Multiple Teams Calling On Zach Ertz, Deal Coming Soon?
It looks like the offseason of change for the Eagles is continuing full steam ahead. “Multiple teams” have contacted Philadelphia to express interest in trading for tight end Zach Ertz, and a deal “could happen in the coming days,” sources told Mike Silver of NFL Network (Twitter link).
This isn’t exactly a shock, as we heard last month that the veteran was expecting to either be traded or released and not return to Philly in 2021. Ertz had previously said in January that he wanted to be back with the Eagles. Ertz had a very bumpy 2020 campaign that saw him get into a heated argument with GM Howie Roseman over his frustration with extension talks. Philadelphia reportedly considered trading him at the deadline, but an ankle injury he suffered around that time nixed that.
The team clearly didn’t want to pay him the top of the tight end market money he’s looking for, and in their minds they’ve got his replacement waiting in the wings in the younger Dallas Goedert. Ertz has one more season left on his current deal with an $8.25MM salary and $12.4MM cap hit. Trading or cutting him would save the Eagles almost $5MM in cap space, but also leave almost $8MM in dead money.
Ertz is 30 now and is coming off easily his worst season as a pro, but he made the Pro Bowl in 2019 and was a first-team All-Pro in 2018. As such, it’s not hard to see why there’s legit trade interest in him. His struggles this past season were likely due more to the Eagles’ passing game woes as a whole than anything he was doing wrong.
In 11 games, he finished with only 36 catches for 335 yards and one touchdown. In 2019 he had 88 catches for 916 yards and six touchdowns. It sounds like we should know a lot more about where he’ll be playing next season very soon.
Kyle Rudolph Interested In Joining Patriots
Kyle Rudolph was only released by the Vikings this week, but he isn’t wasting any time in thinking about where he wants to play next. Immediately after his release we heard he’d be excited about joining Cleveland, and now we’ve got another team on his list.
Rudolph is also interested in playing for the Patriots, a source told Doug Kyed of NESN.com. It hasn’t been reported on yet, but there are some reasons to believe the interest might be mutual. New England sniffed around a Rudolph trade a couple of years ago when the tight end was having contract issues in Minnesota, although obviously nothing materialized.
Tight end is also a big need for Bill Belichick on paper, as the team got virtually nothing from the position in 2020. Ryan Izzo led the team’s tight ends with 13 catches for 199 yards and no touchdowns. No matter what you think of Rudolph, he’d be a massive upgrade.
As a veteran who got cut, Rudolph doesn’t have to wait for the start of free agency and can sign wherever he wants immediately. He’s 31 now and coming off a down year, but has two Pro Bowls under his belt and has proven he can be a reliable option.
Ryan Fitzpatrick Leaning Toward Retirement?
As recently as the beginning of February, Ryan Fitzpatrick sounded like he had every intention of playing in 2021, but that might no longer be the case.
“For me, personally, I have to take every offseason and reassess. These last two years have really re-lit that fire under me. I still want to play, and I enjoy being out there playing,” Fitz said at the time. Now however, it “looks like he’s going to retire,” veteran NFL reporter John Clayton writes for 104.3 The Fan Denver. Clayton writes that the Broncos had “some contact” with Fitzpatrick, but “it looks like he’s going to be out of the mix.”
Perhaps Fitzpatrick has decided that if he can’t find a starting gig, he’ll hang up his cleats. In Denver he’d be veteran competition for Drew Lock, and it’s possible Fitz has no interest in another situation like last year, when he was used to push Tua Tagovailoa with the Dolphins. This news is also more confirmation that the Broncos are in fact serious about Lock not being handed the starting job.
If it really is the end of the line for FitzMagic, it’d wrap up an incredible NFL journey. The 250th pick of the 2005 draft has defied all odds, sticking in the league for 16 seasons while playing for eight different teams.
The 38-year-old has started 146 games in the league, an achievement nobody ever could’ve seen coming for the Harvard product. We should know more about his future soon with the start of free agency right around the corner.
Lions Having Trade Talks About QB Chase Daniel
The Lions already made the big blockbuster trade of this offseason by swapping Matthew Stafford for Jared Goff and picks, and they apparently might not be done dealing quarterbacks.
Detroit has had trade discussions with teams about backup Chase Daniel, sources told Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link). We’ve heard trade rumors about tons of quarterbacks in what should be an unusually busy cycle for signal-caller movement, but this is a new one.
Daniel of course has never actually produced much on the field, but teams are continuously enamored with him as a veteran backup. He only has five career starts under his belt, and just three since the 2014 season. The most recent of those came in a 2019 spot start with Chicago. The Missouri product spent time with the Saints, Chiefs, and Eagles prior to joining Chicago.
He then signed a surprisingly lucrative three-year, $13.05MM deal with the Lions last offseason. If the Lions do trade him it won’t be for anything more than a late-round pick, but it’s interesting that teams are talking. It could be squads with a recently drafted quarterback making calls, as Schefter notes that Daniel “has been considered an ideal mentor for young QBs” around the league.
Latest On Browns’ Receivers
The Browns are coming off their most successful season in decades, but they’ve got very important questions to figure out this offseason. One of the most pressing questions is what’s going to happen in their receivers room.
Jarvis Landry and Odell Beckham Jr. both have big cap hits for 2021, and there was a report back in November after Beckham tore his ACL that some believed he had played his final down as a Brown. GM Andrew Berry tried to squash that when he recently said Beckham was still very much in the team’s plans moving forward, and head coach Kevin Stefanski echoed that sentiment this week. “I think we can, yeah,” Stefanski said to Keyshawn Johnson on ESPN Radio when asked whether the team can fit Landry and Beckham’s salaries for 2021, via Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com.
Interestingly, Kay Cabot writes that Cleveland “would likely listen to offers for Beckham this offseason,” but that “there’s not expected to be much of a market” for him given his contract and the knee injury he’s coming off of. She notes the team could get out of Landry’s deal with only $3MM in dead cap, but doesn’t think they have any plans to cut him.
Stefanski spoke very highly of Beckham’s efforts to get his knee right, saying “he attacks rehab like I’ve never seen people do it.” Thankfully everything seems to be going well with his recovery and he should be all systems go for 2021.
The Browns also have a third key receiver flying more under the radar, Rashard Higgins. Kay Cabot writes that the impending free agent will receive a contract offer whenever the cap is set, but that if he receives an offer in the $6MM annually range that Spotrac.com estimates him at, it’ll likely be “more than the Browns are willing to pay.”
“If he can get that on the open market, he’ll likely be gone,” she writes. Higgins caught 37 passes for 599 yards and four touchdowns last year. As of right now, it looks like Landry and Beckham are strong favorites to be back catching passes from Baker Mayfield next year, although that seemingly could change if a team steps up with trade interest in Beckham. Higgins’ status is more up in the air, and it appears to be trending toward him heading elsewhere.
Mike Mayock: Raiders ‘Couldn’t Be Happier’ With Derek Carr
There’s been a lot of buzz this offseason, just like the last couple of offseasons, that the Raiders could move on from Derek Carr. That includes a report from about a month ago that a number of teams had called about Carr, and that Las Vegas was at least willing to listen on those calls. 
Nothing much has happened since then though, and Raiders GM Mike Mayock recently sought to squash the speculation. “I think Derek Carr has earned a lot of respect around this league from an awful lot of people,” Mayock told reporters this week, via Jeremy Bergman of NFL.com.
“I think Derek Carr had his best year yet, under Jon Gruden. I think he’s one of the top quarterbacks in the NFL and we couldn’t be happier with him,” he continued. “If you’re asking me about Derek, I think Jon and I would both stand shoulder to shoulder and pound the table for Derek Carr.”
If you’ve followed the NFL for long enough you’ve probably gotten pretty good at parsing out what’s GM-speak and what’s real, and Mayock’s comments sounded pretty emphatic and borderline definitive. He definitely didn’t do the kiss of death hedge or the “he’s our quarterback right now” that have become so popular in recent years.
At this point it seems like if a Raiders quarterback is going to get traded it’ll be Marcus Mariota, not Carr. Mariota showed well during his brief appearance in place of an injured Carr late in the season, but although there was some interest at first those talks have reportedly cooled recently as well.
Chiefs’ Anthony Sherman Retires From NFL
A big part of these recent Andy Reid era Chiefs teams has been fullback Anthony Sherman, but it doesn’t look like he’ll be back in Kansas City in 2021. Sherman appeared to announce his retirement in a video he posted to Twitter.
In the brief video, Sherman thanked Kansas City and said it was “on to the next chapter,” using the hashtag ‘retirement.’ A fifth-round pick of the Cardinals back in 2011, Sherman spent his first two years in Arizona before getting traded to the Chiefs prior to the 2013 season. He spent the next eight years as Kansas City’s fullback, and only missed three total games in that span.
He never played a huge role on offense, usually only getting a handful of receptions and rushing attempts per season. But he was solid as a lead blocker and played a big role on special teams, even making the Pro Bowl in 2018.
He’ll wrap up his impressive ten-year career with 66 catches for 552 yards and four touchdowns, and 28 carries for 73 yards and another score. He of course won Super Bowl LIV with the team, and all of us here at PFR wish Sherman the best in retirement.
Broncos GM On Von Miller, Drew Lock, Phillip Lindsay
George Paton is the Broncos’ new GM, and he’s got his work cut out for him during his first offseason at the helm. Several big decisions loom, including what to do with Von Miller and at quarterback. Speaking to the media Thursday, Paton got into all that and more.
We’ve heard that the Broncos are preparing to franchise tag safety Justin Simmons for the second year in a row, but it sounds like they really want to get an extension done. “Justin is one of our core guys. Our goal is to sign him to a long-term deal,” Paton said, via a tweet from Troy Renck of ABC Denver 7. Simmons seems to be on the same page, reiterating in a recent interview with Sirius XM NFL radio (Twitter link) that he wants to be with the Broncos for the future. “It seems like Denver wants me back, and I want to be there,” Simmons said in part.
As for Miller, he’s got an option that guarantees him significant money that needs to be picked up by March 16th. We’ve heard the team wants him to take a bit of a pay-cut to return in 2021, and Paton said that he’s still working through the details of the option with his agent. “We want to bring Von back. Obviously the legal process, it’s a serious situation. I don’t know all the details. But respect what’s going on. But we do want Von back.” Paton was referring of course to the legal investigation that stems from allegations made by his ex-fiancee. Even with that looming, it sounds like Paton wants to keep the franchise icon in the fold if the financials can work.
Phillip Lindsay is a restricted free agent since he’s a former UDFA, and Paton said the team wants him back as well. “Phillip’s a good player, very passionate. Obviously had some injuries last year. He’s a good player, brings energy, brings juice. He’s a restricted free agent, we do plan on tendering him. I’m not sure what level but we want Phillip here,” he said, via Mike Klis of Denver 9 News (Twitter link).
Meanwhile, Klis writes that fellow restricted free agent receiver Tim Patrick is expected to get a second-round tender from the Broncos. That would pay him around $3.4MM in 2021. Patrick is coming off a career year where he had 746 yards and six touchdowns. If the team decides $3.4MM is too steep for Lindsay as a split-time running back, they’d tender him at the original-round level, which would mean a team signing him to an offer sheet wouldn’t have to give up any draft pick.
Finally, Paton also talked about the elephant in the room, Drew Lock and his job security. “Obviously did a deep dive with Drew. Very talented, was inconsistent at times. Has a lot to work on. I’ve spoken with Drew, he’s here every day. He’s here early. He really wants to be great,” Paton said, before adding “we’re always going to try and bring in competition at every position and quarterback as well. But I like the track that Drew is on,” Klis tweets.
Those certainly don’t sound like the words of someone who’s committed to Lock as his 2021 starter. Things are up in the air, but we should continue to expect Denver to sniff around potential upgrades while having Lock as the fall-back option if nothing falls into their laps.
Eagles Won’t Tender P Cameron Johnston
We’re going to see a lot of tough decisions being made over the next week, and the Eagles in particular have their hands tied due to a terrible cap situation. Because of their cap issues, Philly isn’t tendering restricted free agent punter Cameron Johnston, a source told Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (Twitter link). It’s a busy day for punters, as this news comes on the heels of the Saints releasing Thomas Morstead.
Johnston will now become an unrestricted free agent that’s free to sign anywhere without the Eagles having the chance to match an offer sheet. Rapoport says that Johnston “should have an active market.” A native of Australia, Johnston came to the United States to go to school at Ohio State after failing to make it as an Aussie Football player.
After getting cut in 2017 he made the roster in 2018, and has been the Eagles’ punter in each of the past three seasons. This move doesn’t mean that Philadelphia won’t still end up bringing him back for 2021, Eliot Shorr-Parks of 94WIP.com tweets.
The Eagles can get their cap space under control and then re-sign Johnston, although now they’ll have to bid against an open market. Johnston has been very solid but not spectacular, so it’s not like he’s going to land an eye-popping deal in a tight free agent market.
Seahawks Release Josh Gordon
Josh Gordon officially won’t be returning to the NFL with the Seahawks. Seattle has released the embattled wide receiver, as Tom Pelissero of NFL Network tweets.
It’s an expected move, especially after we heard last week that Gordon was planning on playing in the startup Fan Controlled Football League that’s affiliated with his close friend Johnny Manziel. Gordon is still only 29 and could theoretically always return to the NFL one day, but clearly Seattle doesn’t have any intention of waiting around any longer. Back in January, the league rescinded Gordon’s reinstatement and he’s now suspended indefinitely again.
Gordon appeared on the verge of taking the field for a while, and was activated to the roster by the Seahawks in December, but ultimately his personal issues got in the way once again. Of course, he never ended up playing in a game for Seattle in 2020. He played in six games with the Patriots and five with the Seahawks in 2019.
The team appeared committed to developing him into a new weapon for Russell Wilson at a low price, but it never worked out and included plenty of hiccups along the way. Never say never with Gordon, but it appears likely at this point that he’s played his final NFL down. It feels like a lifetime ago that he had his 1,646 yard and nine touchdown season with Cleveland back in 2013.