Spanos: Bosa’s Holdout “Absolutely Asinine”
With the Chargers and first-round defensive end Joey Bosa embroiled in the ugliest contract dispute the NFL has seen since introducing the rookie wage scale in 2011, team president John Spanos expressed frustration about the situation Wednesday.
“I’m highly, highly disappointed in the path we’ve had to take,” Spanos told Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune. “It’s so overly clear we had no choice. It would have been more difficult if I felt they were being reasonable. But when you’re dealing with someone who isn’t reasonable, it makes it easy.”
Spanos’ words came in response to the decision Bosa’s camp made to reject the Chargers’ latest proposal, which was the best one the franchise has put forth in the three-plus months since drafting him third overall.
The Chargers offered to pay the ex-Ohio State star 85 percent of his $17MM signing bonus this year (up from the previous figure of 61 percent), according to Acee, but he turned it down and the club then pulled the proposal off the table Wednesday. Bosa’s agent, Brian Ayrault, is no longer requiring the Chargers to pay the full bonus up front, sources told the Union-Tribune’s Michael Gehlken, though it’s unclear how far he has come down from that demand. Not nearly enough, if you’re to believe Spanos.
“What you do is you compromise,” he stated. “We moved and we moved and we moved. They weren’t moving.”
Notably, this type of dispute isn’t foreign to the Chargers, who were in a similar dust-up with first-round quarterback Philip Rivers in 2014, as Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio writes. Then, on this date 12 years ago, Rivers signed. He remains the Bolts’ signal-caller to this day, of course, proving that a contentious holdout doesn’t have to ruin a relationship between the player and team.
Bosa’s fight with the Chargers goes beyond the payout of a signing bonus, as the 21-year-old and the organization have also been battling over offset language. If a player with offset language in his contract is released midway through the pact, the original team is only on the hook for the difference in salary between the two deals. Without offset language, the player can effectively collect two paychecks. Naturally, there are many agents – including Ayrault – who are disinclined to forfeit that potential earning power.
“I’m blown away. At all costs I wanted to avoid going down this road. They made it overly clear we had no other option,” continued Spanos, who referred to Bosa’s holdout as “absolutely asinine.”
Despite the acrimony between the two sides, they’re stuck with each other through the current season. The Chargers had until Aug. 9 to trade Bosa’s rights, but they opted to retain him. If Bosa doesn’t sign by the Tuesday after Week 10, he won’t be eligible to play at all this season. San Diego would then control Bosa’s rights up to next spring’s draft, at which point another team would be able to select him and try its luck in locking him up.
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No Progress Between Saints, Drew Brees
Quarterback Drew Brees and the Saints still aren’t progressing toward a contract extension, the 37-year-old revealed Wednesday.
“Obviously, there’s nothing to report right now. Focused on football, and we’ll see where it leads prior to the season,” said Brees (via Joel Erickson of the New Orleans Advocate).
With the regular season nearing, it seems time is running out for the two sides to reach an agreement. Brees already made it clear in May that he doesn’t want to engage in negotiations during the season. Thus, if there isn’t a deal by Week 1, he could potentially be in his final season with the Saints. Nevertheless, general manager Mickey Loomis isn’t worried.
“Lots of players play into the last year of their contract,” Loomis said before training camp. “It happened the last time with us, not a preference … but nothing unusual.”
As Loomis alluded to, the Saints and Brees have fought over a contract in the past. After the 2011 season, the club placed the franchise tag on Brees before eventually inking him to a five-year, $100MM pact in July 2012. The tag might not be an option next winter, however, as using it on Brees would cost the Saints $43.2MM. As consistently great as Brees has been, that would obviously represent an unpalatable figure for the organization. As things stand, Brees is set to count a quarterback-leading $30MM against New Orleans’ cap this season and haul in $19.75MM – the second-highest base salary for a signal-caller.
During his 10-year run in New Orleans, the ex-Charger has missed just two games, led the Saints to a 94-64 regular-season record, five playoff appearances, and a Super Bowl title to conclude the 2009-10 campaign. Along the way, Brees has thrown 348 touchdowns, amassed three 5,000-yard seasons, made eight Pro Bowls, and established himself as both the Saints’ all-time best player and a shoo-in for enshrinement in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
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NFC Notes: Saints, Lions, Falcons
With the Friday release of Keenan Lewis, the Saints have now severed ties with all but one cornerback who made their roster two years ago, observes Joel Erickson of the New Orleans Advocate. That corner is Brian Dixon, who has begun his career with 32 straight appearances since the Saints signed him as an undrafted free agent from Northwest Missouri State. Of New Orleans’ current group of corners, P.J. Williams stands to benefit the most from Lewis’ exit, writes Erickson, who adds that the 2015 third-round pick has impressed this summer. Williams missed his rookie season with a torn hamstring, but the Florida State product is now set to start opposite Delvin Breaux.
Elsewhere in the NFC…
- While the Lions value backup quarterback Dan Orlovsky’s veteran leadership, that might not be enough for the 11th-year man to fend off Jake Rudock for the backup role or – depending on how many signal-callers the team keeps – a roster spot, writes Kyle Meinke of MLive.com. Rudock, a sixth-round rookie out of Michigan, has outplayed the 33-year-old Orlovsky through the Lions’ first two preseason matchups. In Detroit’s game Thursday against Cincinnati, Orlovsky tossed his second pick-six of the exhibition season. Overall, in addition to the two interceptions, he has thrown a touchdown while completing 24 of 39 passes for 247 yards. Rudock has hit on 16 of 22 attempts for 162 yards, adding both a score and a pick.
- Falcons punter Matt Bosher suffered a chest injury in the team’s game against the Browns on Thursday, so Atlanta will work out free agent Brandon Fields, according to Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com. Fields might only be a temporary solution if he signs, however, as McClure notes that Bosher is likely to be fine. A Dolphin from 2007-14, Fields played two games last season with the Saints and averaged 41.2 yards (35.1 net) on 10 punts.
- In case you missed it, the NFL released a statement Friday explaining why it only suspended Giants kicker Josh Brown for one game after past domestic violence allegations surfaced.
Latest On 49ers’ Offensive Line
49ers offensive lineman Anthony Davis realizes that his best chance to start this year might be at right guard, he told reporters – including Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle – on Thursday.
[RELATED: PFR reviews the 49ers’ offseason]
After serving as the 49ers’ No. 1 right tackle and starting in each of his 71 appearances from 2010-14, Davis took a hiatus from football last season and returned earlier this summer to find second-year man Trent Brown at his position. Given Brown’s size (6-foot-8, 355 pounds), the 6-5, 323-pound Davis recognizes that he’s a better fit at guard than Brown. That’s why Davis went to 49ers coaches and volunteered to line up at guard, where he took some reps in practice Thursday.
“I can play anywhere on the line,” said Davis. “Like I was saying, we want the best five on the field, and Trent is not going to play guard. He’s a giant man and I knew I could adapt to guard. I feel like that would help us.”
Davis’ 49ers-first approach is a change of pace for a player who took shots at general manager Trent Baalke and the organization during the offseason. Regardless, head coach Chip Kelly agrees that Davis has the potential to be a factor at multiple O-line spots.
“Whether it be right tackle, left tackle, center, left guard, right guard, I think when you’ve got someone 6-5, 330 pounds that moves like he moves, I think you could play him any position along the offensive line,” Kelly said earlier this week (via Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee)
It’s worth noting that Brown has neither the pedigree nor anything resembling the experience of Davis – whom the 49ers originally chose 11th overall from Rutgers. Brown went in the seventh round of last year’s draft and picked up a meager 187 offensive snaps as a rookie, yet the ex-Florida Gator could force Davis out of the lineup or to a new position. If anything, Davis expects the latter to be the case.
“I’ll be on the field, sooner or later,” he declared. “I’m pretty good at football.”
If Davis ends up at guard, that would send two of Zane Beadles, first-rounder Joshua Garnett and current right side starter Andrew Tiller to the 49ers’ bench. As of now, Beadles has the lead over Garnett for the starting job on the left.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Saints Release Keenan Lewis
The Saints have released cornerback Keenan Lewis, Nick Underhill of the New Orleans Advocate was among those to report (on Twitter). If healthy, Lewis figured to play a prominent role in the Saints’ defensive backfield this year, but injuries have hampered him since last season and he’ll now look for work elsewhere.
Lewis, 30, spent the first four seasons of his career in Pittsburgh, which took him in the third round of the 2009 draft, before signing a five-year, $26.3MM deal with his native New Orleans in March 2013. The ex-Oregon State standout started in all 16 of the Saints’ regular-season games in both 2013 and 2014, something he had also done in his final year with the Steelers, before injuries held him to a mere six contests in 2015.
Lewis’ season didn’t begin until October as a result of hip surgery in September, and it ended when the Saints placed him on injured reserve in November after he underwent a sports hernia procedure. Notably, Lewis underwent hip surgery again in December. All told, he made only one 2015 start – his lowest single-season total since 2011 – and went without an interception. Lewis appeared in 64 straight regular-season games the previous four years and picked off seven passes, including a personal-best four in 2013.
Earlier this month, the Saints activated Lewis from the physically unable to perform list, but his hip problems have persisted. While he declared last week that he wouldn’t need to go on IR, it seems fair to say his inability to regain health contributed heavily to the end of his Saints tenure.
“I would like to thank New Orleans and all my fans,” Lewis wrote in an Instagram post Friday (via Amos Morale III of NOLA.com). “It’s been and [sic] awesome journey. I’m glad I had the opportunity to play for the city I grew up in and love.”
Even though Lewis has departed the Saints’ roster, he’ll continue to be an important factor in their books. He’s due to count $6.35MM in dead money in 2016 and $3.6MM in 2017, per Underhill. On the field, his ouster leaves the club with a cornerback group featuring No. 1 man Delvin Breaux, P.J. Williams, Brian Dixon, Damian Swann and recent veteran pickup Cortland Finnegan, among others.
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Minor NFL Transactions: 8/19/16
Friday’s minor moves from around the NFL:
- The Broncos have placed defensive end Vance Walker on season-ending injured reserve and signed tight end Manasseh Garner to take his roster spot, per Nicki Jhabvala of the Denver Post. Walker was set to play an important role for the Broncos this year, but the torn ACL he suffered Monday put an end to that. The Broncos previously waived Garner with a non-football illness designation last month on the heels of an emergency appendectomy. He went undrafted out of Pitt last year.
- The Steelers have removed offensive tackle Brian Mihalik from IR with an injury settlement, tweets Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle. Mihalik, undrafted from Boston College in 2015, signed a futures deal with the Steelers in January. He previously spent time on the Eagles’ practice squad.
Dorial Green-Beckham On Titans-Eagles Trade
Newly minted Eagles receiver Dorial Green-Beckham commented Thursday on the unexpected trade that sent him from Tennessee to Philadelphia on Tuesday, telling Zach Berman of the Philadelphia Inquirer he’s “not necessarily sure” why the Titans dealt him. In return for the talented Green-Beckham, its second-round pick a year ago, Tennessee received offensive lineman Dennis Kelly.
The Titans were reportedly disappointed in Green-Beckham’s work ethic and conditioning, but the 23-year-old shot down the idea that he gave anything less than maximum effort with the club. DGB showed up to training camp “in great condition” this summer and did “everything” he needed to do, including put in extra work after practice, he informed Berman. Moreover, Green-Beckham refuted the notion that off-field concerns may have helped cause new Titans general manager Jon Robinson to part with him.
“Totally a whole different person,” he said. “The off-the-field stuff is in the past, has been in the past. That stuff, I’ve never heard anything since then being brought up from anyone. That tells me I’m doing the right things.”
Green-Beckham dealt with multiple legal issues at the University of Missouri, which led then-head coach Gary Pinkel to dismiss him from the team in April 2014. That came on the heels of allegations that Green-Beckham forced his way into a fellow student’s apartment and pushed her down at least four stairs. Police quickly closed the case, citing reluctant witnesses fearing retaliation, after the alleged victim and another woman (Green-Beckham’s then-girlfriend) told a detective they didn’t want to press charges. Prior to that ordeal, Green-Beckham was arrested twice for marijuana-related incidents – the first of which led to a one-game suspension.
When his time at Missouri ended, Green-Beckham transferred to Oklahoma, but he didn’t play a game with the Sooners and left school after the 2014 season to pursue his NFL career. In his first season in the pros, the 6-foot-5, 225-pounder hauled in 32 receptions, four touchdowns and averaged a lofty 17.2 yards per catch in 16 games (five starts). That wasn’t enough for the Titans to keep him around, though, and he’ll now try to make good on his vast potential in Philadelphia.
“I feel like being in this offense, I can catch a lot balls, score a lot of touchdowns,” he said.
Green-Beckham made his first appearance as an Eagle in their preseason game against the Steelers on Thursday, going without a catch while logging some second-half playing time.
Related links:
- Q&A with Terry McCormick of TitanInsider.com
- Titans’ Justin Hunter on roster bubble?
- Despite DGB pickup, Eagles still seeking receivers
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Eagles’ Joe Walker To Miss Season
Eagles linebacker Joe Walker suffered a torn ACL in the team’s exhibition game against Pittsburgh on Thursday and will land on season-ending injured reserve, according to Les Bowen and Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link).
Walker, a seventh-round rookie from Oregon, made a good impression on Eagles coaches prior to the injury and could’ve cracked the club’s roster. The Eagles are now dangerously thin at linebacker without Walker, as his unavailability leaves them with just five healthy players at the position, as Roster Resource shows. For at least the time being, Philadelphia has Nigel Bradham, Jordan Hicks, Mychal Kendricks, Deontae Skinner and Najee Goode as options.
Given the Walker news, the Eagles now look primed to turn to the open market for help, which was already a legitimate possibility. As of earlier this month, the Eagles and 31-year-old free agent Stephen Tulloch were reportedly negotiating a deal, though two weeks have passed and nothing has materialized on that front. Tulloch, who played under new Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz in both Tennessee and Detroit, has 147 NFL appearances and 111 starts to his name. In each of his six most recent full seasons, Tulloch has surpassed the 100-tackle mark.
NFC Notes: Kaep, Giants, Vikes, Saints
49ers head coach Chip Kelly provided an update Thursday on quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who has been sidelined lately with a sore right shoulder.
Here’s more frm the NFC:
- Giants kicker Josh Brown was arrested in May 2015 on a fourth-degree misdemeanor charge as a result of an incident with his now-former wife, but the NFL didn’t discipline him until Wednesday. When asked what took so long to punish Brown, who received a one-game suspension, vice president of communications Brian McCarthy told James Kratch of NJ.com, “It was a comprehensive investigation with multiple interviews, analyzing a tremendous amount of documents. Also, the player appealed.” Given that Brown appealed, it’s no surprise that he doesn’t agree with the punishment (via Kratch). Brown’s reasoning is that the state of Washington, where the dispute occurred, dropped the charge against him five days after his arrest. “While I’m not OK with the decision, I have to respect it,” he conceded.
- Could the Vikings keep four tight ends? It’s a possibility as sixth-round rookie David Morgan continues to prove that he can do more than block, Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press writes. “He’s got good hands,” head coach Mike Zimmer said, adding that he doesn’t have reservations about keeping four TEs. “He runs good routes, he gets open, he’s got a little sliver to him. That part I didn’t know about.” At tight end, starter Kyle Rudolph, MyCole Pruitt, and Rhett Ellison (expected to be taken off PUP for opener) are considered locks to make the team. If the Vikings do keep four tight ends, that might be a bad sign for All-Pro fullback Zach Line because Ellison could fill his role.
- Cortland Finnegan’s deal with the Saints calls for him to earn a $985K base salary with a $50K signing bonus and a $650K cap hit (minimum salary benefit), Nick Underhill of The Advocate tweets.
- It’s a safe assumption that the Cowboys will convert some of Travis Frederick‘s $14.221MM base salary for 2017 into signing bonus money for cap purposes, Joel Corry of CBSSports.com tweets.
- In case you missed it, PFR reviewed the Packers’ offseason Thursday.
Zach Links contributed to this post.
Tom Brady Suffers Thumb Injury
Quarterback Tom Brady was supposed to start the Patriots’ preseason game against the Bears on Thursday, but the 39-year-old ended up leaving Gillette Stadium beforehand. It turns out Brady sliced his right thumb with a pair of scissors prior to the game, reports Tom Curran of CSNNE.com.
It’s unknown whether Brady needed stitches, per Curran, and there’s no timetable for his return. Via text, agent Don Yee informed reporters – including Mike Garafolo of NFL.com (Twitter link) – that Brady “will be okay in time.” That’s a vague statement from Yee, whose client is already set to miss the first four games of the regular season as a result of a suspension for his role in the Deflategate scandal.
Brady’s temporary replacement, third-year man Jimmy Garoppolo, got the start and finished the first half 12 of 16 for 123 yards and a touchdown. He went 11 of 18 for 168 yards in the Patriots’ preseason opener against the Saints last week.
Brady also didn’t face New Orleans, and in the event he misses New England’s remaining two exhibition contests, it would mean a wide gap in game action for the four-time Super Bowl champion. Brady last took the field against another team Jan. 24, when the Pats lost the AFC title game in Denver, and his debut this year is set for Oct. 9 versus the Browns. In the meantime, he’ll sit out regular-season matchups against the Cardinals, Dolphins, Texans and Bills.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.