Doug Whaley On Draft, McDermott, QBs
Making his first public comments since being fired from the Bills, Doug Whaley touched on several issues. The former Buffalo GM and Pittsburgh executive discussed the Bills’ new head coach, his former bosses, the trade that ended up sending Patrick Mahomes to the Chiefs, and other topics.
Whaley mentioned he left the Bills with an extra first-round pick in 2018, seeming to indicate he was involved in the deal that moved Buffalo from No. 10 to No. 27 and sending Mahomes to Kansas City. While Whaley was not believed to be calling the shots in the draft room, ceding top decision-making responsibilities to Sean McDermott, the since-ousted GM was said to have helped complete the trade talks with the Chiefs’ John Dorsey.
“It wasn’t uncomfortable at all. We worked well together,” Whaley said of he and McDermott’s draft-weekend dynamic during an interview with Sirius XM Radio (via NewYorkUpstate.com). “It was a great working relationship not only with the coaching staff but with the Pegulas and our personnel department. I think what came to fruition during draft day was a testament to how well we worked together in that short amount of time. Not only did we fill needs with guys at the right value with Tre’Davious White as a corner since we lost Stephon Gilmore and Zay Jones as a receiver since we lost two receivers and didn’t have a No. 2.
“… Not to mention, setting the Bills up in the future by having two first-round picks next year. Obviously we gave up one to go up and get Sammy (Watkins). I’ll have to say as a parting gift, we left them with two going into next year.”
Tyrod Taylor remains atop the team’s depth chart, but Whaley may not have regarded the former free agent flier as a player destined to become a franchise quarterback. This isn’t surprising since Whaley was believed to have been against bringing Taylor back for a third year. Whaley drafted the since-departed EJ Manuel, who did not come close to justifying the first-round investment. He emphasized the need to have a franchise passer, should he receive another chance as a GM.
“It’s an easy business because if you get a franchise quarterback, everything else is a lot easier. But it’s hard finding that franchise quarterback. I think putting all your effort into trying to find that franchise quarterback but also building that team until you get that. That’s a tricky business and it’s not easy. If I get a shot again I’m going to try to map out a road map to accomplish both at the same time but try to get that franchise quarterback as quickly as possible.”
Regarding McDermott, Whaley said the Bills are going to be a disciplined team.
“The one thing that really impressed us during the interview process is how detailed he is and methodical in his approach in everything he does. The one thing I feel very confident that the Buffalo Bills, he will have them in position to win a lot of games. They won’t be beating themselves. He will have them prepared as well as any coach in the NFL and the game won’t be determined on them beating themselves because he will have them prepared.”
The longtime Bills exec also addressed the decision not to match the Patriots’ RFA offer sheet submitted to Mike Gillislee, who was productive in the Bills’ No. 1-ranked rushing attack last season. It’s the second straight offseason the Patriots signed an RFA from the Bills.
“(The Patriots) can bring in complementary pieces that they just use as a bag of tricks. We look at Mike Gillislee. For us, we look at is we got a guy off the street, got production out of him and were able to get a fifth-round pick for him. They’re looking at it as, ‘We can use him in a specialty role and pay him $4 million.’ They have the luxury to overpay certain people.”
Jaguars Place Bryan Walters On IR
The Jaguars re-signed Bryan Walters in March on a two-year deal, but a sudden development affecting the wide receiver’s timeline looks to have changed the plans. Walters sustained a foot injury recently that will send him to the Jags’ IR, according to Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times-Union.
While the precise injury isn’t specified, it looks to end Walters’ season. It would have been the veteran’s third with the Jaguars. To replace Walters on the 90-man roster, Jacksonville signed cornerback Brian Dixon. The Jags also added now-well-traveled corner Tyler Patmon in a separate transaction Monday.
The 29-year-old Walters finished last season as a backup but one who served as the team’s No. 4 wide receiver. The former Seahawks special-teamer caught 24 passes for 231 yards and two scores. He was more productive a year earlier, recording a career-high 368 air yards on 32 receptions. The Jaguars added Dede Westbrook in the fourth round of the draft and still have Rashad Greene and Arrelious Benn on their roster.
Dixon, 27, comes to Jacksonville after the Cardinals cut him to make room for newer UDFAs earlier this month. The former UDFA out of Northwest Missouri State spent more than two seasons with the Saints, playing in 37 games. The 26-year-old Patmon also entered the league as a 2014 UDFA, doing so with the Cowboys. He made two starts for Dallas but was cut during the 2015 season. The Jags will be his sixth team. The Panthers cut Patmon on the same day Dixon was waived.
Rams Advance Aaron Donald Extension Talks
The Rams are progressing on what would be a major development for their long-term plans, with GM Les Snead confirming the team’s contract talks with Aaron Donald are advancing. They’re now in the “serious” phase and have gotten to the point the All-Pro defensive tackle is not presently at OTAs, Alden Gonzalez of ESPN.com reports.
Donald may be trying to avoid injury while these talks are ongoing, Steve Wyche of NFL.com tweets. Snead said the parties have been discussing an extension for a while and hopes the sides can reach a deal soon, per Wyche. The GM said at the Combine that Donald “deserves a raise.”
Gonzalez offers that a deal for Donald may indeed have to make him the NFL’s highest-paid defensive player, at least during his extension years. Donald has two years remaining on his rookie contract — the first at $3.225MM and the fifth-year option season at $6.892MM. It’s unknown at this point if the Rams are talking about a deal that would go into effect in 2017 or ’18, or commence after those years conclude. It’s likely Donald’s camp would want an extension to begin as soon as possible, given the raise that would be attached to such an agreement.
Snead confirmed in March these talks were coming, and they look to be moving well. A Donald deal would stand to reset the market for defensive tackles, even though he could be categorized as a 3-4 end after the Wade Phillips-orchestrated move will shift the Rams’ base to that scheme. As a 4-3 defensive tackle, Donald’s moved into a class by himself. He rated as Pro Football Focus’ top interior defender last season. has two first-team All-Pro slates to his credit and hasn’t missed a game in his three years in St. Louis and Los Angeles.
The defensive line market stops at Ndamukong Suh‘s six-year, $114.3MM deal. Von Miller also signed for six years and $114MM-plus and became the league’s highest-paid defender last summer. Either way, Donald would be looking at a monstrous raise.
Los Angeles currently has barely $2MM in cap space, but that’s scheduled to expand considerably come 2018. Per OverTheCap, more than $54MM is set to be available for the Rams, before factoring in any cuts. This figure also doesn’t consider a possible long-term extension for Trumaine Johnson, who is anchored to Los Angeles’ payroll at a $16.742MM cap figure.
Extra Points: Raiders, Carr, Bengals, Bernard
Raiders quarterback Derek Carr has “complete faith” that a deal will get done before training camp, as Anthony Galaviz of the Fresno Bee writes.
“I have an agent who is in charge of that and I am confident that he and [GM Reggie McKenzie] will work it out. I am only focused on becoming a better football player and helping my teammates become better players,” Carr said. “These things take time. The Raiders know I want to be here; this is my family, and I know they want me to be their quarterback.”
Recently, McKenzie also expressed confidence in a deal getting done this summer. If both men are to be believed, then it might not be long before we see Carr sign on the dotted line.
Here’s more from around the NFL:
- Bengals running back Giovani Bernard is expected to be a limited participant at OTAs, according to Katherine Terrell of ESPN.com (on Twitter). Bernard suffered a torn ACL in November and is still on the mend. In ten games last year, Bernard ran for 337 yards off of 91 carries and added 39 receptions for 336 yards.
- Free agent tight end Gary Barnidge says that he’s in a holding pattern since a lot of teams are waiting to evaluate their rosters in OTAs and minicamp (Twitter links via SiriusXM), but he says he has no problem with waiting. He added that while he would like to be the No. 1 tight end wherever he signs, he’s also OK with a mentor type of role. We learned on Monday that Barnidge has been contacted by some of his former coaches who are now with the Broncos. He previously visited with the Bills and he has also heard from the Jaguars and Panthers.
- On Tuesday, the league will vote on whether to permit a team to negotiate with a head coach candidate during the postseason before his season ends, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter links). The league will also vote on whether to change the anti-tampering policy definition of a GM to the team’s main football exec, even if he doesn’t have control of the 53-man roster.
Cecil Shorts III Eyeing 2018 Return
After suffering a series of gruesome knee injuries last year, Cecil Shorts III won’t be able to take the field in 2017, he tells SiriusXM (on Twitter). He’ll take the year off and work towards an NFL return in 2018. 
Shorts suffered a torn ACL, MCL, and PCL along with a dislocated knee midway through his season with the Buccaneers. That was just the latest setback for Shorts who missed 19 regular season games between 2011 and 2015. Shorts managed to gut his way through some hamstring issues, but this is the toughest challenge he has ever faced.
Even before the injury last winter, Shorts wasn’t exactly setting the world on fire. In nine games, he had just eleven catches for 152 yards.
Shorts will turn 30 in December, so he’ll be looking to get back into football on the verge of his age-31 season.
NFC Notes: Kaepernick, Lions, Megatron
A group will gather outside of the NFL’s headquarters on Wednesday to show support for former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, as ESPN.com’s Michael Rothstein writes.
“He stood up for us. It’s only right that he took our issues in our communities and brought it to a national level and sacrificed salary and being ostracized by the NFL,” nonprofit chair Kevin Livingston said. “It was only right that we stand up for him. I started this, literally, when he came to my office — I was moved. I work with parolees. People usually want to ostracize this particular population. Me working with him on the front lines and him coming to my office, this is not the first time I’ve worked with him. “So I thought it was only right that I stand up for him.”
In addition to the demonstration in Manhattan, there will also be pro-Kaepernick gatherings in Brooklyn, Harlem, Las Vegas, Milwaukee, Orlando, Florida, Chicago, Houston, Washington, D.C., Miami, Detroit, and other locations. The Seahawks are known to have some interest in Kaepernick, but the QB still remains without work.
Here’s more from the NFC:
- Former Buccaneers first round pick Josh Freeman participated in an open CFL tryout in Dallas, as noted by Neil Stratton of Inside The League (on Twitter). Freeman, 29, has not appeared in an NFL game since he made one start for the Colts in 2015. Freeman’s agent tried to get the quarterback signed by Dallas last summer after Kellen Moore broke his leg. Dallas declined, but things worked out pretty OK for the team anyway in 2016.
- Calvin Johnson is annoyed at the Lions for having to repay the unearned portion of his signing bonus, but Mike Florio of PFT argues that he could have avoided this predicament. The wide receiver had a salary of $15.95MM and a cap number of $24MM hitting the books in March 2016, so he could have held the line before opting to retire.
- Vikings coach Mike Zimmer will be taking some time off to recovery from eye surgery, the team announced today. He’ll miss the start of OTA practices, but the hope is that he will be “back on the field in a few weeks.”
Jets Waive Injured WR Devin Smith
The Jets announced that they have waived/injured wide receiver Devin Smith. In related news, the team re-signed receiver Deshon Foxx. 
Smith tore his ACL in the first team workout of the year, ending his 2017 season before it could begin. He tore the same ligament during his rookie season in 2015, meaning that the former second round pick has been on the field for just 14 games in total. It’s fair to wonder whether Smith will be able to get back on track after suffering the same serious injury twice.
In his limited action, Smith has caught ten passes for 135 yards and one score. If he clears waivers – and he probably will – then he will revert to the Jets’ IR.
Even with Smith out of the picture and Jalin Marshall facing a four-game ban, Foxx still faces long odds of making the 53-man roster. The Jets have 13 receivers on the 90-man roster, including Eric Decker, Quincy Enunwa, free agent pickup Quinton Patton, and 2017 draft picks ArDarius Stewart and Chad Hansen.
Former Ravens S Matt Elam Arrested Again
More bad news for Matt Elam. The former Ravens safety was arrested on Monday morning in Florida for grand theft and battery, according to TMZ. This marks his second trip to jail in 2017. 
[RELATED: Why The Ravens Are A Possible Fit For WR Victor Cruz]
Elam’s first arrest came in February when he was cuffed while holding 126 grams of marijuana and three grams of oxycodone. The former first round pick hurt his chances of signing somewhere after that incident and the odds have only gotten worse with this week’s arrest.
Elam struggled as a starter in his first two NFL seasons and he missed the entire 2015 campaign thanks to a biceps tear in training camp. After losing much of last year to a knee injury, Elam showed very little in the nine games that he did appear in.
NFL Still Investigating Ezekiel Elliott
The league’s investigation into Cowboys star Ezekiel Elliott “remains under review,” a spokesman tells Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). The inquiry into domestic violence claims against the running back has been going on since July and that probably marks a new record for the league office. 
A former girlfriend of Elliott’s claims that she was a victim of five separate domestic violence incidents when they were together. Meanwhile, the district attorney’s office in Columbus, Ohio, opted against pursuing charges against him last September. Elliott has maintained his innocence ever since the allegations came to light.
In January, Elliott said that he wanted the investigation to conclude so that he could have closure and move on:
“I do want closure,” Elliott said. “I would rather it not drag on this long. If there was something to find, which there’s not, they would’ve found it by now. The police did a very thorough investigation. I will tell you this — it just seems like they’re dragging their feet right now. Who knows, man? I’m just ready for it to end.”
Elliott, 22 in July, ran for a league-leading 1,631 yards off of 322 carries last year with 15 scores. He also added 32 catches for 363 yards and one touchdown.
Latest On Panthers OT Michael Oher
The Panthers were without Michael Oher for the bulk of 2016 after a brain injury kept him off the field. Now, the Panthers aren’t quite sure when they’ll get Oher back in the fold, and it’s not entirely related to his concussion issues. 
Oher skipped the first five weeks of the Panthers’ voluntary OTAs and has given no indication that he plans to check in until the team’s mandatory minicamp next month, Joseph Person of the Charlotte Observer writes. Oher still has yet to be cleared from concussion protocol, but his absence is not solely because of the brain injury, nor is it strictly because of the fallout of his alleged fight with an Uber driver this spring. The tackle is dealing with other personal matters that are sidetracking him from football, Person hears.
A player’s absence from voluntary workouts is not newsworthy in and of itself, but given the multitude of issues Oher is facing, it’s fair to wonder if he’ll be ready to go for Carolina at all this season. After the Panthers signed left tackle Matt Kalil to a five-year, $55.5MM deal in March, Carolina isn’t necessarily banking on Oher in 2017. The Panthers are willing to give Oher time to work through his problems, Person hears, but they’re also worried about the extra weight he has gained this offseason.
The Panthers are tied to Oher for three more seasons. In 2017, Oher is slated to carry a cap number of $5.5MM, but the Panthers can lop off $2.5MM from that sum by releasing him.