Patriots Notes: Amendola, Edelman, McCourty
The Patriots may cut Danny Amendola this offseason, according to Ben Volin of the Boston Globe. The Patriots are facing a difficult cap situation, with $127MM already committed to the team’s top 51 players, not to mention the dead money created by players that have already been cut. In order to alleviate some of their financial constraints, the Pats may elect to designate Amendola as a post-June 1 cut. If the team were to cut Amendola before June 1, the team would immediately take a $4.8MM cap hit. However, if they made Amendola a post-June 1 cut, they would take a $1.2MM hit in 2014, and a $3.6MM hit in 2015.
New England could then use some of the money they save on Amendola to pay free agent Julian Edelman, who emerged as quarterback Tom Brady‘s favorite target after the departure of Wes Welker and in the absence of tight ends Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez. Amendola has had difficulty staying healthy throughout the course of his career, but he was able to parlay his flashes of excellence with the Rams into a five-year, $28.5MM free agent contract with the Patriots last March. Despite his continued injury problems in his first season with New England, he would generate significant interest if the Pats were to cut him. Matt Zenitz of the Carroll County Times tweets that the Ravens would likely take a good look at Amendola should he hit the open market again.
New England might also look to extend safety Devin McCourty to free up some more cap room. Christopher Price of WEEI.com notes that McCourty’s salary is due to take a significant hike for the 2014 season, from $920K to about $3.92MM. His cap hit would be an even larger $5.115MM. As such, Price writes that the Pats would do well do extend McCourty, whose strong ball skills and leadership in the secondary make him a valuable part of the team’s success. McCourty is entering the final year of his rookie contract and would be a free agent at season’s end.
Browns To Seek QB In First Round
All signs point to the Browns drafting a quarterback in the first round of this year’s draft, according to Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal. As new head coach Mike Pettine sets out to return his team to relevancy in the AFC North, he and the rest of Cleveland’s front office must decide whether a collegiate star like Johnny Manziel, Teddy Bridgewater, or Blake Bortles can become the Brown’s long-coveted savior under center. Citing unnamed sources, CBS Sports NFL Insider Jason La Canfora recently wrote that the Browns would be willing to trade up in the draft to grab Manziel if necessary, but Browns CEO Joe Banner said that although he is by no means taking the Texas A&M star off the board, it is far too early to make such a determination.
Of course, the Browns do have Brian Hoyer on the roster, who impressed in limited action in the 2013 season. Hoyer won the two games that he started last season before tearing his ACL in the first quarter of his third start against the Bills. Ulrich notes that Hoyer is expected to be ready for organized team activities in May, but given the severity of the injury, nothing is certain in that regard.
Hoyer does have Pettine’s endorsement on his side. Shortly after being hired by the Browns, Pettine called Hoyer a “winner” with “off the charts” intangibles (link). However, it may be difficult for the Browns to pass on a talent like Manziel or Bridgewater, especially since they have two first-round picks to work with (Nos. 4 and 26 overall). If La Canfora’s sources are accurate and the Browns are indeed targeting Manziel, they may well have to move up to get him. ESPN Insider Mel Kiper recently predicted Manziel would be taken by the Texans with the first overall selection.
Coaching Notes: Browns, Redskins, Jets, Giants
The Browns would like to hire Bills linebackers coach Jim O’Neil as their new defensive coordinator, but if the Bills should block O’Neil from interviewing with Cleveland, the Browns will pursue Ravens inside linebackers coach Don “Wink” Martindale, tweets NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. Martindale served as the Broncos defensive coordinator in 2010 before joining the Ravens, and was the Raiders linebackers coach from 2004 to 2008.
Although their tenures with Baltimore never overlapped, new Browns head coach Mike Pettine worked as the Ravens outside linebackers coach in 2008 under John Harbaugh. According to Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal, if Harbaugh vouches for Martindale, Pettine will value Harbaugh’s endorsement.
- Newly-extended Jets head coach Rex Ryan is looking to fill out his coaching staff, and LSU special teams coach Thomas McGaughey has become a leading candidate to replace Ben Kotwica as New York’s special-teams coordinator, according to Rich Cimini of ESPNNewYork.com. Kotwica recently left the Jets to become the Redskins special-teams coordinator.
- Speaking of the Redskins, Washington has hired Randy Jordan to be its new running backs coach. Jordan beat out former Redskins running back and coach Ernest Byner for the post, and his hire fills the last vacant position coach job on Jay Gruden‘s staff.
- The Giants, meanwhile, continue the overhaul of their offensive coaching staff by hiring Oregon State offensive coordinator Danny Langsdorf as their new quarterbacks coach. Along with fellow new hires Ben McAdoo and Craig Johnson, Langsdorf will try to help turn around a Giants offense that struggled mightily in 2013 under the shaky hand of quarterback Eli Manning.