2014 April - Pro Football Rumors

NFC South Notes: Panthers, Graham, Saints

April 11th, 2014 at 6:49pm CST by Zachary Links

There’s a lot of talk about the moves that the Panthers have made after parting ways with Steve Smith, but the receiver himself isn’t losing sleep over it. “What I think about what’s going on is I concern myself with what’s going on in Baltimore and I no longer concern myself with what’s going on with the Carolina Panthers,” Smith said, according to David Newton of ESPN.com. “But I concern myself with what’s going on in Charlotte, N.C. “I do my football camp here. But I no longer have the luxury to be a part of that [team], so I don’t concern myself with it. Not that I’m upset. Not that I’m mad. It’s just the fact of the business.” Panthers GM Dave Gettleman brought in Jerricho Cotchery, Tiquan Underwood, and Jason Avant in an effort to replace the team’s all-time leading receiver and it remains to be seen how that will pan out. More out of the NFC South..

Albert Breer of NFL Network (on Twitter) gets the sense that a deal for Saints tight end Jimmy Graham will get done but, as is often the case, not until closer to the deadline in July.
Breer adds (link) that he believes that after the roster purge, the Saints could still bring back some of the vets like Robert Meachem, Jonathan Goodwin, and Jabari Greer between now and training camp. Meachem, 29, had 16 catches for 324 yards and two touchdowns in his 2013 return to New Orleans.
Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link) adds the Saints to the list of teams hosting Boise State pass rusher Demarcus Lawrence for visits. The Patriots, Jets, and Cowboys will also get a good look at the 6’3″, 245-pound prospect. We heard earlier today that the Falcons were one of 10 teams Lawrence was scheduled to visit.

Eric Weems Takes Pay Cut

April 11th, 2014 at 5:34pm CST by Zachary Links

Last month, Bears wide receiver Eric Weems declined the Bears’ request to take a pay cut and was expected to be released soon after. A few weeks later, it seems as though Weems has had a change of heart. The 28-year-old has agreed to restructure his deal, according to Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune. Chicago’s WSCR-670 AM first reported the pay cut.

According to NFLPA records, the special teamer agreed to reduce his base salary from $1MM to the minimum for a veteran with six years of experience – $730K. Meanwhile, Weems will keep his $100K workout bonus in the contract, so he can earn up to $830K this season and will have a cap number of $1.33MM, down from the $1.6MM he was originally scheduled to count against the cap.

Weems was on the field for only 24 offensive snaps in 2013 and but was third on the roster with 309 snaps on special teams. However, with Devin Hester out of the picture, it is possible he could be considered as a potential kickoff returner.

NFC Notes: Bucs, Vikings, Redskins, Seahawks

April 11th, 2014 at 4:55pm CST by Luke Adams

A total of 26 local prospects from 11 schools worked out for the Buccaneers today, tweets Scott Smith of Buccaneers.com. Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times identifies a handful of them in a series of Twitter links, including Florida offensive lineman Jon Halapio, Boston College offensive lineman Matt Patchan, USF defensive end Ryne Giddins, USF defensive back Fidel Montgomery, Toledo receiver Bernard Reedy, and Rutgers safety Jeremy Deering.

The Vikings will work out Teddy Bridgewater on Saturday, according to ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter (via Twitter).
It was reported yesterday that the Redskins brought in free agent receivers Austin Collie and Anthony Armstrong for visits, and Mike Jones of the Washington Post adds another name to that list, tweeting that the club also worked out Brian Hernandez. Hernandez has signed with the Eagles and Redskins, though he has never appeared in a regular-season NFL game.
Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun provides the breakdown on Jeron Johnson’s reworked deal with the Seahawks (via Twitter). Rather than earning a $2.187MM base salary in 2014, Johnson will now have a $1MM base, a $250K signing bonus, up to $250K in per-game roster bonuses, and up to $500K in playing-time incentives. As John Clayton reported yesterday, the one-year pact can be worth up to $2MM in total.
Calvin Watkins of ESPNDallas.com discusses whether the Cowboys will add a quarterback in this year’s draft or wait another year to address the situation.

Minor Moves: Packers, Panthers, Lions, 49ers

April 11th, 2014 at 4:03pm CST by Luke Adams

Here are today’s minor transactions, our post for rounding up cuts of little-used players, under-the-radar signings, and contract restructures. Any additional moves will be included at the top of the list throughout the afternoon and evening….

Wide receiver Sederrik Cunningham has been waived by the Packers, says Wes Hodkiewicz of the Green Bay Press-Gazette (via Twitter). As Hodkiewicz notes, Cunningham missed last season after injuring his wrist on the first day of training camp.
The Panthers have cut wide receiver R.J. Webb, according to Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun (via Twitter). Webb spent last season on injured reserve after being signed by Carolina as an undrafted free agent.
Defensive end Kourtnei Brown has been claimed off waivers by the Lions, tweets Wilson. Brown, who has yet to appear in a regular-season NFL game, had been cut by the Bills yesterday.

Earlier updates:

CFL standout Alex Hall has signed with the Panthers, according to the team’s Twitter account. Hall, a former Giant and Brown who played his college ball at St. Augustine’s in Raleigh, racked up 16 sacks last season for the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders and Winnipeg Blue Bombers. The pass rusher visited the Titans earlier this week.
The 49ers have waived wide receiver Brandon Carswell, the club announced today in a press release. Carswell signed with the Niners last June, but suffered a torn ACL during his first practice with the team, and subsequently spent the season on injured reserve.

Browns To Match Jaguars’ Offer For Alex Mack

April 11th, 2014 at 3:00pm CST by Luke Adams

The Browns are matching the Jaguars’ offer sheet for Alex Mack, which was officially signed earlier today, according to ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter (via Twitter). The move will keep Mack in Cleveland on a five-year, $42MM contract, which includes no-trade protection for the first three seasons, per Albert Breer of the NFL Network (via Twitter).

Heading into free agency this offseason, the Browns decided to tag Mack as their transition player, tendering him a one-year offer of $10.039MM. Although Mack went out and secured an offer sheet from Jacksonville rather than accepting Cleveland’s offer, he’ll earn about the same amount in 2014 on his new contract. The deal will reportedly pay the veteran center $10MM in 2014 and $8MM in 2015 before he’s faced with a decision on whether or not to void it after the ’15 season.

Those first two years of Mack’s contract are guaranteed, and the third year, which is also worth $8MM, will become guaranteed as well if he opts in. The Browns would then have the option of retaining the center for 2017 and 2018 as well, at a non-guaranteed rate of $8MM per year. If Mack opts out after the first two years of the deal, the Browns would be unable to use the franchise or transition tag on him, since the deadline for his decision comes after the deadline for those tags to be applied.

When Mack entered free agency, agent Marvin Demoff expressed confidence that he could construct a deal that would make Cleveland reluctant to match, despite the team’s wealth of cap space. However, the deal Mack and the Jags agreed to doesn’t look too hard to swallow for the Browns. Despite the significant guarantee, the Browns will be on the hook for about the same amount of money in 2014 ($10MM) that they’d expected, and less than that ($8MM) in 2015.

Still, despite accounts indicating that Mack wanted out of Cleveland, reports this week have suggested the center simply wanted to maximize his value, and he’ll do so with this deal. For the Browns’ part, they’ll keep a player that owner Jimmy Haslam said this week was a priority.

“We remain optimistic that Alex Mack will be a Cleveland Brown for a long time,” Haslam said. “We want him to be. I think we’ve made it very clear that he’s the kind of person, the kind of player we want in our organization.”

Mack, 28, has ranked among the top 10 centers according to Pro Football Focus’ advanced metrics (subscription required) in each one of his five seasons since entering the league in 2009. In 2013, he placed fourth overall, grading well above-average as both a pass blocker and a run blocker.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Pauline’s Latest: Pryor, Evans, Gaines, Pats

April 11th, 2014 at 2:12pm CST by Luke Adams

Here’s the latest draft buzz from Tony Pauline of DraftInsider.net:

Sources close to the club say that Louisville safety Calvin Pryor will be a priority for the Lions if he drops to the second day of the draft. I imagine that’d be the case for most teams, considering Pryor is widely considered one of the top two or three defensive backs in the draft.
There’s a consensus that Texas A&M wideout Mike Evans will be a top-10 pick, and the team that lands him may ultimately trade up or down to do it. Pauline identifies the Rams, Eagles, and Ravens as possible landing spots for Evans. Philadelphia could also be in the mix for receivers like Brandin Cooks or Marqise Lee.
Rice cornerback Phillip Gaines had dinner with the Jaguars last month and has worked out for the Bengals and Buccaneers. Gaines also has trips lined up with the Giants, Cardinals, and Dolphins.
The Patriots recently worked out Virginia Tech’s Logan Thomas and D.J. Coles, and Pauline suggests that there’s a belief New England will draft a quarterback this year, since the team expects to lose Ryan Mallett a year from now. As for Coles, the Pats had the receiver do plenty of tight end work during position drills.
Prior to tearing his ACL during a workout with the Saints, offensive lineman Brandon Thomas had official visits set up with the Raiders, Cowboys, Dolphins, and Panthers. He was also scheduled to work out for the Buccaneers and Giants. The workouts are obviously off the table now, but it’s not clear which of the visits will still happen, if any, says Pauline.
Towson running back Terrance West was impressive during his Pro Day and appeared to solidify himself as a fourth-round pick, according to Pauline.

Following Specific Players On PFR

April 11th, 2014 at 1:26pm CST by Luke Adams

As we’ve outlined before, there are a number of different ways to follow Pro Football Rumors via Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and RSS. If you don’t want to follow all the site’s updates, you can subscribe to team-specific or transaction-only Facebook, Twitter, and RSS feeds. Although we don’t have Facebook pages or Twitter feeds for specific players, it’s easy to follow all our updates on your favorite player.

If, for instance, you want to keep track of all the latest news and rumors on Chris Johnson as he navigates free agency, you can visit this page. If you’re interested in keeping tabs on the latest rumors involving Alex Mack‘s offer sheet, you can find Mack’s page right here. In addition to players, we also maintain archives for certain specific topics. For example, all our posts relating to the 2014 NFL draft can be found here.

Every player we’ve written about has his own rumors page, and each of those players also has his own RSS feed, making it even easier to follow the latest updates. Links to RSS feeds for specific players are all located on this page. You can also find links to RSS feeds for various miscellaneous categories there. For instance, if you only want to receive one update every Sunday recapping the week’s notable headlines, you can subscribe to our Week in Review RSS feed, right here.

Draft Visits: Raiders, Falcons, Bucs, Dolphins

April 11th, 2014 at 12:34pm CST by Luke Adams

It would be a surprise if Jadeveon Clowney is still on the board when the Raiders pick fifth overall in next month’s draft, but Oakland will nonetheless host the standout defensive end for a visit next week, according to John Middlekauff of 95.7 The Game (via Twitter). The team is also hosting Pittsburgh quarterback Tom Savage for a visit today, according to ESPN.com’s Paul Gutierrez. Savage isn’t a candidate for that No. 5 pick, but he’s drawn plenty of attention lately, and seems to be rising up a few draft boards.

Here’s more on pre-draft visits around the NFL:

The Falcons are hosting Boise State pass rusher Demarcus Lawrence for a pre-draft visit, according to ESPN.com’s Vaughn McClure. Agent David Canter recently tweeted that Lawrence has visits to 10 teams scheduled in a two-week span.
McClure also reports (via Twitter) that Texas A&M tackle Jake Matthews has a visit lined up with the Falcons for the week of April 21.
Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post passes along updates on a pair of prospects. According to Wilson, Arizona State linebacker Carl Bradford has met with the Jaguars, Dolphins, Chargers, and Falcons, while Marshall offensive tackle Garrett Scott is visiting the Raiders today after having also visited the Chiefs, Dolphins, and Buccaneers.
Florida State running back Devonta Freeman is among the players visiting the Dolphins today, writes Omar Kelly of the South Florida Sun Sentinel, adding that Freeman has also visited the Falcons and Patriots.
Another Florida State running back, James Wilder Jr., tells Roy Cummings of the Tampa Tribune (Twitter link) that he worked out for the Buccaneers today.
We’ve already heard plenty of reports about Kyle Fuller’s pre-draft visits, but Gil Brandt of NFL.com (Twitter link) adds a few more teams to Fuller’s list. According to Brandt, the Virginia Tech cornerback has worked out for the Titans, Buccaneers, and Falcons, and will also do so for the Bills and Rams, among other clubs.
Ole Miss wideout Donte Moncrief, who previously visited the Steelers, will work out for the Dolphins and Broncos next week, tweets Brandt.
UCF running back Storm Johnson will visit the 49ers on Monday and the Falcons later this month, says Matt Miller of Bleacher Report (Twitter links).

Alex Mack Signs Jaguars’ Offer Sheet

April 11th, 2014 at 12:18pm CST by Luke Adams

12:18pm: All the money in Mack’s offer sheet is in the form of base salary, tweets Albert Breer of the NFL Network. To recap all the details we’ve heard today and yesterday: Mack will earn $10MM guaranteed in year one, $8MM in year two, then will have an opportunity to opt out after 2015. The deadline for the option is the start of the 2016 league year, so he can avoid being tagged if he voids the deal. If he opts in, his $8MM salary in ’16 is fully guaranteed. The 2017 and 2018 base salaries are also worth $8MM each.

FRIDAY, 11:35am: Mack has signed the offer sheet from the Jaguars, tweets Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times-Union. According to ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter (via Twitter), it’s a five-year, $42MM deal with $26MM guaranteed, as we heard yesterday. The contract includes a player option after the second year and a no-trade provision, tweets Schefter.

The Browns will now have five days to match the offer.

WEDNESDAY, 3:56pm: While Mack enjoyed his visit with the Jaguars and intends to sign their offer sheet, he’s also “fully prepared” for the Browns to match it, tweets Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com.

3:22pm: Free agent center Alex Mack will sign a five-year offer sheet with the Jaguars by the end of the week, according to ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter (via Twitter). When Mack formally inks the offer from the Jags, the Browns will have five days to decide whether to match it or to let their transition player go to Jacksonville without receiving compensation. For his part, the veteran center is hoping the Browns choose not to match, since he wants to play for the Jags rather than in Cleveland, tweets Schefter.

According to Schefter (via Twitter), Mack’s offer sheet with the Jaguars will be constructed with the intent of making it difficult for the Browns to match. Mack’s agent, Marvin Demoff, has expressed optimism since the start of free agency that he can come up with a deal that will make Cleveland reluctant to match, despite the team’s wealth of cap space.

Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com recently spoke to several agents and executives to try to get an idea of how a hard-to-match offer sheet might work, and concluded that a two-year pact with a significant second-year roster bonus could make sense. If it’s a five-year offer from the Jaguars though, the club may go in another direction. Former agent Joel Corry suggests (via Twitter) that giving Mack the right to void the deal after 2014, or guaranteeing significant money in later seasons could discourage the Browns from taking on the contract.

In any case, given the Browns’ cap room and their desire to keep their All-Pro center, it won’t be easy for the Jags to find the right balance between discouraging Cleveland from matching and not simply overpaying Mack. Browns owner Jimmy Haslam indicated this week that his team won’t let Mack go without a fight.

“We remain optimistic that Alex Mack will be a Cleveland Brown for a long time,” Haslam said. “We want him to be. I think we’ve made it very clear that he’s the kind of person, the kind of player we want in our organization.”

Mack, 28, has ranked among the top 10 centers according to Pro Football Focus’ advanced metrics (subscription required) in each one of his five seasons since entering the league in 2009. In 2013, he placed fourth overall, grading well above-average as both a pass blocker and a run blocker.

By designating him as their transition player, the Browns committed to paying Mack about $10MM in 2014. A long-term deal may not feature an annual salary that high, but it could easily make the former first-round pick the highest-paid center in the NFL.

North Notes: Coleman, Vikings, Lions, Steelers

April 11th, 2014 at 10:59am CST by Luke Adams

After hosting Kurt Coleman for a visit this week, the Vikings offered the free agent safety a contract, but it wasn’t enough to get him to pull the trigger, according to Ben Goessling of ESPN.com (via Twitter). Although the two sides may revisit talks at a later time, Coleman appears to still be exploring all his options.

Here are a few more notes from the NFL’s two North divisions, with a focus on pre-draft visits:

The Vikings are conducting a private workout today with Eastern Illinois quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, tweets ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter.
We know the Lions have real interest in receiver Sammy Watkins, but apparently he’s not the only member of the family drawing attention from the club. Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press reports (via Twitter) that the Lions also had a private workout for Florida defensive back Jaylen Watkins, Sammy’s brother.
Ohio State cornerback Bradley Roby, Boston College linebacker Kevin Pierre-Louis, and Arizona State linebacker Carl Bradford are visiting the Steelers today, tweets Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun.
The Ravens recently met with Virginia Tech signal-caller Logan Thomas, who has also met with the Bengals, according to Wilson. As Wilson details, in addition to those AFC North teams, Thomas has also worked out for or met with the Patriots, Cardinals, and Texans.