The NFL and NFLPA recently reached a settlement that capped the number of unsigned veterans who can participate in tryouts at rookie minicamp to five players, sources tell Alex Marvez of FOX Sports. The financial compensation for participating veterans was one of the NFLPA’s concerns, and that apparently outweighed the upside of deals coming together for players like Josh Morgan, who signed with the Saints after an impressive tryout during rookie minicamp. Here’s more from around the NFL..
- The Patriots had free agent cornerback Tarell Brown in for a visit today, a team source tells Mike Reiss of ESPN.com (on Twitter). This is the second time that the Pats have hosted Brown for a visit.
- Jets owner Woody Johnson didn’t make it sound like a new deal for Muhammad Wilkerson is coming anytime soon, as Bart Hubbuch of the New York Post writes. “We’re continuing to have dialogue sporadically, but it’s got to be something that works for both sides,” Johnson said.
- The Raiders are open to selling a minority stake in the team to a Bay Area company if that company can help fill the $400MM stadium financing gap that currently exists, Peter Schrager of FOX Sports tweets.
- Washington proposed that roster cuts should go from a 90-man roster to a 53-man roster, but that idea was voted down, a source tells Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter).
- With 49ers defensive lineman Justin Smith retiring in May, he has more than $2.1MM in unearned signing bonus money, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk writes. The 49ers could try and recoup that money, but they might feel indebted to Smith after he restructured his deal in 2013. Meanwhile, the former defensive end known as Cowboy says he checked out 49ers rookie minicamp and he might want to “dip my toe into coaching” after a couple years, Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com tweets.
- Saints receivers coach John Morton probably had some input in the signing of wide receiver Lance Lewis, who spent last year under Morton on the 49ers’ practice squad, Evan Woodbery of The Times Picayune tweets. Earlier today, New Orleans signed Lewis and dropped kicker Shayne Graham.
- The release of Graham leaves the Saints on the hook for his $10K signing bonus, Woodbery notes (on Twitter). The team’s dead money total has now risen a tad, from $21.67MM to $21.68MM.