Bowl 50 if it defeats Carolina in the NFC title game, Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer reports (Twitter link via Fox Sports’ Mike Garafolo). Johnson, 30, rushed for 814 yards and three touchdowns in 11 regular-season games before landing on IR-DTR. He returned to practice earlier this month.

More on the potentially Super Bowl-bound Cards and a couple of their fellow NFC teams:

  • The Cowboys are making adjustments to their offensive coaching staff, per ESPN’s Todd Archer. Steve Loney, who was the Cowboys’ assistant offensive line coach this season, will become the tight ends coach. That leaves the future of incumbent TEs coach Mike Pope unclear. Marc Colombo, who played for Dallas from 2005-10, will take over Loney’s old post as the club’s assistant O-line coach.
  • Carson Palmer‘s $6.35MM base salary for 2016 is on track to increase by $800,000 because of playing time escalators, tweets CBS Sports’ Joel Corry. If that happens, Palmer’s $8.15MM base salary for 2017 will decrease by the same total, however, per Corry (Twitter link).
  • The Buccaneers are hiring Brett Maxie as a defensive backs coach, according to Roy Cummings of the Tampa Bay Tribune (Twitter link). Maxie, who coached Vanderbilt defensive backs the last two years, will join Jon Hoke as the Bucs’ second DBs coach.