2017 March - Pro Football Rumors

Jared Odrick On Giants’ Radar

March 20th, 2017 at 1:55pm CST by Zachary Links

Jared Odrick is “one to watch” for the Giants if they don’t re-sign Johnathan Hankins, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. Odrick, as Rapoport notes, appears to be healthy after he passed a physical with the Patriots.

The Giants want to retain Hankins but they want him to hurry up and make a decision. After gunning for $10MM+ per year, Hankins has found a very soft market this month and the Giants aren’t about to bid against themselves or hold up the rest of their offseason to accommodate him. Odrick obviously wouldn’t offer the same kind of upside as Hankins, but he could probably be had on a less expensive one-year deal.

After signing a five-year, $42.5MM contract with the Jaguars in 2015, Odrick recorded 32 tackles and 6.5 sacks in 22 games (all starts). Unfortunately, he played in only six games last year, ending a streak of five straight 16-game seasons.

Odrick is our No. 2 ranked interior defensive lineman left on the board, behind only Hankins.

Steelers To Sign RB Knile Davis

March 20th, 2017 at 1:42pm CST by Zachary Links

The Steelers are signing running back Knile Davis, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. It’ll be a one-year deal.

Davis, a longtime backup in Kansas City, found himself buried on the Chiefs depth chart last year. When he got an opportunity to get away from Jamaal Charles, Charcandrick West, and Spencer Ware, he fell flat. Davis was traded to the Packers in mid-October, but he only got five carries in two games before being waived. He was claimed by the Jets the next day, but he was cut about three hours later when the team opted to sign free agent running C.J. Spiller. Davis circled back to KC and amassed just 23 yards off of 13 carries.

Davis had some quality games in 2013 and 2014 with Kansas City, but we haven’t seen him move the needle in a while. He’ll now try to catch on as a backup for Le’Veon Bell in Pittsburgh.

Cowboys Re-Sign QB Kellen Moore

March 20th, 2017 at 12:25pm CST by Zachary Links

The Cowboys have re-signed quarterback Kellen Moore, according to a team announcement. Terms of the deal are not yet known.

Moore will return to Dallas to provide depth behind starter Dak Prescott. Tony Romo remains under contract in Dallas, but he’ll probably be off the roster one way or another, whether via trade or release. Once the Romo situation is resolved, the Cowboys may look to sign another QB and that could bump Moore down to the QB3 spot.

Moore appeared in three games (two starts) in 2015 while Romo was sidelined. Last season, he suffered a leg injury in the offseason and missed all of 2016. If it weren’t for that, Moore could have been Dallas’ starter again when Romo got hurt weeks later. Ultimately, things worked out alright for the Cowboys as they discovered a superstar in Prescott.

In 2015, Moore completed 61 of 104 passes for 779 yards and four touchdowns against six picks. In our updated version of the free agent quarterback rankings, we had Moore as the 14th best available option.

Veteran QB Josh McCown has been heavily linked to the Cowboys. It remains to be seen whether he can still wind up in Dallas.

Dolphins To Host LB Zach Brown On Visit

March 20th, 2017 at 11:51am CST by Zachary Links

A new suitor has emerged for free agent Zach Brown. The linebacker is set to meet with the Dolphins, Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald writes.

Brown had a strong 2016 with Buffalo and currently ranks as PFR’s top available linebacker, but he hasn’t exactly found an eager market for his services. After racking up 149 total tackles, four sacks, and two forced fumbles for the Bills last season, Brown has only had meetings with the Colts and Raiders and neither visit led to a deal. The Raiders are reportedly unlikely to sign Brown and the Colts have since signed linebacker Sean Spence.

It’s possible that this Dolphins visit will yield a deal, particularly since Brown’s asking price has probably come down in the last two weeks. This offseason, the Dolphins beefed up their linebacker group by adding Lawrence Timmons and they could have an even stronger unit by adding Brown to the mix. In theory, Brown could start in the middle with Timmons and Kiko Alonso on the outside, but Alonso’s preference is to remain on the inside.

Steelers Meeting With DL Tyson Alualu

March 20th, 2017 at 10:39am CST by Zachary Links

Tyson Alualu is visiting with the Steelers, a source tells Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com (on Twitter). The Jaguars free agent defensive lineman will touch down in Pittsburgh on Monday afternoon.

Our most recent rundown of free agent defensive tackles had Alualu in the top 15, but only by a thread. Despite spending his entire career with the Jaguars, Alualu was on the Jags’ roster bubble heading into the 2016 season. This year, the Jaguars let him test free agency without much of a battle to keep him and it’s not clear if they have interest in re-signing him at this juncture.

Last year, Alualu appeared in 14 games with ten starts. He had 2.5 sacks and 36 total tackles and finished out as the No. 74 DT in the league by Pro Football Focus’ measure. His 47.0 overall grade was the result of a poor pass rush grade and a mediocre showing against the run. PFF has had the 29-year-old (30 in May) roughly in that range for his entire career.

The Honolulu, Hawaii native might not be a game-changer, but he could be a useful reserve for Pittsburgh thanks to his experience on both the interior and exterior of the D-Line. Right now, the Steelers have only three D-Line reserves under contract: defensive tackles Daniel McCullers and Johnny Maxey plus defensive end Leterrius Walton. Cameron Heyward and Stephon Tuitt are slated to start on the ends with Javon Hargrave in between.

“Raiders Or Bust” For Marshawn Lynch?

March 20th, 2017 at 10:06am CST by Zachary Links

Rumors of a Marshawn Lynch return continue to swirl. The potential for Lynch to come out of retirement is “realer than it’s ever been,” a source tells Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). That same source indicates that if the comeback goes down, it’s “Raiders or bust.”

Lynch hasn’t spoken publicly about the latest round of Raiders rumors, but he fanned the flames this weekend on Twitter. Someone on Twitter recently noticed a 2015 Spotify playlist from Lynch which included a track titled “Oakland Raiders.” Lynch re-tweeted that tweet, giving more momentum to the Oakland talk.

It sounds like there is mutual interest between the Raiders and Lynch, but there’s still the matter of his contractual status with the Seahawks. Seattle owns Lynch’s rights and he would carry a $9MM cap hit if he returns. The Seahawks don’t have the cap room to keep Beast Mode at that rate and they already have Eddie Lacy, C.J. Prosise, and Thomas Rawls at running back. Seattle could cooperate with by trading him to the Raiders, but Oakland may only want to sacrifice something like a conditional seventh-rounder. The reality is that the Seahawks don’t have a ton of leverage in this situation, so the Raiders might prefer to wait for him to get released.

The Raiders are without a starting running back now that Latavius Murray left in free agency. The Raiders presently have Jalen Richard, DeAndre Washington, and Taiwan Jones at running back. One way or another, Oakland is expected to bolster the top of the RB depth chart.

Photo via Pro Football Rumors on Instagram.

Lions Sign DT Jordan Hill

March 20th, 2017 at 9:45am CST by Zachary Links

The Lions announced that they have signed defensive Jordan Hill. Terms of the 26-year-old’s deal are not yet known.

Hill spent the first few years of his career with the Seahawks but was released from their IR in October. He later hooked on with the Redskins but was waived before he could ever take the field for D.C. The Jaguars quickly scooped him up and he wound up seeing time in four games for Jacksonville.

Hill had 5.5 sacks for the Seahawks in 2014 but he has yet to replicate that kind of production. For what it’s worth, Hill did get a solid 74.8 overall grade from Pro Football Focus in 2015.

The Lions are projected to start veteran Haloti Ngata and rising sophomore A’Shawn Robinson at the defensive tackle spots. Hill will hope to join free agent pickup Akeem Spence and the newly re-signed Khyri Thornton in support.

Raiders To Meet With LB Jelani Jenkins

March 20th, 2017 at 9:11am CST by Zachary Links

Free agent linebacker Jelani Jenkins is expected to visit the Raiders this week, sources tell Adam Caplan of ESPN.com (on Twitter). This marks Jenkins’ first known free agent visit of the month.

The Raiders are looking for help at weakside linebacker and middle linebacker. Caplan hears from teams that Jenkins profiles more as a weakside ‘backer, which is the position he primarily played with the Dolphins.

Jenkins made some noise in 2014 when he had 110 total tackles, 3.5 sacks, two forced fumbles, and one pass defensed. From there, he saw his role gradually decrease. In 2015, he had 71 total tackles and three passes defensed. Last year, Jenkins appeared in nine games and accumulated 29 tackles.

In 2016, Pro Football Focus gave Jenkins the worst grade of any linebacker with enough snaps to qualify for a ranking. His 31.4 score was exceptionally bad, but he had much better showings (76.9; 73.2) in 2014 and 2015.

Latest On DT Johnathan Hankins

March 20th, 2017 at 8:21am CST by Zachary Links

Johnathan Hankins has been trying to hard to top the Giants’ standing offer to retain him. He hasn’t done it yet and the G-Men are getting antsy. The Giants want an answer from him soon, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.

Over the weekend, we heard that the Giants have a “50-50” chance of keeping the defensive tackle. The Giants’ exact offer to the 25-year-old is not known, but Ralph Vacchiano of SNY says they’re unlikely to offer him anything more than a one-year, $4MM deal because of their cap situation. That would be a crushing blow to Hankins who came into March looking for a deal worth more than $10MM per year. After Dontari Poe settled for a one-year deal with an $8MM base, a lucrative multi-year deal seems unlikely for Hankins, even though he’s younger.

So far, the incumbent Giants, Redskins, and Dolphins have been the only teams to be linked to Hankins. However, the Redskins have already made defensive line upgrades and the Dolphins’ interest might not be all that serious. Right now, all signs are pointing towards Hankins returning to the Giants, but their offer might have an expiration date.

Chase Daniel Visiting Jets

March 20th, 2017 at 7:59am CST by Zachary Links

The Jets’ quarterback search continues. Today, the Jets will meet with free agent Chase Daniel, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets.

Daniel, 30, huddled up with the Saints on Sunday but left New Orleans without a contract. Despite the lack of game film on him, Daniel is highly respected in coaching circles and is said to be a strong quarterback in practice. Last season, Doug Pederson‘s endorsement was enough to convince the Eagles to sign him to a three-year pact with a $21MM value. Now, the Jets are seriously entertaining him as a starting option even though he’s only thrown 78 passes over the course of his seven-year NFL career.

If the season started today, Bryce Petty would be the Jets’ starting quarterback with 2016 second-round pick Christian Hackenberg as his backup. When all is said and done, Petty could still wind up as the starter, but the Jets will fully explore their options before committing to the Baylor product. Former Browns QB Josh McCown is also in the mix.

In a poll on Sunday night, 47% of PFR readers predicted that Jay Cutler would wind up as the Jets’ starting QB in 2017.