Latest On Browns, Odell Beckham Jr.
To say there’s been some drama with Odell Beckham Jr. since he joined the Browns might be an understatement. There were reports toward the end of the season that he wanted out of Cleveland and was asking rival teams to come get him, although he emphatically denied those. 
The Browns gave up a lot to acquire him from the Giants, so it was unlikely they would’ve been too receptive to a trade demand. Now the old regime of Freddie Kitchens and John Dorsey are out, and Kevin Stefanski and new GM Andrew Berry are in. Although neither of them were involved in acquiring Beckham, it sounds like they very much want him around. The new duo in charge “don’t want to trade him” and “don’t plan to trade him,” according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (Twitter video link).
That being said, Rapoport made it seem during his NFL Network hit that the plan isn’t necessarily set in stone, and could change depending on Beckham’s decisions this offseason. In his tweet, Rapoport says the team wants to keep him in the fold, but “how present he is this offseason and for OTAs may go a long way in determining that.” Interestingly, Rapoport says Stefanski recently met with the star receiver to “lay out some expectations” moving forward.
The Browns apparently want to see “some level of engagement” from Beckham as Stefanski installs his offense, which includes an “increased presence at OTAs” and an “increased presence at offseason conditioning.” Last year, Beckham skipped almost all of OTAs and didn’t report until the team’s mandatory minicamp. It’ll be interesting to see if that changes this time around, and it could be an indicator of whether guys on the team are buying into what Stefanski is selling. It still seems like it’s not quite guaranteed Beckham is a Brown in 2020.
Latest On Tom Brady, Dolphins
Tom Brady sparked a frenzy earlier this week when he posted a cryptic photo of himself to Twitter. Although Adam Schefter of ESPN soon clarified in a tweet that it wasn’t a statement on his impending free agency, that didn’t stop the rumor mill from churning. 
The potential new team for Brady “that continues to get the most buzz” is the Dolphins, according to Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com. While Brady going to a team that was in a full-blown rebuild this past season wasn’t something anybody has expected, there are at least some connections. Dolphins head coach Brian Flores spent 15 seasons with Brady in New England, and there are other ex-Patriots on staff.
Florio also highlights the presence of Dolphins owner Stephen Ross’ business partner Bruce Beal. Florio writes that there has been talk of “Beal buying the team and selling a sliver of it to Brady.” One league source told Florio “that a sale to Beal is possible not long after” Miami finishes hosting the Super Bowl. All that being said, Ross himself quickly threw some cold water on all the speculation.
Responding to the report he might sell the team, Ross said “I have no interest in selling the team. Zero. Got it? People can write what they want to write. I’m going to own it until I die,” per David Wilson of The Miami Herald (Twitter link). Beal still appears to be Ross’ successor as owner, but it doesn’t sound like he’s selling anytime soon. Ross, 79, also didn’t sound overly enthused about the possibility of adding Brady.
Ross said “we’re building” and that “people are writing about it. People need something to write about,” when asked about the Brady rumors, via Armando Salguero of The Miami Herald (Twitter link). It would’ve been very entertaining to see Brady stay in the AFC East and play the Pats twice a year, but it doesn’t seem too likely as of right now.
Extra Points: Patriots, Texans, Caserio, Panthers, Holcomb, Broncos, Chubb, Steelers, Dupree
The Patriots have a big offseason ahead of them. Obviously there’s still the Tom Brady situation to work out, but there are some important behind the scenes decisions that need to be made as well. The front office is in a bit of limbo, as two prominent execs in Nick Caserio and Monti Ossenfort are both on expiring contracts that run out in May. The Texans originally tried to hire Caserio as their GM last year, which resulted in tampering charges. There’s now a good chance that both Caserio and Ossenfort move on from the Pats before the 2020 season, per Albert Breer of SI.com.
Even though we just heard recently that the Texans weren’t going to hire a GM and would continue with Bill O’Brien running the show, Breer writes that the “Texans would find a way to hire him as GM” if Caserio wanted to work in Houston. If Caserio and Ossenfort both leave, Breer writes that the Patriots would likely promote Dave Ziegler. It was rumored that Josh McDaniels might’ve wanted to take Ziegler with him had he landed the head coaching job in Cleveland.
Here’s more from around the league:
- Al Holcomb is back in Carolina. The Panthers have hired Holcomb to be their run game coordinator, per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (Twitter link). Holcomb was linebackers coach under Ron Rivera in Carolina for five years from 2013-17, so this is a homecoming for him. He spent last year as the Browns’ run game coordinator, and found himself in need of a new job after Freddie Kitchens got bounced from Cleveland. He had previously served as defensive coordinator with the Cardinals under Steve Wilks in 2018. He was a grad assistant at Temple back in the day, which could explain his connection to new Panthers coach Matt Rhule, who was previously the head coach at Temple.
- Broncos pass-rusher Bradley Chubb showed a lot of promise as a rookie, racking up 12 sacks in 2018. Unfortunately his sophomore campaign was cut short, as he tore an ACL in Denver’s fourth game. On the bright side his recovery seems to be going well, and GM John Elway recently said that he should be ready for OTAs in a few months, per Ryan O’Halloran of the Denver Post. Chubb was the fifth overall pick out of N.C. State two years ago.
- The Steelers are likely to place the franchise tag on impending free agent outside linebacker Bud Dupree, according to Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. While Pittsburgh very much wants to retain him for 2020, Dulac writes that the team is unlikely to pursue a longterm extension with Dupree because the “money is being earmarked for a big contract” for fellow outside linebacker T.J. Watt in the near future. Dupree was drafted in the first round back in 2015, and his career got off to a rocky start. He’s since become more reliable though, starting at least 15 games in each of the past three years. He had his best year as a pro this past season, when he started all 16 games and racked up 11.5 sacks. Amusingly, Steelers president Art Rooney II said the Le’Veon Bell debacle isn’t going to impact how they use the tag moving forward. “I don’t think that affects the way we think about franchise tags or anything at this point,” Rooney said. “We had one, I’ll call it unusual experience, and I think it was that — an unusual experience.”
Dolphins Notes: Wilson, Jones, Kilgore
Albert Wilson started his Dolphins career off with a bang in 2018, but a serious hip injury quickly derailed his momentum. He wasn’t the same player this past year, and ended up racking up only 351 yards and one touchdown in 13 games. Wilson has one more year left on his deal at $9.5MM, but it’s entirely non-guaranteed. The blazing fast slot receiver has shown a lot of flashes, but that’s a hefty price tag for any slot receiver. To that end, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald writes that Miami is “likely to discuss a restructuring in the weeks ahead.”
It sounds like Wilson is going to have to accept a pay-cut if he wants to stay in Miami for 2020. Wilson did start to make a case for himself down the stretch, gaining at least 59 yards in each of their last three games. Unfortunately, he hadn’t topped 33 yards in any game before that. Wilson signed with the Chiefs as an undrafted free agent back in 2014, and slowly started to breakout in Kansas City. He’s never produced huge numbers, but the Dolphins placed a huge bet on his potential.
Here’s more from Miami:
- Speaking of players who might have to take pay-cuts, Jackson writes that Reshad Jones “returning under his current contract is inconceivable.” Jones is due $11.5MM in 2020, but only $2MM of that is guaranteed. Jackson writes that as of right now their plan is to start Bobby McCain and Eric Rowe at safety, but that Jones returning on a “restructured deal isn’t entirely out of the question.” Jones made the Pro Bowl in 2017, but his relationship with the franchise quickly deteriorated and for a while it looked like a divorce was inevitable. He had a falling out with Adam Gase but was apparently able to patch things over with new head coach Brian Flores, and Jones said back in September that he wanted to stay with the Dolphins for the long haul.
- Another Dolphins starter on the chopping block is center Daniel Kilgore. Kilgore is due a non-guaranteed $3.1MM, and Miami can cut him right before the start of the season with no cap penalty. Jackson expects the team to look for an upgrade at center this offseason, and he points out that GM Chris Grier was recently non-committal about his status. Jackson indicates that the ‘Phins will be completely revamping their O-line this offseason, which isn’t surprising considering the beatings that Ryan Fitzpatrick and Josh Rosen were taking last year.
- In case you missed it, the Dolphins are prepared to move up in the draft.
Eagles Hire Former Falcons DC Marquand Manuel
The Eagles have a new secondary coach. Philly is hiring Marquand Manuel for that role, according to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
It’s a relatively high profile position coach hiring, as Manuel previously served as Atlanta’s defensive coordinator. After the Falcons’ defense tanked, Dan Quinn fired him following the 2018 season. He spent this past year out of football, and is now resurfacing on Doug Pederson’s staff. Manuel spent eight seasons in the league as a safety before becoming an assistant under Quinn in Seattle and eventually following him to Atlanta.
Philadelphia has seen a good amount of turnover on their coaching staff this offseason, and they’re still searching for a new offensive coordinator. Manuel will be taking over a position group that has been in turmoil the past couple of seasons. The Eagles’ secondary has been plagued by injuries the last two years, and the back-half of their defense has often struggled as a result. Just a few days ago, we heard that they were planning on targeting cornerbacks in free agency, and it sounds like they could overhaul the unit.
Coaching/Front Office Notes: Browns, Broncos, Giants, Titans, Panthers, Dolphins
When previous frontrunner George Paton removed himself from consideration for the Browns’ general manager vacancy, there were reports that he had concerns about Cleveland’s power structure. That might’ve been a bit overblown, as sources told Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com that Paton was “not at all scared off by Browns’ structure” (Twitter link). Further, Fowler writes that Paton was “impressed with people in the building and thinks highly of” new head coach Kevin Stefanski, while it came down to the fact that he “felt he had a good thing still going in Minnesota.” Paton is currently an assistant GM with the Vikings. That’s good news for Browns fans, but the earlier reports are still concerning. Stefanski, chief strategy officer Paul DePodesta, and whoever the new GM is will all be reporting directly to owner Jimmy Haslam, which understandably turns off some prospective candidates.
Here’s more from the coaching ranks:
- We heard Mike Shula’s interview with the Broncos went well, and now he’s about to be hired. Shula is going to become Denver’s next quarterbacks coach, the team is just working out contract details, a source told Mike Klis of Denver 9 News (Twitter link). Specifically, Klis writes that offsets with the Giants still need to be worked out. Shula had been the Giants’ offensive coordinator before Pat Shurmur was fired, and there was apparently offset language in his contract. Prior to joining New York, Shula was the Panthers’ OC for five seasons. Shurmur has since been hired as Denver’s offensive play-caller, so obviously there’s a lot of familiarity here.
- Speaking of former Giants coaches, New York’s former head coach Ben McAdoo left his visit with the Browns without a deal, according to Mike Garafolo of NFL Network (Twitter link). Garafolo notes that it is still unclear exactly what role McAdoo was interviewing for in Cleveland. Garafolo also writes he was “in play” to be Carolina’s new quarterbacks coach.
- Jason Garrett is re-teaming with one of his guys. The new Giants offensive coordinator will be paired back up with Marc Colombo, who is going to be New York’s new offensive line coach, according to Paul Schwartz of the New York Post. Colombo had been Garrett’s O-line coach in Dallas. The Cowboys routinely had one of the league’s best offensive lines, so this seems like a strong hire.
- Legendary assistant Dean Pees elected to retire as the Titans’ defensive coordinator, leaving Mike Vrabel with a big hole on his staff. The “expectation in [the] coaching community” is that Titans outside linebackers coach Shane Bowen will be promoted to DC, per Adam Caplan of Sirius XM NFL (Twitter link). Bowen had previously served as a defensive assistant with the Texans, so he has deep ties to Vrabel.
- Rookie Panthers head coach Matt Rhule continues to fill out his inaugural staff, and he just made a couple of new hires. Rhule is expected to hire Pat Meyer away from the Chargers as his offensive line coach, and Jason Simmons away from the Packers as his defensive backs coach, per Field Yates of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Meyer had been Los Angeles’ OL coach and run-game coordinator, while Simmons coached the Packers’ DBs. Rhule’s staff is now almost fully fleshed out.
- Finally, the Dolphins are hiring a new defensive backs coach in Gerald Alexander, as Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald tweets. Alexander is coming from the college ranks, where he served as the defensive backs coach at Cal for the past few seasons. Alexander was briefly with the Dolphins as a safety during his playing days back in 2011. Miami had the vacancy after they promoted Josh Boyer to defensive coordinator following Patrick Graham’s departure.
Patriots Hire Jedd Fisch
The Patriots are making a high profile addition to their coaching staff. New England is hiring Jedd Fisch to fill an as of now unspecified role on their coaching staff, a source told Jim McBride of the Boston Globe (Twitter link).
The Patriots are hiring him away from the Rams, where Fisch served as a senior offensive assistant under Sean McVay for the past two seasons. Right before joining the Rams, he was the offensive coordinator and then interim head coach at UCLA. Fisch has never been a full-time head coach, but he’s held a number of prominent assistant jobs. He served as the Jaguars’ offensive coordinator for a couple of years a handful of seasons ago, and he’s still only 43. He also served as Jim Harbaugh’s passing game coordinator at Michigan for two years.
Josh McDaniels currently serves as New England’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, so it’s possible Fisch is coming on under a similarly vague title that he held in Los Angeles. The Patriots have once again had some turnover on their staff, with special teams coordinator and receivers coach Joe Judge landing the head job with the Giants.
Latest On Antonio Brown
As you’ve certainly heard by now, free agent receiver Antonio Brown turned himself into authorities last night on charges of battery and burglary. He has since been released on bond, and now we have more details. 
In addition to the bail money he had to put up, Brown will “be monitored by GPS and be required to release his passport and guns, go through drug and alcohol testing, and get a mental health evaluation,” per Cameron Wolfe of ESPN.com. Wolfe was in the courtroom, and he writes that there was a contentious battle between prosecutors and defense attorneys over the bail situation. Prosecutors alleged he was a flight risk due to his recent erratic behavior, and wanted him held without bail.
“I don’t think there’s any mental health issues with him. Antonio Brown’s life right now is a reality show,” Brown’s attorney Eric Schwartzreich said. “He is misinterpreted and misunderstood. He’s not guilty of these charges. He did not commit a felony battery. In this case, when all the facts come out, you will see he will be vindicated and he will be found not guilty.”
“They overcharged him,” Brown’s other attorney Lorne Berkeley said. “Once a thorough investigation is done, we believe the charges filed will most likely be very different than they are right now.” Brown better hope that’s the case, as the current felony burglary with battery charge is punishable by up to life in prison. That’s obviously just a maximum sentence that is extremely unlikely, but it underscores the seriousness of the charge.
NFL Reserve/Futures Contracts: 1/24/20
We’ll keep track of today’s futures deals here:
Las Vegas Raiders:
- LB Te’Von Coney
An undrafted free agent from Notre Dame, Coney finished the season on the Raiders’ practice squad.
Buccaneers Potential Landing Spot For Philip Rivers?
Yesterday we heard word that Philip Rivers was moving his family from the San Diego area to Florida, another indication he’s headed for a split with the Chargers. Rivers has said he isn’t retiring, so he’ll be suiting up somewhere next season even if he isn’t in Los Angeles. 
There has been some speculation that Rivers could end up with the Colts, as he used to play under Indy head coach Frank Reich with the Chargers. There are a number of teams that could be interested in a veteran quarterback this offseason though, including the Buccaneers if they opt not to retain Jameis Winston. To that end, Jason La Canfora tweets that he’s “hearing a lot of buzz” about Tampa as a potential landing spot for Rivers.
La Canfora was one of the first to report back in November that a divorce from the Chargers might be in the cards. If Rivers does end up signing with the Bucs, he’ll be paired with the most accomplished offensive coach of his career in Bruce Arians. When Arians was with the Cardinals he brought in an aging Carson Palmer and rejuvenated his career, so there’s an obvious parallel there.
Rivers had a down 2019 due to a lot of turnovers, but the Chargers’ passing game was still very efficient yardage-wise, and in 2018 he was one of the best passers in the league. He led the Chargers to a 12-4 record that year while tossing 32 touchdowns and only 12 interceptions, averaging a robust 8.5 yards per attempt. Of course, all of this is predicated on the Bucs moving on from Winston, which is still very much up in the air.
It’s been hard to get a read on how they feel about Winston, and the last we heard was that members of the front office were split on bringing him back and that there hadn’t been any contract discussions between the two sides. With all of the high-profile signal-callers set to become free agents, this is shaping up to be the most interesting quarterback carousel in years.