The Jaguars have moved a step closer to locking up their entire 2015 draft class, agreeing to terms with running back T.J. Yeldon on his rookie contract. The team tweeted out a photo of Yeldon signing his deal today, following this morning’s practice session.
The 36th overall pick in this year’s draft, Yeldon was the third running back to come off the board, behind first-rounders Todd Gurley and Melvin Gordon. In Jacksonville, the Alabama product will join a young Jags offense that features 2014 draftees Blake Bortles, Marqise Lee, and Allen Robinson, along with free agent addition Julius Thomas.
Per Over The Cap, Yeldon will be in line for a four-year contract worth about $5.914MM. Because he fell just outside the first round, Yeldon won’t have a fifth-year option on his contract, but he’ll get a signing bonus worth approximately $2.561MM.
With Yeldon locked up, the Jaguars have signed seven of their eight draftees. Only third-round offensive lineman A.J. Cann remains unsigned.
The Cowboys’ signing of former first-round pick A.J. Jenkins yesterday drew some attention, but there’s a good chance that Dallas simply added Jenkins to its roster to help the team get through its offseason program. With Dez Bryant not expected to participate in OTAs, and his attendance for June’s minicamp still a question mark, Jenkins represents another healthy body at the wide receiver position, perhaps one with a little upside.
It’s possible that Bryant returns to fully participate in Dallas’ offseason program sooner rather than later, but that would likely require the two sides reaching resolution on his contract situation. Having been assigned the franchise tag, Bryant is in line to earn a one-year salary of $12.823MM if he signs his one-year contract tender, but he hasn’t done so yet.
Like most star players who are franchised, Bryant would presumably prefer to secure a long-term extension rather than going year to year with the Cowboys. However, while the 26-year-old’s on-field production leaves no question that he should be paid like one of the NFL’s top receivers, Dallas may still have lingering concerns about his history of off-field issues.
As Joel Corry of CBSSports.com noted last week when he took a look at Bryant’s situation, the Cowboys’ most recent publicly-reported contract offer looked massive at first glance, featuring a $114MM overall price tag. However, that offer was reportedly for 10 years, with just $20MM in guaranteed money. That’s a very team-friendly structure, considering consecutive franchise tags would pay Bryant significantly more than $25MM in guaranteed money, and would leave him in position to hit the open market at age 28.
Corry points out that the Cowboys are making the Bryant negotiations trickier for themselves by making concessions in contract agreements with other players whose off-field concerns were arguably more significant than Bryant’s — the club was willing to include a clause in Greg Hardy‘s contract that prevents him from being franchised, and La’el Collins‘ new deal doesn’t feature any offsets. Depending on how the negotiations with Bryant progress, the wideout’s camp may point to those deals and rightly argue that a player with Bryant’s track record (an average of 1,312 yards and 14 touchdowns per year since 2012) should receive even more favorable terms.
With Julio Jones, Demaryius Thomas, and A.J. Green also in line for new deals this offseason, all four teams may be trying to wait out the market rather than setting it themselves. In Thomas’ and Bryant’s cases, a July 15 deadline looms — if no long-term contract is worked out by that point, signing the one-year franchise tag looks like the most likely outcome for both star receivers.
What do you think? Does Bryant sign a multiyear extension with the Cowboys within the next few weeks, or is it more probable that he plays out the year on his franchise tag?
Vikings star Adrian Peterson can get out of his current entanglement with the team by firing agent Ben Dogra, Tom Powers of the Pioneer Press opines. Powers says that AD should dump the former CAA rep and then spin the story to make it sound like he had been acting on bad advice. Of course, Dogra and Peterson appear to be thick as theives and there is no indication of discord between the two. Here’s more from around the NFL..
The alleged victim of Ray McDonald‘s domestic violence incident on Monday told 911 that he violently broke through a bedroom door to get to his ex-fiancée and their infant, Robert Salonga of the Mercury News writes. On Monday, McDonald’s attorney intimated that his client was innocent of the charges.
Bills coach Rex Ryan says he’s in the dark when it comes to Chris Williams‘ absence from team OTAs, as Vic Carucci of The Buffalo News tweets. “I don’t know if he’s going to be planning on coming back or what; I haven’t seen him,” Ryan said.
NFL owners voted to allow irrevocable trusts to own teams, which will greatly ease estate planning, Daniel Kaplan of Sports Business Journal tweets. Owners also voted to drop the amount a family member of an ownership group must control of the NFL team from 10% to 5% (link). In a third measure, owners voted to increase the amount of debt a team can borrow from $200MM to $250MM, Kaplan tweets.
The Jetsannounced that they have hired seven new scouts to work under senior director of college scouting Rex Hogan. In addition to the previously reported hire of Lee Gissendaner, the list also includes former Chiefs scout Dom Green.
The Raiders have a solid backup plan at quarterback thanks to the presence of Christian Ponder, Scott Bair of CSNBayArea.com writes. “This offense is a little different than what I ran in Minnesota, but some of the things carry over,” Ponder said. “It is nice to be out there getting reps. I didn’t get many last year (in Minnesota) with Matt Cassel and Teddy (Bridgewater). When you’re in a new situation, the added playing time certainly helps you get your feet wet.” So far, Bair says that Ponder’s transition has been a smooth one. More from the AFC West..
Despite his contract issues with the team, Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers is going about his business just as he does every offseason, Kevin Acee of U-T San Diego writes. Rivers said he was “certain” to play out the final year on his deal if something was not done before training camp began. There hasn’t been a whole lot of talk between the Bolts and Rivers’ agent in recent weeks.
Chiefs coach Andy Reid gave reporters an update on standout defensive back Eric Berry, who is currently battling Hodgkin’s lymphoma. “He’s been through all the treatments,” Reid explained, according to the team’s website. “Now the doctor’s going to sit down with him and go over exactly what the results of that are. We don’t have that. Eric doesn’t have it quite yet. Everything up to this point has been very positive from the doctor and from Eric, so I think we’re headed in the right direction.”
Washington head coach Jay Gruden says he expects quarterback Robert Griffin III to make “significant strides” in 2015, as Tarik El-Bashir of CSNWashington.com writes. Gruden named Griffin the No. 1 quarterback entering the offseason back in February and earlier this month, he had his fifth-year option exercised for 2016. Tonight’s glance at the NFC..
When asked how likely it is to get a deal done with Russell Wilson before camp, Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said: “I don’t know that. Not talking about that right now,” Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times tweets. However, the coach did say that the two sides have been “very close” in how they have communicated (link).
The NFLPA hired an outside firm to help represent Cowboys defensive end Greg Hardy in his appeal on Wednesday, Jason Cole of Bleacher Report tweets.
David Moore of The Dallas Morning News doesn’t see Adrian Peterson winding up with the Cowboys. Moore always felt that Peterson coming to Dallas was possible, but that was tied into the draft. Now that the draft is in the rear view mirror, he doesn’t see it happening.
Earlier today, we rounded up the day’s smaller transactions. Here are the latest minor moves..
The Seahawks announced they have signed draft picks Frank Clark and Tyler Lockett to their rookie contracts, Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times tweets. Seattle now has all of its picks under contract.
The Cowboys officially signed third-round offensive lineman Chaz Green, Aaron Wilson of The Baltimore Sun tweets. With Green in the fold, only two picks remain unsigned for Dallas: cornerback Byron Jones and linebacker Damien Wilson.
The Steelers removed wide receiver L’Damian Washington from injured reserve with an injury settlement, according to Wilson (on Twitter).
The Browns have signed offensive lineman Eric Olsen and linebacker Mike Reilly, according to Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon-Journal (on Twitter). Olsen, a four-year NFL vet, has appeared in 23 games with four starts over the course of his career. Reilly was a participant in Cleveland’s rookie minicamp.
The Raiders have signed seventh-round cornerback Dexter McDonald. McDonald was selected 242nd overall by the Raiders in the 2015 NFL Draft. He played three seasons at Kansas, starting 24-of-31 games at cornerback.
Despite rumors that he might not show up for offseason workouts, Steelers receiver Antonio Brown joined his teammates on Tuesday, as Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com writes. Brown may be pushing for a new deal, but he’s not pouting in public over it. “This is a community that I love,” Brown said Tuesday. “My kids go to school here. I want to keep a good reputation. Obviously money’s not important to me. I’ve got enough. The organization has extremely blessed me. I’m ready to play football.” When asked directly whether he’s looking for a new deal, Brown said that’s “not my business to discuss” and directed questions to agent Drew Rosenhaus. More from the AFC North..
Browns center Alex Mack said “absolutely not” when asked if he has decided whether he’ll opt out of contract after 2015 season, Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon-Journal tweets. Mack is in line for a fully guaranteed salary of $8MM in 2015 and he can opt in for the same amount in 2016. If Mack opts out after the 2015 season, 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.
Two team executives say that clubs won’t give former Ravens running back Ray Rice a chance after Ray McDonald‘s latest arrest, according to Jason Cole of Bleacher Report (video link). Some in football are also wondering if there will be penalties imposed against teams that take chances on guys like McDonald in the event of a repeat offense.
The Steelers (on Twitter) announced that they have named Steve Meyer a coaching assistant. Meyer served as the team’s scouting intern in 2013 and 2014.
The appeal hearing for Cowboys defensive end Greg Hardy will be conducted on Thursday morning with Harold Henderson in Washington D.C., according to Ed Werder of ESPN.com (on Twitter). Hardy was hit with a 10-game suspension earlier this offseason for his role in a domestic violence incident that took place roughly one year ago. Hardy made the Pro Bowl in 2013 after he compiled a career-high 15 sacks, and Pro Football Focus (subscription required) ranked him as the second-best overall defensive end in the league. Here’s a look at the AFC and NFC East..
The only thing delaying the date for Tom Brady‘s appeal is finding a date that works for both the Patriots quarterback and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, Werder tweets.
Evan Mathis was a no-show for start of Eagles OTAs, as Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer tweets. The workouts, much like the previous programs that Mathis missed, are all voluntary. Mandatory minicamp starts on June 16th.
The Jets promoted Matt Bazirgan to become the new pro personnel director, according to Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News. Bazirgan, who has been with Jets since 2004, was an area scout for eight years before being promoted to assistant pro personnel director in 2013. Bazirgan replaces Brendan Prophett, who spent nine seasons as the head of the Jets’ pro personnel department.
Here are Tuesday’s minor transactions from around the NFL, with any additional moves added to the top of the list throughout the evening:
The Coltsannounced a series of roster moves today, adding free agent cornerback Chance Casey and undrafted guard Will Corbin. In a corresponding transaction, the club waived-injured cornerback Joshua Mitchell, who will revert to IR if he clears waivers. Casey saw some regular season action over the last two years with the Raiders, and also spent time with the Niners.
Undrafted rookie free agent Zach D’Orazio signed with the Patriots today, a league source tells Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post. The former Akron wideout informed Cleveland broadcaster John Telich (Twitter link) yesterday that he’d be signing with New England.
The Browns have waived a pair of players who spent time on the team’s practice squad in 2014, according to a team release. Linebacker Keith Pough and defensive lineman Calvin Barnett were both cut, with Pough receiving an injury designation (hamstring).
Defensive lineman Daryl Waud, who signed with Washington last week following a tryout, has been waived with a left squad designation, the club announced today (Twitter link). Waud is expected to join the CFL’s Toronto Argonauts after clearing waivers.
As expected, the Vikings’ organized team activities got underway today without Adrian Peterson, and the running back is prepared to forfeit his $250K workout bonus by not reporting to Minnesota’s OTAs. Unhappy with his current situation, Peterson has “ruminated on the possibility of retirement more than once” since last season, according to Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com.
The update from La Canfora appears to be the latest attempt by Peterson’s camp to regain some leverage in the running back’s standoff with the Vikings. The team has so far expressed a complete unwillingness to explore trade possibilities for Peterson, and at this point in the offseason, it’s not likely that there would be a long list of suitors anyway.
As Jason Cole of Bleacher Report (video link) observes, while renegotiating Peterson’s contract to guarantee some money is one tactic the Vikings could use to try to mend fences with their star running back, the 30-year-old’s primary goal is to play somewhere besides Minnesota. Still, no matter how strong Peterson’s desire is to move on, or how many rumors his camp leaks about a potential holdout or the possibility of retirement, the Vikes appear unlikely to change their stance, writes La Canfora.
Except for perhaps the Cowboys, no team currently looks like a reasonable trade partner for the Vikings, and it has always seemed like a long shot that any club would part with multiple top draft picks to land a 30-year-old running back set to earn a $12.75MM salary. Ultimately, as La Canfora outlines, the end game now is probably what it has been all along — the Vikes making some changes to Peterson’s contract, and perhaps restoring the bonuses that he’s currently in the process of forfeiting.
With Peterson and agent Ben Dogra digging their heels in, it may be a few weeks – or even months – before we find out how this situation will be resolved. However, this late in the offseason, it would be an unexpected twist if Peterson retired or was traded.