HEADLINES

Month: April 2018

NFC East Notes: Allen, Giants, Eagles, Cravens

April 1st, 2018 at 12:21pm CST by Ryan Posner

The Redskins took defensive tackle Jonathan Allen in the first round of last year’s draft but he was limited to just the first five games of his rookie season due to a Lisfranc injury. The Alabama alum is hopeful to be ready for the team’s voluntary OTAs in late April but is not making any guarantees.

“I’m going to be honest, the OTAs they start like end of April, and this will be my first time, so I would like to think so, but I mean, honestly, there’s no way of telling at this point,” Allen said to Stephen Czarda of Redskins.com. “I feel like I’m going to be in a good spot come OTAs, so I’m excited for that, and right now, I’m just taking it day by day just trying to grind.”

Allen tallied a sack and three tackles in five starts last season. He’s projected to start at defensive end in the team’s 3-4 scheme alongside Matthew Ioannidis, with Evander Hood at nose tackle. There are still viable defensive-line options on the free-agent market as well, including Johnathan Hankins, Bennie Logan and Charles Johnson, among others. Stacy McGee and Anthony Lanier are projected to immediately back up Allen and Ioannidis on the defensive line.

Here’s more from around the NFC East:

  • Matt Lombardo of NJ Advanced Media looks at some wide receivers the Giants might target in the draft if they were to trade Odell Beckham. The team is unlikely to take a wide receiver with their No. 2 overall pick in the draft but if they were to acquire a first-round pick in a trade for Beckham, Lombardo identifies Courtland Sutton (SMU), Calvin Ridley (Alabama), D.J. Moore (Maryland) and James Washington (Oklahoma State) as potential fits.
  • In his Eagles mailbag, Eliot Shorr-Parks of NJ Advanced Media shot down the team potentially trying to acquire Beckham or Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski in a trade. In both instances, the Eagles available cap space would make a deal unlikely. In Beckham’s case, especially, it’s unlikely the Giants would deal Beckham to a divisional rival.
  • In an interview with Mike Klis of 9News in Denver, newly-acquired Broncos defensive back Su’a Cravens continued to explain why he was optimistic about his new home compared to his time with the Redskins. “I was going through some personal issues with my family and I didn’t feel like myself,” Cravens said. “I did tell my teammates I was going to retire but I never officially retired. … The Redskins brought me in, they told me they wanted me to get checked out, make sure I was all right. I go to a doctor and he tells me I’m going through something I didn’t even know I was going through. He said this is the reason why you feel this way and you’re in no condition to be making these decisions because of this and I guarantee if you rehab and get yourself better, you won’t be feeling this way.Once I got cleared in December, it was like I was a completely different person. Looking back at myself I’m thinking, that’s crazy. I thought I was just messed up but come to find out, I was going through something I wasn’t even aware of.’’

Latest On Buccaneers, DeSean Jackson

April 1st, 2018 at 10:22am CST by Ryan Posner

There’s no hiding the fact that DeSean Jackson struggled in his first season with the Buccaneers, catching 50 passes for 668 yards and three touchdowns. Buccaneers coach Dirk Koetter didn’t believe that all the struggles fell on the shoulders of the three-time Pro Bowler as he never looked to gain a rapport with quarterback Jameis Winston.

“DeSean … we did not get the production out of DeSean. And when I say production out of DeSean, when you go back and look at the tape, we have a tape of just plays where we didn’t hit DeSean,” Koetter said to Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times. “DeSean was where he was supposed to be. He was either behind the defense, in between the corner and safety, or he was in position to make explosive plays and we didn’t get the ball to him. That’s on myself, it’s on Jameis to do better. I think DeSean and Jameis have said they need to spend more time working together and I think they’re addressing that. 

Jackson has a potential out on his deal after next season. If the Buccaneers were to cut Jackson prior to this season, the team would absorb $7.5MM in dead cap space. He signed a three-year, $33.5MM deal with the Buccaneers last offseason, with $20MM guaranteed at signing. A one-car crash last Christmas Eve in Tampa, Fla., in which the vehicle was left unattended, was linked to a car owned by Jackson but the authorities are no longer actively investigating the case.

Stroud notes that Jackson trains in California during the offseason, which likely won’t help with developing a rapport with Winston, and that he missed out on most of the team’s voluntary OTAs last offseason. Stroud also opines that Chris Godwin could take on an extended role in the offense in the near future.

Godwin, who the team took in the third round of last year’s draft, had 34 catches for 525 yards and a touchdown last season, including nine catches for 111 yards (and the lone touchdown) in the team’s regular-season finale.

“I think Chris is capable of being a No. 1 if you want him to be,” Koetter said. “He can also be your two, he can be your three. His ego does not show up. He’ll do what you ask him to do and he’ll do it to the best of his ability and he’ll play through discomfort.”

Jets Aligned To Be Active In 2019 Free Agency

April 1st, 2018 at 9:40am CST by Ryan Posner

The Jets missed out on their biggest free-agent target in quarterback Kirk Cousins, who signed with the Vikings. The team entered the offseason with an NFL-best $89.8MM in cap space and could have $90MM in cap space for next offseason, with the possibility of that number moving closer to $100MM. 

The 2019 free-agent class is loaded, with the likes of Todd Gurley, Le’Veon Bell, Odell Beckham, Jadeveon Clowney, Aaron Donald, Khalil Mack and Demarcus Lawrence all possibly becoming free agents. If they’re unable to solve their quarterback dilemma this season, the Titans’ Marcus Mariota, the Buccaneers’ Jameis Winston and the Falcons’ Matt Ryan are also due to become free agents.

“The list is impressive,” said Jets general manager Mike Maccagnan to Calvin Watkins of Newsday. “What you tend to do is you go through and try and look at teams and who they anticipate they’re franchising and, of course, if they have that ability. A lot of things can happen between now and then.”

The Jets were still busy in free agency this offseason, signing quarterbacks Josh McCown and Teddy Bridgewater, defensive back Trumaine Johnson, wide receiver Terrelle Pryor and linebacker Avery Williamson. They also have two key players due to reach free agency themselves next offseason in defensive tackle Leonard Williams and guard James Carpenter.

New York holds the No. 3 pick in the upcoming draft after trading up with the Colts. It’s held private workouts for Wyoming quarterback Josh Allen and UCLA quarterback Josh Rosen.

“We feel pretty good how we positioned ourselves and how it’s going to play out,” Maccagnan continued to Watkins. “I’m very confident from that standpoint, that doesn’t faze me. [In] the [upcoming] college draft, [there are] guys you will [try] and guys that don’t pan out. That’s part of the process. We feel pretty good about this year’s group and where we’re situated.”

Bengals Notes: Atkins, Dunlap, Ross

April 1st, 2018 at 8:59am CST by Ryan Posner

Defensive tackle Geno Atkins is near the top of the Bengals’ wishlist of players to extend. The six-time Pro Bowler is entering the final year of a five-year $55MM extension and though he turned 30 earlier this week, he’s not showing signs of slowing down.

Atkins has tallied nine sacks in each of the last two seasons without missing a game. In fact, he hasn’t missed a game since 2013.

The Bengals have indicated his extension will certainly be a priority.

“In our football business, you pay for high-end talent and Geno has been at the top of our industry for a long time and we think he can continue to do that and that’s why we’re trying to see what the opportunities are going forward,” said Bengals vice president Troy Blackburn to Paul Dehner Jr. of the Cincinnati Enquirer. 

Atkins set the market for defensive tackles back in 2013 but has since been upstaged by the likes of Gerald McCoy (seven years, $98MM) and Ndamukong Suh (six years, $114MM — with the Dolphins). Suh most-recently signed a one-year, $14MM deal with the Rams.

Here’s more from the Bengals:

  • The Bengals have another defensive lineman nearing free agency in Carlos Dunlap. He’s also entering the final year of his deal — a six-year, $40MM extension signed in July 2013. The 29-year-old two-time Pro Bowler hasn’t logged less than 7 1/2 sacks in a season since 2013 while not missing a game since 2012. Blackburn said “That’s right” to Dehner Jr. when asked if Dunlap was viewed in the same scope as Atkins. But excess talent at defensive end in Carl Lawson and Jordan Willis could complicate matters. “At the same time, we’re going to be looking at the young guys we have coming up,” Blackburn said. 
  • John Ross had an abysmal rookie season with the Bengals, fumbling on his only touch of the year. But his lack of production didn’t have to do with a fractured relationship with coach Marvin Lewis. “He wasn’t in my doghouse. I don’t have a doghouse,” Lewis said to Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com. “I think he’s all the ability we wanted. That’s why we drafted him. He had to get fixed. We knew he was injured going in and he got nicked up a couple of times in his lower legs and the other shoulder was bothering him. He’s all fixed now.” The Bengals took the speedster out of Washington with the No. 9 overall pick of the 2017 draft.
  • Earlier this week, Bengals president of player personnel Duke Tobin acknowledged that building around a player like Vontaze Burfict hasn’t been “ideal” but the team plans to stick by him and his recently-signed three-year extension for the time being. Burfict is suspended for the first four games of the upcoming season for violating the league’s policy on performance-enhancing substances.