Bengals Have Sent Jerseys To Joe Burrow
Just in case it couldn’t get any more official, the Bengals are going to be taking LSU quarterback Joe Burrow first overall. Moments after we heard for the final time that they wouldn’t be trading the pick, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweeted that Cincinnati owner Mike Brown has sent jerseys to the Burrow family.
They’re #9 Bengals jerseys, and Schefter adds that will officially be the number he wears in the NFL. Burrow donned the same number in college. The reigning Heisman Trophy winner will be tasked with turning around the 2-14 Bengals, and commissioner Roger Goodell will be announcing his name just over an hour from now.
The Dolphins apparently tried hard to get the Bengals to trade the pick, but their attempts at a Godfather offer ultimately proved futile. The draft is of course happening remotely and Burrow unfortunately won’t be able to celebrate in person, but at least the family will be able to rock some Bengals/Burrow gear in their living room.
John Lynch On Draft, Trades, Staley
With the draft approaching, 49ers general manager John Lynch conducted a teleconference with the local media Monday where he revealed several interesting nuggets. When asked about a report from earlier today that he was shopping veterans Kwon Alexander, Dee Ford, Jaquiski Tartt, and Marquise Goodwin, Lynch denied the first three but acknowledged the fourth.
“Marquise is the one guy out of that group that you mentioned where there’s active discussions going on,” Lynch said, via Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports. “The other guys, we love and are really looking forward to playing with moving forward.” It hasn’t been any secret they’ve been looking to trade Goodwin, and we heard last month they’d likely have to end up cutting him. However Lynch claimed there has been legit interest, saying a Goodwin deal “came close a couple of times” this offseason. Goodwin had a career year with San Francisco in 2017 with 962 yards, but injuries sapped his effectiveness and in 2019 he had only 186.
Also late last month we heard longtime left tackle Joe Staley wasn’t necessarily committed to playing in 2020, although Lynch assuaged some of those fears. “We’ve heard nothing that would lead us to believe that Joe is not going to play. So we’re encouraged with that. We’ll see where that goes,” he said. While that still is far from ironclad, it looks like Staley returning for a 14th season is a good bet.
The 49ers hold the 13th and 31st picks in the draft, and there has been speculation they’ll look to trade down since they currently don’t have any selections in the second, third, or fourth-rounds. Lynch confirmed he has talked to teams about potentially trading both picks, per a Maiocco tweet.
However, he said he’d stand pat at 13 if the team could land a “difference maker.” Lynch said that he and head coach Kyle Shanahan have so far identified six players they’d draft with the 13th pick before opting to trade down, Matt Barrows of The Athletic tweets.
Justin Simmons, Broncos Exchange Offers
The Broncos placed the franchise tag on safety Justin Simmons last month, and it sounds like things could be progressing toward a long-term deal.
Speaking to local Denver media ahead of the draft, GM John Elway said the two sides were in “active negotiations,” per Mike Klis of Denver 9 News. “We’re in negotiations right now,’’ Elway said. “We’ve given them [an] offer and they gave us an offer back,” he revealed. Simmons is currently set to make $12.7MM under the tag in 2020, and the sides have until July 15th to hammer out an extension.
The Bears’ Eddie Jackson is currently the league’s highest-paid safety at $14.6MM annually, and it’s likely that Simmons is looking to eclipse that. Klis thinks he’ll end up somewhere close to $14MM. The Broncos already have fellow safety Kareem Jackson on a three-year, $33MM deal, so they’re going to have an expensive safety duo no matter what.
Simmons had a breakout season in 2019, when he started all 16 games for the second year in a row. He picked off four passes and batted down another 15, earning Pro Football Focus’ highest grade for any safety. The Boston College product turned 26 in November.
Minor NFL Transactions: 4/20/20
Today’s minor moves will be posted here:
Jacksonville Jaguars
- Released: RB Taj McGowan
Seattle Seahawks
- Signed: OL Kahlil McKenzie
McKenzie is best known for being the son of former Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie. Drafted by the Chiefs in the sixth-round back in 2018, he spent 2019 on Seattle’s practice squad. He was with the Los Angeles Wildcats of the XFL most recently. McGowan was an undrafted rookie from UCF last year who spent his rookie season on the Jags’ injured reserve list after going down in July.
Extra Points: Kinlaw, UDFAs, Lions, Vaitai
2020 draft prospect Javon Kinlaw has an incredible story. The South Carolina defensive tackle had a rough upbringing, and was homeless for much of his childhood. As he prepares for the next chapter of his journey, Kinlaw gave an interview to Kimberly Jones of NFL.com. He said he doesn’t think about his past all that much, and called himself “hands down, without a doubt,” the best defensive tackle in the draft. He’s competing with Auburn’s Derrick Brown for that title, and is a lock to be a first-round pick. Although providing for his young daughter will be great, Kinlaw said his large rookie contract won’t be the best part. “Money’s going to be there and that’s cool,” he said. “But I love football. I’m just happy I get the chance to do what very few get a chance to do. I get a chance to play the game you grow up seeing. To have it as a job? You can’t ask for more than that.”
Kinlaw didn’t play in the Senior Bowl because of knee tendinitis and then didn’t work out at the combine, but it doesn’t sound like there are serious injury concerns. One team evaluator told Jones that Kinlaw’s recent medical reports came back clean. The former Gamecock said he’s spoken with “about 14 teams” in advance of the draft. Kinlaw could very well go inside the top ten, and he shouldn’t have to wait too long to hear his name called.
Here’s more from around the league as draft week approaches:
- For all the talk about how the COVID-19 pandemic will impact the draft and potential technical malfunctions that could ensure while conducting it virtually, it could be even more disruptive for the undrafted free agent process. Undrafted free agency normally moves very fast as the draft wraps up, and Ben Volin of the Boston Globe spoke to some agents who think it’ll get complicated. One agent said it will be a “complete mess” and that “if they operate the same way this year there’s going to be more deals being reneged because they filled too many spots.” There are apparently concerns of communication issues in the frenzy that usually takes place, and as an example Volin writes that a “safeties coach could call a player and tell him to expect an offer, not realizing that [his team doesn’t] have the roster space.” Some around the league are calling for a gap to make things smoother. “Make it a separate day. Doing it on the third day of the draft this year is going to be miserable,” one agent argued. “I don’t see why everybody wouldn’t be on board with that.” Volin notes that he reached out to a league spokesman to see if they’d consider pushing it back, but got no response.
- When the Lions gave Halapoulivaati Vaitai a big five-year, $50MM deal, most assumed he would take over for Ricky Wagner at right tackle, but that’s apparently not necessarily the case. Detroit GM Bob Quinn recently indicated the team might opt to play him at right guard, per Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press (Twitter link). “We feel like we can plug him in either spot. … We’ll kind of see where the roster shapes up,” Quinn said. Birkett notes in a follow-up tweet that they certainly paid him like a right tackle, but may opt to kick him inside if there’s a tackle they really want early in this draft. They have Taylor Decker at left tackle. Vaitai was highly regarded in Philadelphia, but was buried behind the Eagles’ surplus of tackles, so he only started four games over the past two years.
AFC Notes: Patriots, QBs, Texans, Qvale, Raiders, WRs
We heard recently that the Patriots would either be selecting a quarterback in the first-round or middle rounds, and Ben Volin of the Boston Globe picked up on an interesting note from Bill Belichick that could point toward the latter. Belichick mostly deflected when asked about the quarterbacks in this draft this past week in his trademark style, but at the end of his remarks he commented that it’s a class “that has decent depth to it.” While Volin readily admits he could be reading too much into it, he thinks it could be a Belichick-equivalent of acknowledging he might strike later in the draft.
Given some of the quarterbacks the Patriots have been linked to, it would certainly make sense. We’ve heard they could be interested in FIU’s James Morgan, a late rise who has moved into the middle rounds recently. Then again there was also a recent report that New England loved Justin Herbert, so who knows. Volin highlights Georgia’s Jake Fromm, Oregon State’s Jake Luton, Iowa’s Nate Stanley, Princeton’s Kevin Davidson, and Morgan as the best middle-round fits for the Pats.
Here’s more from the AFC:
- The Texans signed Brent Qvale to be their new swing tackle about a month back, and now we have the details on his contract, courtesy of Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter link). Qvale’s one-year deal came with a base value of $1.047MM, a $137K signing bonus, and $300K in overall guaranteed money. Houston will enter 2020 with Laremy Tunsil and Tytus Howard as their two starting tackles. Qvale had been the Jets’ swing tackle for a while, starting 14 games over the past four seasons.
- The Raiders have been linked to the draft’s top receivers with the 12th overall pick, and even if they do draft a wideout they might not stop there. Despite the fact that they have no second-rounder, Scott Bair of NBCSports thinks they might draft two receivers in the first three-rounds. It’s certainly a position of need for Las Vegas, as Jon Gruden seeks to upgrade his offense. Gruden currently has Tyrell Williams and Hunter Renfrow, but neither of those guys are ideal top options. The Raiders also hold the 19th pick, and we’ve heard they could even take a quarterback in the first-round if the opportunity presents itself. With the 12th pick, they should be able to scoop up at least one of Jerry Jeudy, CeeDee Lamb, or Henry Ruggs III.
Draft Notes: Giants, Wirfs, Morgan, Jets, Bailey, Edwards
There’s been a ton of discussion about the top three picks in the upcoming draft, but the Giants have been flying slightly more under the radar at number four. While we’ve heard that New York loves versatile Clemson linebacker Isaiah Simmons, the “consensus of sources” that Ralph Vacchiano of SNY spoke to was that the Giants will take an offensive tackle with the fourth pick. Vacchiano adds that they will “quite possibly” take another offensive lineman in the second round. If they did that, it would “likely be a center,” he adds. As for which tackle the Giants will take in what is widely regarded as a strong tackle draft, sources told Vacchiano that Giants GM Dave Gettleman “loves” Iowa’s Tristan Wirfs.
Here’s more from around the league as the draft rapidly approaches:
- We know all about the top quarterbacks available, but James Morgan is an unheralded name who has been picking up steam lately. We heard last week that the Patriots were sniffing around and that a handful of other teams were interested in the FIU passer as well. Morgan is “pushing to be a mid-rounder” and has been interviewing well, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network tweets. Rapoport also notes that Morgan was interviewing with the Jets on Wednesday. Morgan completed only 58 percent of his passes last year with 14 touchdowns and five interceptions, but his numbers were much better the season before. He appears to be one of this draft’s late risers.
- Former Purdue linebacker Markus Bailey got some good medical news, as Rapoport tweets that he recently had his combine re-check and was cleared by the Cardinals’ team doctor. Bailey tore his ACL for the second time back in September. Matt Miller of Bleacher Report had him as a fifth-rounder in his most recent mock draft, but maybe this news will boost his stock a little bit.
- Speaking of good medical news, Rapoport tweets that former South Carolina receiver Bryan Edwards also got some. Edwards fractured the fifth metatarsal in his foot just before the combine, but is now out of his boot and “moving around well,” according to Rapsheet. Rapoport adds that teams have been sent updated scans of his foot, and all appears to be well. Miller had Edwards going early in the fourth-round to the Jets in that same mock draft.
Tony Jefferson On Free Agency, Recovery
Tony Jefferson is still a free agent, and the safety is one of the biggest names left on the market. During a recent interview with Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic, Jefferson spoke about his situation, and how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted his ability to find a new home.
Jefferson tore an ACL back in October, and the Ravens released him in February. COVID-19 has made it harder for teams to get a clear picture of his health, and for Jefferson to continue his rehab.“I was really getting into a groove with my workouts and my rehab,” Jefferson said. “I was really turning the corner and then, this comes.” Once he was no longer able to see his physical therapist, he struggled to get all of the stuff he needed for his workouts. “Most of it is sold out because I guess everybody is trying to use the (in-home) equipment now,” Jefferson explained. “I’m waiting two or three weeks just to get a medicine ball.”
Still he isn’t getting too down about it, and he indicated that he has been in touch with multiple interested teams. “I know that my knee is feeling fine, and I know that I have teams that are ready. I’ve just kind of let my agent do his thing. We’re just waiting for this virus to settle down, and I think something will happen quickly.” A Bucs beat writer floated Jefferson as a potential fit in Tampa due to his time spent with Bruca Arians in Arizona, but other than that we haven’t heard anything about him since his release.
The Oklahoma product is just one example of players with serious medical concerns who have had their markets impacted. There’s been a lot of talk that Jadeveon Clowney‘s offers have been underwhelming in part because team doctors haven’t been able to examine him and make their own determinations on his length medical history.
Zrebiec also notes that Jefferson is on track to be able to return to the field around the beginning of training camp, assuming training camp happens in late July and isn’t pushed back or canceled. Jefferson entered the league as an undrafted free agent in 2013, and quickly became a starter with the Cardinals. He then signed a four-year, $34MM contract with the Ravens in 2017. He started all 35 games that he appeared in across his three years in Baltimore. While he’ll certainly end up signing somewhere, it doesn’t sound like it’s likely to come before the draft.
Minor NFL Transactions: 4/10/20
A couple of minor moves to pass along as we head into the weekend:
Dallas Cowboys
- Signed: CB Saivion Smith
Los Angeles Chargers
- Signed: OT Storm Norton
Both players came from the XFL, which just announced earlier this morning that it was shutting down. Norton is getting a two-year deal from Los Angeles, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. Smith left Alabama early last season, but went undrafted. He signed with Jacksonville as an UDFA, but was released at final cuts. He played for the Houston Roughnecks in the XFL. Norton is a 2017 UDFA from Toledo who has spent time on the practice squads of the Lions, Cardinals, and Vikings. He played with the Los Angeles Wildcats in the XFL.
Extra Points: McCoy, Kamalu, Sanders
Lesean McCoy had the least productive year of his career this past season, but he won’t be hanging up his cleats. Even though it’s been reported the Chiefs won’t be bringing him back, McCoy still plans to play in 2020, he confirmed in a recent interview with Sirius XM NFL Radio (Twitter link). McCoy said that he’s been in talks with a few teams, and that he wants to go to a “winning franchise.” When asked by the hosts how long he wanted to keep going McCoy said “I really just want to play two more years,” but then added that he wouldn’t put a ceiling on it.
Interestingly, McCoy said it was ageless-wonder Frank Gore who gave him that last piece of advice. McCoy, who had only 465 yards rushing in 13 games with Kansas City, will turn 32 in July. His role decreased down the stretch, and he was a healthy scratch for the Chiefs’ Super Bowl victory. A six-time Pro Bowler, McCoy was recently named to the NFL’s 2010s All-Decade team and had the most rushing yards of any player in the decade.
Here’s more from around the league:
- Defensive end Ufomba Kamalu was released by the Ravens two days ago, and now we know why. Kamalu was arrested on a domestic violence charge, according to a release from Baltimore county officials. Officers spoke to a woman who “suffered from a visible injury” after an argument from Kamalu, and issued an arrest warrant for him. An undrafted free agent from Miami back in 2016, Baltimore signed him off the Patriots’ practice squad in October. Kamalu is likely facing league discipline should his legal situation get resolved and another team is interested.
- The Saints got their number two receiver behind Michael Thomas when they signed Emmanuel Sanders a few weeks ago, and now we’ve got the full details on the deal. Sanders got a two-year, $16MM pact, but no money in the second year is guaranteed, Mike Garafolo of NFL Network tweets. Both 2020 and 2021 have base values of $8MM, and there are reception incentives of up to $1.5MM in each year. They also added a third year that automatically voids to spread the cap hit, so his cap number for 2020 is only $4MM. The Saints are clearly gearing up for one last Super Bowl run with Drew Brees, and they’ll be able to get out of Sanders’ contract after this season if they want to. Sanders has remained productive in recent years, but he turned 33 last month.