Seahawks Visits: Charles, RJF, A. Brown
Free agent running back Jamaal Charles had a “good visit” with the Seahawks, but he doesn’t plan to sign there – at least not yet – a source told Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. Charles may meet with another team next week, per Florio, who notes that the club’s identity isn’t yet known.
Given that Seattle already added a No. 1-caliber rusher, Eddie Lacy, this week, it’s interesting that Charles isn’t ruling out signing there. In addition to Lacy, the Seahawks have Thomas Rawls and C.J. Prosise as prominent members of their running back corps, so there doesn’t seem to be a fit for Charles on paper.
As Charles leaves Seattle without a deal, two defenders – tackle Ricky Jean-Francois and linebacker Arthur Brown – are on their way to visit the team, reports Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link). Jean-Francois came available when the Redskins released him Wednesday, after he had played in all of their games and totaled eight starts over the previous two seasons. The Seahawks are lacking established depth behind starting defensive tackles Jarran Reed and Ahtyba Rubin, which Jean-Francois would provide. The 30-year-old is excited about the possibility of joining the Seahawks.
“It would be great to get a chance to get out of a 3-4 and play in a 4-3, because I would get to use more of my skill-set and not be limited,” he told ESPN’s Josina Anderson. “In the 3-4, I feel like you can only do so much; but in a 4-3, I feel like you can get uphill more and disrupt the back field.”
Brown, meanwhile, is looking for a fourth team after spending the first four years of his career with the Ravens, Jaguars and Jets. The 2013 second-round pick hasn’t lived up to his draft selection, as he has just a half-sack and no starts on his resume. Brown, 26, has primarily served as a special teamer in the pros.
Minor NFL Transactions: 3/16/17
The latest minor moves from around the NFL:
- The Chiefs have signed safety Marqueston Huff, according to Terez A. Paylor of the Kansas City Star (Twitter link). Since going in the fourth round of the 2014 draft, Huff has appeared in 41 games in stints with the Titans and Ravens, though he has only picked up one start. Huff played in 11 contests with Baltimore last year and failed to register a tackle in 32 defensive snaps. He did see plenty of special teams action, however (223 snaps).
- The Redskins have added linebacker Chris Carter, a six-year veteran who is joining his sixth team. Carter has totaled four starts, the latest of which came in 2013, and 62 appearances. The special teamer combined for 14 appearances last season between the Colts and Ravens.
- Patriots cornerback Justin Coleman has signed his exclusive rights tender, tweets ESPN’s Field Yates. Coleman, 23, has seen action in 20 games and racked up three starts in his two-year career.
FA Rumors: Butler, Poe, Z. Brown, Raiders
Restricted free agent cornerback Malcolm Butler didn’t emerge from his Saints visit on Thursday with a deal, but the meeting “went well,” a source told Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link). As of now, there remains motivation on both sides to hammer out an agreement, Rapoport adds. PFR’s Zach Links laid out a few potential scenarios earlier this week involving Butler, who would surely net the Patriots a quality return in a trade.
More free agency-related news:
- The offer that defensive tackle Dontari Poe accepted from the Falcons on Thursday was worth less than the Jaguars’ proposal, reports ESPN’s Josina Anderson (Twitter link). Before taking a one-year, $8MM deal (plus incentives) with the reigning NFC champions, Poe turned down the Jags’ fully guaranteed $9MM (and incentives). Head coach Dan Quinn was key in talking Poe into joining the Falcons, relays Anderson.
- It doesn’t appear that linebacker Zach Brown‘s powwow with the Raiders will lead to a deal, as a source told ESPN’s Adam Caplan that it “looks like a no-go right now” (Twitter link). Although Brown had a stellar 2016 with Buffalo and currently ranks as PFR’s top available linebacker, the market for his services has been tepid.
- Wide receiver Andre Holmes met with the Bills on Thursday, one day after there were reports that he had signed with them, per Mike Garafolo of NFL.com (via Twitter). It turns out the Bills offered Holmes a three-year, $4.5MM accord, which the NFLPA accidentally documented as a done deal.
- Linebacker Dekoda Watson visited the Seahawks on Thursday, tweets ESPN’s Field Yates. The 29-year-old Watson is a journeyman who has played for five teams, including the Broncos last season. He served as an integral special teams cog in Denver, which would like to re-sign him.
Latest On Jimmy Garoppolo
Few NFLers have been involved in more trade rumors over the past several months than Patriots quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, but “there’s a persistent belief within league circles” that the team wants to retain Tom Brady‘s backup, a high-level employee of an AFC team told Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk.
While Garoppolo would likely fetch a haul in a trade, perhaps from the draft-pick rich Browns, the Patriots are cognizant of the fact that Brady isn’t immortal, notes Florio. As excellent as the five-time Super Bowl champion still is, 2017 will be his age-40 season, so there’s some question as to how much longer he’ll play. By keeping the 25-year-old Garoppolo, the Pats would protect themselves against a sudden retirement or decline from Brady.
Garoppolo will only take up $1.1MM-plus of New England’s spending space next season, his fourth in the league, meaning his presence wouldn’t be onerous to the club’s cap in 2017. Then, if Brady’s still in the fold next winter, the Pats could attempt to re-sign Garoppolo – it seems unlikely they’d succeed, granted, given that he’d be able to find a starting job and more money elsewhere – or even place the franchise tag on him.
In the opinion of head coach Bill Belichick, Patriots third-string quarterback Jacoby Brissett isn’t the long-term answer, suggests Florio, making it all the more realistic that Garoppolo will stay in their plans. Like Brissett, Garoppolo has limited NFL experience, but the latter made good on his first two career starts last year. Garoppolo began the season as New England’s starter because of Brady’s four-game Deflategate ban, and he completed 42 of 59 passes for 496 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions in wins over the Cardinals and Dolphins. The second game was Garoppolo’s final start of the year – and perhaps his last for a while, if the Pats keep him – as he suffered a sprained AC joint on a hit from Miami linebacker Kiko Alonso and sat out for the remainder of Brady’s suspension.
Raiders Sign QB EJ Manuel
The Raiders have signed free agent quarterback EJ Manuel, reports ESPN’s Adam Schefter (Twitter link). With Derek Carr entrenched as the Raiders’ starting signal-caller, Manuel will presumably compete with Connor Cook for the No. 2 role.
The 26-year-old Manuel now represents the only first-round passer on the Raiders’ roster, having gone 16th overall to the Bills in the 2013 draft. Manuel was never able to grab a strong hold of the starting job in Buffalo, though, as both Kyle Orton and Tyrod Taylor bumped him from the job during his four-year tenure there.
A large portion of Manuel’s action with the Bills came in his rookie season, during which he started in all 10 of his appearances in an injury-shortened campaign and completed 58.8 percent of passes, threw 11 touchdowns against nine interceptions and averaged 6.4 yards per attempt. He has since picked up 17 appearances and seven starts, and has continued to post backup-caliber numbers.
Manuel now reunites with Raiders offensive coordinator Todd Downing, who was the Bills’ quarterbacks coach in 2014.
Rams To Sign Connor Barwin
The Rams have announced an agreement with free agent pass rusher Connor Barwin. It’s a one-year deal with a maximum value of $6.5MM, tweets ESPN’s Adam Caplan.
After serving as a defensive end in the Eagles’ 4-3 scheme last year, Barwin will function as an outside linebacker in Rams coordinator Wade Phillips’ 3-4. Barwin previously played under Phillips in Houston from 2011-12, when he started all 32 of the Texans’ games and picked up 14.5 sacks. He then moved on to Philadelphia and added 64 more starts in a row over the past four seasons, during which he registered another 31.5 sacks. Five of those sacks came last year for Barwin, but his overall performance ranked just 100th among Pro Football Focus’ 109 qualified edge defenders amid concerns he wasn’t a fit for Jim Schwartz‘s scheme.
Unsurprisingly, after they were unable to move him in a trade, the Eagles cut Barwin last Thursday and saved $7.5MM in cap room. Barwin didn’t take long to find work, though, and he also drew interest from the Bengals. In Los Angeles, he’ll join Aaron Donald and Robert Quinn as the top pass rushers on a team that tied for 24th in the NFL with 31 sacks last season and has since dealt William Hayes to the Dolphins.
Adrian Peterson Done In Minnesota
With the newly signed Latavius Murray set to occupy their backfield, the Vikings have closed the door on the possibility of re-signing Adrian Peterson, general manager Rick Spielman announced Thursday (Twitter link via the team).
The fact that the Vikings are moving on from Peterson comes as no surprise in the wake of the Murray acquisition. However, after the Vikings declined Peterson’s $18MM option in February, it seemed possible they’d bring him back at a far more reasonable figure. Instead, the club didn’t make the soon-to-be 32-year-old an offer.
Peterson will go down as one of the greatest Vikings ever, having earned seven Pro Bowls trips, five first-team All-Pro nods and an MVP (2013) since they selected him in the first round of the 2007 draft. He’ll depart Minnesota 16th on the all-time rushing list (11,747), 10th in rushing touchdowns (97) and third in yards-per-carry average (4.9), though he no longer possesses the sparkling reputation he had when he entered the league.
Peterson’s character took a hit in 2014, when he violated the league’s personal conduct policy in an incident of abusive discipline toward his then-4-year-old son. Peterson missed 15 of 16 games that season as a result, but he bounced back in 2015 to win the league’s rushing title. Unfortunately for Peterson, 2016 represented another step backward. Thanks to the meniscus tear he suffered last September, Peterson appeared in just three games and totaled a mere 37 carries in his final year as a Viking.
Now, on account of his age, the injury and his paltry 1.9 YPC last season, Peterson is having difficulty finding work in free agency. Several rumored suitors – the Texans, Patriots, Raiders, Giants – have shown little to no interest in Peterson, while the Seahawks visited with him but then opted to sign Eddie Lacy instead. Peterson will undoubtedly land somewhere in the coming months, but it’s obvious things haven’t broken his way since the Vikings declined his option.
Raiders To Sign Jared Cook
The best tight end remaining in free agency is coming off the board. The Raiders are signing Jared Cook to a two-year contract worth up to $12.2MM, including a fully guaranteed first year, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter links). Cook will earn $5MM in 2017, reports ESPN’s Adam Caplan (via Twitter).
Oakland was among several teams that targeted Cook, who nearly re-signed with the Packers and also drew interest from the Bills, Seahawks, Lions and Vikings. Minnesota made a strong effort to sign Cook, relays Caplan (on Twitter), but his meeting with the Raiders on Thursday went well enough for a deal to come together with Oakland. Star quarterback Derek Carr helped convince the 29-year-old pass catcher to sign, per Caplan, who tweets that the two “spent a lot of time” with each other – including watching tape – and “bonded.”
Before Carr recruited Cook to the Raiders, he helped lure in receiver Cordarrelle Patterson. Those two will provide further weaponry in a high-octane passing attack whose best options are wideouts Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree. Cook will move atop the Raiders’ tight end depth chart and slot in ahead of Clive Walford and Lee Smith, giving the team an impressive trio at the position.
The Raiders will be the fourth team for Cook, a 2009 third-round pick who has combined for 303 receptions and 17 touchdowns in stints with the Titans, Rams and Packers. In his lone season in Green Bay, Cook appeared in 10 games and caught 30 of 51 targets for 377 yards and a TD. He was far more impressive in the Packers’ two-game playoff run, in which he combined for 13 receptions on 23 targets, 181 yards and two scores.
Thanks to Cook’s agreement, PFR’s top-ranked unsigned tight end is now Luke Willson.
Dolphins Re-Sign Jermon Bushrod
The Dolphins have re-signed free agent guard Jermon Bushrod, according to Adam Caplan of ESPN (Twitter link).
Miami entered the offseason hoping to land two affordable guards, and it now has after agreeing to deals with both Bushrod and Ted Larsen. The club reportedly only viewed the 32-year-old Bushrod as a fallback option as of Tuesday, but he’ll nonetheless return to the Dolphins for a second season. Although Bushrod started all 16 of the Dolphins’ games last season, Pro Football Focus graded him as one of the four worst guards in the NFL.
Bushrod, who divided the first nine years of his career between New Orleans and Chicago, has 112 starts, five 16-start seasons and 124 appearances on his resume. He’s slated to spend his 11th season on a Miami line consisting of him and Larsen at the guard spots, Mike Pouncey at center and Laremy Tunsil and Ja’Wuan James at the tackle positions.
Raiders To Sign Marshall Newhouse
The Raiders have agreed to a two-year contract with free agent offensive tackle Marshall Newhouse, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com.
Menelik’s deal comes on the heels of now-former Raider tackle Menelik Watson‘s decision to sign with Denver earlier Friday. Like Watson, Newhouse has functioned as a swing tackle throughout his career. Newhouse’s first stop was with the Packers, who drafted him in 2010 – when now-Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie was in their front office.
In stints with the Pack, Bengals and Giants, the six-year veteran totaled 86 appearances and 56 starts. He has started in all of his appearances in two separate seasons – 2012 and 2015 – but only in six of 10 games last year. Pro Football Focus ranked Newhouse 46th among 78 O-tackles in 2016.
In Oakland, the 28-year-old Newhouse should serve as quality depth behind the team’s starting bookends, left tackle Donald Penn and right tackle Austin Howard. Penn is known for his durability, having never missed a regular-season game in his decadelong career, though Howard has sat out a combined eight games since 2015.