2020 March - Pro Football Rumors

Sean Payton Tests Positive For Coronavirus

March 19th, 2020 at 3:19pm CST by Zachary Links

Saints head coach Sean Payton has tested positive for coronavirus (Twitter link via ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter). Payton is the first NFL figure, that we know of, to test positive for COVID-19. Unfortunately, given the rapid spread of the virus, he might not be the last.

The longtime coach did not feel well Sunday and took a coronavirus test Monday, Schefter reports. He did not receive the results until Thursday afternoon. Payton said he has no fever or cough, per Schefter, but is resting at home.

Payton says that he is going public with his diagnosis in order to stress the importance of taking proper precautions against the virus. He wants people to stay inside, behave responsibly, and follow government protocols as the world looks to keep a lid on the pandemic.

“This is not just about social distancing,” Payton told ESPN. “It’s shutting down here for a week to two weeks. If people understand the curve, and understand the bump, we can easily work together as a country to reduce it. Take a minute to understand what the experts are saying. It’s not complicated to do what they’re asking of us. Just that type of small investment by every one of us will have a dramatic impact.

“I was fortunate to be in the minority, without the serious side effects that some have. I’m lucky. Younger people feel like they can handle this, but they can be a carrier to someone who can’t handle it. So we all need to do our part. It’s important for every one of us to do our part.”

Payton, 56, is set to enter his 14th season as the Saints’ head coach. A Super Bowl-winning head coach, Payton ranks fifth among active NFL HCs with 131 wins and 27th all time. He has overseen eight of the Saints’ nine playoff victories.

As the NBA, NHL and college basketball halted their seasons — with March Madness being canceled — the NFL opted to proceed with free agency. The league went against several anonymous executives’ wishes on that front. The NFL has, however, nixed pre-draft visits and shut down team facilities. Free agents are not allowed to visit teams. Payton’s positive test may serve as an ominous sign for the league, which has also postponed OTAs.

As of midday Thursday, the United States has seen nearly 12,000 coronavirus cases. That number has multiplied steadily over the past several days. Those days have doubled as some of the strangest in the history of American sports.

Redskins To Sign OT Cornelius Lucas

March 19th, 2020 at 3:14pm CST by Zachary Links

The Redskins are signing Cornelius Lucas to a two-year, $5.3MM deal, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. Lucas isn’t a world-beater, but he’ll offer the club valuable depth on the offensive line.

Lucas, 29 in July, spent the 2019 season with the Bears. He appeared in every game and started in half of those contests.

Before Chicago, Lucas spent time with the Lions, Rams, and Saints. If the Redskins find a team willing to give them for a second-round pick for Trent Williams, he might take on a larger-than-expected role in D.C.

Buccaneers To Re-Sign Nunez-Roches

March 19th, 2020 at 3:13pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Buccaneers will bring back one of their rotational defensive linemen. They are re-signing Rakeem Nunez-Roches, per Adam Caplan of Sirius XM Radio (on Twitter).

Nunez-Roches’ one-year deal is worth up to $2.25MM, per Caplan, who adds the five-year veteran interior defender will receive $1MM guaranteed.

The former Chiefs draftee has been with the Bucs for two seasons, coming to Tampa during Dirk Koetter‘s run and staying on in Todd Bowles‘ 3-4 scheme. He began his career working as a 3-4 player in Kansas City, and Tampa Bay used the 26-year-old defender on 293 defensive snaps last season.

Beau Allen‘s defection to the Patriots earlier this week may open up more time for Nunez-Roches. The Bucs are interested in bringing back Ndamukong Suh as well.

Rams To Release Clay Matthews

March 19th, 2020 at 2:49pm CST by Zachary Links

Todd Gurley isn’t the only Rams star on his way out. The Rams have released linebacker Clay Matthews, according to Mike Garafolo of NFL.com (on Twitter).

[RELATED: Rams Cut Todd Gurley]

Matthews, 34 in May, wasn’t easy to let go. Last year, the veteran racked up eight sacks in 13 games (all starts), despite missing some time with a painful broken jaw.

Jaw aside, Matthews has been durable throughout his pro career. That’s part of what helped Matthews earned six Pro Bowl nods through his ten seasons in Green Bay and he seemed on pace for a seventh before that setback.

The Rams will have to find edge pressure elsewhere as they remake their entire defense. So far, they’ve watched Eric Weddle retire while Cory Littleton, Michael Brockers and Dante Fowler have all departed in free agency. They also turned down their option on slot corner Nickell Robey-Coleman. Meanwhile, they’ve added a handful of players, including former first-rounder Leonard Floyd and A’Shawn Robinson.

Thanks to his re-emergence under Wade Phillips, Matthews figures to draw some degree of interest on the open market. Matthews, however, did not live up to the extension he signed with the Packers. He failed to produce a double-digit sack season from 2015-18, recording just 3.5 and 12 quarterback hits in 2018. Matthews managed just 11 QB hits last season.

While the former Pro Bowler’s career is winding down, he still has a chance to reach 100 sacks. The former Packers first-round pick is up to 91.5 for his career. Matthews getting there would make him the 35th player in NFL history to do so. The third-generation NFLer will need to find a third team to help him reach this milestone, however.

Rams Release RB Todd Gurley

March 19th, 2020 at 2:47pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Rams shopped Todd Gurley in trades but now are making a major decision. They have released the All-Pro running back.

This move comes less than 15 minutes before Gurley would have been guaranteed $10.5MM. It will send the 25-year-old running back into free agency. The Rams will eat a staggering $20.15MM in dead money in total, though they’ll spread it out over two years via the post-June 1 designation (via Field Yates of ESPN.com). The Rams will also see $5.5MM in cap savings, starting on June 2.

Gurley’s four-year, $57.5MM contract reset the running back market in 2018, and the superstar all-purpose back was one of the NFL’s best players for most of the 2018 season. But a late-season knee injury ended up altering his career. Gurley has not looked like the same player, for the most part, since.

An explosive talent since coming to St. Louis in the 2015 first round, Gurley shook off an ACL tear he sustained while at Georgia to win offensive rookie of the year honors that season. His peak stretch occurred from 2017-18, when he totaled 40 touchdowns and nearly 4,000 scrimmage yards. Gurley resided as the centerpiece of Sean McVay‘s attack during the Rams’ resurgence over this time, finishing second in the 2017 MVP voting. But last season, his workload and per-touch averages plummeted.

Although Gurley played in 15 games last season, his per-carry average dropped from 4.9 to 3.8. A year after a 59-reception, 580-yard season, Gurley totaled just 31 catches and 207 yards in 2019. The Rams worked backup Malcolm Brown into the offense more, which followed Gurley’s sudden timeshare with C.J. Anderson in the 2018 playoffs. Brown and 2019 third-round pick Darrell Henderson now reside as the Rams’ top running backs.

Both McVay and Gurley danced around the topic of Gurley’s injury over the past year and change, but that matter will soon be another team’s to discuss. Gurley will not command the kind of money he received with the Rams ($21.9MM fully guaranteed) but will be a somewhat attractive commodity on the market given his production. However, the NFL’s COVID-19 policies figure to impede Gurley’s path to another team. Players are not allowed to visit teams, which will prevent other medical staffs from examining the talented back.

This marks another bad sign for high-end running back deals. Gurley resetting the market led to David Johnson, Le’Veon Bell and Ezekiel Elliott landing contracts averaging north of $13MM per season. The Johnson and Bell deals quickly became onerous for their respective franchises. With the talented 2017 running back class now extension-eligible, it will be interesting to see how teams proceed given the early returns from the new running back market.

Dolphins Tried To Host Tua On Visit

March 19th, 2020 at 2:29pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Dolphins did some last-minute work before the NFL banned pre-draft visits, hosting Jordan Love and J.K. Dobbins. But the team wanted a higher-profile player to come in for a meeting.

Linked to Tua Tagovailoa for over a year now, the Dolphins tried to bring in the Alabama prospect for a pre-draft visit last week, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports. In fact, the former Crimson Tide superstar was the Dolphins’ first call, but Rapoport adds the logistics for a Tagovailoa Miami trek did not line up before the league nixed visits.

COVID-19 prompted the NFL put the kibosh on pre-draft meetings and workouts last Friday; the Dolphins had Love and Dobbins in their facility earlier that day. The Dolphins, who hold the No. 5 overall pick, wanted additional information on Tagovailoa’s surgically repaired hip, Rapoport adds.

Tagovailoa and Justin Herbert were on Miami’s radar over a year ago, and the team wants to end up with one of these two passers. The Dolphins will still try to trade up for Joe Burrow, however. While the Dolphins may need to keep tabs on the Chargers in their race for a quarterback, they are fully expected to end up with Tagovailoa or Herbert come April.

Vikings Re-Sign K Dan Bailey

March 19th, 2020 at 2:18pm CST by Sam Robinson

Dan Bailey will be set for a third season with the Vikings. The team announced the veteran kicker re-signed to stay with Minnesota for what will be his 10th NFL season.

The longtime Cowboy bounced back after a shaky 2018 season, making 27 of 29 field goal tries for a connect rate of 93.1% — his most accurate season since a Pro Bowl 2015 campaign. That connect percentage ranked fourth in the NFL.

Minnesota brought in Bailey after 2018 fifth-round pick (and current Raider) Daniel Carlson‘s early-season struggles, and the nine-year veteran has provided stability to Minnesota’s special teams. Bailey held off Kaare Vedvik after the Vikings’ trade last August. Neither of the former’s two regular-season misses came from beyond 50 yards; Bailey was 3-for-3 from long distance in 2019.

Bailey has four seasons with a connect rate of at least 93%. At 87.3% for his career, the 32-year-old specialist is the sixth-most accurate kicker in NFL history.

Patriots Trade Duron Harmon To Lions

March 19th, 2020 at 1:54pm CST by Zachary Links

The Patriots have traded defensive back Duron Harmon to the Lions, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). This will be another Patriots pick-swap deal, with Harmon and a seventh-round pick (No. 235 overall) going to Detroit in exchange for a fifth-rounder (No. 172), NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero tweets.

Harmon has history with head coach Matt Patricia, who previously served as the commander of the Patriots’ defense. Patricia has made it a point to bring in familiar faces from New England over the years and Harmon is just the latest to come through the pipeline.

The 29-year-old has spent all seven of his NFL seasons with the Patriots with near-perfect attendance. Last year, the Pats put him in the starting lineup for eight games and he finished out with 22 stops, two interceptions, and five passes defensed.

Harmon has one year to go on his deal and is set to earn a base salary of $3.5MM in 2020. After that, he’ll be on course for unrestricted free agency.

Earlier today, the Lions tapped another ex-Patriot in defensive tackle Danny Shelton. And, on Monday, they made an even bigger ex-Pats splash by agreeing to terms with linebacker Jamie Collins.

Bucs Unlikely To Consider Antonio Brown

March 19th, 2020 at 1:38pm CST by Sam Robinson

Tom Brady and Antonio Brown played one game together, but the future Hall of Fame quarterback and a wideout who was on course for Canton have been linked to a reunion on multiple occasions this offseason. Don’t count on it coming to pass, however.

The Buccaneers are unlikely to consider a deal for Brown, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports (video link). Brady is set to sign with the Bucs, who already have Mike Evans and Chris Godwin in the fold. Although Bruce Arians worked with Brown in 2010-11 — when he was the Steelers’ OC — it does not sound like he on board with bringing in the mercurial superstar, Rapoport adds.

Set to turn 32 this summer, Brown has not played since the Patriots released him after his Week 2 cameo last season. Brady was not believed to support that decision, and the Pats struggled to assemble a reliable receiver depth chart for last season’s remainder.

Brown spent 2019 as a content-creating maven, going from the Steelers to the Raiders to the Pats. But multiple legal issues cropped up, including a short stay in jail, and the NFL is still investigating him because of the off-field trouble.

Although the Bucs figure to do plenty to attempt to make their prized free agent acquisition comfortable, Brown may be a bridge too far. The former sixth-round pick became a four-time first-team All-Pro and appears a lock for the 2010s’ All-Decade team, but he has become a notoriously unreliable asset. Brown filed a grievance against Brady’s former employer; that matter has yet to be resolved.

Melvin Gordon Encountering Weak Market?

March 19th, 2020 at 1:29pm CST by Sam Robinson

Melvin Gordon appears to have overestimated his market value. The five-year Chargers running back has not received the kind of interest he anticipated, with Mike Garafolo of NFL.com reporting (via Pro Football Talk) the offers coming the two-time Pro Bowler’s way are not on the level of the one the Bolts submitted last year.

During a lengthy impasse, the Chargers offered their former starting back a deal in the $10MM-AAV range. While that was not quite on the top tier of running back contracts at the time, it was still a lucrative pact at a position that has seen its place on the NFL salary spectrum steadily plummet.

No team is proposing anything “remotely close” to what the Chargers did last year, Garafolo adds.

The Chargers broke off extension talks late last summer, and Gordon did not make his 2019 debut until October. Last season proved to be a down year for the Bolts and Gordon, who saw Austin Ekeler outplay him. Ekeler now has a Chargers deal averaging north of $6MM per year. Gordon is undoubtedly seeking a contract worth far more, but as of Day 4 of free agency, such a buyer may not exist.

Set to turn 27 soon, Gordon is probably the best back on the market. He totaled at least 1,375 yards from scrimmage from 2016-18 and has 47 touchdowns over the past four years. While he has missed time due to minor injuries throughout his career, Gordon was healthy throughout 2019. And although Gordon averaged less than four yards per carry in four of five seasons, he was placed behind mostly bad Bolts offensive lines in that span. But he remains in free agency and may have to accept a lesser deal than he envisioned signing.