NFC South Notes: Lance, Tryon, Spencer
Let’s take a look at some news and notes from the NFC South as we approach the witching hour on this Tuesday evening:
- The Falcons were perhaps the most interesting team to watch during the first hour of last month’s draft, as they could have gone in any number of directions. Ultimately, they kept their No. 4 overall pick and selected Florida TE Kyle Pitts as part of their effort to gear up for one final run with Matt Ryan. But if the 49ers had not selected North Dakota State QB Trey Lance one pick before Atlanta, then Lance might be holding Ryan’s clipboard this year. The Falcons were represented at both of Lance’s Pro Days, and as Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com writes, if there was a signal-caller to stop Atlanta from taking Pitts, Lance might have been it (subscription required). A source tells Fowler that Lance thought the Falcons were the club most interested in him, and after the Pro Days, NDSU coaching staff got the sense that Lance would not fall past Atlanta.
- The final pick of the first round of this year’s draft, Joe Tryon, underwent a knee scope a few weeks ago, per Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians (Twitter link via Jenna Laine of ESPN.com). Luckily, Arians said the Washington product should be ready to go by next month’s mandatory minicamp. Tryon opted out of the 2020 collegiate season, but he was a menace in 2019, racking up eight sacks and 12.5 tackles for loss. He should provide even more firepower to Tampa’s front seven.
- The Panthers continue to make additions to their personnel department. Carolina has hired former Washington Football Team scout Cole Spencer as its new director of college scouting, the team announced. The Panthers hired former linebacker Dan Morgan as their assistant GM last week, and new general manager Scott Fitterer is continuing to put his stamp on the front office. Spencer had been with WFT for over a decade and was promoted to national scout in 2019.
NFL Draft Pick Signings: 5/18/21
A roundup of today’s mid-round draft pick signings:
Jacksonville Jaguars
- DE/LB Jordan Smith (fourth round; UAB)
Los Angeles Chargers
- LB Chris Rumph II (fourth round; Duke)
Pittsburgh Steelers
- LB Buddy Johnson (fourth round; Texas A&M); OL Dan Moore Jr. (fourth round; Texas A&M)
Latest On OTA, Training Camp Negotiations Between NFL And NFLPA
Phase 2 of the league’s offseason workout program kicked off yesterday, and with it came the news that negotiations between the league and the union with respect to that program are officially dead (via Albert Breer of SI.com). Of course, the union advised players to stay away from team facilities for voluntary offseason activities, and the NFLPA and NFL were ultimately unable to come to an agreement on a number of key points.
Instead, players and coaches negotiated their own structures, and per Dan Graziano of ESPN.com, roughly 15 teams have implemented some sort of change as a result of those conversations. Browns center and union president J.C. Tretter predictably approved of the modifications, saying, “The offseason program has gotten out of hand. OTAs have been ratcheted up year after year, and they’ve turned into — especially for big guys and guys on the line of scrimmage — legitimate full-contact, non-padded practices. Nobody puts any restraints on them; they let guys go at it.”
Some teams are even making changes to the non-voluntary sessions. According to Fowler, the Packers moved their mandatory minicamp up a week, which could mean that a week of OTAs gets canceled, and as Charean Williams of Pro Football Talk writes, the Colts and Eagles have canceled mandatory minicamp altogether. Interestingly, although the Broncos were the first team to support the union’s stance on OTAs, Mike Klis of 9News.com reports that over 70 Broncos players showed up for the first day of Phase 2. The off-site injuries suffered by former Broncos Ja’Wuan James and DaeSean Hamilton and the potential money battle that could ensue may have played a role in that attendance figure.
The initial push from the union to have players boycott OTAs was due to persisting COVID-19 concerns, but as that situation improved in this country, NFLPA assistant executive director of external affairs George Atallah says the union began to shift focus. He says that, despite the complete absence of OTAs in 2020, injuries were down and the quality of the games remained the same (Twitter links via Lindsay Rhodes of the NFL Rhodes Show podcast). So, as Tretter implied, a permanent modification of OTAs into a purely mental exercise is appropriate.
Rhodes asked Atallah if the union is essentially attempting to renegotiate the CBA on the fly, and he conceded as much (Twitter link). And players are also pushing to make last year’s approach to training camp the new normal. Tretter said the ramp-up period that was instituted out of necessity last summer was widely embraced by players, who felt better both going into the regular season and coming out of it.
To be sure, the issue of the quality of the games is a subjective one, and whether there is a direct correlation between the ramp-up period and the absence of OTAs and any data showing a decrease in injuries is debatable. But, if everything was clear-cut, there wouldn’t be much need for negotiation.
In related news, masks are no longer required for fully-vaccinated players, coaches, or staff members, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. And teams will once again be permitted to hold training camp away from club facilities (Twitter link via Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network).
No Contract Talks Yet Between 49ers, Fred Warner
The 49ers, naturally, would like to extend star linebacker Fred Warner, who is eligible for free agency at the end of the 2021 campaign. However, Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network says no contract talks have taken place just yet (video link).
That doesn’t mean that negotiations will not commence soon, and look for San Francisco GM John Lynch to do his utmost to keep Warner in the fold for the long haul. The BYU product was selected in the third round of the 2018 draft, and he has played virtually every snap for the Niners over his first three professional seasons.
During that time, Warner has established himself as one of the top off-ball LBs in football. In fact, Pro Football Focus’ advanced metrics considered him the best linebacker in the league in 2020, thanks in large part to his stellar 91.1 coverage grade. Warner landed his first Pro Bowl and First Team All-Pro honors for his efforts.
We heard earlier today that Darius Leonard, another premier linebacker taken in the 2018 draft — he was chosen 34 spots ahead of Warner — will not be giving the Colts a hometown discount in his negotiations with the club. Rapoport suggests that both Leonard and Warner have a good chance to eclipse Bobby Wagner‘s $18MM AAV, which currently tops the inside linebacker market.
It will be interesting to see which player signs first, as that player’s deal will likely push the second player’s asking price just a little higher. Leonard and Warner have had similar career trajectories to this point, and though Warner is over a year younger than his Indianapolis counterpart, Leonard has two Pro Bowl bids and two First Team All-Pro honors to his credit. Either way, both players have a good chance of landing massive multi-year deals in the coming months.
Bucs Sign 4 After Weekend Tryout
The Buccaneers have signed cornerback Antonio Hamilton, as Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports (via Twitter). Greg Auman of The Athletic adds (via Twitter) that Tampa has also agreed to terms with tight end Jerell Adams, running back Troymaine Pope, and safety Curtis Riley. That quartet was part of a five-man group invited for tryouts during this weekend’s rookie minicamp and did enough to earn a contract.
Hamilton, who signed with the Raiders as a UDFA out of South Carolina State in 2016, played a full 16-game slate with the Giants in 2019, and he also enjoyed perfect attendance in 2020 as a member of the Chiefs. Most of his work has come on special teams, as he has played a total of 335 defensive snaps in his five-year career. If he makes the Bucs’ roster, it will probably be due to his ST prowess, but he could get some action as a backup corner.
Adams was a sixth-round selection of the Giants back in 2016, but he has played in exactly one game over the past three seasons. In that game, a 2018 appearance with the Texans, Adams played only five special teams snaps. Over his first two years in New York, the South Carolina product tallied 24 catches for 214 yards and a score.
Tampa’s tight end depth chart is pretty full, and Adams will try to convince the club to roster four TEs again. He will join Tanner Hudson and Codey McElroy in that endeavor.
Riley, 28, worked as a full-time starter for the 2018 Giants, lining up with their first-stringers in all 16 games. He intercepted four passes that season. He then landed in Oakland, playing as a Raiders backup/spot starter in 2019. Last season, Riley saw limited action with the Vikings and Cardinals.
The Bucs will be Pope’s sixth NFL team. A Jacksonville State alum, Pope has been in the league since arriving as a 2016 UDFA. Stints with the Seahawks, Jets, Colts, and Texans preceded work as a Chargers backup from 2019-20. Injuries in Los Angeles’ backfield summoned Pope to action on offense briefly at the midseason point last year, but he mostly played special teams with the Bolts.
Tampa Bay’s backfield is also crowded. Leonard Fournette was re-signed this offseason, and Giovani Bernard joined up with the Super Bowl champs. Ronald Jones and Ke’Shawn Vaughn, both on their rookie contracts, will also return.
Jags Notes: Lawrence, Etienne, Tebow
Let’s round up a few items out of Jacksonville:
- The expectation remains that Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence, the No. 1 overall pick of this year’s draft, will be at full strength when training camp opens in a couple of months, as Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network observes (Twitter link). In fact, head coach Urban Meyer said Lawrence should be “pretty close to full go” before the end of mandatory minicamp on June 17 (via John Oesher of the team’s official website). Lawrence was on a 30-40 throw “pitch count” during this weekend’s rookie minicamp, and both he and Meyer believe everything is trending in the right direction. Lawrence underwent surgery on his left (non-throwing) shoulder in February.
- Lawrence was obviously the headliner of the 2021 draft, but there is also plenty of excitement about the Jaguars’ second first-round choice, RB Travis Etienne (Lawrence’s teammate at Clemson). Etienne is a threat to break off a big play whenever he touches the ball, and his receiving abilities are just as enticing as his rushing prowess. In an effort to continue honing Etienne’s skills as a dynamic dual-threat talent, Meyer said that Etienne took most of his rookie minicamp reps at wide receiver, as Rapoport tweets. The Jags do have 2020 UDFA James Robinson on the roster, and Robinson turned in a terrific rookie campaign both as a runner and as a receiver. Despite Robinson’s presence, it doesn’t sound as if Etienne will be transitioned to a full-time WR. Meyer said he knows what Etienne can do as a rusher and just wants to see if he can also excel when split out wide (Twitter link via Field Yates of ESPN.com).
- The Jags are planning to sign Tim Tebow as a tight end, but according to ESPN’s Jeff Darlington (via Tim Daniels of Bleacher Report), not everyone in the building is thrilled with the proposition. The detractors think that the signing does not send the right message to the rest of the team, and that it will not provide the locker room with the “cultural jolt” that Meyer is anticipating. But this is unquestionably Meyer’s club now, and there is an obvious void at TE. Whether Tebow is a legitimate candidate to fill that void remains to be seen.
Packers To Insist On QB As Part Of Aaron Rodgers Trade?
As of the time of this writing, the Packers have given no public indication that they are planning to capitulate to Aaron Rodgers‘ trade demands. Given the state of the relationship between Rodgers and the team, however, Green Bay brass has certainly had internal conversations about what such a seismic trade would entail.
The Broncos have been the club most closely connected to a Rodgers trade, and early speculation has suggested that Denver (or any team for that matter) would need to part with at least two first-round choices, a second-rounder, and perhaps a quality player. As Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes, the Packers will also require their trading partner to send a QB back to Green Bay.
After all, Rodgers’ new club can reasonably be expected to make a postseason run with the three-time MVP under center, so any draft picks that the Packers acquire would presumably come at the end of a given round. And rumor has it that Green Bay does not believe 2020 first-rounder Jordan Love is ready to become the full-time starter just yet, so it makes sense that the club would insist on having another signal-caller be part of a trade package.
On the other hand, there aren’t many teams that are in a position to trade for Rodgers but that also have a quarterback that Green Bay would consider a worthy replacement for the face of its franchise. The 49ers were an obvious fit before they drafted Trey Lance, and while San Francisco could perhaps be persuaded to deal Jimmy Garoppolo in a separate trade with Green Bay, or as part of a three-team swap, the Niners are now out of the Rodgers sweepstakes.
The Raiders are on Rodgers’ list of preferred destinations, and Las Vegas signal-caller Derek Carr is a quality player who is under contract at a reasonable rate through 2022. Since the Raiders play in the AFC, it seems the foundation for a trade is there, but a Rodgers-Jon Gruden marriage is presently considered unlikely.
The Broncos, meanwhile, are rostering Drew Lock and Teddy Bridgewater, neither of whom appear capable of leading the Packers to a championship. So even though Denver has the cap space and desire to make a Rodgers deal work, it’s unclear if Green Bay considers the Broncos a viable partner.
Per Silverstein, Packers head coach Matt LaFleur has indicated he will work with Love as though he will be the starter for now, but LaFleur didn’t exactly offer a ringing endorsement of the Utah State product, and he recently indicated he wants Rodgers back “in the worst way.”
Texans HC David Culley On QB Davis Mills
Due to the legal drama surrounding Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson, along with Watson’s insistence that he will never play another snap for the Texans, Houston has made several high-profile additions to its QB room. The team signed veteran Tyrod Taylor in March, and then used its first choice in the 2021 draft (No. 67 overall) on Stanford signal-caller Davis Mills.
Obviously, there is no way to know when Watson’s legal situation will be wrapped up. There may or may not have been recent settlement talks between his legal team and the team representing the 22 women who have filed lawsuits against him, but even a best-case scenario for Watson — a dismissal of the suits (which isn’t happening) or a quick settlement that allows him to escape a major financial hit — still leaves the Texans in a bind because of Watson’s previous trade demands.
A settlement, along with minimal or no punishment from the league, would at least allow Watson’s trade market to heat back up. One way or another, it appears that the Texans will be rolling with either Taylor or Mills when the 2021 regular season opens, and new head coach David Culley had a lot of good things to say about Mills during a press conference yesterday.
“Davis Mills, I thought [GM Nick Caserio‘s] staff did a great job of all of a sudden earmarking a guy that fit what a quarterback in the NFL is all about,” Culley said (via the Texans’ PR department). “Obviously he didn’t play as much football as some of the other guys because of the COVID situation in the Pac-12, but we really love what he’s all about. We love all of the intangibles he has. He’s a pro-type NFL quarterback and we feel good to have him. He’s smart. He can make all the throws and we feel good and feel fortunate that we’re able to get him when we got him.”
The Texans would presumably like for Mills to beat out Taylor for the starting job so that they can get a complete picture of what the rookie can do and set their 2022 priorities accordingly. But when Culley was asked how important it is to give Mills ample playing time this season, Culley had something of a predictable answer. “We’re not looking at it like that,” he said. “We’re looking at it like there’s going to be competition at all positions. This is a new football team here. Basically, we’ve created competition all around this football team. Not just at the quarterback position, but basically at all positions.”
At least one NFL scouting director believes Mills could have been a first-round pick in 2022 if he had stayed in school, so there is some cause for optimism for a franchise that appears to be headed for a major rebuild. “Davis Mills, man, the ball comes out of his hand really nice,” the scouting director said (via veteran NFL reporter Aaron Wilson on Twitter). “His release quickness is really good. A lot of people around the league are saying he could have been a first-round draft pick next year if he had stayed in school. Very intriguing.”
When asked specifically about Watson, Culley said, “we have nothing to say about that situation at this time.”
Giants Sign Kelvin Benjamin
Apparently, the Giants liked what they saw from Kelvin Benjamin. After bringing Benjamin in for a tryout this weekend, New York has agreed to terms with the former first-rounder, as Jordan Raanan of ESPN.com reports (via Twitter).
Benjamin, of course, entered the league as a wide receiver, and that’s where he has played since Giants GM Dave Gettleman — then the general manager of the Panthers — drafted him in 2014. But Benjamin primarily worked out as a tight end during this weekend’s visit, so it appears he is undergoing a position change.
Now 30, Benjamin’s size (6-5, 245 pounds) makes him something of a natural fit at TE. And given that his career fell off a cliff after he was traded from Carolina to the Bills midway through the 2017 season, he almost had to try something different. Indeed, after spending the final few games of the 2018 campaign with the Chiefs following his release from Buffalo, there were no public reports of interest in his services until he got a call from the Giants.
With Evan Engram and free agent acquisition Kyle Rudolph ahead of him on the depth chart, Benjamin will battle for a a TE3 job alongside the likes of Levine Toilolo and Kaden Smith. Ralph Vacchiano of SNY.tv believes Benjamin is facing an uphill battle in his quest for a regular season roster spot (Twitter link), but his background as a receiver and his physical stature make him an intriguing low-risk flier just the same.
Benjamin is the second of the five veterans Big Blue recently invited to the facility to get a contract. RB Corey Clement has also put pen to paper, and as Dan Duggan of The Athletic tweets, the Giants waived RB Jordan Chunn and TE Nate Wieting to make room for Clement and Benjamin on the 90-man roster.
NFC North Notes: Bears, Sewell, Bateman
In a comprehensive piece, Adam Jahns of The Athletic details how Bears GM Ryan Pace, head coach Matt Nagy, and the rest of Chicago’s brain trust approached their quarterback situation this offseason. These types of behind-the-scenes stories are always worth a read, especially for fans of the team in question, and particularly notable here is that the club identified the No. 8 through No. 12 overall selections as the “sweet spot” to target a collegiate QB. Pace’s predraft research indicated that trying to acquire the Falcons’ No. 4 overall pick would require too much draft capital, but he didn’t want to start calling teams holding picks eight through 12 too early for fear of tipping his hand.
So he waited until the day of the draft to start making those calls, and while the early run on QBs pushed down quality players at other positions, Pace identified Ohio State QB Justin Fields as his top target. 11 Bears staffers filed reports on Fields, and all of them had very similar grades on him. Pace and Giants GM Dave Gettleman had worked out the parameters of a trade earlier in the day, and when Fields was still on the board after the Eagles leapfrogged the Giants — Pace feared Philadelphia might have been targeting Fields — Chicago and New York were able to swing a trade that brought the former Buckeye to the Windy City. Now, Pace and Nagy will hope that the bold maneuver will help them keep their jobs.
Here’s more from the NFC North:
- Even though the Bears just signed Andy Dalton this offseason, they extended him a courtesy that the Packers did not extend to Aaron Rodgers when they drafted Jordan Love last year: they told Dalton that they might pick a QB. “I talked to [Dalton] earlier in the day on [the day of the draft], and we were just catching up,” Nagy said (via Albert Breer of SI.com). “And at the same time I said, ‘Hey, listen man, I have no idea which way this thing may go, you never know, but all positions are open and we can do a lot of different things, including at quarterback. So I just want you to understand that and be aware for that.'” Of course, the news couldn’t have come as a surprise to Dalton, who was signed to a one-year contract and who presumably has no delusions that the Bears acquired him as their quarterback of the future, but it’s the type of gesture that might have helped ease the strain on the Packers’ relationship with Rodgers.
- The Lions‘ first-round pick, No. 7 overall selection Penei Sewell, has tested positive for COVID-19, as Sewell himself tweeted several days ago. He will therefore miss this weekend’s rookie minicamp, but at this point it sounds like he is either asymptomatic or else has mild symptoms, so there shouldn’t be any cause for concern.
- The Packers selected Georgia CB Eric Stokes with the No. 29 overall pick of the draft, but if Minnesota WR Rashod Bateman had still been around, execs around the league believe he would have been the choice, as Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com writes (subscription required). Of course, taking a first-round receiver this year after selecting Love in the first round in 2020 might not have been enough to placate Rodgers. The Ravens took Bateman off the board with the No. 27 overall selection.
- The Vikings have been busy over the past couple of days, trading cornerback Mike Hughes to the Chiefs and signing first-round pick Christian Darrisaw.