Chiefs Making Staff Changes
After going with a two-offensive coordinator approach in 2016, the Chiefs will return to a more traditional style next season. The club has announced that Matt Nagy, who co-coordinated with Brad Childress in 2016, will stay on as the sole OC. Childress, meanwhile, will become Kansas City’s assistant head coach.
Under Nagy and Childress last season, the AFC West-winning Chiefs finished 13th in the NFL in both offensive DVOA and scoring. That was their only year at the helm together, as the Chiefs had promoted the pair last winter to take over for Doug Pederson after he became the Eagles’ head coach.
The 60-year-old Childress is the more established coach than Nagy, 38, and will enter his fifth season with the Chiefs in 2017. Childress potentially could have departed last month to become the Bills’ offensive coordinator, but he took himself out of the running. He’s now in perhaps his most prominent position since he was the head coach of the Vikings, with whom he went 39-35 from 2006-10.
Giants Will Push To Re-Sign JPP
The Giants are parting with wide receiver and Victor Cruz and running back Rashad Jennings, whose releases will save the club $10MM in cap space. New York will attempt to use some of that money to retain its best pending free agent, defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul, as Mike Garafolo of NFL.com reports the team will “make a legitimate run” at re-signing JPP before the market opens March 9 (via Chris Wesseling of NFL.com).
At this time a year ago, Pierre-Paul was coming off a season limited to eight games and one sack as he tried to move on from a gruesome July 2015 fireworks accident. Thus, he settled for a one-year pact last offseason to remain a Giant. Now that he has reestablished himself as one of the NFL’s premier pass rushers, Pierre-Paul is unwilling to take another one-year deal and could target a contract similar to the one teammate Olivier Vernon signed with the Giants last offseason. Then a free agent, Vernon inked a five-year, $85MM deal featuring $52MM in guarantees.
Vernon signed in advance of his age-26 season and had posted four straight 16-game campaigns, whereas Pierre-Paul is a bit older (28) and has missed 12 contests over the past two years. Pierre-Paul played in 12 games before his 2016 ended in December on account of core muscle surgery, though he showed well with seven sacks and three forced fumbles. Pierre-Paul also ranked 13th among Pro Football Focus’ 109 qualified edge defenders and totaled the league’s 15th-most QB hurries (24).
Pierre-Paul has clearly set himself up for a raise, one that could lead the seven-year Giant to a new franchise, though Big Blue has used the franchise tag on him in the past and could do so again. At an estimated $16.955MM, the tag will be worth around $7MM more than Pierre-Paul’s $10MM salary from last season.
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Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Bears Could Have Difficulty Attracting FAs
The Bears are projected to have nearly $55MM in cap space this offseason, but they might have difficulty spending it if a new Illinois workers’ comp bill is passed. The bill, which the McCaskey family (owners of the Bears) is spearheading, would deprive injured workers – including professional athletes – of health care beginning at the age of 35. That isn’t sitting well with NFLPA executive director De Smith, who plans to discourage free agents from signing with the Bears if the bill passes.
“I will tell you from the bottom of my heart that this union will tell every potential free agent player, if this bill passes, to not come to the Bears,” he told 670 The Score on Friday (via Chris Emma of CBS Chicago). “Because, think about it, if you’re a free agent player and you have an opportunity to go play somewhere else where you can get lifetime medical for the injury you’re going to have, isn’t a smarter financial decision to go to a team where a bill like this hasn’t passed?”
Continued Smith: “This bill being sponsored by (senate Republican minority leader Christine Radogno) is being designed to target professional athletes and take away their right to health care that every worker in the state of Illinois is entitled to. The Bears’ owners are behind it as well, to beat the expense of the players who actually do all the work. They’re pushing the bill.”
As of now, the majority of permanently injured workers in Illinois can claim compensation benefits until the age of 67. The Bears aren’t on board with pro athletes receiving those benefits, though.
In a statement issued to 670 The Score, the team said: “We join the four other major professional Chicago teams in monitoring and supporting changes to the system that protect athletes’ rights under the workers’ compensation system while acknowledging athletes are not competing professionally until age 67. Nothing in the wage differential language under consideration impacts the right for any athlete to receive just compensation for partial or permanent injury, medical benefits or to file a claim itself.”
The Bears are “just being cheap,” per Smith, whose opinion could prove detrimental to the club if it attempts to delve into free agency in March.
On the flip side, Bears general counsel Cliff Stein told Patrick Finley of the Chicago Sun Times that the bill won’t have any impact on the team’s ability to attract free agents.
“There is no realistic fear there,” he said “We have a really strong relationship with agents, and we’re very transparent. Anytime any question would come up, we would show all the facts.
“The truth of the matter is, agents aren’t really going to listen to what Smith says in that regard.”
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Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Extra Points: Broncos, Jags, 49ers, Falcons
The Broncos have been connected to quarterback Tony Romo, whom they could pursue in free agency if the Cowboys cut him, but head coach Vance Joseph insisted Tuesday that Denver’s 2017 starter is already on its roster. On whether he’s committed to Trevor Siemian and Paxton Lynch, Joseph said (via Jeff Legwold of ESPN.com): “Absolutely, I am. They’re both smart guys. Obviously different skill sets, but I’m committed to both of those kids. They’re good football players and we’ve got to build around those guys.” Joseph’s offensive coordinator, Mike McCoy, echoed his boss, saying he’s “happy with the guys we have.”
After the Broncos hired Joseph and McCoy last month, Mike Klis of 9News reported that the club would rather start Lynch than Siemian next season. As a first-round rookie last year, Lynch sat behind Siemian – who fared OK in his first season as a No. 1 – but did see action in three games and pick up two starts.
More from around the NFL:
- Browns linebacker Jamie Collins and cornerback Joe Haden; Raiders wide receiver Michael Crabtree and punter Marquette King; and Buccaneers linebacker Lavonte David each saw portions of their contracts become fully guaranteed Wednesday. The details can be found here, via CBS Sports’ Joel Corry.
- Of Jaguars tight end Julius Thomas‘ $7MM salary in 2017, $3MM will become fully guaranteed Friday, per Corry, but Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times-Union disputes that. Thomas isn’t due to receive the $3MM until March 9, the first day of the league year, a source told O’Halloran (Twitter link).
- The Kyle Shanahan-led 49ers will hire longtime NFL defensive lineman Jeff Zgonina as their D-line coach, reports Sporting News’ Alex Marvez. Zgonina, who played in the league from 1993-2005, spent last season assisting along the Giants’ defensive line.
- Shanahan could bring former Falcons colleague Eric Sutulovich with him to the 49ers, tweets ESPN’s Adam Caplan. Sutulovich, who’s the Falcons’ assistant special teams coach, will likely interview to become the 49ers’ ST coordinator, relays Caplan.
- One assistant the Falcons won’t lose is Keith Carter, whom they promoted to running backs coach Wednesday. Carter worked as Atlanta’s assistant offensive line coach over the previous two seasons. The club is also likely to hire Bryant Young to replace the fired Bryan Cox as its defensive line coach, according to Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com. Young, a four-time Pro Bowl D-lineman who accumulated 89.5 sacks as a careerlong 49er from 1994-2007, played under Falcons head coach Dan Quinn in San Francisco (2001-04) and coached alongside him at Florida (2011-12).
Jets Notes: Clady, Marshall, QB Targets
The latest on Gang Green:
- The Jets’ reworking of left tackle Ryan Clady‘s contract last month didn’t actually do much to change his deal, reports Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. The team still faces a mid-February deadline on a $1MM payment, which was previously an option bonus but is now a fully guaranteed roster bonus. It’s possible that the Jets will pick up that option and try to convince Clady later in the offseason to agree to a pay cut, Florio writes. Clady is currently slated to play 2017 – his age-31 campaign – on a $10MM salary, which is an unpalatable amount for an injury-prone player coming off a disappointing season.
- While releasing Brandon Marshall would save the Jets his entire cap hit for 2017 ($7.5MM), the wide receiver expects to remain with the club, he told Darryl Slater of NJ Advance Media. “They haven’t said anything otherwise,” he stated. “There was no indication that they don’t want me back.” Marshall, who will turn 33 next month, indicated in December that he wants to stay a Jet. That came toward the end of a mediocre season for Marshall, who caught just 59 of 128 targets for 788 yards and three touchdowns after posting a 109-catch, 1,502-yard, 14-TD 2015.
- The Jets might turn to one of Marshall’s ex-teammates, Jay Cutler, as their next starting quarterback if the Bears release him, but doing so wouldn’t make any sense, opines Brian Costello of the New York Post. Instead, of all the QBs the Jets could pursue this offseason, Buccaneers backup and pending free agent Mike Glennon is the likeliest, posits Costello. Conversely, if the 49ers’ Colin Kaepernick becomes available, it’s highly improbable the Jets would court him, per Costello. Owner Woody Johnson would have to sign off on that, and the President Donald Trump appointee’s political views don’t exactly jibe with the outspoken Kaepernick’s.
Minor NFL Transactions: 2/8/17
Wednesday’s minor moves:
- The Giants have waived linebacker Uani Unga, per Jordan Raanan of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Unga, who missed all of last season with an undisclosed injury, racked up 59 tackles and two interceptions in a 13-appearance, three-start 2015 campaign.
- The Jets have signed free agent offensive tackle Jeff Adams, writes Randy Lange of the team’s website. The 27-year-old Adams has totaled four regular-season appearances and two starts, all of which came as a Texan from 2014-15. He finished last season on Houston’s practice squad.
- The Bengals have claimed wide receiver Chris Brown off waivers from the Cowboys, according to ESPN’s Field Yates (Twitter link). Brown, who went undrafted out of Notre Dame last year, broke his foot during training camp and spent the season on injured reserve.
- The Eagles have waived defensive lineman Connor Wujciak, tweets Yates. Like Brown, Wujciak was on IR for all of 2016 after going undrafted during the spring. Wujciak underwent shoulder surgery in August.
Redskins Notes: Davis, WRs, Cap Casualties
With the exception of tight end Vernon Davis, the Redskins haven’t yet had any discussions with their pending free agents regarding new contracts, according to John Keim of ESPN.com. Aside from Davis, the team’s list of unsigned players includes quarterback Kirk Cousins, wide receivers Pierre Garcon and DeSean Jackson, and defensive end Chris Baker, among others. As Keim notes, though, the team’s decision not to engage with any of its potentially soon-to-be available players isn’t necessarily cause for concern, writing that “there’s no urgency yet and multiple agents weren’t surprised no one has been contacted.” Nevertheless, it would behoove the Redskins to retain at least one of Garcon or Jackson, opines Keim, who argues that better options in free agency will be few in number. Garcon and Jackson were the only Redskins targets to exceed 1,000 receiving yards last season, and losing the pair would leave them with Jamison Crowder and Josh Doctson – who endured a lost rookie year because of an Achilles injury – as their top two wideouts.
More from Washington:
- Some fans are worried that the Redskins haven’t had talks with their key free agents, but Mike Jones of The Washington Post echoes Keim’s sentiment and points out that they historically haven’t done a lot of heavy negotiating this early in the year. Overall, Jones gets the sense that Garcon has a better chance of returning than Jackson, who has been open wanting to explore free agency and could return to the Eagles.
- While the Redskins currently have no shortage of cap space (upward of $60MM), they’d lose a significant chunk of it by bringing back Cousins with either the $24MM franchise tag or a long-term deal. Thus, several of the team’s veterans are in danger of ending up as cap casualties, observes Keim, who points to safety DeAngelo Hall, center Kory Lichtensteiger, tight end Niles Paul, guard Shawn Lauvao and defensive end Ricky Jean-Francois as players whose roster spots are in jeopardy.
- The Redskins hired Torrian Gray as their new defensive backs coach Wednesday, per Stephen Czarda of the team’s website. This will be the first NFL coaching stint for Gray, who had been assisting at the college level since 2000 and spent last season on Florida’s staff. Gray’s already familiar with Redskins cornerback Kendall Fuller, having coached him at Virginia Tech from 2013-15.
Zach Links contributed to this post.
Colin Kaepernick Undecided On Opt-Out
Contrary to a report from ESPN’s Adam Schefter last week, the 49ers’ Colin Kaepernick is not a lock to opt out of his contract by the March 2 deadline, a source close to the quarterback told Kevin Lynch of the San Francisco Chronicle.
[RELATED: 49ers Won’t Hire Offensive Coordinator]
Kaepernick is currently undecided on which path he’ll take and wants to talk to the franchise’s new brass – general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan – before determining his future. As of now, Kaepernick “feels his relationship with the team has never been better and doesn’t want the team to think he wants to leave,” writes Lynch.
Even if Kaepernick wants to stay in San Francisco, that doesn’t mean the club will have interest in retaining him, of course. Cutting Kaepernick would save the 49ers $16.9MM in cap space next season and give them nearly $100MM in breathing room. Plus, Shanahan is reportedly likely to want someone else under center, and veterans Kirk Cousins (Redskins), Jimmy Garoppolo (Patriots), Matt Schaub (Falcons) and Jay Cutler (Bears) have come up in recent weeks as candidates to become the 49ers’ next starting signal-caller. San Francisco is also in possession of the second pick in this year’s draft, so it could conceivably reel in its starting passer for 2017 via that route.
Kaepernick, meanwhile, drew more attention for his political activism than his play last season, though the 29-year-old did post respectable numbers as part of a two-win team. After a truncated, injury-laden 2015 in which he threw six touchdowns against five interceptions and averaged 6.2 yards per attempt, Kaepernick bounced back with 16 scores, four picks and a 7.2 YPA in 2016. His completion rate was again below average (59.2 percent – right in line with a career 59.8), but he did reestablish himself as a major threat on the ground with a robust 6.8 yards per carry and two more TDs on 69 rushes. Only the Bills’ Tyrod Taylor had more rushing yards among QBs than Kaepernick’s 468. It’s now possible each of those two will end up available in the coming weeks, as the Bills could cut Taylor.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Dont’a Hightower Open To Franchise Tag
Fresh off winning their fifth Super Bowl title, the Patriots have decisions to make on a cavalcade of pending free agents before the market opens March 9. The best of the bunch is likely star linebacker Dont’a Hightower, who implied Wednesday that he’ll be amenable to playing next season as the Patriots’ franchise player if they’re unable to reach a long-term deal, per Mike Reiss of ESPN.com (Twitter links).
“That’s a lot of money,” Hightower told ESPN’s Wendi Nix regarding the possibility of the Patriots tagging him.
If New England does designate Hightower as its franchise player, it’s likely to cost the club in the neighborhood of $14.754MM. That might be the route the Patriots have to take, too, as Hightower rejected a contract extension worth more than $10MM per year prior to the season, reports Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link). Now the Patriots might have to fork over a deal in the five-year, $60MM range with $30MM in guarantees, contends Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald (via Twitter). That would be similar to the pact ex-teammate and fellow linebacker Jamie Collins inked last month with the Browns, who handed him $50MM ($26MM guaranteed) over four years.
Hightower, a five-year veteran who will turn 27 next month, has been working toward a mega-deal since entering the NFL as the 25th overall pick in 2012. The ex-Alabama standout has started in 64 of 67 regular-season appearances and amassed 17 sacks along the way. He was also hugely instrumental in the Patriots’ shocking Super Bowl LI victory over the Falcons on Sunday, when his fourth-quarter strip sack of quarterback Matt Ryan proved crucial in helping the Patriots to erase what was then a 16-point deficit en route to an overtime win.
Going forward, one concern with Hightower is that he has missed at least two games in four seasons (2013 was his only 16-game campaign), including three in 2016 as he dealt with knee and shoulder problems. Still, he ranked as Pro Football Focus’ 12th-best linebacker among 87 qualifiers last year and won’t need to undergo knee or shoulder surgery this offseason, tweets Howe.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Extra Points: Jets, Falcons, Romo, Bills
Former Seahawks offensive coordinator Jeremy Bates has emerged as a strong candidate to become the Jets’ quarterbacks coach, according to Albert Breer of TheMMQB.com (Twitter link). The 40-year-old Bates hasn’t coached anywhere since 2012, when he oversaw the Bears’ QBs, but he did work on the same staff as then-USC offensive coordinator and now-Jets OC John Morton in 2009. If Bates ends up in New York, he’ll join a team whose starting signal-caller for 2017 probably isn’t on its roster yet.
A few more notes from around the NFL:
- Falcons right tackle Ryan Schraeder tore a ligament in his right ankle Sunday during the team’s Super Bowl LI loss to the Patriots, a source told Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com. Schraeder suffered the injury in the second quarter and eventually departed in the fourth, when the Falcons were amid an all-time meltdown. Fortunately, this ailment seems unlikely to affect Schraeder going into next season – it’ll take “probably a good month” for the stalwart to feel normal again, per the source.
- Should a team trade for Cowboys backup quarterback Tony Romo this offseason, that club would have to take on his $14MM base salary for 2017 before reworking his contract, tweets CBS Sports’ Joel Corry. The Cowboys would likely permit the acquiring team to have contract-related discussions with Romo’s camp before the trade, Corry adds.
- The Bills will hire Gill Byrd to coach their defensive backs, report Vic Carucci and Alex Marvez of SiriusXM NFL Radio (Twitter link). The father of ex-Bills safety and current Saint Jairus Byrd, Gill Byrd served as the Buccaneers’ defensive backs coach from 2014-15. He worked under former Bucs D-coordinator Leslie Frazier, who’s now atop the Bills’ defense, in each of those two seasons.