Bills Cut Anthony Dixon, Won’t Re-Sign MarQueis Gray
It’s a busy Tuesday for the Bills, who have already placed the non-exclusive franchise tag on tackle Cordy Glenn and released defensive end Mario Williams along with guard Kraig Urbik. The team is apparently staying busy this afternoon, with two more Bills players announcing on Twitter that they won’t be on the roster going forward.
[RELATED: PFR previews the Bills’ offseason]
Running back Anthony Dixon tweeted a thank you message to the Bills and their fans, adding that his “time is up” in Buffalo. Dixon, who has been a Bill for the last two seasons, had a career-high 432 rushing yards on 105 carries in 2014, but wasn’t as big a part of the offense in 2015 with newcomers LeSean McCoy and Karlos Williams carrying the rushing load.
Having been set to enter a contract year, Dixon had just $167K in dead money left on his contract, so the Bills will clear most of his $1.317MM cap hit from their books, creating $1.15MM in cap savings. As for the man known as “Boobie,” he’ll immediately become an unrestricted free agent without having to pass through waivers.
In other Bills news, tight end MarQueis Gray also tweeted a farewell message today. Gray technically wasn’t under contract with the club for the 2016 season, so his departure won’t create any immediate cap savings. However, he had been eligible for restricted free agency, and his tweet today signals that Buffalo won’t be offering him an RFA tender. Without that tender in hand, Gray will become an unrestricted free agent when the new league year begins on March 9th.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Bills Release Mario Williams, Kraig Urbik
With the Bills prepared to use their franchise tag on left tackle Cordy Glenn, the team is clearing cap room to accommodate today’s move and future offseason business. According to Josina Anderson of ESPN.com (via Twitter), the Bills have let defensive end Mario Williams know that he has been released. Additionally veteran guard Kraig Urbik posted a farewell message to the team and its fans on Twitter, suggesting he has also been cut.
[RELATED: Bills place franchise tag on Cordy Glenn]
Williams indicated last week that he would be open to discussing a pay cut to remain with the Bills, but even when he made those comments, he hinted at some concerns about the team’s defensive scheme, suggesting that he would want the team’s coaches to meet the players halfway. The veteran defensive end struggled mightily during his first and only season under new Bills head coach Rex Ryan and defensive coordinator Dennis Thurman, and his released had long been viewed as likely.
In addition to his steep drop in his production this season – he had 19 tackles and five sacks after recording 42 and 14.5 in 2014 – Williams would have been one of the priciest defensive players in the NFL in 2016. His cap charge was set to increase to $19.9MM, which was accompanied by an $11.5MM base salary. Releasing the veteran pass rusher will save the Bills nearly $13MM in cap room, leaving the club with only $7MM in dead money on its books.
Although Williams will be entering his age-31 season in 2016, I imagine many teams will chalk up his 2015 struggles to a poor scheme fit, rather than a possible decline in talent. Given how many clubs will be in the market for pass-rushing help this offseason, Williams should be in high demand on the open market, and he’ll get a week’s head-start on the rest of this year’s pending free agents.
As for Urbik, the 30-year-old has spent his entire six-year career in Buffalo, starting 57 games over the last six years for the Bills. He’s the victim of a cap crunch in Buffalo, with the team in need of every bit of flexibility it can get. The Bills will free up $1.775MM in cap space by releasing Urbik, who wrote on Twitter that he is “excited about my next opportunity.”
Like Williams, Urbik is a vested veteran, so both players will become unrestricted free agents without having to pass through waivers.
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Panthers Use Franchise Tag On Josh Norman
11:40am: The Panthers have officially tagged Norman, per Rapoport (via Twitter).
10:17am: With no long-term contract agreement imminent, the Panthers will place the franchise tag on cornerback Josh Norman today, per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter). Rapoport notes that the two sides will continue to talk, in the hopes of getting a multiyear deal done before the July 15th deadline for franchised players.
When the Panthers officially tag Norman, it will come as no surprise. A report from nearly a month ago – well before the window for designating franchise or transition players opened – indicated that the standout cornerback would be franchised if he didn’t have a long-term contract in place by March 1st.
The 28-year-old Norman certainly put himself in a great position for a mega-deal in his contract year, as 2015 was easily the best season of his four-year career. He was named to the All Pro first team and selected for his first Pro Bowl, and also posted solid raw statistics, producing career highs in both interceptions (four) and passes defensed (18). Norman was well-regarded by advanced metrics as well, finishing as the league’s 12th-best corner by Pro Football Focus’ grades.
Assuming Norman receives the non-exclusive franchise tag from the Panthers, he would be in line for a one-year tender worth $13.952MM. He could sign that one-year offer, guaranteeing his salary for the 2016 season, or he and his agent to explore the market to see if any teams would be willing to give him an offer sheet.
Since signing a non-exclusive free agent costs the player’s new team two first-round picks, it’s more likely that Norman will simply remain in Carolina, either on a one-year contract or a new long-term extension. As noted above, the two sides would have until July 15th to reach a multiyear agreement, whether or not Norman has signed his franchise tender by then.
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Dolphins Put Transition Tag On Olivier Vernon
10:49am: The Dolphins have officially submitted the paperwork on Vernon’s transition tag, tweets Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com.
10:34am: The Dolphins are set to place the transition tag on defensive end Olivier Vernon in advance of this afternoon’s deadline, according to Rand Getlin of the NFL Network (Twitter link). The transition tag for Vernon will be worth $12.734MM, nearly $3MM less than the non-exclusive franchise tag.
It’s a bit of a surprising decision from the Dolphins, who used the transition tag a year ago on tight end Charles Clay and ended up losing him to the Bills for nothing. While the non-exclusive franchise tag gives a team the right to two first-round picks if the player signs an offer sheet with another team, the Dolphins won’t receive any compensation if Vernon signs an offer sheet that Miami decides not to match.
The transition tag provides rival suitors some incentive to structure their offers in a way that will make it unappealing for the player’s current team to match it. That was the case a year ago for the Bills, who heavily frontloaded their offer sheet to Clay, fully guaranteeing $24.5MM of a total $38MM and including a $10MM second-year roster bonus.
Vernon, 25, is coming off a season in which he recorded 7.5 sacks to go along with 61 tackles. While his counting stats weren’t eye-popping, Vernon ranked as the league’s third-best edge defender according to Pro Football Focus’ grades, behind only Khalil Mack and Von Miller.
In his first four seasons in the NFL, Vernon has notched a total of 29 sacks, including a career-best 11.5 in 2013. Since he won’t turn 26 until October, the former third-round pick should have plenty of prime seasons left, which could make him an appealing target for some of the many NFL teams in need of pass-rush help.
While it’s possible that Vernon will simply return to the Dolphins on a one-year deal, or a multiyear extension, assigning the transition tag to him will help the club get a sense of his value on the open market. According to Mike Garafolo of FOX Sports (Twitter link), Miami has been willing to pay Vernon about $12MM per year on a long-term contract.
If no other teams are willing to top that price by a significant margin, the defensive end could return to the Dolphins. On the other hand, teams like the Jaguars and the Giants have far more cap space than Miami, and could make Vernon an offer that the Fins are unwilling to match.
Meanwhile, with Vernon on their cap with a charge of nearly $13MM, the Dolphins will likely make a few more moves to create room in the near future. Restructuring Ndamukong Suh‘s contract is a given, but it will be interesting to see whether the club also addresses contracts like Cameron Wake‘s and Jordan Cameron‘s in the coming days.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Bills Frustrated With Richie Incognito Talks
As the franchise-tag deadline nears and the Bills are forced to make a decision on left tackle Cordy Glenn, the team is also attempting to get something done with left guard Richie Incognito. However, a league a source with knowledge of the situation tells Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk that the Bills are getting frustrated with those Incognito negotiations.
As Florio explains, the cap-strapped Bills believe Incognito should be open to giving the team something of a hometown discount, since Buffalo was the club willing to give the veteran lineman a second chance last year after the Dolphins’ bullying scandal left him without a job for the entire 2014 season. However, Incognito apparently doesn’t see it that way, and his reluctance to simply take what the Bills are offering is creating some friction between the player and the team, says Florio.
Incognito, who earned a Pro Bowl nod for his strong comeback season in 2015, will turn 33 this July, so it makes sense that he’d want the opportunity to maximize what could very well be the last lucrative free agent contract of his career. While the Bills deserve some credit for rolling the dice on him last offseason, the team could have tried to lock him up to a multiyear contract at that point, rather than counting on him to give the club preferential treatment once his one-year deal expired.
With several teams around the NFL in need of interior line help, Incognito looks like a good bet to at least test the market and gauge his value during next week’s legal tampering period.
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Quinton Coples, Brice McCain Making FA Visits
A pair of free agents who hit the open market early are set to pay visits to interested teams today. Per Rand Getlin of the NFL Network (Twitter link), defensive end Quinton Coples is visiting the Panthers, while Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets that cornerback Brice McCain is paying a visit to the Titans.
Both Coples and McCain were cut by the Dolphins at the same time last month due to their increasing cap hits and Miami’s need to clear some space. While the moves cost the two veterans their spots on the Dolphins’ roster, they were afforded the opportunity to reach unrestricted free agency nearly a month before this year’s crop of pending free agents. McCain took advantage of that opportunity by visiting the Buccaneers prior to the combine, with reports at the time suggesting the Steelers and Titans also wanted to bring him in.
McCain, 29, signed with the Dolphins last March after spending five seasons in Houston and one in Pittsburgh. The veteran corner started 10 games and played 735 defensive snaps for the Dolphins in 2015, picking up an interception to go along with 39 tackles. He would provide some veteran depth in Tennessee if he signs with the Titans, though the team probably won’t want to pencil him in as a starter right away.
As for Coples, the 16th overall pick from the 2012 draft had his best year as a pro in 2014, but even that amounted to just 35 tackles and 6.5 sacks, modest totals for a first-round pass rusher. When Todd Bowles took over as the Jets’ head coach a year ago, Coples was further marginalized in New York. Due to his poor fit in Bowles’ defense – and perhaps an alleged incident on a team flight, though Bowles denied that – the 25-year-old was waived by the club in the fall, and had a brief cup of coffee with the Dolphins before being cut again.
According to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (via Twitter), Coples will take a physical in Carolina today as part of his visit with the Panthers. The defending NFC champions could be in the market for some help at defensive end, with increasingly expensive veteran Charles Johnson a candidate to be released this offseason, but the club does have some depth at the position behind Johnson and fellow starter Kony Ealy.
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Free Agent Rumors: Rams, V. Miller, Hayes
The deadline for NFL teams to assign the franchise or transition tag to one of their players will arrive today at 3:00pm central time, so there will be plenty of interesting situations to keep an eye on over the next several hours.
One of those situations will be in Los Angeles, where cornerbacks Trumaine Johnson and Janoris Jenkins are both candidates to be tagged. While recent reports have suggested the Rams are leaning toward using their tag on Johnson, Rand Getlin of the NFL Network tweets that he firmly believes it will be used on Jenkins instead.
As I noted yesterday, the Rams may be incentivized to lock up Jenkins with a tag, since long-term contract talks with him don’t seem to be going well. Signing Johnson to a multiyear deal may be a more realistic proposition, so tagging Jenkins might give the team its best shot at retaining both corners.
Here’s more on pending free agents around the NFL, including one more who is expected to be tagged:
- While Von Miller still appears on track for the franchise tag, he and the Broncos have shown a commitment to getting a longer-term deal done eventually, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. Rapoport reports that any multiyear extension for Miller would eclipse Justin Houston‘s six-year, $101MM pact, and Mike Klis of 9NEWS agrees, writing that the Broncos are offering $17MM+ annually. However, Klis points out that the team views Ndamukong Suh‘s $19MM-per-year contract as an outlier, and probably won’t be willing to go quite that high.
- Pete Prisco of CBSSports.com, Mike Garafolo of FOX Sports, and Jason Cole of Bleacher Report are bullish on the free agent market for Rams defensive end William Hayes. Cole tweets that Hayes will be “in high demand,” while Garafolo tweets that the veteran pass rusher may nearly double his previous annual salary ($3.4MM).
- Appearing on PFT Live, Bengals cornerback Adam Jones said there have been “a lot of other teams” contacting his agent about signing him. Technically, of course, teams aren’t supposed to talk to an outside free agent’s representatives until the legal tampering period begins, but it’s widely acknowledged that clubs typically don’t wait that long.
- Paul Schwartz of the New York Post explains why the Giants won’t use their franchise tag this year on Jason Pierre-Paul, despite possessing a ton of cap room.
Jets Franchise Muhammad Wilkerson
FEBRUARY 29, 5:35pm: The Jets aren’t convinced Wilkerson is fit to serve as the centerpiece of head coach Todd Bowles’ defense, according to Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News, and will entertain trade offers for him as a result. Mehta adds that the Jets are higher on Richardson, who is entering a contract year and will require a significant financial commitment to retain past next season.
GMs and front office executives relayed to Mehta at the combine that they expect the Jets to have difficulty dealing Wilkerson because acquiring him would cost a club plenty in the form of at least one high draft pick and a new contract for the defender. Wilkerson is seeking at least $40MM to $45MM in guaranteed money, per Mehta.
5:08pm: The Jets have applied the non-exclusive franchise tag (worth $15.7MM) to Wilkerson, reports Albert Breer of NFL.com (Twitter link). As a non-exclusive tag recipient, Wilkerson is free to negotiate a new contract with other teams, but the Jets will have the right to match the offer or let him go and collect two first-round picks in return.
9:46am: While nothing is official yet, the Jets still intend to place the franchise tag on Wilkerson before Tuesday afternoon’s deadline, a source tells Kimberly Jones of the NFL Network (Twitter link). The tag will be worth $15.701MM.
FEBRUARY 15: The Jets and pending free agent Muhammad Wilkerson haven’t come close to an agreement on a new contract, and with the 2016 franchise-tag window set to open on Tuesday, the team intends to use its tag on the defensive end, according to Rich Cimini of ESPN.com.
[RELATED: 2016 NFL franchise tag candidates]
Wilkerson, 26, enjoyed his best season as a pro in 2015, racking up a career-high 12 sacks and forcing three fumbles, to go along with 64 tackles. Arguably the best defensive player for the Jets last season, Wilkerson also earned his first Pro Bowl berth.
Although Wilkerson’s performance showed he was worthy of franchise-tag consideration, there were also a handful of factors working against him. He broke his leg during the Jets’ regular-season finale, and while that injury isn’t expected to sideline him at all next season, it complicated his contract situation a little. Additionally, the Jets have two other talented defensive ends on their roster, in Sheldon Richardson and Leonard Williams, so re-signing Wilkerson could be viewed as something of a luxury.
Still, according to Cimini, GM Mike Maccagnan recognizes that Wilkerson is a valuable asset and that the Jets can’t simply let him reach the open market and sign with a new team without getting any real compensation in return. New York will have to clear some salary cap space in order to make a franchise-tag salary fit under the cap, but that appears to be the team’s plan for now.
Based on a projected $154MM salary cap, the franchise salary for defensive ends would amount to nearly $15.5MM, the highest figure for any non-quarterback position. Even though Wilkerson is a 3-4 end, rather than the sort of 4-3 edge rusher who would typically command higher contracts, that defensive end franchise salary will apply to him.
While Cimini predicts Wilkerson will ultimately play out the 2016 season with the Jets on his franchise salary, there are other ways the situation could play out. The club could entertain trade offers for its star defensive lineman after franchising him, or recommit to working out a longer-term agreement to keep him in New York. If the Jets franchise Wilkerson and don’t trade him, the two sides would have until July 15 to work out a multiyear deal this year. Otherwise, Wilkerson would be locked into his franchise salary for 2016.
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Extra Points: J. Smith, Strong, Packers, Cowboys
Typically, teams can get some deals done with their pending free agents between the franchise-tag deadline and the start of free agency, while they still have the right to exclusively negotiate with those players. Last year, for instance, players like Patriots safety Devin McCourty and Packers wideout Randall Cobb re-upped with their respective teams just before reaching the open market.
According to Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times-Union, however, Jaguars general manager Dave Caldwell doesn’t expect many players to fall into that category this year. Referring to free agents around the league, rather than just his own players, Caldwell suggested that if they’re not locked up by Tuesday’s franchise-tag deadline, they’ll likely hit the open market. While O’Halloran doesn’t go into detail on Caldwell’s thoughts on the issue, I imagine players will be eager to see what sort of offers are out there for them, now that so many clubs have so much cap space.
Let’s round up a few more odds and ends from around the NFL….
- Within his weekly MMQB column, Peter King provides a couple interesting draft-related notes, writing that at least one NFL GM remains bullish on injured Notre Dame linebacker Jaylon Smith (“No chance he won’t play at some point, and play well”) and reporting that NFL Network draft expert Daniel Jeremiah received at least one offer from an NFL team within the last two months to head up that club’s personnel department.
- Texans wide receiver Jaelen Strong was arrested late on Sunday night for possession of marijuana, tweets Jason Snavely of ABC15. The off-field incident will put Strong on the NFL’s radar for a violation of the league’s substance abuse policy, so discipline could be coming down the road.
- While Packers general manager Ted Thompson hasn’t publicly announced how long he plans to continue in his current role, team president/CEO Mark Murphy said at the combine in Indianapolis that he has an idea of how much longer Thompson will stick around, and Murphy has a succession plan in mind, writes Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com.
- As Jon Machota of the Dallas Morning News tweets, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is more confident about how to fortify the team’s running back spot than he is for some of Dallas’ holes on defense. “I can actually see ways and options at the running back [position] to get us in good shape,” Jones said. “I don’t actually see ways and have the name in place for the spot relative to the defense.”
- In his latest piece for The Baltimore Sun, Jeff Zrebiec explores the Ravens‘ potential options for the No. 6 overall pick in the draft, and writes that offensive tackle Eugene Monroe, a release candidate, still appears unlikely to return to Baltimore in 2016.
Saints Release Marques Colston
3:45pm: The Saints have officially released Colston, per today’s transactions wire, tweets Evan Woodbery of NOLA.com. The veteran wideout received a failed physical designation, according to Tom Pelissero of USA Today (Twitter link).
FEBRUARY 29, 3:37pm: Colston remains on New Orleans’ roster for now, and while it still seems likely that he’ll be released, head coach Sean Payton said today that the Saints have spent a long time talking about where they’re at with the wideout (Twitter link via Katherine Terrell of NOLA.com).
FEBRUARY 23, 1:55pm: The move isn’t official yet, but the Saints will indeed release Colston, says Rand Getlin of the NFL Network (Twitter link).
1:13pm: Shortly after parting ways with veteran guard Jahri Evans, the Saints appear poised to cut another one of their longtime offensive contributors. According to Mike Triplett of ESPN.com, who cites a league source, New Orleans will likely release wide receiver Marques Colston sometime in the coming days.
[RELATED: Saints cut Jahri Evans, David Hawthorne]
Colston, 32, has been with the Saints since 2006, when he was selected in the seventh round of the draft, 252nd overall. The Hofstra product has been one of the most productive receivers in the NFL – and the Saints’ all-time leading receivers since then, racking up six 1,000-yard seasons and 9,759 overall receiving yards over the last decade.
However, Colston had trouble staying healthy in 2015 and his production fell off as a result. For the season, the veteran wideout recorded career-worst marks in receptions (45), yards (520), and touchdowns (four), as he dealt with shoulder and chest injuries. Even prior to last season, Colston had seen his numbers slipping a little — he set new career lows in yards per game in both 2013 and 2014.
2016 is the final year of Colston’s contract with the Saints, and he had been scheduled to earn $3.2MM in salary and bonuses. By releasing him, New Orleans could trim his cap hit from $5.9MM to just $2.7MM, creating some additional flexibility for the team to handle its offseason business.
[RELATED: PFR previews the Saints’ offseason]
Until the move is official, there may still be a chance that the Saints reach some sort of agreement with Colston to keep him on the roster at a reduced rate, but it seems increasingly clear that he won’t return on his current contract. If the club cuts him, he’ll be immediately eligible to sign with a new team without having to pass through waivers, and as long as he’s on track to be healthy for the 2016 campaign, he should draw interest.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.