Free agent defensive lineman Muhammad Wilkerson was arrested and charged with DWI early Saturday morning, according to ABC 7 New York.
This surely won’t help Wilkerson, who has had a surprisingly quiet market, find a job. Wilkerson spent last season with the Packers, but wasn’t able to play much. After just three games, his season was ended by a serious ankle injury. There was initially some concern Wilkerson’s injury could effect him longterm, but it was then announced he was going to make a full recovery.
Considering no one has signed him yet, it’s possible his recovery didn’t go as well as expected. We heard back in early March before the start of free agency that there was “mutual interest” between the veteran and the Packers on him returning to Green Bay for a second season, but nothing materialized.
Even though he isn’t at the level he once was, Wilkerson is still easily one of the top names left on the market. Wilkerson entered the league as a first round pick of the Jets back in 2011, and became a very good player in New York. He made the Pro Bowl in 2015 and was a second-team All-Pro in 2013 and 2015.
Wilkerson has always been able to fill up a stat sheet, and play well stuffing the run while also getting after the passer. He had 12 sacks in 2015, and the Temple product is still only 29. Wherever he ends up signing, it’s quite possible if not likely that he’ll now be facing discipline from the league.
As teams continue studying their respective rosters during OTA sessions, here is where some of the franchises in the East divisions stand:
While Josh Norman has not lived up to the contract that pays him $15MM per year, the Redskins do not appear to be planning anything radical regarding his employment. The team has not engaged in discussions on a possible post-June 1 Norman release, J.P. Finlay of NBC Sports Washington writes. Washington would save $11MM by cutting the 31-year-old cornerback, who graded as Pro Football Focus’ No. 50 corner last season, but old-school post-June 1 releases do not occur often anymore. The Redskins’ corner corps would obviously take a hit without Norman. Two seasons remain on Norman’s deal.
The Jets wrapped up their interview with Saints exec Terry Fontenot. They will begin their Joe Douglas meetings tonight and continue them on Sunday, per ESPN.com’s Rich Cimini (on Twitter). Douglas remains Adam Gase‘s preferred hire, Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News tweets, adding there does not seem to be a big chance CEO Christopher Johnson goes in a different direction.
Mark Walton is facing three pending legal cases but remains in contention for a Dolphins backup job. Two of the running back’s hearings will occur this week. In one of those, a Wednesday matter that overlaps with Dolphins minicamp, his attorney will be making a court appearance for him to allow the embattled ex-Bengal to practice with his new team, Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald notes. Walton is trying to secure Miami’s No. 3 running back job, behind Kenyan Drake and Kalen Ballage. Miami drafted Washington alum Myles Gaskin in Round 7 and picked up former Chargers back Kenneth Farrow earlier this year.
While this offseason did not bring quite the same level of quarterback movement 2018’s did, a handful of teams will deploy new starters. Draft choices, trade acquisitions and free agent signings will be given the keys to offenses that struggled last season.
The Broncos, Cardinals, Dolphins, Jaguars and Redskins made moves to fortify their quarterback jobs. Which team’s investment will work out best?
Denver will use a different starting quarterback for the third straight year. Joe Flacco is set to be the Broncos’ fourth starter since Peyton Manning‘s retirement. While his QBR figure (58.7) was better than any the former Ravens starter had posted since a quality 2014 season, Flacco still ranked 20th in that metric last season. Having never made a Pro Bowl and fresh off back-to-back years featuring injury trouble, with a back problem limiting him during the 2017 offseason and a hip injury beginning the Lamar Jackson era, the 34-year-old starter will try to revive his career in Denver. Flacco, though, is the most accomplished quarterback the Broncos have employed since Manning.
The other surefire veteran starter acquired this year, Foles will have his first chance to be a team’s unquestioned first-stringer since 2015. The 30-year-old flourished in his second Philadelphia stint, submitting an all-time postseason run in 2017 and helping the Eagles back to the playoffs last season. A 2013 Pro Bowler, Foles will take over a Jaguars team that does not possess the kind of aerial weaponry recent Eagles rosters did. Jacksonville is in line to have Marqise Lee back from a torn ACL, but the team’s wideouts and tight ends will place additional emphasis on Foles living up to his contract. With the Rams in 2015, Foles threw seven touchdown passes and 10 interceptions before being benched.
Kyler Murray represents the other locked-in starter added this offseason. The electric one-year Oklahoma starter accomplished about as much as a college passer can in a single season, turning in Division I-FBS’ second-ever 4,000-1,000 season en route to Heisman Trophy honors. Working with Kliff Kingsbury, Larry Fitzgerald and a host of young wide receivers, Murray is the centerpiece of one of the most daring experiments an NFL team has attempted.
The Cardinals turned the keys over to a sub-.500 college coach and a 5-foot-10 signal-caller — the first sub-6-foot passer to be chosen in Round 1. Arizona trotted out the league’s worst scoring and total offense last season, however, and sported a skeleton-crew offensive line by year’s end. The Cards added new starters Marcus Gilbert and J.R. Sweezy up front. Due to the lack of precedent behind this move, it is hard to tell how Murray will fare. But the unique talent has opened as Las Vegas’ offensive rookie of the year favorite.
Washington and Miami have not committed to a starting quarterback yet, but it is fairly safe to project Dwayne Haskins and Josh Rosen will see extensive time. While Case Keenum and Ryan Fitzpatrick could log starts, with the latter possibly even on track to do so, the Redskins have liked what their first-round pick has done so far and the Dolphins will need to see Rosen in games to help determine if they will consider a first-round QB in 2020. On the heels of a 50-touchdown pass season, the Ohio State product sits second in offensive rookie of the year odds. Although only eight passers have won this award since 1957, seven such instances have occurred since 2004.
Both Daniel Jones and Drew Lock could factor into their respective teams’ mixes later in the season. Of the 13 first-round QBs taken over the past four years, only Patrick Mahomes and Paxton Lynch were not promoted to the starting role as rookies. (Though, Eli Manning is not your typical stopgap.) Lock was projected by most as a first-rounder, and Flacco ceded his role to the No. 32 overall pick last year. So the 12th-year veteran’s grip on Denver’s job should be considered tenuous.
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Matt LaFleur‘s hands-on approach in his first year as Packers HC will have to be tabled for a while. The torn Achilles LaFleur suffered this week will require immediate surgery, with Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com reporting he will go under the knife Sunday. The 39-year-old coach was active in his first weeks leading the Packers, taking on an “enormous” load. But with the recovery from this surgery necessitating a potential six-month timetable, LaFleur’s methods will have to change. The coach was overseeing practice from a golf cart this week. This will certainly mark an interesting period for the Packers, LaFleur managing Achilles rehab while going through his first year as a head coach.
“A couple weeks ago I kind of tweaked my calf on the other side,” LaFleur said, via Jim Owczarski of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “But this one, I knew immediately. It was way more forceful. I thought somebody hit me in the leg. I looked around and nobody’s by me. It’s just one of those deals. We’ll rebound. We’ll be back.”
Shifting to some of the players in the NFC North, here is the latest out of the division:
Kirk Cousins does not have any early retirement plans. In discussing the arrival of rookie center Garrett Bradbury, the second-year Vikings quarterback said he would like to play well into the 2020s. “I told him, ‘I’d like to work together for about the next decade,’ ” Cousins said, via Dane Mizutani of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. “I just tried to set that vision for him and say, ‘You be the guy here for the next decade and let’s not have to worry about having anybody else snap for the quarterback.” While it is uncertain if Cousins will be in Minnesota beyond 2020, the final year of his fully guaranteed deal, the soon-to-be 31-year-old passer would prefer he stay in the Twin Cities on what would be multiple additional contracts.
With Bradbury sliding in at center, Minnesota’s incumbent snapper will slide to guard. Pat Elflein has started 28 games at center since beginning his NFL career, but he said (via Mizutani) he is now working at left guard. Elflein last played guard at Ohio State. Elflein lining up on the left side would put free agent addition Josh Kline in line to start at right guard. Both will be adjusting to the Gary Kubiak–Rick Dennison zone-blocking scheme.
Trey Burton will not participate in the Bears‘ final OTA sessions next week or their mid-June minicamp. Chicago’s top tight end underwent sports hernia surgery, Matt Nagy said (via NBC 5’s Mike Berman, on Twitter). The Bears hope he will be ready by training camp. Burton played all 16 games for the Bears last season, reaching career-high marks in receptions, yards and touchdowns (54/569/6).
It’s June 1st and TreBoston is still without a job, but it sounds like plenty of teams have reached out to the safety. Speaking to SiriusXM NFL Radio (Twitter link), the defensive back indicated that he hasn’t been all that pleased with the offers that have come his way this offseason. Specifically, Boston pointed to the contracts signed by AdrianAmos (Packers) and LamarcusJoyner (Raiders) earlier this year.
“I know I’m worth every dollar those guys are getting paid,” Boston said (via Josh Alper of ProFootballTalk.com). “The stats say it, you can’t say it’s not, but, for me, it’s about being at peace with where I’m at. Even though the stats say I might be there, if they’re not paying me that then I will wait until it comes a time where I need to sign and they feel comfortable that I’m worth that.”
The 26-year-old does make a point; he’s averaged four interceptions, 61 tackles, and 8.5 passes defended over the past two seasons (30 games) with the Chargers and Cardinals. Pro Football Focus was also fond of his performance, ranking him among one of the top defenders in the NFC West last season.
However, Boston hasn’t seen this money translate into a payday. The defensive back has been forced to settle for a pair of prove-it deals over the past two years, and Boston made it seem like his inability to catch on with an organization may have hurt his free agent stock. Still, the safety remains confident, stating that a team will eventually give in to his apparent monetary demands.
“It’s a copycat league,” Boston said. “Once teams aren’t willing to sign you back – no matter if it’s coaches being fired or different reasons – [other teams are] thinking ‘okay, what’s going on?’
“Eventually, [teams] are going to come around and say we need a great veteran who’s going to come in here and make plays for us. I’ve led my last few teams in interceptions… who doesn’t want a guy like that? So it’s all about them trying to stop playing games and get the job done.”
Boston had previously predicted that he’d be among the “second wave” of free agent safeties to ink deals. The veteran also previously counted towards the 2020 compensatory draft pick formula, but that distinction ended in May. So far this offseason, Boston has specifically been connected to the Browns, but the team has since brought in a pair of safeties in Morgan Burnettand Eric Murray.
Two months after signing a two-year deal with the Falcons, safety Afolabi Laguda has been let go. The team announced today that they’ve waived the defensive back.
The six-foot-one, 214-pound safety was previously a standout at the University of Colorado, where he compiled 150 tackles, eight tackles for a loss, eight pass defenses, two interceptions and two forced fumbles in three seasons with the team. Despite his performance, Laguda went undrafted during the 2018 draft, but he quickly caught on with the Rams.
Laguda ended up having a solid preseason for Los Angeles, collecting nine tackles in three games. The team liked him enough to briefly stash him on their injured reserve with an undisclosed injury, but he was ultimately waived.
Earlier this offseason, Laguda had an audition with the Colts. However, the Falcons scooped in and ended up inking Laguda to a two-year, minimum-salary deal back in April. Atlanta already had a relatively loaded depth chart at safety, and the team also added free agent J.J. Wilcox to their corps earlier this offseason.
Way back in the day, our own Luke Adams explained all of the nuances of the June 1st designation. In simplest terms, a team’s salary cap can account for a released-player’s bonuses based on two separate time periods.
If a player is designated for release prior to June 1st, the remaining bonus money is immediately added to the upcoming year’s cap. Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap.com uses the 2013 release of SteveBreaston (Chiefs) as an example. The wide receiver only completed two years of his five-year contract, meaning he was only paid $2MM of his $5MM bonus. Therefore, since he was designated for release prior to June 1st, the remaining $3MM in bonus money was added to the Chiefs’ 2013 salary cap.
However, if the player is designated for release after June 1st, then the player’s current-year bonus remains the same for that respective year (in regards to the salary cap) . The rest of that bonus money would then be added to the following year’s cap. So, using Breaston as an example, if the Chiefs had designated him for release after June 1st, then the team would have seen his $1MM bonus money added to their salary cap in 2013. Then, in 2014, the remaining $2MM would be accounted for.
So why were teams announcing these releases prior to today? Well, the NFL allows each team to designate two players as a post-June 1st cut. This provides the player with more time to find their next gig. This was seemingly a concession by the teams, as they benefit via the salary-cap relief.
For the Bears, Chiefs, Falcons, and Panthers, this added cap space will be especially useful as they look to sign their draft picks or extend their current players. These teams could also be looking to clear some space for a free agent acquisition, as the Panthers are presumably doing for GeraldMcCoy.
While one of the Jets interview requests got rejected, it sounds like they got their way with another potential candidate. ESPN’s Rich Cimini reports (via Twitter) that the organization will indeed interview Saints executive Terry Fontenot for their general manager opening.
We heard earlier this week that the Jets had put in a request in for Saints’ Director of Pro Scouting. New York had done the same for Vikings assistant general manager GeorgePaton, although that executive ended up declining.
Fontenot isn’t as much of a household name as some of the Jets’ other candidates, but that doesn’t make him any less qualified for the position. The 38-year-old has spent the past 16 years with the Saints organization, including the last six in his current role. During that time, Fontenot has played a role in shaping a roster that’s made three playoff appearances, including a near-Super Bowl birth in 2018.
New York is searching for a new GM after firingMike Maccagnan following the 2019 draft. For now, first-year head coach Adam Gase is running Gang Green’s personnel department as interim general manager, but the club wants to get a full-time executive in place.
The organization has been connected to a number of different names for the open position. Besides Fontenot, there seems to be three other major candidates for the opening: Scott Fitterer (Seahawksco-director of player personnel), ChampKelly (Bears assistant director of player personnel), and JoeDouglas (Eagles vice president of player personnel). Douglas appears to be the favorite for the position.
