Jets Unlikely To Pick Up Ben Ijalana’s Option
The Jets are unlikely to exercise offensive tackle Ben Ijalana‘s option for the 2018 season, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link). Even so, New York could potentially re-sign Ijalana during free agency, per Rapoport.
Due to the structure of Ijalana’s two-year contract, the Jets must decide by today whether to pay a $500K bonus that would trigger the 2018 season of his deal. By not picking up the option, New York will save roughly $4.672MM in cap space but incur $1.25MM in dead money.
Ijalana, 28, started 13 games and played more than 83% of Gang Green’s offensive snaps in 2016, and even spent time at left tackle when called upon. While he wasn’t spectacular — Pro Football Focus graded him as the No. 60 tackle among 78 qualifiers — Ijalana provided depth and looked to be the frontrunner for the Jets’ starting right tackle position in 2017.
Instead, Brandon Shell took over at right tackle, relegating Ijalana to swing tackle duty. In all, Ijalana played only 56 offensive snaps and 42 special teams a season ago, making his $4.5MM salary for 2018 untenable. He’ll hit free agency, and given the dearth of tackles available on the open market, it’s not out of the question that Ijalana could compete for a starting job elsewhere.
Eagles To Interview Duce Staley, Mike Groh For OC
The Eagles will interview running backs coach Duce Staley and wide receivers coach Mike Groh for their offensive coordinator vacancy today, according to Tim McManus of ESPN.com (Twitter links), who adds there are no “immediate plans” to meet with any other candidates.
Philadelphia head coach Doug Pederson is seeking to replace Frank Reich, who was named head coach of the Colts last week. Also missing from the Eagles’ 2018 staff is former quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo, who recently became the Vikings’ new offensive coordinator. Pederson calls the offensive plays for the Eagles, but he’s presumably interested in keeping some level of continuity for an offense that ranked eighth in DVOA a season ago.
Staley, who spent seven years of his playing career with the Eagles, has led the club’s running backs room since 2013. He’d also been mentioned as a strong candidate to join Pat Shurmur as the Giants’ new offensive coordiantor, but Philadelphia reportedly had no interest in letting Staley leave for a division rival.
Groh, meanwhile, has much spent much of his career in the collegiate ranks, but worked with the Bears and Rams from 2013-16 before joining the Eagles in advance of the 2017 campaign. The son of former NFL head coach Al Groh, Mike Groh helped former first-round pick Nelson Agholor break out last season.
Reports have indicated the Eagles may go without a formal offensive coordinator in 2018, and Adam Caplan of SiriusXM tweets Philadelphia could conceivably promote Staley to run game coordinator and Groh to pass game coordinator, allowing the two coaches to tag-team the OC role while Pederson calls plays on game day.
Jets Preparing For Kirk Cousins Pursuit
The Jets will search for their franchise quarterback this offseason, and New York is “willing to pay whatever it takes” to land free agent signal-caller Kirk Cousins, according to Rich Cimini of ESPN.com.
Gang Green is just the latest team to reportedly express interest in Cousins, as the Broncos are “all in” on the 29-year-old passer. Quarterbacks of Cousins’ ilk rarely hit the free agent market, and given the number of teams searching for signal-callers (the Browns, Cardinals, and Vikings could all make plays for Cousins), the ex-Redskin figures to reset the quarterback market by topping Jimmy Garoppolo‘s $27.5MM annual salary.
The Jets and general manager Mike Maccagnan have the financial wherewithal to make a serious push for Cousins, as the club is currently projected to have more than $70MM available in 2018 cap space. As such, New York should be able to offer Cousins a hefty 2018 payout that other teams may not be able to match. Per Cimini, the Jets will also attempt to sell Cousins on their “championship vision” and stress scheme familiarity, as new offensive coordinator Jeremy Bates enjoys a relationship with Cousins.
If the Jets aren’t able to land Cousins, they’ll have to explore other options including veteran Josh McCown, who is open to returning to New York for the 2018 campaign. If the Jets do re-sign McCown, they’ll likely need to select another quarterback early in the draft, per Cimini.
Photo courtesy of Pro Football Rumors on Instagram.
2018 Top 3 Offseason Needs Series
Over the last few weeks, Pro Football Rumors has been taking a closer look at the 2018 offseason on a team-by-team basis. Our Top 3 Offseason Needs series focuses on each club’s most glaring roster issues, free agents, potential cap casualties, positions of possible focus, and other issues facing teams this winter.
Just in case you missed our preview for your favorite team, we’re rounding up all of our Offseason Needs pieces in this post. We have several more teams to examine before free agency officially gets underway on March 14, so if your team isn’t linked below, be sure to keep a close eye on PFR — it’ll be coming soon.
Here are the links to our 2018 Top 3 Offseason Needs pieces to date:
AFC East:
- Buffalo Bills
- Miami Dolphins
- New England Patriots
- New York Jets
AFC North:
- Baltimore Ravens
- Cincinnati Bengals
- Cleveland Browns
- Pittsburgh Steelers
AFC South:
- Houston Texans
- Indianapolis Colts
- Jacksonville Jaguars
- Tennessee Titans
AFC West:
NFC East:
- Dallas Cowboys
- New York Giants
- Philadelphia Eagles
- Washington Redskins
NFC North:
NFC South:
NFC West:
- Arizona Cardinals
- Los Angeles Rams
- San Francisco 49ers
- Seattle Seahawks
5 Key NFL Stories: 2/11/18 – 2/18/18
Colts find a head coach. Less than a week after Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels rejected their head coaching offer, the Colts decided on Eagles offensive coordinator Frank Reich to lead their club. Indianapolis will keep defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus — who inked a contract when McDaniels was the presumptive hire — and hire ex-Chargers wide receivers coach Nick Sirianni as offensive coordinator. Before the Colts’ second head coaching search concluded with Reich’s hiring, general manager Chris Ballard also interviewed Bills defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier and Saints tight ends coach Dan Campbell.
A.J. McCarron will hit the open market. An independent arbitrator ruled last week that McCarron’s contract will not toll, meaning he’ll become an unrestricted free agent rather than a restricted free agent. The Bengals stashed McCarron on the non-football injury list for most of his rookie campaign, but the arbitrator decided Cincinnati won’t get to use that roster trick to keep its backup quarterback for an extra year. The Browns, Vikings, Jets, Broncos, and Cardinals are among the teams that could express interest in McCarron now that he’s available.
Larry Fitzgerald to play in 2018. After agreeing to a one-year contract extension in November, the 34-year-old Fitzgerald will return for at least more season with the Cardinals. Fitzgerald had maintained that he’d only play for Arizona, and he’ll now be suiting up with a new head coach (Steve Wilks) and a new quarterback (to be determined). As the NFL’s oldest wideout in 2017, Fitzgerald posted a career-high in receptions (109) while managing 1,156 yards and six touchdowns. With a healthy 2018, he’ll move ahead of Terrell Owens for second all-time in receiving yardage.
Raiders part ways with Sea Bass. After 18 years, Sebastian Janikowski will no longer kick for Oakland in 2018, as the Raiders announced last week that the soon-to-be 40-year-old will not be re-signed. Janikowski still plans to continue his career, however, and will join Adam Vinatieri and Matt Bryant as aged kickers on the open market. Because Janikowski spent last season on injured reserve, the Raiders turned to Giorgio Tavecchio, who converted 76.2% of his field goal attempts.
Chiefs land a free agent cornerback. David Amerson will stay in the AFC West —after being released by the Raiders, Amerson agreed to one-year, $2.25MM deal with the division rival Chiefs. Although Amerson is still only 26 years old, he’ll now join the third team of his career. The former second-round pick is the second ex-Redskin defensive back to land in Kansas City this offseason, as the Chiefs also acquired Kendall Fuller in the Alex Smith trade.
NFL Will Increase Access To Tracking Data
NFL teams will begin receiving in-game tracking data on every player in the league beginning this spring, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL.com.
Club have been seeing data on their own players since 2014, but access to other teams’ players had not yet been available. However, the NFL’s Compensation Committee recently agreed to a proposal allowing every team to collect data on every player, per Pelissero. Clubs will be sent information from the 2016-17 campaigns in mid-April, and will subsequently receive data on a weekly basis during the 2018 season.
Zebra Technologies collects tracking information through sensors placed in players’ shoulder pads, per Pelissero, who says one NFL analyst believes the data could have “massive scouting potential.” “More new metrics,” said the analyst. “Understanding if certain fields are slower or faster. Fatigue and injury prevention. Seeing which players are really explosive but maybe don’t make plays because the scheme is bad.”
As Pelissero notes, some clubs have placed an increased importance on studying tracking data and hiring analysts to further delve into the information. Those teams will presumably have a leg up when the data is released on a league-wide scale, while clubs that haven’t invested in analytics have registered concern over the program. In 2016, for example, Kevin Clark of the Ringer discussed the activities of Zebra Technologies, and Panthers head coach Ron Rivera didn’t sound amenable to increasing data being made available.
“I want to get beat on the field. I don’t want to get beat because someone used a tool or technology — that is not coaching at that point,” Rivera said. “I work all week, I’m preparing and kicking your ass. All of the sudden you see a piece of live video and you figure out, ‘Oh crap, that’s what he’s doing.’ And how fair is that?”
PFR Originals: 2/11/18 – 2/18/18
The original content and analysis produced by the PFR staff during the past week:
- As the offseason progresses, PFR will assess each team by examining the top three needs on each respective NFL roster. We covered five organizations last week:
- Kirk Cousins won’t be back in Washington after the Redskins acquired fellow quarterback Alex Smith, so Sam Robinson asked PFR readers where the top free agent quarterback will end up in 2018. A number of clubs — including the Vikings, Browns, and Cardinals — could theoretically express interest, but the Broncos have thus far garnered the majority of the vote.
Lawrence Guy, Stefen Wisniewski Get 2018 Bonuses
Patriots defensive tackle Lawrence Guy and Eagles offensive lineman Stefen Wisniewski each missed out on playing time incentive bonuses during the 2017 campaign, but their respective clubs have now given them new bonuses for the 2018 season to account for the lost pay.
Guy was scheduled to earn a $500K bonus if he played in 55% of New England’s defensive snaps a year ago, but he only saw action on 54.8% of the team’s plays. As such, the Patriots have reworked Guy’s contract by giving him a $500K signing bonus for 2018, according to Mike Reiss of ESPN.com.
The Patriots have restructured contracts in such a manner before, as they made offensive tackle Sebastian Vollmer‘s deal in 2014 to make his incentives easier to attain, and gave tight end Rob Gronkowski more opportunities to earn extra cash in 2017. Guy, 27, inked a three-year pact with New England last spring, and subsequently posted 34 tackles and one sack during his debut Patriots season.
Wisniewski, meanwhile, failed to earn an $250K bonus after playing only 61.5% of the Eagles’ offensive snaps last season. Philadelphia, therefore, gave Wisniewski a $250K signing bonus this week, reports Mike Garafolo of NFL.com (Twitter link). The 28-year-old Wisniewski started 11 games during his second season with the Eagles, grading as the league’s No. 26 among 77 qualifiers, per Pro Football Focus.
West Notes: Rams, 49ers, Broncos, Raiders
Two Rams defenders — linebacker Mark Barron and Kayvon Webster — recently underwent shoulder surgery, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link). While Barron’s operation will allow him to be ready for training camp, Webster might not be available due to the torn Achilles which ended his 2017 campaign. Indeed, Webster had his shoulder procedure now so that he can rehabilitate both injuries at the same time, per Rapoport. Los Angeles will be counting on the 27-year-old Webster next season, as No. 1 cornerback Trumaine Johnson is scheduled to hit unrestricted free agency and won’t be franchise-tagged for a third consecutive campaign. Webster, who followed Rams defensive coordinator Wade Phillips from Denver last offseason, is entering his contract year.
Here’s more from the NFL’s two West divisions:
- Daniel Kilgore‘s new three-year deal with the 49ers is worth nearly $12MM and and contains $7MM in guarantees, tweets Rapoport. Kilgore, who was roughly a month away from becoming a free agent, said he accepted a team-friendly contract so San Francisco can ink quality free agents this offseason, per Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle (Twitter link). The 30-year-old Kilgore was a backup or injured for much of the first five years of his career, but he’s started 29 games for the 49ers over the past two seasons. For what it’s worth, Pro Football Focus ranked Kilgore as just the 23rd-best center in the league in 2017, but San Francisco is clearly higher on him than that finish would indicate.
- The Broncos and the Seahawks are two teams who could dictate the 2018 offseason, as Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com writes. While one recent report indicated Denver wideouts Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders are likely to stick on the club’s 2018 roster, other general mangers believe one or both will be available on the trade market. The Broncos are also trying to land a franchise quarterback and deal cornerback Aqib Talib, meaning they’ll be heavily involved in transactional machinations over the next few weeks. Seattle, meanwhile, is facing change at multiple areas along its vaunted defense, as injuries to Richard Sherman and Kam Chancellor could cloud the team’s plans.
- Free agent linebacker Michael Scherer recently worked out for the Raiders, reports veteran NFL reporter Howard Balzer (Twitter link). Scherer, a Missouri product, appeared in 26 games for the Tigers from 2014-15 before a knee injury ended his senior season after seven contests in 2016. He’s yet to land an NFL contract, but he did audition for the Bears and Giants last year.
Draft Notes: McGlinchey, Edmunds, R. Smith
The 2018 offensive tackle class is setting up to underwhelm, as Tony Pauline of DraftAnalyst.net observes in his latest look at this year’s prospects. So far, most NFL clubs only rate one tackle — Notre Dame’s Mike McGlinchey — as worthy of a first-round pick, and given that he may be the only available tackle capable of starting on day one, his stock figures to rise even more as draft day approaches. Meanwhile, Orlando Brown (Oklahoma) is viewed as a right tackle, while Connor Williams (Texas) is only on some teams’ guard boards. Further down the list, Western Michigan’s Chukwuma Okorafor, Pittsburgh’s Brian O’Neill, and UCLA’s Kolton Miller are considered Day 2 selections, while Martinas Rankin (Mississippi State) isn’t believed to be a left tackle at the pro level, per Pauline.
Here’s more on the 2018 draft, all courtesy of Pauline:
- With NFL teams searching for athletic linebackers, Tremaine Edmunds (Virginia Teach) and Leighton Vander Esch (Boise State) are likely to come off the board earlier than many expect, according to Pauline. In fact, Edmunds is rising up draft boards so quickly that he may become a top-12 selection. However, the scouting combine will prove to be an important test for Edmunds, per Pauline, who says the former Hokie lacks “quick change-of-direction skills.” Vander Esch, meanwhile, is being compared to former Bears linebacker and 2018 Hall of Famer Brian Urlacher, and most clubs believe he can be a three-down defender.
- While Edmund and Vander Esch are drawing rave reviews, fellow linebacker Roquan Smith is trending in the other direction, reports Pauline. Given that the pass game now dominates the pro ranks, Smith’s problems playing man coverage against opposing running backs and tight ends could prove troublesome. However, Pauline says Smith can be effective when used in zone coverage, which should make the Georgia product viable for a good number of NFL teams.
- Wake Forest edge rusher Duke Ejiofor underwent surgery for a torn labrum in late January, but Pauline doesn’t believe the operation will affect Ejiofor’s draft stock. Projected as a Day 2 pick, Ejiofor is expected to run a 4.75 40-yard dash despite sitting at nearly 270 pounds. Scouts are impressed by Ejiofor’s “explosiveness, power, and athleticism,” and given that his labrum injury occurred in October, teams can account for any drop in performance after that time.