2020 March - Pro Football Rumors

Jets To Sign RT Jack Conklin?

March 1st, 2020 at 11:22am CST by Rory Parks

The Jets may be overhauling their entire offensive line this offseason, they have about $50MM in salary cap space, and RT Jack Conklin looks more likely to hit the open market than be retained by the Titans. We recently heard that New York has expressed “serious interest” in the 2016 first-rounder, and now there is more evidence that Conklin could be headed to Gang Green.

Per Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, one NFL team has been informed that Conklin plans to sign with the Jets when free agency officially opens on March 18. Florio is careful to put that leak into context, saying that it does not mean that New York has reached a wink-nod deal with Conklin’s camp, and it does not even mean that the two sides have talked (though they probably have).

Several days ago, we learned that the Titans would like to strike a deal with QB Ryan Tannehill quickly so that they can then use their franchise tag and transition tag on Derrick Henry and Jack Conklin. But if that doesn’t happen, or if the team is prohibited from using both tags as a result of the new CBA, Conklin would probably be the member of that trio to shake loose (plus, if the Titans put the transition tag on Conklin, it wouldn’t prevent the Jets or some other team from signing him to an offer sheet that Tennessee wouldn’t want to match).

Last May, the Titans declined the fifth-year option on Conklin, which would have kept him under contract through the 2020 season. Now, he is likely to leave the team without one of Tannehill’s top protectors and one of Henry’s road graders. Conklin graded out as the 15th-best tackle in the league in 2020, per Pro Football Focus’ advanced metrics, and he could well land a deal that pays him $16-18MM per year (or more).

If the Jets do strike an accord with Conklin, look for GM Joe Douglas to address the rest of his O-line needs in the draft.

Latest On Vikings’ Riley Reiff, Pat Elflein

March 1st, 2020 at 10:24am CST by Rory Parks

The Vikings are right up against the salary cap at the moment, but there are some moves they could make to open up some much-needed breathing room. For example, Minnesota is likely to release CB Xavier Rhodes, and Andrew Krammer of the Star Tribune also names offensive linemen Riley Reiff and Pat Elflein as potential cap casualties.

Reiff remained at left tackle in 2019 despite some chatter that he could be moved inside to left guard. The Vikings instead elected to shift former center Elflein to LG after drafting Garrett Bradbury, and while Elflein did not perform poorly, he was not exactly a standout. But because of the league’s proven performance escalator, Elflein’s 2020 salary will increase from $960K to $2.147MM, so cutting the Ohio State product would save the Vikings about $2MM against the cap. Even if Minnesota hangs on to him, he could be relegated to a reserve role.

As for Reiff, the 31-year-old is due to earn a $10.9MM salary in 2020, but the Vikings would save nearly $9MM against the cap by releasing him, a huge amount for a club with Minnesota’s financial outlook. That would then allow the Vikings to select an offensive tackle in a draft that is deep at the position.

In addition to a potential O-line overhaul, the Vikings will also have a lot of work to do at cornerback. Rhodes will probably be cut and free agents Trae Waynes and Mackensie Alexander may not be re-signed, and head coach Mike Zimmer conceded that his team would need to address the position in the draft. Luckily for him, this year’s crop of collegiate CBs is also quite strong.

Bucs Notes: Winston, Godwin, Howard

March 1st, 2020 at 9:39am CST by Rory Parks

In addition to the thumb injury that we heard about in early January, Buccaneers QB Jameis Winston was also playing through a torn meniscus for at least some of 2019, as Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network reports (video link). Per Rapoport, Winston recently had surgery to trim the meniscus tear.

Though Winston’s boom-or-bust tendencies remain an obvious concern, the toughness that he displayed in battling the injuries may help him land a new contract with Tampa, which may have winnowed down its quarterback options to Winston and Philip Rivers.

Now for more from the Bucs:

Standout receiver Chris Godwin is now eligible for an extension since he has completed three years in the league, but that is not a front-burner item on the Bucs’ agenda just yet, per Greg Auman of The Athletic. Auman says the club will look to take care of its 2020 FAs first and then see if there is money left in the budget for a new contract for Godwin. Barring something unforeseen, it would be a huge surprise if Tampa lets Godwin hit the open market in 2021.
There were rumors that the Bucs were looking to trade much-maligned TE O.J. Howard at the 2019 deadline, and though that did not happen, the former first-rounder was still viewed as a trade candidate this offseason. But as Auman notes, the club still believes in Howard, and it sounds like he will be back in 2020. Fellow TE Cameron Brate, however, could be a trade or release candidate.
The Bucs are very young at CB, which has led many to believe that the club will draft a corner with an early pick or sign one in the first wave of free agency, but that’s not necessarily the case. As Auman writes, Tampa is very high on Carlton Davis, Jamel Dean, and Sean Murphy-Bunting, so a late-round pick or modest FA signing may be more likely.
Likewise, Tampa is bullish on its cadre of safeties, but 2017 second-rounder Justin Evans‘s stock is trending downward, per Auman. Evans has not been healthy enough to practice in a long time, and although the team hoped he would be fully recovered by April 1 and would participate in spring workouts at OTAs, it’s now unclear whether he will be back at all.
Unsurprisingly, it does not sound like the Bucs will look to re-sign free agent RB Peyton Barber, per Auman.

James Bradberry Unlikely To Re-Sign With Panthers

March 1st, 2020 at 8:51am CST by Rory Parks

Panthers cornerback James Bradberry is eligible to hit the open market later this month, and he has 22 teams interested in his services to some degree. The Panthers may be one of those teams, but do not look for Bradberry to return to Carolina in 2020.

As the 2019 season drew to a close, we heard that the Panthers were prioritizing an extension for Bradberry, and that GM Marty Hurney had asked his talented DB to be patient, thereby implying that an offer would be forthcoming. However, Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic says that while there was some conversation between player and team in the fall, those talks did not advance very far (Twitter link).

Rodrigue says that the Panthers would not increase their offer, and the team “went quiet” after that. Further, because Carolina is entering a rebuild, a franchise tag — at a cost of roughly $16.5MM — is not an option.

Bradberry is one of the best corners available in free agency this year, and he is one of those players that looks better on the field than he does in advanced metrics evaluations. Given the level of interest in him, the clear consensus from around the league is that he is much better than the analytics suggest — Pro Football Focus ranked him as a middle-of-the-road defender in 2019 — and since he will only be 27 by the time the 2020 season starts, the small-school (Samford) product may not yet have hit his ceiling.

Bradberry is shooting for a deal that will pay him more than $15MM per season, and with 22 teams taking a look, he may just get what he’s asking for.