Poll: Which WR Will Eagles Keep?
With the news from The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jeff McLane that the Eagles are prioritizing Jeremy Maclin over Riley Cooper, we’re interested to see if you think either receiver — or possibly both — will be back next season.
Cooper’s 2013 season was well-documented, starting with video evidence of the fourth-year receiver from Florida using a racial slur at a country music concert in late July. He apologized vehemently, was accepted back by his teammates, and then went on to set career highs in receptions (47), yards (835) and touchdowns (eight). He played in all 16 games, starting 15, and totaled six receptions for 68 yards and a touchdown in Philadelphia’s 26-24 playoff loss to New Orleans.
Maclin’s season was over before it started. He suffered a torn ACL in his right knee in training camp. A first-round pick from Missouri in 2009, Maclin has put up consistently good numbers for the, hovering between 55-70 catches in each season. He has never failed to surpass 750 receiving yards, but he’s never topped 1,000, either.
What do you believe to be the fates of Maclin and Cooper? Feel free to defend your vote in the comments section below.
Free Agency Notes: Pitta, Maclin, Cooper
Taking care of free agent tight end Dennis Pitta is the top priority for the Ravens, according to Bo Smolka of CSN Baltimore.
With the contract extension for linebacker/defensive end Terrell Suggs in the books, GM Ozzie Newsome said at his Scouting Combine news conference that Baltimore is “concentrating” on locking up the fourth-year BYU player for the foreseeable future.
Smolka notes that Baltimore has until March 3 to apply the franchise tag on Pitta, and they can expect a fight if they do so — Pitta lined up as an in-line tight end less than 25% of the time and will argue he deserves the $11.6MM wide receiver designation, as opposed to the $6.8MM tight end figure.
We talked yesterday about Ravens coach John Harbaugh being optimistic that the team can retain Pitta, as well as offensive tackle Eugene Monroe. Newsome is arguably the finest general manager in the league, so don’t bet against the possibility of him bringing back both players at team-friendly prices.
Some other free agent notes to pass along, in particular dealing with Philadelphia…
- The Eagles are prioritizing Jeremy Maclin over Riley Cooper, NFL sources have told Jeff McLane of The Philadelphia Inquirer.
- In a perfect world, McClane says Philadelphia would sign Maclin to a one-year deal, then try to sign another receiver with starting ability.
- In his Thursday interview at the NFL Combine, GM Howie Roseman said it would be a tough sell to keep both players. “You can only put a limited amount of resources into the position before it starts taking out from other places,” he said.
- This previous PFR post takes an in-depth look at the two receivers with the help of Pro Football Focus.
Combine Updates: Sam, Bridgewater, Browns
Last year, Notre Dame’s Manti Te’o‘s media session at the Scouting Combine drew the biggest crowds. Before that, it was Florida’s Tim Tebow who stole the show.
Today was Missouri defensive end Michael Sam‘s turn to face the horde of reporters, his first public speaking appearance since coming out February 9. He impressed, as expected, according to Stephen Holder of The Indianapolis Star.
Sam tried to downplay his sexuality and steer things back to football. “I wish you guys would just say, ‘Michael Sam, how’s football going?'” he said. “I just wish you guys would see me as Michael Sam the football player instead of Michael Sam the gay football player.”
When pushed about an environment like the Dolphins‘ locker room and the Richie Incognito bullying scandal, Sam said he was “not afraid” and that he could handle himself.
In the end, Sam just wants the opportunity to make a roster and rush the passer. “If you put me in a situation to get the quarterback, I’m going to get the quarterback,” he said. “And this league is a passing league, so I like to (see) myself as a good pass rusher. … I can jump back in coverage as well. But my specialty is rushing the passer.”
Other notes from Saturday at the NFL Scouting Combine…
- Louisville quarterback Teddy Bridgewater proclaimed himself the best quarterback in the draft, per Jim Corbett of USA TODAY.
- Bridgewater won’t throw during Sunday’s quarterback drills, but he will throw at his pro day, which takes place on March 17.
- Tania Ganguli covers the Texans for ESPN, and said Bridgewater “projected an air of sincerity and likability throughout his combine news conference.” She expects Bridgewater to fare well when he sits down with Houston coach Bill O’Brien, owner of the 2014 No. 1 overall pick.
- The potential pairing of Clemson receiver Sammy Watkins with Browns second-year stud Josh Gordon has Cleveland scribes buzzing, especially after Watkins mentioned it himself. “I think Josh Gordon is probably one of the top receivers in the NFL,” Watkins said, according to ESPN Browns reporter Pat McManamon. “He led receivers this year with 1,700 yards. I’d kind of take the pressure off of him with being double-covered or them flipping coverage to his side. It’d be a nightmare for (defenses) to match up.”
- McManamon wrote a separate piece yesterday discussing the virtues of a possible pairing, using the successful duo of the Falcons’ Julio Jones and Roddy White as an example.
- Texas wide receiver Mike Davis has a minor right foot injury and was not cleared to take part in Sunday’s on-field drills, tweets NFL Network reporter Ian Rapoport.
Nick Hardwick Plans On Being Back
Despite rumors to the contrary, Chargers center Nick Hardwick told Ricky Henne of Chargers.com that he has every intention of playing his 11th season.
“I plan on being back next year and giving them hell again,” Hardwick said. “I look forward to having fun with the guys, stirring up the city and doing some damage across the league.”
Hardwick said he never mentioned retirement and he just wanted to have some time to assess where he’s at and how he’s playing. Eric D. Williams, who covers the Chargers for ESPN, said Hardwick is in the final year of a three-year deal and is due to earn $4.4MM in total compensation.
Chargers GM Tom Telesco said yesterday that the team has been planning for Hardwick’s return, according to Michael Gehlken of the San Diego Union-Tribune. “We’re expecting him to play next year until told otherwise,” Telesco said. “Obviously, he’s a big part of the offensive line. A true team leader, a rock inside, and a guy we’d definitely love to have back.”
Gehlken also touched on receiver Malcom Floyd, who, like Hardwick, has spent the entirety of his 10-year career in San Diego. Floyd suffered a neck injury in September and his future is still undetermined.
Patriots Hire Michael Lombardi
After a tumultuous one-year tenure with the Browns, Michael Lombardi was on his way out of Cleveland.
He’s on his way to a reunion of sorts in New England, according to a release by the team.
The Patriots say Lombardi has been hired as an assistant to the coaching staff, “bringing 23 years of NFL experience as a front office executive.” Five years of experience was with Bill Belichick in Cleveland, with Belichick as head coach and Lombardi as pro personnel director and director of player personnel.
Lombardi went on to personnel positions with the Eagles and Raiders before working as an analyst and reporter, then joined the Browns last season.
Belichick was asked at the combine what Lombardi will be doing for the team, and the always-loquacious head coach gave another one of his trademark non-answers.
“Mike’s got a lot of experience. He’s done a lot of things in his career in the NFL. I’m sure he’ll be doing many of those things for us. We’ll see how it goes.”
Saints Won’t Tender Tom Johnson
The Saints will not tender restricted free agent defensive tackle Tom Johnson, tweets USA Today’s Tom Pelissero. Johnson played in 40 games and totaled five sacks in three seasons with New Orleans.
After leaving Southern Mississippi in 2006, Johnson spent time in training camp with the Colts, then had various stints in NFL Europa, the AFL and the CFL before finding a home with the Saints.
Since Johnson went undrafted out of college, the Saints would not receive any draft pick compensation were they to place the lowest right of first refusal tender on him. But they would reserve to right to match any offer sheet he was offered.
The 2013 RFA original round and right of first refusal tenders amounted $1.32MM. With the 2014 salary cap projected to increase by $7MM, or 5%, one would expect a similar bump with the tenders.
Browns Keeping Options Open At No. 4
To say that the Cleveland Browns have struggled to find a franchise quarterback since their reinstatement in 1999 would be the grossest of understatements. 20 different men have started under center for the much-maligned franchise in the past 15 seasons, most in the league during that time. One would assume that the team would be locked in on one of the clear top three QB prospects in the upcoming player selection meeting: Texas A&M’s Johnny Manziel, UCF’s Blake Bortles or Louisville’s Teddy Bridgewater.
Such may not be the case. Speaking to reporters at the NFL Scouting Combine, Browns GM Ray Farmer said he may go against conventional wisdom and ignore his team’s direst need.
“It could be safe [to say we’ll draft a quarterback], but we might not go that direction,” Farmer said, according to Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal. “It may not be what everybody thinks it’s going to be. There is an opportunity for some curveballs.”
Of course, it wouldn’t do any good for Farmer to come right out and declare his draft strategy with more than two months to go. And there are still evaluations to be done, with combine workouts, pro days and individual workouts still yet to have taken place. Farmer identified winning as the No. 1 quality he’s looking for in a potential quarterback.
“First and foremost, I’m looking for a winner. He can help translate what we’re trying to do offensively to the field. People will talk about arm strength. They’ll talk about different athletic aspects, can he move in the pocket, etcetera. But I truly believe that a guy being able to accurately throw the football, make quick decisions and process [information] and throw from a crowded pocket, those are critical factors in my mind of what the quarterback needs to be able to demonstrate he can do.”
With regard to Brian Hoyer, who went 3-0 in limited play last season before being lost with a torn ACL in his right knee, Farmer said he believes in Hoyer’s traits but is looking to push him with some competition.
Ulrich names Clemson wide receiver Sammy Watkins and South Carolina defensive end Jadeveon Clowney as draftable candidates at No. 4 if the team does not go in the quarterback direction. Or, Ulrich suggests the Browns trade down and select a second-tier quarterback such as Fresno State’s Derek Carr, Eastern Illinois’ Jimmy Garoppolo or Alabama’s AJ McCarron.
Like Jaguars GM David Caldwell, Farmer said he’s willing to trade down and give his team more opportunities “to go to bat” in the draft.
South Notes: Caldwell, Griffin, Washington
Despite owning 10 selections in the 2014 NFL Draft — including No. 3 overall — Jaguars second-year GM David Caldwell cites a robust class of eligible draftees as a reason to trade down and stockpile picks.
“We have 10 picks already and when we did the Eugene Monroe trade, we felt it would be a deep draft,” Caldwell said at his NFL Scouting Combine interview, according to John Oehser of Gaguars.com. “We feel really good about having an extra four and an extra five.”
In addition to its regularly allotted picks in Rounds 1-7, Jacksonville acquired a fifth-round pick with the trade of receiver Mike Thomas to the Lions, along with the aforementioned fourth- and fifth-round picks from the Ravens in the Monroe trade.
With NFL Network draft analyst Mike Mayock calling this draft class the deepest in the last 10 years, and Steelers GM Kevin Colbert saying it’s the deepest he’s ever seen, one would be hard-pressed to argue with Caldwell’s philosophy, especially with a lineup devoid of blue-chip talent.
More notes from the AFC and NFC South….
- Titans safety Michael Griffin and receiver Nate Washington are due to make $6.2MM and $4.8MM in 2014, respectively, but it “sounds like they’re going to be OK,” according to Jim Wyatt of The Tennessean (Twitter link).
- However, Wyatt doesn’t feel so optimistic about right tackle David Stewart, who is scheduled to earn $6.4MM next season. The Titans would not endure a cap hit of any kind if they release Stewart, who is in the final year of a six-year deal and has missed four games in each of the past two seasons due to injury.
- Saints GM Mickey Loomis said he plans on filling as many needs as possible in free agency, then finding the best players available in the draft, writes John DeShazier of NewOrleansSaints.com. The New Orleans staff has all the reports written on the 2014 NFL draft class, said Loomis, and that it is now in the “fine-tuning” stage of the evaluation process.
- DeShazier notes that the BPA strategy has paid dividends with Loomis at GM, unearthing gems like Jahri Evans and Marques Colston in the fourth and seventh rounds of 2006, along with Pierre Thomas and Junior Galette as undrafted free agents in 2007 and 2010.
NFL Execs Weigh In On Michael Sam
As the world reacted to the news that the NFL might soon see its first openly gay current player last night, so did anonymous NFL club officials. The feedback from decision makers around the league was not nearly as positive as the general public’s.
Sports Illustrated’s Pete Thamel and Thayer Evans polled eight NFL executives and coaches, and the overwhelming consensus was that the announcement would hurt Michael Sam‘s draft stock. The redshirt senior from the University of Missouri is predicted as a mid- to late-round draft pick, but one NFL player personnel assistant told SI he doesn’t feel football is ready for an openly gay player.
“In the coming decade or two, it’s going to be acceptable, but at this point in time it’s still a man’s-man game,” the assistant said. “To call somebody a [gay slur] is still so commonplace. It’d chemically imbalance an NFL locker room and meeting room.”
Three general managers and one scout spoke on the condition of anonymity to The MMQB’s Peter King, with one GM saying his team had discussed the issue at draft meetings in recent days.
“First of all, we don’t think he’s a very good player,” the GM told King. “The reality is he’s an overrated football player in our estimation. Second: He’s going to have expectations about where he should be drafted, and I think he’ll be disappointed. He’s not going to get drafted where he thinks he should. The question you will ask yourself, knowing your team, is, ‘How will drafting him affect your locker room?’ And I am sorry to say where we are at this point in time, I think it’s going to affect most locker rooms. A lot of guys will be uncomfortable. Ten years from now, fine. But today, I think being openly gay is a factor in the locker room.”
The results were more positive today, as a legion of owners and coaches – each of whom were willing to put their names with their words – voiced their support for a potential gay player as a member of their team. Giants co-owners Steve Tisch and John Mara backed Sam loudly, in statements to TMZ and Conor Orr of The Star-Ledger respectively. Meanwhile, one team personnel executive told NFL.com columnist Judy Battista that he could see owners pushing their coaches and personnel staff “it’s OK” to draft Sam.
Other notable league personnel to come out in support of Sam include Bears GM Phil Emery, Packers coach Mike McCarthy and Patriots owner Robert Kraft. Kraft’s coach, Bill Belichick, released a statement via the team’s website, expressing that he and the Pats pursue players “who can best contribute to our team and organization, regardless of the matters being discussed today.” The league also released its own statement in support of Sam and his efforts.
Stepping away from the issue of Sam’s personal life, NFL Network draft analyst Mike Mayock said he has a “pretty good feel” for the undersized Southeastern Conference defensive player of the year, projecting him as a third- to fifth-round pick.
“He’s an explosive kid who’s much better going forward than he is going backward,” Mayock told Philly.com’s Paul Domowitch. “His size would dictate he’s got to be a linebacker, but I don’t think his physical skill-set dictates that, and therein lies the rub.”
With the NFL scouting combine less than two weeks away, each team will have its opportunity to interview Sam with this historic news out in the public. Sam’s performance at the combine could go a long way in defining his draft value, which was murky even before his announcement — given his size and speed, there are questions about whether he’ll have a true NFL position. A strong showing at the combine, along with impressive interviews with NFL teams, should solidify his place as a mid-round pick, particularly given the outcry of public support from various owners and executives today.
We’ll have to wait until May to know definitively what sort of effect Sunday’s announcement will have on Sam’s draft stock. But if the Missouri alum has shown anything to us this far, it’s that he’s mature beyond his 24 years and ready for whatever life has to throw at him next.
Lions Notes: Austin, Pettigrew
New Lions defensive coordinator Teryl Austin has big shoes to fill, replacing 32-year NFL veteran Gunther Cunningham. Austin, 21 years Cunningham’s junior, just landed his first coordinating job at the pro level, and is expected to employ a more blitz-heavy defense than his predecessor, according to Justin Rogers of MLive.com. “We’re going to probably stay more in a 4-3, in terms of what we have personnel-wise,” said Austin. “Our pressures with our linebackers will be coming from different angles, different things that way, instead of a per se ‘rush linebacker’ that I’m used to dealing with.” Rogers said the odds do not favor the team pursuing an aforementioned rush linebacker in the draft or free agency, noting all three of the team’s starting linebackers from last season are under contract for 2014.
Other notes from the Motor City:
- Offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi touched on his tight end philosophy in a story relayed by ESPN.com’s Michael Rothstein, important given the free-agent status of Brandon Pettigrew. “It’s important to have a guy that can block the point of attack,” said Lombardi. “That’s important. A lot of teams are going to back-or-forth these days and you need a tight end that can hold up against those guys. And then, you want a guy who can be a pass receiver so you’re always looking for those well-rounded guys.”
- Pettigrew played 925 out of 1,158 snaps for the Lions offense last season, according to Pro Football Focus. Rothstein notes that the Lions emphasized Pettigrew’s run-blocking ability to spearhead a running game led by Reggie Bush and Joique Bell that finished No. 17 in rushing yards last season.
- If North Carolina tight end Eric Ebron or Washington tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins were available in the second round, Rothstein said either two would be a sound investment. However, Ebron is widely regarded as the best tight end in the 2014 class and highly unlikely to make it out of the top-32.
- Rothstein cites Dennis Pitta and Dallas Clark, who each played for head coach Jim Caldwell at some point, as potential replacements if Pettigrew is not retained, as well as former Jet and current Dolphin Dustin Keller .