Paxton Lynch - Pro Football Rumors

NFC Notes: Tulloch, Vikings, Cowboys

May 7th, 2016 at 11:44am CST by Ben Levine

There were whispers that Stephen Tulloch‘s tenure with the Lions would conclude this offseason, but the veteran linebacker remains on the roster. With the offseason coming to an end, ESPN.com’s Michael Rothstein writes that there hasn’t been any clarity on the situation. Coach Jim Caldwell didn’t do much to clear up any of the confusion this past week.

“I think Bob [Quinn] has talked to you at length about that one,” Caldwell told Rothstein. “Know him and love him, but I think Bob’s answered that question.”

Let’s check out some more notes from around the NFC…

Meanwhile, Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press writes that the Lions informed Tulloch three months ago that he wasn’t in the team’s future plans. The writer believes it’s time for the organization “to do Stephen Tulloch right” and release the 31-year-old.
Vikings sixth-round pick Moritz Böhringer has gotten plenty of hype considering his draft position. However, the wideout was expected to go undrafted, and there’s no guarantee that he’ll make the final roster. If the former German Football League standout ends up getting cut, ESPN.com’s Ben Goessling believes there’s a good chance he’ll land on the Vikings practice squad.
Despite having drafted Dak Prescott, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has shown an infatuation with Broncos rookie quarterback Paxton Lynch. While this would discourage most rookies, Prescott isn’t distracted. “I’m just going to go out there and prove myself everyday on the field, and prove myself everyday in here,” Prescott told Drew Davison of the Star-Telegram. “Just be the player and person that I am. It really doesn’t mean anything to me [that they wanted Lynch].”

West Notes: Woodley, P. Lynch, Cards, Raiders

May 6th, 2016 at 9:54pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

Free agent linebacker Lamarr Woodley offered scathing reviews of two of his former defensive coordinators, the Cardinals’ James Bettcher and ex-Raiders assistant Jason Tarver (now with San Francisco), on the latest edition of his podcast (per Kent Somers of the Arizona Republic).

“In Oakland, we had a dumb defensive coordinator and in Arizona, we had a dumb defensive coordinator,” he said.

Woodley didn’t mention either Bettcher or Tarver by name, but given that he only spent one year with both teams, it’s clear he was referring to them.

He continued, “They thought we were like Madden players. They’d draw something up and on paper it looked good, but the players still have to go out there and run it. Those guys didn’t really listen to their players. They wanted to do it their way and their way only.”

Woodley also ripped into Bettcher for his game plan in the Cardinals’ 49-15 loss to Carolina in the NFC championship.

“It wasn’t because we had bad players. No, our defensive coordinator he didn’t have the common sense to talk to his players to make the adjustments. Because he just wanted to do things his way those are the results we got, bottom line,” he said.

Woodley didn’t play in the title round (or any Cardinals game beyond Nov. 22) because he was on injured reserve. The 31-year-old appeared in just 16 contests over the previous two seasons with the Raiders and Cardinals, combining for 15 tackles and a sack. Woodley was a far more productive player from 2007-13 in Pittsburgh, with which he piled up 58 sacks.

And now the latest from the AFC West:

Quarterback Mark Sanchez might not be at the Broncos’ helm for long if first-rounder Paxton Lynch forces the team’s hand, which is something general manager John Elway believes the ex-Memphis standout is capable of doing. “We think he’s going to be ready quicker than a lot of people think,” Elway told Denver Sports 760 (link via Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk). On why the Broncos decided to trade up in the first round for the 6-foot-7 Lynch, Elway said, “He’s a young guy with tremendous athletic ability, he’s got the strong arm, can make all the throws, he’s smart, and he’s a guy that can fit into this offense real well.”
While Elway sees the Lynch era approaching, Troy Renck of the Denver Post cautions that patience is in order. As Renck writes, Lynch hasn’t played in a pro-style offense since his freshman year at Memphis – which is the last time he was even in a huddle – and his play calls there were far less complicated than they will be in Denver. Moreover, the Broncos would be unwise to rush Lynch into the lineup to serve as a game manager, Renck opines. The club should instead wait until the 22-year-old is truly ready and let him take advantage of his strengths, namely his big arm and elusiveness.
Raiders defensive end Mario Edwards has been given medical clearance to resume his career, he announced Friday on Instagram (via Marc Sessler of NFL.com). A serious neck injury brought a premature end to Edwards’ rookie campaign after he had started in 10 of 14 appearances and tallied three forced fumbles and two sacks. For his work last season, the second-rounder from Florida State ranked an impressive 32nd out of 110 qualifying edge defenders at Pro Football Focus (subscription required).

NFC East Rumors: Giants, Hall, Cowboys

May 3rd, 2016 at 8:10pm CST by Zachary Links

Here’s a look at the NFC East:

Cornerback Leon Hall left the Giants‘ facility without a contract today, Paul Schwartz of the New York Post tweets. Hall, 31, could conceivably give the Giants some cornerback support behind a strong trio of Janoris Jenkins, first-round pick Eli Apple, and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. But, for now, there’s no deal. Hall has spent his entire nine-year NFL career to date in Cincinnati, playing 121 regular-season games since 2007 for the Bengals.
Jets GM Mike Maccagnan says the team “strongly considered” trading out of the first round in a proposed deal with the Cowboys, as Rich Cimini of ESPN.com writes. The Cowboys, drafting at No. 34, were working to get their hands on Memphis quarterback Paxton Lynch. The offer wasn’t enough to entice the Jets to move down and the team wound up staying pat to select linebacker Darron Lee. Lynch, meanwhile, fell to No. 26 where Denver moved up to snag him.
Washington exec Bruce Allen says the team just couldn’t resist taking wide receiver Josh Doctson at No. 22 (Twitter link via SiriusXM). The TCU product was the third wide receiver to come off the board in this year’s draft, behind Corey Coleman of Baylor (Cleveland) and Will Fuller of Notre Dame (Houston).

King’s Latest: Cowboys, Lynch, Ravens, Pats

May 2nd, 2016 at 8:54am CST by Luke Adams

Peter King of TheMMQB.com spent time last week in the Cowboys‘ draft room as Jerry Jones and Stephen Jones mulled over potential franchise-altering decisions, and King’s latest MMQB column features plenty of tidbits related to the Cowboys’ draft. Let’s dive in and round up the highlights…

Jerry Jones badly wanted Memphis quarterback Paxton Lynch in the first round, but the Cowboys‘ offer of a second-round pick (No. 34), a fourth-round pick (No. 101), and a sixth-rounder (No. 189) for the Seahawks‘ first-round pick (No. 26) and a seventh-rounder (No. 247) wasn’t enough. Seattle wanted a second- and third-rounder (No. 67) from Dallas, and ultimately went with Denver’s offer instead.
The Cowboys had been willing to offer their second- and third-round picks for a selection in the teens or early-20s, but decided not to pull the trigger on that offer for the No. 26 pick. If the target was always Lynch (who was 12th on the Cowboys’ board, per King), it seems odd that Dallas would balk at that asking price at No. 26, since the team would have made the same pick and gotten the QB at a lower salary slot.
The Ravens offered their 104th overall pick, a fourth-rounder, in an attempt to move up to No. 4 from No. 6. The Cowboys wanted Baltimore’s third-rounder (No. 70) instead, and ultimately decided to stand pat when the Ravens didn’t increase their offer. Dallas didn’t want to risk missing out on both Ezekiel Elliott and Jalen Ramsey — pass rusher Leonard Floyd would have been the Cowboys’ pick at No. 6 in that scenario, and while they liked Floyd, he wasn’t graded as highly as Elliott and Ramsey.
After missing out on Lynch, the Cowboys also made an effort to move up for Connor Cook in round four — the team offered its sixth-round pick to the Browns, along with No. 101, for No. 100, but Cleveland chose Oakland’s offer instead, and Dallas ultimately drafted Dak Prescott instead of Lynch or Cook.
In non-Cowboys news, King writes that the Ravens had what they considered “reliable information” that the Patriots would try to draft Navy’s Keenan Reynolds in the sixth round. Baltimore beat New England to the punch by nabbing Reynolds with the 182nd overall selection.

Extra Points: Cowboys, Lynch, Jaguars, Falcons

April 30th, 2016 at 9:44pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Cowboys reportedly made an effort to trade back into the first round to take a shot at drafting quarterback Paxton Lynch, and though the club ultimately stayed put, Jerry Jones conveyed regret that Dallas didn’t make the deal. “I probably should have overpaid,” says Jones, according to Drew Davidson of the Fort Worth Star Telegram (Twitter link).

Here’s the latest on the draft as the undrafted free agent signing frenzy gets underway…

The Jaguars have a fifth-year option decision to make, as the club will have the choice of extending left tackle Luke Joeckel‘s contract through the 2017 season. Jacksonville GM Dave Caldwell says he’ll speak with Joeckel about the option on Monday, according to Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times-Union (Twitter link).
“Heck no” was Falcons head coach Dan Quinn‘s response when asked if receiver Devin Hester had been cleared for any activity after undergoing toe surgery in January, reports Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com. GM Thomas Dimitroff said in February that Atlanta will re-evaluate Hester’s status with the club when he’s fully healthy.
Pass rush was an area of need for the Colts, but the prospects that appealed to GM Ryan Grigson came off the board early, he tells Mike Chappelle of FOX59 (Twitter link), adding that Indianapolis wasn’t going to allow need to trump its board.

West Rumors: 49ers, Davis, Tunsil, Broncos

April 29th, 2016 at 2:55pm CST by Zachary Links

Here’s a look at the West divisions:

Anthony Davis’ hammered the 49ers on Twitter this week but general manager Trent Baalke says he’s not losing sleep over what transpired. “There’s no decision to be made,” Baalke said when asked if the team has made a decision about his status (via Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com). “Right now, he’s not in the National Football League. He’s retired. So there’s no reason to even speculate on what we’re going to do or what we might do. “He’s got to be reinstated into the league and that’s a process that takes some time. He doesn’t put in and a day later he’s reinstated. There’s a process that he has to go through.”
Baltimore says that the Laremy Tunsil video didn’t affect their draft decision, but 49ers GM Trent Baalke admits that it was a factor. “Well, I think every team is aware of the video,” Baalke said (via Maiocco). “We factor in everything. So whether you get that information late in the process or you get it early in the process, it’s all factored in.” After nabbing a defensive lineman at No. 7, the 49ers could target an offensive tackle with their next pick.
Broncos GM John Elway told Peter King of TheMMQB.com that he’s happy about the way his quarterback search turned out. “Do I have any regrets about this whole thing?” Elway said. “No. We’re thrilled to have ended up where we are, with Paxton. If you had said to me, ‘Here are your four options,’ and you named the four we just went through, this is the one we’d take. We think Paxton [Lynch], long-term, is a perfect fit for our offense.” Elway also indicated that he’s comfortable with having Mark Sanchez start the season while Lynch makes his transition to the next level.
Elway also told King that the Eagles were asking “way too much” for Sam Bradford when the Broncos reached out to the Eagles.

Draft Rumors: Ravens, Tunsil, Jack, Panthers

April 29th, 2016 at 12:28pm CST by Zachary Links

Ravens GM Ozzie Newsome claims that the team preferred Ronnie Stanley over Laremy Tunsil, even before the leak of Tunsil’s now infamous video.

“The thing that I’m so proud of, . . . our scouts get a lot of information,” Newsome said, according to Jeff Zrebiec of The Baltimore Sun. “When things happen, a lot of the times we’re not surprised. We took the best player, the player that was rated the highest on the board at that point. I cannot neglect the importance of the work that our scouts do in the fall and in the spring getting information for us.”

More draft rumors from around the NFL:

The Panthers had UCLA linebacker Myles Jack on their draft board when they selected at No. 30, but the knee injury kept them from taking him, as David Newton of ESPN.com writes. “Very frankly, the kid came out and said he is going to need microfracture (surgery),” GM Dave Gettleman said. Earlier today we learned that the Cowboys are not considering Jack with their early second round selection.
At least one team strongly considered drafting Jack late in the first round, Alex Marvez of FOX Sports tweets. However, that team couldn’t get over the knee issue and the risk factor involved with taking the UCLA linebacker so early.
The Browns didn’t attempt to trade up late in first round last night for Memphis QB Paxton Lynch, a source familiar with the situation told Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon-Journal (on Twitter).

NFC East Notes: Giants, Apple, Cowboys

April 29th, 2016 at 9:48am CST by Zachary Links

Some saw Eli Apple as a reach at No. 10 for the Giants, but team scouting director Marc Ross does not agree with that assessment.

“We’ve heard it before,” Ross said, according to Steve Serby of the New York Post. “We’ve taken other players that [were called] a reach. Nobody knows. If you get a dime for every expert, I could retire. Come on. Experts? People analyze. People have opinions. What’s it based on? Nobody has seen the tape. Nobody goes to practice. Nobody puts in the work like the scouts do. It’s easy to second-guess and pick and say get everybody’s pick right and tell them what they should do, but you’ve just got to put in the work and trust what you do.”

The Giants were widely linked to Michigan State tackle Jack Conklin and Georgia linebacker Leonard Floyd, but those players came off the board at No. 8 and No. 9, respectively.

Here’s more from the NFC East:

The Cowboys had the same draft grade for Ezekiel Elliott and Jalen Ramsey, according to Todd Archer of ESPN.com (on Twitter).
The Cowboys regarded Paxton Lynch as the quarterback in the top 3 who required the most time to develop but had higher ceiling than Jared Goff and Carson Wentz, Ed Werder of ESPN.com tweets.
When asked if he was surprised by Sam Bradford‘s reaction to the Eagles‘ trading up for Wentz, Eagles GM Howie Roseman said, “Some of this is agent driven,” (On WIP, Twitter link via Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer).

Cowboys Rumors: Lynch, Elliott, Trade Talks

April 29th, 2016 at 12:30am CST by Luke Adams

It was an interesting evening for the Cowboys, who used their fourth overall pick to make Ezekiel Elliott the first running back to come off the board in the top five since Trent Richardson in 2012. The team also made a run at trading back into the first round for Memphis quarterback Paxton Lynch, as owner Jerry Jones confirmed tonight. Here’s more on those efforts, along with a few more Cowboys updates:

The Cowboys offered their second- and third-round picks to the Seahawks for the No. 26 pick in an effort to nab Lynch, per Todd Archer and Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link). It seems odd that the Seahawks wouldn’t have accepted that offer, since I’d think the 34th and 67th overall picks would have been a little more appealing than the 31st and 94th they got from Denver.
According to Ed Werder of ESPN.com and Clarence Hill of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Twitter links), the Cowboys made a strong effort to land Lynch, and Jerry Jones suggested that, in hindsight, the club might have been willing to match or exceed Denver’s offer. So perhaps Dallas would have been open to offering its second- and third-rounders, but never officially put that proposal on the table. It’s also possible that the Cowboys formally offered their second- and third-round picks, but wanted more in return than just the Seahawks’ first-rounder — or maybe Seattle simply didn’t want to move down an extra three spots and risk missing out on its top target(s).
The Cowboys considered sending their No. 4 overall pick to the Ravens for the No. 6 pick and a fourth-rounder, tweets Adam Schefter. However, talks broke down due to the fact that Baltimore would have been moving up for Elliott, and the Cowboys didn’t want to miss out on the running back, tweets Clarence Hill.
Elliott was the top-rated player on the Cowboys’ board and was the club’s top-graded running back in several years, according to executive VP Stephen Jones (Twitter link via Ed Werder).
Before the draft got underway, the Cowboys re-signed guard Ronald Leary to his RFA tender, and exercised the 2017 option for center Travis Frederick. According to Stephen Jones, the Cowboys would consider trading Leary during the draft to allow him to start somewhere. Jones also indicated the club wants to lock up Frederick to a longer-term deal (Twitter links via Clarence Hill).

Extra Points: Broncos, Lynch, Bills, Lawson

April 28th, 2016 at 11:11pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The first round of the 2016 draft ended when the Seahawks selected offensive lineman Germain Ifedi, but there are still quite a few interesting options left on the board — which isn’t surprising given the depth of this draft class.

The most high-profile name is UCLA linebacker Myles Jack, who was projected as a top-five pick but wasn’t chosen, presumably because of health concerns. A cadre of defensive tackles, including Chris Jones, Jarran Reed, A’Shawn Robinson, Andrew Billings, Emmanuel Ogbah, and Kevin Dodd are still left, as is linebacker Reggie Ragland and cornerback Mackensie Alexander. On the offensive side of the ball, quarterback Connor Cook, running back Derrick Henry, wide receiver Sterling Shepard, tight end Hunter Henry, and offensive lineman Cody Whitehair are still available.

More from the draft, as we look forward to rounds two and three on Friday…

The Broncos talked to every team starting with the Falcons at No. 17 about a move up to draft Paxton Lynch, John Elway tells Jeff Legwold of ESPN.com. Elway adds that Denver will continue to look at other quarterback options, and might still bring in a veteran QB.
The Cowboys spent more time with Lynch than any other team club did, tweets Ed Werder of ESPN.com. Dallas was considering trading back up into the first round, per reports, but stopped their efforts once Lynch was drafted by Denver.
Although a report tonight indicated that new Bills edge rusher Shaq Lawson would require shoulder surgery at some point, Lawson says that report is false, according to Vic Carucci of the Buffalo News (Twitter link). Such a procedure would reportedly force Lawson out of action for four-to-six months.
GM Dave Gettleman said the Panthers received seven calls from teams interested in acquiring the No. 30 pick, but he was comfortable staying put and drafting defensive tackle Vernon Butler (Twitter link via Joe Person of the Charlotte Observer).
Chargers GM Tom Telesco said his team may have the opportunity to trade down in the second round on Friday, tweets Michael Gehlken of the San Diego Union-Tribune. The team holds the fourth pick of the second round (No. 35 overall).

Luke Adams contributed to this post.