Draft Notes: Gregory, Mariota, Flowers, Collins
News broke earlier this week that Nebraska defensive end Randy Gregory failed a drug test at last month’s combine, but there’s still no shortage of interest in the highly touted 22-year-old as the NFL draft approaches. According to Tony Pauline of DraftInsider.Net (Twitter link), almost a half-dozen new teams have scheduled visits with Gregory since finding out about his failed drug test. Pauline names the Chargers and Steelers as a couple of clubs that will meet with Gregory, whom draft experts regard as a first-round talent.
Here’s more on several draft prospects and the teams interested in their services:
- Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News writes that Jets brass will head to Oregon on Saturday to work out quarterback Marcus Mariota. Representing the Jets will be general manager Mike Maccagnan, head coach Todd Bowles, offensive coordinator Chan Gailey, quarterbacks coach Kevin Patullo, director of college scouting Rex Hogan and director of player personnel Brian Heimerdinger. The Jets have the sixth overall selection in the draft and are in need of a franchise quarterback, but it’s not expected that Mariota will fall to their pick.
- Miami’s Ereck Flowers, who might be the first offensive tackle taken in this year’s draft, will visit the Buccaneers and Panthers, per Charlie Campbell of WalterFootball.com. Campbell writes that “all four NFC South teams are showing significant interest” in Flowers, who will also powwow with the Browns, Colts and Chargers.
- Michael DiRocco of ESPN tweets that LSU cornerback Jalen Collins will meet with the Jaguars.
- The Dolphins will host Michigan linebacker Jake Ryan on April 2, according to ESPN’s James Walker.
- Former Missouri wide receiver Dorial Green-Beckham will visit the Titans sometime in April, Terry McCormick of TitansInsider.com reports.
- Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun tweets that the Browns will meet with Indiana center Collin Rahrig prior to his Pro Day workout.
Cowboys Notes: Hardy, Secondary
The Cowboys and owner Jerry Jones are awaiting news regarding the NFL’s oncoming disciplinary action against newly signed defensive end Greg Hardy, who missed almost all of last season because of domestic violence issues. According to Jon Machota of the Dallas Morning News, Jones spoke to NFL Network on Wednesday and touched on the subject of Hardy, stating that the team signed Hardy with the belief that he’ll stay out of trouble going forward.
“When the Dallas Cowboys made this decision, we knew there was going to be a ton of awareness and a ton of debate,” said Jones. “That’s just what happens when we get involved. So in that sense, I think that Greg won’t do this again and that’s why we signed him to the team.”
If Jones is right and Hardy is able to clean up his act, the Cowboys should benefit greatly on the field. The 26-year-old Hardy is an elite pass-rushing talent who’s likely to boost a Cowboys defense that was just 21st in the league in sacks last season. Hardy combined for 26 sacks from 2012-13, his last two full seasons, as a member of the Panthers.
Here’s more on Hardy and the Cowboys:
- David Moore, also of the Dallas Morning News, writes that Hardy will line up at right defensive end for the Cowboys, per head coach Jason Garrett. “From a position standpoint he is a right defensive end for us,’’ said Garrett. “But if you watch him play in Carolina, he plays 3-technique (defensive tackle). He plays the nose tackle. He plays left end. He rushes outside on third down. He rushes inside on third down. He has great versatility as a player, a lot of different skills.”
- Garrett and the Cowboys are under the assumption that the league will suspend Hardy for some of 2015, according to the Dallas Morning News’ Tim Cowlishaw, who speculates that Hardy might be forced to sit for six games. Garrett indicated that Dallas isn’t tied to Hardy if he doesn’t fit in with the team, saying, “If at any point we don’t like what he’s doing as a player or a person, we can move on without any salary cap consequences.” Garrett went on to state that the Cowboys are “going to approach this on a day-to-day basis.”
- The Morning News’ Rick Gosselin addressed the Cowboys’ defense, largely the secondary, in a mailbag. Gosselin believes the team’s ‘D’ needs pass-rush help on the interior, a playmaking safety, a cornerback with size and a linebacker. Per Gosselin, Brandon Carr should continue to play cornerback – not move to safety, as a fan asked – and the team should look to add an outside corner via the draft and leave its top cover man, Orlando Scandrick, on the inside.
Extra Points: Revis, Chargers, Colts, Giants
The 2014 season, Darrelle Revis‘ lone campaign with the Patriots, was a hugely successful one for the 29-year-old. He took home his first Super Bowl ring in helping lead the Pats to a championship, also earning his sixth Pro Bowl invitation and fourth First-Team All-Pro selection, respectively. After New England declined Revis’ $20MM option for 2015 earlier this month, Revis returned to the Jets, with whom he spent 2007-12. It was believed the Pats made a strong effort to retain Revis long term, but the corner told a different story Wednesday to Michael Kay of ESPN Radio. According to Phil Perry of CSNNewEngland.com, Revis said New England’s offer “wasn’t in the ballpark” of the mega-deal to which the Jets ultimately signed him.
In a separate interview Wednesday, Revis listed the teams that pursued him to SiriusXM’s Adam Schein, per Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com. “(It) was the Packers, Steelers, Baltimore as well as Cleveland, the Chiefs, the Jets, and also the Pats, so there was a number of teams there,” said Revis.
Here’s more from around the NFL:
- Michael Gehlken of the San Diego Union-Tribune expects the Chargers to add another member to their backfield before the offseason is out. The team lost running back Ryan Mathews to free agency after only offering him a one-year deal, and is now looking for a replacement – one with a “physical, downhill” style – to join Danny Woodhead, Branden Oliver and Donald Brown. Per Gehlken, it’s unlikely they’ll swing a trade for the disgruntled Adrian Peterson, leaving the draft as the probable route. Gehlken speculates that Georgia’s Todd Gurley could be an option if the Chargers use the 17th overall pick on a runner.
- Mike Wells of ESPN tweets that free agent running back Ahmad Bradshaw is unlikely to return to the Colts next season. Bradshaw was highly effective for Indianapolis the last two years, but he missed 19 of 32 regular-season games with various injuries. Further, the Colts signed Frank Gore earlier this month to anchor their backfield.
- Head coach Tom Coughlin admitted this morning that safety is “definitely” an area of concern for the Giants, and identified Chykie Brown and Bennett Jackson as cornerbacks who may be able to switch positions, tweets Dan Graziano of ESPN.com. The Giants pursued a number of free agent safeties, including Devin McCourty, but missed out on their top targets, and don’t have many viable starting options still in play.
Raiders Sign C.J. Wilson
Free agent defensive lineman C.J. Wilson has signed with the Raiders, the player tweeted. Wilson’s deal is for two years and $4.6MM, according to Patrick Quinn of WNCT (Twitter link).
Wilson, who will turn 28 later this month, accrued 23 tackles and two sacks in 16 games (seven starts) with the Raiders last season. Pro Football Focus (subscription required) ranked Wilson 27th out of 57 qualifying 4-3 defensive ends for his work, and he recently drew interest from the Seahawks.
The five-year veteran entered the league as a seventh-round pick of the Packers in 2010 and spent his first four seasons in Green Bay, with which he appeared in 50 games and made 11 starts.
AFC Notes: Browns, Titans, Steelers, Raiders
ESPN reports that Browns officials were told at this week’s owners meetings that the team will face “severe” discipline for violating an NFL policy. Cleveland will be punished for the actions of general manager Ray Farmer, who admitted to sending text messages (reportedly to members of the club’s sideline) during games last season. That violates the league’s electronic device policy, and it could cost the Browns in the form of fines or the loss of draft picks. The extent of the Browns’ punishment will be announced next week.
Here’s more from around the AFC:
- Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette tweets that the odds of the Steelers extending the contract of defensive end Cameron Heyward prior to the season are “100%.” Heyward will make just under $7MM in 2015, the last year of his deal, and could hit free agency in 2016. The four-year veteran finished last season with a career-high 7.5 sacks, giving him 15 since entering the league in 2011. The former first-round pick has appeared in all 64 of Pittsburgh’s regular-season games since he joined the club, and has finished in the top 20 of Pro Football Focus’ ranking system (subscription required) for 3-4 defensive ends three straight years.
- Linebacker James Harrison seems to regard his recent decision to re-sign with the Steelers as bittersweet. The Titans were also vying for Harrison’s services, and choosing Pittsburgh over Tennessee means he won’t get to continue working under defensive guru Dick LeBeau. The 77-year-old left the Steelers after 11 seasons and joined the Titans’ staff in February. “You don’t want to let (coach LeBeau) down, you want to be loyal to him to a fault,” Harrison said on the “Ike Taylor Show,” according to Jim Wyatt of The Tennessean. “It came down to I had to take a step back and look at it and it was a business. Both offers being the same, it wasn’t a good business move to go to Tennessee because I would have to uproot everything and I already had everything in Pittsburgh combined with the fact my legacy is in Pittsburgh.”
- Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie isn’t content with his team’s offensive line. “I don’t have enough offensive linemen on the roster. I want to bring some good ones in,” McKenzie said, according to Scott Bair of CSNBayArea.com. The Raiders’ biggest O-line need is at right guard, an area they could address in the upcoming draft. “Right guard is going to be a competitive situation in camp,” said new head coach Jack Del Rio.
NFC South Notes: Falcons, Quinn, Newton, Hill
The Falcons were told at this week’s owners meetings that they will face “severe” discipline for violating an NFL policy, according to ESPN. The Falcons were investigated for piping artificial crowd noise into the Georgia Dome over the last two seasons, which team owner Arthur Blank acknowledged in February, and the severity of their punishment will be announced next week. Per ESPN, the Falcons could face “a hefty fine, a loss of a draft pick or picks, or other penalties,” though Blank and the team have been fully cooperative in the league’s investigation.
“We have great respect for the shield and the integrity of the game, the integrity of competition,” said Blank.
Here’s more on the Falcons and one of their NFC South rivals:
- The Falcons are done free agency shopping after adding linebackers Brooks Reed and Justin Durant, defensive end Adrian Clayborn, and tight ends Jacob Tamme and Tony Moeaki, among others, this offseason. They will now turn their attention toward the upcoming draft, according to D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “We’re always looking,” new head coach Dan Quinn said in regards to adding more free agents, but he also stated that “the focus has kind of shifted to the draft.”
- Quinn shot down the notion that the Falcons recently discussed a trade with the Seahawks for defensive end Michael Bennett, reports Ledbetter. “I don’t know where that story came from,” said Quinn. “It was just one of those random things that should have been mark down as ‘nothing.’ He’s a great player, but there have been no talks at all.” Quinn coordinated Seattle’s defense from 2013-14, during which time Bennett combined for 15.5 sacks.
- Panthers head coach Ron Rivera told reporters he’s confident that the team and Cam Newton will work toward a new contract, adding that he’d like to see it get done prior to the season (Twitter links via Joseph Person of the Charlotte Observer and ESPN.com’s David Newton). Newton is entering the final year of his deal.
- Rivera also said Wednesday that having Stephen Hill in the mix takes some pressure off the Panthers when it comes to drafting a wide receiver, per David Newton (via Twitter). Despite Rivera’s endorsement, Hill hasn’t shown himself to be much of a threat since entering the league in 2012. He caught a combined 45 passes between 2012-13 for the Jets and spent last season on the Panthers’ practice squad. It’s tough to imagine his presence will heavily influence the Panthers come draft time.
Gruden On Draft, Culliver, Kerrigan, Williams
Second-year Washington head coach Jay Gruden had plenty to say Wednesday as he and the club continue focusing on ways to improve on their 4-12 record from last season. Let’s take a look at some of the salient points Gruden addressed:
- New general manager Scot McCloughan didn’t exactly give a ringing endorsement to much-maligned quarterback Robert Griffin III on Tuesday. Neither did Gruden on Wednesday, according to Mike Jones of the Washington Post (via Twitter). Per Jones, Gruden said he’s been studying the draft’s top two quarterbacks – Oregon’s Marcus Mariota and Florida State’s Jameis Winston – in case one falls to Washington at fifth overall.
- Despite Gruden’s statement, Zac Boyer of the Washington Times (Twitter link) doesn’t believe Washington will take a quarterback at No. 5 based on the coach’s tone.
- In other draft news, Boyer tweets that Washington will likely go that route to address outside linebacker, per Gruden. Washington has a hole to fill at OLB after losing Brian Orakpo to free agency earlier this month.
- Cornerback Chris Culliver, whom Washington signed to a big contract in free agency, drew praise from Gruden. According to Boyer (Twitter link), Gruden considered Culliver second only to Darrelle Revis among free agent corners. Culliver spent the first three years of his career in San Francisco, intercepting seven passes for the 49ers. He had a career-best four picks last year, when Pro Football Focus (subscription required) ranked him a terrific 14th among 108 qualifying corners.
- Regarding the future of free agent wide receiver Santana Moss, Gruden said, “I would not hesitate to call him,” tweeted Boyer. Moss, who will turn 36 in June, is mulling retirement after 14 NFL seasons. He has spent the last decade in Washington and totaled nearly 600 catches and 47 touchdowns. Moss went scoreless last year and had just 10 receptions in 10 games.
- Moss aside, Gruden sounded less interested in bringing back other unsigned players who were previously with Washington, according to Boyer (via Twitter). “If they’re not on our roster right now, we don’t have any plans for them to be with us,” said Gruden.
- Finally, Gruden indicated that Washington is discussing long-term extensions with the agents for outside linebacker Ryan Kerrigan and offensive tackle Trent Williams, tweeted Tarik El-Bashir of CSNWashington.com. The duo will eat up over $20MM in cap space in 2015, the final year of their respective deals. Kerrigan, 26, is coming off a career campaign that saw him rack up 13.5 sacks, giving him 38 over his four-year career. Williams, also 26, has made three straight Pro Bowls and finished last season ranked 18th out of 84 qualifying tackles, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required).
Minor Moves: Wednesday
A look at Wednesday’s minor moves:
- The Buccaneers waived linebacker Brandon Magee, according to Scott Smith of the team’s official website (Twitter link). The 24-year-old Magee joined the Bucs last year after spending 2013 with the Browns. He appeared in nine games for Tampa last season and accrued seven tackles. He’ll next switch sports and try out for the Red Sox, per Pat Yasinkas of ESPN.com.
- Tight end Ifeanyi Momah, who was in attendance at the recent veterans’ combine, has signed a one-year contract with the Cardinals, tweets Darren Urban of the team’s official website. The Cards will be Momah’s fourth organization since going undrafted out of Boston College in 2012. The 25-year-old has spent time with the Eagles, Browns and Lions, but has never appeared in a game.
- The Packers have signed defensive back Kyle Sebetic, according to the team’s website. Sebetic went undrafted out of Dayton last year and spent some time on the Giants’ practice squad.
Vikings Acquire Mike Wallace
MARCH 24: The fifth-rounder headed to Miami will be pick No. 149, according to Ben Goessling of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The Vikings will keep the 137th pick, acquired from Tampa Bay via Buffalo.
MARCH 13: The Dolphins have traded wide receiver Mike Wallace and a seventh-round pick to the Vikings for a fifth-rounder, reports ESPN’s Adam Schefter (via Twitter). Both picks are in the 2015 draft, the Dolphins tweeted. 
In dealing Wallace, the Dolphins free up $2.5MM of cap space in 2015, $9.3MM in 2016 and $11.5MM in 2017, though they’ll be stuck with over $16MM of dead money during that time span. Most of that dead money ($9.6MM, to be exact) will be on Miami’s books this year. However, the $2.5MM the Dolphins save for next season will help in their efforts to keep tight end Charles Clay, a transitional free agent whom the AFC East rival Bills are pursuing. Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald tweets that Miami has “more than enough” cap for Clay. That news comes in the wake of both the Wallace trade and the deal the Dolphins made earlier Friday to send expensive linebacker Dannell Ellerbe and a third-round pick to the Saints for wideout Kenny Stills.
As for Wallace, the trade should come as no surprise to the 28-year-old, who Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald reported was on the phone with Vikings staff members throughout the afternoon on Friday. Wallace, who spent the first four years of his career in Pittsburgh, signed a five-year, $60MM contract with the Dolphins prior to the 2013 season. He subsequently caught 140 passes for nearly 1,800 yards and 15 touchdowns during his two years in Miami. The Dolphins will replace him with Stills, who hauled in 63 passes for over 900 yards as a second-year man in 2014.
In Minnesota, Wallace will give young quarterback Teddy Bridgewater a durable, productive target. The six-year veteran has missed just one game in his career and has five consecutive seasons of at least 60 catches. Wallace is coming off a campaign that saw him tie a personal best with 10 TDs, giving him 47 for his career.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Extra Points: Vikings, Bears, Jags
The Vikings have been no strangers to talented but mercurial wide receivers throughout their history. Mike Wallace, whom they acquired from the Dolphins via trade last week, will be the latest in a recent line that includes the likes of Randy Moss, Koren Robinson and Percy Harvin, to name a few. In the wake of the Wallace acquisition, Jim Souhan of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune revisited the tenures of some of the Vikings’ past wideouts. Compared to a couple of them, Wallace’s previous transgressions – a sideline argument with coaches last season, for example – seem tame.
Here’s more on the Vikings and the rest of the NFL:
- Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer is hoping second-year quarterback Teddy Bridgewater bulks up this offseason, according to Sid Hartman, also of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. “The big thing with Teddy is he needs to add a little bit more strength, a little more weight on him,” said Zimmer. “He’s about 210 pounds, we’re trying to get him around 218, somewhere in that range.”
- The staff at CSN Chicago took a look at a couple of mid- to late-round prospects who might be on the Bears’ radar entering the upcoming draft. Louisville safety James Sample and Iowa defensive tackle Louis Trinca-Pasat could both be potential fits for a Bears defense that’s in need of help after finishing 30th overall last year.
- The Jaguars’ linebacking corps was among many problem areas that beset them during their three-win 2014 campaign. But, with the signing of ex-49er Dan Skuta, the return of Paul Posluszny from injury and the potential of second-year man Telvin Smith, linebackers coach Robert Saleh is hopeful better days are ahead, writes Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times-Union. Saleh seems particularly excited about Skuta, saying that the 28-year-old “has a tremendous sense of urgency to his play.”