2017 April - Pro Football Rumors

Follow Pro Football Rumors On Instagram

April 21st, 2017 at 9:10am CST by Zachary Links

Pro Football Rumors recently launched an official Instagram account (@ProFootballRumors) and it’s a must-follow for NFL fans. Each day, we share conversation-inspiring images about the hottest topics in football. From there, we invite you to give us a like, weigh in with your thoughts in the comments section, and even share the link with a friend.

With the NFL Draft around the corner, we’ll be doing some speculative jersey swaps on potential picks. Popular thought has the Browns taking Texas A&M star Myles Garrett No. 1 overall and we have to admit that he looks good in Cleveland gear. If the Browns select UNC quarterback Mitch Trubisky at No. 12, we can assure you that his guns will pop in a Browns cutoff.

Yearning for a preview of Marshawn Lynch in Raiders’ silver and black? We’ve got you covered. We also did jersey swaps on Adrian Peterson with the Raiders, Packers, and Patriots, though at least two of those clubs probably won’t be in the running for him at this point. And, if you want to know what Johnny Manziel would look like in a Saints uni, we’ve got that too.

If you’re not already, follow Pro Football Rumors on Instagram today!

NFC Notes: Mixon, Eagles, Lions, Stafford

April 20th, 2017 at 9:21pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

Thanks to his off-field transgressions, Oklahoma running back Joe Mixon‘s draft stock is reportedly dropping, but the Eagles are among those who have him on their board, writes Jeff McLane of Philly.com. Owner Jeffrey Lurie has given team brass his blessing to consider drafting Mixon, two sources confirmed to McLane. Notably, two of the Eagles’ key decision-makers, vice president of football operations Howie Roseman and VP of player personnel Joe Douglas, spoke highly of Mixon’s abilities on Thursday. “There’s not much he can’t do,” Roseman said. “He’s incredible with the ball in his hands, you can split him out, he’s got really good hands [as a receiver], he can pass-protect, he can make people miss.” Douglas added that “a lot of people think that he is one of the top backs in this draft,” but he noted that “most teams” are considering Mixon’s character issues.

More on Philadelphia and a pair of its NFC foes:

Speculatively, Mixon could be a possibility for the Eagles beginning in Round 2. Before debating whether to take him, they’ll have to make a decision in the opening round, where they’re slated to pick 14th. The club has come up with “probably about seven or eight scenarios” for that spot, according to Douglas, and Roseman expects to end up with a star-caliber player with that selection. “One thing I know — when we make a pick at 14, with the way our board looks right now, we’re going to all be high-fiving then, and very excited about that pick,” declared Roseman (via Les Bowen of Philly.com).
Entering a contract year, Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford could become the highest-paid player in the NFL by next offseason, though Carlos Monarrez of the Detroit Free Press argues that he’s not worth it. While Monarrez expects the Lions to cave to Stafford’s demands, he opines that the signal-caller’s age (30 next February) and zero playoff wins are among the reasons the team would be better off letting him test the market than become the league’s richest player in Detroit.
Speaking of the Lions, general manager Bob Quinn addressed the strengths of this year’s draft Thursday, saying it’s particularly deep at running back, wide receiver, cornerback, safety and tight end (Twitter link via Tim Twentyman of the team website).
Linebacker Sam Acho‘s one-year deal with the Bears is worth $855K, including $130K fully guaranteed, tweets ESPN’s Adam Caplan.

Zach Links contributed to this post.

John Schneider: “Odds Are” Seahawks Keep Richard Sherman

April 20th, 2017 at 8:11pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

The Seahawks aren’t ruling out trading cornerback Richard Sherman, but “odds are” he’ll stay put, general manager John Schneider told 710 ESPN Radio on Thursday. If Sherman does return to the Seahawks for a seventh season, there’s unlikely to be any behind-the-scenes drama, as Schneider insists that “everything is fine” between the two sides (all Twitter links via Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times).

While Sherman reportedly requested a trade, Schneider indicated that shopping him is a mutual decision based on “constant communication” with the corner. Asked why the Seahawks would deal Sherman, a three-time first-team All-Pro, Schneider reasoned that doing so would enable the club “to create cap room” and “become a younger football team.” Sherman is set to play his age-29 season in 2017, in which he’s due to earn an $11.4MM-plus base salary and count over $13.6MM against the cap. He’s under contract for similar numbers ($11MM and $13.2MM) in 2018, the final year of his deal.

Despite Sherman’s age and expensive price tag, the Seahawks are reportedly seeking a first-round pick in this year’s draft and a conditional mid-rounder in 2018 for him. They’re not out of line to place a high asking price on Sherman, of course, as the playmaker has never missed a game and is coming off his sixth straight 16-start season. Sherman picked off four passes in 2016, giving him 30 for his career, and ranked as Pro Football Focus’ 13th-best corner.

Lions Mulling Eric Ebron’s Fifth-Year Option

April 20th, 2017 at 7:06pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

The Lions will have to make a decision on tight end Eric Ebron‘s fifth-year option by May 3, but their front office has “talked very little about” it, general manager Bob Quinn said Thursday to reporters, including Kyle Meinke of MLive.com. Quinn added that team brass is undecided on Ebron’s option and will “spend the next two weeks discussing” it.

Exercising Ebron’s option would give the Lions control over him in 2018 for around $8.5MM, which would be guaranteed for injury only. But Ebron could become superfluous to the Lions beyond the upcoming season if they spend a high pick in this year’s draft on a tight end, which Meinke notes is a possibility. Ebron himself was a high pick not long ago, in 2014, when the Lions selected the ex-North Carolina standout 10th overall.

The 24-year-old Ebron has been fairly prolific during his career, having progressed from 25 catches as a rookie to 47 in 2015 to 61 last season. Only nine tight ends finished 2016 with more receptions than Ebron, who also posted a career-high yards-per-catch average (11.7) and logged a personal-best 13 starts. However, he finished last among TEs in drops (seven) and caught just one touchdown (four fewer than his 2015 total).

Ebron will make $3.9MM in 2017, potentially his final season in Detroit.

AFC Notes: Bills, Browns, Patriots

April 20th, 2017 at 6:31pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

The Bills will send representatives to Clemson to meet with quarterback Deshaun Watson on Friday, reports Josina Anderson of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Bills general manager Doug Whaley is supposedly “in love” with Watson, but there’s a belief that the team’s highest-graded QB prospect is North Carolina’s Mitch Trubisky, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com said Thursday on NFL Network (via Conor Orr of NFL.com). The problem for Buffalo, if it looks to draft a first-round passer, is that Trubisky might not be on the board when it’s on the clock at No. 10. Cleveland, which owns the 12th pick, may be angling to move ahead of the Bills to ensure it grabs Trubisky.

More on Buffalo and two other AFC clubs:

Shortly after Cleveland acquired Brock Osweiler from Houston last month, CBS Sports’ Jason La Canfora reported the Browns were willing to eat around half of the quarterback’s $16MM base salary for 2017 in order to trade him. It turns out the exact number is $10MM, tweets La Canfora. It seems likely that the Browns will eventually cut Osweiler if they’re unable to trade him, but given that he’s still on the roster, both executive vice president of football operations Sashi Brown and head coach Hue Jackson have said that they expect him to compete for the team’s starting QB job. Of course, the Browns will probably add another signal-caller in the draft (be it Trubisky or someone else), perhaps lessening Osweiler’s chances of making the club.
The Patriots ventured to the University of Connecticut on Thursday for a meeting with safety Obi Melifonwu, according to Ryan Hannable of WEEI. New England’s not slated to pick until the third round, No. 72 overall, and Melifonwu should be long gone by then. However, trading cornerback Malcolm Butler to the Saints for the 32nd pick could put the Patriots in position to select Melifonwu.
Austin Knoblauch of NFL.com offers more details on a bizarre incident involving Bills offensive tackle Cyrus Kouandjio this week. Police in Elma, N.Y., responded to a 9:22 a.m. call on Wednesday regarding a suspicious man in a field, which turned out to be a partially undressed Kouandjio. Firefighters then had to administer first aid to Kouandjio for an undisclosed condition. And though Kouandjio screamed “Shoot me!,” he was cooperative with deputies and was not arrested. Kouandjio did go to Erie County Medical Center for further evaluation, however.

Brandon Bostick Gets 4-Game Suspension

April 20th, 2017 at 5:32pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

The NFL has handed free agent tight end Brandon Bostick a four-game suspension, according to Howard Balzer of BalzerFootball.com (Twitter link). The reason for Bostick’s ban is unclear.

Bostick, 27, reached the open market when the Jets declined to tender the then-restricted free agent a contract last month. In 2016, his lone season with Gang Green, Bostick started in seven of 16 appearances for a club devoid of solid options at tight end and caught eight of 11 targets for 63 yards. With blocking factored in, Pro Football Focus ranked Bostick 51st in overall performance among the league’s 63 qualified tight ends.

Prior to joining the Jets, Bostick saw action with the Packers from 2013-14 and totaled nine receptions and two touchdowns in 24 regular-season games. In the NFC championship game in January 2015, Bostick’s final contest with the Packers, his inability to field an onside kick helped the Seahawks make an improbable comeback and advance to Super Bowl XLIX.

Minor NFL Transactions: 4/20/17

April 20th, 2017 at 5:00pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

Thursday’s minor NFL moves:

The Cowboys have placed offensive lineman Ryan Seymour on the reserve/retired list, tweets the Seattle Times’ Bob Condotta. The Seahawks used a seventh-round pick on Seymour in 2014, but he didn’t see any game action with them. Seymour went on to play in a combined 13 contests with the Browns, Saints and Cowboys during his three-year career. All three of his professional starts came in 2014 with Cleveland, as did a personal-best 11 appearances.
Broncos running back Zac Brooks has also gone on the reserve/retired list, per Nicki Jhabvala of the Denver Post (Twitter link). Like Seymour, Brooks entered the league as a seventh-round pick of the Seahawks, who chose him last year. As with Seymour, Brooks didn’t crack Seattle’s roster. The former Clemson Tiger was on the Seahawks’, Chiefs’ and Broncos’ practice squads in 2016.

Browns Cut Alvin Bailey, Tracy Howard

April 20th, 2017 at 4:32pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

The Browns have cut offensive lineman Alvin Bailey and a pair of defensive backs, Tracy Howard and Trae Elston, according to Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com (Twitter link).

Bailey, the most notable of the three, spent just one season with the Browns, who signed the ex-Seahawk as a free agent last March. The 25-year-old ended up playing in 14 of the Browns’ games (five starts) and ranking as one of Pro Football Focus’ worst guards. Bailey’s two missed contests came on account of a December suspension stemming from a violation of the NFL’s substance abuse policy. That ban was the result of a September arrest on a DUI charge.

Howard, 22, caught on with the Browns last spring as an undrafted free agent from Miami. He appeared in all but one of their games and worked mostly on special teams, playing nearly 42 percent of snaps and returning seven kicks. Howard also saw a decent amount of action defensively (25.2 percent of snaps), and totaled 16 tackles.

Elston, undrafted out out of Ole Miss a year ago, didn’t suit up for any regular-season games as a rookie. He instead spent time on the practice squads of the Browns, Saints and Buccaneers.

Alabama LB Reuben Foster Fails Drug Test

April 20th, 2017 at 3:35pm CST by Zachary Links

Reuben Foster failed a drug test during the scouting combine, the Alabama linebacker tells Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. This is not a good development for the youngster given his other red flags.

During the combine, Foster got into a dust-up with a hospital worker, though his camp has brushed it off as little more than a miscommunication. There’s also question marks about his surgically-repaired shoulder and his upbringing. The failed drug test was apparently due to a diluted sample, which Foster says is the result of aggressively hydrating after coming down with a stomach bug. Foster knows that he’ll be put into the league’s drug program upon being drafted, but he is not afraid of the extra monitoring.

“Put me in the program,” he said. “Test me.”

Foster will face a whole new round of questions about this latest incident and he knows that teams may not accept his excuse for the suspicious sample.

“If it’s first round, second round, whoever takes me will get a good football player and an All-Pro,” Foster said. “I hope I go on Thursday, but I can’t control that.”

Dallas Robinson’s Mock Draft 1.0 has Foster pegged to go No. 8 overall, but not to the Panthers. Depending on the buzz we here in the coming days, he could slide down the board.

Colts Sign LB Jon Bostic

April 20th, 2017 at 3:21pm CST by Zachary Links

The Colts have signed linebacker Jon Bostic, according to a team announcement. Bostic will look to get back on track after spending the entire 2016 season IR all last season.

Indianapolis ranked 32nd in DVOA against the run in 2016, and placed 31st in DVOA against opposing tight ends, so the team has been prioritizing help in the front seven. Bostic becomes the fourth free agent linebacker to join the Colts this season, following John Simon, Sean Spence, and Barkevious Mingo.

Bostic, a former second-round pick, began his career with the Bears and played in all 16 games with nine starts in his frosh campaign. He finished up that season with 57 tackles, two sacks, and an interception. In 2014, he set a new career watermark with 83 tackles. A trade shipped him to the Patriots before the 2015 season, but he wasn’t as productive. He was again traded to Detroit in 2016, but it turned out to be a lost season.