AFC Notes: Andrews, Allen, Patriots
We’ve heard a ton in recent weeks about Lamar Jackson‘s upcoming extension with the Ravens. All the back and forth about Jackson’s mom and her role in negotiations has caused a lot of people to forget that Baltimore has other orders of business as well. One of those is Mark Andrews, the young tight end currently set to enter the final year of his rookie deal. One way or the other, Andrews is “far too important to the Ravens offense to let him walk,” Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic opines. “Either via an extension or the franchise tag, Andrews will be a Raven in 2022,” he writes.
Although he might not surpass George Kittle‘s $15MM AAV to become the league’s highest-paid tight end, Zrebiec thinks “he probably won’t be far off.” He writes that Andrews will “likely command more than the” $12.5MM that both Hunter Henry and Jonnu Smith got from the Patriots this offseason. The Ravens drafted Andrews 86th overall in 2018, and they got a steal. The Oklahoma product made the Pro Bowl in 2019, when he finished with 852 yards and 10 touchdowns. Last year he was once again Jackson’s favorite target over the middle, finishing with a solid 701 yards in 14 games. Zrebiec says the likeliest bet is Andrews gets an extension, so it sounds like Jackson won’t be the only member of Baltimore’s offense getting paid shortly.
Here’s more from around the AFC:
- Speaking of extensions, Bills quarterback Josh Allen will need one soon too. Thanks to the fifth-year option Allen, like Jackson, is under contract through the 2022 season. But like with fellow 2018 draft class passer Baker Mayfield, extensions may come sooner rather than later. Vic Carruci of Buffalo News writes that he thinks the Bills and Allen “will work something out before the start of the season.” Carruci seems to think Allen will act “independently” of Mayfield and Jackson, and not wait around to make sure they go first and set the market. On the heels of a superb 2020 campaign, Allen will be looking for top of the quarterback market money, likely around $40MM annually on a new deal.
- Staying in the AFC East, the Patriots have a new hire. New England is adding Richmond cornerbacks coach Ross Douglas to their staff as a quality control coach, Pete Thamel of Yahoo Sports tweets. Douglas was only hired by Richmond in February before the Patriots have now poached him away. Thamel notes that Douglas spent 2020 on Greg Schiano’s staff at Rutgers and Schiano has connections to the Pats and Bill Belichick, so maybe that played a role here. Douglas played college ball at both Michigan and Rutgers between 2013-17.
Josh Gordon Applies For Reinstatement
Stop us if you’ve heard this one before. Receiver Josh Gordon has officially submitted his reinstatement letter to the league office and commissioner Roger Goodell, a source told Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
Gordon’s most recent reinstatement was rescinded in February, making him once again suspended indefinitely. He was then released by the Seahawks in early March. He said a few weeks later that he hoped to eventually return to the NFL again, and now he’s making moves in that direction. Schefter notes that Gordon “hopes to be with a team for training camp.”
He also reports that the NFL has been giving the former Brown and Patriot random drug tests for the past three months, and that Gordon is “said to have passed all tests.” That’s great news, and hopefully he can keep it up. Gordon, of course, appeared on the verge of becoming a superstar with Cleveland back in the day before substance abuse issues derailed his career.
He was a first-team All-Pro in 2013 when he led the league in receiving yards with 1,646 in only 14 games, but things quickly unraveled after that. He’s been suspended numerous times, and last played in 2019 when he appeared in six games with New England and five with Seattle.
He only just turned 30, so he should have plenty left in the tank physically. Whether he can keep things in order off the field is an entirely different question, and he likely won’t have teams beating down his door assuming Goodell even approves another reinstatement.
He won’t get much, if any, guaranteed money, and will need to settle for a short prove-it deal if he gets cleared by the league. We’ll keep you posted as soon as we hear more.
AFC Notes: Jackson, Sanders, DeCastro
There’s been a lot of talk about the coming Lamar Jackson extension this offseason. Both he and the Ravens have insisted something will get worked out, and that they’re not worried about when. We heard this past week that Jackson was still operating without an agent, and that his mother was running point on negotiations as his business partner. Apparently that has some people concerned, causing the NFLPA to reach out. The players’ union “has tried to assist to no avail,” during the process, Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports writes.
La Canfora says Jackson has received “zero guidance” from the NFLPA. He also notes that since no agent is involved, there’s naturally “zero flow of information about it in the agent community.” La Canfora opines that since the contract negotiation process “requires exposing warts and engaging in a bare-fisted back-and-forth at times,” it can be a “far easier exchange with a third party.” He also says he’s inclined to think the negotiations drag “on for a while, and we don’t get a lot of action in the first half of July.” It’s a unique situation for the Ravens and their franchise quarterback, and one everyone around the league will be watching with eyebrows raised. It should be very interesting to see how it all plays out.
Here’s more from around the AFC:
- The Bills finally got their man, signing Emmanuel Sanders to a one-year deal this past offseason. Apparently they’ve been after the veteran receiver for a while. GM Brandon Beane tried to trade for Sanders at the 2019 trade deadline, Joe Buscaglia of The Athletic writes. He was ultimately traded from the Broncos to the 49ers at that deadline instead. We knew Buffalo pursued him in free agency last year, but he ended up signing with the Saints. The third time turned out to be the charm. Sanders turned 34 in March but remained fairly productive in New Orleans last season and Buscaglia seems bullish on his outlook, writing that he’s the “most underrated piece” of the Bills’ offense and that Josh Allen looked for him often during recent practices.
- David DeCastro was just released by the Steelers last week, and the veteran lineman is reportedly considering retirement. Although DeCastro will apparently wait at least a couple of months before deciding whether or not to play again, he has another decision that sounds easier for him to make. DeCastro is “likely to file a grievance” through the NFLPA against the Steelers, Ed Bouchette of The Athletic writes. Pittsburgh released him with a non-football injury designation, but DeCastro said recently the ankle problem for which he’ll soon undergo another surgery is something he was dealing with from last season that didn’t heal right. Bouchette seems to think the Steelers know they’ll have to end up paying DeCastro some more money down the line, but that they made the move so they’d immediately be able to fit Trai Turner‘s contract into their salary cap.
Minor NFL Transactions: 7/2/21
We’ll keep track of today’s minor moves here as we head into the weekend:
New York Jets
- Cut: S Jordyn Peters
Peters was let go to make room on the roster for Morgan Moses, whose contract with the Jets became official today. Peters became a starter at Auburn in his senior year, but was mostly viewed as a potential special teams guy in the NFL. He blocked four punts at Auburn. Meanwhile, we just heard that Moses will be the team’s starting right tackle in 2021, even if the Jets insist for now there will be a competition with George Fant.
Andrew Whitworth: 2021 Season Is ‘Probably’ My Last
Andrew Whitworth is the rare NFL player who has been able to consistently stave off father time. But it appears even the ageless Rams tackle might be nearing the end.
Whitworth, 39, appeared on a recent episode of former NFL defensive end Chris Long’s ‘Green Lights’ podcast and said the 2021 season would likely be his last, via Myles Simmons of ProFootballTalk.com. Speaking of a serious injury he suffered during his time with the Bengals, Whitworth said “I was like, if I get through this, I want to try to play until 40. And that was just like — I didn’t think that was realistic or that it’d ever happen. But I was like, I want to try to do that.”
He’s pretty close to making that a reality, as he’ll turn 40 in December. “So this year, to me, it feels like this is it. This is like, I’ve put everything into trying to play this season and play at the level I want to. I feel like this will probably be the end, but I mean, all my closest friends would tell you that I’ve said that for about seven straight years. So I don’t know how believable that is, but it feels like it is,” he explained.
If this really is the end of the road, Whitworth will be wrapping up a remarkable career this season. Drafted by Cincy all the way back in 2006, Whitworth is a four-time Pro Bowler and three-time All-Pro.
He had an MCL tear with PCL damage that cost him the last seven games of 2020, but he still battled his way back to return for the Rams’ playoff run. Despite his advanced age, he’ll be counted on to be a big part of Los Angeles’ new-look offense with Matthew Stafford under center.
Of course, even while saying he’ll likely be hanging up his cleats, the LSU product did leave the door open to potentially giving it another go in 2022.
Jets To Start Morgan Moses At RT, Tyler Kroft Could Start At TE?
On a quiet Tuesday afternoon, we’ve got news on a couple of Jets position battles to pass along. New York just signed tackle Morgan Moses on Friday, and the initial assumption was that he might compete with George Fant to be the Jets’ right tackle opposite Mekhi Becton.
Apparently, it won’t be much of a competition. “Even if the Jets tout this as a competition, Moses is the starting right tackle,” Brian Costello of the New York Post writes. He says the team “might try to sell this as a competition in training camp to soothe Fant’s ego and also avoid the embarrassing questions about paying a backup tackle an $8.5 million salary,” but that Moses will be the starter when it’s all said and done.
Moses got a $3.6MM base with incentives up to $5.3MM on his one-year deal. He was cut by Washington last month after not missing a start in six straight seasons for them. Meanwhile, Costello writes in a separate piece that Tyler Kroft may end up as the team’s starting tight end.
He says Kroft “has been one of the bigger surprises of the spring,” has received plenty of reps with the first-team in practices, and “could beat out Chris Herndon for the job if Herndon does not shake out of the funk he was in last year.”
The Jets didn’t get much from the position last year, (Herndon had 31/287/3 in 16 games), so it’s not shocking they’re considering other options. Kroft didn’t do too much with Buffalo the last couple years, but he had 42/404/7 when he was last a starter with the Bengals in 2017. He signed a one-year deal with the Jets back in March.
Jadeveon Clowney Back To Full Strength After Knee Surgery
Jadeveon Clowney has always been extremely talented, but he’s often struggled with injuries since getting drafted first overall by the Texans back in 2014.
Last season Clowney waited a long time to sign with the Titans, eventually inking a one-year, $13MM pact with them. He had a very disappointing season in Tennessee as injuries limited him to eight games (and zero sacks) before he shut it down to have knee surgery. Clowney signed with the Browns in April, and the team was apparently at least a little concerned about the knee since it was reported they wanted to see him pass a physical before giving him his contract.
Fortunately, it appears all is well so far. Clowney is “already showing that he’s healthy again” and “exploded off the line” at recent Browns minicamp practices, Jake Trotter of ESPN.com writes. “I’ve been training extremely hard this offseason, so I kind of already have a feel of where I was coming here,” Clowney said.
“I felt great coming in, and I feel great now.” That’s good news, since the Browns are counting on him to help replace Olivier Vernon‘s nine sacks from last year and form an elite edge duo opposite Myles Garrett.
Cleveland sought to protect themselves a little bit by giving Clowney a one-year deal worth “up to” $10MM. We learned that it has a base value of $7MM with another $3MM available. He’ll earn $1MM of that just by staying healthy in per-game active roster bonuses, and another $2MM through playing time and sack bonuses.
Six months after having surgery for the torn meniscus, it appears Clowney is back to full strength (for now).
Eric Bieniemy: HC Opportunity Is ‘Going To Happen’ At ‘Right Time’
There was a lot of talk about Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy this offseason, and how he was left without a head coaching opportunity once again. Bieniemy has become a subject of hot debate in recent offseasons, but one man who isn’t sweating over the wait is Bieniemy himself.
The Andy Reid disciple got interview requests from all seven teams with openings this past cycle, but didn’t get one of the jobs yet again. But the Kansas City assistant isn’t getting caught up in the chatter, telling Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports in a recent interview that he’s just fine with how everything has played out.
“I am blessed and fortunate to be working with a Hall of Fame head coach. On top of that, the quarterback ain’t bad, either” he declared. That might be an understatement. “And we’ve had a great deal of success since we’ve been here. So I’m not complaining at all. Would I like to be a head coach? Yes I would. But you know what, it’s going to happen, at the right place, with the right people, at the right time.”
It’s a mature, and wise, sentiment from the man in charge of one of the most prolific units in recent league history. He’s still only 51, fairly spry by NFL head coaching standards, and doesn’t need to rush into a bad situation.
“At the end of the day like I always tell folks, I don’t allow anything to dictate my outcome or my future,” Bieniemy said. “So the only thing we can do, alright, is to continue going back to work and to continue chopping wood.”
The couple of frustrating years notwithstanding, Bieniemy seems confident he’ll become the next member of the Reid head coaching tree before too long. He’ll almost certainly be a top candidate on the coaching carousel come next January.
Royce Freeman On Broncos’ Roster Bubble?
The Broncos waived DaeSean Hamilton last month, and it appears another high profile member of their 2018 draft class could be out the door before finishing his rookie deal as well.
Royce Freeman is on Denver’s roster bubble and could find himself let go at final cuts, Ryan O’Halloran of the Denver Post writes. The 71st pick of the 2018 draft, Freeman’s career arc so far is a good reminder of the easy come, easy go nature of the NFL. The Oregon product received a ton of buzz during his rookie training camp, and he was named the team’s starting running back before the 2018 season.
He ended up playing in 14 games and starting eight that year, finishing with 130 carries for 521 yards and five touchdowns. He again played a sizable role in 2019, rushing 132 times for 496 yards and adding 43 receptions for another 256 yards.
He quickly fell into Vic Fangio’s doghouse though, and didn’t play a ton last year behind Melvin Gordon and Phillip Lindsay. Even though Lindsay is gone now, O’Halloran notes they just drafted Javonte Williams in the second round and signed Mike Boone in free agency.
Boone got $1.6MM guaranteed from Denver, so he likely isn’t going anywhere. O’Halloran writes Freeman will need to use the preseason to convince new GM George Paton to keep him as a fourth running back, or else he’ll be looking for a new team. Freeman turned 25 in February.
Lamar Jackson Still Without Agent, Mom Partnering On Extension Talks With Ravens
Just about everybody involved agrees the Ravens and Lamar Jackson are going to get an extension done at some point in the near future. Just recently Baltimore head coach John Harbaugh called it a “done deal” and said Jackson is “going to get paid.”
For his part, the star quarterback has said he doesn’t care whether it gets done this year or next, and all seems well. But the negotiations leading up to this extension are going to be very interesting, in part because Jackson is still operating without an agent, per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (Twitter link via the Pat McAfee show).
Jackson’s mother is his business partner and is serving as his de-facto agent in this process, Rapoport says. They used the same setup to negotiate his rookie deal and that went through without a hitch, although obviously this is a different animal.
Jackson is “seeing the same sort of eyebrows raised from the agent community and from players as well because his mother is doing it,” Rapsheet reports. “The stakes are incredibly high because if you lock yourself into a bad deal you’d be costing yourself tens of millions of dollars.”
Rapoport also notes that the Ravens are often good at getting team-friendly deals done, making this negotiation particularly “fascinating.”
Jackson, and his mother, will surely be looking for a payday in line with the league’s other top passers. Dak Prescott got four-years, $160MM from the Cowboys back in March, which will be an interesting baseline to compare Jackson’s new deal against.
Of course the NFL is different from other leagues, where it’s not just the top-line dollar amount that matters most, but rather the structure of guarantees and other important accounting details. There’s no reason to believe Jackson and his family don’t know what they’re doing, but the unusual setup will ensure his deal is highly scrutinized whenever it comes.