FA Rumors: Orakpo, Worilds, Dockett, Murray
After franchising him last year, Washington won’t use a tag on edge defender Brian Orakpo this time around, according to Dianna Marie Russini of NBC 4 Washington (via Twitter). However, Russini does add that the two sides are trying to work out a new agreement before next week’s free agent period.
Here are a few more updates on free agents and free-agents-to-be around the league:
- Outside linebacker Jason Worilds, who received the transition tag last year from the Steelers, was the team’s only real candidate to be tagged this year, but Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says the club will allow Worilds to reach the open market (Twitter link).
- Defensive lineman Darnell Dockett has a visit scheduled with the 49ers tonight, reports Ed Werder of ESPN.com (via Twitter). We heard earlier today from agent Drew Rosenhaus that there’s a strong market for Dockett, who will likely have a new deal in place by the end of the week.
- Werder also provides an update on Cowboys running back DeMarco Murray, tweeting that the team intends to make a “respectable” offer to the NFL’s leading rusher. The Cowboys are hoping that Murray will give them a chance to match any offer he receives in free agency, but he’ll have no obligation to do so, and Dallas’ flexibility may be limited.
- Former Eagles offensive lineman Todd Herremans, who is looking for a new NFL home, said today on PFT Live that he’d like to join a contender and win a Super Bowl ring before he retires (Twitter link).
- In addition to his reported visit with the Lions, free agent defensive tackle Kendall Langford has “several” more meetings on his schedule, tweets Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press.
Dolphins Use Transition Tag On Charles Clay
Five players have received the franchise tag from their respective teams so far, but until now, we hadn’t had a transition tag sighting yet this season. According to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (via Twitter), the Dolphins are the first team to make use of that tag this season, assigning it to tight end Charles Clay.
The transition tag typically isn’t used as often as the franchise tag, since it allows the player to sign an offer sheet with another team and leave without any compensatory draft picks, assuming his previous club chooses not to match the offer. However, we saw it surface a couple times last year — the Steelers assigned it to Jason Worilds, who played the 2014 season on the one-year tender offer, and the Browns used it on Alex Mack, eventually matching an offer sheet from the Jaguars.
By placing the transition tag on Clay, the Dolphins are extending a one-year offer worth $7.071MM. The tight end can sign that tender offer anytime, as long as the team doesn’t withdraw it, and he’ll also be free to explore the open market as of next week. Adam Caplan of ESPN.com tweets that three or four rival suitors are interested in Clay – the Bills have been mentioned as one interested party – but the transition tag may diminish the enthusiasm for him on the open market.
Clay, who turned 26 last month, saw his numbers dip a little in 2014 after he set career highs with 69 receptions, 759 yards, and three touchdowns in his breakout 2013 season. However, Clay isn’t alone at the top of this year’s tight end market as a player whose stock slipped a little as he neared free agency. A sprained ankle derailed Julius Thomas‘ 2014 season, and an injury-plagued campaign for Jordan Cameron ensured that his numbers fell off even more precipitously than Clay’s.
If the Dolphins do bring Clay back, either at the $7MM+ transition price, or on a long-term deal at a slightly lesser number, they should have no problem fitting him into their 2015 cap plans. The team has already parted ways with Brian Hartline, Brandon Gibson, Cortland Finnegan, and Nate Garner, and there could be more cuts on the way, including perhaps Mike Wallace.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Patriots Franchise Stephen Gostkowski
In the first somewhat surprising franchise-related move of the day, the Patriots have used their tag on kicker Stephen Gostkowski, reports Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (via Twitter). Safety Devin McCourty had been considered the more viable candidate in recent weeks, but we heard earlier today that the Pats were leaning toward franchising their Pro Bowl kicker, rather than the standout safety.
If any kicker is worthy of a franchise tag, Gostkowski certainly fits the bill. He has led the NFL in field goals in each of the last two seasons, making 73 of his 78 total attempts during that stretch, for a 93.6% mark. Gostkowski has also made all 95 of his extra point tries over the last two years.
Franchising Gostkowski will mean tendering him a one-year offer worth $4.56MM, which he will immediately be free to sign. Before or after Gostkowski signs that tender, the two sides will have the option of working out a longer-term deal.
As for what the move means for McCourty, it certainly looks like he’s one step closer to reaching the open market next Tuesday. The Pats still have another few days to exclusively negotiate with the veteran safety, but there have been no recent talks, per Shalise Manza Young of the Boston Globe (via Twitter), and the team is reportedly prioritizing Darrelle Revis, whose option will need to be addressed by next Monday. The decision to use the franchise tag on Gostkowski may be a sign that the club is willing to let McCourty go in order to get something done with Revis, but that’s far from a given at this point.
While the Pats have a reputation for cutting ties with players earlier than expected, in their ongoing quest to maximize a player’s value, they’ve had remarkably little turnover at the kicker position over the last two decades, with only Gostkowski and Adam Vinatieri handling the role. New England previously franchised Vinatieri twice in the first half of the 2000s in order to keep him on the roster.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Lions Re-Sign Darryl Tapp
Coming on the same day that we learned the Lions won’t use their franchise tag on Ndamukong Suh, the team’s latest defensive line update is bound to be overshadowed. However, Detroit has at least brought back one player from last year’s squad, according to Pride of Detroit (via Twitter). The Lions quietly re-signed veteran defensive end Darryl Tapp, and Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press reports (via Twitter) that it’s a minimum salary benefit contract with an $80K signing bonus.
Tapp, who rejoined the Lions prior to the first week of the 2014 regular season, was a part-time contributor for the team, appearing in 302 defensive snaps. With 19 tackles and 0.5 sacks, Tapp didn’t make a huge impact for the unit, but the team liked his performance well enough to lock him up again for the coming season.
Of course, as I alluded to up top, the Lions have greater concerns on their defensive line this offseason, with Suh, Nick Fairley, and others eligible for free agency next week. Bringing back Tapp is a start, but there’s still plenty of work for the club to do this month.
Adjusted 2015 NFL Salary Cap By Team
Following news that the salary cap for the 2015 NFL league year has been officially set at $143.28MM, the NFL Players Association has released adjusted figures for all 32 teams. The figures below are a reflection of how carryover cap room from 2014 and other adjustments based on incentives and escalators will affect each team’s 2015 space.
For more specific details, you can check out the NFLPA’s full breakdown, but here are the adjusted 2015 cap figures, listed in alphabetical order by team:
Arizona Cardinals: $148,515,866
Atlanta Falcons: $146,248,815
Baltimore Ravens: $145,131,127
Buffalo Bills: $145,781,930
Carolina Panthers: $149,371,637
Chicago Bears: $145,168,434
Cincinnati Bengals: $152,130,435
Cleveland Browns: $161,767,400
Dallas Cowboys: $148,578,313
Denver Broncos: $150,066,024
Detroit Lions: $144,317,991
Green Bay Packers: $151,471,106
Houston Texans: $146,025,746
Indianapolis Colts: $152,423,392
Jacksonville Jaguars: $168,486,107
Kansas City Chiefs: $146,144,200
Miami Dolphins: $152,926,937
Minnesota Vikings: $149,627,960
New England Patriots: $144,578,084
New Orleans Saints: $145,092,430
New York Giants: $143,411,883
New York Jets: $156,149,394
Oakland Raiders: $151,872,756
Philadelphia Eagles: $159,872,378
Pittsburgh Steelers: $144,058,469
San Diego Chargers: $142,972,612
San Francisco 49ers: $149,855,980
Seattle Seahawks: $148,257,738
St. Louis Rams: $144,673,387
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: $144,909,889
Tennessee Titans: $154,353,578
Washington: $146,591,745
Giants Use Franchise Tag On JPP
As expected, the Giants have officially used their franchise tag on Jason Pierre-Paul, reports Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter). Steve Serby of the New York Post first reported last month that the club would use the non-exclusive franchise tag on JPP if no long-term deal was reached, and Adam Schefter of ESPN.com confirmed as much last week.
Although Pierre-Paul got off to a slow start in 2014, he finished strong, and his 77 tackles and 12.5 sacks were his best totals since he was a First-Team All-Pro in 2011. The South Florida product – who turned 26 on Saturday – ranked as the seventh-best 4-3 defensive end in the league last season, according to Pro Football Focus’ grades (subscription required).
Word of the Giants’ decision to officially place the franchise tag on Pierre-Paul comes on the heels of the NFL’s announcement of this year’s $143.28MM, which solidified the franchise tag amounts. As a defensive end, JPP will be in line for a one-year tender of $14.813MM, though he won’t necessarily sign that offer immediately.
As Paul Schwartz of the New York Post tweets, the Giants and Pierre-Paul are expected to continue working on a multiyear deal, with the hopes of agreeing on something more long-term. Such an agreement would give the 26-year-old some long-term security, and would allow the team to reduce his cap hit for 2015, creating additional flexibility.
Of course, the non-exclusive tag means Pierre-Paul will also have the opportunity to explore the open market when free agency officially begins next week. However, any team interested in signing him would have to do so via an offer sheet, rather than signing him outright. And if the Giants chose not to match that offer sheet, Pierre-Paul’s new team would have to part with two first-round picks. As such, it’s unlikely that he’ll play anywhere besides New York next season.
Pierre-Paul becomes the fourth player to be franchised today. Dez Bryant, Demaryius Thomas, and Justin Houston were also franchised by their respective clubs.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Dolphins Cut Cortland Finnegan, Nate Garner
The Dolphins began making cap-related cuts last week when they released wide receivers Brian Hartline and Brandon Gibson, and the team is far from done. According to Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald (via Twitter), the club parted ways with cornerback Cortland Finnegan today. Barry Jackson of the Herald adds (via Twitter) that agent Drew Pittman has confirmed the team is also releasing his client, offensive lineman Nate Garner, who is still dealing with concussion-related issues.
Finnegan, 31, was one of the league’s worst corners in 2013, according to Pro Football Focus advanced metrics (subscription required). PFF ranked Finnegan 109th out of 110 qualified corners, with a grade of -19.7 in just seven games. So it came as a bit of a surprise when Miami inked the former Ram to a two-year, $11MM deal last offseason. Finnegan was a little better for the Dolphins, but still placed just 74th out of 108 corners, with a -4.4 grade in 2014, per PFF.
By cutting Finnegan, the Dolphins will remove his $5.45MM base salary and a $25K workout bonus from their books for 2015, reducing his $6.475MM cap hit to just $1MM in dead money.
As for Garner, he missed a chunk of the 2014 season due to ongoing headache and migraine issues, and it’s not clear if he’ll continue his playing career, or if he’ll even be able to. The offensive lineman’s release creates $1.65MM in cap savings for the Dolphins, leaving just $167K in dead money on the books for 2015.
Bucs To Trade Or Cut Anthony Collins
A year after signing offensive lineman Anthony Collins to a five-year, $30MM contract, the Buccaneers are shopping him in search of a taker, reports Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter). If the Bucs can’t work out a deal, they’ll likely cut Collins, says Rapoport. Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times first reported last week that the club would likely part ways with some of its 2014 signees, including Collins (Twitter link).
Collins’ contract with the Bucs didn’t include any sort of bonuses, and simply includes a $6MM base salary in each of the next four seasons. While that makes it easier for the Bucs to make a move, given the lack of dead money on the deal, there probably isn’t a team out there at the moment willing to pay $6MM annually for a player who was a healthy scratch for the final few weeks of the 2014 season.
Having spent his first six NFL seasons in Cincinnati, Collins never had an extended run as a full-time player before 2014, starting no more than seven games in any season for the Bengals. He was excellent in his 673 offensive snaps in 2013, never recording a negative grade in a game, according to Pro Football Focus’ advanced metrics (subscription required). However, he was unable to translate that solid part-time production into an above-average – or even passable – performance as Tampa Bay’s left tackle in 2014.
Per Over the Cap, $3MM of Collins’ $6MM salary for 2015 is currently guaranteed, with the other half set to become guaranteed next Friday. So if the Bucs do plan to cut the 29-year-old, it will almost certainly happen within the next 10 days or so.
FA Rumors: Pats, Dockett, Langford, Freeney
Let’s check in on a few Monday rumors on current free agents, as well as free-agents-to-be….
- With this afternoon’s franchise and transition tag deadline looming, the Patriots are more likely to use their tag on kicker Stephen Gostkowski than safety Devin McCourty, sources tell Mike Reiss of ESPN Boston. Reiss cautions that the situation is “fluid” and that things could change by 3:00pm central time. However, if the Pats do decide to trade Gostkowski, it would mean McCourty could potentially hit the open market next week, as far and away the best safety available. It would be surprising if the Pats let McCourty get away, but that would at least seem to bode well for the return of Darrelle Revis.
- According to agent Drew Rosenhaus, free agent defensive lineman Darnell Dockett is generating “a lot of interest” on the free agent market, writes Kent Somers of the Arizona Republic. Rosenhaus is expecting Dockett to have a new home by the end of the week. As for the Cardinals, who released Dockett last week, they’re still hoping to bring the veteran defender back — Somers reports that they’ve offered a one-year deal worth up to $4MM through incentives, with a base value of $2.5MM.
- Former Rams defensive tackle Kendall Langford, cut by St. Louis last week, is visiting the Lions today, according to Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (via Twitter). It’s an interesting tidbit of news, as Detroit attempts to lock up its own free agent defensive tackles, such as Ndamukong Suh and Nick Fairley. For now, we should probably assume that Langford is just a Plan B, or a potential depth piece, but we heard earlier today that the team won’t franchise Suh, so there’s no guarantee he returns to Detroit.
- After mulling the possibility of retiring, veteran Chargers pass rusher Dwight Freeney has decided to continue his playing career and return for a 14th season, writes Michael Gehlken of the San Diego Union-Tribune. Freeney doesn’t have a contract for 2015, so he’ll have to find a taker, but I imagine he’ll still draw plenty of interest — despite recording only 3.5 sacks in 2014, the 35-year-old recorded 53 overall quarterback pressures, according to Pro Football Focus’ data (subscription required).
- Linebacker Brad Jones, who was released by the Packers last month, recently visited the Titans and has a visit lined up today with the Eagles, reports Jim Wyatt of the Tennessean (via Twitter). Of the two veteran linebackers cut this offseason by Green Bay, A.J. Hawk received most of the headlines, but Jones is another player who could still contribute elsewhere.
2015 NFL Salary Cap Set At $143.28MM
The salary cap for the 2015 NFL league year has been set at $143.28MM. Jordan Raanan of NJ.com (Twitter link) was the first to report the ’15 figure, which has since been confirmed by a handful of reporters around the league.
The latest projections had the cap coming in at $143MM, so this is just a marginal uptick from that figure, and will subsequently increase the projected franchise and transition tag numbers very slightly. Here are the official non-exclusive franchise tag figures for 2015 based on the official cap of $143.28MM, via Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter links):
Quarterback: $18.544MM
Running back: $10.951MM
Wide receiver: $12.823MM
Tight end: $8.347MM
Offensive line: $12.943MM
Defensive end: $14.813MM
Defensive tackle: $11.193MM
Linebacker: $13.195MM
Cornerback: $13.075MM
Safety: $9.618MM
Kicker/Punter: $4.126MM
And here are the transition tags for the coming year, per Albert Breer of the NFL Network (via Twitter). These figures double as the fifth-year option amounts for 2016 for the top 10 picks from the 2012 draft:
QB: $16.155MM
RB: $9.037MM
WR: $10.971MM
TE: $7.071MM
OL: $11.096MM
DE: $11.958MM
DT: $9.314MM
LB: $11.058MM
CB: $11.082MM
S: $8.263MM
K/P: $3.716MM
Per NFLPA executive director George Atallah (via Twitter), the Rams were the only team in the NFL that chose not to carry over cap space to 2015. Atallah adds (via Twitter) that the Jaguars are the team with the most carryover room, at nearly $22MM.
This is the second consecutive year that the cap has increased by $10MM.