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Ray Rice

Free Agent Notes: Welker, Rice, D.J. Williams

July 24th, 2015 at 3:20pm CST by Luke Adams

Wes Welker has said publicly that he wants to continue his NFL career, but former teammate Champ Bailey wouldn’t mind seeing the free agent wideout decide to retire instead, according to an ESPN.com report.

“I don’t want Wes to play for my own personal reasons. I’ve seen him get concussions. It scares me,” Bailey said during an appearance on FOX Sports 1. “I think he can still play, but I don’t want him to play because of these concussions. … This thing is no joke. It’s a serious thing when you start talking about your head. And for him to have to worry about that at a young age that he is now, he has to think about that for years to come, and I just hope he hangs it up and not strap it up again.”

As we wait to see whether Welker can find a job this summer, let’s check in on some other veteran free agents around the league….

  • Former Ravens running back Ray Rice and a group of his supporters – including ex-Buccaneers head coach Greg Schiano – have been contacting NFL teams in an effort to land Rice a job, sources tell Ed Werder of ESPN.com. According to Werder, one club was seriously considering signing Rice, but team ownership “became uncomfortable” late in the process due to P.R. concerns.
  • Veteran linebacker D.J. Williams, who turned 33 on Monday, still hopes to play in 2015, tweets Alex Marvez of FOX Sports. It doesn’t look like Williams will return to the Bears, but he was unsatisfied with the way 2014 ended – he landed on the IR while the Bears plummeted to the NFC North cellar – and would like to catch on with an NFL team in the coming weeks.
  • Earlier this afternoon, we learned that the Bears have discussed the possibility of pursuing free agent tight end Jermaine Gresham.

Extra Points: Rice, Mariota, McQuillan

July 6th, 2015 at 2:33pm CST by Luke Adams

The July 4th holiday weekend is behind us, which means we’re inching slightly closer to the start of NFL training camps. As we continue to count down the days until the 2015 preseason gets underway, let’s round up a few odds and ends from around the league….

  • Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk checks in on Ray Rice, noting that the running back still hasn’t drawn interest from NFL teams, eight months after his indefinite suspension was overturned.
  • As Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk observes, it’s odd that offsets are the holdup between the Titans and unsigned first-rounder Marcus Mariota, since the chances of offsets becoming relevant before the end of Mariota’s rookie contract are extremely slim.
  • Most players who enter the supplemental draft don’t get picked, but former UConn tight end Sean McQuillan – one of seven prospects eligible for this Thursday’s draft – isn’t lacking for confidence, writes Desmond Conner of the Hartford Courant. “First of all, I’m going to make it, and second of all, there isn’t a backup plan,” McQuillan said. “I’m confident I’m going to be able to do this thing. I’m prepared for this. I’m going to show them I’m athletic, I’m versatile, I can do a bunch of different things. I’m confident and I’m ready for this next step, so I haven’t thought about anything else.”
  • In his list of the three most team-friendly veteran wide receiver contracts in the NFL, Jason Fitzgerald of Over the Cap lists all AFC players: Julian Edelman of the Patriots, Emmanuel Sanders of the Broncos, and Antonio Brown of the Steelers.
  • Former Auburn running back Onterio McCalebb started his career with the Bengals as a cornerback, but the team is trying him at wide receiver this summer, as Mark Inabinett of AL.com details.

NFC Links: Kuhn, Cardinals, Saints, Rams

June 13th, 2015 at 9:28am CST by Ben Levine

Most players with John Kuhn‘s resume (including three Pro Bowl selections) would scoff as the idea of competing against a rookie. However, the Packers fullback is embracing the organization’s youth, including the team’s selection of fullback Aaron Ripkowski in the sixth round of this past year’s draft.

“Excitement,” he told Tyler Dunne of the Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel. “We preach around here that competition breeds the best football players. If you can’t embrace that, if you don’t believe it, then what’s the point of saying it?”

Even after re-signing with Green Bay this offseason, Kuhn isn’t taking anything for granted.

“You have to. This is the NFL. Thing happen all the time and if you don’t embrace it — if you don’t truly look at it as an opportunity to make yourself better — you’re only selling yourself short.”

Let’s take a look at some more notes from around the NFC…

  • Count current 49ers wideout Torrey Smith among those who believe Ray Rice deserves a second chance. “Good people make mistakes,” Smith told TMZ Sports regarding his former Ravens teammate. “I believe in second chances and I think society is supposed to be built on the idea that you can suffer consequences and come back. . . . People sometimes want you to apologize a certain way, crying or all upset. He’s made things right with his wife and family and earned respect with his actions since the incident.”
  • Cardinals general manager Steve Keim mentioned the team was open to the possibility of trades before the season, and Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com has picked out a few position groups that could still get shaken up. He picks the defensive line, secondary, and offensive line as places where the Cardinals may have some extra depth that could get moved for the right price.
  • Saints owner Tom Benson’s competency trial should come to a conclusion sometime next week, but Jeff Duncan of NOLA.com assures fans that no matter what the outcome and who is eventually put in charge of the team, the team has no plans to relocate, and are locked into their stadium lease until 2025.
  • The Rams need a new football stadium in St. Louis, and without it the team will be forced to relocate, writes Bernie Miklasz of STLToday.com. However, he analyzed the six owners Roger Goodell put in charge of overseeing possible relocation developments to Los Angeles–Clark Hunt, Robert Kraft, John Mara, Bob McNair, Jerry Richardson, and Art Rooney II. With that group in charge, Miklasz feels confident the city of St. Louis will be treated fairly.

Rob DiRe contributed to this post.

AFC East Notes: Pats, Rice, Wilkerson

May 31st, 2015 at 12:15pm CST by Rory Parks

After checking in on the status of two embattled running backs earlier today, let’s have a look at a few links from the AFC East:

  • With the mass exodus that the Patriots have experienced at cornerback this offseason, Karen Guregian of the Boston Herald writes that Devin McCourty could shift from his safety position to corner, where he played reasonably well during his first several seasons in the league. But given how good of a safety he has become, such a move would not be optimal for New England.
  • Ben Volin of the Boston Globe writes that Brandon LaFell, who is under contract with the Patriots for two more years and $5.3MM, changed agents recently to Neil Schwartz and Jonathan Feinsod, the same agents who represent Darrelle Revis. Volin wonders if LaFell, after an excellent 2014 season, is preparing to ask for a new contract.
  • In the same piece, Volin writes that the Patriots will likely enter into contract negotiations with Rob Gronkowski in the near future. Gronkowski has a $10MM option bonus due next March that would trigger another four years and $37MM total.
  • We learned earlier today that the Bills might be a good landing spot for Ray Rice, but Mike Rodak of ESPN.com tweets that Buffalo is not interested in the former Ravens star.
  • Rich Cimini of ESPNNewYork.com writes that the Jets are “spitting out cash like an ATM” when it comes to imported players, citing Brandon Marshall‘s restructure as the most recent example. Cimini believes it’s now time for the team’s best homegrown talent, Muhammad Wilkerson, to get a new deal.
  • In the same piece, Cimini writes that the Jets have an unusually large amount of money tied up in players 30 years old or older, and he passes along details of Leonard Williams‘ rookie contract.

Will Ray Rice Get A Second Chance?

May 31st, 2015 at 10:55am CST by Rory Parks

Don Banks of Sports Illustrated recently managed to contact 12 league sources–including high-level executives, coaches, agents, etc.–and asked them the following: did they anticipate any team signing Ray Rice either before training camp or during the preseason, and if so, which team or teams seemed to be the most likely candidates to pursue Rice at some point?

The former second-round pick out of Rutgers was one of the more dynamic playmakers in the league in the early stages of his career, piling up over 2,000 yards from scrimmage in 2009 and 2011 and scoring 43 total touchdowns in a Ravens uniform. Outside of his rookie campaign, in which he was the third option in a three-man backfield, he never caught fewer than 58 passes in a season, and he holds a career 4.3 yards per carry average.

But then 2013 happened. The Ravens, fresh off a Super Bowl championship, sputtered miserably on offense, and Rice struggled to the worst statistical season of his career, amassing just 660 yards on 214 carries (3.1 YPC) and reaching the endzone only four times. Less than two months after the season ended, Rice was arrested for the now infamous assault of his then-fiancee (now wife), Janay Palmer.

If Rice’s 2013 season had gone as well as his 2009-2012 efforts, he might already have a job by now. In response to Banks’ queries, one front office executive said Rice will probably not get another chance in the league, as he was “declining” and plays a “replaceable position.” But if Rice played at a Pro Bowl level in 2013, it would be difficult to say he was declining, and a number of other sources apparently believe that there are teams that would be willing to treat 2013 as one bad year, and not as a sign of things to come.

Another high-level executive said, “I’m a little bit surprised that it has taken this long for someone to sign him. I think he deserves to play. From all accounts, he’s a great person who made a pretty egregious mistake. The reaction to what he did was exacerbated by the fact it was on video. But let’s face it, we’re a league in which [former Rams defensive lineman] Leonard Little killed somebody [while driving drunk in 1998], and [then-Browns receiver] Donte’ Stallworth killed somebody [while driving drunk in 2009]. And they kept playing.”

That executive pointed to the Bills as one team that might be interested in taking a flyer on Rice, who always enjoyed a strong relationship with new Buffalo head coach Rex Ryan, and a veteran agent sees the Chiefs as a viable landing spot, given Andy Reid‘s willingness to give Michael Vick a second chance in Philadelphia. The agent said, “Rice deserves a second chance. He’s still a young kid. And when NFL owners get in trouble, they don’t get kicked out of the league.”

The problem, of course, is that the league is now in a “new era” in terms of domestic violence issues, and Rice is not an elite talent like Adrian Peterson or Greg Hardy at this point in his career. He handled an immensely heavy workload at Rutgers and was arguably the most effective offensive weapon for the Ravens for five years, so there is a lot of wear on his 28-year-old legs. As a result, he is probably best suited as a change-of-pace back, someone who can provide a spark but not shoulder the burden of 200 or more carries. And, given the decreasing emphasis on the running game that the league is experiencing, it just might not be worth it for a team to take the type of public relations hit that a Rice signing would engender.

The consensus among those who answered Banks’ questions appears to be that Rice would not be a toxic influence and is probably deserving of another chance, given the isolated nature of his transgression and his status as an exemplary citizen prior to the assault. But his age and the position he plays works against him, and though a number of Banks’ sources are optimistic about Rice’s chances, it will take a perfect storm of need, fit, and even desperation for him to get his mulligan.

AFC North Notes: Brown, Mack, Rice

May 26th, 2015 at 6:24pm CST by Zachary Links

Despite rumors that he might not show up for offseason workouts, Steelers receiver Antonio Brown joined his teammates on Tuesday, as Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com writes. Brown may be pushing for a new deal, but he’s not pouting in public over it. “This is a community that I love,” Brown said Tuesday. “My kids go to school here. I want to keep a good reputation. Obviously money’s not important to me. I’ve got enough. The organization has extremely blessed me. I’m ready to play football.” When asked directly whether he’s looking for a new deal, Brown said that’s “not my business to discuss” and directed questions to agent Drew Rosenhaus. More from the AFC North..

  • Browns center Alex Mack said “absolutely not” when asked if he has decided whether he’ll opt out of contract after 2015 season, Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon-Journal tweets. Mack is in line for a fully guaranteed salary of $8MM in 2015 and he can opt in for the same amount in 2016. If Mack opts out after the 2015 season, the Browns would be unable to use the franchise or transition tag on him, since the deadline for his decision comes after the deadline for those tags to be applied.
  • Two team executives say that clubs won’t give former Ravens running back Ray Rice a chance after Ray McDonald‘s latest arrest, according to Jason Cole of Bleacher Report (video link). Some in football are also wondering if there will be penalties imposed against teams that take chances on guys like McDonald in the event of a repeat offense.
  • The Steelers (on Twitter) announced that they have named Steve Meyer a coaching assistant. Meyer served as the team’s scouting intern in 2013 and 2014.

North Notes: Greenway, Browns, Bears, Rice

March 24th, 2015 at 9:52pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Vikings general manager Rick Spielman told Alex Marvez of SiriusXM NFL Radio (Twitter link) that the club is trying to work through a contract restructure with linebacker Chad Greenway, adding that the team wants him to retire as a Viking. As a declining player set to count more than $7MM against the cap, Greenway will probably have to accept a straight pay cut to remain on the roster.

Here’s more from the NFL’s two North divisions…

  • Rob Brzezinski, the Vikings’ vice president of football operations, met with agent Ben Dogra last night, but Dogra’s client Adrian Peterson didn’t come up in conversation, according to Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN (via Twitter). Dogra also represents free agent corner Terence Newman, whom the Vikes are rumored to be interested in, leading Wolfson to speculate that he was the topic of the meeting.
  • As was widely rumored, it was the Browns that offered a first-round pick to the Rams in exchange for Sam Bradford, St. Louis GM Les Snead confirmed to Sal Palantonio of ESPN (Twitter link via John Middlekauf of 95.7 The Game).
  • Bears chairman George McCaskey initially told GM Ryan Pace that he could not sign embattled defensive end Ray McDonald, noting that the “pattern” and “frequency” of McDonald’s off-the-field trouble worried him, per Adam Jahns of the Chicago Tribune (Twitter links).
  • Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com wonders why former Raven Ray Rice is still a “pariah” in the eyes of the NFL, especially given that players with similar incidents (such as Greg Hardy) have been signed by other clubs.
  • Texas A&M-Commerce receiver Ricky Collins has a visit lined up with the Browns, tweets Tony Pauline of DraftInsider.net.

Ray Rice “Optimistic” About NFL Future

February 28th, 2015 at 4:37pm CST by Rob DiRe

Ray Rice‘s NFL future has been uncertain since his domestic violence incident resulted in a season-long suspension last year. He was reinstated with time left in the 2014 regular season, but none of the 32 teams decided to pick him up for the home stretch or a playoff run.

Despite this, Rice is looking forward to free agency this offseason. He spoke to Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun in a rare interview, to discuss the last year of his life as well as his plan going forward.

Here are some highlights from his conversation with Wilson.

On getting a second chance in the NFL:

“I’m optimistic that I’ll get a second chance. I don’t think this boils down to whether I can play football or not. Obviously I know that. I just think there’s so much more that comes with it. I know the PR side of it will be tough. I understand that. I just know that if a team that really truly genuinely looks at me and understood that this guy made a horrible mistake then they can structure a plan for me. I don’t like to be singled out, I like to be part of the team, if they can understand that I’ll do anything to help the situation and go out and give them the best football I got, I think I’ll get a second chance.”

On if he has good football ahead of him:

“I can vouch that. I need somebody else to put their stamp of approval on that.”

On taking a reduced role with a team in 2015:

“Whatever, I know that I can play all three downs. At the same time, I know the load of a running back. Whatever the situation is going to be, I just want to get on the field and contribute. If that door opens for me to be a primary ball carrier, I can do it. If that situation comes to me to do third down, run routes out of the backfield, I’ve done that.’

On what he would tell a coach or general manager interested in signing him:

“First off, I would own my mistake. I would tell them about my mistake. I would let them know all the steps I’ve done to become a better person and not figure everything out like I was perfect. I would tell them about my counseling. I would tell them about my wife. I can’t buy my wife, no matter what . I’ve known her since high school. There was no money that was going to appease her. If this was that bad of a situation, then my wife wouldn’t be with me and I know that and that would have crushed me more than losing football. I would just reassure them that the person that created this, that committed that horrible act of violence that’s not the person, that’s not who I am.”

On a bad 2013 season that diminished his playing value:

“I guess now because I’m a free agent, I don’t have any confidentiality, I can’t get in the doghouse for talking about my injuries, I had a Grade 3, rectus femoris tear (torn quadriceps) and I played the whole season with that. When I went down in Cleveland that was a pain I can’t even describe. I get told in the locker room that, ‘Let’s see, it’s a two to three week injury, but it lasted the whole year. I was basically playing with one leg and I’ve always taken the approach of never blaming anybody else. I was out there. I knew I wasn’t myself. I put myself out there. That’s what’s on the tape. If I had a chance to fend for myself, I would tell you I played through an injury I probably should have sat through. If a guy was suffering from a hamstring and that hamstring kept tearing that’s what I had in my leg, all the way from the hip flexor to the quadriceps.

“Basically, it would get better during the week. As soon as I would go out and play, I was basically re-tearing it. It would take me until Thursday to feel like myself knowing I had to get all taped up, put all kind of medicine in my body, it didn’t feel good. The reason why I played through it is I didn’t want to let my teammates down. They just felt like No. 27 is going to be out there and he’s going to make a difference. If you notice, the one game against Chicago that year, I only felt good running one way and that was to the left. Anytime I ran to the left, it was easy for me to point. If I ran to the right, I had to drag my leg. I didn’t like running to the right. So, I made that know. It was a very big deal. My strength was running to the left.”

On how he would have fared in Gary Kubiak’s zone running scheme in 2014:

“I got in the shape I got in because I just couldn’t take being told, ‘You were out of shape, overweight, lost a step.’ Where did this come from? I just made a Pro Bowl the year before. I had to keep my silence and take the criticism because I couldn’t talk about my injury. I was hurt. Last year was probably primed to be one of the best seasons of my NFL career in that offense. Justin Forsett is my guy, we have a great relationship, but I was primed to have one of the best seasons of my career.”

On the possibility of playing for the Steelers:

“It’s safe to say I would play for anybody right now. I know Baltimore wouldn’t like it, but I would play for anybody right now. You think about the applause and I played in front of 70,000 people. I just want to play for pride now. I want to win the respect of a locker room. I want to show these guys that no matter what they got somebody in their corner that’s going to be there for him.”

Ravens Owner, GM, HC On Roster, Free Agency

February 24th, 2015 at 3:03pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Earlier today, Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti, general manager Ozzie Newsome, and head coach John Harbaugh spoke to the media in Baltimore, and Jeff Zrebiec and Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun, and Jamison Hensley of ESPN.com were on hand to document the pair’s comments. Let’s take a look at the highlights, with all links going to Twitter:

GM Ozzie Newsome

  •  The Ravens have only $5.7MM in cap space at the moment, meaning the club might have to make moves to expand that figure. “We will exhaust every avenue that we have to get as much cap flexibility as we can,” said Newsome. “We’ve been working at it.”
  • Newsome said the Ravens have discussed quarterback Joe Flacco‘s cap figure for 2015, and will address it at some point. Flacco will count nearly $15MM against Baltimore’s cap next season.
  • The club is working to retain free agent running back Justin Forsett, notes Newsome. The 29-year-old Forsett is likely to draw interest from the Falcons if he isn’t retained in Baltimore.
  • It doesn’t sound like the Ravens are planning on re-signing defender Pernell McPhee, as Newsome stated “you can’t pay everyone market value.”
  • Newsome believes that embattled former Raven Ray Rice will find out before April if he’ll be able to land an opportunity with another team, and said that he was happy Rice was ultimately reinstated. Newsome also indicated he helped testify to get Rice reinstated.
  • Newsome acknowledged the team is in “wait-and-see” mode with tight end Dennis Pitta, who missed most of 2014 with a dislocated hip. The GM did indicate the Ravens would add TEs, whether through free agency or the draft.

Owner Steve Bisciotti

  • Bisciotti is aware that Baltimore might not be able to afford free agent receiver Torrey Smith, and even referenced Mike Wallace‘s $12MM per year contract as an outlier. “I don’t think anyone thinks that’s a good deal,” said the owner.

Head coach John Harbaugh

Extra Points: Bradford, Rice, Starks

February 14th, 2015 at 8:07pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

The Rams introduced their new offensive coordinator, Frank Cignetti, on Friday. The most significant information that came from Cignetti’s press conference was the vote of confidence given to quarterback Sam Bradford, writes NFL.com’s Kevin Petra.

Bradford, the No. 1 overall pick in 2010, has been inconsistent and injury prone during his five-year career, with an underwhelming 79.3 passer rating and just 49 of a possible 80 regular-season appearances. Bradford missed all of last season with a torn ACL and there was some question as to whether the Rams would bring him back in 2015, the final year of his deal, but head coach Jeff Fisher and Cignetti officially put such speculation to rest.

Asked if he wanted Bradford back next season, Fisher said, “That’s correct, yes. He’s been in the building since the season ended. He’s doing well,” according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Jim Thomas.

Fisher even said Bradford’s presence influenced the promotion of Cignetti, who was previously St. Louis’ quarterbacks coach.

Bradford’s cap number for next season is a whopping $16.58MM, and Thomas wrote earlier this week that the team hopes to restructure the 27-year-old’s contract.

Here’s more from around the NFL:

  • Clifton Brown of CSNBaltimore.com took a look at the factors working for and against Ray Rice in his quest to return to the league after a yearlong hiatus resulting from the 28-year-old’s assault of his then-fiancée. Working in Rice’s favor, according to Brown, is that the likes of Michael Vick and Richie Incognito recently found second chances after committing serious off-the-field offenses. Conversely, one of the reasons Rice might not find much of a market is his poor 2013 performance. Rice was among the worst starting running backs in the league that year, amassing just 660 yards and four touchdowns in 15 games. His 3.1 yards-per-carry average was significantly lower than his career mark (4.3).
  • Rich Tandler of CSNWashington.com sees “virtually no chance” of Washington using the franchise tag on anyone this offseason. Tandler notes that the $13.75MM cost for tagging outside linebacker Brian Orakpo would be too steep, and fellow free agents-to-be Niles Paul, Roy Helu and Jarvis Jenkins aren’t candidates to be among the five highest-paid players at their respective positions. Earlier this month, our own Luke Adams covered the possibility of Washington using the franchise tag this offseason, also concluding that it was unlikely.
  • Dolphins defensive lineman Randy Starks is one potential cap casualty who could make sense for the Patriots, tweets the Boston Globe’s Ben Volin. The 31-year-old Starks is scheduled to count $6MM against Miami’s cap in 2015.
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