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Stephen Jones

Extra Points: Cowboys, Wilkerson

September 12th, 2015 at 8:07pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

The Cowboys made the wise decision to select ex-Notre Dame offensive guard Zack Martin 16th overall in the 2014 draft, but they did so against owner Jerry Jones’ wishes, chief operating officer Stephen Jones – Jerry’s son – told David Moore of the Dallas Morning News.

“Let’s go over this quarterback thing one more time,” said Jerry Jones, despite hearing endorsements of Martin from Stephen Jones, senior director of college/pro personnel Will McClay, head coach Jason Garrett and offensive coordinator Scott Linehan.

The Cowboys then tried – and failed – to move down in the draft before settling on Martin.

“Son, if you want to do special things in life, you can’t keep picking and doing things down the middle,” Jerry said to Stephen afterward. “What we just did was down the middle.”

Martin did special things as a rookie, earning Pro Bowl and All-Pro honors. Quarterback Johnny Manziel, whom Dallas could have taken instead of Martin, had a poor first year both on and off the field and enters his second season backing up journeyman Josh McCown in Cleveland.

Here’s more from around the NFL:

  • CBS Sports’ Jason La Canfora reported earlier Saturday that the Jets and defensive lineman Muhammad Wilkerson are far apart on contract talks and unlikely to continue negotiating when the season starts Sunday. However, there is not – nor has there ever been – a hard Sunday deadline to get a deal done, according to Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News (Twitter link). That means the two sides could still hammer out a long-term extension during the season.
  • Titans head coach Ken Whisenhunt, speaking to SiriusXM NFL Radio (Twitter link), showered praise on rookie quarterback Marcus Mariota. “It was amazing how quickly our team bonded with Mariota. He has a businesslike professional approach. Doesn’t get rattled.” Mariota, the second overall pick in this year’s draft, will square off against the No. 1 selection, Bucs QB Jameis Winston, on Sunday.
  • The Browns won’t improve on their 7-9 record from 2014 without another big year from their defensive backfield, writes Tom Reed of Cleveland.com. The group includes three Pro Bowlers in Joe Haden, Tashaun Gipson and Donte Whitner. Gipson believes he’s part of the best secondary in the league. “Any time you get together this kind of talent nothing bad can go wrong in our eyes,” he said. “If we execute the game plan and play fast I feel there’s no better secondary out than us.”
  • The five-year, $45MM extension the Cowboys signed Tyrone Crawford to Saturday makes the Eagles’ recent four-year, $29MM pact with Mychal Kendricks look better, opines former Eagles and Browns executive Joe Banner. Kendricks’ deal is the best one any team has given out this year, Banner thinks (Twitter link).

Extra Points: Rice, Peterson, Bell, Miller

July 25th, 2015 at 5:24pm CST by Sam Robinson

Ray Rice is exhausting his NFL contacts in an effort to secure a chance at reviving his career, Ed Werder of ESPN.com reports.

The embattled running back and his former coach at Rutgers, Greg Schiano, among others, are making contact with teams in hopes of the 28-year-old runner resuming his once-promising tenure in the league. Werder reported one team was seriously interested in offering a deal to Rice but balked due to the potential backlash after video of his domestic assault on his then-fiancee/now-wife emerged last September.

Money is not motivating the former Pro Bowler here, according to Werder, with Rice having earned in excess of $20MM in his career.

Rice seeks the same second chance his 2014 suspended compatriots Adrian Peterson and Greg Hardy have. Of course, those two players have more recent track records of success than Rice, whose position is arguably the easiest non-specialty role to replace. Per Werder, NFL GMs view Rice as a declining player at a young man’s position. His yards per carry, which had hovered above four per tote in each of his first four seasons, dipped to 3.1 in 2013.

Here are some other news items from the league on the final Saturday without eventful NFL action for nearly seven months.

  • Despite staunch holdout threats this offseason before finally agreeing to rejoin the Vikings, Peterson said would have played out the season on his previously nonguaranteed contract, reports Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. “I’m definitely happy,’’ Peterson told media at Vikings training camp in Mankato, Minn. “If (this week’s restructuring didn’t occur), I’d would have just been like, you know what, I’ll just play this year out and not redo the contract. I’m happy to be a Viking.” It’s doubtful the 30-year-old running back iterated that stance to Vikings management, but the team will have its star running back in a more content state this season after he missed almost all of the last. Peterson’s new deal guarantees him $13MM this season and $7MM against injury in 2016.
  • Le’Veon Bell is still awaiting an appeal date for his marijuana-induced suspension, reports Dan Hanzus of NFL.com. The Steelers‘ breakout backfield star is set to miss three games.
  • Ohio State standout Braxton Miller‘s switch to H-back may help his NFL draft status. The top-10 Heisman Trophy finalist in 2012 and 2013 has been playing at his new spot for three months after missing the 2014 season, reports Pete Thamel of SI.com. According to one NFL scout interviewed by CBS Sports’ Dane Brugler, this will enhance the senior’s earning potential come 2016. “We currently have two grades on him, one as an ‘athlete’ and one as a quarterback,” an NFC scout told Brugler. “The grade of him as an athlete is much…better. Because that’s when he’s at his best – with the ball in his hand.
  • Cowboys executive VP Stephen Jones isn’t exactly pleased with the progress made by the league this offseason in terms of rectifying the catch process, according to Dallasnews.com. In a lengthy analysis, Jones said there is still “some work to do” on avoiding controversial ruling like the one involving Dez Bryant that essentially eliminated the Cowboys from the playoffs in January.
  • Jameis Winston‘s trial in a sexual battery lawsuit won’t occur until May 2017, according to a Tampa Bay Times report. The alleged incident occurred in December 2012. The Buccaneers‘ No. 1 overall pick was not charged or arrested for this reported incident.

Latest On Cowboys/Broncos Collusion Allegations

July 13th, 2015 at 6:55pm CST by Zachary Links

6:55pm: The NFLPA letter to the Broncos and Cowboys doesn’t spell out specific transgressions but it does ask clubs to preserve certain documents and communications, Breer tweets.

6:04pm: Evidence of possible collusion between the Cowboys and Broncos stems from a conversation that took place between Dez Bryant and Cowboys COO Stephen Jones, a league source tells Mike Florio of PFT.

Jones explained to Bryant that the Calvin Johnson contract, which is the most lucrative deal for a wide receiver in the NFL, has no relevance to other receivers because of the unique circumstances surrounding those negotiations. Then, according to Bryant’s account (per the source), Jones told the receiver that he talked to Broncos GM John Elway about the situation. Because the Broncos also have a franchise-tagged receiver in Demaryius Thomas, the admission that Jones and Elway communicated about the situation constitutes evidence of collusion.

There could be significant penalties for the Cowboys and Broncos as the league’s collective bargaining agreement prohibits such contact. However, it could also be hard to find the smoking gun. Bryant could give testimony to support his claims, but if there is no tangible evidence of a conversation between Elway and Jones, the investigation might not get far.

July 15th is the deadline for franchised players to sign long-term extensions with their teams — if no agreement is reached by that date, a player who received the franchise tag will have to play on a one-year deal in 2015, if he intends to play at all. Given the relatively similar statistical production posted by Bryant and Thomas – as well as Bengals wideout A.J. Green and Falcons receiverJulio Jones, who are playing on fifth-year options this year – there’s been a sense that everyone is waiting for one team to extend its star receiver to establish the market.

The NFLPA letter containing the collusion claims against the Broncos and Cowboys went to the clubs today, Albert Breer of NFL.com tweets.