East Notes: Patriots, Brady, Dez, Eagles
The latest out of the East divisions…
- Given that Tom Brady is likely to be suspended for his role in the DeflateGate controversy, Mike Reiss of ESPN.com wonders if the Patriots are likely to add another quarterback to their offseason roster. As it stands, New England carries only Jimmy Garoppolo and Garrett Gilbert, both 2014 draft picks who have 10 pass attempts (all by Garoppolo) between them, behind Brady. Reiss floats the idea of the Pats signing a veteran backup such as Matt Flynn, while Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk tosses out Tarvaris Jackson, Jason Campbell, and Michael Vick as possible options.
- One other quarterback to add to that list (based purely on my speculation): Chargers backup Kellen Clemens, who played under Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels when both were with the Rams in 2011. If for some reason San Diego decided to release the 31-year-old Clemens — saving $1.5MM in the process — I’d imagine New England would at least take a look at him.
- Cowboys executive Stephen Jones reiterated that the club wants to hammer out an extension with Dez Bryant, but noted the difficulty in determining the fair market value. “I think a lot of people want to naturally assume it’s a Dez Bryant-Cowboy issue,” Jones told Jon Machota of the Dallas Morning News. “I think it’s a bigger issue than that right now. There’s three or four young receivers in this league other than Dez that are going to be looking for long-term contracts.” As Machota notes, Jones was likely referencing Demaryius Thomas, A.J. Green, and Julio Jones, a trio of pass-catchers all in search of new deals.
- After the Eagles drafted receiver Nelson Agholor in the first round, fellow pass-catcher Riley Cooper isn’t guaranteed a starting job this season, writes Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Cooper was good for just 577 receiving yards last season, and graded out as the league’s worst receiver among 100 qualifiers, per Pro Football Focus (subscription required). With Agholor joining Jordan Matthews, Josh Huff, and Miles Austin as receiving threats, Cooper could see his role greatly reduced.
Seahawks Notes: T. Jackson, Archer, Bennett
While contract talks between the Seahawks and Russell Wilson seem to be stalled, Seattle is interested in continuing negotiations with another quarterback: backup Tarvaris Jackson. We heard last month that the club was still talking with the 31-year-old Jackson, and today head coach Pete Carroll told reporters, including Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times (Twitter link), that the Seahawks want to bring Jackson back.
Here’s more from the Pacific Northwest, with all links going to Condotta’s Twitter account unless otherwise noted:
- If Seattle isn’t able to reach an agreement with Jackson, fellow quarterback R.J. Archer, who owns a 90-man roster spot, could see more time, and Carroll praised the play of Archer today. The 27-year-old Archer, who has spent most of his professional career in the CFL, has never appeared in an NFL game.
- Carroll said that he has no concerns about the status of defensive lineman Michael Bennett. Bennett recently stated that though he wouldn’t mind a salary increase, he isn’t angling for a trade as was previously reported.
- Receivers coach Kippy Brown is in the process of retiring, and assistant quarterbacks coach Dave Canales will take over his role. Canales has been with the Seahawks since 2013.
- Several tryout players earned praise from the Seattle staff, including receiver Kasen Williams, and offensive linemen Kona Schwenke and Jesse Davis (Twitter link via Terry Blount of ESPN.com). As both scribes note, any of the aforementioned players could be favorites to land a contract in the coming days.
Falcons Sign Two UDFAs, Waive Three
After their three-day minicamp concluded earlier today, the Falcons have made several roster moves, adding a couple of players while subtracting three others:
Signed:
- Matt Huffler, T, South Dakota
- Jonathan Mincy, DB, Auburn
Waived:
- Chris Brown, DT, Tarleton State
- Jordan Ozerities, CB, Central Florida
- Joshua Stangby, WR, Ottawa
The three players who were waived were all recently signed as undrafted free agents, so this series of moves constitutes some back-end roster shuffling as Atlanta adds two more UDFAs. The Falcons also signed three of their draft picks this morning, and now have five of seven draft selections under contract.
Extension Candidate: Sam Bradford
As soon as the Eagles acquired quarterback Sam Bradford on March 10, rumors began to swirl that the former Ram wasn’t long for Philadelphia. Both St. Louis head coach Jeff Fisher and Eagles head coach Chip Kelly both claimed that they’d been offered a first-round pick for Bradford (the Browns were eventually revealed as the mystery club), and many assumed that the former 
No. 1 overall pick was simply trade bait, an asset for Kelly to flip in an effort to acquire his former college QB, Oregon’s Marcus Mariota.
As the draft approached, it appeared that Bradford was still on the table, as reports indicated that Kelly was attempting to deal some combination of draft picks, defensive lineman Fletcher Cox, cornerback Brandon Boykin, linebacker Mychal Kendricks, and Bradford in an effort to acquire either the No. 1 or No. 2 overall pick. Kelly later denied that he offered Bradford (or any other players) in trade negotiations, but Mike Freeman of Bleacher Report said the Eagles offering up Bradford “like he was a slice of pizza.”
In the end, neither the Buccaneers nor the Titans accepted any of Philadelphia’s rumored proposals, and ultimately selected quarterbacks Jamies Wintson and Mariota, respectively. The Eagles, meanwhile, stayed put at pick No. 20, and drafted USC receiver Nelson Agholor. Kelly & Co. now appear fully committed to utilizing Bradford as their starting quarterback in 2015, and apparently still have interest in extending him.
Even if Bradford and the Eagles agree to discuss a multi-year deal, there could be significant hurdles to clear. For his part, Bradford has indicated that he won’t accept a “substandard” extension; rather, he’d prefer to play out 2015, hope for a strong season, and reassess his market value during next year’s free agent period. So if Philadelphia has hopes of leveraging Bradford’s injury issues into a team-friendly contract, it might be disappointed.
For Bradford, this mindset makes complete sense. As the final No. 1 overall pick under the previous contractual bargaining agreement, Bradford was able to sign a rookie deal that had no slot value, and offered significantly larger base salaries and guarantees than the current CBA allows for. Somewhat surprisingly given his injury history, Bradford will end up playing out the entirety of his six-year rookie contract, earning $78MM in the process. Provided he’s managed his money correctly, Bradford has zero financial incentive to settle for a mediocre extension — he can simply wait out the Eagles until they offer a package that he likes, or head to free agency next March.
From the Eagles’ perspective, a possible extension for Bradford carries risk for two opposing reasons. On one hand, Kelly’s offensive scheme has the power to inflate quarterback statistics — take Nick Foles‘ 2013 season, or part of Mark Sanchez‘s 2014 season, for example. Bradford may not be the perfect fit for Kelly’s system that Mariota was, but neither was Foles or Sanchez. It’s not difficult to imagine Bradford posting an excellent 2015 season, and in the process significantly upping his contract demands. With that in mind, working out an extension now could save Philadelphia money in the long run.
On the other hand, it’s difficult not to be wary of Bradford’s lengthy injury history. He’s now suffered two torn ACLs in his five-year career, and he’s played in only 49 out of a possible 80 games since entering the league. The Eagles unquestionably field a better offensive line than the Rams, which should lead to a cleaner pocket for Bradford and in theory, less injury potential. But it could be tough for Philadelphia to commit a large sum of money to a player who might not be on the field too often.
Though Bradford may not be the perfect fit for Kelly’s scheme, Kelly realizes that finding such a quarterback could prove difficult. Additionally, the Eagles plan to be in a constant state of contention, meaning they will reload, not rebuild, as Kelly explained to Derrick Gunn of CSNPhilly.com last week:
“[T]he one thing I can promise is that we’re not going to just sit there and hopefully in a couple of years we’re going to build this thing. We’re not waiting for the draft of 2017 to turn this thing around.
“[I]f you want to play with the odds as we want to play, it’s got to be with a quarterback situation and then the only way you’re going to get a quarterback is you got to be really not very good so you finish in the top 1-2 in the draft. If we’re not very good and we finish with the top 1-2 in the draft, I don’t think I’m going to be here, so we better find another way to find a quarterback.”
Kelly is clearly happy with Bradford as his starting quarterback, and Bradford seems to want to stay in Philadelphia, as reports last month indicated that he would only sign an extension that contained a no-trade clause because he wants to play for Kelly. Now that the draft has passed without him being dealt, Bradford probably isn’t dead-set on such a clause any longer, but the sentiment remains.
Ultimately, I think a short-term extension makes the most sense for both sides. It’s easy to forget that Bradford is still just 27 years old, so tacking on three years to his current deal would result in him hitting the free agent market at 31, when he could garner yet another large contract. Bradford could end up earning a somewhat surprising total — the fact the clubs were willing to part with a first-rounder to acquire him signifies his value in the current QB-scarce landscape.
A three-year deal that compares to that of Cardinals signal-caller Carson Palmer could make some sense — at age 35, Palmer is significantly older than Bradford, but he also has a more recent record of success. Palmer is scheduled to earn almost $50MM over three seasons, with $14MM in full guarantees. I’d guess that a Bradford extension would come in lower than that, maybe around $35-40MM, with roughly the same guarantees. It would also need to come with serious injury protection for the Eagles, and would probably contain quite a bit of money tied up in per-game roster bonuses — if Bradford isn’t on the field, he wouldn’t be earning those bonuses.
Whether or not Bradford would accept such a deal is the central question. Would he prefer to bet on himself, hope to perform well this season, and offer his services to the highest bidder next March? Or does he want to commit to a talented coach in Kelly and a team that is set up for success? The answer could provide the blueprint for the Eagles future for years to come.
Bengals Sign Terrelle Pryor, Four Others
Following his release from the Chiefs last week, former Ohio State standout Terrelle Pryor has landed with the Bengals, who also announced the signing of four more players:
- Mario Alford, WR
- Erick Dargan, DB
- John Peters, TE
- Kalafitoni Pole, DT
The 25-year-old Pryor is obviously the biggest name in the group, and now he’ll compete to be Cincinnati’s backup quarterback behind starter Andy Dalton. Pryor, who tried out for the Bengals on Friday during the club’s rookie minicamp, hasn’t appeared in a NFL game since 2013, when he started nine games for the Raiders. Jason Campbell, the Bengals’ No. 2 QB last season, remains unsigned, so Pryor will compete with 2014 draft pick A.J. McCarron for the backup position.
While three of the players listed above are undrafted free agents, Alford was selected by the Bengals in the seventh round of last week’s draft. The West Virginia product, who will compete to act as a reserve receiver while also angling for time on special teams, should be in line for a four-year deal worth about $2.34MM, according to Over the Cap’s rookie pool estimates.
In addition to today’s signings, Cincinnati also released tight end Kevin Brock, who appeared in 14 games for the club last season.
Dallas Robinson contributed to this post.
Draft Notes: Vikings, Rams, Patriots, Bears
The Vikings could have an exciting offense next season, and that’s because the front office dedicated last year’s draft picks to improving their team on that side of the ball. Although the organization had acquired some foundational players, including quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, head coach Mike Zimmer said his team was still considering offensive weapons in the first round of this year’s draft. Via Jim Souhan of the Star Tribune…
“The Teddy thing was huge because that was really the number one priority of the organization. We had to get a quarterback we thought could take us to the next level. Honestly, we didn’t go into this draft saying this was going to be a defensive draft. We went in and we had offensive guys targeted, but they might have gotten picked before we could pick them.
When we picked Trae Waynes, there were three or four guys there we thought we would be happy with, but part of it with Trae was the position he plays. Typically when you draft those corners, you draft pretty high. Once it gets down lower, to the second round, they don’t produce like the higher picks. Knock on wood — we hope we’re drafting a little lower next year.”
Let’s take a look at some more draft notes from around the NFL…
- The Rams were involved in the bidding for undrafted free agent La’el Collins, head coach Jeff Fisher told ESPN.com’s Nick Wagoner. “Yeah, we were involved in it,” Fisher said. “There were some things, we still had some unanswered questions at the time in which he made his decision but we were involved. We were told by them that we were in the final four, which is not necessarily a consolation but we were involved, yes.”
- Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston and Colts quarterback Andrew Luck contacted Collins to recruit him to their respective teams, tweets Fox Sports’ Alex Marvez. The reporter adds that the lineman seriously considered the Dolphins‘ pitch.
- Mike Reiss of ESPN.com believes the Patriots would have willingly traded their first-rounder if an inquiring team had sweetened their offer. Ideally, the Patriots would have preferred an early second-round pick and a third-round pick in return. Reiss clarifies that the team is still please with their selection of Malcom Brown.
- The Bears had been eyeing quarterback Shane Carden during the draft, and ESPN.com’s Jeff Dickerson writes that the team was thrilled about the opportunity to sign the player as an undrafted free agent. “He was actually a guy that we had good grades on, a guy that could have potentially been a draft pick,” Bears coach John Fox told Dickerson. “Our scouts, obviously, saw a lot more of him than the coaching staff. But he was productive, smart. He has good moxie, being able to execute in a pass offense that throws the ball quite a bit and was very productive.”
PFR Originals: 5/3/15 – 5/10/15
The original content produced by the PFR staff during the past week:
- Luke Adams provided us with an update on restricted free agents. A large portion of the restricted free agent class, including Seahawks wideout Jermaine Kearse and Ravens safety Will Hill, simply signed their tenders. Defensive end George Johnson and safety Sean Richardson signed offer sheets with other teams, and Chris Polk had his RFA tender rescinded by the Eagles. Although the deadline to sign with another team was in April, two restricted free agents (both Browns) remain unsigned: safety Tashaun Gipson and defensive tackle Ishmaa’ily Kitchen.
- The deadline for teams to decide whether to pick up their 2012 first-rounder’s fifth-year option was last Sunday, and Luke reviewed who had their option exercised and who did not.
- Luke asked which draft-day faller ultimately ended up being the best value. More than a quarter of you pointed to the Cowboys‘ selection of defensive end/linebacker Randy Gregory, while 18-percent of you said Texans‘ wideout Jaelen Strong.
- As teams look to ink their draft picks to rookie contracts, you can stay updated on the progress of your favorite team.
Week In Review: 5/3/15 – 5/10/15
The headlines from the past week at PFR:
Key News:
- Teams have began to ink their draft selections to rookie contracts. Keep track of all the signings right here.
- Organizations have also been signing undrafted rookies, as well as bringing in potential signees for tryouts. Keep track of all these moves on our Transaction page.
- While most teams made a decision on players’ fifth-year options last week, we learned the status of a handful of players, including Doug Martin and Morris Claiborne, this week. Check out how your favorite team handled this decision right here.
- The Cowboys signed undrafted free agent (and projected first round pick) La’el Collins.
- Ted Wells released his ‘DeflateGate’ report; Tom Brady suspension looming?
- Seahawks, Russell Wilson not close to extension.
- Washington tight end Fred Davis reinstated by the NFL
Signed/Re-signed:
- Bills – DL Alex Carrington (link)
- Seahawks – WR Jermaine Kearse (link)
Released:
- Giants – WR Kevin Ogletree (link)
- Giants – LB Terrell Manning (link)
- Raiders – WR James Jones (link)
- Raiders – OL Kevin Boothe (link)
- Raiders – LB Miles Burris (link)
Extension:
- Texans – OLB Whitney Mercilus (link)
Waivers:
- Bears – claimed OL Paul Cornick from Broncos, subsequently waived (link)
- Cardinals – claimed CB Alfonzo Dennard, who was previously waived by Patriots
- Chiefs – waived QB Terrelle Pryor (link)
Injured:
Retired:
- Cardinals – TE John Carlson (link)
- Cowboys – DT Josh Brent (link)
- Jaguars – QB David Garrard (link)
- Jets – OT Corey Hilliard (link)
- Ravens – S Ed Reed (link)
- Titans – OLB Kamerion Wimbley (link)
Other:
- 49ers linebacker Ahmad Brooks accused of assault (link)
- Justin Smith will sit down with 49ers to discuss future (link)
- Latest on Seahawks rookie Frank Clark (link)
- Bengals OT Andrew Whitworth is pushing for an extension (link)
- Dolphins wideout Rishard Matthews seeking trade or release (link)
- Cowboys haven’t talked pay cut with cornerback Brandon Carr (link)
- Brandon Spikes visited the Patriots (link)
- Free agent offensive tackle Joe Barksdale worked out for the Falcons (link)
- Some Colts players weren’t happy with the team’s first-round selection (link)
Falcons Sign Three Draft Picks
The Falcons inked second-round pick Jalen Collins to a contract yesterday, and the front office wasn’t finished securing their rookies. According to Jay Adams of AtlantaFalcons.com, the team has signed receiver Justin Hardy (round 4), tackle Jake Rodgers (round 7) and cornerback Akeem King (round 7).
The team has now signed five of their seven draft picks, having reportedly come to an agreement with fifth-round defensive tackle Grady Jarrett on Friday. First-round pick Vic Beasley and third-rounder Tevin Coleman remain unsigned.
Extra Points: Fowler, Jordan, Giants, Bolts
Although Jaguars defensive end and third overall pick Dante Fowler Jr. tore his ACL in rookie camp earlier this week and won’t play in 2015, don’t expect the team to shortchange him on his first contract. Fowler, who is currently unsigned, will still receive the deal he was originally going to get, tweets Michael DiRocco of ESPN.com.
The injury to Fowler might bring about a change in the structure of his contract, not the value, according to Joel Corry of CBSSports.com. That could include an offset clause in Fowler’s deal, meaning the Jags would owe him less money in the event that they release him down the line. Further, in the wake of Fowler’s injury, Corry believes agents could insist their unsigned clients sit out rookie minicamp in the future.
Here’s other news from around the league as Saturday wraps up:
- Linebacker Dion Jordan, whom the Dolphins chose third overall in 2013, has an uncertain future with the team after his most recent suspension, writes Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald. While the Dolphins stood by Jordan in the past, head coach Joe Philbin isn’t committed to having him back in 2016.
- It isn’t set in stone that ninth overall pick Ereck Flowers will be the Giants’ starting right tackle in 2015, according to offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo. “Justin Pugh, right now, is the starting right tackle for the Giants,” said McAdoo, per Ebenezer Samuel of the New York Daily News.
- If Flowers doesn’t end up on the right side, there’s a chance he could be the Giants’ solution at left tackle. “We believe that he has a skill set to play left tackle in this league,’’ McAdoo said, according to Paul Schwartz of the New York Post. “We will give him opportunities to train at multiple spots.’’
- Chargers team president Dean Spanos met with San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer earlier this week. That might be a sign negotiations on a new stadium are picking up, writes Eric D. Williams of ESPN.com. Williams expects the Chargers to give an update on their situation in two weeks at the league’s owners meetings. If a new stadium deal isn’t reached between the Chargers and San Diego by the end of next season, the team will be able to relocate. Carson, Calif., is its likely destination.
Rob DiRe contributed to this post.