Jeremy Maclin, Eagles To Discuss Extension?
After losing the 2013 season to a torn ACL, Jeremy Maclin signed a one-year, prove-it deal with the Eagles back in February, and so far in 2014, he’s proving it. With DeSean Jackson no longer in the picture, Maclin is Philadelphia’s leading receiver through three games, ranking first on the team in receptions (16), receiving yards (296), and touchdowns (three).
With Maclin seemingly back to his old self and thriving in Chip Kelly’s offense, the veteran wideout could be hearing from the Eagles’ front office soon, according to Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer. The club hasn’t completed an in-season extension for one of its players since 2009, but in the case of Maclin, there’s clearly mutual interest in getting a longer-term contract done. Maclin indicated in the offseason that he hoped to secure an extension from the team by midseason, and this week, he indicated that he’s still keen on working something out.
“I’m not pressing it. That time will come when it comes,” Maclin said. “But, yeah, this is where I want to be. I’ve always said that.”
Maclin reportedly passed on a five-year offer from the Eagles in the offseason, and so far that’s looking like the right call. We don’t know exactly what sort of salary the team proposed on that five-year deal, but I’d guess it was roughly in the same range as the five-year, $22.5MM pact signed by teammate Riley Cooper. As long as Maclin continues to produce and stays healthy, he could have a chance to match or exceed the larger five-year contracts signed by free agent wideouts this past year — Eric Decker‘s $36.25MM pact and Golden Tate‘s $31MM deal would likely be targets for Maclin and his agent.
For now, it doesn’t appear that the two sides are engaged in negotiations, but it’s a situation worth keeping an eye on this season as Maclin nears potential free agency once again.
NFL Aiming For London Franchise In 2022
With the Raiders and Dolphins set to play the first of this season’s three NFL games in London’s Wembley Stadium on Sunday, the league is increasing its push to introduce an NFL franchise across the Atlantic, as Albert Breer of the NFL Network writes. The league’s international chief, Mark Waller, tells Breer that he believes the NFL remains on track to have a team permanently in place in London within the next decade.
“When we started (with the International Series in 2007), I reckoned it’d take 15 years to do it,” Waller said. “That was what I expected, and we’re still on course. We’re at the midpoint now.”
According to Waller, he and the league has been subtly testing the London market and fan base for the last several years, with an eye toward putting a franchise there full-time. After increasing the number of games per year in London from one to two, and now to three, Waller’s experimenting is now expected to become increasingly more deliberate.
“I’m less focused on going from three (games) to four, four to five, five to six,” Waller said. “Can we do back-to-back games? Will the surface hold up? Can we start sending teams there without the bye attached? It’s not about the number anymore. … We’re at a place now where if we continue to do the job with the fans, the fan base will grow, and we’ll be able to have a team (in London). The questions now are logistical.”
Although the NFL still has a long way to go before a team in Europe becomes a reality, Waller tells Breer that the London market is just a jumping-off point for the sort of growth the league hopes to experience globally. In the longer-term, using the longer template somewhere else in Europe or Latin America – perhaps Germany or Brazil – is a goal for the NFL.
For now though, the league continues to focus on London, and this year’s trio of games, starting with this Sunday’s Oakland/Miami contest, will be another key stepping stone as the NFL works toward establishing its first international franchise.
AFC Notes: Dolphins, McKnight, Pats, Browns
The offensive line was the primary area of focus for the Dolphins this offseason after last year’s bullying scandal, and the team addressed the position by signing Branden Albert in free agency and drafting Ja’Wuan James in the first round, among other moves. So far, the new-look unit has showed flashes of upside, as Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald writes, pointing out that Miami is averaging 5.2 yards per carry, second-best in the NFL. Of course, the team has also allowed the third-most sacks in the league (nine). In Albert’s view, his performance has been worthy of a C grade so far.
Here’s more from around the AFC:
- After a big game on Sunday against the Dolphins, Chiefs running back Joe McKnight got some bad news today. According to Terez A. Paylor of the Kansas City Star (via Twitter), McKnight suffered a ruptured Achilles in practice yesterday while running a route. With that injury certain to end the 26-year-old’s season, we can probably expect to see him placed on IR soon, with someone else taking his place on the 53-man roster.
- The Patriots worked out a handful of players this week, including defensive backs Justin Green, Keon Lyn, Kimario McFadden, and Trevin Wade, as well as tight end Konrad Reuland, tweets Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun.
- Wilson also reports (via Twitter) that long snappers Charley Hughlett and Kevin McDermott auditioned for the Browns.
- While no Browns wideout is expected to replicate Josh Gordon‘s numbers while 2013’s leading receiver serves his 10-game suspension, free agent signee Andrew Hawkins has fit in well so far in Cleveland, as Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal details. Hawkins leads the club in both receptions and receiving yards through three weeks.
Injured Reserve
As has been the case throughout the preseason and season so far, we saw several key players moved to teams’ injured reserve lists this week. Vikings quarterback Matt Cassel, Chargers running back Danny Woodhead, and Lions linebacker Stephen Tulloch are among the players who headed to the IR within the last several days, opening up a spot on their clubs’ active rosters for their teams to replace them.
The injured reserve designation is generally – though not always – used for players who will be out for the season. That’s especially the case with players like Woodhead, whose team will want to keep him around beyond this year. Woodhead signed a two-year contract extension with San Diego in July, so there’s little chance the club moves forward in 2015 without him in the mix. That means Woodhead will spent this season on IR, earning his full salary, and will plan on returning to the Chargers’ active roster next year.
That’s not the case for every player who lands on injured reserve though. Particularly during the preseason, we see players who weren’t part of their teams’ long-term plans hit the IR list, only to be cut several days later. Generally, these cases involve players who aren’t suffering from season-ending injuries, and receive injury settlements from their respective clubs in order to release those clubs from any liability.
For instance, let’s say a player is injured during the final week of the preseason with a high ankle sprain, and the player and team both agree that the injury will sideline him for three weeks. The club could place that player on injured reserve, then cut him with a two-week regular-season injury settlement (since the final preseason week is also taken into account). That would allow the player to receive 2/17ths of his season salary, and allow him to look for work with a new club when he gets healthy. If the club were to keep the player on injured reserve rather than removing him with a settlement, it would be required to cut him when he gets healthy.
Teams who release a player from IR with a settlement are eligible to re-sign that player later in the season, if they so choose. But they must wait six weeks, on top of the time of the initial settlement. In that previous example then, a club would have to wait until after Week 8 to re-sign the player with the high ankle sprain.
Players who remain on their clubs’ injured reserve lists all season continue to receive their full salary, which also counts against their teams’ salary caps. The Rams are one club that has an inordinate amount of what is essentially “dead money” sitting on injured reserve this season, since highly-paid quarterback Sam Bradford landed on the IR before the season begin.
In some instances, players agree to “split contracts” when they sign with a club, which means that the player will receive a smaller salary if he lands on injured reserve. Split contracts, which are worth less than the active roster minimum salaries, are fairly rare, and are primarily signed by undrafted rookies or veterans with injury histories.
One additional quirk related to the injured reserve list is the option each team has to designate one IR player to return each season. With the IR-DTR spot, a club can place a player on IR, but bring him back to practice after six weeks, and back to game action after eight weeks. Once a team uses this designation once, it can’t use it again that season, though not every club necessarily gets the opportunity to make use of it. Here’s our list of how teams have used the IR-DTR slot so far this season.
Note: This is a PFR Glossary entry. Our glossary posts will explain specific rules relating to free agency, trades, or other aspects of the NFL’s Collective Bargaining Agreement. Information from The National Football Post was used in the creation of this post.
Minor Moves: Thursday
We’ll keep tabs on Thursday’s practice squad signings as cuts, as well as minor 53-man roster transactions, in this space, with the latest moves added to the top of the list throughout the day….
- Can the Ravens just make up their minds already? A source tells Aaron Wilson of The Baltimore Sun that the club has re-signed wide receiver Deonte Thompson to the practice squad. Thompson, who was released twice by Baltimore in five days, will earn more than the usual $6,300 per week that taxi squad players make. The speedy receiver will bump someone from the practice squad but it’s not yet known who will be dropped to make room.
Earlier updates:
- The only team in the NFL that came into today with a spot available on its 53-man roster has filled that opening, as the Redskins announced they’ve promoted defensive tackle Robert Thomas from their practice squad (Twitter link). An undrafted free agent out of Arkansas, Thomas had been on Washington’s taxi squad since the start of the season.
- Running back Lache Seastrunk has been removed from the Panthers‘ practice squad, with Carolina signing running back Tauren Poole to take his place, according to the club (Twitter link).
- The Rams have made a small adjustment to their practice squad as well, re-adding wideout Justin Veltung to replace tight end Brad Smelley, according to Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (via Twitter).
- After spending the season to date on the reserve/non-football illness list, defensive end Mike Catapano has been moved to the Chiefs‘ injured reserve list, as Terez A. Paylor of the Kansas City Star writes. It’s not clear what sort of ailment is plaguing Catapano, but the new designation indicates he won’t play for Kansas City this season.
AFC Notes: Harrison, Tannehill, Texans, Jags
The Steelers brought back veteran linebacker James Harrison this week after suffering a rash of injuries on the defensive side of the ball, but while the sight of Harrison in black and gold will look familiar, we shouldn’t expect him to play a major role immediately. Harrison started all 87 games he played for Pittsburgh from 2007 to 2012, but former Bucs GM Mark Domenik thinks it’s unrealistic to expect significant contributions from the linebacker at age 36.
“I think you could see him play five to 10 snaps [in Week 4] in that limited pass-rush role,” Dominik said, according to Scott Brown of ESPN.com. “I think at the end of the day you’ll be lucky if James Harrison become a 20- to 25-snap guy. He knows what to do in the system, and that’s the No. 1 thing, it’s just that can he get his body to do it? That’s going to take a little bit of time.”
Here’s more from out of the AFC:
- After being ambiguous earlier this week when he was asked about Ryan Tannehill‘s job security as the Dolphins‘ No. 1 quarterback, head coach Joe Philbin has expressed remorse about having created a distraction and given his starting signal-caller a vote of confidence, writes Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. As I noted earlier in the week, Tannehill will be extension-eligible starting this offseason and the Dolphins will also have to decide on his fifth-year option in the spring, so 2014 is a big year for the young QB.
- We had already heard about the Texans auditioning a handful of punters this week in case Shane Lechler is unable to play this week, but Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun (Twitter link) adds a couple more names to the list of players the team tried out. According to Wilson, Houston also took a look at long snappers Brandon Hartson and Chris Maikranz.
- The Jaguars auditioned linebacker L.J. Fort this week, tweets Wilson. Fort, waived by the Broncos during the preseason, also worked out for the Titans earlier in September.
- Cornerback Vernon Kearney, who was cut by the Chiefs a month ago, was among the defensive backs who worked out for the Jets this week, per Wilson (via Twitter).
North Notes: Cutler, Browns, Peppers
Kirk Cousins will be under center for the Redskins tonight as they host the Giants in Washington, but if things had played out differently five years ago, it could be Bears quarterback Jay Cutler wearing burgundy and gold tonight. As Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com details, Cutler was very interested in being dealt to Washington when he asked the Broncos to trade him back in 2009.
“[He] wanted to come,” said Vinny Cerrato, Washington’s VP of football operations at the time. “He figured [Mike] Shanahan was coming anyhow, and so he wanted to come, too. And for the agent and everybody, it would have been a very smooth transition.”
Although Washington was willing to deal multiple top picks and a veteran quarterback (Jason Campbell) for Cutler, the Broncos ultimately preferred the Bears’ offer of two first-rounders, a third-rounder, and Kyle Orton. Still, it was a close race — one Bears source tells La Canfora that “there was a period” during negotiations where he thought Washington would ultimately land the young signal-caller.
As we contemplate how the Redskins’ fate over the last several seasons may have changed if they’d traded for the current Bears quarterback, let’s round up a few Thursday items out of the NFL’s two North divisions….
- Once Adrian Peterson‘s $10MM+ per year deal comes off the Vikings‘ books – one way or another – it could be quite some time before there’s another running back making eight figures annually, writes Joel Corry of CBSSports.com. The former agent takes a look at the extinction of the high-priced running back, and which players might have a shot at signing big contracts within the next few years.
- As they count down the weeks until Josh Gordon‘s return, the Browns continue to work out wide receivers. Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun tweets that B.J. Cunningham and Rashad Lawrence auditioned for the club this week.
- Adam Jahns of the Chicago Sun-Times spoke to former Bear Julius Peppers about how he has made the transition from one NFC North mainstay to another after signing with the Packers this offseason.
Poll: Which Team Will Stay Winless Longest?
On Wednesday, PFR readers voted the Bengals the most likely team to be the last unbeaten club standing in the NFL this season. The league’s three 3-0 squads haven’t necessarily looked dominant, and face tough schedules in the next few weeks, which could ensure that no team remains undefeated for long.
On the other hand, the league’s three 0-3 teams have struggled immensely in the early going. The Jaguars started off the season by jumping out to a 17-0 lead against the Eagles, but have since been outscored by an incredible 119-27 margin, including 34-0 in the second half of that game in Philadelphia. The Raiders have played tighter games, but also faced three opponents (Jets, Texans, Patriots) that have looked shaky in their other contests. As for the Buccaneers, they’re coming off a 56-14 defeat that was even worse than the final score suggests, after having dropped home games to Derek Anderson and Austin Davis in the season’s first two weeks.
At this point, all three winless clubs have turned to new quarterbacks, with the Jaguars (Blake Bortles) and Raiders (Derek Carr) giving their rookies a chance under center, while Mike Glennon prepares to take over for the injured Josh McCown in Tampa Bay. While there’s some optimism that these young signal-callers could help turn their respective teams’ seasons around, the jury’s still very much out on that.
Over the next few weeks, the Bucs will play in Pittsburgh and New Orleans before hosting the Ravens and then taking a Week 7 bye; the Jaguars alternate road and home games against the Chargers, Steelers, Titans, and Browns; and the Raiders play in London against the Dolphins before returning stateside for their bye and then home games against the Chargers and Cardinals.
What do you think? Which of these last-place teams will take the longest to win its first game? And are any of them in real danger of a winless season?
AFC West Notes: Raiders, Chiefs, Chargers
As I noted in a poll yesterday, there are only three unbeaten teams remaining in the NFL — at the other end of the spectrum, only three clubs are still looking for their first win of the season. Jason Fitzgerald of Over The Cap examines those three franchises in his latest piece for The Sporting News, writing of the Raiders that they’ve “built one of the strangest rosters in recent memory.”
As Fitzgerald notes, Oakland added a number of aging veterans in free agency on its way to compiling the oldest roster in the NFL, and the team handed the quarterbacking reins to rookie Derek Carr shortly after trading for high-priced veteran Matt Schaub. The Raiders figure to win some games at some point this season, but it’s hard to imagine GM Reggie McKenzie and head coach Dennis Allen still having their jobs a year from now unless things turn around quickly, writes Fitzgerald.
Here’s more from around the AFC West:
- Although Bill Williamson of ESPN.com has received many inquiries from Raiders fans on whether or not the team has interest in free agent defensive back Champ Bailey, Williamson says the team isn’t considering the veteran at this point (Twitter link).
- Before they signed with the Packers’ and Lions’ practice squads, respectively, offensive lineman Josh Walker and defensive back Josh Victorian worked out for the Chiefs, according to Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun (Twitter link), who says Kansas City team also auditioned wideout Ryan Spadola.
- In addition to the players who signed to their roster or practice squad, or those whose workouts have been previously reported, the Chargers tried out the following players, according to Wilson (via Twitter): Offensive linemen Michael Bamiro, Travis Bond, and Bryce Quigley, linebacker Yawin Smallwood, and tight end Brian Wozniak.
Bucs Promote Mike Kafka To Roster
The Buccaneers have signed quarterback Mike Kafka off their practice squad to their 53-man roster, according to Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times (via Twitter). The team has cut guard Rishaw Johnson to clear a spot on the roster for the new addition, and has replaced Kafka on the practice squad with offensive lineman Josh Allen.
The move to promote Kafka to the active roster had been anticipated, given the health of Josh McCown. While McCown was holding out hope of playing this week against the Steelers, a sprained thumb was expected to keep him sidelined, allowing Mike Glennon to get his first start of the season. Kafka will act as the No. 2 option behind Glennon, assuming McCown is ruled out.
Although he drew some interest from the Cowboys back in February, Kafka was signed by the Bucs and spent most of the year with the club before becoming a roster casualty during the cutdown to 53 players. After he cleared waivers though, Tampa Bay quickly re-added him to its practice squad, making him the de facto No. 3 signal-caller for the team despite the fact that he wasn’t on the active roster.