2014 April - Pro Football Rumors

Poll: Alex Mack’s Offer Sheet

April 9th, 2014 at 10:35pm CST by Rob DiRe

The Browns will have five days to make a decision on whether or not to match the Jaguars offer sheet to center Alex Mack once he signs. The offer sheet would make Mack the highest paid center in the league, but the structure of the contract would make it a difficult decision, even for a team with cap space.

Mack’s contract is reportedly frontloaded, worth at least $18MM over the first two years and $27MM over the first three. The total value of the contract is yet to be disclosed, but it is a five-year deal.

Mack would reportedly prefer to go to the Jaguars, but even the frontloaded offer sheet is doable for the Browns, who were prepared to pay him over $10MM under the transition tag in 2014. Even if they expect him to opt out of the contract after the second year, it would most likely still be cheaper than tagging him consecutive years.

Will The Browns Match The Offer Sheet?

Yes 66.35% (347 votes)

No 33.65% (176 votes)

Total Votes: 523

Alex Mack’s Potential Poison Pill Contract

April 9th, 2014 at 9:35pm CST by Rob DiRe

Alex Mack‘s offer sheet will reportedly pay him between $18MM and $20MM over the first two years regardless of whether he ends up with the Browns or the Jaguars, reports Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. Including the third year, it could be worth as much as $27MM. All of the first three years could be fully guaranteed.

It would leave Mack with the option to void the deal after two years. The Jaguars reportedly feel they have a 50/50 chance of eventually bringing Mack in. The Browns will have five days to decide whether or not to match from the time Mack signs the offer sheet.

Mike Garafolo of Fox Sports 1 reports that this deal will make Mack the highest paid center in the NFL (via Twitter). He also notes that if Mack had played 2014 under the transition tag, that also would have made him the highest paid center that season (via Twitter). This new deal will make him the highest paid center over the course of a long term deal.

wrote a piece about the history of poison pill contracts, and what the NFL allows in terms of language that would dissuade a team from matching an offer. This is what has been expected of the Jaguars, as they are afraid the Browns will elect to match the offer. He writes that while the NFL has banned the practices that led to poison pill contracts like those of Steve Hutchinson and Nate Burleson following the 2005 season.

However, Fitzgerald writes that the Mack situation could be similar to the Curtis Martin contract in 1998, where the contract was frontloaded with an early player option. Based on the details already leaked, this type of contract is certainly in play.

NFC Visits: Rams, Coleman, Latimer

April 9th, 2014 at 8:46pm CST by Rob DiRe

The Rams are piling up their pre-draft activity, as the team brought in Pittsburgh quarterback Tom Savage today, reports Adam Caplan of ESPN (via Twitter). Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the team has also shown interest in South Carolina’s Connor Shaw and SMU’s Garrett Gilbert (via Twitter).

Thomas also noted that offensive lineman Zack Martin of Notre Dame was also scheduled to visit, but that meeting was cancelled (via Twitter). Thomas did not give a reason for the cancellation.

Here are some other visit information from around the NFC:

Kurt Coleman is visiting with the Vikings today, and will spend the night and continue to meet with the team tomorrow, reports Ben Goessling of ESPN.com (via Twitter).
Indiana wide receiver Cody Latimer had a meeting tonight with the Panthers, reports Alex Marvez of Fox Sports 1 (via Twitter). Latimer will have his pro day on April 25.
Iowa tight end C.J. Fiedorowicz is visiting the Buccaneers today, reports Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun. The 6’5″ tight end has worked out privately for the Buccaneers previously. He’s will visit the Jets next.

Browns Notes: Mack, Quarterback

April 9th, 2014 at 7:15pm CST by Rob DiRe

Alex Mack has agreed to an offer sheet with the Jaguars, reports Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports (via Twitter). He writes that the actual offer sheet has not been drawn up, but it will be submitted as soon as it is. It was reported earlier that Mack would be signing a five-year deal with the Jaguars, and that the team put language in that would make it as difficult as possible for the Browns to match.

Here are further reports regarding the Mack deal and the Browns’ offseason:

ESPN’s Adam Schefter had reported earlier that Mack would prefer to play out this contract in Jacksonville rather than have the Browns match (via Twitter). The Browns told Mack earlier in the offseason that they would not hold him hostage if he wanted to leave, according to Michael Silver of NFL.com (via Twitter). The general feeling is the Browns will strongly consider matching the offer.
Head coach Mike Pettine plans to bring in a veteran quarterback before the draft, writes Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal. The team only has Brian Hoyer and Alex Tanney currently on the roster, and with Hoyer not fully recovered from his ACL injury, they will need another arm for minicamp, which starts on April 29. Even if they bring in a veteran, the Browns will still be expected to target a quarterback in the draft.
Tom Pelissero of USA Today laid out a scenario that he believes some of the playoff teams picking at the end of the first round are hoping for, in which one or more of the top quarterbacks slides into the late first round (via Twitter). In this scenario, the Browns would be the last logical landing spot for a quarterback with the 26th pick, meaning the playoff teams with strong quarterback situations could look to trade down to a quarterback needy team at the top of the second round (via Twitter).

Pre-Draft Visits: Jaguars, Beckham, Raiders

April 9th, 2014 at 5:50pm CST by Rob DiRe

The Jaguars have been bringing in a number of notable prospects, including some of the draft’s top quarterbacks. Tomorrow they will add Alabama’s A.J. McCarron, LSU’s Zach Mettenberger, Fresno State’s Derek Carr, and UCF’s Blake Bortles, reports Albert Breer of the NFL Network (via Twitter).

Here are some other visits from across the NFL:

LSU wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. has a visit scheduled with the Bills for Thursday, reports Sirius NFL XM Radio (via Twitter). Beckham met with the 49ers and Steelers earlier this week.
Clemson defensive back Bashaud Breeland met with the Raiders on Tuesday, writes Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun. Breeland has played both safety and cornerback, and has already met with the Bills.
Nevada offensive lineman Joel Bitonio had his visit with the Rams today, reports Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post Dispatch (via Twitter). Thomas writes that Bitonio could be drafted somewhere as high as the late first round.

South Notes: Jaguars, Texans, Falcons

April 9th, 2014 at 4:44pm CST by Luke Adams

The Jaguars have been at the center of a number of NFL stories this week, with the team reportedly on the verge of signing Alex Mack to a five-year offer sheet and hosting some of 2014’s biggest prospects on pre-draft visits this week. Jacksonville continues to pop up in the news cycle, with the team playing a part in a couple of our late-afternoon updates out of the NFL’s South divisions. Let’s dive in….

Offensive lineman Rich Ohrnberger, who re-signed with the Chargers today, drew interest from the Jaguars before he agreed to return to San Diego, tweets Michael Gehlken of the San Diego Union-Tribune. It’s not likely that the Jags viewed Ohrnberger and Mack as equal commodities, but perhaps missing out on the former prompted the team to push harder to finalize an offer sheet with the latter.
Add LSU running back Jeremy Hill to the list of prospects visiting the Jaguars tomorrow, says Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times-Union (via Twitter).
Notre Dame defensive end Stephon Tuitt, who met with the Jags today, will visit the Texans tomorrow, according to Gil Brandt of NFL.com (via Twitter).
The Falcons have a visit lined up for next Wednesday with BYU outside linebacker Kyle Van Noy, tweets Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com.

Minor Moves: Scales, Dombrowski, Bunkley

April 9th, 2014 at 3:53pm CST by Luke Adams

Here’s a round-up of today’s more minor transactions, including contract restructures or signings and cuts involving players without much NFL experience:

After signing him to a futures contract in January, the Buccaneers have waived long snapper Patrick Scales, according to Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times (via Twitter). The move opens the door for Jeremy Cain to handle snaps for the Bucs in 2014.

Earlier updates:

Former Harvard punter Jake Dombrowski has signed with the Bills, according to his agency’s Facebook page (hat tip to Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun). The team has since confirmed the move in a press release. Dombrowski will provide some camp competition at the position for veteran punter Brian Moorman.
Saints defensive lineman Brodrick Bunkley has reworked his contract to help make room for the team’s latest signees, Rafael Bush and Champ Bailey, tweets Joel Corry of CBSSports.com. According to Corry, Bunkley cut his 2014 salary down to $1.65MM in exchange for a guaranteed $300K roster bonus, creating $2.85MM in cap savings for the club.

Extra Points: Carr, Johnson, Bailey, Bills

April 9th, 2014 at 2:12pm CST by Luke Adams

Although multiple reports have suggested that free agent signal-caller David Carr would like to end up on the team that drafts his brother Derek Carr, perhaps serving as Derek’s backup, that’s not necessarily the case, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com. Schefter tweets that the two brothers’ destinations aren’t related, and that David intends to sign with a club prior to draft day.

As the elder Carr continues to search for a new home, let’s round up a handful of updates from around the NFL….

Free agent running back Chris Johnson could theoretically try out for teams in private, without those workouts needing to be reported, but he doesn’t intend to do so, a league source tells Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. As Florio notes, it’s possible that Johnson could reach an agreement with a new team without even visiting that club, since the veteran is a known commodity at this point.
All NFL 32 teams were in attendance at LSU’s Pro Day today, including several general managers and head coaches, tweets Albert Breer of the NFL Network.
The details of Champ Bailey‘s two-year contract with the Saints have surfaced, and Joel Corry of CBSSports.com provides the breakdown (Twitter links): The base value is $3.75MM, though it can be worth up to $6.75MM with incentives and escalators. It’s guaranteed for $500K and includes a $250K roster bonus if Bailey is on the team for six games in 2014.
The Bills announced today that Texas A&M offensive tackle Jake Matthews and Louisville linebacker Preston Brown were in town to meet with the team.
Top cornerback prospect Justin Gilbert of Oklahoma State will visit the Titans on Friday, according to Jim Wyatt of the Tennessean (via Twitter).
Boise State wide receiver Geraldo Boldewijn, who was in New England today for a private workout, will visit the Cardinals on April 15, reports Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun (via Twitter). The Cards are also hosting Memphis safety Lonnie Ballentine today, tweets James Walker of ESPN.com.
The Packers will host Washington State offensive lineman John Fullington for an official pre-draft visit next week, tweets agent Collin Roberts.

Bengals Re-Sign Dane Sanzenbacher

April 9th, 2014 at 1:42pm CST by Luke Adams

WEDNESDAY, 1:42pm: Sanzenbacher’s one-year deal with the Bengals is actually worth $1.2MM, according to Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun (via Twitter). It consists of a $950K base salary, a $200K signing bonus, and a $50K workout bonus.

The figures are interesting, since the Bengals’ original RFA tender to Sanzenbacher was worth $1.431MM. At some point, the club may have rescinded that offer and negotiated a smaller salary with the receiver.

TUESDAY, 1:56pm: The Bengals have re-signed wide receiver Dane Sanzenbacher, according to the team (Twitter link). Sanzenbacher, a restricted free agent had received a $1.431MM tender from the Bengals last month, so he has likely accepted and signed that offer.

Sanzenbacher, who caught 27 balls during his rookie season with the Bears, has just seven receptions in the two years since then. However, he may earn a more significant role in the Bengals’ offense for 2014, considering the club lost Andrew Hawkins in free agency.

It took a little longer for Sanzenbacher’s contract situation to be resolved than it did for Cincinnati’s other two restricted free agents. Vincent Rey officially re-signed with the Bengals shortly after free agency opened, while Hawkins signed a lucrative offer sheet with the Browns that went unmatched by Cincinnati.

Chargers Re-Sign Rich Ohrnberger

April 9th, 2014 at 1:01pm CST by Luke Adams

The Chargers have officially re-signed offensive lineman Rich Ohrnberger to a one-year contract, the team announced today (via Twitter). The guard/center had been an unrestricted free agent.

Ohrnberger, 28, has spent time with the Patriots, Cardinals, and Chargers since being selected by New England in the fourth round of the 2009 draft. Although he started one game for San Diego last season, Ohrnberger has primarily served as a depth piece for the interior offensive line. In 2013, he played 161 regular-season offensive snaps for the Chargers.

Ohrnberger was said to be drawing interest as a potential starting guard or center at the start of free agency, but he’ll likely return to a part-time role in San Diego. Prior to agreeing to sign with the Chargers, the Penn State product visited the Jets.