HEADLINES

Shelley Smith

Dolphins Rumors: Strief, Smith, Brown

March 13th, 2014 at 3:11pm CST by Zachary Links

Here’s a look at the latest out of Miami, courtesy of the Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson..

  • Zach Strief, 30, remains by far the best unsigned right tackle, and the Dolphins want to set up a visit with him. Trouble is, he was committed to a banquet in Cincinnati and was unable to take any visits when Miami reached out to him. The Dolphins tried him again this afternoon and a decision is pending.
  • Guard Shelley Smith is visiting with the Dolphins tonight after visiting with the Patriots this afternoon and his camp is hopeful there will be an offer from Miami. The 30-year-old has started just eight games over the past two seasons. Meanwhile, Miami has called to express some level of interest in several other guards, including Daryn Colledge and Wade Smith and center/guard Evan Dietrich-Smith. Davin Joseph remains a possibility as well.
  • Miami has expressed interest in cornerbacks Tarell Brown and Walter Thurmond.

AFC East Notes: Revis, Smith, Starks

March 12th, 2014 at 10:00pm CST by Ben Levine

News broke earlier tonight that Darrelle Revis will be joining the Patriots, and Albert Breer of NFL.com has a couple of interesting notes on the big move. According to Breer, nothing prevents the Patriots from franchising the corner in 2015 (via Twitter). Revis’ tag for 2015 would be $14.4MM, a 20% raise on his current salary, but that may be moot, since the Patriots hope to lock up the ex-Buccaneer to a long-term deal after a “feeling-out period,” Breer says in another tweet.

More news from around the AFC East…

  • The Jets never engaged in any substantive conversations on Revis, tweets Brian Costello of the New York Post. General Manager John Idzik never even got the opportunity to talk to Revis’ camp.
  • Furthermore, Jets head coach Rex Ryan wanted to “badly” bring back the cornerback, tweets Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News. Mehta adds that the decision was “over his head.”
  • Shelley Smith is meeting with the Patriots after he left New York without a deal from the Giants, tweets Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Thomas adds that Smith also has a visit scheduled with the Dolphins.
  • With Revis’ deal taking up $12MM of the Patriots‘ ~$17MM cap space, Vince Wilfork has to restructure his contract or seek employment elsewhere, opines Ben Volin of the Boston Globe (via Twitter).
  • Specifics for Randy Starks‘ contract from Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald (via Twitter): $2MM signing bonus, $3MM guaranteed base in 2014, $5MM in 2015 with $2MM in incentives. Those incentives kick in if the Dolphins win 10 games and Starks plays 65% of the snaps.

Zach Links contributed to this post.

West Rumors: McFadden, 49ers, Rams

March 12th, 2014 at 11:37am CST by Zachary Links

Darren McFadden re-signed with the Raiders but he could have gone elsewhere for more money. “We did have real interest from four or five other teams — one offered more money,” McFadden’s agent Ian Greengross told Jerry McDonald of Bay Area News Group. “Darren wanted to stay a Raider. He felt like he still had something to prove in silver and black.” The tailback came back to Oakland on a one-year, $1.75MM deal with $2.25 million in incentives and just $100K guaranteed. The latest out of the AFC and NFC West..

  • The 49ers are in the market for a tall, long-armed cornerback and they have their eye on Vikings free agent corner Chris Cook, writes Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee. San Francisco also likes fellow free agent CB Nolan Carroll. Meanwhile, things are quiet around Tarell Brown and that could benefit the 49ers, writes Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com.
  • Versatile defensive lineman Alex Carrington is drawing strong interest from the Rams and Browns, a source tells Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (on Twitter). Carrington played in just three games for the Bills last season due to injury.
  • Free agent cornerback Mike Jenkins is on the Cardinals‘ radar, tweets Kent Somers of the Arizona Republic. However, no visit is scheduled yet for the former first round pick. Jenkins spent last season with the Raiders.
  • Justin Tuck isn’t the only player visiting the Raiders today. Adam Schefter of ESPN (on Twitter) says that Giants cornerback Terrell Thomas is also in Oakland.
  • We can add a third Giant to the delegation visiting the Raiders. Running back Andre Brown is in Oakland as well, tweets Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News.
  • Rams free agent guard Shelley Smith will make a visit with the Patriots, according to Tom E. Curran of CSNNE.com. The 26-year-old started in two games for St. Louis last season and can play either left or right guard. He has build a reputation as a solid run blocker who can pull well.

Pats Rumors: Amendola, Smith, Shaughnessy

March 12th, 2014 at 10:12am CST by Zachary Links

Late last night, the Broncos agreed to a six-year, $57MM deal with free agent cornerback Aqib Talib. While the Kansas product’s departure isn’t a total shock, it does leave the Pats with a significant gap to fill this offseason. The latest out of Foxboro..

  • Ben Volin of the Boston Globe (on Twitter) notes that $2MM of Danny Amendola‘s $3MM base salary with the Patriots became guaranteed yesterday. While he has offsets, the $2MM guarantee means he’ll likely stay put in New England.
  • The Giants have competition for guard Shelley Smith, tweets Jordan Raanan of the Star-Ledger. He also has a scheduled visit with the Patriots on Thursday.
  • The Patriots are hosting outside linebacker Matt Shaughnessy on a visit today, a league source tells Field Yates of ESPNBoston.com (on Twitter).

FA Rumors: Broncos, Allen, LaFell, Redskins

March 12th, 2014 at 9:17am CST by Luke Adams

According to a Denver Post report, the Broncos are considering free agent linebackers Jon Beason and Daryl Smith. However, the report surfaced yesterday before word broke that the team had agreed to sign Aqib Talib and scheduled a visit with DeMarcus Ware, so it’s not clear whether Denver still has interest. The team certainly does seem to be going all-in to try to take advantage of Peyton Manning‘s final years though.

Here are several more Wednesday morning free agency updates: