Cowboys Sign Zack Martin
The Cowboys have signed first-round pick Zack Martin to his rookie contract, according to Todd Archer of ESPNDallas.com. Now that they’ve locked up the offensive tackle, Dallas has just one unsigned draftee remaining — second-round edge defender Demarcus Lawrence.
Martin, the 16th overall pick, was something of a surprise selection last month, since Tyron Smith is locked in at left tackle in Dallas, and many observers believed the Cowboys would either select a defender or opt for the splashier pick in Johnny Manziel. Martin was considered one of the top offensive linemen in the draft, and ended up being the fourth tackle off the board, behind Greg Robinson, Jake Matthews, and Taylor Lewan.
Per Jason Fitzgerald of Over The Cap, Martin will be in line for a signing bonus of $4.842MM, with an overall four-year value of nearly $9MM. As is the case with all of this year’s first-round picks, Martin will also have a fifth-year option on his deal, which the Cowboys will have the opportunity to exercise to keep him under contract for the 2018 season.
Now that Martin has signed, only 16 draftees have yet to put pen to paper, including six other first-rounders.
Andre Johnson Will Skip Mandatory Minicamp
Andre Johnson won’t be in attendance at the Texans’ mandatory minicamp this week, the wideout’s advisor and uncle Andre Melton tells Brian T. Smith of the Houston Chronicle. According to Smith, Melton’s comments today confirmed that Johnson and the Texans remain “at odds,” with no immediate end in sight for the standoff. With training camp several weeks away, Melton says the Houston receiver has yet to determine whether or not he’ll extend his holdout into July and August.
“We’ll evaluate it in a month or so and see what’s going on,” Melton said.
As Joel Corry of CBSSports.com notes (via Twitter), Johnson forfeited a $1MM roster bonus by skipping the Texans’ OTAs, so by comparison, the fine for missing this week’s minicamp “is peanuts.”
Johnson made his frustration public for the first time last month, wondering aloud if Houston was still the place for him after the club’s disastrous 2013 campaign and suggesting that he likely wouldn’t attend June’s OTAs or minicamp. The longtime Texan, who will turn 33 in July, added that the offseason had been “very frustrating,” and expressed some unhappiness that the team continues to cycle through coaches and quarterbacks.
It’s not clear what sort of resolution we can expect between Johnson and the Texans. There are still three years remaining on the wideout’s current contract, and he hasn’t indicated that he wants to renegotiate that deal. A trade to a contender is one possibility, but Houston doesn’t appear amenable to that idea, and in any case, many potential trade partners have filled their rosters and no longer have cap space to take on a player who is set to earn a $10MM base salary in 2014.
Latest On Potential Holdouts
We won’t know for sure until the Niners‘ minicamp officially gets underway tomorrow, but based on his latest comments and a report from Ian Rapoport of NFL.com, it appears that Vernon Davis won’t be present in Santa Clara. While Davis is one notable veteran who may be absent from his club’s minicamp in the hopes of negotiating a new contract, he’s not the only one. Rapoport (Twitter link) also has updates on a few more players who are believe to be unhappy with their current situations for one reason or another, so let’s round them up….
- Marshawn Lynch still hasn’t informed the Seahawks of his plans, says Rapoport. We heard last week that the running back is seeking a new contract and that the team is at least preparing for the possibility that he won’t be in attendance this week. The prospect of retirement was even mentioned, though I’d be very surprised if that becomes a real possibility.
- According to Rapoport, the Texans don’t expect Andre Johnson to attend the club’s minicamp. It’s not clear if Johnson wants a new contract — his frustration seems to be more a result of Houston’s poor 2013 season and concerns about the team’s direction heading into the ’14 campaign.
- Despite persistent rumblings that he wants to retire, the Cowboys anticipate Kyle Orton will be present at their camp. Per Rapoport (Twitter link), Dallas has long been optimistic that the No. 2 quarterback will show up because the team will look to recoup a portion of his signing bonus if he opts to retire. Privately, Orton continues to weigh the decision, according to Rapoport.
Vernon Davis Discusses Holdout, Contract
9:10am: Ian Rapoport of NFL.com clarifies (via Twitter) that Davis won’t be in attendance at the Niners’ minicamp this week. The tight end will forfeit nearly $70K by failing to attend.
8:52am: With Peter King on vacation, 49ers tight end Vernon Davis stepped in to pen this week’s edition of Monday Morning Quarterback at TheMMQB.com. Having decided not to attend San Francisco’s voluntary OTAs as he seeks a new contract, Davis presumably had plenty of time to write the column, which begins with an explanation from the tight end on why he’s holding out.
“In 2010 I signed a five-year, $37MM contract extension with $23MM guaranteed. It was the biggest contract for a tight end in league history. Four years later, and I’m playing at a higher level than I was then, which brings me to why I’m holding out,” Davis writes. “It’s all about getting paid what you deserve. It’s not that complicated. I want the 49ers to win the Super Bowl, and I want to be on the field this summer working towards that goal, but I have to worry about my future first. Most of my teammates and many players in the NFL understand that. A few don’t. Behind closed doors, they’ll say they’re all about the team and would run through a brick wall for the organization. But when you look closer, they’re doing things to contradict themselves. I can’t listen to anyone but my family and my advisors, because those are the people who are going to be there when football inevitably dumps me.”
The fact that the item is presented as an explanation for why he’s holding out is interesting, since Davis indicated a few days ago that he plans on attending the Niners’ mandatory minicamp this week. Unless that stance has changed, it’s hard to consider this a full-blown holdout for Davis, so we’ll have to wait and see whether or not he’s actually in attendance in Santa Clara. For what it’s worth, Rand Getlin of Yahoo! Sports tweets that he doesn’t expect Davis to be present when the club’s minicamp gets underway tomorrow.
While Davis may feel as if he’s not being paid what he deserves, he’s still among the league’s highest-paid tight ends by annual average value and has two years remaining on his current deal, so his leverage in contract talks will be limited. I’d expect the 30-year-old to relent before the Niners do, particularly since the team also has to address a potential new contract for Alex Boone and extensions for Michael Crabtree and Mike Iupati, all of which are arguably more pressing than a new deal for Davis.
Pro Football Rumors Features
Pro Football Rumors passes along the latest news and rumors on NFL player movement 365 days a year, but those aren’t the only updates you’ll see on the site. On our right sidebar, you’ll find a number of additional features and featured posts. Here’s a rundown of a few of them:
- Most of the most noteworthy players on the 2014 free agent market came off the board back in March, but there are still plenty of recognizable veteran names available. You can find the full breakdown of veteran free agents by position using our list.
- Before Maurkice Pouncey signed a new five-year contract with the Steelers yesterday, I had examined his case for a new deal in our Extension Candidate series, which takes a look at players in the last year or two of their contracts who could reach new agreements with their teams soon.
- In addition to our Extension Candidate pieces, we’ve also got our Trade Candidate series underway, with posts published so far on Michael Roos of the Titans and Brandon Flowers of the Chiefs. — of course, following his release today, the Flowers piece is now somewhat obsolete.
- Only 17 picks from the 2014 draft have yet to sign their rookie contracts. You can use our draft pick signing tracker to keep tabs on which ones have yet to be locked up. And if you want to revisit the draft results by round, we have that list for you as well.
- The Pro Football Rumors glossary highlights a number of aspects of the NFL’s salary cap, free agency, and Collective Bargaining Agreement. Feel free to let us know if there’s a specific concept that you’d like us to discuss in a future Glossary piece.
- We value your input at PFR, which is why we regularly publish polls and have a regular feature called Pigskin Links, in which we highlight a few interesting recent articles from football blogs. You can find our poll archives here and our Pigskin Links pieces right here.
- The Pro Football Rumors app for the iPhone and iPad is available for free on iTunes.
- While a handful of our notable articles can be found under the “Featured Posts” section on the right sidebar, the PFR Originals archive rounds up all the original posts from our staff. Recently, we examined the Falcons‘ options at linebacker in the wake of Sean Weatherspoon‘s season-ending Achilles injury, explored whether it’s time for a new NFL developmental league, and identified several free agents who would be impacted by the June 1 date.
Falcons, Others Eyeing Brandon Flowers
Scott Pioli was the Chiefs‘ general manager back in 2012 when Brandon Flowers signed a lucrative five-year extension to remain with the team. Today, Flowers is the latest veteran player to hit the free agent market, Pioli is working in Atlanta as an assistant general manager for the Falcons, and there are rumblings that the pair could be on track for a reunion.
According to Jim Trotter of SI.com (Twitter link), Atlanta and Washington are among the early potential landing spots for Flowers, and the Pioli connection is very much “in play” for the Falcons. Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link) also links the Falcons to the free agent cornerback, indicating that the club had been monitoring the Flowers situation in Kansas City and was preparing for his potential release.
Still, the Falcons and Redskins aren’t the only possible suitors for Flowers. Let’s round up the latest chatter on the 2013 Pro Bowler….
- ESPN.com’s John Clayton (Twitter link) names the Panthers, Jets, and 49ers as teams he thinks could at least kick the tires on Flowers. However, Joseph Person of the Charlotte Observer (Twitter link) thinks the corner is probably too pricey for Carolina, while Rich Cimini of ESPN.com (Twitter link) would be surprised if New York pursued him.
- Similarly, Stephen Holder of the Indianapolis Star (Twitter link) would be “very surprised” if the Colts got too involved for the 28-year-old.
- The Titans are assessing the Flowers situation to determine whether or not he’d fit in Tennessee, tweets Paul Kuharsky of ESPN.com. According to Kuharsky (Twitter link), the opportunity may be too good for the club to pass up, if the price is right.
- Trotter hears that several teams who ruled out the possibility of trading for Flowers are now circling back and considering pursuing him as a free agent (Twitter link).
Broncos Offer Demaryius Thomas Five-Year Deal
As we heard earlier this week, the Broncos have begun extension talks in earnest with two of their top pass-catchers, and according to Troy Renck of the Denver Post, discussions have progressed to the point of an offer for Demaryius Thomas. Per Renck, the club has offered the wide receiver a five-year extension. While Denver has also initiated negotiations with Julius Thomas, no offer has been made yet to the tight end.
“We’ve already talked to them to see if we can do something before the beginning of the year,” GM John Elway said earlier this week, referring to the pair of Thomases. “We’d like to get something done before the beginning of camp. We don’t want to do anything once training camp starts. They’re both in their last years and we’d like for them to stay and be Broncos for a long time.”
Demaryius Thomas, 26, has posted back-to-back Pro Bowl seasons since the arrival of Peyton Manning in Denver in 2012, averaging 93 catches, 1,432 receiving yards, and 12 touchdowns per year. As Mike Sando wrote today in an Insider-only piece for ESPN.com, the former first-round pick is one of the best receivers headed into a contract year in 2014, ranking alongside Dez Bryant at the top of a star-studded list that also includes Michael Crabtree, Randall Cobb, and Jordy Nelson, among others.
While it’s not clear what sort of money the Broncos have offered Thomas over the course of five years, it certainly should exceed the $36.25MM that former teammate Eric Decker received from the Jets this offseason. Assuming Thomas aims to be paid like an elite NFL receiver, he’ll likely be looking to match or exceed the five-year, $60MM+ deals signed by Mike Wallace and Percy Harvin in recent years.
East Notes: Beason, Bills, Easley, Orton
With linebackers like Sean Weatherspoon and Sean Lee already suffering season-ending injuries this spring, the Giants may have gotten off the hook relatively lightly on Jon Beason‘s diagnosis. As Kimberly Jones of the NFL Network first reported (via Twitter), Beason suffered a sesamoid fracture in his right foot, as well as a ligament tear, the team confirmed today in a press release. Jones hears that the recovery timetable will be about 12 weeks, which would get Beason back on the field just in time for the Giants’ opener, and the linebacker sounded today like he had a similar thought.
“The prognosis is X amount of time and it (the Sept. 8 opener) is within that timeframe,” Beason said. “I expect to be back (for that game). If not, I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
Here are a few more items from out of the NFL’s two East divisions:
- The family of Boston Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs is proposing to build a stadium to help secure the Bills‘ long-term future in western New York, multiple sources tell John Wawrow of The Associated Press. According to Wawrow, executives of Jacobs’ company are scheduled to meet with at least one prospective ownership group to evaluate potential sites for a new stadium in Erie and Niagara counties.
- First-round defensive tackle Dominique Easley is one of just 17 draft picks who remains unsigned, and Ben Volin of the Boston Globe (Twitter link) hears that Easley and the Patriots are “squabbling” over injury protection. However, any sort of holdout seems very unlikely.
- Kyle Orton counts for too much against the cap, considering his role, opines Kevin Sherrington of the Dallas Morning News. In Sherrington’s view, that’s why the quarterback doesn’t have much leverage in his ongoing staredown with the Cowboys — the team expects and wants Orton to report to camp, and will push for him to repay some of his bonus money if he decides to retire instead.
- Sheldon Richardson hopes to see the Jets reward fellow defensive lineman Muhammad Wilkerson with a lucrative long-term contract soon, telling Brian Costello of the New York Post that Wilkerson is “due for a paycheck.”
Chiefs Cut Brandon Flowers
On the heels of Chris Houston‘s release in Detroit, another veteran cornerback has been cut. The Chiefs have parted ways with Brandon Flowers, according to Rachel Santschi of KCChiefs.com (Twitter link). Flowers himself hinted at the news earlier this afternoon on his Twitter account.
“Just want to say thanks to the Hunt family for the six years in Kansas City,” Flowers tweeted. “Thanks to the fans and my teammates for some great years.”
While Flowers, who accrued one interception and 65 tackles in 13 games last season, was selected as a Pro Bowler, advanced metrics suggested he was anything but — his -5.9 Pro Football Focus grade (subscription required) ranked him as just the 87th-best CB in the league last year, among 110 qualified players. However, PFF rated Flowers as a top-seven corner in both 2011 and 2012, so perhaps he was a poor fit in new Chiefs defensive coordinator Bob Sutton’s scheme, as had been speculated.
Whether or not Flowers fit the team’s new defensive scheme, his release comes as a bit of a surprise. The Chiefs had reportedly been considering a trade of the veteran cornerback, as our Dallas Robinson outlined earlier this month. Given his down season and the fact that most teams have finished making major offseason moves, Kansas City would have been hard-pressed to extract a ton of value, but Flowers’ relatively modest base salary ($5.25MM in 2014) still appeared movable.
Instead, the 28-year-old will hit the unrestricted free agent market, where he’ll have the opportunity to sign with any team, and I expect he’ll draw plenty of interest. As for the Chiefs, they reduce Flowers’ $10.5MM 2014 cap hit to just $3MM. The remaining $4MM in dead money on the corner’s deal will apply to Kansas City’s 2015 cap.
Dallas Robinson contributed to this post. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Lions Release Chris Houston
The Lions have released cornerback Chris Houston, according to Tim Twentyman of DetroitLions.com. The move is the one we’d been waiting for, as it helps create the cap room for the club to have signed first-round pick Eric Ebron. Houston battled a toe problem last season and underwent surgery in May.
“Chris Houston underwent a significant medical procedure this spring,” the Lions said in a statement. “Both parties felt that the best course of action at this time is to release Chris and allow him to rehabilitate his injury away from the Club. The Lions appreciate Chris’ contributions over the years and wish him the best in his recovery.”
Houston, 29, has started at cornerback in Detroit for the last four seasons, and signed a five-year, $25MM contract with the team just last spring. The deal included a $6.5MM signing bonus, so the Lions will assume a sizable chunk of dead money by cutting the veteran this year. Because the move happened after June 1, $1.3MM of the prorated bonus money will apply to 2014’s cap, with the other $3.9MM applying to 2015’s.
Depending on the timetable for Houston’s recovery from surgery, he could become an appealing veteran pickup for another club this summer or fall. The former second-round pick won’t be subjected to waivers, so he’ll immediately become an unrestricted free agent, able to sign with any team.