2017 March - Pro Football Rumors

Latest On Marshawn Lynch

March 21st, 2017 at 12:14pm CST by Zachary Links

As speculation swirls around Marshawn Lynch potentially coming out of retirement to join the Raiders, his agent claims that he has not spoken with his client about a return (via KNBR). At the same time, Doug Hendrickson does not deny that the itch to play football is still there.

“Well in all sincerity, Marshawn’s been in Canada,” Hendrickson said. “I’m due to see him this week. So he and I have not spoken about this at all. So it was the media who took the ball and kind ran with it….He’s one of the most unique guys I’ve ever been with in my life. Marshawn, it wouldn’t shock me in three days if he says, ‘Hey, I want to play.’ It wouldn’t shock me if he says, ‘Nah, I don’t know where this came from. I don’t want to play.‘”

Under the terms of his current deal, Lynch is under contract to the Seahawks and would earn $9MM per the terms of that contract. Even if Lynch is asked to rework that salary, he’d still be in for a nice payday in 2017. The money could certainly be a motivating factor, but Hendrickson says that the running back is not hard up for cash.

“He doesn’t spend any of the money he’s made. He’s got a lot of money,” Hendrickson said. “He does miss football, no question. He loves the game of football. He’s 30. But until I meet with him this week, you know, I don’t know what his mindset is. He’s the kind of guy that can shift by the hour.”

A report on Monday indicated that Lynch would only return to the NFL if he were to suit up for the Raiders. Still, we won’t know Lynch’s intentions for certain until he or his agent are willing to speak publicly.

Chiefs Hosting G Andrew Tiller On Visit

March 21st, 2017 at 12:06pm CST by Zachary Links

49ers free agent guard Andrew Tiller is visiting the Chiefs today, a league source tells Matt Barrows of The Sacramento Bee (on Twitter). Tiller has started 14 games over the last two seasons for San Francisco.

The Chiefs presently have three true guards on the roster in Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, Zach Fulton, and Parker Ehinger. After that, they have a pair of guard/tackles in Jah Reid and Mike Person. If Tiller signs with KC, he’ll likely get a partial guarantee on his deal and that could displace one of the team’s reserve offensive linemen.

We haven’t heard Tiller’s name come up much this month and this is his first reported free agent visit. At this stage of free agency, we have Tiller ranked as one of the five best free agent interior offensive linemen remaining on the board. Only Jahri Evans, Nick Mangold, Tim Lelito, and John Sullivan are ahead of him on the list.

The Niners’ level of interest in keeping Tiller isn’t immediately clear. The team currently has nine offensive linemen under contract, including newly-acquired center Jeremy Zuttah.

Steelers To Sign Tyson Alualu

March 21st, 2017 at 11:27am CST by Zachary Links

The Steelers will sign former Jaguars defensive lineman Tyson Alualu, a source tells Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com (on Twitter). It’ll be a two-year deal worth $6MM, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter).

Alualu has not lived up to his Top 10 draft status in the NFL, but the Steelers aren’t counting on superstar production out of him either. Our updated ranking of the remaining free agent defensive tackles had Alualu towards the back of the top 15. It’s not clear if the Jaguars had any real interest in re-signing him, which says something about where he is at this stage of his career.

Alualu, 30 in May, appeared in 14 games with ten starts last season for Jacksonville. He amassed 36 total tackles and 2.5 sacks. The advanced metrics at Pro Football Focus were down on him, just like they always have been.

Although Alualu is naturally a defensive tackle, he did see some time at defensive end in 2016. It’s not immediately clear where the Steelers plan on using him.

With Alualu gone, Chad Henne and Marcedes Lewis are the only players remaining from the Jaguars’ 2012 roster, ESPN.com’s Michael DiRocco (on Twitter) notes.

CFL Team Holds Rights To Kaepernick, RG3

March 21st, 2017 at 10:59am CST by Zachary Links

The CFL’s Hamilton Tiger-Cats have added quarterbacks Colin Kaepernick and Robert Griffin III to their exclusive negotiation list, a source tells ESPN.com’s Kevin Seifert (Twitter link). It’s not clear if Kaepernick or Griffin are open to playing north of the border, but if they do, their rights will be reserved by the Tiger-Cats.

Kaepernick and RG3 are among the best free agent quarterbacks left on the board, but, for different reasons, they haven’t garnered a lot of interest from NFL teams thus far. Kaepernick is a lightning-rod for controversy who is years removed from his best work. Griffin, meanwhile, is even further removed from his salad days and barely played in 2016 due to injury. In time, I expect that Griffin will find work, but it’s possible that all 32 teams could avoid Kaepernick over fear of a locker room distraction.

The Tiger-Cats also own the rights to Johnny Manziel, giving them three big-name QB possibilities.

Falcons Extend Team President Rich McKay

March 21st, 2017 at 10:46am CST by Zachary Links

The Falcons have signed team president and CEO Rich McKay to an extension. The new five-year deal will take him through June 2022.

“Rich has been so important to our businesses and Atlanta’s growth for many years. We are thrilled to extend his contract with the Falcons and AMB Sports & Entertainment,” said team executive Steve Cannon in a press release. “He has been instrumental in the success of the Atlanta Falcons on and off the field and has played a very important role in making Mercedes-Benz Stadium a reality, and in bringing Major League Soccer to Atlanta. Rich is a great champion of our core values and will continue to be a strong leader in our organization and community for years to come.”

McKay, who has been with the Falcons since 2004, helped to make the Falcons’ forthcoming new stadium a reality. The exec was initially hired in 2004 as the Falcons’ president and general manager, but he was elevated to his present title in 2011, pushing him more towards the business end of things. The Falcons’ statement highlights McKay’s many achievements, including his role on the league’s competition committee and his work to help renegotiate and extend the current collective bargaining agreement. McKay was suspended from the competition committee in the wake of the team’s artificial crowd noise scandal.

Giants To Sign RB Shaun Draughn

March 21st, 2017 at 10:28am CST by Zachary Links

The Giants have agreed to a deal with running back Shaun Draughn, agent Sean Stellato tells Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter). Terms of the deal are not yet known. Last year, Draughn re-upped with the 49ers on an inexpensive one-year deal.

Draughn, 29, appeared in all 16 games for the Niners last year, mainly in a reserve role. He ran for 196 yards off of 74 carries and found the end zone four times. He also added 29 catches for 263 yards and two touchdowns.

The Giants are currently slated to start rising sophomore Paul Perkins with Shane Vereen, Orleans Darkwa, and George Winn in support. The G-Men have been expected to explore running back upgrades and the Draughn signing probably won’t stop them from continuing that search. This year’s draft has a number of talented running backs (especially at the top) and there are a handful of big name backs left in free agency, including Adrian Peterson, LeGarrette Blount, and Jamaal Charles.

Draughn’s defection will leave the 49ers searching for a new reserve to put behind starter Carlos Hyde. The Niners recently had Tim Hightower in for a visit and he could be a candidate for the role. Mike Davis and Raheem Mostert are also under contract.

The Giants are now slated to be the seventh NFL team of Draughn’s career. In addition to the Niners, the running back has previously suited up for the Chiefs, Ravens, Chargers, Browns, and Bears.

Saints To Sign LB Manti Te’o

March 21st, 2017 at 10:21am CST by Zachary Links

Manti Te’o has agreed to a deal with the Saints, a source tells ESPN.com’s Mike Triplett (Twitter link). The linebacker will receive a two-year deal.

Te’o, the 38th overall pick in the 2013 draft, has been hindered by injuries throughout his career. As a rookie in 2013, Te’o suffered a foot injury in the preseason which sidelined him for the first part of the regular season. In the following year, the linebacker missed six games due to a foot fracture. In 2015, Te’o missed four games as the result of an ankle injury.

All told, the Notre Dame product has managed only 30 starts in four years with the Chargers, and he hasn’t been especially productive. Still, he ranks as the No. 7 free agent linebacker on PFR’s updated list, mostly based on potential upside.

The Saints have remade their linebacker group a bit this offseason, adding middle linebacker A.J. Klein and outside linebacker Alex Okafor. The addition of Te’o would give New Orleans nine LBs in total, for the time being. It’s not clear how New Orleans will use Te’o given the presence of Klein and last year’s starting middle linebacker Craig Robertson. Robertson, in theory, could see time on the outside, allowing Te’o to play predominantly in the middle. Klein could also see some snaps at outside linebacker, but the inside is his best position.

Dan Graziano of ESPN.com (on Twitter) first reported that a deal was close.

Linebacker Zach Brown Fires Agent

March 21st, 2017 at 10:15am CST by Zachary Links

Linebacker Zach Brown is apparently frustrated with how free agency has gone thus far. On Tuesday morning, Brown fired agent Carl Carey and signed with Jason and Michael Katz of CSE Talent (Twitter link).

Brown now ranks as PFR’s top free agent linebacker and he’s one of the most talented free agents left on the board at ay position. We expected Brown to cash in after a career year, but he hasn’t garnered as much interest as anticipated. The Colts and Raiders both met with Brown, but the Colts have since signed linebacker Sean Spence and the Raiders might be done with LB shopping in free agency after adding Jelani Jenkins. Right now, his market might be comprised of just two teams. Brown is currently visiting with the Dolphins and, as NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport tweets, he’ll meet with the incumbent Bills once he’s done there.

If the Dolphins sign Brown and convince Kiko Alonso to play outside linebacker, they could have a strong veteran LB starting cast with the two of them plus offseason addition Lawrence Timmons. The Bills, meanwhile, would like to retain Brown after successfully re-signing fellow free agent ‘backers Lorenzo Alexander and Ramon Humber.

Rashad Jennings Blackballed For “Dancing With The Stars”?

March 21st, 2017 at 9:07am CST by Zachary Links

Rashad Jennings had a strong showing on “Dancing With The Stars” Monday night, or at least that’s what this recap from USA Today tells us. The Giants free agent running back used his “quick-footed Cha Cha” and stylish golden blazer to win over judges, putting him into DWTS frontrunner status.

His performance netted him four “sparkle points” out of five from USA Today, but the rest of the league isn’t going wild over his newfound hobby. Word is that the free agent running back is being blackballed for participating in the show, longtime NFL reporter Howard Balzer tweets.

Jennings is the latest in a long line of NFL players to take a shot at ballroom dancing on network television. Calvin Johnson, Antonio Brown, Chad Johnson, Hines Ward, Warren Sapp, Kurt Warner, Lawrence Taylor, Emmitt Smith, Donald Driver, Jason Taylor, Michael Irvin, Jerry Rice, and Von Miller have all strutted their stuff, with varying degrees of success. Most of those players did the show after retiring and only one, Miller, went on DWTS during a critical time for contract negotiations.

No one questioned Miller’s commitment to football during his reality show stint, but that might be because Miller was in his prime and one of the league’s very best defensive players. Jennings, on the other hand, is a soon-to-be 32-year-old coming off of an injury-riddled season. Teams probably expected that Jennings would be spending the offseason working out and meeting with interested teams. Instead, teams might be left with the impression that he is trying to follow the path of ex-Giant Michael Strahan. As a charismatic and good looking guy, Jennings could be zeroed in on a broadcasting career and that could detract from his commitment to football.

I have Jennings ranked as the fourth-best running back left in free agency.

Colts To Sign WR Kamar Aiken

March 21st, 2017 at 8:34am CST by Zachary Links

Former Ravens wide receiver Kamar Aiken is expected to sign with the Colts, a source tells Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). It’ll be a one-year deal, Stephen Holder of the Indy Star tweets.

Aiken, 28 in May, had only 29 receptions for the Ravens in 2016 after putting up 75 catches the year prior. Still, we had Aiken ranked the best free agent receiver heading into today, putting him ahead of notables like Victor Cruz, Brian Quick, Brandon LaFell, Anquan Boldin, Ted Ginn, and Vincent Jackson.

Exact terms of the deal are not yet known, but this could prove to be a quality value signing for the Colts. From Aiken’s perspective, however, it’s surprising that this was apparently the best opportunity he had to rebuild his value. The Colts’ passing game figures to be strong in 2017 and Aiken is probably looking forward to catching passes from Andrew Luck. At the same time, the Colts already have T.Y. Hilton, Donte Moncrief, and Phillip Dorsett at receiver.

Before landing in Indy, the Seahawks also showed interest in Aiken.