PFR Originals: 4/24/16 – 5/1/16
The original content and analysis produced by the PFR staff during the past week:
- All 253 NFL picks are now in the books after a wild weekend that included plenty of drama. Take a look back at all the action — we’ve listed every pick in the draft both by round and by team.
- Before the draft, PFR’s Rob DiRe analyzed every position in the draft, breaking down the top 15 players at each position on both sides of the ball. Even though the draft has come to a close, Rob’s rankings and writeups are still excellent reading material as rookies try to make their impressions in training camp. Check out the lists here: Top 2016 Offensive Prospects and Top 2016 Defensive Prospects.
- Heading into the weekend, I took at stab at projecting the first round in PFR’s 2016 NFL Mock Draft v2.0.
- After Sam Bradford requested for a trade out of Philadelphia, I took at look at some potential landing spots for the embattled Eagles quarterback.
Jaguars Agree To Sign Nine UDFAs
The Jaguars announced that they’ve agreed to terms with nine undrafted free agents:
- Briean Boddy-Calhoun, CB, Minnesota
- Braedon Bowman, TE, South Alabama
- Rashod Hill, T, Southern Miss
- Mike Hilton, CB, Ole Miss ($15K base salary guarantee, per Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle)
- Jaden Oberkrom, K, TCU
- Jamal Robinson, WR, Louisiana-Lafayette
- Pearce Slater, DT, San Diego State
- Jarrod Wilson, S, Michigan ($15K base salary guarantee and $5K signing bonus, per Wilson)
- Max Wittek, QB, Hawaii
Week In Review: 4/24/16 – 5/1/16
NFL Draft:
- After the Rams picked Jared Goff with the first overall pick, and the Eagles selected Carson Wentz No. 2 overall, Laremy Tunsil‘s fall to No. 13 following a social media snafu became arguably the biggest story of the weekend. Other headlines included the Titans trading back up to No. 8 for offensive tackle Jack Conklin, the Broncos moving up to select quarterback Paxton Lynch, and the Cowboys reportedly considering trades up to acquire a long-term franchise QB. We’ve posted the complete results of the draft both by round and by team, and you can follow all the weekend’s news by visiting our 2016 NFL Draft page.
Headlines:
- An appeals court reinstated Patriots quarterback Tom Brady‘s four-game suspension — Brady is said to be mulling oer options with his legal team.
- Sam Bradford has requested a trade out of Philadelphia, but the Eagles are unlikely to honor his demand.
- Dolphins safety Reshad Jones is holding out in the hopes of landing an extension.
- The Raiders seem to be one step closer to relocating to Las Vegas.
Signed:
- Bears – Brian Hoyer, QB (link)
- Broncos – Garrett Graham, TE (link)
- Chiefs – Mike Williams, WR (link)
Released:
- Bengals – A.J. Hawk, LB (link)
- Chargers – Mike Scifres, P (link)
Traded:
- Browns – acquired CB Jamar Taylor from the Dolphins in exchange for a 2016 seventh-round pick
2017 Fifth-Year Options:
- Giants – Justin Pugh, OL (exercised)
- Lions – Ziggy Ansah, DE (exercised)
Steelers Sign 10 UDFAs
The Steelers announced that they’ve agreed to terms with 10 undrafted rookie free agents. One UDFA — tight end Jay Rome — was also announced as part of the Chargers’ UDFA class, so there’s obviously been some confusion on the part of either Pittsburgh or San Diego. We’ll include Rome here for now, but he might end up wearing blue and gold.
- Johnny Maxey, DL, Mars Hill
- Tyriq McCord, LB, Miami ($7K bonus, per Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle)
- Will Monday, P, Duke
- Giorgio Newberry, DL, Florida State
- Christian Powell, RB Colorado
- David Reeves, TE Duke ($2K bonus, per Wilson)
- Jay Rome, TE, Georgia
- Quinton Schooley, OL NC State
- Canaan Severin, WR, Virginia
- Devaunte Sigler, DL, Jacksonville State
Extra Points: Cowboys, Lynch, Jaguars, Falcons
The Cowboys reportedly made an effort to trade back into the first round to take a shot at drafting quarterback Paxton Lynch, and though the club ultimately stayed put, Jerry Jones conveyed regret that Dallas didn’t make the deal. “I probably should have overpaid,” says Jones, according to Drew Davidson of the Fort Worth Star Telegram (Twitter link).
Here’s the latest on the draft as the undrafted free agent signing frenzy gets underway…
- The Jaguars have a fifth-year option decision to make, as the club will have the choice of extending left tackle Luke Joeckel‘s contract through the 2017 season. Jacksonville GM Dave Caldwell says he’ll speak with Joeckel about the option on Monday, according to Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times-Union (Twitter link).
- “Heck no” was Falcons head coach Dan Quinn‘s response when asked if receiver Devin Hester had been cleared for any activity after undergoing toe surgery in January, reports Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com. GM Thomas Dimitroff said in February that Atlanta will re-evaluate Hester’s status with the club when he’s fully healthy.
- Pass rush was an area of need for the Colts, but the prospects that appealed to GM Ryan Grigson came off the board early, he tells Mike Chappelle of FOX59 (Twitter link), adding that Indianapolis wasn’t going to allow need to trump its board.
North Notes: Kessler, Browns, Harrison, Bears
The Browns reportedly did not promise a starting job to Robert Griffin III, and it sound as though rookie third-round pick Cody Kessler has a shot to win the quarterback job in Cleveland. “We truly believe in competition here,” Browns executive Sashi Brown said, according to Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com. “We’re realistic about where our roster is at that slot and we want to find a long-term answer. I think it’s as critical for everything we’re going to do here.”
Here’s the latest from the North divisions…
- The Browns did not know cornerback Jamar Taylor would be available ahead of the draft, said Brown, according to Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal (Twitter link). Cleveland acquired Taylor today for a seventh-round pick.
- Even if the Bears had drafted a quarterback today, they still would have signed backup quarterback Brian Hoyer, GM Ryan Pace told reporters, including Adam Jahns of the Chicago Sun Times (Twitter link). Chicago wanted a veteran behind Jay Cutler, hence the signing of Hoyer to a one-year, $2MM deal.
- Steelers GM Kevin Colbert and head coach Mike Tomlin both expect James Harrison to return for the 2016, per Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazetter (Twitter links). “He’s working out awful hard for a ‘retired’ guy,” said Tomlin.
- Defensive tackle Vernon Butler contends the Lions told him they would draft him if he were available with the No. 16 pick, but Detroit ultimately chose offensive tackle Taylor Decker. Lions GM Bob Quinn denies that his club promised anything to Butler, who was chosen at No. 30 by the Panthers. Justin Rogers of MLive.com has the full details.
Eagles Notes: Bradford, Cox, Front Office
The Eagles haven’t had any contact with Sam Bradford since the quarterback requested a trade, as head coach Doug Pederson tells Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link). Bradford, of course, asked out Philadelphia when it became clear that the Eagles would be drafting QB Carson Wentz No.2 overall. Even after the Broncos selected Paxton Lynch — a choice that seemingly knocked Denver out the veteran quarterback market — the Eagles still have yet to hear from Bradford, per McLane.
Here’s the latest out of Philadelphia…
- The Eagles will take a “step back” after the draft before resuming their search for a head of personnel, says de facto GM Howie Roseman (Twitter link via McLane). Philadelphia reportedly halted its search for a personnel chief in Feburary, but did apparently offer the job to former scout and current NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah.
- Defensive tackle Fletcher Cox is a “huge part” of the Eagles’ future, and the club plans to keep him around for the long haul, says Roseman (Twitter link via the Eagles’ website). Reports two weeks ago indicated that Cox and the Eagles are closing in on a long-term deal that contains more than $52MM in guarantees.
- Roseman thought the Eagles might be able to address the defensive tackle position in the draft due to the depth of this year’s class, but the board didn’t fall in a way that worked out for Philadelphia, tweets Zach Berman of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Chargers Sign 20 Undrafted Free Agents
The Chargers have become the first club to announce its list of undrafted rookie free agent signings. San Diego has signed the following 20 UDFAs:
- Mike Bercovici, QB, Arizona State
- Terrell Chestnut, CB, West Virginia
- Kenneth Farrow, RB, Houston
- Tyler Johnstone, T, Oregon
- Sebastian Johansson, G, Marshall
- Jamaal Jones, WR, Montana
- Chris Landrum, LB, Jacksonville State
- Mike McQueen, G, Ohio ($5K signing bonus, per Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle)
- Adrian McDonald, S, Houston
- Tyler Marcordes, LB, Georgia Tech
- Spencer Pulley, C, Vanderbilt
- Shaq Petteway, LB, West Virginia
- Zeth Ramsay, T, Colorado Mesa
- Deandre Reaves, WR, Marshall
- Jay Rome, TE, Georgia (ultimately signed instead with Steelers)
- Larry Scott, CB, Oregon State
- Chris Swain, RB, Navy
- Dominique Williams, WR, Washington State
- Trevor Williams, CB, Penn State
- Carlos Wray, DE, Duke
West Notes: Rams, Austin, Broncos, Seahawks
The Rams are expected to pick up their 2017 fifth-year option for wide receiver Tavon Austin, but Los Angeles hopes to sign Austin to a long-term extension before the ’17 season rolls around, per Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com (Twitter link). We heard in February that the Rams are intent on extending both Austin and linebacker Alec Ogletree. Bookmark our 2017 Fifth-Year Option tracker.
The draft is still dominating today’s coverage, but life goes on the NFL world. Let’s dive into some more notes from the NFL’s two West divisions…
- Like the Rams, the Broncos must decide on a fifth-year option — in Denver’s case, it’s for defensive tackle Sylvester Williams, who would command a $6.757MM salary in 2017. Broncos GM John Elway said he’ll make a decision on Williams on Monday, but called the $6MM+ figure a “pretty big number” (links via Troy Renck of the Denver Post and Jeff Legwold of ESPN.com).
- Though the Broncos‘ next offseason focus will obviously be coming to terms on a long-term deal with Von Miller, Elway says the club also wants to work something out with receiver Emmanuel Sanders and linebacker Brandon Marshall, tweets Renck. Both Sanders and Marshall are both entering the final years of their respective contracts, and Sanders, for his part, recently expressed a desire to stay with Denver.
- Former Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch still hasn’t filed his retirement papers, but Pete Carroll thinks Lynch is committed to remaining retired, according to Sheil Kapadia of ESPN.com (Twitter link). “Your guess is as good as mine,” said GM John Schneider when asked about Lynch’s plans (Twitter link via Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times).
- Both Carroll and Schneider said the Seahawks are working on finding another quarterback, and are still speaking with free agent Tarvaris Jackson, tweets Condotta. For what it’s worth, the Seattle duo made those comments before reportedly agreeing to terms with former TCU QB Trevone Boykin.
Bears To Sign Brian Hoyer
7:19pm: Hoyer’s one-year deal is worth $2MM, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link).
6:18pm: The Bears have agreed to sign quarterback Brian Hoyer, according to Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (Twitter link). A report earlier this week indicated that Hoyer was likely to wait until after the draft to find a new home, and it appears he’s done just that, agreeing to terms with Chicago less than an hour after the conclusion of the draft. It’ll be a one-year pact for Hoyer, tweets Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle.
Hoyer didn’t want for suitors after he was released by the Texans earlier this month, as both the Broncos and Jets expressed interest in adding Hoyer to their respective quarterback rooms. Hoyer took visits with both clubs, but both Denver and New York drafted quarterbacks — Paxton Lynch and Christian Hackenberg, respectively — in the first two rounds of the draft. As Ian Rapoport of NFL.com notes (Twitter link), Hoyer and his camp were waiting for the Broncos’ and Jets’ QB situations to clear up before deciding where to sign. New York, in fact, was not in the mix for Hoyer as he neared a final decision, tweets Rich Cimini of ESPN.com.
The Bears signing of Hoyer doesn’t come completely out of left field, as a report earlier this month linked the 30-year-old signal-caller to Chicago. The Bears, in fact, were one of three clubs that had offers out to Hoyer, joining the Steelers and Cowboys as a team that had interest in adding Hoyer as a backup quarterback. Hoyer will head to Windy City to back up Jay Cutler, and he’ll reunite with Bears offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains, who was the Browns’ QB coach when Hoyer started 13 games in 2014.
Hoyer posted the best season of his career in 2015, completing 60% of his passes for more than 2,600 yards while throwing 19 touchdowns against just seven interceptions. After leading the Texans to a 5-4 record in his nine starts, Hoyer’s streak of good play ended in the first round of the playoffs, when he threw four interceptions as Houston was shut out by the Chiefs.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.