Ryan Clady

Jets Notes: Clady, Fitzpatrick, Bradford

April 23rd, 2016 at 2:22pm CST by Sam Robinson

Unlike their lengthy delay in adding a quarterback, the Jets moved swiftly to acquire Ryan Clady, doing so one day after D’Brickashaw Ferguson announced his intention to retire.

Clady represents a risk, having missed 36 regular-season and playoff games for the Broncos during their 2013 and 2015 Super Bowl seasons, respectively. But Jets GM Mike Maccagnan proclaimed that his new left tackle is “good to go,” per NJ.com’s Darryl Slater.

“I think, from a medical standpoint, he’s cleared to play. I think he was actually cleared earlier for full participation, back in January or December, according to the information I got from the Broncos,” Maccagnan told media, including Slater.”

Jets OTAs begin May 24, which is around a year after Clady tore his ACL on Day 1 of Denver’s OTAs in 2015. Maccagnan said the team will bring the 29-year-old Clady along slowly and that he was encouraged by how well Clady bounced back from the 2013 Lisfranc injury that sidelined him after Week 2. Clady earned his fourth Pro Bowl nod for his work in 2014, when he played all 17 Broncos games, but he wasn’t quite the dependable edge presence he was prior to his first significant injury. Pro Football Focus deemed it well off of Clady’s pace in 2011-12.

Here are some more Jets headlines as the draft nears.

While Clady represents a probable upgrade from what Ferguson showed in 2015, he’s not close to as reliable health-wise. And per Rich Cimini of ESPN.com, the former 2008 first-round pick is a stopgap solution, along with most of Gang Green’s front as presently constructed. Of the current projected starters — Clady, James Carpenter, Nick Mangold, Brian Winters and Breno Giacomini — only Carpenter looks like a potential long-term option up front, inciting Cimini to argue the Jets need to take an offensive lineman high, perhaps in Round 1, and have to exit the draft with two players who can serve as starters by 2017. The last time the Jets took a blocker that high was 2006, when they selected Ferguson and Mangold.
The Jets’ relentless back-and-forth offseason with Ryan Fitzpatrick makes the New York Daily News’ Manish Mehta wonder if the Jets are serious about making the playoffs in 2016. The sides remain at an impasse, with Fitzpatrick wanting franchise QB-level dollars (around $16MM AAV) and the Jets having not been connected to an offer in eight-figure-per-year territory. Mehta sees the free agent quarterback’s trip to a Rangers-Penguins playoff game with Mangold and Eric Decker, while Brian Hoyer was at the team’s facility, as evidence the Jets players see Fitzpatrick as their quarterback and that Maccagnan should move faster to re-sign him. “In a perfect world, we’d like to potentially compete for the playoffs,” Maccagnan told media. “I don’t necessarily view that as a benchmark of success or failure. The goal is not to just sort of mortgage the future. We haven’t sort of leveraged everything to try to make one big run.”
Cimini sees the Jets running out of patience in their Fitzpatrick negotiations, but they won’t budge before the draft, when the team possesses just six picks (two seventh-rounders are among them). The ESPN scribe also does not envision the Jets making a play for Sam Bradford, whom the Eagles owe an $11MM signing bonus even in a trade scenario, placing more emphasis on Gang Green’s willingness to pay up for the soon-to-be-34-year-old Fitzpatrick.

Pauline’s Latest: Jets, Titans, Conklin, Giants

April 13th, 2016 at 5:55pm CST by Zachary Links

Most NFL people that Tony Pauline of DraftInsider.net (via WalterFootball.com) has spoken with tell him that the Jets could still look to take an offensive tackle in the first round even after trading for Ryan Clady. With that in mind, the Jets are bringing Jason Spriggs of Indiana to Florham Park, New Jersey for an official visit on Thursday.

Many view Spriggs as the best pure left tackle in the draft outside of Ole Miss star Laremy Tunsil. Spriggs has been rising on draft boards around the league and the Hoosiers senior has already visited the Broncos and Saints and worked out for the Titans and Ravens.

Here’s the latest from Pauline:

Recently, it was reported that the Titans would consider trading down from No. 1 to select Notre Dame’s Ronnie Stanley. Pauline hears that Michigan State’s Jack Conklin is also in the conversation if the Titans move down. Pauline previously ID’d Conklin as a possible Top 12 pick in this year’s draft.
The Giants continue to show strong interest in Laquon Treadwell, who is in the conversation at No. 10 overall, Pauline hears. Pauline also adds that several teams do not agree with the assertion that Treadwell is only the second-best wide receiver in this year’s class. While some reports would indicate that the Ole Miss product is slipping down draft boards, that might not be the case.
Speaking of the Jets, Pauline hears that they are very high on tackle Brent Qvale, a UDFA they added in 2014. However, Pauline gets the sense that the Clady signing means that Gang Green does not see him as being quite yet ready for a starting role. Qvale lined up at both left and right tackle during weekly practice in 2015. Sources tell Pauline that Qvale is likely to replace Breno Giacomini in 2017 if he continues to progress.
Western Kentucky tight end George Fant is garnering attention from NFL scouts, Pauline writes. Fant, a former WKU basketball player, has also received consideration at offensive tackle, but scouts believe that he should be a tight end because of his soft hands. If Fant drops some additional weight (currently 296 pounds), the belief is that he can make it work at TE. Fant has (or has had) workouts with a number of teams including the Bengals, Broncos, Cardinals, Chargers, Saints, and Seahawks. While Fant is apparently rising up draft boards, fellow Western Kentucky tight end Tyler Higbee is seeing his stock fall due to an off-the-field incident.

Jets Acquire Ryan Clady

April 10th, 2016 at 3:13pm CST by Dallas Robinson

SUNDAY, 3:13pm: The trade is now official, as both the Jets and Broncos have announced the swap. New York will acquire pick No. 235 in addition to Clady, while Denver will receive pick No. 157.

SATURDAY, 8:01pm: Clady has agreed to a one-year, $6MM deal ($3MM guaranteed) for 2016, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter links), who adds that Clady can max out at $7.5MM through incentives. Per Rapoport, the Jets will then hold a $10MM option — which can max out at $13MM — for 2017. A portion of that $10MM in 2017 comes from a $2.5MM bonus due in February of 2017, according to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk.

6:17pm: The Jets have found a replacement for the recently retired D’Brickashaw Ferguson, as they’ve acquired offensive tackle Ryan Clady and a seventh-round pick from the Broncos in exchange for a fifth-round pick, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Clady has agreed to rework his deal in order to facilitate the trade, reports Albert Breer of NFL.com (Twitter link).

[RELATED: D’Brickashaw Ferguson to retire]

The deal has been in the works for some time, according to Breer, who tweets that New York began talking to Denver about Clady as soon it anticipated Ferguson’s retirement — Ferguson’s decision to hang up his cleats only became public yesterday, but it sounds as though the team had some advance notice. Per Breer (Twitter link), the Jets had previously offered fellow left tackle Kelvin Beachum a contract similar to what he eventually signed with the Jaguars (one-year deal with a multi-year option), and it’s likely that Clady’s new deal in New York will be of a similar nature.

While Ferguson famously missed only a single offensive snap during his time with the Jets, Clady doesn’t have that same track record of durability. Injuries have marred the former first-round pick’s career, as Clady played in only two games during the 2013 season before suffering a Lisfranc injury, and missed all of the 2015 campaign after tearing his ACL during OTAs.

But aside from those two lost campaigns, the 29-year-old Clady has been a 16-game starter during every season of his career. He’ll join a Jets offensive line that was somewhat inconsistent in 2015, as they ranked No. 3 in pass protection per Football Outsiders’ metrics, but No. 26 in adjusted line yards. More specifically, Clady figures to be an improvement on Ferguson’s 2015 production, as Ferguson ranked as just the 60th-best offensive tackle in the league among 77 qualifiers, per Pro Football Focus.

Clady has two years and $19.5MM remaining on his current contract, but if Breer is correct in reporting that Clady will take a paycut as part of the trade, the Jets could see an increase in cap space. New York will gain about $9MM in space when Ferguson’s retirement becomes official, and if Clady slashes his 2016 base salary from $9.5MM to, say, $5MM, the Jets would have some extra cash to put towards a reunion with quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick.

The Broncos, of course, are also searching for a quarterback, and as such, the additional cap space with which to pay one. The trade of Clady will clear $8.9MM off Denver’s 2016 books, which will give the club nearly $10MM in total cap space for the year. That additional room could be enough to bring in someone like Colin Kaepernick via trade, and more than enough if they target someone more affordable such as Josh McCown.

Clady had been in Denver since being selected 12th overall in 2008, but his departure had been an almost foregone conclusion this offseason, despite the fact that he’d expressed his willingness to renegotiate his contact. The Broncos signed his replacement — former Seahawk Russell Okung — last month, and also brought in additional depth in the form of free agent Donald Stephenson. With Ty Sambrailo and Michael Schofield also on the roster, there simply wasn’t a place for Clady in the Mile High City.

The Jets are obviously betting on Clady’s health by acquiring him to be their starting left tackle, and it sounds like that optimism is well-warranted. According to Lindsay H. Jones of USA Today (Twitter link), Clady should be ready for the start of training camp, if not earlier. Clady suffered his torn ACL in May of last year, so he’ll be more than year removed from the injury when camp gets underway.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Giants Rumors: Clady, Flowers, Beatty, Powers

April 10th, 2016 at 2:48pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Though the Giants did express some interest in left tackle Ryan Clady before he was shipped from the Broncos to the Jets, talks never became serious because of the draft pick compensation required, according to Jordan Raanan of NJ.com. The Jets ultimately swapped a fifth-round pick for Clady and a seventh-rounder, a price that was apparently too steep for the Giants. Big Blue may have had more definitive interest in Clady had he been released by Denver, per Raanan.

Let’s take a look at a few more Giants note, all courtesy of Raanan…

Another barrier to Clady joining the Giants was the presence of Ereck Flowers, whom New York wants to keep at left tackle, writes Raanan. However, the club still wants to add depth along the offensive line, so they could spend a mid-round pick on a tackle to compete with Marshall Newhouse and Bobby Hart on the right side.
One offensive line option who likely won’t be considered is tackle Will Beatty, whom the Giants released in early March. Though Raanan reports that Beatty, who tore his pectoral muscle and missed the entire 2015 season, is expected to be near full strength before the summer, both the Giants and Beatty have decided to move in different directions.
Former Cardinals cornerback Jerraud Powers visited the Giants at the tail end of March, and the club is thought to have made an offer worth roughly $2MM, according to Raanan. Powers is said to be looking for more money, so while he remains an option for the New York, no signing appears to be imminent.
Free agent linebacker Kelvin Sheppard announced this morning that he would be signing with the Giants, and Raanan confirms that Sheppard is expected to be with the team on Monday. Sheppard wasn’t the only linebacker on New York’s radar, per Rannan, who says the club also had interest in Nate Stupar before he joined the Saints.

Fallout Of Ryan Clady Trade

April 10th, 2016 at 9:50am CST by Rory Parks

Let’s take a look at the fallout of, and reactions to, yesterday’s trade that sent Ryan Clady and a seventh-round draft pick from the Broncos to the Jets in exchange for a fifth-round draft choice:

A number of writers have pointed out that the trade, which saved the Broncos $8.9MM in salary cap space, creates room for the club to add a quarterback. However, as Mike Klis of 9News.com writes, the deal has no impact on whether Denver acquires current 49ers signal-caller Colin Kaepernick. Klis says that cap room had nothing to do with the Broncos offering Kaepernick a reduced 2016 salary of $7MM, and that they are offering him that salary because that is the current market value for elite backup quarterbacks (although Kaepernick would undoubtedly be the favorite to win the job as Denver’s starting QB, there would be an open competition between him and Mark Sanchez). As such, the most recent reports surrounding the Kaepernick-to-Denver rumors–that a deal is not dead, but is not likely at the moment–remain valid. Klis observes that the next deadline for a Kaepernick trade appears to be April 28, the first day of the 2016 draft, as any potential swap figures to include draft picks.
Rich Cimini of ESPNNewYork.com says there is, of course, reason for the Jets to be concerned about the deal. After all, they are replacing the recently-retired D’Brickashaw Ferguson, one of the most durable players in recent history, with a player who has missed 30 of the past 48 games because of severe foot and knee injuries. On the other hand, Clady, when healthy, is a superior player, and just like the Brandon Marshall trade last year, this deal looks like a low-risk, high-reward move that could pay major dividends for second-year GM Mike Maccagnan. As ESPN’s Field Yates tweets, over the past two years, the Jets have turned a pair of fifth-round picks into Marshall, Clady, and two seventh-round picks.
Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap.com says that the Clady trade should not preclude the Jets from selecting a tackle in the draft. Instead, he believes that, if the team has the opportunity to draft a tackle they like, they should pull the trigger and have that player begin his career on the right side of the line (Twitter links).
With Clady no longer available, Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times points out that there are no longer any difference-making left tackles who the Seahawks could target (barring, of course, any potential cuts). Although Clady was unlikely to end up in Seattle anyway, it is now a near certainty that the Seahawks will head into the 2016 campaign with Garry Gilliam and Bradley Sowell battling for the left tackle job, with the team likely adding more competition in the draft. ESPN’s Sheil Kapadia tweets that the Seahawks did not pursue Clady more strongly because of financial reasons, not because of the draft choice they would have needed to part with.
Similarly, the Lions–who were connected to at least some degree to many of the left tackles on the trade and free markets his offseason–now have no other choice but to deploy Riley Reiff at left tackle to open the 2016 campaign, as Dave Birkett of The Detroit Free Pres writes. The team could target a LT in the draft, but outside of Laremy Tunsil–who is not falling to the Lions–no first-year players project to be immediately better than Reiff.

Reactions to D’Brickashaw Ferguson’s Retirement

April 9th, 2016 at 9:49am CST by Ben Levine

Following D’Brickashaw Ferguson‘s surprising retirement announcement yesterday, ESPN.com’s Rich Cimini writes that the former fourth-overall pick deserves to be applauded for his contribution to the Jets. The 32-year-old never missed a game during his ten-year career, and the writer believes he’ll eventually be honored in the organization’s Ring of Honor.

As we previously learned, the Jets asked Ferguson to take a sizable pay cut for the next season, but Cimini doesn’t believe Ferguson’s decision can entirely be attributed to money. The offensive tackle showed signs of decline last season, and instead of being “the guy who hangs on,” Ferguson simply decided to hang it up.

Let’s check out some more notes regarding Ferguson’s surprise retirement…

Despite the announcement, the retirement isn’t yet official. Bleacher Report’s Jason Cole tweets that the two sides were still working to finalize the paperwork.
There have been rumblings that the Jets were among four teams to inquire on the Titans‘ first-overall pick in this year’s draft, but Cimini believes it’d take too much for the team to move up from the 20th pick. The writer opines that a deal involving this year’s first, two future picks, and Muhammad Wilkerson could get it done, but he’s uncertain whether he’d want to “mortgage the future” for Laremy Tunsil.
Cimini focused on several offensive line prospects the Jets could pursue in this year’s draft, including Ohio State’s Taylor Decker, Texas A&M’s Germain Ifedi, and Indiana’s Jason Spriggs.
In regards to veterans, Cimini points to Broncos lineman Ryan Clady, who is reportedly on the trade block. Potential free agent targets include Will Beatty and Jake Long.

Extra Points: Broncos, Seahawks, Texans, Drake

April 3rd, 2016 at 9:15pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

Even if they’re unable to land Colin Kaepernick, panic over the Broncos’ quarterback situation isn’t in order, opines Troy Renck of the Denver Post. As Renck writes, the defensively dominant Broncos were able to defy logic last season by winning a Super Bowl with Peyton Manning and Brock Osweiler (primarily the former) combining to offer some of the NFL’s worst quarterback play. In Renck’s estimation, next season’s performance from Denver’s signal-caller(s) probably won’t be much of a downgrade, if at all, and the Broncos should still possess an elite defense. The Broncos were in the league’s basement in nearly all relevant passing stats in 2015, so Renck’s belief that they should at least tread water under center with Mark Sanchez (and/or someone else) is justifiable. It’s worth noting, though, that the defense could regress to some degree after it lost a pair of integral contributors, Malik Jackson and Danny Trevathan, when free agency opened last month.

Here’s more from around the NFL as we wrap up another week of the offseason:

Acquiring Kaepernick could force cap-strapped Denver to release pricey left tackle Ryan Clady as a way to free up spending room. The tackle-needy Seahawks would seem to be a fit for Clady on paper if he becomes available, but their own lack of cap space ($7MM, which doesn’t factor in the few million dollars necessary to sign draft picks) might take them out of the running, according to Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times.
Texans three-time Pro Bowl left tackle Duane Brown is progressing well from the surgery he underwent in January to repair a torn right quadriceps and expects to be ready for the regular season, per Mark Berman of FOX 26 (Twitter link). The eight-year veteran suffered the injury in Week 17 last season and missed the Texans’ playoff loss to Kansas City as a result.
Alabama running back Kenyan Drake visited the Cowboys and Dolphins and will next head to San Francisco to meet with the 49ers, he told ESPN’s Vaughn McClure (link via Paul Gutierrez of ESPN.com). Drake was stuck behind the likes of Eddie Lacy, T.J. Yeldon and Derrick Henry while with the Crimson Tide, but he averaged a lofty 6.4 yards per carry on 233 attempts and totaled 22 touchdowns (18 rushing, four receiving) during his four-year NCAA career.

Colin Kaepernick Notes: Sunday

April 3rd, 2016 at 12:44pm CST by Rory Parks

There are significant differences of opinion as to how close the 49ers and the Broncos are to completing a Colin Kaepernick trade, but there is already a considerable amount of potential fallout to consider if the deal is ultimately consummated. Let’s have a look:

Denver reportedly wants to pay Kaepernick $7MM of the $11.9MM he is guaranteed for 2016, with the 49ers kicking in the $4.9MM balance. As Andrew Brandt of TheMMQB.com reminds us, NFL teams cannot trade cash as a MLB or NBA team can. Instead, the Niners could turn part of Kaepernick’s salary into a signing bonus, pay it, and then trade him (Twitter link). If the 49ers were to go that route, the team would eat $12.29MM in dead cap room in 2016, per Spotrac (via Twitter). Although that is hardly an ideal scenario, it’s not as though the 49ers couldn’t afford it. According to Spotrac, the club has just shy of $57MM of cap space.
Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk proposes a creative solution to the reported holdup in contract talks between the Broncos and Kaepernick. Florio suggests that Kaepernick should forfeit the $4.9MM difference between what he is owed and what Denver is willing to pay, and in exchange, Denver should wipe out the remaining four years of his “notoriously team-friendly contract.” Of course, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets, while that solution has its merits, it would put the 2017 Broncos in the same position they are in right now. Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap.com tweets that Kaepernick would certainly be justified in taking a paycut if the Broncos were willing to tear up the remainder of his contract.
Of course, if Kaepernick ends up with the Broncos, Denver will need to make some tweaks to its current roster regardless of how much it ends up paying Kaepernick (after all, the club only has $1.62MM of salary cap room at present). As Jeff Legwold of ESPN.com writes, the team has to do something with Ryan Clady, and although the Broncos have been trying to trade Clady, interested clubs are not inclined to pull the trigger on a trade because they are fully aware of Denver’s tight financial situation. Instead, the Broncos may have to release their long-time left tackle in order to create $8.9MM of space. The Broncos could also release punter Britton Colquitt, thereby clearing over $3MM off the books, or they could convert the base salaries of some of the larger contracts on the team–like those for Demaryius Thomas, Aqib Talib, and Chris Harris–into signing bonuses, which would afford the team some 2016 cap relief.
Rich Cimini of ESPNNewYork.com says a Kaepernick trade would be highly beneficial for the Jets, because if the trade happens, Ryan Fitzpatrick will lose his last potential suitor (Denver) outside of the Jets. As such, Fitzpatrick would either have to accept New York’s “low-ball offer” of $7MM per year, or not play at all. Theoretically, San Francisco could be in the market for Fitzpatrick’s services if it deals Kaepernick, but there have been no substantive rumors regarding that possibility.

AFC East Notes: Fitzpatrick, Wilkerson, Blount

March 19th, 2016 at 10:49am CST by Ben Levine

The Jets made it clear earlier this week that their goal is to sign free agent quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, but general manager Mike Maccagnan is still realistic about his team’s chances to retain the 33-year-old.

“We like Ryan — we’d like to have Ryan back — but at the end of the day, it’s free agency,” the Jets executive said (via ESPN.com’s Rich Cimini). “You go through it. At some point in time, hopefully, we can find a middle ground we’re both happy with.”

Let’s check out some more notes from the AFC East…

As Jets Pro Bowler Muhammad Wilkerson continues to recover from a broken leg, agent Chad Wiestling tweets that the defensive lineman will be playing for “someone” during the 2016 season.
Considering his age and price tag, it would make sense for the Jets to trade for Broncos offensive lineman Ryan Clady to replace incumbent D’Brickashaw Ferguson. However, if the team was truly looking for a Ferguson replacement, Cimini believes the team would have been better off pursuing Russell Okung, who signed with the Broncos earlier this week.
ESPN.com’s Mike Reiss doesn’t believe the Donald Brown signing would prevent LeGarrette Blount from returning to the Patriots. Even if the team does bring back the veteran, the writer still envisions the Patriots selecting a running back in the draft.
Before signing with the Patriots, linebacker Shea McClellin also met with the Seahawks, tweets Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle.

West Rumors: Kaepernick, Clady, Mathieu

March 18th, 2016 at 2:02pm CST by Luke Adams

It looked increasingly likely last week that 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick would be on the move, with the Broncos and Browns among the teams exploring a potential deal. However, the tide appears to have turned on Kaepernick this week — at least for now.

Adam Schefter of ESPN.com is the latest to report that the 49ers look poised to keep Kaepernick on their roster beyond April 1, the date when his $11.9MM base salary for 2016 becomes fully guaranteed. That guarantee date won’t preclude the Niners from surveying trade options for the QB prior to – or during – this year’s draft though, so it’s possible that talks with the Broncos, Browns, or another club could re-ignite in a few weeks.

Let’s round up some other Friday updates from out of the NFL’s West divisions….

There are four or five teams considering a trade for Broncos left tackle Ryan Clady, a source tells Jason Cole of Bleacher Report (Twitter link). Clady is available now that Denver has added Russell Okung. Still, given the modest contracts signed by Okung and Kelvin Beachum this week (both deals have team opt-outs after year one), I’d be a little surprised if any clubs are willing to give up much to take on Clady’s $9.5MM salary. Like Okung and Beachum, Clady is no sure thing going forward when it comes to health.
During an appearance on PFT Live, Cardinals defensive back Tyrann Mathieu acknowledged that his lack of a defined position in Arizona’s secondary could complicate extension talks with the team. “It’s gonna be kind of a wrestling match,” Mathieu said of those contract negotiations. “But at the end of the day as long as we understand it’s a business and as long as we take care of our relationships I think it’ll be all right.”
The Raiders have already had an extremely eventful offseason, but there’s a case to be made that they should still make one more splash. Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com lays out that case, making an argument for why general manager Reggie McKenzie should make an effort to land Muhammad Wilkerson in a trade with the Jets.
The 49ers have officially announced five coaching additions for Chip Kelly‘s staff, with the most notable changes coming on defense — Joe Bowden takes over as the team’s inside linebackers coach, replacing Hardy Nickerson, who left to become Illinois’ defensive coordinator.

Load More Posts