Brent Grimes Seeking Multiyear Contract
Brent Grimes is scheduled to hit the open market one month from today, but the Dolphins may use their franchise tag on the cornerback well before the free agent period begins. As Grimes tells Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald though, he’s hoping to sign a multiyear deal to remain with the Dolphins, since that franchise tag “is not what anybody wants.”
A report last week suggested that re-signing Grimes will be a top priority for Miami this offseason, and based on Jackson’s latest story, it sounds as if the All-Pro defensive back is interested in continuing his career a Dolphin. At age 30, Grimes likely recognizes that his window to secure one last long-term contract is closing, meaning this offseason may represent his best chance at one last lucrative deal.
It may also be in Miami’s best interest to work out a long-term agreement with Grimes, as Jackson notes. With the franchise tag value for cornerbacks expected to exceed $11MM, using the tag on Grimes would severely cut into the club’s 2014 cap space. Although a multiyear deal might leave the Dolphins on the hook for more guaranteed salary, that money would be stretched over multiple seasons, and Grimes’ cap number for ’14 would almost certainly be smaller than $11MM.
As our list of notable offseason dates shows, NFL teams can begin designation franchise players next Monday.
Seahawks Sign Beckum, Parks, Taylor
7:37pm: Former Giants tight end Travis Beckum was also signed by the Seahawks, according to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport (via Twitter). Beckum, a third-round draft choice in 2009, has not played since suffering a knee injury in New York’s Super Bowl win after the 2011 season. He was on injured reserve for the duration of 2012 and out of the league in 2013.
The team also announced that it signed 6-foot-2-inch defensive back Terrance Parks, who last played with Hamilton of the Canadian Football league after being spending the 2012 training camp with the Chiefs.
2:32pm: The Seahawks have signed linebacker Mike Taylor, reports Tyler Dunne of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Taylor appears to be rejoining Seattle on a reserve/futures contract after briefly being signed to the team’s practice squad in December.
Taylor, who released by the Seahawks after spending Week 15 on the team’s practice squad, played his college ball at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Although Taylor earned first team All-Big Ten honors in his senior year, multiple sports hernia operations sidelined him for the combine and his pro day, and he went undrafted in 2013. He has yet to appear in an NFL game.
Following the Super Bowl, the Seahawks also signed nine other players to reserve deals.
Extra Points: Bengals, Sam, Jets, Bortles
In assessing the likelihood of the Bengals‘ free agents returning to the team, Paul Dehner Jr. of the Cincinnati Enquirer suggests that defensive end Michael Johnson is likely to end up elsewhere this spring. After franchising Johnson last year, the Bengals could choose to place the franchise tag on their defensive end again this time around, but Dehner believes that’s the only scenario in which he returns to Cincinnati. According to Dehner, the club will likely be unwilling to shell out big bucks for another defensive lineman with Geno Atkins already on a lucrative, long-term deal.
Here’s more from around the NFL, with just over a month remaining until 2014’s free agent period:
- The success of teams with low-salary quarterbacks like the Seahawks and 49ers has prompted a discussion on whether clubs with solid veteran QBs ought to let them walk in free agency if the price gets too high. However, Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com dismisses such thinking, arguing that the NFL’s cap structure ensures that even the more highly-paid signal-callers remain undervalued.
- Liz Mullen of Sports Business Journal reports (via Twitter) that defensive end prospect Michael Sam, who publicly came out as gay yesterday, left The Novo Agency and signed with new NFL agents Cameron Weiss and Joe Barkett of Empire Athletes.
- Mullen also reports (via Twitter) that free-agent-to-be Emmanuel Sanders has left agent Jordan Woy.
- Rich Cimini of ESPNNewYork.com takes a look at one of the Jets’ top priorities this offseason: Wide receiver. In Cimini’s view, the club would be wise to avoid paying top dollar for Eric Decker, and instead should focus on a $5-7MM free agent, who can be slotted alongside a receiver picked in the draft. Cimini identifies potential Seahawks cap casualty Sidney Rice as a possible target for New York.
- We learned earlier today that Henoc Muamba received a $107K guarantee from the Colts on his futures contract, the largest guarantee for that type of deal so far this offseason. According to Brian McIntyre (via Twitter), the second-largest guarantee for a player on a futures deal belongs to safety Sherrod Martin ($100K), who signed with the Jaguars.
- Top QB prospect Blake Bortles is preparing to do everything, including throw, at this month’s scouting combine, writes Paul Tenorio of the Orlando Sentinel.
Reserve/Futures Contracts
2014’s free agent period doesn’t officially get underway for another month, but NFL teams have announced new roster additions nearly every day as of late. Players signing contracts now are inking deals that are known as reserve or futures deals. What exactly does that mean? Here’s a quick breakdown:
Reserve/futures contracts essentially function like regular free agent deals, except that only players who didn’t finish the previous season on an NFL team’s active roster can sign them. So a player on a practice squad could ink a futures contract, and many have in recent weeks. After the Super Bowl, for instance, we saw the Broncos and Seahawks lock up each and every player on their respective practice squads, allowing those teams to continue working with those players leading up to the 2014 season.
These deals are known as “futures” contracts because they don’t technically go into effect until the 2014 league year begins on March 11. So signing a player to a futures contract now will not have an impact on a team’s 2013 cap. As for the 2014 books, players on reserve/futures deals are counted toward a club’s cap if they’re among the top 51 highest-paid players on the roster. Often, that’s not the case though, and those players simply count toward a team’s 90-man offseason roster limit.
Players on futures contracts don’t frequently rank among a team’s 51 highest-paid contracts because they’re generally on minimum salaries. There’s no rule that says futures deals can only be worth the minimum or can’t include signing bonuses, but because these players weren’t previously on NFL rosters, they generally don’t have a ton of leverage. As Brian McIntyre notes (via Twitter), only 19 of 374 futures contracts signed since the regular season ended include any sort of guaranteed money, with former CFLer Henoc Muamba receiving the largest guarantee — $107K from the Colts.
We’re only a few more weeks away from 2014’s full free agent class hitting the open market, but in the meantime, we’ll likely see plenty more futures contracts inked. Nick Mensio of Rotoworld.com has been staying on top of these deals throughout the offseason, so to track the players currently on reserve/futures deals, be sure to check out his complete list.
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 Joel Corry, Steeler Addicts, and Bleacher Report was used in the creation of this post.
Colts Waive Justin Anderson
The Colts have trimmed their roster by one, announcing today that they’ve waived offensive lineman Justin Anderson.
Since being drafted in the seventh round of the 2012 draft by the Colts, Anderson has yet to appear in an NFL game. He was placed on the Physically Unable to Perform list in August 2012, and on Injured Reserve in August 2013. By releasing him, the Colts will erase his minimum salary from their books for the 2014 season. Anderson’s contract had been set to expire in 2015.
Buccaneers Cut Rodgers, Hill, Carimi, Landri
The Buccaneers have officially released four players from their roster, reports Scott Smith of Buccaneers.com (via Twitter). According to Smith, the club has cut quarterback Jordan Rodgers, running back Michael Hill, offensive tackle Gabe Carimi, and defensive tackle Derek Landri.
Carimi and Landri each had one year remaining on their respective deals, and had been set to hit unrestricted free agency in 2015. Rodgers and Hill would have been ticketed for 2016 free agency, though neither would’ve been fully unrestricted by that point. While Rodgers and Hill were on minimum-salary contracts, Carimi and Landri had been set to earn about $1.34MM and $1.5MM respectively, so Tampa Bay will save a little cap room by cutting them. None of the four players will represent any dead money for 2014.
While Rodgers didn’t play for the Bucs in 2013 and Hill earned just nine carries in limited action, Carimi and Landri both started games for the club. However, neither player was expected to have a significant role with the team going forward.
Rodgers is the brother of Packers star Aaron Rodgers, while Carimi was a former first-round pick by the Bears.
Poll: Should Graham Get WR Franchise Tag?
Jimmy Graham represents one of the more intriguing free-agents-to-be this offseason, and going up against a wide receiver class headlined by Eric Decker, Julian Edelman, and Anquan Boldin, you could make the case that Graham will be the top receiving option on the market. Still, the odds of Graham leaving New Orleans are virtually nil. Even if the Saints and their All-Pro tight end can’t reach a long-term agreement, the team figures to slap the franchise tag on him to ensure that he remains the top target in Drew Brees‘ arsenal.
If and when Graham receives that franchise tag though, it will spark a debate on what position he really plays. While he’s long been considered a tight end, the 27-year-old played significantly more snaps in 2013 split out as a receiver, rather than tight to the tackle. The positional debate would have a major impact on Graham’s potential earnings, since the franchise tag for tight ends will be in the neighborhood of $6.7MM, compared to $11.5MM for wide receivers.
In his MMQB column today, Peter King writes that the entire discussion is “ludicrous,” since every team in the league uses formations where tight ends are split out as receivers, but as Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk points out, the NFL CBA dictates that a player be franchised at the position “at which [he] participated in the most plays during the prior League Year.” Considering Graham a tight end would be in the Saints’ best interests, since it would give the team nearly $5MM in cap flexibility to spend elsewhere. But it’s hard to argue that Graham, who has averaged 90 catches, 1,169 yards, and 12 TDs over the last three seasons and lined up so frequently as a receiver, should see his salary limited by a somewhat arbitrary designation.
A long-term deal between Graham and the Saints would end the discussion, or at least postpone it until a similar player reached free agency. But suppose New Orleans uses the franchise tag, and an arbitrator is tasked with determining Graham’s position. Would you argue that he should be viewed as a tight end or a receiver?
For franchise tag purposes, should Jimmy Graham be considered a tight end or wide receiver?
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Tight end 62% (394)
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Wide receiver 38% (242)
Total votes: 636
AFC Notes: Pats, Gaine, Browns, Harris
Earlier today, we rounded up several Monday morning items from across the NFC. Now, we’ll turn attention to the conference which has been on the losing end of five of the last seven Super Bowls, the AFC:
- The Patriots have a little over $8.5MM in dead money on their books for 2014, but the majority of that stems from Aaron Hernandez’s contract, as Field Yates of ESPNBoston.com outlines. The team continues to seek cap relief for Hernandez’s deal, but even if New England is unsuccessful in that endeavor, the dead money doesn’t cripple the club’s cap outlook, writes Yates.
- After failing to land the general manager job in Miami, former Dolphins assistant GM Brian Gaine is joining the Texans as the team’s director of pro personnel, reports Mark Berman of FOX 26 Houston (via Twitter).
- While the Browns’ offensive line has remained “uncannily intact” for the last two seasons, the team has been stockpiling developmental players and could be in the market for three new starters in 2014, writes Tony Grossi of ESPNCleveland.com.
- Undergoing ACL surgery heading into his restricted free agency didn’t bode particularly well for Chris Harris’ stock, but the Broncos cornerback had no other ligament or cartilage damage and only a partial tear of the ACL, a source tells Mike Klis of the Denver Post. The injury may have cost Harris a first-rounder tender, but he should still receive a second-round tender from the Broncos, and his recovery looks promising.
- In a Ravens notebook, Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun examines the team’s need at center, James Ihedigbo’s impending free agency, and the odds of the club rolling the dice on troubled free agent linebacker Erin Henderson.
NFC Notes: Seahawks, Ryan, Packers, Saints
Several players from the Super Bowl champion Seahawks had their 2014 salaries become fully guaranteed this week, notes Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap.com in his latest update on teams’ cap space. Percy Harvin, Cliff Avril, and Kam Chancellor had their contracts for 2014 vest from partially guaranteed to fully guaranteed, according to Fitzgerald, who notes that Matt Ryan of the Falcons was among the other players in that boat.
Here’s more from across the NFC:
- Having drafted well and avoided bad contracts, the Packers will have significantly more cap flexibility this offseason than many of their NFC rivals, says Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
- 13 players from the Saints‘ Super Bowl win in 2010 remain on the team’s roster, but as many of nine of those players could depart this offseason, writes Mike Triplett of ESPN.com. As Triplett points out, four are unrestricted free agents, while five more are potential cap casualties.
- Compensatory picks for the 2014 draft won’t be announced for a few more weeks, and the Falcons‘ situation is murky, as D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes. Based on projections by Craig Turner (via Philly.com), the Falcons could add as many as four compensatory picks, but may end up with just one or two, depending on where the cutoff is.
- The Redskins have hired former Super Bowl MVP Doug Williams to their front office as a personnel executive, the team announced today in a press release.
Colts Sign David Sims
The Colts have added another player to their roster, signing safety David Sims, according to Kevin Bowen of Colts.com (via Twitter). While details of the contract haven’t been reported or announced, it figures to be a minimum-salary reserve/futures deal.
Sims, 27, appeared in 15 games for the Eagles during the 2012 season, including one start. However, he was cut by the team before the 2013 campaign. In Indianapolis, Sims may have a chance to earn a roster spot, considering the club has multiple defensive backs facing free agency, and didn’t have an elite secondary to begin with. The 5’9″ safety could also provide depth on special teams.