Jets To Give Marcus Williams Second-Round RFA Tender
The Jets have already cleared numerous names off their books this offseason and may be in line for similar transactions going forward, but the team plans to retain one of its key defensive pieces for 2017. Marcus Williams is expected to receive a second-round RFA tender, Darryl Slater of NJ.com reports.
Although the league hasn’t released precise tender values just yet, the second-round figure is expected to come in around $2.81MM. Williams has become a UDFA success story for the Jets, being a steady contributor in a secondary that hasn’t seen its big expenditures live up to their contracts. He stands to be a UFA come 2018 if no extension is reached this year.
The Jets have used Williams as a backup for the most part during the past two seasons, and in a secondary that made splash signings in 2015 (Darrelle Revis, Antonio Cromartie, Buster Skrine), the former low-profile addition could outlast each of them in New York. If the Jets cut Skrine, Williams on his second-round tender price will enter free agency as the Jets’ highest-paid cornerback.
Williams has played in 13 games in each of the past two seasons and started seven games in that span. The 2014 UDFA missed time in 2016 because of a high ankle sprain. Pro Football Focus graded him as the No. 72 full-time corner last season, two spots behind Revis. Williams led the Jets with six interceptions in 2015.
Extra Points: Foster, Worrilow, 49ers, Chip
In a development that could hurt his draft stock, Alabama linebacker Reuben Foster is being sent home from the combine after he and a hospital worker engaged in a “heated argument,” reports ESPN’s Adam Schefter (Twitter links). What’s more, Foster’s combine interviews didn’t go particularly well, per Matt Miller of Bleacher Report and Katherine Terrell of ESPN.com (on Twitter). Foster was supposed to continue interviews with teams Saturday, but he’ll instead head home to Tuscaloosa. As of last week, one club had Foster ranked as the third-best player in this year’s class. He at least looked like a shoo-in top 10 pick prior to Friday, though that’s now in question.
As we wait for more on Foster, let’s take a look around the NFL:
- Falcons impending free agent linebacker Paul Worrilow has drawn interest from the Patriots, Lions, Eagles and Colts leading up to March 9, relays Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald (Twitter link). The 26-year-old wasn’t much of a factor last season as a member of the NFC champions, with whom he collected one start and 18 tackles in 12 games. But Worrilow did garner significant playing time with the Falcons from 2013-15, when he logged 47 appearances, 42 starts and made between 95 and 143 tackles in each season. Worrilow also totaled four sacks, three forced fumbles and two interceptions during that three-year span.
- Former Eagles and 49ers head coach Chip Kelly hasn’t been able to find an NFL job this offseason, even as an assistant, and is now trying to break into the media ranks. Kelly auditioned for FOX last week, tweets Yahoo Sports’ Charles Robinson.
- Kelly’s successor in San Francisco, Kyle Shanahan, isn’t impressed with the 49ers’ pass catchers, writes Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com. When asked which of the 49ers’ receivers and tight ends have stood out on film, Shanahan said, “No one in particular,” and added that the club will look for help this offseason. Jeremy Kerley and Quinton Patton, the 49ers’ top receivers from 2016, are set to become free agents, making the need to add options all the more obvious. San Francisco might pursue Alshon Jeffery in free agency, and signing him would give the team a much-needed No. 1 target.
- Defensive guru Monte Kiffin is leaving the Jaguars to join up with son Lane Kiffin at Florida Atlantic University, Alex Marvez of The Sporting News writes. The elder Kiffin, 77, only spent one season in Jacksonville, where he worked as a defensive assistant.
Zach Links contributed to this post.
NFC Notes: Redskins, Panthers, Cowboys
Although free agency opens in less than a week, the Redskins still haven’t attempted to negotiate a new deal with Pierre Garcon, the soon-to-be available wide receiver said Thursday (via Peter Halley of CSN Mid-Atlantic). “I haven’t heard anything from the Redskins,” Garcon said on former Colts punter Pat McAfee’s podcast. “I have not heard anything at all. But everybody does strategic moves right before free agency, or right during free agency, so I couldn’t tell you what they’re up to.” As arguably a top 25 free agent in the 2017 class, the 30-year-old Garcon could garner $9MM-plus per annum on his next contract.
More from the NFC:
- It’s “fair” to say the Panthers will draft a running back this year, general manager Dave Gettleman told David Newton of ESPN.com. That’s not surprising given that starting running back Jonathan Stewart will play his age-30 season and face a contract year in 2017. Gettleman is bullish on this year’s selection of backs, which LSU’s Leonard Fournette, Florida State’s Dalvin Cook and Stanford’s Christian McCaffrey headline. “It’s a deep running back group, we know that,’’ he said. “It’ll be interesting to see how the whole process plays out because we’re really just halfway through it.’’
- The Cowboys plan to shop running back Alfred Morris, but they’re going to have difficulty finding a taker because of his contract, opines Rich Tandler of CSN Mid-Atlantic. Although Morris is due an affordable base salary of $1.2MM in 2017, his deal also includes $500K in per-game roster bonuses.
- On the heels of a season in which the Vikings’ offense placed 23rd in scoring, 26th in DVOA and 28th in yardage, defensive-minded head coach Mike Zimmer has taken a more hands-on approach with the unit, Kevin Seifert of ESPN.com details. Zimmer has twice watched every offensive play the Vikings ran in 2016 and sat in on meetings with coordinator Pat Shurmur and his staff over the past couple months. Observed Zimmer: “I’m watching tape [of last season]. And we run a complementary play off another play, but we don’t run that other play. So [the defense] is saying, any time they do this, they’re going to run that. So this is about trying to get the players in the right position to do more.”
- After playing through foot problems last season, all-world Falcons receiver Julio Jones will undergo surgery Monday, per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Marc Sessler of NFL.com). Fortunately for Jones and the Falcons, the procedure will be minor and won’t affect his training camp availability.
Bears To Meet With Brian Hoyer’s Reps
With Jay Cutler on the outs and no clear starting quarterback in place for 2017, the Bears are likely to meet with representatives for impending free agent Brian Hoyer this weekend, according to John Mullin of CSN Chicago. However, the club’s interest in Hoyer is only “lukewarm,” as it views him as a Plan C option. Instead of bringing back Hoyer, the Bears would prefer to emerge from the offseason having traded for Patriots backup Jimmy Garoppolo or signed Buccaneers backup Mike Glennon, writes Mullin.
[RELATED: Bears Could Pursue Top FAs]
Chicago’s desire to land Garoppolo or Glennon isn’t exactly a surprise. However, for his part, the 31-year-old Hoyer logged far more playing time than either last season and was fairly effective. All told, Hoyer completed 67 percent of his 200 passes, averaged 7.2 yards per attempt and threw six touchdowns against no interceptions in six games. Five of those appearances were starts for Hoyer, who took over for an injured Cutler and looked primed to grab the job for good before suffering a season-ending broken left arm in a Week 6 loss to the Packers.
While the Bears wouldn’t prioritize drafting a quarterback if they were to add either Garoppolo or Glennon, that wouldn’t be the case with Hoyer, notes Mullin. Hoyer would likely serve as a bridge starter for the Bears, who are set to pick third and 36th overall in the first two rounds of the draft and could conceivably choose a QB with either selection.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
V. Davis Wants To Stay With Redskins
Tight end Vernon Davis is days away from hitting the open market, but he’d rather re-sign with the Redskins than test free agency.
“You know I’m letting my agent deal with that at the moment with hopes that I’ll be back with the Washington Redskins,” Davis told JP Finlay of CSN Mid-Atlantic. (via Peter Halley of CSN). “I’ll just be optimistic about it. I would love to stay here because it’s such a great organization. The locker room’s amazing. I’m extremely happy here, and it would only make sense to stay here and continue to be a Washington Redskin.”
Davis, an ex-Maryland star and a native of D.C., joined his hometown team last offseason on a $2.38MM deal. That proved to be a bargain for the Redskins, with whom Davis hauled in 44 receptions, 583 yards and two touchdowns in 16 games and 14 starts. Last season was something of a bounce-back campaign for the 33-year-old. Although he won a Super Bowl with the Broncos in 2015, Davis failed to record a touchdown in a year spent between Denver and San Francisco and averaged 10.4 yards per catch (well below his 13.3 YPC from 2016) on 38 receptions. Davis attributes some of his latest success to Redskins head coach Jay Gruden.
“I love him, I love him, and that’s one of the other reasons that I wouldn’t mind staying here,” he said. “He allows the players to play really, really loose, and you want that in a coach.”
While Davis hopes to continue playing under Gruden, he’s currently part of an unsigned tight end crop that also includes Martellus Bennett, Jared Cook and Jack Doyle, among others. Age isn’t on Davis’ side, but his track record is better than the other impending free agent tight ends’. Across 10 seasons, the 6-foot-3, 250-pounder has piled up 505 receptions and 57 touchdowns.
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Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
East Notes: Romo, Cowboys, Redskins, Jets
The Redskins could attempt to acquire Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo in a trade also involving the 49ers, but it’s not going to happen on Jerry Jones‘ watch, tweets Clarence Hill Jr. of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Of course, it’ll be interesting to see if that will be Jones’ stance if the Redskins make the only trade offer for Romo, who’s a prime release candidate.
More from the East Coast:
- The Jets might move on from wide receiver Eric Decker, though they won’t make a decision on his future until he has recovered from hip and shoulder surgeries, general manager Mike Maccagnan announced Friday (via Rich Cimini of ESPN.com). “Our goal is to get him healthy and then kind of evaluate how he comes off the injuries,” said Maccagnan, who believes Decker will be ready to return by Week 1 of next season. The soon-to-be 30-year-old appeared in only three games last season, and cutting him would save the Jets $5.75MM against $3MM in dead money for 2017.
- The Jets cut their other top wideout, Brandon Marshall, on Thursday, but not before offering him an extension. That offer came “about a month ago,” a source told Josina Anderson of ESPN.com (on Twitter). Marshall wasn’t up for continuing on a rebuilding team, though, so he turned down the extension and requested his release.
- Maccagnan would like to acquire more draft picks to go with the seven he already has, which could mean moving down in any round (via Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News). “If somebody wants to move up and we have a pick in that round, call us up. Any pick,” said Maccagnan, implying that the team would trade the sixth overall section. At the same time, Maccagnan wouldn’t mind keeping the pick. “Whether we stay at No. 6 and pick a player, we’d be perfectly happy doing that,” he declared. “Whether we decide to move back and get more picks and more opportunities, we’d be perfectly happy doing that.”
- Despite some other chatter this week, Hill tweets that Cowboys offensive tackle Doug Free is not retiring. Head coach Jason Garrett said Wednesday he has not heard any word of the 33-year-old Free walking away.
- The Giants have promoted Rob Leonard to assistant defensive line coach, per the Associated Press. Leonard will take over for Jeff Zgonina, who joined the 49ers’ staff. Big Blue has also hired Bobby Blick to fill Leonard’s previous job, defensive assistant.
Zach Links contributed to this post.
Minor NFL Transactions: 3/3/17
Friday’s minor moves…
- The Steelers placed an original round tender on restricted free agent cornerback Ross Cockrell, a source tells Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com (on Twitter). A fourth-round pick of the Bills in 2014, Cockrell has started the last two years for Pittsburgh and is now free negotiate with other teams. However, the Steelers reserve the right to match any offer. Cockrell is slated to play 2017 on the low tender, which should be worth roughly $1.8MM.
- The Packers are bringing back punter Jake Schum, an exclusive rights free agent (Twitter link via Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com). He will take his physical and sign next week.
- The Lions have re-signed long snapper Don Muhlbach to a one-year deal, tweets Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press.
- The Vikings will retain exclusive rights free agent tackle Jeremiah Sirles for $690K, per Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press (Twitter link).
Eagles To Apply Second-Round Tender To Trey Burton
The Eagles will place a $2.81MM second-round tender on restricted free agent tight end Trey Burton, tweets Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald. The move will enable Philadelphia to obtain a second-round pick for Burton if he signs elsewhere and the Eagles don’t match the other team’s offer sheet.
Burton, whom the Eagles signed as an undrafted free agent from Florida in 2014, was a statistical non-factor during his first two seasons. He collected just three catches in 31 games in that span, but the Eagles’ reliance on Burton changed significantly last year in a 37-catch, 60-target, 327-yard campaign. Burton also appeared in at least 15 games for the third straight year and picked up the first four starts of his career. It now appears he’ll again join Zach Ertz and Brent Celek to give Philly three capable tight ends in 2017.
In other Eagles news, they’re shopping linebacker Mychal Kendricks and won a coin toss Friday to guarantee themselves the 14th pick in this year’s draft.
Steelers’ Ryan Harris Retires
Offensive tackle Ryan Harris inked a two-year, $3.9MM deal with the Steelers in free agency last March. Twelve months later, he’s retiring, according to Cameron Wolfe of the Denver Post (Twitter link).
Harris, who will turn 32 on March 11, only appeared in five games and didn’t record any starts in his lone season in Pittsburgh. Despite that, he told Mike Klis of 9News that playing for the Steelers “was a dream come true.” The Steelers placed Harris on injured reserve in early October on account of a shin issue. Injuries were long problematic for Harris, who underwent three back surgeries and dealt with other ailments during his career, as Klis notes.
“It’s been a long journey,’’ Harris told Klis. “You have to overcome injuries. That’s the NFL. The injury rate is 100 percent. You have to have belief, you have to have a great surgeon, you have to have belief in yourself. You have to take the small increments, the changes in your flexibility for months. You have to take it in stride and it made me a better professional and it made me a better man.”
Prior to joining the Steelers, Harris logged a combined 110 appearances and 70 starts with the Broncos, Texans and Chiefs. The majority of his work came in Denver, which selected the ex-Notre Dame standout in the third round of the 2007 draft. Harris started in 50 of 62 appearances as a Bronco, with whom he had tenures from 2007-10 and 2015. In his second stint with the Broncos, the 6-foot-5, 299-pounder started every game and collected a Super Bowl ring.
“Everything I had been through to everything we had accomplished was phenomenal,” Harris said of Denver’s latest championship-winning team.
Continued Harris: “I’ve really worked hard to put my family in a good place for retirement. I’ve been planning for this since Day 1 in the NFL. I’m fortunate. Not that many guys get the chance to retire. This is that time.’’
Steelers’ FAs Likely To Test Market
While the Steelers have prevented running back Le’Veon Bell from reaching free agency, it doesn’t appear they’ll be able to keep their other unsigned players from hitting the open market. The club isn’t close to re-signing any of its free agents-to-be as March 9 approaches, two sources told Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
The Steelers’ list of unrestricted players includes linebackers Lawrence Timmons and Jarvis Jones, running back DeAngelo Williams, quarterback Landry Jones and wide receiver Markus Wheaton, among others. Pittsburgh began talks with Timmons in February, but it will be a challenge to stop the productive defender and careerlong Steeler from heading elsewhere for his 11th NFL season.
“Would you like to have him stay? Absolutely,” general manager Kevin Colbert said in regards to Timmons last month. “Does it all fit? We can make it work, but at what cost? He’s never been a free agent. I’d like to see him finish his career here and he would too.”
Although Jarvis Jones has disappointed since going in the first round of the 2013 draft, having totaled only six sacks in 50 appearances, he’s likely to encounter a favorable market, per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link).
As is the case with Timmons, Colbert has indicated he’d like to have Landry Jones stick around, though it might behoove the four-year veteran to look for a clearer path to playing time someplace else. Jones appeared in a combined 15 games the past two seasons, but barring retirement, Ben Roethlisberger is entrenched as the Steelers’ starting signal-caller.
As for Bell, the Steelers aren’t in any rush to start talks on a long-term deal with the franchise-tagged running back, per Dulac. That runs contrary to a Thursday report from NFL.com’s Aditi Kinkhabwala, who relayed that the two sides are “heavy into negotiations.” The Steelers have until July 15 to lock up Bell.