Browns Sign Malik McDowell
The Browns made an intriguing addition on Monday. Cleveland has signed defensive tackle Malik McDowell to a contract, the team announced.
McDowell was drafted 35th overall by the Seahawks in 2017, but has never played in an NFL game. A serious ATV accident that summer landed him on the NFI list for the whole season, and he was arrested a couple of times for DUI and disorderly conduct. The Seahawks waived him in July of 2018 with a non-football injury designation, and there were questions about whether he would ever be medically cleared to play football again.
He was arrested a couple of more times in 2019, and eventually sentenced to 11 months in prison. He worked out for the Dolphins in October of last year, and his representatives say he has been fully medically cleared. At the time of his imprisonment, McDowell said “I’m doing everything I need to do, seeing all the doctors I need to, working out…doing everything I can to get back to where I was, back to the NFL.”
Browns GM Andrew Berry issued a statement on the signing, which you can read courtesy of this tweet from Tony Grossi of ESPN. “We are certainly aware of Malik’s past, as we have done extensive work on him for the last two months. He is accountable for his actions and has had to live with the consequences for decisions earlier in his life,” Berry said.
“We believe Malik is in a good place, personally & medically. He has taken the necessary steps to get on a healthy path, & has learned from his experiences. Malik understands the expectations we have of him as he attempts to make our football team. He is committed to taking advantage of the support network in place to become the best version of himself—both on and off the field—and we will support him as he attempts to make his return to football.”
McDowell obviously has a ton of theoretical potential, as he was considered a first-round talent back in the day. Although it’s been years since he played on a team, he’s still only 24. It’s a low-risk flyer for the Browns that could pay dividends down the line. They could use some defensive tackle depth after cutting Sheldon Richardson earlier this offseason.
Broncos Release Jeff Driskel
After adding Teddy Bridgewater in a trade, the Broncos are making some space in the quarterbacks room. Denver is releasing veteran backup Jeff Driskel, Mike Klis of Denver 9 News tweets. He made $2.5MM last year and was scheduled to make the same in 2021, which the Broncos had no reason to pay.
Denver will move forward with Bridgewater, Drew Lock, and Brett Rypien as their quarterbacks. Driskel was the top quarterback recruit in the country coming out of high school, but had a bumpy college career that ended at Louisiana Tech. The 49ers drafted him in the sixth-round in 2016, but he was waived at final cuts.
The Bengals claimed him off waivers, and he spent the next few seasons in Cincy. He ended up starting five games in 2018 in place of an injured Andy Dalton. He had six touchdowns and only two interceptions, but averaged just 5.7 yards per attempt. He latched on with the Lions in 2019, and started three games for them that year.
He was once again mediocre. He achieved journeyman status by signing with the Broncos last year, and played well in relief as he nearly led them to a come from behind victory against the Steelers. He started the following week, his lone start for Denver, and collapsed against the Buccaneers. He turned 28 last month.
Titans’ Rashad Weaver Charged With Assault
Rashad Weaver‘s pro career isn’t getting off to the best start. The Titans rookie has been charged with simple assault, Emily Proud of WKRN Nashville tweets.
The incident apparently happened on April 18th with the report getting filed on April 30th, the day before Weaver was drafted in the fourth-round. Tennessee took the edge rusher from Pittsburgh 135th overall. According to proud, Weaver is accused of punching a woman in the head. While the report says an officer on the scene “observed no injury consistent with a punch to the head,” the report also says that “before leaving he (Weaver) stated to other officers on scene that he had no problem hitting a female if they needed it.”
The woman says she was later diagnosed with a concussion, and that she was pregnant at the time of the incident. Obviously, it’s a serious situation. Depending on how the investigation plays out, Weaver could very well be looking at a suspension before he ever suits up for an NFL game.
His attorney Dennis M. Blackwell issued a statement, which you can read in full courtesy of this tweet from Tom Pelissero of NFL Network. He calls the allegations “completely false and reckless,” and says that “without question and without hesitation, we deny Rashad punched anyone, especially a woman.”
Weaver missed the entire 2019 season with a torn ACL, then returned last year and had 7.5 sacks and 14 tackles for loss in nine games. The Titans had one of the worst pass-rushes in the league last year and Weaver was the only edge rusher they picked in the 2021 draft, but it’s unclear now if they’re going to be able to count on him this season.
Meanwhile, Tennessee issued a brief statement Monday afternoon, which you can read via this tweet from beat writer Paul Kuharsky. The Titans say they were only made aware of the incident this morning and that they’re “gathering details.”
Patriots Pick Up Isaiah Wynn’s Option
As we continue to inch closer to the deadline, another player just locked in a big payday for 2022. The Patriots are picking up the fifth-year option on Isaiah Wynn‘s contract, a source told Albert Breer of SI.com (Twitter link).
Wynn will now earn a guaranteed $10.413MM in 2022. Wynn is the 22nd player from the 2018 draft class to get his option picked up, Breer tweets. Interestingly, many assumed that fewer options would get picked up since they’re fully guaranteed for the first time under the new CBA, but that hasn’t been the case. Breer writes that 22 is the second-most that have been picked up since the option system went into place.
Wynn was the 23rd overall pick in that draft out of Georgia. He devastatingly tore an Achilles in his first preseason and missed his entire rookie campaign, and has also struggled with injuries the past two seasons. He’s never played in more than 10 games, but those health issues weren’t enough to scare Bill Belichick away.
Wynn has played well when on the field, starting all 18 games that he’s appeared in. He’s mostly played left tackle but has also played a bit of guard.
The injury issues are concerning, but $10.413MM isn’t all that much for a quality starting left tackle if he can stay healthy.
Vikings Decline Mike Hughes’ Option
Fifth-year option decisions continue to trickle in, and we’ve got another decline to pass along. The Vikings have elected not to pick up the option on cornerback Mike Hughes‘ contract, a source told Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (Twitter link).
This one isn’t surprising and had more or less been the expectation, since Hughes would’ve been due a guaranteed $12.643MM in 2022 under it. Given his injury history, there’s no way the Vikings were going to pay that. The 30th overall pick of the 2018 draft tore an ACL a little over a month into his rookie season.
Then he missed a couple of games in 2019 with a neck injury. In 2020 more neck issues limited him to only four games before landing on injured reserve for the rest of the season. Through three pro campaigns he’s appeared in only 24 games, making seven starts.
In those games he’s recorded 80 tackles, three forced fumbles, 13 passes defended, and two interceptions. Hughes’ role was going to be uncertain this year anyway after the team added corners Patrick Peterson and Mackensie Alexander in free agency. The UCF product will now hit free agency after this season. He’ll turn 25 next February.
Bears To Release Charles Leno
The Bears are cutting a staple of their offensive line for nearly the past decade. Chicago will be releasing veteran left tackle Charles Leno, a source told Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (Twitter link).
No matter what Bears fans think of Leno, he far out-performed his draft status. A seventh-round pick back in 2014, he got his first start as a rookie and became the full-time starter at left tackle in 2015. He’s been durable, starting all 16 games in each of the past five seasons for Chicago.
In a follow-up tweet Rapoport describes the cut as a purely financial decision, one which will save the Bears $9MM in cap space when they make it a post-June 1 release. Leno certainly never was a star and caught a lot of flak the past couple yeas in Chicago, but he did make the Pro Bowl in 2018.
The Bears traded up to draft Oklahoma State’s Tevin Jenkins in the second-round this weekend, and Rapoport says they plan to plug him into the left side of the offensive line immediately. The 39th overall pick will be tasked with protecting the blindsides of Justin Fields and/or Andy Dalton as a rookie.
Leno had signed a four-year, $38MM extension with the Bears in 2017. He’ll now hit free agency at 29 and could become an intriguing option for teams like the Colts, who mostly decided to punt on offensive tackle during the draft. Indy currently only has Sam Tevi set to replace Anthony Castonzo, and Colts owner Jim Irsay recently hinted they could explore other veteran options.
Cowboys Decline Leighton Vander Esch’s Option
Another big name player is getting his option turned down. The Cowboys have informed Leighton Vander Esch‘s agent that they won’t be picking up the fifth-year option on the linebacker, Jane Slater of NFL Network tweets.
That means Vander Esch is now set to be a free agent after this season. What it doesn’t mean however is that the Cowboys no longer view the Boise State product in their future plans. Instead, Slater writes that the decision was “due to ongoing salary-cap uncertainty” and that the Cowboys “instead hope to sign Leighton to a contract extension before his current deal expires.”
Picking up the option would’ve fully guaranteed LVE $9.145MM for 2022, a steep price considering he’s missed 13 games due to injury the past two seasons. Dallas drafting Micah Parsons in the first-round this past week provided the writing on the wall for this decision, even if the team insists they still want to keep Vander Esch around.
Vander Esch was the 19th overall pick of the 2018 draft. He made the Pro Bowl and was a second-team All-Pro as a rookie, but his last two seasons have been disappointing.
As a rookie, he had 140 tackles, seven passes defended, and two interceptions. In 2020 he had only 60 tackles, a sack, a forced fumble, and no passes defended in 10 games. He only turned 25 in February, and will have the chance to secure an even bigger payday if he can have a strong 2021 campaign.
NFC Notes: Bears, Fields, Winston, Sherman
The Bears made the biggest splash of the draft by trading up for Justin Fields. When they did so, it couldn’t have been welcome news to Andy Dalton. Dalton signed with Chicago this offseason hoping to be their starter in 2021, and obviously the Fields pick put that plan in jeopardy. But Bears head coach Matt Nagy talked to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network shortly after the pick and told Rapoport he “wants the Kansas City model” that the Chiefs did with Alex Smith and Patrick Mahomes (Twitter video link).Smith, of course, played the entire 2017 season before Mahomes took over in 2018.
Nagy was the offensive coordinator in Kansas City for that ’17 season before getting hired by the Bears. Rapoport says “their goal is to have Andy Dalton play the entire year, have Fields develop under the radar, and then pass the torch the following year.” Despite Nagy’s contentions, that’s almost certainly unrealistic. Nagy is coaching for his job this season, and both he and GM Ryan Pace are on the hottest of seats. They need to win in 2021, and they know it. It’s far from guaranteed Dalton even makes it to Week 1 as the starter, and assuming he does he’ll be on a very short leash. For what it’s worth, Rapsheet notes the Bears did call and talk to Dalton about moving up for a quarterback prior to making the trade. As he points out, that’s more than Aaron Rodgers got from the Packers with Jordan Love.
Here’s more from around the NFC on a quiet Sunday night:
- The Saints just drafted Notre Dame passer Ian Book in the fourth-round, but he’s not likely to be involved in the competition between Jameis Winston and Taysom Hill to become Drew Brees‘ successor. We heard when Winston re-upped with the Saints on a one-year deal with $5.5MM guaranteed worth “up to” $12MM that he had significant incentives, and now we have the details on those incentives. They come courtesy of Nick Underhill from NewOrleans.Football (Twitter link). There are too many to list here, but Winston will get $62.5K for every game where he plays more than 50 percent of the snaps up to $1MM. He’ll get $500K if he throws 20 touchdown passes ($1MM if he hits 25). He’s got an incentive for pretty much everything, including another $500K if the Saints make the playoffs and he plays 70 percent of the snaps.
- We heard earlier this weekend that Richard Sherman was talking with a handful of teams, including the Seahawks about a potential reunion. The 49ers, Saints, and Raiders are apparently also in the mix, but it sounds more and more like a return to Seattle is a distinct possibility. Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll told the media on Saturday that he had talked to Sherman “quite a few times” this offseason about coming back to where he started his career, via Michael David Smith of ProFootballTalk.com. Sherman, now 33, only played in five games last season but was a second-team All-Pro in 2019. He was with Seattle from 2011-17, making four Pro Bowls and four All-Pro teams as part of their legendary ‘Legion of Boom’ defenses. Sherman has said previously he’d sign after the draft, so something could materialize here soon.
Jets Sign 9 UDFAs
The Jets just made 10 draft picks, and now they’ve added nine undrafted rookies. The following players make up New York’s first UDFA class of the Robert Saleh era, via Ralph Vacchiano of SNY (Twitter link).
- Isaiah Dunn, CB (Oregon State)
- Michael Dwumfour, DT (Rutgers)
- Brendon White, S (Rutgers)
- Kenny Yeboah, TE (Ole Miss)
- Hamilcar Rashed, DE (Oregon State)
- Teton Saltes, OL (New Mexico)
- Milo Eifler, LB (Illinois)
- Tristen Hoge, OL (BYU)
- Grant Hermanns, OT (Purdue)
- Parker Ferguson, OT (Air Force)
- Chris Naggar, K (SMU)
- Jordyn Peters, S (Auburn)
The Jets clearly had competition for Yeboah. New York gave him a whopping $200K in guaranteed money with a $20K signing bonus and $180K base salary guarantee, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network tweets. Chris Herndon led the Jets’ tight ends with 287 yards in 16 games last year, so it’s not surprising to see them taking flyers like this. Yeboah had 524 yards and six touchdowns in only seven games for Ole Miss in 2020.
The team also gave Dunn $185K guaranteed, Aaron Wilson tweets. Wilson reports it’s the biggest guarantee ever for an undrafted cornerback. They also gave Saltes $93K guaranteed, Wilson tweets.
With only Chase McLaughlin and Sam Ficken on the roster the Jets don’t have a firmly entrenched kicker, so Naggar could have a real shot at winning the job. He’s got a video on Twitter of him hitting a 71-yarder.
AFC Draft Notes: Browns, Jaguars, Broncos
Notre Dame linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah had one of the most surprising tumbles of the draft. Widely expected to be a first-rounder, he ended up falling to the Browns with the 52nd overall pick after Cleveland traded up to get him. Apparently, the Browns almost pulled the trigger a round earlier. Cleveland mulled taking him with their first-rounder, the 26th overall pick. “He was definitely under consideration,” exec Paul DePodesta said, via Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon-Journal.
“We certainly didn’t expect him to be there when he was, but we’re fortunate that he was,” GM Andrew Berry added. “There was a lot of pacing going on upstairs once we got to about pick 42, 43, 44, just trying to figure out if there was a way we could make it happen,” DePodesta explained of the trade up. The Browns needed linebacker help, so it was the perfect situation. Not only was Owusu-Koramoah the ACC Defensive Player of the Year last season, he was also a unanimous All-American.
Here’s more fallout from this weekend’s draft in the AFC:
- The Jaguars reunited Trevor Lawrence with his college running back by drafting Travis Etienne 25th overall, but it sounds like they would’ve preferred someone else. On Friday head coach Urban Meyer said there was a player who “broke our heart” that they couldn’t draft, and on Saturday he revealed who that was. The team was hoping to pick Florida receiver Kadarius Toney, Meyer said, via John Shipley of Jaguar Report (Twitter link). It’s rare for a coach or GM to openly say something like that, so they must’ve really wanted him. Meyer called the Florida star a “human highlight reel,” and highlighted his relationship with current Gators coach Dan Mullen as to how he’d gotten close to Toney. Unfortunately for Meyer, the Giants nabbed Toney at 20th overall.
- The Broncos drafted a small school prospect a lot of fans were high on when they took Quinn Meinerz from Wisconsin-Whitewater in the third-round. Meinerz played guard in college, but it looks like Denver is going to switch him to the pivot for pro development. Meinerz will start out playing center, head coach Vic Fangio said, via Mike Klis of Denver 9 News (Twitter link). As Klis points out, he’ll be behind 2020 third-rounder Lloyd Cushenberry on the depth chart.