Extra Points: Winston, Buccaneers, Saints, Yelder, Browner
With the news of Jameis Winston‘s impending suspension from the NFL, lots has been written about Winston’s future with the Buccaneers. One potentially unexplored angle is how Winston’s fate may tie into the fate of Bucs GM Jason Licht and the team’s head coach Dirk Koetter, according to Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com. Florio speculates that the team may be more likely to move on from Winston if they decide to fire Licht and/or Koetter at the end of the 2018 season.
Koetter reportedly came very close to being fired at the end of the 2017 season, but was ultimately given another year by ownership. Florio thinks it would be easier for the franchise to move on from Winston if they cleaned house completely, and had a front office with no ties to Winston make the decision to release him. Winston is set to make $20.9MM under his fifth-year option in 2019. It’s guaranteed only for injury, meaning the Bucs could release him after this season and not have to pay him anything, assuming he stays healthy. Whatever ends up happening, it looks like it could be a tumultuous year in Tampa Bay.
Here’s more from around the league:
- Undrafted rookie tight end Deon Yelder has a “good shot” at making the Saints, according to Nick Underhill of the New Orleans Advocate. Due to the Saints’ lack of depth at tight end, Underhill thinks the position “appears primed for a UDFA to rise and claim a job.” The Saints recently released Coby Fleener, leaving them a bit thin at the position.
- Former Pro Bowl cornerback Brandon Browner pled no contest to domestic battery charges, according to Nathan Fenno of the Los Angeles Times. Browner, who won back to back Super Bowls with the Patriots and Seahawks, spent 2017 out of the league after a short sting with Seattle in 2016.
- In case you missed it, despite Winston’s expected absence, the Bucs don’t have any plans to bring in a veteran quarterback.
Adonis Alexander Meets With 4 Teams Ahead Of Supplemental Draft
This year’s Supplemental Draft is shaping up as the best in recent memory. There are several draft-able players, and the most intriguing prospect for teams might be Virginia Tech cornerback Adonis Alexander. Alexander was kicked off the Hokies’ team due to academic issues and announced his intention to enter the Supplemental Draft a few weeks ago.
Any team can select Alexander, but whatever round they take him in, they’ll forfeit that round’s selection in the regular 2019 draft. The Browns notably used a second round pick in the Supplemental Draft to take Josh Gordon in 2012. Alexander recently held his Pro Day, which was attended by 26 teams.
A few of those teams showed additional interest in Alexander and met with him separately. Alexander met with representatives from the Jets, Saints, Chiefs, and Colts, according to Tony Pauline of DraftAnalyst.com. All four teams could use help on their defense and are strong candidates to take a flyer on Alexander. Pauline currently projects Alexander as going in the third round of the Supplemental Draft.
Pauline thinks Alexander’s “length, balls skills and arm size (over 32 inches) will be very attractive to NFL teams” and noted that had Alexander returned to Virginia Tech for his senior season, he would’ve been graded by scouts as one of the top cornerback prospects in the nation.
Alexander isn’t the only talented secondary player eligible for the draft. He’s joined by safety Brandon Bryant from Mississippi State, and cornerback Sam Beal from Western Michigan. Although there’s only been two players selected in the past six years, this year’s Supplemental Draft has the potential to be very active.
Eagles Notes: Brandon Graham, Alshon Jeffrey, Johnston
While defensive end Brandon Graham is set to be a free agent at the end of the year, it doesn’t appear the Eagles are in any rush to lock him up, writes Eliot Shorr-Parks of NJ.com. Shorr-Parks thinks it’s “unlikely that Graham gets a new deal before the season.” He adds that the ankle injury Graham is currently recovering from may play into the team’s reluctance to get something done this offseason.
Graham has been with the Eagles since he was drafted in the first round by the team back in 2010. Since then, he’s racked up 38.5 sacks, including 9.5 last season. He notably strip sacked Tom Brady in this year’s Super Bowl to help seal the Eagles’ win. Despite his Super Bowl heroics, Shorr-Parks say “all indications still point to Graham becoming a free agent next offseason” rather than receiving an extension.
Here’s more from Philadelphia:
- Speaking of Graham, his status for week one remains unclear, according to Shorr-Parks. He had ankle surgery in April and is “still walking in a boot and using crutches to get around.” Teammate Alshon Jeffery, who is recovering from shoulder surgery, “seems to be a much safer bet to play in Week 1” writes Shorr-Parks, who adds “all indications are that he will be ready.”
- The Eagles moved on from punter Donnie Jones this offseason and replaced him with second-year player Cameron Johnston. While the Eagles are happy with Johnston, who hasn’t attempted a regular season punt in his career, Shorr-Parks thinks it “wouldn’t be surprising” if the Eagles had a veteran punter on standby that they could sign in case Johnston falters this preseason.
- In case you missed it, the Eagles have reportedly been impressed with backup quarterback Nate Sudfeld this offseason.
This Date In Transactions History: Matt Cassel
When the Patriots drafted Matt Cassel in the seventh round of the 2005 draft, nobody would’ve guessed that Cassel would go on to have a lengthy and significant NFL career. Cassel never started a game in college, he was a backup all four years at USC, but landed himself on NFL teams’ radars with a strong Pro Day performance. On this day 13 years ago, Cassel signed his rookie contract with the Patriots. 
It was a surprise when Cassel even made the Patriots’ initial 53-man roster in 2005, and even more of a shock that he continued to stick around. Eventually he worked his way from third string into being Tom Brady‘s primary backup. Cassel would entrench himself in NFL and Patriots history when Brady went down with a torn ACL in the first game of the 2008 season. Cassel stepped in and ended up starting the next 15 games for New England.
He led the Patriots to an 11-5 record while throwing for 3,693 yards, 21 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions. Although the Patriots became the first team since the NFL switched to their current playoff format to go 11-5 and not make the playoffs, it was an incredible season for Cassell. Just a couple months earlier beat writers had been predicting he would be cut from the team.
At the end of the year, the Patriots franchised tagged him and ended up trading him to the Chiefs for an early second round pick. Cassel would go on to make the Pro Bowl with the Chiefs in 2010, but flamed out soon after that and has bounced around the league as a backup ever since. He’s spent time with the Chiefs, Vikings, Bills, Cowboys, and Titans since his magical season in New England. This past April, he signed a one-year deal with the Lions.
The seventh round pick who hadn’t started a game in high school somehow saw himself quarterbacking the Patriots to an 11-5 record and earned himself a spot in the NFL for the next decade. It was a great pick by the Patriots, who ended up getting a season of stellar quarterback play and a second round pick for the 230th pick in the 2005 draft. And it all started on this day, 13 years ago.
Extra Points: Mack, Donald, AAF, Spurrier, Tebow
Aaron Donald and Khalil Mack are two of the best defensive players in the league. They are also both heading into the final year of their contracts. They’re both angling for new deals and they’ve both threatened to holdout at various times to get those new deals. But, as Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com points out, there is a key difference in the two All-Pro’s situations.
Donald held out of training camp last year while Mack didn’t. Donald showed up just before the start of the regular season and ended up missing the first game before returning to form and easily winning the league’s defensive player of the year award. Since Donald missed all of training camp last year, due to an NFL rule, if he were to miss it again this year he wouldn’t be eligible to be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. Instead he would become a restricted free agent and the Rams would be able to match any offer Donald were to receive on the open market. As such, it appears Mack has much more leverage in his contract negotiations as Donald will be more or less forced to show up for training camp whether a deal gets done or not.
Here’s more from the football universe:
- The upstart new football league the Alliance of American Football continues to make waves as they ramp up operations. The team recently announced San Antonio as the final city for their inaugural season, and St. Louis was apparently hoping to get the spot, according to Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. St. Louis was apparently passed over due to issues with the proposed stadium for the team.
- In more AAF news, legendary coach Steve Spurrier, who will be coaching the Orlando AAF team, is recruiting Tim Tebow to be his team’s quarterback. Spurrier reached out to Tebow privately, according to Florio, but Tebow plans on continuing to play baseball for now.
- In case you missed it, Eli Manning recently spoke about issues like retirement, Odell Bekcham Jr., and the Giants’ 2018 season.
Poll: Which NFC North Team Had The Best Offseason?
Over the past couple weeks, we’ve asked you which teams from the AFC North, AFC East, AFC West, and NFC West had the best offseasons. Today we’ll be looking at the offseason each team from the NFC North had, another division that was quite active. 
The Vikings made the biggest splash in the entire league when they signed Kirk Cousins to the NFL’s first ever multi-year fully guaranteed deal for a quarterback. They let three of their quarterbacks from last year, Case Keenum, Teddy Bridgewater, and Sam Bradford walk in free agency. Their offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur left to be the head coach of the Giants and they replaced him with Eagles quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo. They signed a pair of players away from the division rival Bears, guard Tom Compton and receiver Kendall Wright, and added Pro Bowl defensive lineman Sheldon Richardson from the Seahawks. They lost running back Jerick McKinnon to the 49ers but will return Dalvin Cook who was lost to a torn ACL early last season. They added cornerback Mike Hughes from Central Florida with their first round pick. Overall, there was a lot of turnover from last year’s team that made the NFC Championship game, and the Vikings will be counting on a lot of new faces to help them get back there.
The Bears started their offseason off by firing John Fox, and hiring Matt Nagy to replace him. They looked to bolster last year’s woeful receiving corp by signing Allen Robinson and Taylor Gabriel in free agency. They also added tight end Trey Burton as another pass-catcher for Mitchell Trubisky. They used the eighth overall pick on Roquan Smith, the linebacker from Georgia. The team cut Mike Glennon after his short four-game tenure as the starting quarterback last year and signed Chase Daniel to be Trubisky’s new veteran mentor backup. The team retained defensive coordinator Vic Fangio after a lot of speculation about his potential departure and matched a large offer sheet that cornerback Kyle Fuller signed with the Packers. Overall, the offseason was all about offense for the Bears, from Nagy’s hiring to the signing of Robinson and Burton. Chicago is looking to set up Trubisky for as much success as possible in his second year, and tangible progress from him will be the most important thing for the team this season.
The Lions also changed coaches, firing Jim Caldwell and hiring Matt Patricia. Patricia, formerly the Patriots defensive coordinator, was a hot name in head coaching searches the past few seasons but no one was able to lure him away until finally Detroit did this spring. They didn’t make many major moves in free agency, but did sign a handful of defensive role players like defensive lineman Sylvester Williams and cornerback DeShawn Shead. They let their former first round pick, tight end Eric Ebron walk in free agency to the Colts. They also let defensive tackle Haloti Ngata sign with the Eagles. They took center Frank Ragnow from Arkansas in the first round of this year’s draft to strengthen the offensive line. They added running back Kerryon Johnson in the second round, who they hope will become the three-down back they’ve been lacking for many years. Overall, besides the coaching change it was a relatively quiet offseason for the Lions. They’ll look to stay the course and hope Matthew Stafford can carry the team to the playoffs yet again.
The Packers made some rare coaching changes. They didn’t retain longtime defensive coordinator Dom Capers and replaced him with Mike Pettine. They also fired offensive coordinator Edgar Bennett and quarterbacks coach Alex Van Pelt, who was reportedly close with Aaron Rodgers. They hired former Dolphins head coach Joe Philbin to be the new offensive coordinator. They cut former star receiver Jordy Nelson and signed defensive lineman Muhammad Wilkerson, tight end Jimmy Graham, and cornerback Tramon Williams. They traded cornerback Damarious Randall to the Browns for quarterback DeShone Kizer, and drafted cornerback Jaire Alexander in the first round. The focus was clearly on addressing the defense, the team’s achilles heel in recent years, and particularly the secondary. Overall, it was an offseason of change, as the team said goodbye to several former staples. Aaron Rodgers will return from the injury that cost him most of the 2017 season, and will once again need to carry the load if the Packers 2018 season is going to be successful.
Which team do you think had the best offseason in the NFC North? Vote in PFR’s poll below and weigh in with your thoughts in the comments section!
NFC Notes: Giants, Beckham, Manning, Seahawks, Janikowski, Lions, Sherman
While Odell Beckham Jr. and the Giants reportedly aren’t close on an extension, it still seems like a deal will get done at some point. The team has repeatedly made it clear they don’t plan on letting their franchise player hit the open market. But whenever they do lock up Beckham, it could have a ripple effect on the team’s finances and roster, opines Ryan Dunleavy of NJ.com.
Dunleavy notes that if Beckham gets the $17MM+ per year he’s looking for, it would put the Giants in rare territory. It would make the Giants one of only two teams in the league to have three players with a cap hit above $17MM, with the other being the Broncos. Eli Manning will have a cap hit of $22.2MM in 2018, while Olivier Vernon will have a $17MM cap hit. Dunleavy thinks committing so much cap space to just a couple of players could cause the Giants to look to move on from Manning sooner than they would otherwise.
Because of Manning’s importance to the franchise, Dunleavy writes the team’s handling of him is like “handling a grenade”, one that “went off in their hands last season” when they briefly tried benching Manning for Geno Smith. Dunleavy thinks that “if Manning struggles in 2018, it makes economic sense for the Giants to move on because Beckham’s inflated salary cap hit essentially could take the place of Manning’s atop the chart.” Whatever happens, it seems possible that Beckham’s looming mega-extension could mean the beginning of the end for the Manning-era in New York.
Here’s more from around the NFC:
- Sebastian Janikowski‘s nearly 20-year run with the Raiders came to an end when the team let him walk in free agency this spring. Janikowski ended up signing with the Seahawks, and now finds himself in a battle with Jason Myers to replace Blair Walsh as the Seahawks‘ kicker. Janikowski appears to have a leg up in the competition, and has been “working with the starting unit” this offseason according to Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times.
- New 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman continues to progress well as he rehabs from the torn achilles that ended his 2017 season, according to Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee. Barrows writes that Sherman was limited this offseason, but should be a full-go for team drills when training camp opens.
- Two Lions undrafted free agents have been standing out and have good shots at making the team, according to Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. Birkett singled out wide receiver Teo Redding and linebacker Chad Meredith for praise, and he likes the roster chances of both players.
AFC Notes: Ravens, Jackson, Chargers, Sturgis, Patriots, Rowe
As soon as the Ravens took Lamar Jackson with the 32nd overall pick in this year’s draft, many assumed the Joe Flacco-era in Baltimore was coming to an end. Although Flacco has reportedly shown well in OTAs and minicamp thus far and Jackson doesn’t appear to be a threat for the starting job in 2018, the Ravens are still thrilled with their rookie. All the reports this offseason indicate the Ravens have been very impressed by Jackson’s development.
With Flacco still in line to take all the snaps at quarterback, the team is now looking for alternative ways to get Jackson on the field. Jackson will certainly be active on game days, and will be used in a variety of unique packages which feature him and Flacco at the same time, according to Childs Walker of the Baltimore Sun. Ravens coach Jim Harbaugh sounded very excited about the prospect of having “two quarterbacks on the field at the same time.” The Ravens may use the packages as an opportunity to see how Jackson responds to being thrown into a real live NFL game. If he shows well, the team could decide to move on from Flacco after this season and still be alright financially despite Flacco’s hefty contract.
Here’s more from around the AFC:
- The Chargers likely would’ve been a playoff team last year if not for their shaky kicking situation. As soon as the season ended, the team made aggressive moves to upgrade the position. They brought in former Buccaneers second round pick Roberto Aguayo and former Eagles kicker Caleb Sturgis to compete for the job. Despite Aguayo being the more high profile player and his second round pedigree, it’s “Sturgis’ job to lose” according to Eric D. Williams of ESPN (Twitter link).
- Cornerback Eric Rowe isn’t a lock for the Patriots’ 53-man roster, opines Doug Kyed of NESN.com. Undrafted rookie J.C. Jackson has reportedly been running ahead of Rowe during OTAs and minicamp and despite Rowe being a fairly big name, Kyed says he “could see scenarios” where Rowe is on another roster come week 1.
- In case you missed it, 2017 fifth-rounder Nathan Peterman may have a real shot at beating out A.J. McCarron and Josh Allen to be the Bills’ starting quarterback.
This Date In Transactions History: Tim Couch
One of the most notorious draft busts in NFL history, not many remember Tim Couch‘s time with any team other than the Browns. But on this date 14 years ago, Couch signed a one-year deal with the Packers. After being selected first overall by the Browns in the 1999 draft, Couch started parts of five seasons in Cleveland. The team finally threw in the towel on him by releasing him in June of 2004. A week later, he signed with Green Bay.
Couch was already being hailed as the next great quarterback before he even entered college. ESPN once ranked him as the sixth-greatest high school player of all time. The heavily recruited Couch ultimately chose to play at Kentucky, where he went on to be a star. After three seasons at Kentucky where he set numerous records, Couch declared early for the NFL draft.
The Browns were preparing for their first season in the league as an expansion team after the original team left for Baltimore in 1996. They were looking for a quarterback to guide them as they started over and ultimately decided on Couch. Although Couch had his moments and even led the Browns to a playoff appearance in 2002, he mostly struggled. He threw for more interceptions than touchdowns and a sub-60% completion rate during his time in Cleveland. He was benched for Kelly Holcomb before ultimately being cut.
Couch’s time with the Packers ended up being brief. He struggled during camp and the preseason, in which he was often booed by the Lambeau Field fans, and suffered a shoulder injury. Just before the season was set to start, he was released by the team, effectively ending his NFL career.
His short run with the Packers was far from a glorious end to the career of one of the most high profile draft picks of his generation. The mention of Couch’s name is still enough to elicit shudders from Browns fans everywhere. It’s nearly impossible to find a list of the league’s biggest draft failures that doesn’t have Couch’s name on it, and his name will forever live on in infamy.
Extra Points: NFLPA, Anthem, Suspension leaks, Colts, Luck
The NFL announced their new anthem policy a few weeks ago, and the NFL Players Association has apparently been preparing a response ever since. Although the union has been mostly quiet since the new rules were put in place, the NFLPA is getting ready to fight the owners in court, a source told Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com.
Florio writes that “the NFLPA has retained multiple law firms to research the options for fighting the new policy.” Florio thinks the union could challenge the anthem mandate as a “non-injury grievance” under the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Any such grievance would have to be filed no later than July, so we should know the NFLPA’s plans relatively soon. Another possible route would be to challenge any fines or penalties imposed on players protesting on constitutional grounds, arguing that it violates their first amendment rights, according to Florio. Whatever happens, it’s clear this issue isn’t going away anytime soon.
Here’s more from around the league:
- The anthem issue isn’t the only fight the players union is gearing up for. Florio also reports that the NFLPA is preparing to fight the NFL over leaks that are damaging to players. Florio cites the recent leaking of the news of Julian Edelman‘s suspension before his appeals were exhausted as an example of the type of leaking the union wants to put an end to.
- Colts quarterback Andrew Luck was recently seen throwing a football for the first time since his shoulder injury caused him to miss the entire 2017 season. While Luck remained very limited in practice the past few days, the Colts expect Luck to be able to “practice without limitations in training camp”, according to Stephen Holder of the Indianapolis Star. Similar claims were made this time last year, but it still seems as of now that Luck will be ready to go by week 1 of the regular season.
- In case you missed it, yesterday Sam Robinson took a look at all of the key 2018 holdouts.