Headlines

Author: Luke Adams

Florida Notes: Jags, Dolphins, Colledge

By | at June 28, 2014 7:39 pm

In his first two drafts as the Jaguars‘ general manager, David Caldwell has used four of his five first- or second-round selections on offensive players, but Hays Carlyon of the Florida Times-Union doesn’t expect that to be the case in 2015. In Carlyon’s view, it’s a safe bet that Jacksonville will target a pass-rusher to fill the Leo role on defense. Nebraska’s Randy Gregory, Michigan State’s Shilique Calhoun, and Dante Fowler of Florida are among the players the Times-Union scribe suggests Jags fans keep an eye on when the 2014 NCAA season gets underway.

Here’s more on the Jags and another of the NFL’s Florida teams:

  • Within the same piece, Carlyon notes that safety Sherrod Martin will be one of the more intriguing players to watch in training camp for the Jaguars this summer. Martin has about as much combined starting experience as fellow safeties Johnathan Cyprien, Josh Evans, Winston Guy and Chris Prosinski, but his spot on the regular season roster is far from guaranteed.
  • In his discussion of Daryn Colledge‘s impending meeting with the Dolphins, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald points out that, under new general manager Dennis Hickey, the team has attempted to sign every free agent it has brought in for a visit. That bodes well for Colledge’s chancing of earning a contract offer in the wake of Mike Pouncey‘s hip injury.
  • Dolphins safety Reshad Jones is intent on bouncing back in 2014 after a down 2013, vowing to practice harder this year, as Omar Kelly of the South Florida Sun Sentinel details. Jones has a guaranteed salary for the next two seasons, so even if he struggles again in ’14, Miami is unlikely to give up on him.
0 comments 2015 NFL Draft Jacksonville Jaguars Miami Dolphins

Traded NFL Draft Picks For 2015

By | at June 26, 2014 4:30 pm

While most 2015 NFL draft picks that get traded won’t do so until after the 2014 season, or during next year’s draft itself, plenty of selections have already changed hands. The Bills’ big draft-day decision last month to send multiple 2015 picks, including their first-rounder, to the Browns in order to move up to No. 4 and snag a potential star receiver in Sammy Watkins made the biggest impact on this list of traded 2015 draft picks. However, it’s far from the only move that will shake up next year’s draft order.

Listed below are the 2015 draft picks that have been included in trades so far. In addition to the selections like Buffalo’s first- and fourth-rounders, which will change hands no matter what happens between now and the 2015 draft, we’ve also included several picks which were conditionally traded. If we have any information on what conditions must be met for those picks to be moved, that has been included as well.

This list will continue to be updated throughout the 2014 season and the 2015 season, and can be found anytime on our right-hand sidebar under the PFR Features menu. Be sure to check back after trades have been consummated for an updated look at which picks are on the move for 2015. If you have any corrections, please contact us.

Here are 2015’s traded draft picks:

Updated 3-8-14

Round 1

  • Browns acquired Bills‘ pick in deal for Sammy Watkins.

Round 4

Round 5

Round 6

Round 7

Picks with unknown conditions

  • 49ers conditionally acquired Colts‘ seventh-round pick in deal for Cam Johnson.
  • Bills conditionally acquired 49ers‘ third- or fourth-round pick in deal for Stevie Johnson.
  • Cowboys conditionally acquired Chargers‘ seventh-round pick in deal for Sean Lissemore.
  • Eagles conditionally acquired Bills‘ fourth-round pick in deal for Bryce Brown (would be 49ers‘ pick).9

Conditional picks in unknown rounds

  • Seahawks conditionally acquired Raiders‘ 2015 pick in deal for Matt Flynn.10
  • Jaguars conditionally acquired 49ers‘ 2015 pick in deal for Blaine Gabbert.11

Notes:

  1. Pick will change hands if Harvin remains on the Jets’ 2015 roster. Otherwise, the Seahawks will receive a sixth-round pick instead.
  2. Picks will change hands if McClain plays 50% of the Cowboys’ defensive snaps in 2014. If that doesn’t happen but McClain is on the Cowboys’ 53-man roster for five games or the 46-man roster for three games, Dallas will swap seventh-round picks in 2016 with Baltimore, assuming the Cowboys’ pick is higher. Otherwise, no picks change hands.
  3. Martin must make the 49ers’ opening day 53-man roster for the pick to change hands.
  4. Unclear if the Falcons received the Patriots’ seventh-rounder, via the Rams, or the Rams’ own seventh-round pick.
  5. McManus must remain Broncos’ kicker for more than four games for pick to change hands.
  6. Worthy must make the Patriots’ opening day 53-man roster for the pick to change hands.
  7. Barner must spend at least four games on the Eagles’ active 46-man roster for the pick to change hands.
  8. Edwards must spend at least 10 games on the Cowboys’ 53-man roster for the pick to change hands.
  9. Could also become a 2016 third- or fourth-round pick, depending on Johnson’s and Brown’s performances.
  10. Conditions aren’t known, but the pick likely won’t change hands since Flynn only appeared in two games for the Raiders.
  11. Gabbert must start eight or more games in 2014 for the Jaguars to receive the pick.

ProSportsTransactions.com was used in the creation of this post.

0 comments 2015 NFL Draft Newsstand PFR Originals

Redskins Sign Jerry Rice Jr.

By | at June 26, 2014 3:06 pm

3:06pm: A source confirms to John Keim of ESPN.com (Twitter link) that the Redskins have indeed signed Rice. To make room on the roster, the club has waived undrafted rookie cornerback Blake Sailors.

2:40pm: The Redskins appear to have reached an agreement to sign wide receiver Jerry Rice Jr., according to the undrafted rookie himself (hat tip to Rich Tandler of CSNWashington.com). The son of the legendary 49ers wideout published a photo of his new contract on his Instagram account today, with a message suggesting he will join the Redskins for training camp.

“This is an amazing day and I’m excited to get back to work to help the Redskins get back to the promised land,” Rice wrote on Instagram. “They gave me an opportunity and best believe they will get 110% out of me!“

After not being selected in May’s draft, Rice auditioned for the Ravens and 49ers at their respective minicamps, but didn’t earn a contract from either team. Rice, who turns 23 next month, played his college ball at UNLV and UCLA.

When Washington makes the signing of Rice official, the team will have to cut a player from its roster, since there are currently no openings available.

1 comment Newsstand Transactions Washington Commanders

Team Facebook/Twitter/RSS

By | at June 26, 2014 1:38 pm

We’ve detailed how you can follow Pro Football Rumors on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, or using an RSS reader to ensure that you receive all of our updates, 365 days a year. If you prefer to only receive news about your favorite NFL team, PFR has you covered. Below are links to our Facebook, Twitter, and RSS pages and feeds for all 32 teams.

AFC East

AFC North

AFC South

AFC West

NFC East

NFC North

NFC South

NFC West

Transactions only: Twitter / RSS

0 comments Team Facebook/Twitter/RSS

Bay Area Notes: Davis, 49ers, Raiders

By | at June 26, 2014 12:17 pm

Let’s round up today’s items from out of the Bay Area on the 49ers and Raiders….

  • 49ers tight end Vernon Davis says he’s “not stressing” over his holdout, and hopes to see the arbitrator rule in Jimmy Graham‘s favor on his positional designation hearing, tweets D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Of course, as we noted earlier this week, the Graham decision may not have any real bearing on Davis’ situation, since the Niners tight end didn’t line up as a receiver nearly as often.
  • Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com takes an in-depth look at which 53 players he expects to enter the regular season on the 49ers‘ roster, running through the squad position by position.
  • A deal that will keep baseball’s Athletics playing at the Coliseum in Oakland is not yet official, but has been agreed upon, and is now subject to the approval by the Coliseum Joint Powers Authority, which is scheduled to vote on the pending extension Friday, according to MLB.com’s Jane Lee. As Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk observes, that’s not great news for the Raiders, who want their own stadium, and won’t be able to build a new one in the current location if the A’s have the inside track on that spot. Florio suggests that we shouldn’t be shocked if owner Mark Davis “finally commences the launch sequence” to potentially move the Raiders to another city.
0 comments Las Vegas Raiders San Francisco 49ers

North Links: Peterson, Browns, Ravens

By | at June 26, 2014 10:43 am

NFL football doesn’t take a back seat to other sports too often in America, but all eyes this afternoon figures to be on what the rest of the world knows as football, as the U.S. men’s national soccer team faces Germany in Brazil. While you’re looking forward to that game, here are a few morning odds and ends from around the NFL’s two North divisions:

  • Vikings running back Adrian Peterson tells Dan Pompei of Sports on Earth that he wants to “beat down the things they are saying about the running back position.” While no running backs have been drafted in the right round for two consecutive years, Peterson thinks that will change when the right players are draft-eligible: “We haven’t had a good back, a must-have guy, come out of college in a couple years. That’s what’s missing. You get a guy who comes out who is like Marshawn Lynch… you’ll definitely want to bring that guy in.”
  • Ben Tate was one running back who felt the effects of a depressed free agent market this offseason, signing a modest two-year pact with the Browns. In the view of Jason Fitzgerald of Over The Cap though, Tate’s deal is Cleveland’s best contract, heading into the 2014 season. On the other end of the spectrum, Paul Kruger ranks as the Browns’ worst deal, according to Fitzgerald, who had Kruger’s contract in that spot in 2013 as well.
  • The Ravens have removed linebacker Xavius Boyd from their injured reserve list, according to Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun. Per Wilson, the Ravens didn’t work out an injury settlement with Boyd, who expects to be healthy soon after suffering a hamstring injury in spring workouts.
  • Our Offseason in Review series has kicked off this week, with Zach Links examining the offseason moves made by the Browns and Steelers.
0 comments Baltimore Ravens Cleveland Browns Transactions

Contract Guarantees

By | at June 26, 2014 9:00 am

Unlike in the NBA or MLB, players’ contracts in the NFL aren’t guaranteed by default. Typically, an NFL player will receive at least some guaranteed money when he signs a deal, but that money often comes in the form of contract bonuses, and in particular signing bonuses. While a player’s base salary, or P5 salary, will occasionally be guaranteed for a season or two, more often than not future seasons in that contract are fully non-guaranteed, allowing the team to escape the contract without much of a cap hit, particularly if the player’s bonus money was limited.

As our Zach Links detailed last night, the Steelers’ largest free agent expenditure this offseason in terms of years and overall dollars came when the team signed safety Mike Mitchell to a five-year, $25MM contract. However, the odds of Mitchell receiving that full $25MM aren’t necessarily great. The safety’s deal featured a fully guaranteed $4.75MM signing bonus and a $500K roster bonus, but that $5.25MM is the only part of the deal that’s guaranteed. Theoretically, Pittsburgh could release Mitchell tomorrow and not be on the hook for the base salaries in any of his five seasons.

Signing bonuses, which are generally paid in one or two lump sums, are fairly straightforward forms of guaranteed money, but not all guaranteed money is created equal. We saw a prime example of that when Colin Kaepernick inked a long-term extension with the 49ers earlier in June. When word of the agreement first broke, Kaepernick’s guaranteed money was reported to exceed $60MM+. However, upon learning the full details of the contract, we found that only about $13MM of that total was fully guaranteed, whereas another $48MM+ was guaranteed for injury only.

An injury-only guarantee is one of three types of guarantees that a team can write into a player’s contract that apply to his base salary in a given season. These guarantees are as follows:

  • Guaranteed for injury: If a player suffers a football injury and cannot pass a physical administered by the team doctor, he would still be entitled to his full salary if the team were to release him. For a player like Kaepernick who has several future seasons guaranteed for injury only, it would take a career-ending injury for the Niners to be on the hook for all those future injury-only guaranteed salaries.
  • Guaranteed for skill: The most subjective of the three, a player whose talents have significantly declined and is released for skill-related reasons (ie. another player beats him out for a roster spot) would still be entitled to his full salary if that salary is guaranteed for skill.
  • Guaranteed for cap purposes: This form of guarantee ensures that a player who is released due to his team’s need to create cap room will still be entitled to his full salary.

A team can use a combination of these forms of guarantees, making a player’s salary guaranteed for injury and skill, for example. In the event that a player’s salary is guaranteed for injury, skill, and cap purposes, we’d refer to that salary as fully guaranteed, since the player would be eligible for his full salary regardless of the reason for his release.

As is the case with prorated bonuses, all future guaranteed salary owed to a player by a team is considered “dead money” and would accelerate onto the club’s current cap in the event of his release (over one or two years, depending on whether the cut happens after June 1). For the most part though, beyond the first year or two of a deal, that prorated signing bonus money is the only guaranteed figure remaining on the contract, which is why teams often don’t have qualms about releasing a player in the later years of his deal.

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 Over the Cap was used in the creation of this post.

0 comments Newsstand PFR Glossary

NFC East Links: Avant, Cowboys, Redskins

By | at June 25, 2014 5:00 pm

Earlier today, we rounded up a few items out of the NFC West. Now, let’s head to the other coast and check in on the NFC’s East division….

  • DeSean Jackson certainly drew more headlines this offseason, but Jason Avant was another wideout who only lasted one season in Philadelphia under Chip Kelly, and as he tells Joseph Person of the Charlotte Observer, he didn’t exactly see eye-to-eye with the Eagles‘ head coach. “When it came to certain things, we butted heads sometimes – route running and route technique. So I knew I didn’t fit his system,” Avant said, adding that he knew “maybe four games into last season” that he’d eventually be released.
  • One former Cowboy great believes Dez Bryant has earned a long-term extension from the team, as Hall of Fame running back Emmitt Smith tells Jon Machota of the Dallas Morning News that he believes the wideout has matured and is “very passionate about football.”
  • Cowboys linebacker Justin Durant isn’t satisfied with what he has accomplished in Dallas or in his NFL career so far, but he could have a great opportunity to produce in 2014, with Sean Lee sidelined for the year, writes Machota. Durant will be eligible for unrestricted free agency after the season, so it’d be a nice boost to his stock if he earned the team’s starting job at middle linebacker.
  • Tarik El-Bashir of CSNWashington.com takes a closer look at the Redskins‘ nose tackle position, evaluating which players are likely to make the roster behind probable starter Barry Cofield.
0 comments Dallas Cowboys Philadelphia Eagles Washington Commanders

AFC Notes: Dolphins, Flowers, Bills, Luck

By | at June 25, 2014 3:48 pm

Free agent offensive lineman Andre Gurode, who has plenty of experience at center and guard and played for the Raiders last season, has reached out to the Dolphins to see if they have any interest in signing him in the wake of Mike Pouncey‘s labrum surgery, says Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. However, as of Tuesday evening, the club has yet to return his call. While Miami doesn’t necessarily need to add any veteran free agents for camp, the team has been making “brief preliminary inquiries” on potential options, according to Jackson. Our Dallas Robinson took a closer look at a few of the Dolphins’ possible targets earlier this week.

Here’s more from around the AFC:

  • In a conversation with Ricky Henne of Chargers.com, Brandon Flowers spoke about signing with the Chargers and the impact he hopes to have on the team and on rookie cornerback Jason Verrett. According to Flowers, his former Virginia Tech teammate Eddie Royal gave him a hard sell on the team, the city, and the fans.
  • It has been said that the Bills need a new stadium to remain in Western New York, but governor Andrew Cuomo isn’t sure about that, writes Robert J. McCarthy of the Buffalo News. “The state would do its part; the county would do its part, but only if you really need a new stadium, which, frankly, I am not convinced of,” Cuomo said. “It would be more a function of what the new buyer and the NFL say is the condition to keep it here. We have to see how it develops down the road.”
  • In a conversation at NFL.com, Gregg Rosenthal, Chris Wesseling, and Kevin Patra debate which NFL player would earn the most money as a free agent on the open market right now, and two of the three scribes opt for Colts quarterback Andrew Luck.
  • Executive vice president Bryan Wiedmeier has signed a contract extension with the Browns, per Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal.

Zach Links contributed to this post.

1 comment Buffalo Bills Cleveland Browns Indianapolis Colts Los Angeles Chargers Miami Dolphins

Chargers Sign Brandon Flowers

By | at June 25, 2014 3:30 pm

WEDNESDAY, 3:30pm: The Chargers have waived cornerback Brandon Jones in order to clear a spot on the roster for Flowers, the team announced today (Twitter link).

TUESDAY, 6:24pm: Field Yates of ESPN.com (Twitter link) has the exact breakdown of Flowers’ deal. The veteran gets $1.5MM to sign, $1.5MM in base salary, and up to $2MM in incentives. In order to earn that full $2MM in incentives, Flowers needs to play in 92.5% of the Chargers defensive snaps and the team must advance to the AFC Championship (link).

5:53pm: Flowers’ deal can earn him up to $5MM, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. The cornerback will now have the opportunity to prove himself this season and cash in next offseason at the age of 29.

4:01pm: The Chargers have reached an agreement on a contract with free agent cornerback Brandon Flowers, reports Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (via Twitter). According to Mike Garafolo of Fox Sports (Twitter link), it’ll be a one-year pact for Flowers in San Diego.NFL: Kansas City Chiefs at Philadelphia Eagles

After being cut by the Chiefs earlier in the month, Flowers paid a free agent visit to the Chargers last week, and later met with the 49ers as well, according to Garafolo (Twitter link). By joining the Chargers, Flowers will remain in the AFC West and face his old team twice in the 2014 season, and will also be signing with the team that topped last week’s PFR poll asking where the cornerback would land.

Pro Football Focus’ advanced metrics (subscription required) suggest 2013 was a down year for Flowers as he struggled to fit in new Kansas City defensive coordinator Bob Sutton’s scheme, ranking as just the 87th-best CB in the league among 110 qualified players. However, PFF rated Flowers as a top-seven corner in both 2011 and 2012, and the former Chief is still only 28 years old. That makes him an intriguing option for a Chargers team whose corners all had even worse PFF grades than Flowers in ’13.

By signing a one-year contract with San Diego, Flowers will have the opportunity to show that 2013 was an aberration, and will be eligible to hit the open market again at age 29. Considering the kind of deals we saw this year’s group of top cornerbacks sign in free agency, a bounce-back year from the former Virginia Tech standout could result in another nice payday next March. It would also go a long way toward solidifying a Chargers secondary that also added first-round cornerback Jason Verrett.

The Vikings, Ravens, Falcons, and Lions were among the other clubs who reportedly had some level of interest in Flowers, who received inquiries from about 10 teams when he first became available. However, if those teams – and others – are still on the lookout for veteran cornerback help, they’ll have to turn to a group of free agents that looks significantly less appealing without Flowers heading it up. Chris Houston, Terrell Thomas, and Drayton Florence are among the players still available, as our list of FAs shows.

The Chargers filled the 90th and final spot on their roster last week by claiming Chas Alecxih off waivers, so they’ll have to make a corresponding move in order to officially add Flowers.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

1 comment Los Angeles Chargers Newsstand San Francisco 49ers Transactions
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors