East Notes: Bryant, Williams, Henderson, Jets
With a couple dozen June minicamps around the NFL taking place this week, let’s check in on a few East teams whose sessions got underway yesterday….
- A Cowboys source tells Clarence Hill Jr. of the Star-Telegram (on Twitter) that the Dez Bryant holdout threat is “not in our control.” Of course, the team certainly will play a part in determining whether or not the star wideout gets a new contract by the July 15 deadline. If that deadline passes without an agreement though, there’s not much the Cowboys can do for Bryant until after the season.
- Appearing on SiriusXM NFL Radio (audio link), Cowboys COO Stephen Jones said that there’s currently “too big of a divide” between the team and Bryant. Jones also indicated that it’s difficult to ascertain Bryant’s value since other top wide receivers around the league are also waiting for new deals. It’s possible that once A.J. Green, Demaryius Thomas, Julio Jones, or Bryant signs a new contract, the others will follow suit.
- We heard yesterday that offensive lineman Chris Williams and Seantrel Henderson were absent for the start of the Bills‘ minicamp. In a pair of pieces for ESPN.com, Mike Rodak explains that Williams did show up and participate on Tuesday, while “travel issues” kept Henderson away.
- Rich Cimini of ESPNNewYork.com identifies outside linebacker Calvin Pace, running back Stevan Ridley, and guard Willie Colon as a few Jets veterans who could be on shaky ground once training camp rolls around.
- Ryan Fitzpatrick of the Jets and Mark Sanchez of the Eagles rank as the NFL’s top backup quarterbacks heading into training camp, in the view of John Clayton of ESPN.com. New York acquired Fitzpatrick in a trade this offseason, while Sanchez signed a new contract to remain in Philadelphia.
North Notes: Sims, Gipson, Bennett
Back in April, we learned that the Lions had attempted to re-sign Rob Sims, but the veteran guard hadn’t responded to their contract offer, which was made about three weeks earlier. Asked about that offer, Sims told Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press, in so many words, that it wasn’t worth considering.
“Without throwing [the Lions] under the bus, and I could, but when we got the offer, we didn’t think, for the time we had put in, 80 straight games, 80 straight starts and some of the things we had played through, the offer was … something that we didn’t deserve,” Sims said. “It wasn’t right for us. That’s, basically, what it boils down to: It just wasn’t right for us.”
With veteran guards like Justin Blalock and Mike Pollak retiring this week, Sims won’t be the next one to announce he’s moving on from the NFL, as he tells Birkett that he can still play, and would like to play. However, “it’s got to be under the right circumstances,” according to the longtime Lion. If he doesn’t get an offer he likes, Sims sounds prepared to move on to the next phase of his life.
Here are a few more Tuesday items from out of the NFL’s two North divisions:
- Having reported to the Browns, safety Tashaun Gipson remains hopeful that he’ll get a long-term contract done with the team, indicating today that the situation is “ongoing,” per Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal (Twitter link). Gipson, the last restricted free agent of 2015 to sign, told reporters that he was disappointed to receive a second-round tender from Cleveland instead of the first-round tender, but noted that some family matters kept him away from OTAs, in addition to his contract situation (Twitter links)
- As expected, Bears tight end Martellus Bennett participated in minicamp today, and spoke to reporters after the team’s practice. Addressing his desire for a new deal, Bennett said he’s “always” trying to sign a new contract, adding that he thinks every American should be doing the same thing (Twitter links via Adam Jahns and Brad Biggs). Bennett, who confirmed that he expects to report to training camp, wouldn’t say whether or not he asked the Bears to trade him (Twitter links via Biggs and Jeff Dickerson).
- Speaking to reporters for the first time since taking over the Lions from her late husband, Martha Ford said today that she was disappointed Ndamukong Suh left in free agency, adding that she told him she wanted him to stay (Twitter link via Michael Rothstein of ESPN.com).
Packers Sign Damarious Randall
The Packers have become the latest team to sign their first-round pick, according to Adam Caplan of ESPN.com, who reports (via Twitter) that Green Bay has locked up safety Damarious Randall. With Randall now officially under contract, the Packers have secured all eight of their 2015 draft picks.
Randall, the 30th overall pick out of Arizona State, will be in line for a four-year contract worth about $7.916MM, including a $4MM+ signing bonus, per Over the Cap’s data. Since he’s a first-round pick, Randall will also have a fifth-year option for 2019 on his rookie deal, giving the Packers the opportunity to lock him up for an extra year.
Prior to 2014, the Packers hadn’t selected a defensive back in the first round of the draft since 2004 (cornerback Ahmad Carroll) and hadn’t tabbed a safety in the first round since 1999 (Antuan Edwards). However, in the last two years, the Packers have taken safeties with both of their first-round picks — this year’s selection of Randall follows last year’s pick of Ha Ha Clinton-Dix.
Now that Randall has signed, Marcus Mariota (Titans), Ereck Flowers (Giants), and Malcom Brown (Patriots) are the only first-round picks who have yet to ink their rookie contracts.
Extra Points: Sam, Foles, Thompson, FXFL
Conspiracy theories have emerged about Michael Sam and why he requested permission last Friday to leave the his CFL team’s training camp for personal reasons. There are still no concrete answers as to why the NFL’s first openly gay drafted player made that call, Herb Zurkowsky of the Montreal Gazette writes.
In a separate piece, Zurkowsky notes that the latest theory is that Sam sensed that he wouldn’t make the Montreal Alouettes’ roster and – seeing the writing on the wall – left to save face for himself and the club. While GM Jim Popp says the door remains open for Sam’s return, another source within the organization said that’s unlikely to happen. The Alouettes officially moved the former Rams draftee to the suspended list, according to the CFL (on Twitter).
Let’s round up a few more odds and ends from around the football world:
- Following up on yesterday’s report about extension talks between Nick Foles and the Rams, Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com tweets that the quarterback loves being in St. Louis, but will let agent David Dunn handle negotiations. As Wagoner adds in a second tweet, the Rams are talking to a few potential 2016 free agents about new contracts, so it doesn’t sound like they’re focused exclusively on Foles.
- Taylor Thompson‘s 2015 season is off to an ominous start. According to Jim Wyatt of the Tennessean, the Titans tight end is facing a fine for arriving late to the team’s mandatory minicamp, and is still having issues with the knee he injured last season, raising concerns about his NFL future.
- Former Wake Forest wideout Matt James was trying out for the Saints today at the club’s minicamp, a source tells Evan Woodbery of the New Orleans Times-Picayune (Twitter link).
- The FXFL is getting ready to get its 2015 season underway, but Rand Getlin of Yahoo! Sports (on Twitter) hears from a source that multiple players are still owed money from last season. The FXFL had its first season in 2014, beginning in October. Since then, several players from the upstart league have found their way to the NFL.
- Bill Williamson of ESPN.com wonders if the Raiders could be in the mix for two players released by their respective teams today, running back Shonn Greene and safety Taylor Mays.
- Former Cowboys running back Tashard Choice is at the team’s minicamp today, but it’s in a coaching capacity, not as a player, as Todd Archer of ESPNDallas.com explains (via Twitter).
Zach Links contributed to this post.
Russell Wilson Has Insurance Policy For Season
Russell Wilson will earn a modest base salary of just $1.542MM in 2015 if he doesn’t sign an extension with the Seahawks, but the quarterback will protect himself against a potential career-ending injury with an insurance policy worth “millions,” according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com.
Such a policy would be expensive for Wilson in the short term, but would provide a safety net if he were to suffer a major injury during the 2015 season. Based on his performance over the first three years of his NFL career, Wilson appears to be a lock to secure a huge, multiyear deal eventually, barring either an unprecedented dropoff in performance or the aforementioned career-threatening injury. An insurance policy would protect him against the latter, but not the former.
Of course, Schefter’s wording doesn’t make it unequivocally clear if Wilson has already taken out this policy, or if he simply intends to do so. With contract negotiations between Wilson’s camp and the Seahawks still expected to take place between now and the start of the regular season, this report provides another another signal that the Pro Bowler is willing to play out the 2015 campaign without a new extension in place, which could prompt the team to renew its efforts to get something done.
If Wilson were to play the 2015 season under his current deal, he wouldn’t necessarily be able to hit free agency in 2016, since the Seahawks would be able to use their franchise tag to retain him. However, the club can only franchise one player, and Wilson isn’t the only key free-agent-to-be the Seahawks will want to lock up — Bobby Wagner is also entering the final year of his contract. Additionally, using the exclusive tag on Wilson would be rather pricey, and would take up a huge chunk of the team’s cap room. Those cap hits could be better managed with a longer-term agreement.
AFC South Notes: Titans, Colts, Hilton
While the Titans had planned to hire a new president/CEO, that search has been put on hold, and interim president Steve Underwood will continue to hold the position through the 2015 season, writes Jim Wyatt of the Tennessean.
“We had applications from a number of people that I have known for many years who have been presidents of NFL clubs, who were highly qualified, and they’d be good leaders,” Underwood said. “But we didn’t interview any of them; we never got that far along in the process. I just think our ownership group, as the weeks went by, they got a better and better comfort level in the direction we’re heading and they decided they’d rather put that off if I would decide to stay and get us through the season.“
As the Titans’ ownership group and front office has done repeatedly in recent months and years, Underwood also reiterated today that the franchise is not for sale, according to Wyatt.
“There is no talk of selling. The owners haven’t entertained it,” Underwood said. “The people who suggest a sale are guessing and I don’t have to guess — I know there is not a sale underway. They are not entertaining offers for a sale. There is no ‘for sale’ sign in our yard.“
Here’s more from out of the AFC South:
- Shonn Greene wasn’t cut today by the Titans because he was out of shape or injured — according to head coach Ken Whisenhunt, the running back passed a physical before he was released, tweets Jim Wyatt of the Tennessean.
- The Colts aren’t pursuing Evan Mathis, and it appears unlikely that the team will reconsider that stance, a source tells Stephen Holder of the Indianapolis Star.
- Mike Chappell of Indy Sports Central looks at T.Y. Hilton‘s resume in an attempt to assess his value, noting that it’s far from a given that Hilton will get an extension. Colts owner Jim Irsay has rarely signed any player to an extension, including Peyton Manning, who played out his contracts before signing new ones. The Colts also have rookie Phillip Dorsett in the fold, which could give them a fallback option if Hilton is not retained in the long term.
- Trent Cole‘s best years are almost certainly behind him, but he told reporters this week, including Mike Wells of ESPN.com, that he feels “rejuvenated” after joining the Colts this offseason.
Mathis Hadn’t Asked For Release Since March
Addressing the Eagles’ decision to release Evan Mathis, head coach Chip Kelly told reporters today that the team made the move after receiving several requests from the guard and his agent to cut Mathis.
According to Mathis himself, however, he asked the team to let him go back in March if there were no plans to rework his contract, but hasn’t asked to be released since then. And, to his knowledge, agent Drew Rosenhaus hasn’t done so either, writes Geoff Mosher of CSNPhilly.com. Mosher cites a separate source who confirms that neither Mathis nor anyone from his camp has asked the Eagles for the lineman’s release since March.
“I would have played under the contract and been fine — like last year,” Mathis said. “I can block stuff out and not let it be a distraction. I missed voluntary stuff, but I was still working hard. It doesn’t mean I was going to be a bad apple. I would never do that.”
As I noted earlier today, Kelly’s explanation of Mathis’ release raises a few questions. For instance, the Eagles apparently wanted to wait until after free agency and the draft before making a decision on Mathis, presumably to assess their offensive line depth at that time. But Mathis remained on the roster for several weeks following the draft until he was finally cut. Had he been released in March, he could’ve sought a new NFL home when teams still had plenty of cap space and were still figuring out their rosters.
Additionally, by simply saying the team granted Mathis’ release because he and his agent asked for it, Kelly glosses over the fact that the Eagles held most of the leverage, and could’ve easily held onto Mathis if they wanted to. I compared it to the Adrian Peterson situation in Minnesota, where Peterson has returned to the Vikings even though the club didn’t grant his reported requests to trade him or rework his contract. Like Peterson, Mathis would’ve eventually had to report to his team if he hoped to play this season.
In any case, Mathis is no longer an Eagle, and he tells Mosher that he had been hoping to restructure his contract to include more incentives. In other words, he didn’t simply want more money — he wanted the opportunity to earn more money if he was one of the league’s best guards.
“Why not have a couple of years where I could at least have the opportunity to achieve it?” Mathis said. “That’s what I was proposing … that I had to be absolutely elite to earn it. One hundred percent that’s all we were trying to do the last few months.”
Incentive-laden deals aren’t as common for offensive linemen, whose performance can’t be judged quite as easily as that of an offensive skill-position player. Still, we’ll see if Mathis’ next deal includes some of those incentives he wanted, perhaps for playing time.
Agent: No Talks Yet For Dez, Cowboys
As expected, wide receiver Dez Bryant wasn’t in attendance today when the Cowboys’ June minicamp got underway. While the minicamp is mandatory, Bryant has yet to sign his franchise tender, meaning he’s not technically under contract with the team and therefore won’t be subject to fines for his absence.
While the Cowboys’ minicamp got started without Bryant, his agent, Tom Condon, appeared on SiriusXM NFL Radio to discuss the state of extension negotiations with the club. According to Condon (Twitter link), those talks are nonexistent at the moment, as there have been no conversations with the club regarding a new contract for his client.
Of course, that doesn’t mean that the Cowboys won’t eventually reopen discussions with Bryant and Condon. The team has until July 15 to work out a long-term contract agreement with its No. 1 receiver, and negotiations between clubs and franchised players typically go down to the wire.
Condon added (Twitter link) that – based on his conversations with his client – Bryant is willing to miss regular season games if he’s unhappy with the negotiations between the two sides. As I noted when this rumor first surfaced last week, it’s hard to imagine the Pro Bowl wideout following through on that threat, since the deadline for a long-term deal is next month. While Bryant may try to use some leverage to negotiate more favorable terms on his one-year contract, he won’t be able to sign a multiyear pact until after the season unless the two sides get something done by July 15.
For his part, Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett said today that he’s not worried about the talk of a Bryant holdout, suggesting that those rumors are being floated by others (Twitter link via Clarence Hill of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram). Of course, Bryant himself said last Friday, “This is no rumor; it’s legit.” Do you buy it, or are you as skeptical as Garrett appears to be?
East Notes: Mathis, Flynn, Bills, McClain
Speaking to reporters today, Eagles head coach Chip Kelly addressed the team’s release of Pro Bowl guard Evan Mathis for the first time, explaining that Mathis’ agent asked multiple times for his client’s release. According to Kelly (all Twitter links), the club didn’t intend to alter Mathis’ contract, so after discussing all the possibilities, Philadelphia decided to let him go if he didn’t want to be there. The Eagles waited as long as they could to explore trade possibilities and to see how the draft and free agency played out before cutting the offensive lineman last week.
Kelly’s explanation doesn’t come as a real surprise, though I’m still somewhat skeptical that the Eagles couldn’t secure even a late-round pick for Mathis. It’s also worth noting that, in a similar situation, the Vikings didn’t give in to Adrian Peterson‘s agent demands, and now Peterson is saying all the right things as he prepares to play for Minnesota in 2015 without a reworked contract. The Eagles could’ve held their ground with Mathis, but it’s clear that Kelly prefers not to keep a player on the roster if he doesn’t view that player as a culture fit for his club.
Here’s more from around the NFL’s two East divisions:
- The NFLPA saw no wrongdoing on the Eagles‘ part regarding Mathis’ release, which was viewed as a contractual decision, so the team has been cleared, tweets Albert Breer of the NFL Network.
- Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun has the details on Matt Flynn‘s one-year contract with the Patriots, tweeting that the quarterback gets a $20K signing bonus and a $60K roster bonus on his minimum salary benefit deal.
- Former Seahawks offensive lineman Nate Isles is trying out for the Bills today, per Mike Rodak of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Isles, who signed a futures contract with Seattle at season’s end, was cut by the team last month.
- Offensive linemen Seantrel Henderson and Chris Williams aren’t in attendance for the Bills‘ first day of mandatory minicamp, according to Vic Carucci of the Buffalo News (Twitter links).
- Linebacker Rolando McClain was one of the Cowboys‘ best bargains last season, and he could be again in 2015, writes Todd Archer of ESPNDallas.com. As Clarence Hill of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram tweets, McClain has reported to Dallas’ minicamp after being absent from earlier offseason activities.
Vikings Cut Taylor Mays
The Vikings have opened up a spot on their 90-man roster, announcing today (via Twitter) that they’ve released safety Taylor Mays, who won’t have to pass through waivers before returning to the free agent market.
Mays, 27, signed with the Vikings back in March, so the team is parting ways with him less than three months after adding him. Having played under Mike Zimmer in Cincinnati, Mays looked like a good bet to earn a 53-man roster and compete for playing time in Minnesota, but instead, he’ll be on the lookout for a new home as training camps approach.
In five NFL seasons with the 49ers and Bengals, Mays has made 84 tackles, recorded one sack, and recovered a pair of fumbles. While his numbers aren’t exceptional, Mays is a solid contributor on special teams, and drew interest from multiple teams when he hit the market this offseason. Washington had been eyeing Mays, and the Bengals also had interest in re-signing him, so we’ll see if those clubs renew their interest now that he’s available again.
The Vikings included a $25K signing bonus in their deal with Mays, so they’ll carry that amount in dead money on their 2015 cap.