2022 June - Pro Football Rumors

Month: June 2022

Latest On Packers OL David Bakhtiari, Elgton Jenkins

June 19th, 2022 at 3:05pm CST by Adam La Rose

The Packers face significant questions along their offensive line, not as a result of personnel or performance, but due to injuries. Both David Bakhtiari and Elgton Jenkins continue to recover from ACL tears, which will remain an important storyline into the summer.

Bakhtiari suffered the injury in practice last December, which dealt a significant blow to the team’s playoff run. There was optimism that he would be able to return to full health at some point in the 2021 campaign, but things didn’t go according to plan. He wasn’t activated until November, and only saw the field in Week 18. He was deactivated the following week, meaning he missed a second straight postseason.

That has, understandably, left the Packers cautious in their handling of the 30-year-old. The team made it clear recently that Bakhtiari wouldn’t participate in OTAs or minicamp, aiming instead for a return to action by training camp in late July.

“Time will tell,” Packers head coach Matt LaFleur said, via ESPN’s Rob Demovsky, regarding the two-time All-Pro’s summertime availability. “We fully anticipate him being ready to go, but we did last year, as well… But we feel good about the work that he’s put in and where he’s at.”

Assuming Bakhtiari is able to regain his left tackle spot, that would leave Jenkins in need of a new position for 2022. He filled in at the blindside before suffering his own torn ACL in November, which leaves his Week 1 availability in doubt. Whenever he is able to return, the Pro Bowler could return to left guard, where he began his career. However, as Demovsky notes, Jenkins could move to right tackle as a replacement for Billy Turner.

With their top two o-linemen on the way to full health, the unit is in line to perform at a higher level in 2022 than it did last year. While it remains to be seen, of course, if Bakhtiari and Jenkins will regain their high-end form upon return, there is cause for optimism for two of the team’s most important offensive contributors.

Jake Heaps To Become Russell Wilson’s Full-Time QB Coach

June 19th, 2022 at 1:57pm CST by Adam La Rose

Russell Wilson will be in a new home this season, but he will have a familiar face coaching him in Denver. Former pro quarterback and radio personality Jake Heaps is becoming Wilson’s full-time positional coach, as detailed by Kyle Ireland of KSL Sports.

The 30-year-old has spent the past four years at ESPN 710 Seattle, allowing him to stay close to home and to Wilson, during the decade the latter spent as a Seahawk. Heaps also worked with other QBs at various levels, but now he will be able to continue his partnership with the nine-time Pro Bowler.

“It is with mixed emotions that I tell you that I will no longer be able to host on Seattle Sports’ station” he said. “As we all know, Russell Wilson was traded and when this happened I knew that my two careers that were perfectly aligned here in Seattle had become complicated… I have resigned to pursue a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to coach Russell Wilson full-time and develop the next generation of quarterbacks.”

Heap went undrafted into the NFL in 2015, after a college career which saw him play for BYU, Kansas and Miami. He originally signed with the Jets, but found his way onto the Seahawks during the 2016 offseason. He didn’t initially make the 53-man roster, but he was brought back to the practice squad in September as insurance. After a brief stint in the CFL, he came back to Seattle in 2017. Like each of his professional stops, though, it ended quickly, leading him to his coaching career.

In Denver, Heaps will work alongside new head coach Nathaniel Hackett, who brought fellow ex-Packers staffer Justin Outten with him to serve as offensive coordinator. He will play an integral role in Wilson’s – and therefore, the team’s – success as they look to contend in the AFC.

Bears OL Teven Jenkins Finishes Minicamp With Second-String Offense

June 19th, 2022 at 12:49pm CST by Rory Parks

Bears OL Teven Jenkins began practicing with Chicago’s second-team offense towards the end of OTAs, and that continued throughout the club’s mandatory minicamp, per Kevin Fishbain and Adam Jahns of The Athletic (subscription required). Meanwhile, Braxton Jones has been operating as the first-string left tackle, with 2021 fifth-rounder Larry Borom at RT.

Jenkins, the No. 39 overall pick of the 2021 draft, was originally viewed as a future fixture on the blindside. Unfortunately, he was forced to undergo back surgery last August, and he ultimately appeared in just six games (two starts) as a rookie.

Although both Jenkins and Borom were selected by the Bears’ prior regime, the new coaching staff appeared plenty content to move forward with them as their first-stringers — Jenkins at RT and Borom at LT — just a couple of weeks ago. So it is notable that Jenkins has been demoted in favor of Jones, a rookie Day 3 selection.

Naturally, head coach Matt Eberflus downplayed the significance of the move. “We’re going to finish off the minicamp with this alignment, and then we’ll decide, ‘Hey, we like this alignment, that alignment,’ or, like I said, ‘(We) don’t like either one; let’s go with a new one,'” he said. “So we’re just assessing guys’ talents, assessing their skill level and going forward from there.”

With three unproven options vying for jobs as OL bookends in support of a second-year quarterback, Justin Fields, there is certainly plenty of logic in trying different alignments, particularly in OTAs and minicamp. But in a separate piece, Fishbain and Jahns suggest that there is more to Jenkins’ current status than Eberflus is letting on. Jahns posits that, if the Bears simply wanted to try Borom out on the right side, they could have shifted him to the second team to give him a look while keeping Jenkins with the first-team offense at RT, where he had been penciled in for months. Indeed, OL continuity is meaningful, even in spring work, and it appears that Jenkins is simply not performing at a high enough level right now.

Obviously, the alignment for the start of training camp will be particularly telling. While Eberflus was non-committal when asked if either Borom or Jenkins could see time at guard, both players lined up exclusively at tackle in practices that were open to the media.

Falcons To Use Feleipe Franks In Hybrid Role

June 19th, 2022 at 11:21am CST by Rory Parks

Briefly thought to be the winner of the Deshaun Watson sweepstakes, the Falcons were among the teams most heavily connected to a quarterback in this year’s draft after the Browns swooped in and submitted the winning bid for Watson. Atlanta did indeed select a QB, adding Cincinnati signal-caller Desmond Ridder in the third round, and the club also signed free agent passer Marcus Mariota in March, shortly after trading franchise icon Matt Ryan to the Colts.

With Mariota and Ridder at the top of the first QB depth chart of the post-Ryan era, 2021 UDFA Feleipe Franks was facing long odds to see the field, at least as a quarterback. As such, the team has converted Franks to a “hybrid” player, as head coach Arthur Smith recently told reporters, including D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (subscription required).

Franks enjoyed a successful redshirt sophomore season with Florida in 2019 and then suffered a season-ending ankle injury early in the 2020 season. He finished his collegiate career with SEC rival Arkansas, throwing 17 TDs against just four interceptions in nine games with the Razorbacks in 2021. The Falcons signed him after he went undrafted last April, and he made the roster as the third-string QB behind Ryan and Josh Rosen. He was elevated to QB2 late in the season.

While Franks will still sit in the quarterback room and take reps as a passer, he is also getting work as a tight end, where he got some practice time last season as well. At 6-6, Franks has the right height for a TE, but at 228 pounds, he is a little light relative to full-time tight ends around the league.

“Right now, it doesn’t mean that doesn’t change, but right now he’s working more at tight end than quarterback, but he also is a quarterback,” offensive coordinator Dave Ragone said.

Perhaps the Falcons are envisioning a role like the one Taysom Hill has enjoyed in recent seasons with the Saints, though Franks’ 2.2 yards-per-carry rate as a collegian is a far cry from Hill’s 5.3 YPC average, which he has replicated as a pro. If Franks is to have success as a hybrid player, it will likely be more as a receiver than as a runner.

Atlanta, of course, has 2021 first-rounder Kyle Pitts entrenched as its top tight end option, and the team has also made significant investments into the rest of its receiving corps this offseason, signing fellow TE Anthony Firkser, trading for WR Bryan Edwards, and drafting wideout Drake London with the No. 8 overall pick. So Franks will still have something of an uphill battle to make an impact as a pass catcher, but he has embraced the opportunity.

“I’m doing whatever they ask me to,” he said. “There are a lot more things I have to learn. A lot of the tight ends in the room have helped me with my route crafting and blocking. There are a ton of things I need to learn.”

Latest On Minkah Fitzpatrick, Kenny Pickett Contracts

June 19th, 2022 at 10:04am CST by Rory Parks

In terms of overall structure, the extension that the Steelers recently authorized for star safety Minkah Fitzpatrick is fairly straightforward. As Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk writes, Fitzpatrick landed a $17.5MM signing bonus, and from 2022-26, the two-time First Team All-Pro will earn base salaries of $4MM, $14.5MM, $14.5MM, $15.5MM, and $17.6MM.

What is particularly notable in light of Pittsburgh’s historic approach to contract negotiations is that, in addition to guaranteeing Fitzpatrick’s $4MM salary for 2022, his $14.5MM salary for 2023 is also fully-guaranteed. Before edge defender T.J. Watt signed his record-setting extension last year, the Steelers had never guaranteed any money beyond a contract’s first year for a non-QB veteran player. But Watt landed three fully-guaranteed years, and now Fitzpatrick has two fully-guaranteed seasons.

Former GM Kevin Colbert was at the helm when Watt’s deal was signed, and the Fitzpatrick signing will go on new GM Omar Khan‘s ledger. Khan, like Colbert, has been in the Steelers’ front office for over 20 years, so as Florio suggests, the Watt contract was not so much an aberration as it was a sign of an organizational policy shift.

Still, Fitzpatrick’s deal shouldn’t be particularly difficult for Pittsburgh to stomach. There is every reason to believe that the 25-year-old will continue to play at a high level over the 2022-23 seasons, and if the team does not want to continue the relationship beyond that, it will be easy enough to get out of the remainder of the contract. Given that the Steelers’ QB depth chart presently features a rookie signal-caller (Kenny Pickett), a former first-rounder looking to reestablish himself as a starter (Mitchell Trubisky), and a player who has enjoyed limited success in his first four years as a pro (Mason Rudolph), it will be especially important for their defensive stars to keep shining for them to to stay competitive in the near term.

Speaking of Pickett, the University of Pittsburgh product is one of just two 2022 first-rounders who have yet to sign their rookie deals. And it could be that he is pushing the Steelers to set yet another new precedent. As Ben Volin of the Boston Globe writes, the structure of Pickett’s four-year, $14MM fully-guaranteed contract is really the only explanation for the delay. Many rookies push for higher roster bonuses and lower base salaries so they can get paid more money upfront, but the Steelers have never authorized that type of payout. It will be interesting to see if they make an exception for the player they hope will serve as their starting quarterback for years to come, and if so, how that will impact negotiations with future draft choices.

Patriots CB Jack Jones To Challenge For Starting Role?

June 19th, 2022 at 8:42am CST by Rory Parks

The Patriots lost top cornerback J.C. Jackson in free agency this offseason, and one of the biggest questions facing the club ever since has been how it will replace the 2021 Pro Bowler. Earlier this month, we learned that Malcolm Butler had emerged as the favorite to fill that void, but as Mike Reiss of ESPN.com writes, fourth-round rookie Jack Jones is already making a strong case of his own.

Reiss observes that Jones lined up across from Jalen Mills — a 16-game starter in 2021 — during one mandatory minicamp practice. Jones was able to maintain tight coverage against some of New England’s top wideouts, and he also flashed his instincts in intercepting rookie quarterback Bailey Zappe.

His coverage ability and ballhawking traits were on display throughout Jones’ tumultuous collegiate career. A five-star recruit, Jones committed to USC and started all 14 of the Trojans’ games during his sophomore season in 2017, intercepting a team-high four passes. However, he was ruled academically ineligible for the 2018 season, and in June 2018, he was arrested for breaking into a restaurant after hours (he resolved that matter by pleading guilty to a second-degree misdemeanor charge of commercial burglary).

USC dismissed him from the program, and after a year at Moorpark College, he enrolled at Arizona State. Under the tutelage of former NFL defensive back and head coach Herm Edwards, Jones intercepted three more passes in 2019, but he once again hit a roadblock in 2020, when he was suspended for violating team rules and appeared in just one game. He put himself back on the NFL radar in 2021, playing 11 games and picking off three passes.

As one might expect in light of that history, Jones is a little older than most rookies, as he will turn 25 in December. And while it can be fairly argued that his off-field issues led to his falling to the fourth round, he was not a perfect prospect even from an on-field perspective, despite his obvious ball skills. He lacks ideal size for an outside-the-numbers corner (5-10, 177), displayed inconsistent technique in college, and can struggle when attempting to press opposing receivers.

Still, the Patriots and HC Bill Belichick have never been afraid to blaze their own trail in the draft. Jones’ instincts and route recognition offer a strong foundation to build upon, and he has an opportunity that many fourth-rounders do not have. Although Mills appears to have one starting CB spot locked up, he is not exactly irreplaceable, and the same can be said of veteran Terrance Mitchell, who signed a one-year, $3MM deal with New England in March after being released by the Texans.

Butler has a permanent place in Patriots lore for his heroics in Super Bowl XLIX, but he did not play at all in 2021, as he went into a pseudo-retirement. He is also 32, and while he signed a two-year contract to return to Foxborough, the Pats can easily release him (and Mills) after the 2022 season with minimal dead cap ramifications.

So if Jones can continue to progress after his strong showing in spring practices, he could soon find himself in the starting lineup, even if Belichick opts to err on the side of veteran experience when the regular seasons opens.

Free Agent Stock Watch: WR Willie Snead

June 18th, 2022 at 8:48pm CST by Adam La Rose

A look at Willie Snead‘s early statlines in the NFL suggest that he would have put together a lengthy career as at least a high-end No. 2 receiver by this point of his tenure. That hasn’t taken place, and his 2022 season has left him on the open market deep into the offseason.

The former UDFA found a home with the Saints in 2015. In his first two years with New Orleans, he put up significant numbers: 141 catches, 1,879 yards and seven touchdowns. Those campaigns also saw him record two of his three highest yards-per-catch averages, as he demonstrated his ability to move the chains on a consistent basis. Things have taken a significant turn since then, however.

After an eight-catch season in 2017, the Ball State product was on the move in free agency. He joined the Ravens via an offer sheet, as one of three veteran additions the team made to its receiving corps. Snead joined Michael Crabtree and John Brown in Baltimore, who had Joe Flacco as the starting quarterback at the time. By the midway point of that season, though, Lamar Jackson had taken over, beginning the team’s transition to the run-heavy offense which remains in place to this day.

Snead still received 95 targets that year, totalling 62 receptions and 651 yards. It earned him a one-year extension in 2019, but he has yet to produce at that level in the proceeding years. Competing for looks in Baltimore’s low-target offense with the likes of Marquise Brown and Mark Andrews, Snead recorded 64 catches and 771 yards between 2019 and 2020. To no surprise, he was on the move again last spring.

The five-foot-11, 200-pounder signed with the Raiders, a decision which further reduced his offensive role. In Las Vegas – a passing attack centered around Darren Waller and, in 2021 in particular, Hunter Renfrow – he played just 38 offensive snaps. Seeking a new destination and a larger workload, Snead asked for, and was granted, his release in October. He finished the year in Carolina, one of his brief NFL homes before those highly-productive years in New Orleans.

In a recent interview with Tyler Dunne of GoLong.com, Snead, 29, made his case for a free agent deal, making sure to stress his need for an effective team fit. “I feel like I’ve been in every type of offense this league can throw at me,” he said. “And I’ve mastered all of it. Going into another year… I’ve got four or five years left in me. I want my next place to be the right place so I’m not getting lost again.”

Snead offers a different skillset to some of the other wideouts still on the market, such as Julio Jones and Will Fuller. A reunion with Baltimore would make sense on paper, given the team’s lack of experience in its receiving corps, but the nature of his departure (along with remarks he made about the team’s passing scheme in the aforementioned interview) would surely rule that out. Indianapolis is another team which has been named as a potential landing spot for a veteran, though T.Y. Hilton represents the likeliest candidate for a deal with the Colts.

The Titans could be in need of a complimentary wideout, given the overhaul of their WR room this offseason. With Robert Woods coming off of a torn ACL, Tennessee could look to add a low-cost slot option to take attention away from first-rounder Treylon Burks. In any event, Snead, who added that he is “the furthest thing from retiring,” should find a new home in the coming weeks on a short-term deal to rebuild his value.

Broncos Notes: Offensive Line, Veteran CB Search, Javonte Williams

June 18th, 2022 at 6:38pm CST by Adam La Rose

With OTAs and mandatory minicamp finished across the league, organizations and media members alike have had the chance to break down some of the elements of the offseason which have stood out the most to them. In the case of the Broncos, 9News’ Mike Klis has detailed some of his key observations.

Among those is the plethora of variances in the team’s offensive line combinations during practices. Klis notes that the most commonly-used unit comprised Garett Bolles and Dalton Risner on the left side, with Lloyd Cushenberry III at center and Quinn Meinerz and Calvin Anderson occupying right guard and right tackle, respectively.

There are a number of other options being plugged into various positions, though. Included among those is Netane Muti, who has seen work with the other starters while filling in at both guard positions, as well as Graham Glasgow, who recently returned to practice to compete for a starting role. Lastly, Klis lists Billy Turner as a veteran who is “expected to play” somewhere along the o-line. The 30-year-old came back to the Broncos on a one-year, $5MM deal this offseason, but is also the linemen most experienced in working with new HC Nathaniel Hackett.

Here are a few other notes from that same Klis piece:

Cornerback had the potential to be an area of need, at least in terms of depth behind Patrick Surtain II, Ronald Darby and K’Waun Williams, at this point in the offseason. However, Klis cites the play of Michael Ojemudia during the spring as cause for optimism that the team’s best option for the No. 4 role may already be on the roster. The 2020 third-rounder is set to compete with Damarri Mathis, whom the Broncos drafted in the fourth round this year, for that spot. A number of veteran free agents could still “wind up on GM George Paton’s radar,” Klis notes, however.
To no surprise, running back Javonte Williams is expected to “bump up to the 1A role” in 2022. In his rookie season, the North Carolina alum produced over 1,200 scrimmage yards despite splitting carries with Melvin Gordon, who signed a one-year deal to stay in Denver. Given his the former’s efficiency, and the seven-year age gap between the two, Williams is the logical candidate to assume a larger workload going forward.

Bruce Arians’ Retirement Decision Was Long Contemplated, Dependent On Tom Brady

June 18th, 2022 at 5:17pm CST by Adam La Rose

One of the biggest storylines of this offseason’s coaching cycle wasn’t one of the many outside hires made around the league, but the internal succession plan enacted in Tampa Bay. Bruce Arians recently shed more light on the thought process that went in to his retirement decision.

“It was 90 percent that [this] year would be my last, anyway” he said, via Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times. Arians will turn 70 midway through the 2022 campaign, meaning that his coaching career was likely nearing an end in the very near future. However, he publicly stated that he wouldn’t retire this offseason in the aftermath of the Bucs’ playoff loss to the Rams.

Arians’ tenure in Tampa Bay spanned three years. It included a 31-18 record, and the franchise’s second Super Bowl title. His remarks pointed to a fourth campaign at the helm, but things began to change as early as March, Stroud notes. Working under the impression that Tom Brady had retired, Arians weighed the possibility of an unproven QB room against his desire to see defensive coordinator Todd Bowles succeed him.

“I was going the other way. I was thinking [Brady] wasn’t going to play,” he said. “Had Tom not come back, I probably would still be coaching. I couldn’t give Todd that situation.”

Instead, Brady un-retired, leaving Arians free to step aside as HC. Doing so allowed him to keep both Bowles and offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich – whom Stroud reports Arians “expected ” to each receive outside head coaching jobs – in Tampa Bay, along with Brady. Arians said that the continued presence of that triumvirate made it “the perfect time” for him to retire.

Now, the two-time Coach of the Year is set to work in Tampa Bay under the title of senior advisor to the general manager, which should grant him a similar role to the one he desired, but was denied, in Arizona in 2018. “I’ll be here every day once the season starts,” he said. “But I won’t have to be here every night.”

It remains to be seen what Arians plans to do after the 2022 season, but for at least the immediate future, the transition plan he envisioned is in place.

Latest On Diontae Johnson’s Contract Status

June 18th, 2022 at 3:18pm CST by Adam La Rose

With the record-setting extension for safety Minkah Fitzpatrick having officially been taken care of, the next major financial task to attend to for the Steelers is a second contract for wideout Diontae Johnson. As detailed by Mark Kaboly of the Athletic (subscription required), Pittsburgh will not deviate from their established procedures to get a deal done.

As Kaboly writes, Fitzpatrick was, understandably, deemed a higher priority for the team’s front office. New general manager Omar Khan demonstrated his willingness to make a sizeable financial commitment to the two-time All-Pro, but the same may not be true to the same extent in Johnson’s case.

Waiting until this period of the offseason is in line with standard financial planning for the Steelers, so it should come as little surprise that extension talks “will start soon,” per Kaboly. He is quick to add, however, that the team “won’t deviate much” from their internal valuation of Johnson once serious negotiations begin.

The former third-rounder has established himself as the Steelers’ top pass-catcher, increasing his production during each of his three seasons in the league. He eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark for the first time in 2021, which led to his first Pro Bowl invite. That makes him the latest in a long line of Pittsburgh wideouts who have earned lucrative second contracts, but it remains to be seen if his will come from the Steelers, as few have in years past.

After JuJu Smith-Schuster and James Washington left in free agency this offseason, the team added George Pickens and Calvin Austin III in the draft. Johnson will stay atop the depth chart into 2022, but new faces in the front office could lead to a lower-valued contract offer than Johnson may presently expect.

The 25-year-old could seek, as other high-profile 2019 draftees have already, a deal which eclipses the $20MM-per-year mark; the skyrocketing WR market has seen the number of players earning that figure rise to 11. Kaboly posits that Johnson could be assured of an extension if he aims for the $16-18MM range, placing him one tier below the top wideouts.

With plenty of time still remaining between now and the start of the season – which is already known as the unofficial deadline for a deal to be worked out – this situation becoming the central focus for Pittsburgh should make it the top story to follow in the short-term.

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