Saints To Pursue Xavien Howard If Dolphins Make Him Available For Trade
The Saints have been linked to free agent cornerback Richard Sherman throughout this offseason, but Sherman’s recent legal troubles have probably severed that link, at least for the time being. Still, New Orleans would probably like another quality corner to line up opposite Marshon Lattimore, and GM Mickey Loomis could have his eye on one of the best DBs in the league.
According to Jeff Duncan of The Athletic (via Twitter), the Saints will be heavily involved in the bidding for Dolphins cornerback Xavien Howard should Miami make Howard available via trade. Howard has four years remaining on his current contract, so the Dolphins are understandably reluctant to rework it, but Howard is said to be dug in on his desire for a new deal. If player and team cannot find some common ground, Howard could be on the move, despite the blow that would deal to Miami’s hopes of contention in 2021.
Though the five-year, $75MM pact Howard signed with the ‘Fins in 2019 made him the highest-paid corner in the league at the time, his $15MM AAV is now the sixth-highest mark in football. And on the heels of a terrific 2020 season in which he led the league with 10 interceptions and graded out as the second-best CB in the NFL per Pro Football Focus’ advanced metrics, Howard is trying to strike while the iron is hot.
Howard is attached to a $12MM salary for 2021, so the Saints, who have about $10MM of cap space, would need to carve out some room to accommodate a Howard acquisition (unless Miami kicks in some cash). But financial constraints never seem to be much of an issue for Loomis, who, along with vice president of football administration Khai Harley, continues to manipulate the cap in new and creative ways.
Obviously, Howard’s desire for a market-topping contract wouldn’t change if he ends up in New Orleans, so Loomis would also need to be prepared to pony up a $20MM/year deal in addition to premium draft capital. Such a maneuver could lead to a Lattimore departure in 2022, but at least for one season, the Saints would boast perhaps the top CB duo in football.
Although the Dolphins still have leverage over Howard given the amount of time left on his contract and the hefty fines that the CBA imposes for training camp holdouts, veteran NFL reporter Michael Silver says trade chatter is swirling around the 28-year-old (Twitter link). Silver adds that Howard is unlikely to get the new deal he wants from Miami, and that there are several teams in win-now mode that are considering a trade. He does not specifically name the Saints as one such club, though New Orleans does profile as a win-now outfit.
With training camp fast approaching, there should be more clarity on Howard’s future fairly soon.
Bucs’ Jaydon Mickens Facing Two Gun Charges
Tampa Bay return specialist Jaydon Mickens is facing two misdemeanor gun charges as a result of his arrest earlier this year. According to TMZ Sports, Mickens was pulled over on March 5 because the tint on his vehicle was too dark, and during the stop, police observed a gun inside the car.
Prosecutors are moving forward with the case, and both charges carry a maximum of one year in jail. Even if he doesn’t ultimately face that type of criminal penalty, Mickens could certainly be subject to league discipline.
Mickens, 27, signed with the Raiders as a UDFA in 2016. He joined the Jaguars in 2017 and established himself as a quality punt returner, taking back 27 punts for 287 yards and a score. After an injury-shortened campaign in 2018, he was non-tendered by Jacksonville, and he spent most of 2019 looking for a job before landing a spot on the Bucs’ taxi squad late in the year.
Then, in 2020, he became Tampa’s primary return man, handling 21 punts and 24 kick returns between the regular season and playoffs. But he was not especially dynamic, and fourth-round rookie Jaelon Darden is a legitimate threat to his roster spot.
Taysom Hill Favorite To Open Season As Saints’ Starting QB?
Mike Triplett of ESPN.com wrote several weeks ago that Jameis Winston may have the edge over Taysom Hill in this summer’s battle to be the Saints’ starting quarterback. Triplett pointed to Winston’s first-round pedigree, experience, and upside, though he noted that the former Buccaneer would need to clean up the turnover and accuracy issues that led to his exit from Tampa Bay.
However, Ben Volin of the Boston Globe hears that Hill, not Winston, could have the upper hand. Citing league sources, Volin says that Hill’s abilities as a dual-threat talent might compel head coach Sean Payton to open the year with Hill under center. If Hill should falter, it would be easy enough to insert Winston and install a more traditional offense.
Unlike Triplett, Volin is not a Saints beat, but both writers make valid points. In 2020, Winston’s first in New Orleans, it was Hill who got the nod during Drew Brees’ injury-related absence, and he acquitted himself nicely. He went 3-1 as a starter and, over that four-game stretch, he threw for four touchdowns against two interceptions while completing 72% of his passes. He also rushed for four TDs and maintained a YPC average of about 5.4.
On the other hand, Winston, 27, is over three years younger, and he has started 70 games in his career as opposed to Hill’s four starts. The No. 1 overall pick of the 2015 draft has also shown plenty of flashes of elite ability, but again, he could never quite shake the turnover bug. In his last season with the Bucs in 2019, he threw an incredible 30 interceptions.
Both Winston and Hill are signed through 2021. In a little more than a week, they will begin their battle for the Saints’ starting job this season, and, perhaps, for a lucrative multi-year contract starting in 2022.
LB Anthony Chickillo Retires
Former Steelers and Broncos linebacker Anthony Chickillo is calling it a career. The 28-year-old announced his retirement via Instagram earlier today.
Chickillo entered the league as a sixth-round pick of the Steelers in 2015. Over five years in Pittsburgh, he played in 65 games, primarily as a rotational defender and as a key special teams contributor.
After a quality platform campaign in 2018, during which he graded out as Pro Football Focus’ 40th-best edge defender out of 103 qualifiers, Chickillo drew free agent interest from the Patriots but elected to re-up with the Steelers on a two-year, $8MM contract. However, a foot injury and an assault arrest — on charges that were later dropped — marred his 2019 season, and the Steelers cut him last March.
Chickillo hooked on with the Saints several months later, but he did not survive final cutdowns and was ultimately signed to New Orleans’ practice squad. The Broncos poached him from there and he went on to appear in 11 games for Denver in 2020, with his snaps almost equally divided between defense (164) and special teams (147).
The Miami product ends his playing career with 108 tackles, 8.5 sacks, and roughly $7.5MM in career earnings. We at PFR wish Chickillo the best in the next chapter of his life.
Eight Second-Rounders, 27 Third-Rounders Still Unsigned
Even though there hasn’t been much drama in rookie contract negotiations since the 2011 collective bargaining agreement was passed, there are always a few stragglers when it comes to getting rookie deals signed. As of the time of this writing, eight 2021 second-rounders (including the top six picks of the second round) are still unsigned, and 27 third-rounders have yet to put pen to paper.
An NFL executive (via Ryan O’Halloran of the Denver Post) offers a refresher on why this is the case. He reminds us that most second-round choices now have the second year of their rookie deals guaranteed, and those players are pushing for more guarantees in the third year of their contracts. So, if the first pick of the second round has 90% of his third year guaranteed, the second pick of the round might get an 85% guarantee, and so on. That helps explain why, after the top six selections of the round, there are only two unsigned draftees.
The third round is the opposite. The first 12 third-rounders (pick nos. 65-76) are signed, whereas only two players selected with the nos. 77-105 picks are under contract. That is because, starting in the third round, teams don’t have to pay their rookies the full 25% yearly salary increase the CBA permits. The players’ agents, of course, are negotiating to get their clients as close to that 25% figure as possible, but as the executive notes, most of these discussions are revolving around a few thousand dollars at this point.
Every player drafted from rounds 4-7 is under contract, and there are still six unsigned first-rounders. Here’s the list of second- and third-round players who are still waiting to sign on the dotted line with several weeks left until training camp opens.
Round 2
33) Jacksonville Jaguars: Tyson Campbell, CB (Georgia)
34) New York Jets: Elijah Moore, WR (Ole Miss)
35) Denver Broncos (from Falcons): Javonte Williams, RB (North Carolina)
36) Miami Dolphins (from Texans): Jevon Holland, S (Oregon)
37) Philadelphia Eagles: Landon Dickerson, C (Alabama)
38) New England Patriots (from Bengals): DT Christian Barmore (Alabama)
42) Miami Dolphins (from Giants): Liam Eichenberg, OT (Notre Dame)
45) Jacksonville Jaguars (from Vikings): Walker Little, OT (Stanford)
Round 3
77) Los Angeles Chargers: Josh Palmer, WR (Tennessee)
78) Minnesota Vikings: Chazz Surratt, LB (North Carolina)
79) Las Vegas Raiders (from Cardinals): Malcolm Koonce, DE (Buffalo)
80) Las Vegas Raiders: Divine Deablo, S (Virginia Tech)
81) Miami Dolphins: Hunter Long, TE (Boston College)
83) Carolina Panthers (from Bears): Tommy Tremble, TE (Notre Dame)
84) Dallas Cowboys (from Eagles via Colts): Chauncey Golston, DE (Iowa)
85) Green Bay Packers (from Titans): Amari Rodgers, WR (Clemson)
86) Minnesota Vikings (from Seahawks via Jets): Wyatt Davis, G (Ohio State)
87) Pittsburgh Steelers: Kendrick Green, C (Illinois)
88) San Francisco 49ers (from Rams): Trey Sermon, RB (Ohio State)
90) Minnesota Vikings (from Ravens): Patrick Jones II, DE (Pittsburgh)
91) Cleveland Browns (from Saints): Anthony Schwartz, WR (Auburn)
92) Tennessee Titans (from Packers): Monty Rice, LB (Georgia)
93) Buffalo Bills: Spencer Brown, OT (Northern Iowa)
94) Baltimore Ravens (from Chiefs): Ben Cleveland, G (Georgia)
95) Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Robert Hainsey, OL (Notre Dame)
96) New England Patriots (compensatory pick): Ronnie Perkins, DE (Oklahoma)
97) Los Angeles Chargers (compensatory pick): Tre’ McKitty, TE (Georgia)
98) Denver Broncos (compensatory pick, from Saints): Quinn Meinerz, G (Wisconsin-Whitewater)
99) Dallas Cowboys (compensatory pick): Nahshon Wright, CB (Oregon State)
100) Tennessee Titans (compensatory pick): Elijah Molden, CB (Washington)
101) Detroit Lions (from Rams, compensatory pick): Ifeatu Melifonwu, CB (Syracuse)
102) San Francisco 49ers (compensatory pick): Ambry Thomas, CB (Michigan)
103) Los Angeles Rams (compensatory pick): Ernest Jones, LB (South Carolina)
104) Baltimore Ravens (compensatory pick): Brandon Stephens, CB (SMU)
105) Denver Broncos (compensatory pick, from Saints), Baron Browning, LB (Ohio State)
Falcons Release Barkevious Mingo
In light of Barkevious Mingo’s arrest on the charge of “indecency with a child–sexual contact,” the Falcons have elected to release the veteran linebacker. In a statement announcing the move, the team said, “After being made aware today of allegations involving Barkevious Mingo and gathering information on the matter, the Atlanta Falcons have terminated his contract.”
We now have a few more details on the matter, courtesy of Jon Wertheim of SI.com. Wertheim reports that the alleged incident took place during the Fourth of July weekend in 2019, when Mingo treated a teenage family member and the boy’s friend (also a teenager) to a trip to an amusement park and a go-kart complex. Mingo also took the boys to dinner at a local steakhouse and paid for an online shopping spree at Nike.com.
The boys spent the evening of July 4, 2019, at the hotel where Mingo was staying. The alleged victim said the boys were supposed to sleep in a different room from Mingo, but at around 3am, he woke up to find Mingo lying in bed with him. At this point, we will direct you to Wertheim’s article for the rest of the details, which are disturbing.
The alleged victim’s mother filed a complaint with police in January 2021, and the investigation — which included a search warrant for Nike’s sales records — culminated in a felony charge against Mingo. The No. 6 overall pick of the 2013 draft faces up to 20 years in prison.
Mingo’s attorney, Lukas Garcia, issued the following statement: “At this stage, our side has very limited information. What we do know is these allegations are from over two years ago and are completely untrue. Mr. Mingo is the victim of a false claim, and we believe this is motivated by money or some other ulterior motive.”
Extension Candidate: Wyatt Teller
Just before the start of the 2019 season, the Browns acquired guard Wyatt Teller from Buffalo. The Bills had selected Teller in the fifth round of the 2018 draft, but they deemed him expendable just a year later. Cleveland was in need of offensive line depth, so for the fairly modest price of a fifth- and sixth-round draft pick, the John Dorsey-led Browns acquired the Virginia Tech product, who in 2020 emerged from relative obscurity to become the best guard in the league per Pro Football Focus’ advanced metrics. Dorsey might be gone, but he did leave the Browns with a few lovely parting gifts.
With three years of service time under his belt, Teller is now extension-eligible, and we recently heard that current GM Andrew Berry has a new contract for the 26-year-old on the agenda. Of course, long-term deals for quarterback Baker Mayfield, running back Nick Chubb, and cornerback Denzel Ward are also on the docket, so it’s uncertain when (or even if) a Teller deal might get done.
As with virtually all big-money contracts, as Teller’s promises to be, there are a couple of issues that need to be resolved. For one, Teller was not particularly impressive in 2019, his first year in Cleveland. To be fair, the offense as a whole underperformed under the stewardship of since-deposed head coach Freddie Kitchens, so Teller’s excellence in new HC Kevin Stefanski’s wide-zone scheme is probably a better indicator of how he will fare moving forward.
Another potential sticking point is the fact that, as good as he was in 2020, Teller missed five full contests and most of a sixth due to injury. Berry & Co. might want to see Teller sustain a certain level of performance for at least a full season’s worth of games before authorizing a massive extension (which is also rumored to be the front office’s mindset with respect to Mayfield). It is also fair to wonder whether the presence of center J.C. Tretter (PFF’s second-best pivot in 2020) to Teller’s left and right tackle Jack Conklin (PFF’s 10th-best tackle) to his right makes Teller look better than he actually is.
As of today, Spotrac estimates Teller’s market value to be roughly $12MM per year. That would position him as the fifth-highest-paid guard in football, behind Joe Thuney, Brandon Brooks, Zack Martin, and Andrew Norwell. For purposes of this exercise, we’re excluding Washington’s Brandon Scherff, who is presently attached to his second franchise tender and whose $18MM+ salary for 2021 might be a bit of an outlier. However, if Scherff and the WFT were to agree to an extension, it would almost certainly come with an AAV at least as high as Thuney’s $16MM, thereby making Teller’s estimated market value of $12MM/year the sixth-highest mark in the league.
In light of the above-referenced concerns, Berry could, with a straight face, offer a four-year deal to Teller worth around $48MM and including about $30MM in practical guarantees. But if Teller is anything like his quarterback, he will be willing to bet on himself and will demand something that puts him closer to the top of the guard market.
And it would not be surprising to see the Browns go there. After all, though Mayfield may be good enough to bring a championship to Cleveland with the right pieces around him, he does not appear to be the type of passer that can overcome the deficiencies of a weak O-line. Right now, the Browns have arguably the best offensive front in the league, and Berry would surely be loathe to let one of that unit’s best assets walk away. That is especially true when considering how a good line can make the two-headed rushing tandem of Chubb and Kareem Hunt even more imposing than it already is, and given that Teller is especially adept at run-blocking.
Just yesterday, Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com confirmed that the Browns will try to extend Teller, although she did not offer any indication that contract talks had advanced particularly far. With so many other high-profile talents in line for lucrative extensions, it’s hard to determine exactly how Berry is triaging the situation, but Teller is certainly a player that other clubs are hoping makes it to free agency in 2022.
No Timetable For Bud Dupree’s Return
The Titans were among the worst teams in the league in terms of pressuring opposing quarterbacks in 2020, and to address those concerns, the team made an aggressive push for former Steelers edge defender Bud Dupree. Dupree ultimately signed a five-year, $82MM pact with Tennessee, a deal that included $34MM in guaranteed money and that raised a few eyebrows throughout the league.
After all, Dupree suffered an ACL tear in December that cut short his 2020 campaign and left his status for the upcoming season a little uncertain. Obviously, the Titans would not have made the kind of commitment they did if they were overly concerned about his prognosis, but we haven’t heard much news of any kind since he put pen to paper.
In an interview on the NFL Network today (h/t Charean Williams of Pro Football Talk), Dupree discussed the work he’s putting in, but he was unable to say when he might join his new teammates on the field.
“Just training hard every day right now, man,” he said. “ACL recovery, rehab, I mean, it’s been one of the most progress [sic] things I have dealt with so far. Each week you see different levels of progress. You see different things change in your body. So I’m working hard to be back as soon as I can, but that’s up to the coaching staff at the end of the day, like when they want me to be on the field and how comfortable they feel with me coming off the injury.”
Prior to the ACL tear, Dupree posted eight sacks in just 11 games, putting him on pace to match the 11.5 sacks he accumulated over a full season of work in 2019. Pro Football Focus assigned him a mediocre 60.2 overall grade last year, but he scored a much higher 77.7 mark in his 2019 breakout, which positioned him as the 23rd-best edge defender out of 104 qualifiers. If the Titans can get a little more out of their pass rush this season — and a healthy Dupree will go a long way towards that goal — they will be a threat to make a deep postseason run.
Saints Notes: Winston, Sherman, Baun
The biggest question facing the Saints this offseason is whether Jameis Winston or Taysom Hill will be the team’s starting QB come Week 1. Mike Triplett of ESPN.com believes Winston may be the frontrunner given that he is younger and has more upside, but the turnover and accuracy problems he had as a member of the Buccaneers are still major issues that he will need to clean up.
Of course, the club has been publicly complimentary of both players, and it was Hill — who also offers dynamic ability as a runner — who got the nod during Drew Brees‘ injury-related absence last year. Hill and Winston will be eligible for free agency following the 2021 campaign, so in addition to the starting gig, there is a lot of money riding on the outcome of this battle.
New Orleans selected former Notre Dame passer Ian Book in the fourth round of this year’s draft, and Book will learn behind Winston and Hill before perhaps getting a chance to throw his hat in the ring in 2022.
Now for more from the Big Easy:
- The Saints’ record-setting extension for RT Ryan Ramczyk cleared about $5.5MM off their books, leaving them with $10-11MM of cap space. That number could increase if the club extends franchise-tagged safety Marcus Williams, a proposition that we recently discussed. Triplett believes New Orleans will put that money to use by signing a veteran or two, and he suggests that a big name like corner Richard Sherman — who has been connected to the team this offseason — remains a possibility.
- GM Mickey Loomis is often credited as the man behind the Saints’ aggressive manipulation of the salary cap, and while Loomis has final say over the club’s transactions, Triplett also shines a light on a less recognizable member of the New Orleans front office. In examining the team’s use of backloaded contracts, restructures, and void years, Triplett describes vice president of football administration Khai Harley as one of the most innovative pioneers of those types of cap machinations, and he suggests that Harley could become a GM candidate in the future.
- Linebacker Zack Baun, who generated some first-round buzz in the 2020 draft before ultimately falling to the third round, played in just 82 defensive snaps in his rookie season. But a hamstring injury suffered in training camp and the lack of a true offseason program hindered his development, and he will have the opportunity to make a bigger impact in 2021. As Sam Shannon of the team’s official website writes, Baun is transitioning from strongside linebacker to the weakside, which will require him to perform well in coverage. His projected ability to thrive in space is what led the Saints to draft him in the first place, and he will compete with second-round rookie Pete Werner for snaps alongside middle linebacker Demario Davis.
How NIL Rights For NCAA Athletes Impact The NFL
In case you hadn’t heard, college athletes are now able to profit off of their name, image, and likeness (NIL). Late last month, the Supreme Court issued a landmark (and unanimous) decision that essentially held that the NCAA cannot limit education-related benefits student-athletes receive for playing sports. Though the opinion did not specifically address NIL rights, it is clear that any effort the NCAA makes to restrict such rights would be construed as a violation of this country’s antitrust laws.
As such, the NCAA voted to suspend its NIL-related amateurism rules, thereby allowing student-athletes to monetize their NIL rights without fear of being declared ineligible. There are still a lot of questions that remain unanswered with respect to these issues — for instance, there is not yet a federal law that governs student-athletes’ NIL rights, so each athlete’s specific rights are dependent upon the state in which he or she attends college — but for our purposes here at Pro Football Rumors, there are two major takeaways.
One, as Ben Volin of the Boston Globe details, the NFLPA has issued a memo to agents making it clear that while they are free to enter into marketing deals with collegiate players, such deals cannot include inducements for those players to sign with the agent when they elect to turn pro. In fact, agents are not even permitted to have discussions with the player about future representation. That will be a difficult rule for the union to enforce, but it’s worth noting nonetheless.
Also, there may now be some players who elect to remain in college longer than they would have before, as they may be able to make more money off of NIL rights as a collegian than they would from an NFL contract. Of course, prior to the developments of the last several weeks, the primary factor in a student-athlete’s calculus was whether staying in school would improve his draft stock. Now, that decision is a little more complicated.
It is true that the stars and slam-dunk first-round picks who will land rookie contracts worth millions of dollars probably will not see their decision as to when to turn pro impacted too much. However, players who are popular on-campus figures but who project as late-round draft choices will certainly have a great deal to think about.
Said agent Ron Slavin (via Chase Goodbread of NFL.com), “I think guys that might stay back in school are (popular) skill-position players that aren’t top-100 picks, who can make more money staying in school than going into the draft for a $250,000 signing bonus and maybe make a roster, when they can go back to their school, be the superstar, and maybe make 500 grand to a million.”
We will have to wait until next year’s draft cycle to see how all of this plays out, and more legislation could certainly be passed in the meantime. Until then, fans who are interested can access the Supreme Court opinion here, and they can review a summary of the current state of NIL rights via this piece from The Athletic College Football Staff.