Dolphins Fire OC Bill Lazor
After the team’s latest disappointing loss on Sunday to the Jets, the Dolphins have made another change to their coaching staff, reports Thayer Evans of SI.com (Twitter link). According to Thayer, Miami has fired offensive coordinator Bill Lazor. Ian Rapoport of NFL.com confirms the decision, tweeting that “massive changes” are on the way for the Dolphins.
Having replaced head coach Joe Philbin and defensive coordinator Kevin Coyle earlier in the year, the Dolphins have now fired their head coach and their coordinators on both sides of the ball since the regular season began. As such, many of the “massive changes” alluded to by Rapoport seem to have already taken place, but perhaps the NFL.com reporter is suggesting that the roster will also be undergoing a significant overhaul in the near future.
At the very least, given the results for interim head coach Dan Campbell since his hot start, it seems likely that the Dolphins will hire an external candidate for the permanent head coaching job in the offseason, and that new coach will likely bring in his own coordinators and assistants from outside the organization as well.
As for Lazor, a report last week indicated that at least one Dolphins official had “privately questioned” whether the OC’s system was suited for quarterback Ryan Tannehill, who has struggled this season after signing a long-term extension. Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald noted at the time that an offensive coordinator change wouldn’t surprise anyone, and just a few days later, the team has indeed made that change.
With Lazor out of the picture, quarterbacks coach Zac Taylor will take over Miami’s OC job for the rest of the 2015 season, tweets Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald.
Jets Waive Quinton Coples
SUNDAY, 11:07am: Per Rich Cimini of ESPNNewYork.com, Coples was involved in an incident on the Jets’ return flight from Houston last Saturday, which ultimately sealed his fate with the club. The nature of the incident is unclear, but this report adds another layer to what was initially painted as a simple lack of schematic fit. Bowles has clearly established himself as a no-nonsense coach during his first year at the helm, and Cimini writes that his decision to waive Coples rattled the locker room. Bob Glauber of Newsday agrees and believes the move increased the team’s respect for Bowles.
MONDAY, 11:10am: The Jets have made a somewhat surprising roster move, announcing today in a press release that they have parted ways with former first-round pick Quinton Coples, placing the outside linebacker on waivers. If Coples goes unclaimed, he’ll become an unrestricted free agent tomorrow.
Coples, selected 16th overall in the 2012 draft, had his best year as a pro in 2014, but even that amounted to just 35 tackles and 6.5 sacks, modest totals for a first-round pass rusher. Since Todd Bowles took over as the Jets’ head coach, Coples has become increasingly marginalized. As Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News observed this morning (via Twitter), the 25-year-old played just five snaps in Sunday’s loss to the Texans, and clearly wasn’t a fit in the current defensive scheme.
The Jets had picked up Coples’ fifth-year option for 2016 back in April, but his $7.751MM salary for next year was guaranteed for injury only, so New York won’t have to pay it. If another team decides to claim Coples off waivers, that club would have to take on his current contract, including that option. As such, it would be somewhat risky to claim him and play him for the remainder of this season, since that 2016 salary could become fully guaranteed if he suffers a major injury. The linebacker’s $1.515MM salary for 2015 is also fully guaranteed, so a club claiming him would be on the hook for the final six weeks at that rate.
While Coples’ performance in 2015 won’t necessarily earn him another shot right away, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him generate some interest, particularly if he clears waivers and becomes a free agent. Considering he played under Rex Ryan for the first three years of his NFL career, Coples may appeal to the Bills.
Rams Sign Zach Hocker
4:39pm: To open up a spot on the roster for Hocker, the Rams have cut tight end Justice Cunningham, tweets Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post.
1:08pm: With Greg Zuerlein questionable to play in Sunday’s game against the Bengals, the Rams are signing free agent kicker Zach Hocker as an insurance policy, reports Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter). Zuerlein has been battling a groin injury, and his availability for Sunday remains unclear.
Hocker, a seventh-round pick in the 2014 draft, earned his first starting job this year in New Orleans. However, the 24-year-old was a little shaky during his first six games as the team’s kicker, resulting in his release in October. Hocker missed four of his 13 field goal tries, including three from less than 50 yards, and failed to convert one of his extra-point attempts as well. After becoming a free agent, Hocker had workouts with the Jets, Jaguars, and Giants.
As for Zuerlein, even when he’s been healthy, he’s been up and down this season. The fourth-year veteran has missed eight field goals and an extra point in 10 games, and is converting a career-low 65.2% of his field goal attempts.
An injury is also forcing the Rams to make a change at a more important position, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com, who tweets that Nick Foles will return to the starting lineup with Case Keenum still recovering from a concussion. No roster move should be required at QB though, since Sean Mannion remains on the roster as a backup option.
Seahawks Activate Jeremy Lane, Cut Bryce Brown
As expected, the Seahawks have activated cornerback Jeremy Lane off the physically unable to perform list in advance of their Week 12 game, the team announced today in a press release. To create room on the 53-man roster for Lane, the club has waived running back Bryce Brown for the second time in the last seven days.
Lane, 25, last saw the field in the Super Bowl, when he broke his arm and tore his ACL on an interception return, forcing him to undergo multiple offseason surgeries. The former sixth-round pick has appeared in 35 regular season contests and another eight playoff games since joining the Seahawks in 2012, but that Super Bowl interception was the first of his career — it turned out to be a costly one.
As for Brown, the former Eagles and Bills running back has now had two stints on Seattle’s roster this season, but neither has resulted in any game action for him. This time around, he wasn’t even on the Seahawks’ roster for a game, having been re-signed on Tuesday and waived today.
Minor NFL Transactions: 11/28/15
As teams finalize their rosters for Week 12 games, we’ll round up Saturday’s latest minor transactions from around the NFL right here:
- In addition to making the promotion of tight end Asante Cleveland (reported yesterday) official, the Patriots have also moved linebacker Darius Fleming from their practice squad to the 53-man roster, cutting safety Dewey McDonald to make room, tweets Mike Reiss of ESPN.com. McDonald’s stint on the active roster didn’t last long — he was just signed two days ago.
Earlier updates:
- The Chiefs have promoted wide receiver Frankie Hammond to the 53-man roster, waiving cornerback Saalim Hakim in a corresponding move, tweets Terez A. Paylor of the Kansas City Star. Hammond returned 15 punts for the Chiefs in 2014, so he may get a shot at that job this weekend with De’Anthony Thomas sidelined.
- The Dolphins have made a change on defense, cutting linebacker Mike Hull and replacing him on the 53-man roster with safety Shamiel Gary, who received a promotion from the practice squad (Twitter link). If he’s active on Sunday, Gary would get the opportunity to appear in his first regular season NFL game.
- As expected, the Titans have elevated outside linebacker Yannik Cudjoe-Virgil to their active roster, waiving wide receiver Rico Richardson to create an opening, tweets Jim Wyatt of TitansOnline.com. Head coach Mike Mularkey had indicated on Friday that Cudjoe-Virgil was in line for a promotion from the practice squad.
- The Bears have swapped one long snapper for another, signing Patrick Scales and waiving Thomas Gafford, per Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune (Twitter link). Having been with the team all season, Gafford is eligible to collect the rest of his 2015 salary in termination pay.
Sheldon Richardson Talks Future With Jets
With Muhammad Wilkerson nearing free agency and Sheldon Richardson about to become extension-eligible, the widely-held belief around the NFL is that the Jets can’t – or won’t – lock up both players to big, long-term deals. That fact isn’t lost on Richardson himself, who acknowledged in a conversation with Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News that either he or Wilkerson could be heading out of New York within the next year or two.
“We both understand the situation,” Richardson said. “It’s his hometown. If he gets [an extension] and I don’t — I got one more year left. You never know what happens after that. I wouldn’t mind him staying in his own hometown. If I get the boot, then so [be it]… but you never know. Mo’s having a Pro Bowl season right now. His résumé is going to be a little bit cleaner than mine.”
Richardson’s reference to Wilkerson’s résumé as “cleaner” – rather than “stronger” – hints at the the off-field issues that have plagued the 2013 first-round pick, who received a four-game marijuana suspension earlier this year, and was arrested on alleged misdemeanor traffic violations. Richardson may face another suspension for that arrest, though he tells Mehta that he thinks he’ll “have a strong case” for avoiding another ban.
More importantly, Richardson is intent on making a greater effort going forward to stay out of trouble off the field. The defensive lineman, who turns 25 on Sunday, tells Mehta that he was affected by the reaction of friends and family after his arrest this year.
“I want to set a good example,” Richardson said. “I made a few mistakes. I’m not a bad person. I just made two bad choices in my life. … My little cousins, nieces and nephews are telling me, ‘Come on, Sheldon. You’re the one in the family. You’re letting us down.’ I don’t consider myself a hero, but some kids do look at me that way. It got to me a little bit.”
Even if the Jets ultimately have to decide between Wilkerson and Richardson, the team doesn’t necessarily have to make that call during the coming offseason. The franchise tag is available for Wilkerson, and if the club exercises its fifth-year option on Richardson, he’d be under contract through 2017.
2016 Cap Outlook: Baltimore Ravens
Through the 2015 NFL season, Pro Football Rumors has been looking ahead to the 2016 offseason, gauging the salary cap situation for a number of teams with significant cap charges for next season. The cap for 2016 hasn’t been set yet, but we can still assess the salary commitments made by a club and determine whether or not that club will be in good financial shape going forward.
In addition to evaluating each team’s overall cap situation, we’ll focus in on a few key players who may be candidates to be extended, restructured, or released by their current teams. These lists aren’t comprehensive, and depending on a player’s 2015 performance and health, he could drop off one of these lists – or be added to one – as the season goes on. For now though, these are some players to watch.
Using data from Over The Cap, we’re making our way through NFL teams in order of total salary commitments for 2016. Today’s team is the Ravens, who currently have the sixth-highest total for their ’16 cap.
Let’s dive in….
Top 10 cap hits for 2016:
- Joe Flacco, QB: $28,550,000
- Jimmy Smith, CB: $9,600,000
- Lardarius Webb, CB: $9,500,000
- Eugene Monroe, LT: $8,700,000
- Marshal Yanda, RG: $7,985,882
- Terrell Suggs, OLB: $7,450,000
- Elvis Dumervil, OLB: $7,375,000
- Dennis Pitta, TE: $7,200,000
- Jeremy Zuttah, C: $4,607,206
- Will Hill, S: $4,590,000
Current 2016 cap number for top 51 players: $144,588,978
Flacco’s cap hit for 2016 is so massive compared to the rest of the Ravens’ figures that the next three highest cap numbers combined don’t even match it. There’s little question that Flacco’s deal must be addressed this offseason, but the fact that Baltimore doesn’t have any other eight-digit salaries for 2016 is a plus. It gives the team the flexibility to explore a couple different approaches with Flacco — either reduce his cap charge for 2016 significantly, potentially creating all the space you need for the year, or only reduce it a little, avoiding increasing his future cap numbers too much.
Candidates for extension:
- Joe Flacco, QB
- Will Hill, S
If he played any other position, Flacco would be a candidate for a restructure, rather than an extension, since he’ll still have three years left on his contract heading into the winter. But with cap hits of $28.55MM, $31.15MM, and $24.75MM, the best way to make the contract manageable in the future for the Ravens is to tack on a couple extra years, spreading a new signing bonus out over the longest stretch possible.
Flacco’s torn ACL will make negotiations a little more interesting this offseason, but we’ve seen quarterbacks return successfully from that injury in the past, and it’s not as if Flacco relies heavily on his ability to run. The veteran signal-caller is currently set to earn a base salary of $18MM next year, so – between guaranteed salary and bonus money – the Ravens will have to exceed that figure on any new deal. It’ll be an interesting situation to watch.
Elsewhere, Hill is on track to earn a fraction of what Flacco will make in 2016, but his performance in the secondary since joining the Ravens has been excellent. He’ll be due for a raise, so it might be tricky for Baltimore to lower his $4.59MM cap number at all, but some creative financing would at least help the team avoid increasing that figure.
Candidates for restructure:
- Daryl Smith, ILB
- Terrell Suggs, OLB
- Lardarius Webb, CB
Out of this trio of players, Webb – who has been solid, but not spectacular this season – looks like the most logical candidate for a restructure — with Jimmy Smith‘s extension set to kick in, I don’t know that the Ravens will want to pay a $5.5MM salary for Webb, whose $9.5MM cap hit projects to be the team’s third-highest. Giving Webb a modest signing bonus, plus the ability to earn that full $5.5MM through bonuses and incentives rather than a guaranteed salary, might make sense for Baltimore.
As for Suggs, he’s 33 years old and will be coming off a torn Achilles, so there’s a good chance he won’t be the same player he was before the injury. But the dead money left on his deal ($8.85MM) outweighs his 2016 cap hit ($7.45MM), so if they think he has something left in the tank, the Ravens will likely explore a restructure rather than considering releasing him.
The third veteran defender listed here, Smith might have the easiest contract to restructure, since it doesn’t feature nearly as much prorated bonus money as Webb’s or Suggs’. In each of the next two seasons, Smith is owed a $3.5MM base salary and has a $4.375MM cap hit. The club may not require the modest savings that restructuring Smith’s contract would provide, but doing so could free up about $1.25MM in space for 2016, without creating major problems for 2017.
Candidates for pay cut or release:
- Kyle Arrington, CB
- Chris Canty, DE
- Matt Elam, S
- Justin Forsett, RB
- Dennis Pitta, TE
- Steve Smith, WR
It’s worth noting that just because a player is a “candidate” to take a pay cut or be released, that certainly doesn’t mean it’ll happen. But it’s hard to imagine a scenario where Pitta avoids that fate — 2015 was his second straight lost season, and his ongoing hip issues make a comeback an uphill battle. Even if the Ravens do want to keep him on the roster, they won’t want him at his $5MM salary, which is non-guaranteed.
Two other offensive playmakers currently on the injured reserve list earned spots on this list, but if Smith wants to continue his playing career, the Ravens will almost certainly welcome him back for the last year of his current contract — he and his $3MM base salary would only be removed from the roster if he decides to retire. Forsett is a good bet to be back as well, but if Javorius Allen excels down the stretch, the Ravens would have to at least briefly think about moving on from the veteran, who will also make a $3MM salary and wasn’t as explosive in 2015 as he was in 2014.
Canty, Arrington, and Elam are all on the books for cap hits between $2-3MM, so cutting them wouldn’t create a ton of savings. Canty has been effective enough that it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Baltimore keep him at his current price for one more year, though Arrington has seen his playing time slashed in recent weeks and may be expendable. Given the extra draft picks they always have at their disposal, the Ravens could identify younger, cheaper replacements for those veterans.
Elam, meanwhile, is a former first-round pick entering the fourth year of his rookie contract, but he struggled in his first two seasons and missed his third with a bicep injury. While he’s cheap enough that the Ravens could keep him around for one more season and turn down his fifth-year option for 2017, he has been surpassed on the depth chart, and his upside is dwindling.
Contract information from Over The Cap was used in the creation of this post.
NFC Notes: Berger, Bucs, Alexander, Eagles
With starting center John Sullivan sidelined all year for the Vikings, veteran offensive lineman Joe Berger – rated by Pro Football Focus as one of the league’s top centers – has been invaluable for the team, writes Matt Vensel of the Star Tribune. Minnesota prioritized re-signing Berger in the offseason, and he was happy to return to the Vikings, even in a backup role.
Having played every offensive snap for the club this season, Berger is on track to earn an extra $400K in incentives if he continues that pace, and barring an injury, there’s no reason to believe he won’t. Sullivan suffered a setback and underwent another surgical procedure in October, and isn’t expected to return this season, so the center job looks like Berger’s for at least the rest of the year.
Here’s more from around the NFC:
- Although he’s facing a four-game suspension for violating the league’s policy on performance-enhancing drugs, Buccaneers linebacker Kwon Alexander looks likely to play in Sunday’s game against the Colts. Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times notes that the NFL officially notified the team of Alexander’s suspension on Wednesday, giving him five days to appeal the ban, which he’s expected to do. By the time the appeal process plays out, Alexander may end up serving the penalty over the final four games of the regular season, assuming the suspension is upheld.
- Buccaneers running back Doug Martin made comments this week suggesting he doesn’t like the idea that he’s having an excellent season because he’s in a contract year. However, as Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk observes, teams may be wary of a repeat of DeMarco Murray‘s situation, so if Tampa Bay doesn’t franchise Martin or make a competitive offer, “the warning to everyone else will be implied.” For what it’s worth, the Bucs have indicated they want to retain the running back beyond the 2015 season.
- If the Eagles decide to replace head coach Chip Kelly before the 2016 season, Les Bowen of the Philadelphia Daily News would be surprised if a new coach could come in and immediately transform the club into a playoff team. Of course, that just means that Kelly the general manager should be getting at least as much criticism as Kelly the coach, since he was responsible for many of the roster decisions that have depleted the club’s talent.
- After consecutive 10-6 seasons, Kelly didn’t suddenly becoming a bad coach, according to Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer, who points out that there are Super Bowl-winning coaches that succeeded after flaming out in their previous head coaching jobs. Like Bowen though, McLane questions Kelly as a general manager, writing that Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie will have to decide if replacing Kelly as GM and/or head coach is the answer.
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Minor NFL Transactions: 11/27/15
Here are Friday’s minor transactions, including signings and cuts, from around the NFL:
- The Steelers have released veteran running back Isaiah Pead and elevated running back Fitzgerald Toussaint from their practice squad, tweets Missi Matthews of Steelers.com. Pead, who started the season with the Rams, was cut and then signed with Pittsburgh earlier this month when Le’Veon Bell was placed on IR. However, the 25-year-old didn’t see any action for the Steelers.
- The Patriots opened up a spot on their 53-man roster today by waiving linebacker Eric Martin, says Mike Reiss of ESPN.com (via Twitter). Doug Kyed of NESN.com reports (via Twitter) that the Pats are adding tight end Asante Cleveland to their active roster from the practice squad, though that move might not become official until Saturday.
- Having officially placed cornerback Chris Culliver to the injured reserve list today due to his torn ACL/MCL, Washington has promoted another cornerback, Dashaun Phillips, to its 53-man roster, the team announced in a press release.
- Prior to Thursday’s game against the Cowboys, the Panthers signed long snapper Danny Aiken as an insurance policy in case starter J.J. Jansen was unable to go. Jansen played against Dallas, and Carolina cut Aiken today, per Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter link).