South Notes: Saints, David, Texans, Colts
It’s been an eventful year for cornerback Alfonzo Dennard, who received a raise for 2015 and won a Super Bowl with the Patriots within the first few weeks of the year. However, since then, he’s been cut twice, by the Pats and Cardinals, negating that non-guaranteed raise that he earned back in January. Currently, Dennard is a free agent, and Josina Anderson of ESPN.com reports (via Twitter) that he’s working out for the Saints today.
Dennard missed 10 regular season contests in 2014, as he was plagued throughout the season by shoulder and hamstring issues. In New Orleans, he could help provide depth for a secondary that’s banged up early in training camp — cornerbacks Keenan Lewis and Delvin Breaux were among the players absent from the team’s walkthrough on Wednesday.
Here’s more from around the NFL’s two South divisions:
- Buccaneers linebacker Lavonte David will likely be keeping a close eye on the financial terms for DeAndre Levy‘s new extension with the Lions, since David figures to surpass Levy’s deal. According to Anderson (via Twitter), the Bucs and David were “still not close” to working out a new contract as of Wednesday morning.
- Pierre Thomas and the Texans could revisit a deal, even though there’s no pact at this time, writes Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle. Wilson, who says Houston offered Thomas a minimum-salary contract, indicates that the two sides will likely remain in touch, since the former Saint was “clearly” the Texans’ preferred choice of the backs that auditioned for the team.
- Former Patriots and Rutgers linebacker Steve Beauharnais worked out for the Colts on Wednesday, a source tells Wilson (Twitter link). The 25-year-old saw a little regular season action with Washington in 2014.
AFC Notes: Foster, Hilton, Bills, Raiders
Texans running back Arian Foster is headed to Philadelphia to get a second opinion on his groin injury, according to Tania Ganguli of ESPN.com (Twitter link), and Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets that the second opinion will come on Friday from Dr. William Myers, an expert on sports hernias. Adam Schefter of ESPN.com goes one step further, tweeting that Foster won’t just be in Philadelphia for Myers’ assessment — he’ll also undergo surgery on Friday.
With Foster expected to miss the start of the regular season, the Texans wanted to sign Pierre Thomas, but the two sides couldn’t agree to terms today after the ex-Saint worked out for Houston. Now that they failed to lock up Thomas, the Texans may not sign a veteran, since they like their young backs and want to get them reps, tweets Rapoport.
Even if the Texans do continue to explore the free agent market, Ray Rice probably won’t be considered, according to Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle, who says owner Bob McNair likely wouldn’t approve such a move. Rice may not be an appealing on-field option anyway — one GM tells Ed Werder of ESPN.com (Twitter link) that his most recent game tape “isn’t get enough to get excited about.”
Let’s check in on a few more items from around the AFC….
- Agent Drew Rosenhaus left Indianapolis today, despite the fact that he and the Colts have yet to work out an extension for wideout T.Y. Hilton. However, talks are ongoing, tweets Albert Breer of the NFL Network.
- Appearing on WGR 550 in Buffalo today (Twitter link), GM Doug Whaley admitted that the Bills are in “quarterback purgatory,” since the team doesn’t have a clear long-term answer at the position, and doesn’t expect to pick near the top of the draft within the next couple years.
- The Raiders have likely made contract with defensive tackle Tony McDaniel, who was released on the weekend by the Seahawks, writes Jerry McDonald of the Bay Area News Group. GM Reggie McKenzie said “there’s a chance” Oakland could bring in the veteran, who has a history with new Raiders defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr.
- In the wake of reports suggesting they tipped off the Colts about the Patriots deflating footballs, the Ravens issued a strong denial of their involvement today, via a team release.
- Bills running back Boobie Dixon, who isn’t considered a lock to make the team’s roster, is expected to miss several weeks with a calf injury, writes Mike Rodak of ESPN.com.
49ers Release Chris Cook
1:06pm: The 49ers have officially released Cook, the team announced today in a press release. the move opens up a spot on the San Francisco roster.
10:54am: The 49ers have informed veteran cornerback Chris Cook that he is being released by the team, tweets Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com. Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle first reported (via Twitter) that San Francisco would be cutting Cook.
A hamstring injury limited Cook to just six games for San Francisco in 2014, his first season with the team. However, the Niners saw enough from Cook in his limited playing time that they re-signed him to a one-year deal in March, and with Chris Culliver and Perrish Cox no longer in the mix for the club, it appeared that the former Viking might take on a larger role.
Instead, Cook will immediately become a free agent without having to pass through waivers once his release becomes official. The former 34th overall pick signed a deal that included $800K in guaranteed money, so his release comes as a bit of a surprise, since it doesn’t create any real cap savings for the Niners.
With Tramaine Brock and Shareece Wright projected to be the 49ers’ starters on the outside, and Cook no longer in the picture, Dontae Johnson, Leon McFadden, and Marcus Cromartie are the top candidates to see increased playing time in 2015.
NFC Notes: Ginn, Kerrigan, Chancellor
Speaking to reporters earlier this week, Panthers wide receiver Ted Ginn Jr. admitted that he was “chasing a check” when he signed with the Cardinals last year, suggesting he took the highest offer he got in free agency for the benefit of his family (link via Tim Durr of the Black and Blue Review). Although Ginn signed a three-year deal with the Cards, his stint in Arizona didn’t last long — he was cut by the team in February.
Here’s more from across the NFC:
- ESPN.com’s John Keim and Jason Fitzgerald of Over the Cap examine the specific details on Ryan Kerrigan‘s new contract with Washington, and Fitzgerald also provides a breakdown of the extension in chart form. The deal, which includes a $16MM signing bonus, features cap hits of $6.238MM in 2015 and $8.45MM in 2016 before jumping to $11.7MM+ for the final four years.
- Since Kam Chancellor‘s holdout from Seahawks camp is now at six days, Seattle is allowed to recoup 15% of the safety’s signing bonus proration for 2015, tweets Joel Corry of CBSSports.com. Since Chancellor’s bonus counts for $1MM against the team’s cap this year, Seattle could recoup $150K.
- Lions GM Martin Mayhew explained that the team’s depth at cornerback led to the trade that sent Mohammed Seisay to the Seahawks, a deal he called “win-win for everybody.” Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press has the quotes from Mayhew.
- Packers defensive end Datone Jones told reporters, including Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com (Twitter link), that he did not appeal his one-game suspension. Jones was suspended last month after receiving a citation for marijuana possession.
- Free agent cornerback Josh Victorian, who recently auditioned for the Texans, worked out for the Panthers following Chris Houston‘s retirement, tweets Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post.
Zach Links contributed to this post.
No Deal For Pierre Thomas, Texans
11:38am: Thomas had a “great visit and workout” with the Texans, but the two sides were unable to agree on terms, according to agent Lamont Smith (via Twitter). Assuming Thomas and the Texans don’t revisit negotiations, the team will be on the lookout for another running back.
10:32am: The Texans intend to sign free agent running back Pierre Thomas to a contract today following a workout with the team, reports Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle (via Twitter). According to Wilson, Houston also tried out running backs Ben Malena and Joe McKnight., while Rand Getlin of the NFL Network tweets that the club “put out at feeler” on former Olympian Jeff Demps as well.
The Texans entered the market for free agent running back help after word broke yesterday that starter Arian Foster will require groin surgery. There’s no official timetable for Foster’s return just yet, as he and the Texans consider his options, but there’s some speculation that his recovery may require a trip to the IR-DTR list. With Foster out, and with Thomas’ signing not yet official, Houston’s running back depth chart includes Alfred Blue at the top, with Jonathan Grimes, Chris Polk, and rookie Kenny Hilliard all behind him.
Thomas, 30, has spent his entire eight-year NFL career with the Saints, accumulating 3,745 rushing yards and another 2,608 yards through the air during his stint in New Orleans. A part-time contributor, Thomas has always been a strong receiver, catching a career-high 77 balls in 2013 and another 45 in 2014.
I wouldn’t expect Thomas shoulder a significant load for the Texans, even if Foster misses the start of the season, but he’d give the team a veteran option to take some of the pressure off of Blue and the club’s other young backs.
49ers Aim To Keep Aldon Smith, Vernon Davis
The 49ers had something of an exodus of long-tenured players this offseason, with stalwarts like Patrick Willis, Justin Smith, and Anthony Davis announcing their retirements, while other veterans like Michael Crabtree and Mike Iupati found new homes in free agency. However, there are still several longtime Niners who don’t appear to going anywhere anytime soon.
As Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com details, GM Trent Baalke wants to keep a couple of those veteran 49ers beyond 2015, telling reporters that he hopes to lock up outside linebacker Aldon Smith and tight end Vernon Davis. Both players are entering contract years and will be eligible for free agency in 2016 if they don’t sign extensions.
“He’s poised to have a very good year,” Baalke said of Smith, who reworked his contract with the team earlier in the offeason. “We expect him to have a very good year. I think he expects himself to have a very good year. We’re going to work hard to make sure that he remains here.”
As for Davis, the tight end who has been in San Francisco since 2006 is coming off perhaps his worst season with the team, setting or matching career-worst marks by totaling just 245 receiving yards and two touchdowns. Still, Davis is just two years removed from a Pro Bowl season, and Baalke sounds confident that the 31-year-old still has multiple good years left in him. The GM also suggested that the team will explore extending Davis’ contract.
“We’re always going to try to keep our own,” Baalke said. “Sometimes it works. As you’ve seen, sometimes it doesn’t. But Vernon and I have had conversations and we’ll leave it at that. He understands where we are and we certainly understand where he is.”
In 2015, Smith will earn a base salary of just $1MM, but can make up to $9.754MM through bonuses and incentives, and figures to see a nice payday if he has a strong season. Davis, meanwhile, will earn a $4.35MM base salary this year, and won’t match that salary again if he doesn’t bounce back from his poor 2014 showing.
Stadium Updates: L.A., St. Louis, San Antonio
The fate of the Rams, Raiders, and Chargers beyond the 2015 season remains up in the air, and NFL owners are scheduled to meet next week to touch base on where St. Louis, San Diego, Oakland, and Los Angeles stand on new stadiums. Here are a few of the latest updates on stadium projects and potential relocation:
- The NFL recently approached several Los Angeles stadiums about the possibility of temporarily housing an NFL franchise while a new stadium was built in the L.A. area. However, as Sam Farmer of the Los Angeles Times, the league’s proposal hasn’t generated a whole lot of interest. Last month, we heard that the Rose Bowl wouldn’t serve as an interim home for an NFL team, and Farmer indicates that the StubHub Center is also out of the running.
- According to Farmer, the Coliseum is the only Los Angeles venue to publicly express interest in working with the NFL on the matter. The Dodgers’ and Angels’ stadiums may also still be possibilities, but there would be plenty of scheduling issues to sort out in both cases, since the MLB and NFL seasons overlap. The NFL wanted proposal requests submitted by today, but neither baseball stadium is formally participating in that process, writes Farmer.
- Earlier in the week, St. Louis Circuit Judge Thomas Frawley voided a city ordinance requiring a public vote to approve the use of tax dollars for funding a new football stadium in St. Louis. As Bernie Miklasz of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch outlines, that was a huge victory for the city’s stadium task force, and next week’s meeting with the NFL looms as an “important checkpoint” for St. Louis. So far, the city has made much more progress than either San Diego or Oakland on a new stadium.
- San Antonio city manager Sheryl Sculley tells W. Scott Bailey of the San Antonio Business Journal that the city has “certainly raised the attention of the NFL” by continuing to pursue the Raiders. San Antonio is another city that will be keeping a close eye on the owners’ meetings next week, according to Sculley: “We expect to hear what (the Raiders’) plans are for the 2016 season after that meeting.”
Lions Notes: Ihedigbo, Levy, Ngata, DTs
After not reporting to the Lions at the start of the team’s offseason workouts, safety James Ihedigbo rejoined his team in the spring, and shut down any talks about his contract situation at training camp this past weekend. However, as Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press writes, while Ihedigbo may be focused on football, he’s clearly still a little unhappy about his contract.
“I know how I feel and how I stand, and you see it across the NFL, teams, they take care of their guys and some teams have their other way of doing it,” Ihedigbo said. “I just leave it as it is. We said we’re not going to talk about it.”
Ihedigbo, who recorded 80 tackles and four interceptions in 13 regular season contests for the Lions in 2014, will make a base salary of $1.1MM this season after getting a $500K roster bonus earlier in the year.
Here’s more on the Lions:
- General manager Martin Mayhew said today that he has been in contact with a number of GMs around the league recently about possible trades, but there’s nothing currently in the works, tweets Birkett.
- Speaking to reporters, including Michael Rothstein of ESPN.com (Twitter link), Mayhew also confirmed that the team has engaged in negotiations on potential contract extensions for linebacker DeAndre Levy and defensive tackle Haloti Ngata.
- The Lions are expected to add veteran depth at the defensive tackle position at some point during camp, so Birkett identifies some potential targets in a piece for the Free Press. Tony McDaniel, Barry Cofield, and Mike Patterson are among some free agent options cited by Birkett.
Chris Houston Announces Retirement
Panthers cornerback Chris Houston has decided to end his NFL playing career, announcing his retirement today, according to the team (Twitter link). While the club’s announcement didn’t explain Houston’s decision, the veteran corner missed the 2014 season due to injuries.
Houston, 30, sat out last season after having been released in June of 2014 by the Lions. At the time, Houston had recently undergone surgery on his toe, and the team cited his recovery from that “significant medical procedure” as the primary reason why he was let go. The cornerback’s agent said in the wake of his release that he expected his client to return to the field in 2014, but that didn’t happen. Now, it doesn’t appear Houston will return to the field at all.
Before he missed the 2014 campaign, Houston was a longtime starter at cornerback in Detroit, having signed a five-year, $25MM contract with the team just a year before he was cut. Houston’s best season arguably came in 2011 when he racked up an eye-popping five interceptions and two defensive touchdowns. Houston has also reeled in two picks in each of the last two seasons. He was expected to help elevate the Panthers’ secondary in the upcoming season but, instead, he has decided to walk away from the game just six weeks after signing with Carolina.
Latest On T.Y. Hilton Extension Talks
The Colts and T.Y. Hilton are working “diligently” on a contract extension, but there’s no definitive timeline for a deal in place, Rand Getlin of NFL Network reported on Monday (Twitter link). Agent Drew Rosenhaus, appearing today at Colts camp to discuss Hilton’s deal in person, offered a possible timeline of his own, suggesting that the two sides would like to get something done by Labor Day, tweets Mike Wells of ESPN.com.
“It’s one of those things where we’ve made some progress and we’re working hard at it,” Rosenhaus told reporters, including Mike Chappell of IndySportsCentral.com. “What the time frame is . . . all we can do is give it our best effort, which both sides are doing.”
Rosenhaus appeared optimistic about the Hilton negotiations, telling reporters that the wide receiver “wants to be here for his career” (Twitter link via Ian Rapoport of NFL.com). Colts owner Jim Irsay also seemed hopeful about locking up Hilton when he discussed the topic last week, indicating he didn’t see any reason why the two sides couldn’t work something out within the next several weeks.
For an agreement to be reached, the Colts and Rosenhaus will have to reach a compromise on Hilton’s value. The agent will undoubtedly be seeking the same sort of five-year, $70MM deal signed by Dez Bryant and Demaryius Thomas last month, making the case that his client is the Colts’ No. 1 receiver, having racked up over 160 receptions and 2,400 yards over the last two years.
On the other hand, the Colts could make the case that the 5’10” Hilton isn’t an elite No. 1 receiver or a red-zone threat like Bryant or Thomas, pointing to Randall Cobb as a more apt comparison — Cobb, who hauled in 91 balls and scored 12 touchdowns in 2014, signed a four-year, $40MM deal with the Packers earlier this year.
If the two sides do reach an agreement, I’d expect Hilton’s annual salary to fall somewhere in between the Cobb contract and the Bryant/Thomas deals, perhaps leaning more toward $14MM per year than $10MM per year. As Jason Fitzgerald of Over the Cap observes (via Twitter), the initial figures reported on any contract may be a little inflated as well, since Rosenhaus often negotiates incentives that would make a extension’s maximum value exceed its base value.