2017 March - Pro Football Rumors

Packers, Falcons In Mix For Nick Perry

March 8th, 2017 at 8:06pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

While Nick Perry could be the best edge rusher set to hit the open market Thursday, the Packers would like to keep him from leaving Geen Bay, according to Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (via D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, on Twitter). They’re going to face competition, though, including from the Falcons, per Ledbetter.

Atlanta’s at least the third non-Packers team involved in the Perry sweepstakes, joining the Colts and Jets. As such, Perry should be in line for a better deal than the one-year, $5MM pact he inked with the Packers last March. Perry was then a player who had largely disappointed during his first few NFL seasons, leading Green Bay to decline the 2012 first-round pick’s fifth-year option for 2016.

In his latest action, Perry broke out as a 26-year-old and picked up career highs in starts (12), sacks (11) and tackles (52). Perry entered the year with only 16 starts and 12.5 sacks across 46 appearances.

For the Falcons, adding the 2016 version of Perry (if his most recent output doesn’t prove to be a fluke) would provide a complement to Vic Beasley and be a boon to a defense that ranked a middling 16th in the league in sacks last season. Further, although the Falcons advanced to the Super Bowl, they finished toward the bottom of the league in total defense (26th), defensive DVOA (27th) and points allowed (27th).

Bills To Sign OL Vlad Ducasse

March 8th, 2017 at 7:55pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Bills plan to sign guard Vlad Ducasse to a three-year deal, tweets Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com.

Ducasse, a former second-round pick, has bounced around for most of his career, spending time with the Jets, Vikings, and Bears before joining the Ravens last year. Signed as a depth option, Ducasse ended up starting eight games in Baltimore, grading as the league’s No. 59 guard, per Pro Football Focus. All told, the 29-year-old Ducasse has appeared in 88 career games, including 30 starts.

In Buffalo, Ducasse will become a clear-cut backup, as the Bills already boast two above-average guards in Richie Incognito and John Miller, each of whom played more than 1,000 snaps last season. Still, Buffalo can’t have too much offensive line depth as it attempts to recreate its No. 1 DVOA-rated rushing offense. Plus, Ducasse will reunite former Ravens offensive line coach Juan Castillo, who now holds the same role with the Bills.

49ers Expected To Sign Malcolm Smith

March 8th, 2017 at 7:51pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The 49ers are expected to sign free agent linebacker Malcolm Smith on Thursday, reports Mike Garafolo of NFL.com (Twitter link). Peter Schrager of FOX Sports (Twitter link) first reported San Francisco’s interest.

A report earlier today indicated the Raiders are unlikely to retain Smith, but San Francisco is the first team that’s been officially linked to the former Super Bowl MVP. Smith, 27, has spent the past two years in Oakland serving as a full-time starter for the first time in his career. During that time, he’s started 30 games and averaged more than 100 tackles per season. Pro Football Focus hasn’t been fond of Smith’s production, however, giving him negative marks for the majority of his career.

The 49ers have been active today, but they’ve mostly added offensive players that won’t have an affect on a defense that ranked 28th in DVOA last season. San Francisco is moving to a Seahawks-esque 4-3 defense under new coordinator Robert Saleh, so Smith would offer both scheme familiarity and versatility, and could conceivably slot in at either outside linebacker spot.

Smith, who ranks as PFR’s No. 12 free agent linebacker, is coming off a two-year pact that paid him $3.5MM annually.

Micah Hyde Likely To Leave Packers

March 8th, 2017 at 7:43pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

The Packers met with defensive back Micah Hyde‘s agent at the combine last week, but it doesn’t appear that a deal will materialize before free agency opens Thursday. As a result, Hyde is likely to hit the open market, reports Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com.

Hyde has spent his entire four-year career in Green Bay, though its interest in bringing him back for a fifth season doesn’t seem all that high. The team hasn’t even made Hyde an offer, according to Demovsky. If the 26-year-old’s career with the Packers is over, it’ll end with 63 regular-season appearances out of a possible 64, 33 starts, eight interceptions, five forced fumbles and four sacks.

Hyde is coming off a 16-game, 11-start season, in which he tied a career high with three picks and ranked a decent 53rd among Pro Football Focus’ 112 qualified cornerbacks. Hyde also has experience at safety, so his track record of versatility, productivity and durability should enable him to land an appreciable raise over his $1.671MM base salary from 2016. Indeed, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets that Hyde has “strong offers” from two other clubs.

49ers To Sign WR Marquise Goodwin

March 8th, 2017 at 6:57pm CST by Zachary Links

Wide receiver Marquise Goodwin is signing with the 49ers, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. The speedster should be a strong fit for Kyle Shanahan‘s offense in San Francisco, and he could make up to $8MM on a two-year deal, per Rapoport (Twitter link).

Goodwin, a former track and field Olympian, spent the last four years in Buffalo. With the Bills, he totaled 49 catches and six touchdowns in 39 games. Goodwin set career highs last year with 15 appearances, 29 catches, 68 targets and 431 yards. He also matched a personal watermark with three touchdowns.

Our own Dallas Robinson suggested that the 49ers should pursue some new offensive weapons this offseason, and they’ve done that so far. The team signed fellow free agent wideout Pierre Garcon earlier today, and the duo should team up nicely with new quarterback Brian Hoyer.

Besides the two additions, the 49ers also have a number of other wideouts on the roster, including Jeremy Kerley, Aaron Burbridge, Bruce Ellington, and Chris Harper.

Bills Prioritizing Lorenzo Alexander Deal

March 8th, 2017 at 6:50pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

On the heels of his stunningly excellent 2016 campaign, the Bills aren’t ready to watch linebacker Lorenzo Alexander depart in free agency. The team is prioritizing re-signing Alexander and “working hard” to lock him up, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com.

Alexander settled for a minimum salary benefit deal with the Bills in free agency last spring, when he was a special teams-first journeyman who had racked up only 9.5 sacks in his first nine NFL seasons. But Alexander broke out last season in Buffalo, where he accumulated 76 tackles, 12.5 sacks, three forced fumbles and an interception across 16 starts en route to second-team All-Pro honors and the only Pro Bowl berth of his career.

The first real defensive success of Alexander’s career came under the Bills’ previous head coach, Rex Ryan, whom they fired with a week left in the season. Buffalo has since replaced Ryan with another defensive-minded coach, Sean McDermott, but the team clearly regards Alexander as a player capable of thriving in its new system.

If the Bills prevent Alexander from hitting the market, it would remove yet another quality edge rusher from a thinning class of free agents. PFR’s Dallas Robinson ranks Alexander as the fifth-best rusher available, and the defender’s agent, Peter Schaffer, expects him to garner anywhere from $5MM to $10MM per year on his next deal.

RELATED:

Bills Pursuing Martellus Bennett
Bills Keep Tyrod Taylor

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Daniel Snyder Blocking Kirk Cousins Trade?

March 8th, 2017 at 6:46pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Redskins haven’t given any indication they they’re willing to trade franchise-tagged quarterback Kirk Cousins to the 49ers (or any other club), and Washington may be holding onto its signal-caller thanks to owner Daniel Snyder‘s poor relationships with both Cousins and the Shanahans, Kyle and Mike, according to Kevin Jones of KNBR.

Snyder reportedly still holds a grudge against the Shanahans after firing the pair following the 2013 campaign, per Jones, and especially dislikes that the duo’s prediction of a failed Robert Griffin III career ultimately proved true. As such, Snyder has no interest in “helping” Kyle Shanahan in any regard, including sending him a ready-made franchise quarterback in Cousins.

Snyder may also possess personal animus towards Cousins, as Jones describes a “weird” relationship between the two. After Cousins won the first game of his career in 2012 filling in for an injured RGIII, Snyder reportedly refused to congratulate or even acknowledge Cousins in the locker room following the contest, according to Jones. Although Snyder has since softened his stance, a degree of tension still endures.

Cousins will make nearly $24MM in 2017 under the terms of his second consecutive franchise tag, which he has yet to sign.

Redskins, McCloughan Likely To Part Ways

March 8th, 2017 at 6:23pm CST by Zachary Links

It sure sounds like Scot McCloughan will be ousted in D.C. The Redskins have been “entertaining” new general manager options for “quite some time,” numerous league sources tell Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com. Apparently, the team has internally discussed names and La Canfora writes says they have “essentially have begun the process.” Unsurprisingly, then, a parting of ways is “inevitable” – perhaps in the form of a buyout – multiple sources tell Mike Jones of the Washington Post.

If team president Bruce Allen looks for a successor to McCloughan, one name that has surfaced is former Buccaneers GM Mark Dominik, who has a history with Allen. La Canfora also suggests a possible promotion for executive Alex Santos, though the team has never promoted from within to fill the GM role, while Jones adds that ex-Redskins quarterback Doug Williams and former Chargers GM A.J. Smith are possibilities.

As for McCloughan himself, La Canfora hears the GM is not in rehab (he has dealt with alcohol-related issues) and has not been in rehab during his hiatus from the team. However, he has not stopped drinking since joining the Redskins in 2015, per Jones, who writes that McCloughan’s peers don’t believe that has negatively affected his work. McCloughan and Allen have been at loggerheads over several matters, details Jones, and it looks as if their inability to coexist will lead to a divorce.

Reportedly, the chaos in Washington is making the representatives of free agents question the team’s stability.

Chargers Likely To Pursue Russell Okung

March 8th, 2017 at 6:09pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

While the Broncos would like to bring back left tackle Russell Okung, an AFC West rival could get in the way. The Chargers are likely to show “strong interest” in Okung when free agency opens Thursday, reports Mike Klis of 9News (Twitter link). Signing Okung would probably lead to the release of the Chargers’ current blindside starter, King Dunlap, tweets Michael Gehlken.

The Chargers are the latest of several teams in the chase for Okung, who can’t talk to clubs during the legal tampering period because he doesn’t have an agent. However, there’s a belief among some teams and agents that the Bolts have been in contact with Okung’s advisor, former agent Jimmy Halsell, writes Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. If true, the Chargers would be in violation of the NFL’s tampering rules.

Okung previously negotiated his own contract last offseason, when he left Seattle for Denver, but his four-year, $48MM deal with the Broncos came with an escape clause for the team after 2016. The Broncos took advantage of it and will try to bring him back at a lesser cost. Okung, to his credit, posted the first 16-start season of his seven-year career with the Broncos. The 29-year-old didn’t play at an especially high level, though, as Pro Football Focus ranked his performance a middling 38th among 78 qualified tackles.

The site was less kind to Dunlap, whom it rated 53rd. The 31-year-old is coming off his second straight injury-shortened campaign, having combined for 19 appearances (12 last season) since 2015. A four-year Charger, Dunlap has started in all 46 of his appearances with the club. If done as as a pre-June 1 designation, cutting Dunlap would save the Bolts $4.875MM and leave with $3.25MM in dead money.

Vikings Interested In Nick Foles?

March 8th, 2017 at 6:07pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Vikings are a possible landing spot for quarterback Nick Foles, a source tells Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press (Twitter link). Foles isn’t technically a free agent just yet, but the Chiefs are fully expected to decline his 2017 option this week.

It’s no surprise that Minnesota would express interest in Foles, as they reportedly pursued him last year at this time after he was released by the Rams. The question becomes, then, whether Foles would be willing to go the Vikings, where he’d presumably be a clear-cut backup behind Sam Bradford. Foles, PFR’s No. 2 free agent quarterback, might be able to sign with a club that’s willing to let him compete for a starting role, an opportunity he won’t be afforded with the Vikes.

The Vikings’ dalliance with Foles could indicate a negative outlook on quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, however, as conflicting reports emerged earlier this year about the former first-round pick’s health. Bridgewater suffered a devastating knee injury last summer, and while it’s possible he’ll miss the 2017 season, the Vikings haven’t issued their own update on Bridgewater’s status.

Veteran quarterback Shaun Hill, who served as Bradford’s backup in 2016, is also an unrestricted free agent.