HEADLINES

Month: September 2019

Seahawks Hope To Re-Sign Geno Smith

September 1st, 2019 at 10:58am CST by Rory Parks

After waiving Paxton Lynch and releasing Geno Smith over the past couple of days, the Seahawks do not presently have any QBs on the roster behind starter Russell Wilson. We suggested last night that the club could look to re-sign Smith, and Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times says that is indeed Seattle’s plan (Twitter link).

And as veteran NFL reporter Howard Balzer tweets, now that the Seahawks have traded two players in exchange for Jadeveon Clowney, the team has an open roster spot that they can use on Smith. The Clowney trade wasn’t finalized prior to Saturday’s cutdown deadline, so Seattle was compelled to release Smith to the open market.

As a vested veteran, Smith is a free agent and can sign with any team he chooses. But he would be a backup wherever he signs, and being Wilson’s clipboard holder isn’t a bad gig.

Smith served as the QB2 for the Chargers last year and for the Giants in 2017, and at this point, the former Jets starter and second-round pick looks destined for a career as a journeyman backup.

Cowboys, Ezekiel Elliott Still Have Significant Ground To Cover

September 1st, 2019 at 10:42am CST by Rory Parks

The Ezekiel Elliott pendulum continues to swing back and forth. We heard yesterday that contract talks between Elliott and the Cowboys were intensifying, and the fact that Dallas elected to keep only two RBs on its 53-man roster suggests that the club is indeed expecting to have Zeke back for Week 1.

Today, however, David Moore of the Dallas Morning News reports that the two sides still have significant ground to cover. Moore says talks are certainly intensifying, but given that there had been no meaningful dialogue over the last few weeks, the mere fact that the parties returned to the negotiating table this weekend represents marked progress. The word “intensifying” should not necessarily be construed to mean that a deal is close.

As Moore reiterates, the primary issue in negotiations is the guaranteed money. The AAV gap between the league’s current highest-paid RBs — Todd Gurley‘s $14.3MM and Le’Veon Bell‘s $13.1MM — isn’t making player or team lie awake at night. The gulf between Gurley’s $45MM guarantee and David Johnson‘s $31.8MM guarantee is the real holdup, as the Cowboys don’t want to set the RB market in terms of guarantees given that there is already a huge gap between Gurley and the next player at his position.

It feels like an agreement may not be too far away, but there is still significant legwork to be done.

Patriots To Bring Back Demaryius Thomas?

September 1st, 2019 at 10:22am CST by Rory Parks

The Patriots cut free agent signee Demaryius Thomas yesterday, but Mike Reiss of ESPN.com says the door is open for Thomas to re-sign with the team. Indeed, Reiss says “there is an expectation” that Thomas will return to New England.

The longtime Broncos star is on the back nine of his career, but his strong route running could make him a productive role player in the Pats’ precision offense. He is still working his way back from an Achilles tear that he suffered in December, and he played in the Patriots’ preseason finale Thursday, his first game action since the injury. He looked good against fringe NFLers, compiling seven catches for 87 yards and two scores.

Reiss suggests that New England’s decision to release Thomas allowed the team to keep punt returner Gunner Olszewski, who, unlike Thomas, would have had to clear waivers if he had been cut. The move also allowed the Pats to include rookie wideout N’Keal Harry on the initial 53-man roster, which will make him eligible to return later in the season if he is forced to go on IR. Harry has been sidelined since suffering an injury in the preseason opener.

But if the Pats do want Thomas back, they could have some competition. A source tells Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk that the Broncos — whose WR depth chart is generally very green — are interested in a reunion.

More On Jadeveon Clowney Trade

September 1st, 2019 at 9:55am CST by Rory Parks

A pair of blockbuster trades were consummated on cutdown day, one of which featured Jadeveon Clowney heading to Seattle. More details on that trade and how it went down may come out over the next couple of days, but here’s a roundup of what we have so far:

  • Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports that the Texans paid Clowney a $7MM signing bonus while the Seahawks will pick up the remaining $9MM of Clowney’s 2019 salary (Twitter link). The trade was already viewed as a big win for Seattle, and this tips the scales even further in the Seahawks’ favor. Critically, the Seahawks have promised Clowney that they will not put the franchise tag on him in 2020.
  • At one point, the Dolphins believed they were the frontrunners for Clowney, and when the trade to Seattle was first reported, we heard that Miami and the Texans were indeed headed towards a deal before Clowney made it clear that he would refuse to play for the Fins. Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald confirms that report and says the Dolphins and Texans were on their way to a trade that would have sent Clowney and two very high picks to Miami in exchange for LT Laremy Tunsil, but Clowney’s aversion to South Beach scuttled that (Twitter link). Of course, the two sides did agree to a Tunsil trade, it just didn’t include Clowney.
  • Jackson adds in a separate tweet that the Dolphins only really considered Clowney a bonus, not necessarily a long-term piece. The team really wanted premium draft capital in a Tunsil trade, and that’s ultimately what Miami got.
  • Mike Garafolo of the NFL Network says that, when Clowney did not report to the Texans after their third preseason game, as Houston had expected, the team’s leverage was reduced even further. And when Clowney suggested that he was willing to miss regular season action if he was not traded, the Texans had to act to make the best deal they could (Twitter link).
  • Clowney will re-hire longtime agent Bus Cook, whom he had fired less than a week ago, as Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle tweets.

Bears Sign G Cody Whitehair To Extension

September 1st, 2019 at 9:14am CST by Rory Parks

The Bears have signed guard Cody Whitehair to a massive extension, sources tell Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link). It will be a five-year, $52.5MM pact that features $27.5MM in guaranteed money, the second-highest guaranteed sum for a guard extension in league history.

Whitehair has been a key factor in the Bears’ offensive line success over the past three seasons, but despite earning a Pro Bowl nod in 2018, he was asked to change positions this year. Chicago is inserting 2018 second-round pick James Daniels at center, meaning Whitehair has been shifted to left guard.

Whitehair has experience moving between positions. At Kansas State, the now-27-year-old spent his first two seasons at guard before moving to tackle for his junior and senior campaigns. In the NFL, Whitehair has mostly stuck at center, although he did line up at both guard positions for a bit in 2018. The results have mostly been spectacular, as Whitehair graded as a top-10 center last season while ranking top-six in pressures allowed (min. 50% playtime), per Pro Football Focus.

Though the guarantee is nice, the average annual value of the deal ($10.5MM) shows that Chicago is paying Whitehair more like a top center than like a top guard. The AAV places Whitehair ninth among all guard contracts but third among all center contracts. But Whitehair, who would have been eligible for free agency in 2020, opted for the financial security of the extension rather than bet on himself for a marginally larger payday next year.

Dolphins Trade Kiko Alonso To Saints

September 1st, 2019 at 8:56am CST by Rory Parks

The Dolphins aren’t cutting linebacker Kiko Alonso after all. We heard yesterday that Miami was releasing Alonso, which suggested the club’s efforts to trade him had been fruitless. However, Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network reports that the Fins are trading Alonso to the Saints (Twitter link), and Nick Underhill of The Athletic tweets that New Orleans is sending back LB Vince Biegel.

For Alonso, this is good news from a competitive and financial standpoint. Since he was traded rather than released, he remains tied to his $6.48MM salary for 2019, for which the Saints are now on the hook. Plus, New Orleans is a legitimate Super Bowl contender, while Miami is in the middle of a complete teardown.

Alonso has started every game in which he has appeared for the Dolphins since joining the team in 2016, compiling 354 tackles and five interceptions over that time. However, despite the nice interception total, he generally struggles in coverage and is not especially well-regarded by advanced metrics.

He can be effective when deployed properly, and he will join a Saints defense that also includes A.J. Klein, Alex Anzalone, and Demario Davis. He will provide solid depth if nothing else, but given the salary the team is taking on, it seems that New Orleans plans to give him a significant role. Plus, Anzalone and Craig Robertson haven’t practiced in some time, and Klein missed practice all of last week, so the Saints needed a plug-and-play LB.

Biegel, who has just 14 career tackles to his name, was used as an edge rusher and as a linebacker in the preseason, as Mike Triplett of ESPN.com tweets. The Dolphins may have been intrigued by his versatility, but it’s not as though they had a ton of leverage to ask for a more established player or for draft picks. Biegel appeared primarily on special teams for the Saints in 2018, but he will have the opportunity to earn a larger role with the Fins.

Chiefs Sign LeSean McCoy

September 1st, 2019 at 8:30am CST by Rory Parks

LeSean McCoy‘s stay on the open market didn’t last long. Released by the Bills yesterday, Shady immediately drew interest from four teams, and as Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports, McCoy will sign with the Chiefs. Terez A. Paylor of Yahoo! Sports says it will be a one-year, $3MM pact with incentives that can increase the value to $4MM (Twitter link).

Paylor adds in a separate tweet that the Chargers offered McCoy a similar contract, but McCoy opted to head to Kansas City due to his familiarity with head coach Andy Reid and the club’s front office. McCoy spent the first four years of his career under Reid when both men were with the Eagles.

The Chiefs’ decision to sign McCoy suggests that they were not entirely comfortable with presumptive RB1 Damien Williams taking the lion’s share of the carries. McCoy and Williams — much to the chagrin of Williams fantasy owners — will likely share the load, with sixth-round rookie Darwin Thompson and second-year player Darrel Williams in support.

McCoy struggled in 2018, which turned out to be his final year in Buffalo, but the Bills’ O-line was a mess. The six-time Pro Bowler is definitely nearing the end of the road, but he did top 1,000 yards in each of his prior two seasons with the Bills, and with a dynamic offense around him and younger players to ease some of his burden, there is reason to believe that he can be productive for the Chiefs in 2019.

McCoy, 31, has 10,606 career rushing yards, good for 25th on the all-time list.