Latest On Patriots’ QB Outlook
We heard at the beginning of January that the Patriots and quarterback Cam Newton were unlikely to reunite in 2021, but a report from earlier this week suggested that the the door is not closed on a Newton return to Foxborough next season. And multiple sources tell Ben Volin of the Boston Globe that they would not be surprised to see the Pats re-sign the 2015 league MVP.
After all, HC Bill Belichick reportedly loved coaching Newton, and Volin hears that even after the 2020 campaign, Belichick has raved about the effort that Newton put forth last season. He is concerned about Newton’s arm strength — which is understandable given the 31-year-old’s disappointing passing performance during his first season with New England — but he appears open to continuing the relationship just the same. Newton, meanwhile, has been similarly candid about how much he enjoyed playing for the Pats, so if the two sides can agree to another inexpensive contract, a re-up could be in the cards.
Of course, the club has also had conversations about every quarterback in the league that could be available via trade, and the expectation remains that the Pats will select a QB in the early rounds of this year’s draft (perhaps with their No. 15 overall selection). So if Newton comes back, it obviously won’t be as anything more than a bridge option to a younger passer, and Mike Reiss of ESPN.com suggests that the team could even re-sign Newton and pair him with another veteran.
If New England goes that route, one obvious option would be to re-sign longtime Patriot Brian Hoyer, as Volin notes. Volin also believes that Mitchell Trubisky could be on the Pats’ radar, and at this point in their respective careers, Trubisky certainly appears to have a higher ceiling than Newton. Some have connected the dots between New England and former Belichick draftee Jacoby Brissett, but Volin sees a Brissett signing as unlikely since he did not “click” with Belichick and OC Josh McDaniels before he was dealt to the Colts in 2017. Assuming the Patriots do end up adding two QBs this offseason, Jarrett Stidham‘s roster status will be very much in doubt.
One collegiate signal-caller that has been routinely mocked to the Patriots is Alabama QB Mac Jones. As Reiss notes in the piece linked above, former New England OC Charlie Weis was effusive in his praise of Jones, and Weis sees him as a perfect fit in the Pats’ offense. Though he is not as athletic as some of the other passers in this year’s class, Jones is more than capable of moving around in the pocket and can make accurate throws to every part of the field.
If the Pats really want Jones, though, they may have to trade up from the No. 15 pick. His stock is rising, and ESPN draftniks Mel Kiper, Jr. and Todd McShay both believe he will be off the board by the time New England is on the clock.
Former NFLer Louis Nix Passes Away
Former NFL player Louis Nix III has passed away, as Ben Becker of Action News Jax was among those to report (Twitter link). Nix was just 29 years old.
Nix was reported missing earlier in the week, and yesterday evening, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office pulled a car from a pond that matched the description of the vehicle he was last seen driving (Twitter link via Becker). As Douglas Farmer of NBCSports.com relays, Nix was shot in December during an attempted armed robbery at a gas station, while he was attempting to put air in his tire. Nix survived the shooting and later said, “I know it sounds cliché, but more than anything, I’m happy to be alive.” There is no indication that the incident is related to Nix’s passing.
Nix was a three-year starter at Notre Dame, establishing himself as one of the top interior defenders in the collegiate game. He was at this best in 2012, when the Fighting Irish enjoyed an undefeated regular season. That year, even as he was absorbing double-teams for star linebacker Manti Te’o, Nix piled up 50 tackles — including 7.5 tackles for loss — two sacks, and five passes defensed.
He returned to school for his senior season in 2013, but that year marked the beginning of the knee troubles that would end his professional career before it really got off the ground. He underwent surgery to repair a torn meniscus in November 2013, and though the Texans selected him in the third round of the 2014 draft, he would need a another knee surgery before training camp. Ultimately, a third knee operation prevented him from playing a single game in his rookie season.
Houston waived him before the 2015 regular season, and he was claimed by the Giants. He would go on to appear in four games for Big Blue, but he was waived again that November and was later re-signed to New York’s practice squad. He spent time on Washington’s and Jacksonville’s p-squads in 2016, but his career was essentially over after the Jags cut him loose in May 2017.
We at PFR offer our sincere condolences to Nix’s family and friends.
Chiefs RT Mitchell Schwartz Undergoes Back Surgery
The Chiefs’ Super Bowl loss to the Buccaneers was a result of a number of factors, but chief (!) among them was the absence of starting offensive tackles Eric Fisher and Mitchell Schwartz. Without his two OL bookends, Patrick Mahomes was victimized by Tampa’s relentless pass rush, and Kansas City’s top-flight offense was unable to establish any sort of rhythm.
Schwartz, who suffered a back injury in October that ended his streak of 134 consecutive regular-season starts, underwent back surgery today, as Adam Teicher of ESPN.com relays. Schwartz posted a picture of himself in his hospital bed on Instagram, and luckily for the Chiefs, he says his recovery is not expected to take too long.
“It’s time to address the issue since it isn’t going away on its own,” he wrote. “The recovery process isn’t too long, hence being able to wait until now to do it, otherwise I would have done this earlier. Looking forward to a healthy 2021!”
It sounds like Schwartz, who will turn 32 in June, will be back on the field no later than Week 1 of the 2021 season. He has never made a Pro Bowl and has just one First Team All-Pro nod to his credit, but he has doubtlessly been one of the best right tackles in the game since he entered the league as a second-round pick of the Browns in 2012.
He is due to earn just $4.9MM in base salary this season — the last of his current contract — but will carry a $10MM cap hit. Still, given his value to the team, that cap charge does not seem particularly onerous, though the Chiefs could consider an extension to create more flexibility. The club is roughly $23MM over the cap at the moment.
Texans Unlikely To Retain Will Fuller
Texans wideout Will Fuller will miss Week 1 of the 2021 regular season thanks to the six-game PED suspension he was handed in November, but he is still one of the more intriguing receivers set for unrestricted free agency in March. That is especially true since players like Kenny Golladay and Chris Godwin are looking increasingly likely to remain with their current clubs, which pushes Fuller higher up the wish-list for receiver-needy teams.
And as Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle writes, it sounds as if Fuller will indeed hit the open market. Fuller and QB Deshaun Watson enjoy a close friendship, and considering Watson’s relationship with the team at the moment, Wilson says Fuller will not be back in Houston unless he is hit with the franchise tag (a reconciliation between the Texans and Watson could change that, but the situation appears unsalvageable). However, multiple league sources say they do not expect Houston to use the tag on Fuller, even though the club would like to have him back.
After all, the Texans are just $3.9MM under the cap at the moment, and while restructures and releasing players like RB David Johnson will give them some additional space, it might not be enough to carry Fuller on a ~$16MM franchise tag. Instead, the team might continue to roll with Brandin Cooks — who flourished during Fuller’s suspension — along with Randall Cobb and younger players Keke Coutee and Chad Hansen.
Spotrac indicates that Fuller is in line for a four-year contract worth $67.8MM, which seems about right. The $16.9MM average would put Fuller in the top-10 of the WR market, and though he has struggled with injuries throughout his pro career, he was finally on track to play a full 16-game season for the first time before he was suspended (for what it’s worth, he said he violated the league’s PED policy only because he took medication that the prescribing physician believed to be approved by the NFL).
His speed and explosiveness would be an asset to most any receiving corps, so while the injury history is a concern, he should not be lacking for suitors. Last season, he was on pace for nearly 1,300 receiving yards and double-digit TDs. His 16.6 yard-per-reception average was a career-high and is reflective of his big-play ability.
Randy Gregory To Start In 2021?
Cowboys defensive end Randy Gregory has had a turbulent NFL career, having been suspended four times since he turned pro in 2015. Shortly after his latest reinstatement in September, Dallas showed some faith in the Nebraska product by extending his contract through 2021, giving him a $200K signing bonus and a chance to earn up to $2.1MM next season.
And as Jon Machota of The Athletic writes, the Cowboys’ faith in Gregory may manifest itself in another way. Machota expects the 28-year-old to serve as the club’s starting right defensive end when Week 1 of the 2021 season rolls around.
Gregory appeared in 10 games for Dallas last season, but he did not start any of them. He managed 3.5 sacks in those 10 games, but his impact went beyond the sack total. He tallied 16 QB pressures, forced three fumbles, and received a strong 80.5 overall grade from Pro Football Focus, whose metrics also considered him a stout run defender.
Given what he was able to accomplish with only three weeks of practice following his reinstatement — and considering that he logged 40 or more snaps in only two games last year — there is reason to believe Gregory will have his long-anticipated breakout in 2021 with a full offseason of work. Plus, the Cowboys will need to get as many contributions as they can from players with modest cap hits like Gregory, since there’s a good chance the club will need to carry a $37.7MM cap charge for QB Dak Prescott on the books until at least July, if not the whole season.
Dallas will be switching from a 3-4 scheme to a 4-3 look under new DC Dan Quinn, so Gregory and DeMarcus Lawrence will form a potentially dangerous tandem as bookends of the team’s defensive front. Because another troubled pass rusher, Aldon Smith, is a better fit in a 3-4 defense, Machota believes Smith could be looking for a new employer in March.
Seahawks Re-Sign Alex Collins
The Seahawks have re-signed RB Alex Collins, as Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle reports (via Twitter). Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times says it will be a veteran salary benefit deal (Twitter link).
The low-level commitment to Collins makes sense, as the 26-year-old back is still trying to reestablish himself in the league. Seattle selected Collins, an Arkansas product, in the fifth round of the 2016 draft. He was waived prior to final cutdowns in the summer of 2017, and the Ravens quickly scooped him up. At the time, it looked like a coup for Baltimore, as Collins piled up nearly 1,000 rushing yards on a healthy 4.6 YPC average in 2017 and entered the 2018 season at the top of the club’s RB depth chart. But a 2018 foot injury cut his season short, and his arrest in the 2019 offseason prompted the Ravens to drop him. He spent all of 2019 and a good chunk of 2020 out of football, ultimately joining Seattle’s taxi squad in November.
The ‘Hawks dealt with injuries to their RB room throughout the 2020 campaign, which created something of an opportunity for Collins. In three games (one start) for Seattle following his promotion, Collins totaled 18 carries for 77 yards and two TDs, and as of now, he is the most experienced back under contract. Chris Carson and Carlos Hyde are both eligible for unrestricted free agency, while the club is also rostering Rashaad Penny — who played just three games last season — and fellow youngsters Travis Homer and DeeJay Dallas.
The team understandably hopes to keep Carson, but even if they do, Collins could represent a quality complementary piece at a discount rate.
Bucs Notes: Brady, JPP, Brown
There are several high-profile Buccaneers that have undergone offseason surgery already. According to head coach Bruce Arians, five-time Super Bowl MVP Tom Brady has gone under the knife to clean up the knee issue we heard about several weeks ago (Twitter link via Ben Volin of the Boston Globe). Though Brady will not be ready to participate in team drills until June, the fact that Tampa is willing to discuss an extension with him suggests the club is not particularly worried about his prognosis.
Meanwhile, OLB Jason Pierre-Paul underwent a knee surgery of his own today, as Jenna Laine of ESPN.com passes along. JPP had arthroscopic surgery on the same knee in July, and he landed on the injury report throughout the 2020 season as a result of the injury. Still, he didn’t miss a game and led the Bucs with 9.5 regular season sacks, so he will head into a contract year with plenty of momentum and, hopefully, a clean bill of health.
On a related note, Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times tweets that RB Ronald Jones recently had a pin removed from his broken left pinky finger, which required surgery in December. Jones played through the injury and finished off a successful third pro season. After a disappointing rookie year, Jones is living up to his status as a former second-rounder and, like JPP, has a good chance to set himself up for a big payday if he can replicate his 2020 performance in 2021.
Here are a few more notes on the defending champs:
- As you know by now, the Bucs have a number of big-name free agents, which could make this offseason a difficult one for GM Jason Licht to navigate. The team has made it clear that it wants to bring back players like WR Chris Godwin and LB Lavonte David, and it sounds like Godwin might be willing to offer Tampa a hometown discount. Fellow wideout Mike Evans has also expressed a willingness to take a paycut, but Arians isn’t sure that outside FAs will be willing to take less than market value just for the opportunity to play with Brady and the Bucs. “Dollars still talk,” the 68-year-old HC said (Twitter link via Greg Auman of The Athletic). Because of how many in-house priorities Tampa has, Arians suggested his club might not be especially active in the free agent market anyway.
- In addition to Evans’ willingness to make a personal sacrifice to keep the band together, there are a number of other players who are open to restructuring their own deals, per Arians (Twitter link via Stroud). Such restructures would not result in less money for those players, but it would open up more cap space for the Bucs to retain most, if not all, of their top FAs.
- Another free agent the Bucs want to keep, Antonio Brown, obviously has off-field matters to tend to. Britney Taylor’s lawsuit against Brown is set for trial in December, and as Daniel Kaplan of The Athletic writes, Taylor wants to subpoena copies of all documentation the Bucs have related to Brown (she is subpoenaing Brown’s three former teams as well). Taylor is not seeking to depose any team executives, and she needs court approval to send the subpoenas.
Could Packers Franchise RB Aaron Jones?
We heard earlier today that the Dolphins and Packers running back Aaron Jones, who is eligible for unrestricted free agency in March, are interested in joining forces. But Green Bay might not let Jones get away.
The Packers and Jones have been negotiating a long-term pact for about a year now, but it doesn’t sound as though the two sides are particularly close to an agreement. The club did offer Jones a contract that would have paid him like a top-five RB in terms of average annual value, but the offer was unappealing to Jones because it was lacking in significant guaranteed cash.
Nonetheless, the club is expected to bid adieu to RB2 Jamaal Williams, and given Williams’ impending departure and Jones’ importance to Green Bay’s offense, Jones might be a franchise tag candidate. Indeed, Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network suggests that because this year’s franchise tag value for running backs is so low ($8MM), the Packers may be willing to carry that cost on their books if it means keeping Jones in the fold for at least one more year (video link).
Jones, an explosive playmaker as a runner and receiver who has averaged over 1,500 yards from scrimmage and 15 TDs over the past two seasons, would certainly not be happy about a franchise tag. But while the Packers still have work to do just to get under the cap, to say nothing of a potential re-up for center Corey Linsley, they have to at least give the matter some serious thought.
WFT Will Have New Name After 2021 Season
The Washington Football Team will operate under the same bromidic moniker in 2021, but it is expected to have a new name by 2022.
Today, the team launched a website called WashingtonJourney.com (h/t Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk), wherein fans can submit their ideas for a new team name, their reasons for choosing that name, and their proposed logo/uniform. As of the time of this writing, some of the “featured submissions” include the Washington Rhinos, the Washington Justice, and the Washington Redtails.
Of course, owner Dan Snyder elected to change the name in July following years of pressure to do so, but there was not enough time to choose something other than the placeholder “Washington Football Team” for the 2020 campaign. The change came not long after investment firms worth about $620B asked Nike, FedEx, and PepsiCo to end their relationships with the team, so while Snyder’s decision was probably not motivated by the former name’s racial overtones, those pushing for a change got what they wanted just the same.
The website will take fans through the name change process, and the organization says it will run everything it hears through research before narrowing down its choices and reaching the best decision. Florio suggests that if WFT should win the Super Bowl next year, there may be a push to keep the Washington Football Team nickname, but assuming that doesn’t happen, the ever-dangerous WFT acronym will be a thing of the past by 2022.
Texans Re-Sign Two RFAs, Dismiss C.J. Leak
The Texans have re-signed two players that were eligible for restricted free agency. As Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle reports, Houston is bringing back RB Buddy Howell and CB Cornell Armstrong (Twitter links).
Howell’s one-year pact is worth less than the $2.133MM RFA tender, but it does come with some guaranteed money, so it makes sense from his vantage point. The former Dolphins UDFA was claimed by the Texans after Miami released him during final cutdowns in 2018, and he has been with Houston ever since. Though he has amassed just 21 carries over his three pro seasons, he has been a key member of the Texans’ special teams unit.
Armstrong is another former Dolphins castoff. The Southern Miss product was selected by Miami in the sixth round of the 2018 draft, and while he made it through his rookie season with the ‘Fins, he was jettisoned just before the 2019 regular season started. He saw just one defensive snap for the Texans last season after 53 the year before, but like Howell, he has managed to carve out a role on special teams. Also like Howell, Armstrong settled for less than the $2.133MM RFA value. As Wilson writes, Armstrong inked a one-year, $1.25MM pact that includes a $100K signing bonus.
In related news, the Texans have undergone more front office shakeups, dismissing assistant pro personnel director C.J. Leak as well as area scout Ryan Cavanaugh and pro scout Steven Price, per Wilson. While any news like this is going to get attention given the perception of Houston’s ownership and front office at the moment, these moves do not seem out of the ordinary for a team that has just hired a new GM and head coach.
Leak, who was hired by former GM Brian Gaine in 2018, is expected to draw interest from other clubs.