Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah Fell To Second Round Due To Heart Issue?
One of the bigger surprises of last week’s draft was that Notre Dame linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah fell to the second round. Owusu-Koramoah, the ACC’s Defensive Player of the Year, a unanimous All-American, and winner of the Butkus Award for the nation’s top linebacker, was widely considered a first-round talent, but he had to wait until the Browns traded up to the No. 52 overall selection to hear his name called.
And now we have some clarity on that front. According to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com, Owusu-Koramoah had a heart issue that came to light late in the predraft process, which was a concern for most teams (Twitter link). Though the 6-1, 221-lb ‘backer was medically cleared, the issue contributed to his draft-day slide.
But a league source tells Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com that there is nothing wrong with Owusu-Koramoah’s heart, and a source close to the player himself said he has never heard of any heart issue. During an interview on The Jim Rome Show today, Owusu-Koramoah said, “I never really had any heart issues or anything going on there. You know, you hear a lot of things, but you’ve got to get it from the source.”
One would think that there would be a little smoke to this fire, since plenty of teams passed on a player of Owusu-Koramoah’s upside, but color Cleveland GM Andrew Berry unconcerned. “[T]here’s no issue that would prevent him from being productive short- or long-term,” Berry said.
Indeed, Berry even considered taking Owusu-Koramoah with the No. 26 overall pick. Berry has worked hard to upgrade the Browns’ defense this offseason, and Owusu-Koramoah is a big part of that. The Golden Domer is something of a classic ‘tweener, but that’s becoming less relevant in today’s NFL. His speed and instincts should serve him well in a traditional LB role, and he could also get some looks at safety. He lined up at safety and even as a slot corner in college.
Latest On Eagles’ TE Zach Ertz
The Eagles did not select a tight end in last week’s draft, and even though they gave TE Zach Ertz permission to seek a trade in March, no one has been willing to meet their asking price as of yet. So Ertz and Dallas Goedert remain atop Philadelphia’s tight end depth chart.
Does that mean that Ertz will play out the last season of his current contract with the team that made him a second-round pick in 2013? Not necessarily, but as Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk suggests, it looks like a much stronger possibility than it did two months ago.
In speaking about the situation during a press conference last weekend, GM Howie Roseman called Ertz a “guy still in his prime.” He added, “we think Zach’s a good player, a good person and he’s under contract.”
Although Ertz, 30, is coming off his worst season in the NFL — a season in which he missed five games due to an ankle injury — he earned Pro Bowl nods in each of the previous three years. At his best, he is one of the top tight ends in the game, and his $8.5MM salary for 2021 is not prohibitive for a player of his talents. Given that, and given that the Eagles were seeking just a third- or fourth-round pick in a trade, it’s a little surprising that Roseman hasn’t been able to find any takers.
Perhaps that will change as teams reevaluate their rosters after the draft, or perhaps Roseman will hang onto Ertz. After all, the team is set to start second-year pro Jalen Hurts at quarterback — the alleged “open competition” notwithstanding — and it would make sense to surround him with as much skill position talent as possible.
Roseman’s comments, though, hardly preclude a trade. If a deal comes together after June 1, the Eagles will save about $4MM of cap space when factoring in the dead money they would also absorb. They would also carry $1.74MM in dead money in each of the 2022 and 2023 seasons, which are void years tacked onto the end of Ertz’s deal.
Vikings Sign Shane Zylstra
The Vikings have signed Shane Zylstra, according to his agent, Jaymeson Moten (via Twitter). Zylstra, who starred as a wide receiver at Minnesota State, will convert to tight end, as Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press tweets.
If the last name sounds familiar, it’s because Zylstra’s older brother, Brandon Zylstra, signed with the Vikings in 2018 after a terrific couple of years in the Canadian Football League. He has been with the Panthers in each of the past two seasons, and while the CFL’s 2017 receiving yards leader has just 12 catches in his NFL career, he has served as a significant special teams contributor for both Minnesota and Carolina.
The younger Zylstra set Minnesota State records with 81 receptions for 1,676 yards and 18 touchdowns in 2019 — he was basically the D-II version of Ja’Marr Chase — but went undrafted last year. He will hope to follow in the footsteps of fellow Minnesota State alumnus and new teammate Adam Thielen.
Zylstra has put on 15 pounds of muscle for his position switch and is now up to 230 pounds, per Tomasson (Twitter link). The Vikings’ TE depth chart is currently topped by Irv Smith Jr., but beyond that, the club is rostering unproven talents Tyler Conklin, Brandon Dillon, and fifth-round rookie Zach Davidson. So Zylstra has a shot to make the team with a strong summer.
Tomasson notes that Zylstra also attracted interest from the Colts and 49ers (Twitter link).
Broncos To Aggressively Pursue Aaron Rodgers?
Speculation that the Broncos could push to acquire Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers began to swirl in advance of last week’s draft, though Ian Rapoport of NFL.com indicated that such chatter was overblown. However, subsequent reports suggested that a Rodgers-to-Denver deal could still happen, and those rumors are not going away.
The feeling around the league is that Rodgers will not return to the Packers, according to ESPN’s Dianna Russini (video link). Russini adds that Packers brass is “deflated” about the direction this is heading. The team has continued to try and put a good face on the situation and insists that Rodgers will be back in Green Bay in 2021, but that feels like a dubious proposition at this point. And if the Packers ultimately cave and deal the three-time MVP, Russini hears that the Broncos will be the most interested and will present Green Bay with the strongest offer.
Although the Broncos recently acquired Teddy Bridgewater in a trade with the Panthers and are rostering 2019 second-rounder Drew Lock, it’s hard to imagine either player piloting a championship club. The rest of the roster, though, looks strong, and adding Rodgers would immediately make Denver a threat to win the AFC, just like Peyton Manning did nine years ago. So it’s easy to envision GM George Paton doing everything in his power to make that happen.
One way or another, Russini confirms that if a trade is consummated, it will not take place until after June 1, due to the salary cap ramifications. Of course, in addition to those cap concerns and negotiating the best possible deal with the Broncos or any other club, the Packers must also consider their own on-field product. After all, they came devastatingly close to winning the NFC last year, and they will return much of that successful roster in 2021. So will the team be comfortable passing the baton to Jordan Love, the 2020 first-rounder who is at the epicenter of the Rodgers-Packers rift?
Maybe not. Albert Breer of SI.com gets the sense that Green Bay does not necessarily believe Love — who was always considered a developmental prospect — is ready to take the reins. It’s unlikely that there will be any starting-caliber QB options on the free agent or trade markets, so assuming Love is truly not prepared, the Packers will really be in a bind if they can’t mend fences with Rodgers.
In addition to the Love issue, there are other factors contributing to this Spring of Rodgers’ Discontent, one of which is rather surprising. Rapoport says that the “death knell” of the relationship was when the team cut WR Jake Kumerow last September, right after Rodgers publicly referred to him as one of the team’s most reliable receivers (video link). Though Kumerow became something of a cult hero during his time in Green Bay, it would be odd for his release to be the straw that broke the camel’s back, but such is the enigma of Rodgers. For what it’s worth, Kumerow ultimately appeared in six games in 2020, all with the Bills. He recorded one catch for 22 yards.
Rapoport also confirms that Rodgers was hoping for an extension that would cement his status as the Packers’ starter until he chooses to retire, and that he wants a say in personnel decisions. Veteran NFL reporter John Clayton says that the team’s overall approach to the wide receiver position (and not just Kumerow’s apparently calamitous release) has also played a major role in the impasse. Although GM Brian Gutekunst has only been the team’s top decision-maker since 2018, Green Bay’s first choice in each of the last 10 drafts was used on a defensive player, and Rodgers’ frustration has reached the breaking point.
Former NFL agent Joel Corry offers a two-pronged approach by which the Packers might placate Rodgers. The first step, Corry says, would be trading Love, and the second would be giving Rodgers the extension he wants. Rodgers has three years remaining on his current contract, and while it’s exceedingly rare for a team to authorize an extension for a player who is still under club control for three seasons, the Cardinals did provide a blueprint for such a maneuver when they extended DeAndre Hopkins last year.
As Corry notes, Rodgers will want to top Patrick Mahomes‘ record $45MM AAV, and that would mean adding $90MM of new money over a five-year term (the three years on his current deal plus a two-year extension). Ultimately, though, Corry doesn’t believe the Packers will go that route, because he does not believe the team wants to deviate from its original plan of having Love succeed Rodgers when the time is right. Unfortunately for Green Bay, Rodgers might be forcing the team to throw Love into the fire before he’s ready.
Raiders To Release Jeff Heath
The Raiders are releasing safety Jeff Heath, as Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network reports (via Twitter). Las Vegas signed Heath to a two-year pact last March, but he only made it halfway through that deal.
Heath, who will turn 30 in a little over a week, has carved out a career that most college free agents dream of. Signed by the Cowboys as a UDFA out of Saginaw Valley State in 2013, he appeared in all 16 of Dallas’ games in his rookie season, starting nine of them. His defensive snaps took a downturn over the next few seasons as he settled in as a core special-teamer, but he became the Cowboys’ primary strong safety from 2017-19.
In thirteen games (five starts) for the Raiders in 2020, Heath intercepted three passes, tying his career-high mark set in 2017. He also graded out as the 16th-best safety in the league per Pro Football Focus’ advanced metrics, which assigned him high marks for his coverage abilities.
However, the Raiders’ defense was their Achilles’ heel last season, and the club selected two safeties in last week’s draft (Trevon Moehrig and Tyree Gillespie), so Heath’s release is not terribly surprising. Vegas also reunited with Karl Joseph last month.
Heath should be able to catch on with a club in need of safety help, especially since he can still be a valuable contributor to a third unit. His release saves the Raiders $3.15MM in cap space, which will help subsidize today’s Casey Hayward signing.
Chargers Announce 10 UDFA Signings
This year’s crop of draftable prospects was said to be on the thin side, so the 2021 class of UDFAs is expected to have even fewer players make the cut than usual. But you never know, and teams still have 90 roster spots they can fill throughout the spring and summer. The Chargers were among the first to announce their UDFA signings:
- Ben DeLuca, DB (Charlotte)
- Jared Goldwire, DL (Louisville)
- Darius Harper, OT (Cincinnati)
- Hunter Kampmoyer, TE (Oregon)
- Alex Kessman, K (Pittsburgh)
- Ryan Langan, LS (Georgia Southern)
- Forrest Merrill, DL (Arkansas State)
- Amen Ogbongbemiga, LB (Oklahoma State)
- Kyle Spalding, OT (San Diego State)
- Elijah Stove, WR (Auburn)
As with most UDFA classes, this one included several notable guarantees. Goldwire received $50K in guaranteed money, while Ogbongbemiga got a $30K guarantee (Twitter links via Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle). Goldwire earned All-ACC Second Team honors after recording 35 tackles, five TFLs, and two sacks from his nose tackle position, while Ogbongbemiga piled up 180 tackles over the past two seasons and possesses excellent speed.
Stove struggled with injuries in his collegiate career but is quick and has good hands. He caught 44 passes for 359 yards and three scores in his final season at Auburn.
Colts Notes: Tevi, Hines, Eason
One of the biggest winners of this year’s draft was Colts LT Sam Tevi. Signed to a modest one-year pact in March, Tevi has been atop Indy’s left tackle depth chart in the wake of Anthony Castonzo‘s retirement, but it was widely expected that the team would draft a potential Castonzo replacement.
Even though Virginia Tech’s Christian Darrisaw was available for the Colts with the No. 21 overall pick, GM Chris Ballard elected to further bolster his defense by selecting Michigan DE Kwity Paye. And while this year’s draft was said to be deep in tackle talent, Ballard did not use a Day 2 or Day 3 choice on a tackle either.
It doesn’t sound like Colts brass was particularly high on the top-shelf LT prospects. “It just didn’t match up,” Ballard said (Twitter link via Stephen Holder of The Athletic). “How many true left tackles were in the draft? We’ll see. … If you’re gonna draft a guy that high, and you’re drafting him to be a left tackle, you’d like to know that he’s going to be that his whole career.”
Now for more out of Indianapolis, starting with additional notes on the team’s LT situation:
- Even though the Colts valued Paye and second-round choice Dayo Odeyingbo over any LTs that were available at the time, owner Jim Irsay did concede that there were several tackles in the fourth and fifth rounds that they would have drafted but missed out on (Twitter links via Joel A. Erickson of the Indianapolis Star).
- Irsay suggested that the team is comfortable with Tevi as the starting LT, though he left the door open for another acquisition. “We feel that Tevi can do a solid job there next to that line that he is joining,” he said. “There are other options that can come down the line” (Twitter link via Holder).
- Irsay has previously indicated that the team would prefer to keep Quenton Nelson at left guard instead of moving him to LT, and perhaps one of the “options that can come down the line” that he referred to is former Chiefs LT Eric Fisher, who is still on the market.
- We recently heard that the Colts are hoping to extend LB Darius Leonard and OT Braden Smith, and you can add RB Nyheim Hines to that mix. As Mike Chappell of Fox 59 writes, Irsay said he wants his team to explore a re-up with the NC State product, who is eligible for free agency next year. Hines is a terrific receiver out of the backfield and has developed into a quality punt returner, but the team does have second-year pro Jonathan Taylor as its RB1, and Marlon Mack is back in the fold as well. As Irsay observed, “it just depends on what the numbers are.”
- The Colts just drafted Texas signal-caller Sam Ehlinger, adding him to a quarterback room that also includes 2020 UDFA Jalen Morton and 2020 fourth-round pick Jacob Eason. All three players will be vying to serve as Carson Wentz‘s top backup, though head coach Frank Reich said Eason will be penciled in as the QB2 for now (Twitter link via Erickson). Reich was clear that Morton and Ehlinger will get a fair shake, however.
Jets To Ramp Up Negotiations With Marcus Maye
The Jets put the franchise tag on safety Marcus Maye back in March, and Maye signed his franchise tender, which locks him into a $10.61MM salary for 2021. However, player and team have until July 15 to work out a long-term contract, and as Brian Costello of the New York Post writes, GM Joe Douglas expects those negotiations to pick up now that the draft is over.
“It’s still a priority to keep Marcus here long-term,” Douglas said. “We have had productive texts back and forth with his agent. We’re hoping to really dive into this now that the draft’s over.”
Douglas has said all along that keeping Maye in the fold is a priority. But in March, Maye’s agent went public with his disappointment as to how contract talks had played out to that point, and in light of last summer’s Jamal Adams trade, there was some chatter that Douglas simply wasn’t prepared to pay big money for a safety.
Obviously, the fact that talks will resume is no guarantee that a deal gets done, especially if Maye is determined to land a top-of-the-market deal (meaning an AAV of $14MM-$15MM). Still, he is young enough and good enough to be a foundational piece of Douglas’ rebuild, which Jets fans hope was kicked into high-gear with this week’s selection of quarterback Zach Wilson.
In 2020, Pro Football Focus graded Maye as its No. 5 overall safety. The former second-rounder also finished the season with career-highs across the board, including 88 tackles, two sacks, two picks, and 11 passes defended.
49ers Will Not Ask Jimmy Garoppolo To Take Paycut
Jimmy Garoppolo may not be with the 49ers beyond the 2021 season — if he makes it that far — but he will not be asked to take a pay cut or restructure his contract. GM John Lynch was clear on that point, as Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle writes.
Of course, Lynch just selected Trey Lance with the No. 3 overall pick in the draft. While we have known ever since the 49ers traded a king’s ransom to the Dolphins to acquire that pick that they would use it on a QB, San Francisco brass has also implied that Garoppolo would be the starter at least to open the season while the rookie passer gets his feet wet at the professional level.
Branch, however, suggests that Lance could take the reins right away, meaning that the 49ers would be paying their backup a $24.2MM salary, to go along with a $27MM cap charge. But Lynch and team ownership have no issue with that proposition.
“I think it’s a testament to the commitment of our ownership,” Lynch said. “When this process was going on, that’s a question that we asked. We arrived at a point where that was our preference: to draft a quarterback and keep Jimmy, provided that someone didn’t come and just completely blow us way (with a trade offer). And they gave us that commitment. Yeah, we could do that. And we’re happy to have that situation right now. Because we believe it’s a very strong one.”
The 49ers do have the cap space to make it work. As Branch notes, San Francisco currently has $18.2MM of room, and while the club still has to sign its eight-man draft class and work out an extension for LB Fred Warner, that shouldn’t be too much of an issue.
Broncos To Split QB Reps 50-50 Between Lock, Bridgewater
As of now, the Broncos have not traded for Packers signal-caller Aaron Rodgers. Unless and until Rodgers is dealt to Denver, 2019 second-round pick Drew Lock and new trade acquisition Teddy Bridgewater will engage in an open competition for the team’s starting QB job.
Head coach Vic Fangio confirmed as much in an interview with Mike Klis of 9News.com. Although Fangio conceded he wasn’t sure which of Lock or Bridgewater would get the first set of reps in OTAs or training camp, he said, “it will be something that at the end of the day, maybe not at the end of every day, but over the course of OTAs and training camp, it’ll be 50-50.”
Lock only has 18 career starts to his credit, but he is already being mentioned as one of a number of failed QBs that led to John Elway‘s loss of decision-making power. In 13 games last season, the Missouri product threw 16 TD passes against a league-worst 15 picks, leading to a poor 75.4 quarterback rating.
Bridgewater was a a little better in his lone season in Carolina, but his 2020 campaign can fairly be characterized as disappointing as well, especially when measured against the three-year, $63MM contract he signed with the Panthers last offseason. He offers the experience and accuracy that Lock does not have at this point, though Lock’s ceiling is higher.
Fangio, predictably, had good things to say about both passers. “I think Drew’s had a helluva offseason up to this point, albeit we haven’t been on the field,” he said. “I think Drew is going to look good here in the offseason when we do hit the field. And I’ve been an admirer of Teddy Bridgewater for many years. … He’s a good football player. A good quarterback. He’s got deceptive scramble ability. He’s got really good pocket feel. He’s got great leadership abilities. I think he’s an accurate passer and processes very well so we’re happy.”
Regardless of which player wins the job, the Broncos currently have the least desirable QB situation in the AFC West. But new GM George Paton passed on the opportunity to draft a quarterback like Ohio State’s Justin Fields, so he obviously feels good enough about where things stand right now. However, the rest of Denver’s roster looks pretty strong, and the team could be one elite QB away from making serious noise in the AFC. As such, a Rodgers pursuit could still be in the cards.