Mark Ingram Could Be ‘Odd Man Out’ W/ Texans RBs?
Mark Ingram signed a one-year deal worth “up to” $3MM with the Texans back in March, but he’s apparently not guaranteed to make the team.
Houston has been busy beefing up their running backs room, and they just signed Rex Burkhead last month. It’s now “unlikely” that the team will keep all of Ingram, Burkhead, David Johnson, and Phillip Lindsay, Sarah Barshop of ESPN.com writes. Since she notes the Texans just restructured Johnson’s contract this offseason which gave him more guaranteed money for 2021, Barshop says he’ll “probably make the team”
That could make Ingram the “odd man out.” Ingram got a $500K signing bonus from Houston, but it sounds like they might end up eating that. Lindsay is only 26 and has shown plenty of flashes with the Broncos, so his spot on a rebuilding team that needs younger guys should be assured.
That likely means Ingram and Burkhead will be battling it out for one roster spot, so either way it seems as if one well-known veteran will be getting the axe. Ingram will turn 32 in December and had a down year last season, but was a Pro Bowler as recently as 2019.
He spent the first eight years of his career with the Saints before ending up in Baltimore for the last two. Burkhead turned 31 last week and spent the past four seasons in a part-time role with the Patriots.
Allen Robinson, Bears ‘Unlikely’ To Agree On Extension Before Deadline
The deadline for franchise-tagged players to sign long-term deals is rapidly approaching, with next Thursday July 15th being the cut-off.
There are seven tagged players left without contracts, and it sounds like it’s safe to say at least one of them won’t be getting one. The Bears and star receiver Allen Robinson have had “no substantive talks” in recent months, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reports, via Kevin Patra of NFL.com. Pelissero added that it “seems unlikely a long-term deal will get done.”
Speaking a couple of weeks ago Robinson didn’t sound overly optimistic, saying “we’ll see” about the possibility of an agreement, so this isn’t too shocking. The two sides have been at a stalemate for most of the past year, outside of last September when it briefly looked like things were headed in the right direction.
Things quickly soured again, and there were reports that Chicago might look to trade him this offseason. It appears he will play for the Bears in 2021, but without any long-term guarantees. The Penn State product did show up for last month’s mandatory minicamp, so he isn’t too disgruntled.
Perhaps the $17.9MM he’s set to earn this season is keeping him from getting too negative. Robinson has been the lone bright spot on a struggling Bears offense the past couple seasons, and should put up big numbers once again whether it’s Justin Fields or Andy Dalton throwing him the ball. He had 102 catches for 1,250 yards and six touchdowns in 2020,.
Anthony Lynn Originally Planned To Sit Out 2021
Often times when NFL head coaches get fired, they sit out the following season to regroup and plot their next move. Not Anthony Lynn.
Lynn moved quickly after he was let go by the Chargers, accepting a role on Dan Campbell’s inaugural Lions staff as his offensive coordinator. But apparently Lynn’s original plan was in fact to sit out the 2021 season, he revealed on a recent episode of ‘Compas on the Beat’ podcast, via Fernando Ramirez of SI.com. “I was actually going to sit this year out, but when they called, I had to go because I wanted to be a part of that. I knew it’s going to be something special,” he said.
“I’ve been on the sideline since I was six years old. I have not had a break since I was six years old, literally, every single fall,” Lynn explained. “I really had my mind made up that I was going to take a gap year travel a little bit, go see some other teams, visit some of the coaches that I know, and see how they’re doing things. I had made my mind up to sit out this year, but then when Dan called, you know, that changed everything.”
Not to question Lynn’s sincereness, but he did also talk to the Seahawks about their OC opening, so it appears Campbell might not have been the only coach he was willing to work for. Either way, his fondness for Campbell seems very real. Lynn was the running backs coach of the 2005 Cowboys team that Campbell played on, so there was already a connection here.
Lynn has never been a full-time OC in the league, and wasn’t the primary play-caller during his time as Chargers head coach, so it’ll be very interesting to see how things work out in Detroit. He’s got Jared Goff at his disposal for his first season.
Patriots Sign No. 15 Pick Mac Jones
They’re starting to go quickly now. Just one day after Trevor Lawrence became the latest of the unsigned rookie first-round picks to ink his deal, Mac Jones is joining him.
The former Alabama quarterback has signed his rookie contract with the Patriots, a source told Field Yates of ESPN.com (Twitter link). New England, of course, took Jones 15th overall in the 2021 draft. For weeks leading up to the draft there were persistent rumors that the 49ers would take Jones at three, but obviously those turned out not to be true.
Instead Jones endured a bit of a slip, falling to the middle of the first-round where Bill Belichick was waiting to nab him. After a season where he put up gaudy numbers under Nick Saban, Jones is getting his first taste of pro ball with another legendary coach in Belichick.
His four-year pact, which comes with a team option for a fifth-year, is worth $15.6MM. All that money is guaranteed, and he’ll get a signing bonus of around $8.7MM. Now that his contract is settled, he can focus all his attention on the upcoming quarterback competition.
Jones is expected to face off against Cam Newton in what appears to be a truly open battle in training camp to be the team’s Week 1 starter. Jones took over for an injured Tua Tagovailoa down the stretch in 2019, and became Alabama’s full-time starter in 2020.
Although the starter for only one year, he sure made his mark. Jones threw for 41 touchdowns and only four interceptions in 14 games, averaging a ridiculous 11.2 yards per attempt and coming in third in the Heisman voting.
Patriots WR N’Keal Harry Requests Trade
It’s been a quiet week, but drama is now brewing in New England. Patriots receiver N’Keal Harry has requested a trade, his agent Jamal Tooson announced Tuesday, via Mike Garafolo of NFL Network (on Twitter).
Tooson says in his statement that “for the past several months,” he’s been “working in cooperation with the Patriots behind the scenes to put a plan in place to allow N’Keal to thrive in New England.” “Following numerous conversations” with the team, Tooson apparently came to the conclusion that it would be best for N’Keal to get a fresh start “before the start of training camp.” As such, he is “formally requesting a trade on behalf” of his client.
Harry was taken with the last pick of the first-round in 2019, and has been a disappointment as a pro. The Arizona State product starred in college but only has 45 catches in 21 career games with the Pats. It’ll be very interesting to see what the trade market looks like for him, if there is one at all.
As a first-round pick, the next two years of Harry’s salaries are fully guaranteed. He’s still only 23, but the fact that he has struggled to get looks with the Patriots’ less than impressive receiving group isn’t a good sign.
As a rookie he was limited to seven games by an ankle issue, but he played a bigger role in 2020. He finished the season with 33/309/2 in 14 games and nine starts, but currently finds himself behind guys like Jakobi Meyers, Kendrick Bourne, and Nelson Agholor on the depth chart.
Navy To Allow CB Cameron Kinley To Attend Buccaneers Training Camp
It appears the Navy is reversing course. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin will apparently allow a waiver for cornerback Cameron Kinley to sign with the Buccaneers and attend Tampa’s training camp, an official told Lucas Tomlinson of Fox News.
Tomlinson reports that an official announcement from the Pentagon will come soon. Kinley had previously been denied a waiver to delay his service commitment, putting the Naval Academy star’s NFL dream on ice. Kinley said at the time he wasn’t giving up on his pro football dream, and it sounds like he won’t have to wait very long. The defensive back appeared to confirm the news earlier Tuesday, tweeting out ‘God’s Plan.’
“Cameron Kinley is an exceptional young man and a shining example of the type of high-character individuals that make our nation’s military the most elite in the world,” the Buccaneers said in a statement at the time of the initial waiver denial. “We appreciate and support the United States Naval Academy’s position with regards to Cameron’s fulfillment of his post-graduate service commitment and remain hopeful that he will one day have an opportunity to also fulfill his dreams of playing professional football.”
That day appears to be coming shortly. Bucs training camp will open in a little over two weeks, on July 24th. Last season Kinley had 26 tackles, five passes defended, and an interception in eight games.
NFC Notes: Cowboys, Giants, Toney, Bears
Most of the talk about Cowboys quarterbacks this offseason has understandably revolved around Dak Prescott, his new contract, and his comeback from a devastating ankle injury. But flying a bit under the radar is the team’s unsettled backup QB situation. Last year the team had an established veteran backup in Andy Dalton, who ended up becoming the starter when Prescott went down. Dalton is off in Chicago now, leaving Dallas with very little on the depth chart. The team currently has only Garrett Gilbert, Cooper Rush, and Ben DiNucci behind Prescott.
Rush has thrown three career passes, and DiNucci (a 2020 seventh-rounder) and Gilbert have each made one start. That’s led to some speculation the Cowboys could add a veteran backup. Barring a bigger name veteran addition, Gilbert is currently the “favorite” to backup Prescott in 2021, Rob Phillips of the team’s official site writes. Phillips frames it as a battle between Gilbert and Rush without even mentioning DiNucci, who was disastrous in his lone 2020 start in primetime against the Eagles. Gilbert almost led Dallas to an upset victory over the Steelers in his one start last year, and was a star in the ill-fated AAF.
Here’s more from around the NFC as we kickoff the new week and continue to await training camps:
- Elsewhere in the NFC East, it sounds like the Giants are scheming up various ways to get Kadarius Toney involved as a rookie. New York has Kenny Golladay, Sterling Shepard, and Darius Slayton already at receiver, so it might be hard for the 20th overall pick of this past draft to get heavy targets right away. That doesn’t mean Toney won’t get touches. The Giants are “motivated to get the ball in his hands, whether it’s out of the backfield, on jet sweeps, screen passes or maybe in the Wildcat formation,” Jordan Raanan of ESPN.com writes. Raanan writes they want him to be a year-one factor, and that “they believe the best way to make that happen is to tap into his versatility.” In other words, use him as a gadget player. The Florida product should be fun to watch.
- Heading down to the NFC South, Buccaneers receiver Antonio Brown may have just had his probation terminated early to close his previous criminal case, but he still has civil case headaches to deal with. In addition to a lawsuit from a truck driver alleging assault that came in mid-May, Brown was apparently hit with another lawsuit later that month. This time, it’s from a sports marketing company alleging that Brown didn’t pay them commission on $2MM in earnings they got him, Matt Baker of the Tampa Bay Times reports. The company, KCB Marketing, is seeking over $100K in damages.
Eddie Goldman May Not Return To Bears This Year?
The Eddie Goldman saga might not have a happy ending for Bears fans. The veteran defensive tackle opted out of the 2020 season due to COVID-19, but Chicago coaches said back in February they were expecting him back for 2021.
Then Goldman skipped the teams voluntary offseason program and their mandatory minicamp. For no-showing the minicamp he racked up a $93K fine. At minicamp Bears head coach Matt Nagy said that the team still expected him to be “rocking and rolling there at training camp,” but Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune says not so fast.
It’s now a “legitimate question,” as to whether or not Goldman will return to the Bears, Biggs writes. He adds that one league source “suggested Goldman could be weighing retirement.” He does also note that Bears linebacker backed Nagy up by expressing confidence Goldman would be at training camp as well, so who know.
Either way, it’s an interesting situation to keep an eye on. Goldman, the 2015 second-round pick who signed a four-year, $42MM extension with Chicago back in 2018, is a key part of the team’s run defense when on the field. He started at least 15 games in three straight seasons from 2016-18. The Florida State product has also shown some flashes as a pass-rusher up the middle, racking up 12.5 sacks in 67 career games.
Delanie Walker On Free Agency, Comeback
Delanie Walker sat out the 2020 season, and he played in only eight games between 2018-19 due to injuries. But the veteran tight end is intent on coming back for the 2021 campaign, despite the fact that he’ll turn 37 in August.
Appearing on a recent episode of Turron Davenport’s podcast, Walker peeled back the curtain on the process and his hopes for his comeback, via Grant Gordon of NFL.com. He had a workout with the 49ers about a month ago, but nothing came of it. “Right now, I couldn’t tell you who I will be playing for or what teams are looking at me,” Walker said. “They talk to me, but at the end of the day, I feel like they think the ankle is a problem and my age. Teams are really not trying to give me a good deal, I feel like.”
Walker said he feels good physically, although he did admit he can’t say for sure how he’d hold up to contact. “I feel like the same Delanie Walker two years ago. But again, you know, I’m a realist. I won’t sit here and be like, ‘Oh, shoot, I can out there and play.’ I can go out there and play, but would I take a hit, would that be a problem? I do not know. I think that’s a concern teams have.” He did add “I feel like the ankle will hold up.”
For now he said he’s just focused on keeping in great shape, and he expressed confidence that he’ll get his opportunity in training camp. “I know that opportunity gonna come where someone’s gonna need a tight end for training camp. And that’s where my opportunity’s gonna come.”
As for a potential landing spot, he unsurprisingly wants to go to a winner. “I feel like I need to get a Super Bowl ring, so my objective is really to try to go to a team that’s a contender. But it is the NFL, you never know what team can be a contender, so my options are open.”
We heard the Patriots and Ravens were interested last August before he elected to sit out the season and heal up. New England is probably set at tight end after adding Hunter Henry and Jonnu Smith this offseason, but perhaps Baltimore could still be interested as an option behind Mark Andrews. It’s been a few years now, but Walker was a Pro Bowler in three straight seasons from 2015-17.d
Bengals Rookie Darius Hodge Arrested
One new member of the Bengals didn’t have the best Fourth of July. Rookie defensive end Darius Hodge was arrested on the holiday, per WRAL 5 in North Carolina.
Unfortunately the story is light on details, but they do report that the arrest was for an alleged assault all the way back in 2019. Hodge was “charged for hitting a man repeatedly,” but that’s about all they have at the moment. On the surface it doesn’t sound like anything overly serious, but this certainly won’t help the undrafted free agent’s chances of making the team.
The Marshall product had nine tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks in 10 games last year. He was part of a relatively small Bengals UDFA class, and Cincy could use some edge rushing help, so he seemed to have a decent shot initially.
Working in his favor is the fact that this alleged incident happened before his NFL career started, so he won’t be subject to league discipline for it.