2017 February - Pro Football Rumors

Month: February 2017

Eagles Open To Trading Mychal Kendricks

February 13th, 2017 at 8:25am CST by Zachary Links

The Eagles are hoping to clear “significant” financial room this offseason and that could include trading a longtime starter. The team is willing to move on from linebacker Mychal Kendricks this offseason, a source tells PhillyVoice’s Jimmy Kempski.

Kendricks is slated to count for $6.6MM against the cap in 2017, but they could save $1.8MM by trading or releasing him. That still leaves $4.8MM in dead money, but every little bit of breathing room will help Philly this March. Kendricks also saw his playing time dip significantly under new head coach Doug Pederson and defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz, so he wouldn’t necessarily be missed. From 2012 to 2015, Kendricks was a regular starter and he was a favorite of Chip Kelly from 2013-15. This past season, he was leapfrogged by Jordan Hicks and Nigel Bradham in the pecking order. Kendricks was in on 26.8% of the team’s snaps while Bradham and Hicks both eclipsed 95%.

Alternatively, the Eagles could designate Kendricks as a June 1st cut, resulting in $5MM savings right away with $3.2MM in dead money carrying over into 2018. However, Kempski hears it is not anticipated that the Eagles go that route and it’s not clear if they’ll even consider releasing him if a trade can’t be worked out.

The Eagles cannot trade Kendricks until the start of the new league year, which will begin at 4pm ET/3pm CT on March 9. After that, there’s another key date to keep in mind – March 11. That’s when $4.35MM of his $4.85MM 2017 base salary becomes fully guaranteed. That could leave Philly with a short window to get a palatable deal done.

AFC Rumors: Texans, Patriots, Ihedigbo

February 12th, 2017 at 10:10pm CST by Sam Robinson

While upgrading at quarterback will be a priority for the Texans, reaching an agreement to keep A.J. Bouye in Houston will be the AFC South champions’ top priority, John McClain of the Houston Chronicle notes. This gels with what came out of Houston last week, with a report indicating the team eyes a Bouye re-up and a DeAndre Hopkins extension. Finishing behind only the Broncos’ standout pair on Pro Football Focus’ 2016 cornerback rankings, Bouye emerged as one of 2016’s top breakout players, and McClain Chronicle comrade Aaron Wilson expects the fifth-year player to secure a deal that pays him upwards of $13MM annually. Bouye comes in at No. 7 on PFR’s Free Agent Power Rankings.

Here’s more from Houston and some other AFC locales.

Bob McNair said the Texans will target a young quarterback in the draft after an investment in Brock Osweiler did not generate much this season. This means the team does not stand to be a player in the Tony Romo sweepstakes. At least, that was the last update coming out of Houston. But McClain expects the Texans to take a look at Romo if he hits free agency. McClain agrees with NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport by saying the Texans won’t be interested in trading for Romo, and the longtime Houston reporter notes the soon-to-be 37-year-old quarterback will have to take a big pay cut if he wants to play for the Texans. However, McClain doesn’t expect the team to bypass this potentially high-caliber stopgap solution entirely.
No surprise walkoff retirement appears to be in the cards for Tom Brady, with the 39-year-old passer relishing in the joy of the Patriots‘ most recent Super Bowl championship and saying on Instagram (via Ryan Hannable of WEEI.com) the mythical nature of winning championships is “why I’ll never stop as long as I’m able.” Brady insisted he wants to play into his mid-40s, and remaining a top-tier quarterback by that time would put him on uncharted terrain. Brett Favre serves as basically the only comparison of a 40-year-old high-end passer. The Patriots, though, aren’t counting on a slowdown soon, planning an extension after the 2017 season.
Malcolm Butler will be a restricted free agent, and Joel Corry of CBS Sports (via Twitter) expects the Patriots to place a rare first-round tender on their top cornerback. Corry anticipates that price to come in at nearly $4MM after settling in at just over $3.6MM last year. Another team would have to surrender a first-round pick to sign Butler in the event the Patriots don’t match the offer sheet.
James Ihedigbo became a starter almost immediately after signing with the Bills late in the season, and although the veteran safety ended his year on IR, he wants to return to the Bills, he told the team’s website. The 33-year-old Ihedigbo made three starts for the Bills, his fifth NFL employer, last season.

NFC Notes: 49ers, Glennon, Bears

February 12th, 2017 at 7:29pm CST by Sam Robinson

Longtime running backs coach Tom Rathman won’t return to the 49ers‘ staff despite Kyle Shanahan‘s interest in retaining him. Shanahan recently gave Rathman’s job to veteran running backs instructor Bobby Turner after promising he would upon landing a head coaching position. Rathman will pursue options elsewhere as a result.

“I’m not going to be back,” Rathman said, via Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com. “I feel like it’s the best for everybody if I just parted and let those guys do their thing and take me out of the equation so that nobody’s uncomfortable. I’m looking to coach running backs and that’s what I want to do. I’m just going to wait for the next opportunity and go for it when it happens.”

Shanahan and new GM John Lynch met with Rathman on Thursday in an attempt to find another position for him, but the 54-year-old coach didn’t think such a role existed that made sense. Rathman coached the 49ers’ backs since 2009 and previously served on Steve Mariucci’s staff from 1997-2002, doing so after a playing career highlighted by starting roles on two 49ers Super Bowl champions. Rathman told Maiocco he would take a year off if necessary but wants to stay in the NFL coaching ranks.

Here’s more out of San Francisco and other NFC cities.

Should Colin Kaepernick not opt out of his 49ers deal, Maiocco expects the team to release him to avoid being on the hook for a $14.9MM salary in 2017. The sides could then discuss another contract, with Kaepernick potentially opening a door to a return by contacting Lynch recently. Lynch and Kaepernick are expected to meet in the near future. Kaepernick has vacillated on the opt-out decision. He would generate interest on the market and add another big name to the list of potentially available quarterbacks, joining Jay Cutler, Tony Romo and Jimmy Garoppolo. The 49ers have been linked to both Cutler and Garoppolo, along with Kirk Cousins, who could be Shanahan’s first choice.
Speaking of Cutler, the Bears extending the polarizing talent in 2014 came against the preference of members of the then-Marc Trestman-led coaching staff, but then-GM Phil Emery made the move anyway, John Mullen of CSNChicago.com writes. The Bears are now likely to move on from Cutler after eight seasons since the aforementioned seven-year, $126MM contract leaves them a 2017 escape hatch.
Mullen adds the conventional sense is Brian Hoyer will return to the Bears as a stopgap solution. Hoyer threw for 300 yards in four of five starts before going down with a broken arm, completing 67 percent of his passes and not throwing an interception. The UFA passer could have options as a backup plan for other teams, however, forcing the Bears to up the ante if they want to keep the 31-year-old passer. Bringing Hoyer back as a mentor-type player for a to-be-determined draft pick — and short-term starter — strikes Mullen as a reasonable idea due to the team’s positive view of him as a veteran leader.
Mike Glennon serves as another UFA option, but has an interesting profile. At least six teams inquired about Glennon’s availability during the 2014 draft to Buccaneers GM Jason Licht, per FanRag Sports’ Roy Cummings, but that interest diminished as years passed. Glennon drew “a couple” of trade inquiries in the 2015 draft, and the soon-to-be backup quarterback did not draw any offers during the ’16 draft or before last season’s trade deadline, Cummings notes. However, his sample size — 18 starts, with 30 TD passes and 15 INTs mixed in — makes him a less volatile commodity than Brock Osweiler in Cummings’ mind. Glennon is expected to draw interest as a free agent, with the bidding potentially going as high as $15MM per year. The Jets are reportedly intrigued by Jameis Winston‘s former backup.

Patrick Mahomes A Potential Top-3 Pick?

February 12th, 2017 at 4:40pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Texas Tech quarterback Patrick Mahomes should be considered a near-lock to be drafted in the first round of the NFL draft, and could be selected within the top three picks depending on how the Browns, 49ers, and Bears address the quarterback position in free agency and/or via trade, according to Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com. The Texans, who hold the 25th pick, likely represent the floor for Mahomes, per La Canfora.

Mahomes, 21, has been widely viewed as a Day 2 pick, so the suggestion that he could be chosen not only in the first round, but within the first thirty minutes of the draft, is quite surprising, to say the least. On most draft boards, including that of Mel Kiper Jr. of ESPN.com, Mahomes is ranked as the fourth-best quarterback available behind UNC’s Mitch Trubisky, Clemson’s Deshaun Watson, and Notre Dame’s DeShone Kizer.

The scouting combine will be significant for Mahomes, says Kiper, while La Canfora agrees Mahomes will be considered a “rising” prospect by the time the draft rolls around. The 2017 quarterback draft class is considered the worst crop of signal-callers since 2013, so it stands to reason that certain QBs will be artificially pushed up boards as the draft approaches. Still, many scouts believe Trubisky is the only passer guaranteed to be selected in the top-five.

Mahomes has served as the Red Raiders’ full-time starter for the past two seasons, and has averaged 4,853 yards and 39 touchdowns during that time.

PFR Originals: 2/5/17 – 2/12/17

February 12th, 2017 at 3:22pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The original content and analysis produced by the PFR staff last week:

In PFR’s series The Beat, Zach Links is conducting interviews with beat writers, columnists, and TV personalities about the team that he or she covers. This week, Zach spoke with Alden Gonzalez of ESPN.com and discussed the Rams, Sean McVay, Jared Goff, Les Snead, Trumaine Johnson, and Kenny Britt.
Kyle Shanahan‘s play-calling near the end of Super Bowl LI is sure to be scrutinized for years, but does his failure to run the clock out affect his status as a new head coach? That’s the question Zach asked PFR readers last week, and 60% of respondents don’t believe there’s any reason to be worried about the 49ers’ new head coach.
Tom Brady figures to continue his NFL career for the foreseeable future, so the Patriots are gauging interest in backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, who has one year remaining on his rookie contract. A number of clubs, including the Browns and Bears, have already expressed interest, but Ben Levine asked whether New England should trade Garoppolo given that Brady is now 39 years old. Nearly three-quarters of voters think Garoppolo should be dealt this offseason.
As the offseason progresses, PFR will assess each team by examining the top three needs on each respective roster. We covered two organizations last week:
- Indianapolis Colts
- Jacksonville Jaguars

5 Key Stories: 2/5/17 – 2/12/17

February 12th, 2017 at 1:53pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Patriots win the Super Bowl. In one of the greatest title games ever played, quarterback Tom Brady led the Patriots back from a 25-point deficit to defeat the Falcons in the first Super Bowl overtime by final score of 34-28. Brady was named MVP after passing for a Super Bowl-record 466 yards, while running back James White added 14 receptions and three total touchdowns. Brady and New England head coach Bill Belichick now boast five Super Bowl rings, and the Patriots have now won two of the past three NFL championships.

Changes in Atlanta. Having been dealt a crushing loss in the Super Bowl, the Falcons quickly began making changes to their coaching staff. Former Alabama assistant Steve Sarkisian was hired to replace Kyle Shanahan as offensive coordinator, while ex-Atlanta secondary coach Marquand Manuel was promoted to take the place of the fired Richard Smith. The Falcons will also tackle personnel moves this offseason, possibly by making Matt Ryan the league’s highest-paid player and inking cornerback Desmond Trufant to an extension.

Shanahan goes west. The 49ers made official the NFL’s worst-kept secret, hiring former Falcons OC Kyle Shanahan as their new head coach, signing him to a six-year deal. Along with first-time general manager John Lynch, Shanahan will control San Francisco’s fate for the next half-dozen years (Lynch handles the 90-man roster while Shanahan has final say over the 53). In addition to personnel control, Shanahan is handling other duties, as the 49ers won’t hire an offensive coordinator and are bringing in several inexperienced offensive coaches.

Getting the band back together. Quarterback Carson Palmer became the second Cardinals veteran to fend off retirement, announcing this week that he’d follow wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald‘s lead and return for the 2017 season. 2016 was certainly a down year for Palmer, as his Total Quarterback Rating dropped by nearly 25 points, but Arizona is still in win-now mode and doesn’t have a ready-made successor on the roster. Palmer, 37, is signed through 2018 with cap charges north of $20MM in each year.

A reward in Oakland. After leading the Raiders back to the postseason for the first time in 12 years, head coach Jack Del Rio was handed a new contract on Friday night. Oakland essentially ripped up Del Rio’s old deal, which had him locked up through 2018, and signed him to a new pact that runs through the 2020 campaign. Del Rio, 53, won 12 games for the second time in his career in 2016, and has posted an overall record of 87-84 as an NFL head coach.

Extra Points: Cowboys, Lacy, Seahawks

February 12th, 2017 at 12:50pm CST by Rory Parks

As Todd Archer of ESPN.com writes, the Cowboys are $11-$13MM over the projected 2017 salary cap, but it will be fairly easy for them to clear space and to give themselves enough room to conduct their offseason business and sign a free agent or three. For instance, they could restructure the deals of Tyron Smith and Travis Frederick, and given the relative youth of those two players, such restructures should not hamstring the club in the long run. Dallas could also save a fair amount of money by restructuring Sean Lee‘s deal and giving Jason Witten an extension, and obviously the impending departure of Tony Romo will be a boon to the team’s cap situation. As such, the notion that the Cowboys are in “cap hell” and will be forced to be bystanders in free agency is more of a myth than reality.

Now let’s take a look at a few more notes from around the league:

It will be tempting for the Packers to let Eddie Lacy walk in free agency, but as Pete Dougherty of USA Today writes, one agent expects Lacy to get no more than a one-year, $2MM pact on the open market. Even if such a contract were loaded with incentives, it would still represent a small risk for Green Bay with the potential for a high reward, and Dougherty believes the team should make that gamble.
Six Seahawks players saw their 2017 base salaries become guaranteed on Saturday, as Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times reports. Those players form a major part of Seattle’s foundation: Russell Wilson, Doug Baldwin, Richard Sherman, Bobby Wagner, Michael Bennett, and Jeremy Lane. As Condotta observes, the only player on that list about whom there might have been some intrigue is Lane, who signed a four-year, $23MM deal last offseason but who failed to meet expectations in 2016.
Last offseason, Prince Amukamara bet on himself and took a one-year deal with the Jaguars in an attempt to prove that he could stay healthy and productive over the course of a full season. He was largely successful, as he appeared in 14 games (12 starts) and graded out as an above-average corner per Pro Football Focus. Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida-Times Union believes Amukamara thinks he should be paid as a No. 1 or 1A cornerback (an average of $8-9MM per year), but as he would be the No. 2 corner in Jacksonville behind Jalen Ramsey, it is unclear whether the Jags will meet his demands, even though they have the resources to do so.
Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer spoke to one high-level NFL personnel executive who believes that Mitch Trubisky has more upside than Carson Wentz and that the Browns would be wise to select him with the No. 1 overall pick. The Browns also hold this year’s No. 12 overall choice, but Trubisky will not fall that far, so if Cleveland wants him, they will need to make him the top choice in the draft.
Former UVA standout Ausar Walcott, who was signed by the Browns as an undrafted free agent following the 2013 draft, is resuming the pursuit of his NFL dream, as Dan Duggan of NJ.com writes. Walcott was charged with attempted murder in June 2013, and was subsequently cut by Cleveland. The charge was eventually dropped to aggravated assault, and while Walcott was free on bail, he was certainly not going to be signed by an NFL club while he was embroiled in a legal battle. But he was acquitted by a jury a few months ago, and the 27-year-old hopes to at least catch on with a CFL team as he tries to work his way back to the NFL.

AFC East Notes: Fitzpatrick, Dolphins, Pats

February 12th, 2017 at 10:10am CST by Rory Parks

The Ryan Fitzpatrick era may be over in New York, but as Mark Cannizzaro of the New York Post points out, the Jets are still feeling the after-effects. Per Cannizzaro, Fitzpatrick’s contract automatically voided on Friday, per the scheduled clause that called for such action five days after the Super Bowl. But, because of the way his two-year deal was structured, New York will carry $5MM in dead money on the 2017 salary cap. Fitzpatrick almost assuredly will not return to Gang Green, and Geno Smith is a free agent as well, which means that the Jets now have two quarterbacks under contract — Bryce Petty and Christian Hackenberg — that are both severely lacking in NFL experience. As a result, the Jets have been speculatively connected to some of the better quarterback prospects in this year’s draft as well as veteran options that could become available.

Now for some more notes from the AFC East:

Dolphins safety Reshad Jones, who missed the last 10 games of the 2016 season after a significant shoulder injury, has made a full recovery, Adam H. Beasley of the Miami Herald reports. Jones, who is entering the final year of his contract, indicated that he will be physically able to participate in the Dolphins’ offseason schedule.
In the same piece, Beasley writes that Dolphins offensive lineman Jermon Bushrod, who will be an unrestricted free agent when the new league year begins in March, will return for an 11th NFL season if he gets the right offer. Bushrod played for the Saints for six years before joining the Bears prior to the 2013 campaign. The 2016 season was Bushrod’s first in Miami, and though he started all 16 regular season games plus the team’s one playoff contest, he largely struggled, ranking as Pro Football Focus’ fourth-worst guard out of 72 eligible players (subscription required).
Ben Volin of the Boston Globe provides a list of 10 things he believes the Patriots should do this offseason, and he suggests that trading Jimmy Garoppolo should be one of New England’s top priorities. With Tom Brady showing no signs of aging, Volin believes the Pats need to do continue surrounding their starting quarterback with top-flight talent, and one way to do that is by acquiring at least one significant draft asset in exchange for Garoppolo.
Another thing Volin thinks the Patriots should do is to re-sign running back LeGarrette Blount to a one-year, incentive-laden deal. After all, that approach worked well for both parties in 2016, as Blount turned his $760K salary into $1.75MM after hitting every incentive in his contract. He tallied career bests of 1,161 rushing yards and 18 touchdowns, and as Christopher Price of WEEI.com reports, the 30-year-old Blount would love to be back with the team in 2017, though he does not know what the future holds.

Latest On Sheldon Adelson’s Withdrawal From Raiders’ Vegas Plan

February 12th, 2017 at 9:08am CST by Rory Parks

We learned yesterday that the Raiders were still optimistic about a potential move to Las Vegas, a move that recently encountered several major hurdles when casino magnate Sheldon Adelson withdrew his $650MM pledge for a potential $1.9B, 65,000-seat stadium in Sin City, and investment firm Goldman Sachs declared that it would not help the Raiders finance a stadium without Adelson’s involvement.

But while the Raiders still believe they can make a relocation work, it appears that the bridge with Adelson has been burned for good. Last night, Richard N. Velotta of the Las Vegas Review-Journal passed along a series of comments from Andy Abboud, vice president of government relations and community affairs for casino operator Las Vegas Sands Corp. and a spokesman for the Adelson family. Abboud’s statements are the first from either party regarding stadium development negotiations.

The entire piece is worth a read, but Abboud said Raiders executives changed their minds about certain issues in mid-negotiation, which precipitated Adelson’s decision. Per Abboud, the last straw was the Raiders’ decision to take a proposed stadium lease agreement to the Las Vegas Stadium Authority without telling or involving the Adelsons. Adelson withdrew his support four days after the agreement was presented to the Stadium Authority.

Abboud said of the lease, “The concern that we had and the concern that everybody has in hindsight is the 117-page proposed lease agreement that did not reflect the commitments that the Adelson family made to the Raiders and that the Raiders had made to the Adelson family. It did not reflect the commitments that were made to UNLV. It did not make the commitments that were promised to the community, and it was in no way reflective of the months of [Southern Nevada Tourism Infrastructure Committee] meetings and reflective of what it took to get the members of the Legislature to vote for the funding.”

Abboud added that the two sides negotiated over such issues as stadium naming rights, sponsorships, revenue from stadium contractors, parking, signage, and use by UNLV, but whenever Adelson’s team believed they had struck an accord, the Raiders would change their minds again.

Abboud said the team was demanding more and more as the negotiations wore on, and that Adelson “was willing to share revenues and make it financially mutually beneficial, but [the Raiders] were picking his pocket. I think that they felt they were asking to be entitled to revenue streams and things that simply made the deal unworkable. It was never about the financial return for the Adelsons, but the Adelson family wasn’t going to have their pocket picked, by the Raiders or by the NFL or anybody.”

Needless to say, this report presents just one side of the story, as Raiders President Marc Badain told Velotta several days ago that the team would not comment on the negotiations. Further, the Las Vegas Review-Journal is owned by Adelson’s family, so all of this should be taken with a grain of salt. Nonetheless, it does provide an interesting glimpse into the negotiations that once seemed destined to bring the NFL to Las Vegas but that now appear to be completely dead.

Dan Orlovsky Done In Detroit?

February 12th, 2017 at 8:30am CST by Rory Parks

The Dan Orlovsky era may be over in Detroit, according to Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. Orlovsky sent out a fairly cryptic tweet yesterday in which he wrote, “Detroit Vs Everybody. It’ll always be where it started for me. It’ll always have a piece of my heart.”

Orlovsky, of course, spent the last three seasons as Matthew Stafford‘s backup, but with his contract set to expire next month, he is considered a long shot to return to the Motor City.

After all, the Lions promoted Jake Rudock, whom they selected in the sixth round of the 2016 draft, to the active roster in November in an effort to prevent him from signing with the division-rival Bears. Although Rudock was considered too raw to serve as a primary backup in his rookie campaign, he did put together an impressive showing last preseason, and the team envisions him as Stafford’s next backup.

The 33-year-old Orlovsky did not appear in a game last season, and since entering the league as a fifth-round selection in 2005, he has started just 12 games, compiling a miserable 2-10 record in the process (seven of those losses came during the Lions’ infamous 0-16 season in 2008). Like fellow career backup Josh McCown — who has started 60 games in his 14-year career — Orlovsky has expressed a desire to coach in some capacity once his playing days are done. However, when he made those comments towards the end of the 2016 campaign, he indicated that he was not ready to hang up the cleats just yet.

Orlovsky said at that time, “I don’t want to hang them up anytime soon. I’ve been around football since I was 8 so I don’t know if I can get away from it. I don’t want to get away from it. What my wife wants to do will have a say in it as well.”

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