2016 March - Pro Football Rumors

FA Rumors: Norman, Dolphins, Eagles, Chiefs

March 31st, 2016 at 4:25pm CST by Luke Adams

As players like Olivier Vernon and Malik Jackson signed huge, long-term contracts earlier this month, players like Broncos pass rusher Von Miller and Panthers cornerback Josh Norman were forced to watch, unable to land lucrative new mega-deals of their own. As Jason Cole of Bleacher Report (video link) details, Miller and Norman have been frustrated by the franchise tag system, which prevents star players from cashing in like some lesser free agents have.

In Norman’s case, fellow cornerback Janoris Jenkins got a five-year, $62.5MM as an unrestricted free agent, but according to David Newton of ESPN.com, the Panthers haven’t gone to that $12.5MM-per-year range in their extension talks with Norman. If the Carolina corner had been able to reach the open market himself, he likely would’ve surpassed easily, so it’s not a surprise that Miller and Norman would like to see the franchise tag system go away, according to Cole.

Here’s more on free agency:

The Dolphins signed Isaiah Pead today, but they continue to seek running back help, and worked out former Buccaneers back Bobby Rainey, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. Rainey ran for nearly 1,000 total yards in 2013 and 2014, but had just five carries last season.
After paying a visit to Pittsburgh, free agent offensive lineman Stefen Wisniewski met with the Eagles today, a source tells Rapoport (Twitter link). Wisniewski is arguably the top center still on the board, though he’d be unlikely to start in the middle if he were to sign with Philadelphia.
The Chiefs hosted free agent safety Jeron Johnson for a visit on Wednesday, a source tells Terez A. Paylor of the Kansas City Star (Twitter link). After serving as a backup DB and a special-teamer for several years in Seattle, Johnson signed with Washington last year and appeared poised to get the opportunity to player more. However, things didn’t work out in D.C., and Johnson was cut earlier this month.
In addition to having hosted Johnson, the Chiefs are bringing in another defender, linebacker Andy Mulumba, for a visit, per Weston Hodkiewicz of the Green Bay Press-Gazette (Twitter link). Mulumba, who has played 22 games for the Packers during the last three seasons, also visited the Patriots, according to Hodkiewicz.
Free agent defensive lineman Jack Crawford is paying a visit to the Jets, a source tells Brian Costello of the New York Post (Twitter link). Crawford, who visited Pittsburgh this week, picked up four sacks as a part-timer in Dallas in 2015
Todd Archer of ESPN.com explains how recently-signed free agent defensive end Benson Mayowa can opt out of his deal with the Cowboys after two seasons and hit the open market again in 2018.

Bears To Sign Omar Bolden

March 31st, 2016 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

The Bears and head coach John Fox have added yet another former Bronco to their roster, according to Troy Renck of the Denver Post, who reports (via Twitter) that Chicago is signing defensive back and special-teamer Omar Bolden to a one-year, minimum salary contract.

Bolden is the latest in a series of former Broncos who played under Fox in Denver to join the head coach in Chicago. So far this offseason, the Bears have also signed linebacker Danny Trevathan, offensive lineman Manuel Ramirez, and long snapper Aaron Brewer.

A fourth-round pick out of Arizona State in 2012, Bolden never really played a major role on defense during his four years in Denver. However, he has been something of a jack-of-all-trades in Denver, contributing in the return game and in punt and kick coverage.

Bolden recorded his first career touchdown in 2015, returning a punt 83 yards for a score. In the postseason, the 27-year-old’s lone punt return, against the Steelers in the divisional round, went for 42 yards.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Latest On Colin Kaepernick

March 31st, 2016 at 3:26pm CST by Luke Adams

The deadline for Thursday NFL roster moves has come and gone with no news on Colin Kaepernick, which means he’ll remain on the team’s roster for April 1, fully guaranteeing his $11.9MM base salary for 2016. A source tells Jason Cole of Bleacher Report (Twitter link) that the NFLPA believes Kaepernick’s salary will become officially guaranteed at midnight, but it seems that point will be moot, since the team doesn’t plan to cut the quarterback.

The fact that Kaepernick’s 2016 salary is now fully guaranteed doesn’t significantly affect the likelihood of a possible trade — the Niners could still move him, and he could still agree to work his deal in the event of a trade. But now that he has a fully guaranteed salary for this year, Kaepernick regains a little leverage.

Of course, we did hear earlier this week that the possibility of Kaepernick being dealt to the Broncos seemed to be losing some momentum, and Mike Klis of 9NEWS and Jason Cole of Bleacher Report (Twitter link and video link) provide some reasons why.

Klis reports that the Broncos would want Kaepernick to accept a pay cut to accommodate a trade to Denver, while Cole hears that the Broncos want to reduce his pay to approximately $7MM for the 2016 season. Cole adds that Kaepernick isn’t all that interested in taking a significant pay cut, which isn’t particularly surprising. He’s set to make more than $14MM this year if he gets his $400K workout bonus and stays healthy enough to earn up to $2MM in per-game roster bonuses.

Kaepernick may be the most invested party in keeping his salary where it is, but his agents – Scott Smith and Jason Bernstein – also aren’t inclined to rework his contract, sources tell Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee. And while it’s possible that a team besides Denver may have interest in Kaepernick at his current salary, the list of potential suitors is dwindling. The Browns recently signed Robert Griffin III, and the Jets remain focused on re-signing Ryan Fitzpatrick.

At this point, it seems the most viable outcome for all parties might involve the Niners keeping Kaepernick and having him compete for the starting job. GM Trent Baalke and head coach Chip Kelly have both expressed a desire to go that route. Even though Kaepernick might prefer a trade, it’s not clear if he’d be willing to drastically rework his contract to make that happen — the 49ers would also have to find a compensation package they like.

Albert Breer of the NFL Network tweets that he senses things have “thawed a little bet” between the 49ers and Kaepernick, but cautions that there’s still a ways to go. If Kaepernick remains a Niner through this year’s draft, the odds of him leaving San Francisco this year would decline greatly, so we should have a clearer picture of the situation within a few weeks.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

AFC Draft Updates: Bosa, Browns, McCaffrey

March 31st, 2016 at 3:24pm CST by Luke Adams

Defensive end Joey Bosa is headed to the Browns for a pre-draft visit today, a source tells Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). Tennessee, who owns the No. 1 pick, looked at Bosa and his teammates on Wednesday.

Here’s the latest draft news out of the AFC:

Duke wide receiver Max McCaffrey – Christian McCaffrey‘s brother and Ed McCaffrey’s son – has a pre-draft workout set up next month with the Broncos, his dad’s old team, tweets Tom Pelissero of USA Today.
Penn State quarterback Christian Hackenberg went to dinner with the Cowboys on Tuesday and worked out for them on Wednesday, Albert Breer of NFL.com tweets. The signal caller also spent time with the Bills after the pro day, Breer adds.
Hackenberg is scheduled to visit the Jets on April 10th, according to Rich Cimini of ESPN.com (on Twitter). GM Mike Maccagnan also attended Hackenberg’s pro day.
Southern Mississippi wide receiver Mike Thomas met with the Browns on Thursday, per Luke Easterling of Bleacher Report (on Twitter).
MTSU defensive back Kevin Byard is meeting with the Browns on Thursday night, a source tells Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). Byard ran a 4.46 40-yard-dash at his pro day and jumped 38 inches on his vertical.
The Bills will host Florida inside linebacker Antonio Morrison on a pre-draft visit, according to Joe Buscaglia of WKBW (on Twitter).
Georgia pass rusher Leonard Floyd will take a pre-draft visit to the Ravens, Jeff Zrebiec of The Baltimore Sun tweets.

Raiders Expected To Put Mychal Rivera On Trade Block

March 31st, 2016 at 2:32pm CST by Luke Adams

Mychal Rivera is a name to watch as the draft approaches, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com, who says (via Twitter) that the Raiders are expected to place the tight end on the trade block. As Adam Caplan of ESPN.com observes (via Twitter), Oakland is “very high” on Clive Walford, and wants to expand his role going forward.

Rivera, 25, started 10 games for the Raiders in 2014, catching a career-high 58 balls for 534 yards and four touchdowns. However, he saw his role reduced in 2015 upon the arrival of Walford, who was selected by Oakland by the third round in last spring’s draft.

Although Rivera still caught more passes in 2015 than Walford (32 to 28), he averaged just 8.8 yards per reception and found the end zone only once. Walford had three TDs and averaged nearly 12 yards per catch, and also assumed a larger role within the offense during the second half of the season.

After earning the minimum salary for his first three seasons, Rivera will see his base salary jump to $1.671MM for 2016, which perhaps contributes to the Raiders’ apparent willingness to move him. If Oakland finds a taker for the Tennessee product, the return isn’t likely to be significant, but the team could add a late-round pick or a backup player.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Titans Sign Rashad Johnson

March 31st, 2016 at 2:12pm CST by Luke Adams

MARCH 31: Johnson’s one-year contract features a $500K signing bonus and has a base value of $2MM, tweets Tom Pelissero of USA Today. According to Pelissero, the deal also includes up to $1MM in playing-time, INT, and Pro Bowl incentives.

MARCH 25: The Titans and free agent safety Rashad Johnson have agreed to terms on a one-year deal, reports Josina Anderson of ESPN.com (via Twitter). Financial terms of the agreement aren’t yet known, but the team has confirmed the move.

Johnson, 30, has been with the Cardinals since the team selected him in the third round of the 2009 draft. After starting his NFL career as a reserve and a special-teamer, the 30-year-old has found a place in Arizona’s starting lineup in recent years, making 30 starts for the team in 2014 and 2015.

During his time as a starter, Johnson has shown a knack for coming up with turnovers — in the past two seasons, he has racked up nine interceptions, including two for touchdowns, and three fumble recoveries. However, with Tyrann Mathieu, D.J. Swearinger, Tony Jefferson, and the newly-signed Tyvon Branch among the players potentially in the mix at safety for the Cardinals in 2016, Johnson will be moving on after spending seven seasons with the club.

The Titans have one solid starting safety in Da’Norris Searcy, but were a little thin at the position after parting ways with veteran safety Michael Griffin earlier in the offseason.

Johnson didn’t earn a spot on our list of 2016’s top 50 free agents, but ranked as the seventh-best safety in our breakdown of the winter’s top defensive free agents.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Bengals Sign Brandon LaFell

March 31st, 2016 at 2:11pm CST by Luke Adams

2:11pm: LaFell’s one-year pact is worth $2.5MM, with a $1MM signing bonus, per Tom Pelissero of USA Today (Twitter link). Pelissero adds that LaFell can earn an extra $500K in incentives for catches.

MARCH 31, 10:44am: The Bengals have made it official, announcing their deal with LaFell (Twitter link).

MARCH 30, 2:55pm: The Bengals have reached an agreement with LaFell on a new contract, the wideout’s reps tell Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link).

MARCH 23, 7:19am: After hosting him on a visit to Cincinnati, the Bengals are close to reaching a deal with free agent wide receiver Brandon LaFell, a league source tells Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. Nothing has been finalized yet, but it appears the two sides are on track to get something done.

LaFell, 29, spent the first six weeks of the 2015 season on the PUP list due to a foot injury, and although he played in the rest of the Patriots’ games, he never looked quite right. For the season, he caught 37 balls for 515 yards, and failed to reach an end zone.

LaFell’s performance in 2015 represented a significant step down from his 2014 showing. He was a key part of New England’s Super Bowl team in that season, setting career highs with 74 receptions, 953 yards, and seven touchdowns. He added another two TDs in the postseason, including one in the Super Bowl.

If LaFell could even split the difference between his 2014 and 2015 campaigns, he’d represent a nice addition for the Bengals, who lost the second and third wideouts on their depth chart this month. The team still has A.J. Green, who is locked up through 2019, but Marvin Jones is now a Lion, while Mohamed Sanu landed with the Falcons.

No Bengals wide receiver besides Green, Jones, and Sanu caught more than two passes in 2015. As such, Cincinnati is in the market for additional pass-catchers to complement Green and tight end Tyler Eifert.

It’s not clear yet what sort of contract LaFell will land, but his price tag isn’t expected to be exorbitant. His previous deal with the Patriots was a three-year pact worth $9MM, and he was cut two years into that contract. Because he was released prior to free agency, rather than having his deal expire, he won’t count toward the compensatory pick formula for 2017, which is good news for Cincinnati.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Steelers Sign Ricardo Mathews

March 31st, 2016 at 2:08pm CST by Luke Adams

The Steelers have added some depth to their defensive line, signing Ricardo Mathews to a contract, the team announced today in a press release.

Matthews, 28, joined the Colts as a seventh-round pick in 2010, and primarily served as a backup during his four years in Indianapolis. During the past two seasons, Matthews has started nine games for the Chargers, picking up a total of 43 tackles and 2.5 sacks in his two years with the club.

Although he earned a career-high seven starts for San Diego in 2015, Pro Football Focus viewed Mathews as one of the NFL’s least effective defensive linemen in 2015, ranking him 121st out of 123 qualified interior defenders.

Mathews is unlikely to play a significant role up front for the Steelers, but he could be a valuable depth piece for a club that lost Steve McLendon in free agency and no longer has Cam Thomas under contract. The fact that Mathews is making the transition from another 3-4 defense is also a positive sign for Pittsburgh.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Chiefs Extend Charcandrick West, Spencer Ware

March 31st, 2016 at 1:53pm CST by Luke Adams

1:53pm: Interestingly, West and Ware appear to have signed to the exact same terms, according to Rapoport, who tweets that both deals are two-year extensions worth $3.6MM, with $2.35MM guaranteed.

11:19am: The Chiefs have locked up a pair of running backs to new contract extensions, the team announced today in a press release. As first reported by Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link), Charcandrick West and Spencer Ware, who teamed up to replace Jamaal Charles after his ACL injury last season, have signed new deals with the team.

“Charcandrick and Spencer both stepped in and were very effective for us offensively last year,” Chiefs GM John Dorsey said in a statement. “These guys have different styles and abilities, and together they provide us quality depth at the running back position.”

The timing of the extensions for West and Ware is interesting, since neither player would have even be eligible for restricted free agency until 2017, meaning they weren’t on track to become unrestricted free agents until 2018. Nonetheless, the Chiefs clearly liked what they saw from the duo last season, and are perhaps preparing for the end of the Jamaal Charles era in Kansas City.

Although Charles – who has a $5.3MM+ cap charge – is expected to remain on the Chiefs’ roster in 2016, his cap hit increases to $7MM in 2017, the final year of his current deal. He’s coming off another major knee injury, and will turn 30 later this year, so it makes sense that Dorsey and the Chiefs would be looking ahead to the future.

West, who turns 25 in June, was the first man up for the Chiefs in 2015 when Charles went down, and ultimately carried the ball 160 times for 634 yards and four touchdowns. He added another 20 receptions and a TD through the air.

As for Ware, he earned a couple starts when West got hurt, and averaged 5.6 yards per carry on 72 attempts, for 403 yards and six touchdowns for the season. According to Terez A. Paylor of the Kansas City Star (Twitter link), Ware’s extension is for two years, so he’ll be under contract through the 2018 campaign. Rapoport tweets that the two-year extension is heavy on incentives — the base value is $3.6MM, with $2.35MM guaranteed, but it can be worth up to $9.6MM via yardage and TD incentives.

With Charles, West, and Ware all in the mix for 2016, Knile Davis finds himself buried on Kansas City’s depth chart, and Jason Cole of Bleacher Report tweets that the team is working on a trade involving Davis. Details on those talks aren’t known yet, and it’s not clear if anything will get done, but it wouldn’t be a surprise if the Dolphins, who have been in the market for running back help all month, have some interest in Davis — we heard last week that Miami was exploring trade options for a back.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Dolphins, Chiefs Have Discussed RB Trade

March 31st, 2016 at 1:06pm CST by Luke Adams

The Chiefs announced contract extensions for running backs Charcandrick West and Spencer Ware earlier today, signaling that those players remain in the team’s backfield plans beyond 2016. The signings left Knile Davis buried on Kansas City’s depth chart, so it came as no surprise when Jason Cole of Bleacher Report tweeted the team was exploring a potential Davis trade. Ian Rapoport of NFL.com added (via Twitter) that Davis requested a trade “weeks ago.”

Since we heard last week that the Dolphins were exploring the trade market for a running back, I speculated that Miami might be talking to the Chiefs about Davis, and Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald confirms that is indeed the case. According to Salguero, Kansas City is just one team the Dolphins have spoken to, and Miami has shown interest in all four of the Chiefs’ top backs.

Of course, with West and Ware now locked up, that leaves Davis and Jamaal Charles, and a Charles deal appears unlikely. Davis, who has averaged just 3.3 yards per carry on 232 career rushing attempts, is hardly the most accomplished player of the group, but he’s the most available, so if the Dolphins and Chiefs do work out a deal, he would be the most logical candidate to be on the move. Given his trade request and his lack of a clear role in Kansas City, the 24-year-old likely wouldn’t cost much in terms of trade compensation.

The Dolphins saw Lamar Miller depart in free agency, then had their offer sheet for restricted free agent C.J. Anderson matched by the Broncos. Miami was also in the running for Chris Johnson before he opted to re-sign with the Cardinals, so the team remains in the market for a back.

As Salguero detailed in a piece earlier today, there’s a good chance the Dolphins end up drafting a running back. However, while Salguero makes the case for selecting Derrick Henry in round two, Miami may not address the position until later on, so adding a veteran to complement that rookie and 2015 draftee Jay Ajayi would make sense.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.