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Author: Dallas Robinson

Gerald McCoy Not Generating Trade Interest

By | at April 3, 2019 6:36 pm

The Buccaneers are shopping defensive tackle Gerald McCoy but aren’t receiving much trade interest, according to Michael Lombardi of The Athletic (Twitter link). McCoy didn’t show up for the first day of Buccaneers’ offseason workouts on Monday, a possible indication that he’s not involved in the club’s plans going forward.

Tampa Bay is shifting to a 3-4 defense under new coordinator Todd Bowles, and the club may have concern that McCoy won’t fit into its new scheme. “He’s not as disruptive as he was four years ago,” head coach Bruce Arians said last week. “But he’s still pretty disruptive. He’s still a good player….I got to evaluate him. I mean, guys at a certain age, it’s different. Usually, the age they get paid the most and production (doesn’t) match. We’ve got to find that out.”

McCoy is still an effective player: in 2018, ranked fourth among defensive tackles with 21 quarterback hits in 2018 and finished as the NFL’s No. 28 interior defender, per Pro Football Focus. However, he’s now entering his age-31 campaign, hasn’t played a full 16-game season since 2013, and hasn’t graded as a top-10 interior defender since 2014.

McCoy’s contract is the true barrier to a possible trade, as it’s unclear if any club would be interested in taking on his $13MM base salary for the 2019 season. He’s under contract through 2021, with cap charges north of $12MM in each of the next two years. If the Bucs trade or release McCoy, they’d clear his entire $13MM figure from their books, which is critical given the team ranks last in the NFL in available cap space (~$1.795MM).

8 comments Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Raiders To Host RB Robert Turbin

By | at April 3, 2019 5:37 pm

The Raiders are scheduled to work out free agent running back Robert Turbin on Thursday, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link).

Oakland is in the process of revamping its backfield, as both Marshawn Lynch and Doug Martin are currently in free agent limbo. Last week, the Raiders agreed to a one-year deal with Isaiah Crowell, who looks to be the favorite for early-down touches. Restricted free agent Jalen Richard — tendered at the second-round level — will likely handle passing down work, while DeAndre Washington, Chris Warren, and James Butler comprise the rest of Oakland’s running back depth chart.

Turbin, 29, started the 2018 campaign on the Colts’ suspended list after being handed a four-game performance-enhancing drug ban. The former Seahawk, Brown, and Cowboy was activated in October, but didn’t have much a role behind Marlon Mack, who’d taken hold of Indianapolis’ starting running job during the first month of the season. Turbin appeared in only two games and posted just four carries before the Colts cut him in early November.

If signed by the Raiders, Turbin would serve in a veteran backup role and likely wouldn’t be counted on as a focal point of Oakland’s offense. He hasn’t topped 50 attempts or four yards per carry since 2014, and averaged a paltry 3.1 yards per touch during his three-year run with the Colts. On the plus side, Football Outsiders in 2016 charted Turbin as one of the more effective running backs who handled fewer than 100 carries.

1 comment Las Vegas Raiders

Browns May Have Interest In Morgan Burnett

By | at March 31, 2019 4:54 pm

The Browns are a team to watch for safety Morgan Burnett if/when he’s released by the Steelers, according to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com (Twitter link).

Burnett asked for his release in January after playing on only 37% of the Steelers’ snaps during his first year in Pittsburgh, and it sounds like the club is willing to grant his request. However, general manager Kevin Colbert said last week that he’ll first attempt to trade Burnett before cutting him loose. So far, the Steelers haven’t had any luck moving Burnett, who has two years and $9MM in base salaries remaining on his contract.

As Fowler notes, Cleveland makes sense a potential landing spot for Burnett on multiple levels. First, many of the Browns’ decision-makers, including general manager John Dorsey, executives Eliot Wolf and Alonzo Highsmith, and defensive passing game coordinator Joe Whitt, were in Green Bay when Burnett was originally drafted. Second, Cleveland is in the market for a safety to pair with Damarious Randall after trading Jabrill Peppers to the Giants in order to land Odell Beckham Jr.

Burnett was a full-time starter from 2011-17, but he’s now entering his age-30 campaign and has missed a total of nine games ov over the past two seasons. Last year, Burnett appeared in 11 games but made only two starts, posting 30 tackles and six pass defensed while ranking as the NFL’s No. 53 safety among 93 qualifiers, per Pro Football Focus.

1 comment Cleveland Browns Pittsburgh Steelers

Dolphins Will Try To Trade Reshad Jones?

By | at March 31, 2019 3:57 pm

The Dolphins have already parted ways with a number of veterans as they head into a rebuilding season in 2019, and Miami could next choose to move on from safety Reshad Jones. As Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald writes, the Dolphins are likely to place Jones on the trade block in advance of the regular season.

Thanks to the extension he signed in 2017, Jones isn’t a realistic candidate for release right now. He’s due more than $13MM in guaranteed base salary for the upcoming campaign, and given that three years of signing bonus proration would immediately accelerate onto the Dolphins’ salary cap if Jones is cut, he’s not going to be released. If Miami parts ways with Jones before June 1, it would take on $25.15MM in dead money, nearly $8MM more than it will cost to keep Jones on the club’s roster.

Trading Jones remains a possibility, however. In the event of a trade, guaranteed base salaries become the responsibility of the acquiring team. If the Dolphins are able to deal Jones before June 1, they’d incur $12.135MM in dead money but open up more than $5MM worth of new space. After June 1? Miami would see just $4.045MM in dead money and create ~$13MM in cap space (with roughly $8MM of dead money being moved into 2020).

Of course, it’s unclear whether any club would have interest in acquiring Jones, especially given his hefty 2019 salary. Pro Football Focus ranked Jones as the No. 33 safety among 93 qualifiers in 2019, but he’s also coming off surgery for a partially torn labrum. As such, Salguero speculates the Dolphins will likely be able to reap only a late-round pick in 2020 in exchange for Jones.

Trading Jones would not only clear cap space for the Dolphins, but allow the team to play 2018 first-round pick Minkah Fitzpatrick at safety, which is where they reportedly prefer to position the versatile defensive back. If Jones is gone, Fitzpatrick would line up alongside T.J. McDonald in Miami’s secondary.

2 comments Miami Dolphins

PFR Originals: 3/24/19 – 3/31/19

By | at March 31, 2019 2:48 pm

The original content and analysis produced by the PFR staff during the past week:

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T.J. Lang Retires From NFL

By | at March 29, 2019 1:12 pm

Former Lions and Packers guard T.J. Lang has retired from the NFL after ten years in the game. The news was first reported by Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press and Lang confirmed his retirement via social media on Friday. 

“For the past 3,624 days I have woken up with one goal in mind: ‘How can I be a better pro football player than I was yesterday?’ Well, those days are now over,” Lang wrote. “The only thing I ask myself today is how can I be a better husband, father, son, brother, [and] friend. I will forever cherish the great times that I had playing this game.”

In his farewell address, Lang thanked the Packers for his development and the Lions for allowing him to finish his career near his friends and family in Michigan.

“Thank you Green Bay Packers for taking a chance on a 21-year-old kid and giving me the opportunity and patience to grow into a man and reach my full potential as a football player. Thank you Detroit Lions for granting me a chance to finish my career in the place that I call home,” said Lang. “It would’ve been impossible to play this game for ten years without great teammates, coaches, trainers, strength staff, doctors, agents, fans, family, and friends. I thank each and every one of you for the unwavering support over the years. Whatever the next chapter holds, I hope to stay around the game in some capacity. Its been an amazing ride. Thank you all for being a part of it.”

Lang, 31, was released by the Lions earlier this month after spending the past two seasons in Detroit. It’s not a total surprise Lang has decided to hang up his cleats, as he’s dealt with a myriad of injuries throughout his career. Lang ended the 2018 campaign on injured reserve with a neck injury, and last season suffered the sixth known concussion of his playing career.

While Lang only played in 19 of a possible 32 games while in the Motor City, he was relatively durable during his eight-year career with the Packers. After becoming a full-time starter in 2011, Lang proceeded to appear in 91 games over the next six seasons, missing only five contests during that span.

A former fourth-round pick, Lang earned two Pro Bowl nods (one with Green Bay in 2016, the other with Detroit in 2017), and also won a Super Bowl XLV ring with the Packers. Lang wasn’t able to complete the three-year, $28.5MM contract he signed with the Lions in 2017, but he’ll still end his playing days with more than $43MM in career earnings.

PFR extends it best wishes to Lang and his family as he enters his post-playing career.

5 comments Detroit Lions Green Bay Packers Newsstand Transactions

Extra Points: AAF, Texans, Colts, Ravens

By | at March 27, 2019 9:49 pm

Is the Alliance of American Football in trouble? Potentially, as majority league owner Tom Dundon explains to Kevin Allen and Mike Jones of USA Today. “If the [NFL] players union is not going to give us young players, we can’t be a development league,” said Dundon. “We are looking at our options, one of which is discontinuing the league.” The AAF wants the NFLPA to allow active NFL players — especially those on practice squads — to participate in the developmental league. The union, however, is worried that not only would such an arrangement would violate the collective bargaining agreement, but put said players of in danger of being injured in non-NFL-sanctioned action.

Here’s more from around the NFL:

  • Matt Kalil received a $2.25MM signing bonus and a $3.25MM base salary as part of his one-year deal with the Texans, according to Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle. Currently projected as Houston’ starting left tackle, Kalil can also earn $125K in gameday active roster bonuses, which could add an additional $2MM to his deal. If he’s healthy and active for each of the Texans’ 16 regular season games, Kalil will take home $7.5MM for the 2019 season. Kalil’s health isn’t a sure thing, of course, given that he missed all of last year with a knee injury.
  • Colts owner Jim Irsay attempted to hire Peyton Manning for a front office role, first in 2016 and again in early 2017 after firing general manager Ryan Grigson, and those conversations actually went further than previously indicated. “It did get close with Peyton,” Irsay told Zak Keefer of the Indianapolis Star. “I wouldn’t say super serious close, but enough to kick the tires and say, ‘What are you thinking?’ Because my counsel is there for him whether he comes to the Colts or chooses to do something else. There was definitely some interest on both sides.” Manning has been loosely tied to several front office jobs since retiring after the 2015 season, but he’s thus far resisted every overture.
  • The Ravens are still interested in adding a “shifty, third-down, home-run-type” running back even after signing Mark Ingram, head coach John Harbaugh said this week, per Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun. Ingram received a three-year deal to leave New Orleans and is the favorite to lead Baltimore in touches, but Gus Edwards, Kenneth Dixon, Tyler Ervin, and De’Lance Turner could also factor into the club’s backfield. The draft could present the Ravens with the opportunity to bring in another back, while free agents who might Harbaugh’s criteria include Ty Montgomery (whom Baltimore traded for last season), Bilal Powell, and Corey Grant.
  • T.J. Weist has been named the Ravens‘ assistant special teams coach, the club announced. Weist, a longtime coach at the collegiate level, originally joined Baltimore as an offensive analyst in 2018.
13 comments Alliance Of American Football Baltimore Ravens Houston Texans Indianapolis Colts

AFC East Notes: Pats, Mayo, Kraft, Bills, Fins

By | at March 27, 2019 9:04 pm

Longtime Patriots linebacker Jerod Mayo will return to the club as linebackers coach, according to Tom Curran of NBC Sports Boston. Mayo, 33, retired at the conclusion of the 2015 campaign, and expressed no interest in coaching at the time. Viewed as a cerebral player with a strong work ethic, Mayo appeared in 93 games for New England after being selected 10th overall in the 2008 draft. He’ll be replacing Brian Flores, who was not only the Patriots’ LBs coach but de facto defensive coordinator before taking the Dolphins’ head coaching position this offseason.

Here’s more from the AFC East:

  • Bills general manager Brandon Beane denied that Buffalo was ever close to acquiring wide receiver Antonio Brown from the Steelers, as Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk writes. “We had productive talks with [GM] Kevin Colbert, with Pittsburgh, but one of the things I made clear with Kevin early on is we would have to be comfortable with where the compensation is going to have to be with AB’s representatives, and that was never something that we were even close on,” Beane said. Brown, of course, was subsequently traded to the Raiders for third- and fifth-round picks, and received a new contract with additional guarantees.
  • The NFL’s personal conduct policy will apply to Patriots owner Robert Kraft just as it applies to players, commissioner Roger Goodell told Jourdan Rodrigue of the Charlotte Observer (Twitter link). Goodell stopped short of declaring Kraft will be suspended, indicating a need for all the facts of Kraft’s solicitation case to come out. Kraft has rejected a plea deal from Florida prosecutors, and earlier this week pleaded not guilty to two misdemeanors.
  • Although the Dolphins haven’t publicly declared how they’ll use former first-round pick Minkah Fitzpatrick in 2019, sources tell Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald that the Dolphins prefer to deploy Fitzpatrick as a safety. Fitzpatrick, the 11th overall selection in last year’s draft, can play both cornerback and safety, but Miami already has two safeties — Reshad Jones and T.J. McDonald in place. If Fitzpatrick is deployed more in the back end, McDonald could conceivably see action as a sub-package linebacker.
14 comments Buffalo Bills Miami Dolphins New England Patriots

Checking In On 2019’s Restricted Free Agents

By | at March 27, 2019 8:26 pm

The deadline for NFL restricted free agents to sign offer sheets with rival clubs is April 19, so RFAs have roughly three weeks to discuss deals with other teams. So far, only one RFA — running back Malcolm Brown — has inked an offer sheet, but the Rams matched the terms of the pact, meaning he’ll head back to Los Angeles.

As a reminder, RFA tenders are named based on the draft choice compensation they demand. If a team gives an offer sheet to a restricted free agent who was tendered at the second-round level, for example, and that player’s original club declines to match the contract terms, the new team must sacrifice a second-round pick in order to sign the player. The lowest tender will give the original club a draft choice equal to that which was originally used to draft the player (undrafted players tendered at the original round level, therefore, require no draft compensation).

In total, more than 30 restricted free agents have been tendered this offseason. Let’s take a look at where things stand with those RFAs:

Signed to offer sheet:

First-round tender ($4.4047MM):

  • None

Second-round tender ($3.095MM):

Original round / right of first refusal tender ($2.025MM):

Tendered, then extended:

Tendered, then signed to new deal:

2 comments PFR Originals
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