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Robert Griffin III

Washington GM On Free Agency, RG3, Cousins

January 27th, 2016 at 5:11pm CST by Zachary Links

A look at the latest out of the nation’s capital:

  • In Scot McCloughan‘s first offseason as GM in Washington, he signed five free agents to fairly modest contracts. He says that fans should expect more of the same this spring. “I think we’ll have a little bit of money but it’s going to be similar,” he said, according to Rich Tandler of CSNMidAtlantic.com. “We’re not going to be big players. I don’t believe in that.” Any free agent the team does sign, he says, will have to be in the team-first mold. Last season, nose tackle Terrance Knighton was the only 2015 free agent to start more than six games for Washington.
  • Washington will almost certainly release Robert Griffin III from his contract, but the team’s GM won’t tip his hand on the quarterback’s future, as JP Finlay of CSNMidAtlantic writes. “We have until March 9th,” McCloughan said when asked what will happen next with the Baylor product. McCloughan’s answer indicates that Griffin will not be cut until we get closer to the start of free agency.
  • When it comes to retaining Kirk Cousins, all options are on the table, and that includes the franchise tag, as Finlay writes. “It’s an option,” the general manager said of the tag. “Of course you’d rather not.” Placing the franchise tag on Cousins would cost Washington a one-year guaranteed contract worth at least $19MM.

East Notes: RGIII, Cousins, Jets, Bills, Eagles

January 11th, 2016 at 12:41pm CST by Luke Adams

Washington quarterback Robert Griffin III made it through the 2015 season healthy, which means his 2016 salary – currently guaranteed for injury only – won’t become fully guaranteed. As such, it’s probably just a matter of time until the team releases the former second overall pick, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets and Jason Reid of ESPN.com writes.

The RGIII era in Washington is set to come to an end, having overlapped with the start of the Kirk Cousins era, and it remains to be seen what sort of long-term future Cousins has in Washington. For now though, all signs (and reports) point to the club aiming to lock up its new starting quarterback via a multiyear contract or the franchise tag this offseason.

Following Washington’s Wild Card loss to the Packers, Cousins was asked about his future and replied, “I want to be where I am wanted,” per John Keim of ESPN.com. For now, that will almost certainly mean staying in D.C.

Here’s more from across the NFL’s East divisions:

NFLPA Revokes Certification Of Agent Ben Dogra

January 6th, 2016 at 6:51pm CST by Zachary Links

6:51pm: Dogra’s legal reps issued a statement to reporters in which he vowed to appeal the ruling (via Josina Anderson of ESPN.com on Twitter):

“Ben Dogra adamantly denies engaging in any conduct that was not in the best interests of his clients or NFL players. Ben has always been a strong advocate for NFL Players and is thankful for the show of support from his clients and others in the industry during this process. Ben will appeal the unprecedented, proposed discipline to neutral arbitration as provided under the NFLPA Regulations and looks forward to finally having an opportunity to examine and challenge the claims against him. The proposed discipline will not occur during the appeal process. It is therefore important that clients, NFL players, NFL teams, and Certified Contract Advisors understand that the discipline does not limit or prohibit Ben from representing his clients during the appeal process.”

6:12pm: On Wednesday, the NFLPA announced that the union’s Committee on Agent Regulations and Discipline (CARD) unanimously voted to impose discipline on agent Ben Dogra for multiple policy violations. Based on verified information included in a thirty-eight (38) count disciplinary complaint, Dogra has had his certification revoked for a minimum of three years and a $200K fine. "<strong

Dogra has the right to appeal before an independent arbitrator, so he has a chance to overturn the union’s ruling and regain his license to represent players. The union’s statement did not get into specifics about Dogra’s alleged wrongdoing but one has to imagine that details will emerge soon.

As detailed by Liz Mullen of Sports Business Journal last year, Dogra had an impressive stable of NFL clients while with CAA Football. Dogra was fired by the firm in late 2014 and joined up with Relativity Football, taking a sizable list of high-end players with him. Notable names that stayed with Dogra include Adrian Peterson, Gerald McCoy, Robert Griffin III, DeMeco Ryans, Mario Williams, and Sebastian Vollmer. Now, those players and others will have to find new representation if the sanctions against Dogra stick.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Johnny Manziel, RGIII Both Want To Play For Cowboys

January 5th, 2016 at 4:06pm CST by Zachary Links

A pair of big name quarterbacks are both eager to come home and play for the Cowboys. Both Johnny Manziel and Robert Griffin III are hoping to wind up in Dallas and both are hoping that owner Jerry Jones will make that happen, Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports writes. Johnny Manziel

Both players are expected to become available this offseason – Manziel via trade or release by a new Browns regime and RG3 via a salary dump. Sources close to each player tell Robinson that, since spring 2015, there was a belief that Jones would be interested in both signal callers if either was to hit the open market. Now, it sounds like both players are hoping that could come to fruition in 2016. For what it’s worth Jones said in a radio interview that he’s willing to take “some risk” at quarterback (Twitter link via Mac Engel of The Fan).

Meanwhile, in a radio interview, Jones said that he would indeed be comfortable with drafting a quarterback with the fourth pick if he was best player available, as Clarence E. Hill Jr. of the Star-Telegram writes. The Cowboys also need help at running back, cornerback, and receiver, so it’s not a given that they will take a QB with their top pick.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Sunday Roundup: Cowboys, RGIII, Pagano

December 20th, 2015 at 12:52pm CST by Rory Parks

Let’s take a look at some links from around the league while waiting for the murky playoff picture to begin to sort itself out:

  • Although Kellen Moore did not exactly set the world ablaze in the Cowboys‘ loss to the Jets last night, he nearly helped his team to an upset victory and demonstrated that he is a better option than Matt Cassel moving forward. However, as ESPN’s Todd Archer writes, head coach Jason Garrett is as yet unwilling to name Moore the starter for the final two games of the season. The Cowboys will need to address the backup quarterback situation behind Tony Romo next year, and it makes sense for the club to at least see what it has in Moore.
  • Last night’s loss officially eliminated the Cowboys from playoff contention, so owner Jerry Jones expects the team to put Romo on injured reserve, according to Charen Williams of The Fort Worth Star-Telegram (via Twitter).
  • Washington has made it clear that it is ready to move on from Robert Griffin III, but Ian Rapoport (article via Conor Orr of NFL.com) identifies a number of teams that may be interested in RGIII. That list includes the Cowboys, Eagles, Texans, and Saints (or whichever team happens to employ Sean Payton).
  • While Chuck Pagano‘s future in Indianapolis is still very much up in the air, if the Colts do decide to part ways with him, Rapoport says that he would immediately become one of the most sought-after head coaching candidates in the league. Although Pagano has previously said the Colts job would be his last coaching gig, there will apparently be no shortage of teams trying to change his mind.
  • Although things could change in the next several weeks, Mark Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com suggests that Browns owner Jimmy Haslam is growing increasingly weary of his team’s performance and could be leaning towards a “clean sweep” that would see both head coach Mike Pettine and GM Ray Farmer lose their jobs. We had previously heard that one of Farmer or Pettine would be fired, but not both.
  • Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk says the NFL-to-Los Angeles process is getting uglier by the minute, with “members of the league’s Los Angeles committee making promises to St. Louis in an effort to keep the Rams there and publicly trashing San Diego in an effort to get the Chargers out.” Florio suggests one way to placate all parties involved may be to have Chargers owner Dean Spanos and Rams owner Stan Kroenke swap their franchises, much like the Baltimore Colts and Los Angeles Rams were swapped in 1972. The entire article is worth reading, and although Florio concedes it is something of an outlandish idea, he suggests it could gain traction as we get closer to the critical owners meetings in January. Jason Cole of Bleacher Report, however, was quick to throw cold water on that notion (via Twitter).
  • According to Rapoport (via Twitter) Leonard Hankerson, who was claimed by the Patriots this week, was released by the Falcons off the injured reserve list when he told Atlanta that he was healthy and wanted to be cut. The Falcons obliged, and now Hankerson is suited up for New England this afternoon.
  • Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap.com looks at the 2016 class of free agent cornerbacks.

QB Rumors: RGIII, Glennon, Kaepernick

November 3rd, 2015 at 8:22am CST by Luke Adams

Major in-season NFL trades aren’t all that common, and deals involving quarterbacks are particularly rare, since it’s not easy to plug in new signal-callers to an offense halfway through the season. Still, that doesn’t mean there aren’t a few QBs around the league who are in the news today, with this afternoon’s trade deadline looming. Let’s round up the latest….

  • Washington hasn’t received any trade inquiries so far on Robert Griffin III, according to Josina Anderson of ESPN.com (via Twitter). Any team that acquired RGIII would have to take on his $16MM+ option for 2016, which is guaranteed for injury, so it seems unlikely that any club would want to take that risk.
  • The Buccaneers aren’t fielding calls from other teams wanting to acquire Mike Glennon, tweets Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times. According to Stroud, Bucs GM Jason Licht isn’t willing to move Jameis Winston‘s backup for a mid-round pick. Glennon remains under contract with Tampa Bay through the 2016 season, so if the Bucs keep him through this year, they could still consider a deal in the offseason.
  • Examining the Colin Kaepernick situation in San Francisco, Mike Freeman of Bleacher Report says he heard from a 49ers player on Monday who said that Kaepernick had “pretty much lost” the locker room recently. Still, Freeman places some of the blame for Kaepernick’s regression on San Francisco’s management and coaching staff, arguing that the signal-caller “could have been much better served.”
  • With their top two quarterbacks injured, the Jets are exploring a possible trade or free agent signing, and Rich Cimini of ESPN.com wonders if the team might consider trading for Kaepernick. As Cimini observes, GM Mike Maccagnan isn’t afraid of high-profile moves, but there are a handful of roadblocks that would have to be overcome for such a deal to be consummated by 3:00pm CT today.

NFC Rumors: Johnson, JPP, Gurley, Curry

November 1st, 2015 at 11:31am CST by Sam Robinson

One of the biggest surprises in the league this season may extend for a potential encore. The Cardinals are discussing an extension for Chris Johnson, ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter reports. Although no deal is imminent, both sides discussed the issue this week. Johnson’s playing on a one-year contract he signed in August. Signed to an $870K deal with no guarantees, the 30-year-old Johnson ranks second in the league with 567 rushing yards.

Let’s take a look at what else is transpiring around the NFC before Week 8’s early tilts kick off.

  • Jason Pierre-Paul has a chance to play next week, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. The Giants are reportedly open to it. They rank 31st in the NFL with nine sacks thus far. Pierre-Paul can earn $50K for each half-sack he records in an incentive-laden contract and will receive $8.7MM if he can reach 10 in the Giants’ remaining nine games. The sixth-year veteran’s only recorded double-digit sacks in two seasons.
  • The 49ers have discussed Alex Boone, Joe Staley and Vernon Davis (Twitter link) with teams, but CBSSports.com’s Jason La Canfora hears (Twitter link) that Staley is considered the most available. The 31-year-old Staley’s in the middle of a six-year, $44.65MM contract and has cap numbers of $8.3MM and $11.2MM the next two seasons. Staley’s deal runs through 2019.
  • Eagles fourth-year defensive end Vinny Curry‘s surfaced in trade discussions, Schefter reports (as relayed by Andrew Kulp of CSNPhilly.com). A 6-foot-3, 279-pound tweener in a 3-4 scheme, Curry could have value as a 4-3 end. He’s in the final year of his rookie deal and likely to depart the Eagles after the season, Kulp writes. The CSNPhilly reporter notes the best the Eagles could get for Curry, who has never started a game but recorded nine sacks off the bench last season, is a mid-round pick.
  • Rams GM Les Snead‘s paranoia over whether one of the team’s NFC West rivals would take Todd Gurley invited him to act quickly during the draft, Sam Farmer of the Los Angeles Times reports. Snead was concerned about the 49ers or Cardinals drafting the potential NFC rookie of the year, so the team’s interest in the Georgia star remained a mystery. “I definitely was excited when they took me at No. 10. I was kind of shocked. They really kept it quiet,” Gurley told Farmer. “I know when they do those visits to do background checks back home, one of my high school coaches was like, ‘Yeah, the Rams came by,’ and I’m like, ‘They’re not going to take me.'”
  • NFL executives peg Robert Griffin III‘s trade value as minimal, considering his fifth-year $16.2MM option that is guaranteed against injury, and are more inclined to let Washington release the beleaguered signal-caller, Liz Clarke and Mark Maske of the Washington Post report.
  • Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk wonders if Lions GM Martin Mayhew will be the latest post-London staff casualty, using Matt Millen‘s 2008 ouster as a reference point of Detroit bucking the usual trend of firing GMs after the season.

NFC East Notes: JPP, RGIII, Bradford

October 20th, 2015 at 6:54pm CST by Zachary Links

Here’s a look at the NFC East..

  • The Giants have kept an open mind that Jason Pierre-Paul could perhaps return at some point in the second half of the season, according to Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (Twitter links). That’s somewhat contradictory to other reports which indicated that the Giants are pessimistic about JPP’s hand and his chances of returning to the field anytime soon. The defensive end is in transit to New York where he could soon get another medical evaluation.
  • JPP won’t be showing up at the Giants‘ facility on Wednesday as originally planned, according to Jason Cole of BR (on Twitter). However, whether he shows up this week at all will be determined on Wednesday.
  • On Sunday, Robert Griffin III was in uniform for Washington for the first time this season, but he did not play. That was a football decision and not a financial one, coach Jay Gruden claims. “That’s not an obstacle for me,” said Gruden, according to Tarik El-Bashir of CSNMidAtlantic.com, when asked if Griffin’s 2016 salary has been factor in the decision to not play him. “For my line of thought, my line of thinking, no.” Griffin lost his starting job to Kirk Cousins in the preseason and was inactive the first five games, while Colt McCoy has been serving as the No. 2. With six starters sidelined on Sunday, however, Griffin was elevated to the 46-man game day roster.
  • Sam Bradford had a dreadful Monday night performance, but Eagles coach Chip Kelly says he won’t be making a quarterback change. “Sam’s our quarterback. We have full confidence in Sam,” Kelly told reporters, as Tyler Dragon of NFL.com writes. The Eagles acquired Bradford from the Rams in a high-profile offseason quarterback swap. The pending free agent was approached about a contract extension but he chose instead to bet on himself. At this time, that gamble appears to be a poor decision.

East Notes: Pats, Bills, JPP

October 18th, 2015 at 12:46pm CST by Rory Parks

The Patriots are again among the league’s most legitimate Super Bowl contenders, and although their slow start to 2014 led some to believe that their dynasty was nearing its end, the fact that they brought home the Lombardi Trophy and have opened 2015 undefeated have silenced those talks. And, as Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports writes, New England’s window of opportunity won’t be closing anytime soon.

Per La Canfora, there is no significant player on the Patriots’ roster whose contract expires at the end of this season, and the team projects to be at least $8MM under the 2016 salary cap. Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski will count just $22MM against the cap, and no one will earn more than $10MM in 2016. That means that the team can supplement its already-talented roster with marquee free agents–something it has not frequently done in the past–and extend their reign of dominance for another few years. La Canfora also notes that, since New England will be without its first-round pick as a result of the DeflateGate scandal, it could look to move Jimmy Garoppolo for a high pick.

Now for some more notes from the league’s east divisions:

  • Washington and the Jets are squaring off this afternoon, and as Rich Cimini of ESPNNewYork.com writes, the Jets are looking across the field at two players who could be on their radar in 2016: Kirk Cousins and Robert Griffin III. The future for both players is up in the air, and New York, of couse, could be in the market for a quarterback. Jets head coach Todd Bowles was effusive in his praise for Cousins, but indicated that RGIII would not be a consideration for his club.
  • There were reports this morning that E.J. Manuel could rekindle the Bills‘ quarterback competition with a strong showing today, but Joe Buscaglia of WKBW thinks differently (via Twitter). He notes that Buffalo coaches love Tyrod Taylor and that it would take more than a good performance for the team to even think about moving on from Taylor.
  • La Canfora tweets that the Bills are “very concerned” that wideout Percy Harvin could miss significant time with his latest injury. Harvin has not played a significant role in the team’s offense this year, and this could represent yet another major setback for the once-explosive playmaker.
  • Last Thursday, Sammy Watkins publicly bemoaned his lack of targets in the Bills‘ offense thus far in 2015, and Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap.com breaks down in detail what targets mean to a wide receiver from a contractual standpoint.
  • Jay Glazer of FOX Sports tweets that Jason Pierre-Paul will report to the Giants this Tuesday so that the team can check in on his progress. Pierre-Paul is hoping to play soon, but as Jordan Raanan of NJ.com writes, there is still doubt that JPP will be cleared.

AFC Rumors: Smith, Browns, Broncos, Bengals

October 17th, 2015 at 2:27pm CST by Sam Robinson

Neither Geno Smith nor Robert Griffin factor into Sunday’s game plans, but NFL personnel eye the Jets‘ potential quarterback washout as the player with the better chance of salvaging his career despite Griffin’s superior on-field sample thus far, Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News reports.

“They’re the same guy,” a personnel director told Mehta. “Both are slightly delusional about their abilities. In five years, RG3 will be some type of ambassador for Baylor. Geno will be a backup quarterback.”

Statistically, Smith hasn’t produced close to a standout stretch like Griffin delivered in his rookie of the year campaign, but the injured Jets quarterback doesn’t have quite the toxic circumstances Washington’s embattled backup currently does.

As a result of this, Mehta hears Washington will jettison Griffin before his $16MM fifth-year option kicks in for next season. Should Washington cut RG3 before the start of the 2016 league year, it would not be on the hook for that escalator.

Despite not entering the league with the profile RG3 did or having yet to complete 60% of his passes in a season, Smith, in the view of scouts surveyed, profiles as a player still capable of an ascent, albeit with a lowered ceiling.

“They did him a disservice by forcing him to play (right away),” an NFC front office executive told The Daily News. “The talent is there, but the mental makeup isn’t. A year under (Ryan Fitzpatrick) should help… Geno may end up being the starter with the Jets.”

Here is some other news from AFC facilities as Week 6 Sunday looms.

  • In light of his latest alcohol-related trouble this week, Browns backup Johnny Manziel should re-enter rehab, Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com writes. With the police report indicating Manziel was swerving to avoid traffic and hit speeds of 90 mph after admitting drinking earlier in the day Monday, Cabot writes there are enough warning signs from this incident to put a halt on the second-year quarterback’s career again. The longtime Cleveland scribe also notes the Browns should consider the domestic violence allegations of Manziel’s girlfriend, even though police deemed the woman’s story too inconsistent to charge Manziel, in light of offensive line coach Andy Moeller being fired for DV accusations despite not being charged.
  • Browns OC John DeFilippo wants Brian Hartline to play a bigger part of the offense after catching just two passes the past two games, per Terry Pluto of cleveland.com. The recently signed free agent recorded 96 receiving yards against the Raiders but hasn’t exceeded 20 in the other four contests.
  • Both Vontaze Burfict and linebacker Sean Porter may not be ready to return when they are eligible to be removed from the PUP list prior to the Bengals‘ Nov. 1 game against the Steelers, reports Jake Owczarski of the Cincinnati Enquirer. League sources told the paper Porter isn’t in Cincinnati’s plans as of now as he recovers from a torn ACL while indicating Burfict could need more time to re-emerge successfully from microfracture surgery.
  • After the Broncos cut tight end Richard Gordon in order to promote running back Kapri Bibbs from the practice squad, the coaching staff asked Gordon to stay in town, as there’s a good chance Denver re-signs him next week, Mike Klis of 9News reports. With third-stringer Juwan Thompson hampered by a hamstring injury, the Broncos had a need for an extra tailback this week.
  • The Colts worked out second-year punter Michael Palardy, according to Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle (on Twitter). Palardy spent time with the Raiders last year but did not punt in a game.

 

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