Quinton Spain To Visit Bengals
Shortly after he was released by the Bills, veteran guard Quinton Spain is taking a visit with a new prospective employer. As Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports, the Bengals will be hosting Spain later this week (Twitter link).
Cincinnati’s offensive line has been a disaster, and the team needs to do something to protect rookie signal-caller Joe Burrow, who has looked good in his first professional season, but who has been sacked 19 times through six games. Though Burrow has made some youthful mistakes in holding onto the ball too long on occasion, Football Outsiders’ advanced metrics indicate that the Bengals’ O-line is among the worst in terms of both pass-blocking and run-blocking.
Enter Spain, who has started 66 games at left guard and who has established a reputation of being a strong pass blocker. Though the 29-year-old lost his starting job with Buffalo this year, the Bills did think highly enough of him to give him a three-year, $15MM deal this offseason. Though he may not be a top-tier protector, he would certainly be a welcome addition to the Bengals’ offensive front.
Second-year pro Michael Jordan has played every snap for the club at LG thus far, but he has struggled, particularly in pass-blocking.
More On Buccaneers, Antonio Brown
Details are in on Antonio Brown‘s contract with the Buccaneers. His one-year pact will be worth up to $2.5MM, but only $1MM of that is in the form of base salary and roster bonuses. If Tampa wins the Super Bowl, AB will receive a $750K bonus, and he has three separate $250K bonuses for receptions, yards, and TD milestones. However, not only does Brown need to hit those individual marks to cash in, the Bucs need to qualify for the playoffs (Twitter links via Adam Schefter of ESPN.com).
Schefter adds (via Twitter) that Brown will officially sign the contract tomorrow. As Greg Auman of The Athletic tweets, the 32-year-old receiver will be able to enter the team facility Wednesday, after he has cleared COVID-19 testing. Although his eight-game suspension means that he will not be permitted to practice until November 3, the start of Week 9, Brown can attend meetings and train with the team’s strength and conditioning staff.
Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports reiterates that Tom Brady was the driving force behind the Brown signing. Brady, of course, pushed for the Patriots to acquire Brown last year, and though New England released AB after just one game, Brady again lobbied the team to re-sign him in advance of the playoffs.
Bucs head coach Bruce Arians — who is familiar with Brown from their time together in Pittsburgh — had repeatedly stated that Tampa would not be acquiring the mercurial All-Pro, and he wasn’t the only team official to express those sentiments. Brady eventually got his way, though plenty are skeptical that Brown will be able to toe the line.
“Mark my words, it’s going to be a problem,” said one executive who has significant experience with Brown. “You have no idea the stories we could tell you about this guy. Everything is a struggle. … There were plenty of valid reasons why [Arians] didn’t want anything to do with him a year ago. Unless this guy has completely reinvented himself, and done a complete turnaround, this is going to get ugly.”
A coach who has worked with Brown said, “All the reasons [Arians] didn’t want this guy a year ago, he knows what’s up with him. And that was before COVID. The stuff he’d do all the time in Pittsburgh — he’d go AWOL, not show up, have no idea where he is … that could (mess up) the entire team, now.”
It does seem like a big gamble for a team that has plenty of receiving talent already, though since the Bucs’ cadre of pass catchers has dealt with a number of injuries this year, it’s easy to see why the club would have interest in reinforcing that group. But from a legal perspective, Brown is not out of the woods just yet. As Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reminds us, the civil suit that Britney Taylor filed against Brown for sexual assault and rape is set for December, and Brown is due to furnish Taylor’s attorney with complete discovery next week (Brown has received multiple extensions of the discovery deadline).
Developments in that case may trigger additional sanctions from the league, though Brown’s attorneys could request a postponement of an trial in an effort to avoid such sanctions impacting his availability for the Bucs this year.
Trade Rumors: Giants, Ryan, Fuller
After dealing Markus Golden to the Cardinals, it appears the 1-6 Giants have officially declared themselves sellers at this year’s trade deadline. Though GM Dave Gettleman may be reluctant to trade away veteran talent that could theoretically help Big Blue win a few games — and perhaps save Gettleman’s job in the process — players like Evan Engram, Kevin Zeitler, and Golden Tate could be available, as Ryan Dunleavy of the New York Post writes (though Ian Rapoport of NFL.com says the club is unlikely to deal Engram).
2017 second-round DT Dalvin Tomlinson could also be on the move, per Dunleavy. Tomlinson is playing out the last year of his rookie contract, and while he has expressed interest in staying with the Giants long-term, there has been little progress in contract talks.
As we creep closer to the November 3 deadline, let’s round up a few more trade rumors from around the league:
- Big names like Falcons QB Matt Ryan and WR Julio Jones are not going to be moved, as Rapoport writes in the same piece linked above. The same can be said for Jets QB Sam Darnold (though Darnold could be dealt this offseason). Gang Green may be more open to trading DT Quinnen Williams, but thus far interested teams have only offered a single second-round pick. That will not be enough to convince GM Joe Douglas to trade the talented interior defender.
- The 1-5 Vikings look like sellers after they traded Yannick Ngakoue, and Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports says Minnesota is open to dealing S Harrison Smith, TE Kyle Rudolph, and LT Riley Reiff. However, those players are not generating much interest, and the players that rival execs really want — WR Adam Thielen and TE Irv Smith Jr. — seem likely to stay put.
- Another 1-5 outfit, the Texans, also anticipate making a trade or two, per La Canfora. Houston is in desperate need of draft capital, and receivers Brandin Cooks and Will Fuller are coming up in discussions. Sources expect at least one of those players to be moved, and the team is also gauging the market for edge defender Whitney Mercilus.
- One team that could have an eye on the Texans’ receivers is the Patriots, who are once again looking for a pass catcher, as La Canfora writes. One year after the team’s ill-fated trade for Mohamed Sanu, New England wants to get a weapon for QB Cam Newton, and Cooks, Fuller, and Thielen could all be options.
- Washington QB Dwayne Haskins might be on the trade market, but the club hasn’t received much interest. According to Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports, Haskins could be had for anything more than a sixth-round pick, but Washington hasn’t even gotten an offer that good yet. Although pass rusher Ryan Kerrigan has been the most-discussed Washington trade chip outside of Haskins, Rapoport says Ryan Anderson is more likely to be traded.
Jimmy Garoppolo’s Future With 49ers In Doubt?
The 49ers have been ravaged by injury this year, but they’re hanging tough at 3-3. Though that mark presently has them in last place in the talented NFC West, the addition of a seventh playoff spot for each conference means that San Francisco is still very much in postseason contention.
Like so many of his teammates, starting quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo was bitten by the injury bug this season, as a high ankle sprain forced him to miss two games and clearly impacted him in an embarrassing Week 5 loss to the Dolphins. Though Jimmy G did play well in last week’s victory over the Rams, Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports says the signal-caller’s future with the Niners is in doubt.
After San Francisco traded for Garoppolo partway through the 2017 campaign, the former Patriots’ second-rounder posted a 5-0 record and landed a five-year, $137.5MM contract the following offseason. But a torn ACL wiped out most of his 2018 season, and though he led his team to a Super Bowl appearance last year, questions about his consistency have persisted.
All of his guarantees will have been paid out by the end of the year, so if the 49ers look to move on, they will be able to save about $24.1MM against the cap. Of course, they would need to earmark at least some of that money for another signal-caller, but HC Kyle Shanahan believes he can win with any number of options under center.
One league source who has worked with Shanahan said, “Kyle thinks he can turn almost anyone into a star. He’s had a lot of success with a lot of different guys and the salary structure on that team has changed dramatically the last few years. He’s not a guy who thinks he needs a $30 million a year QB to win. And they aren’t exactly gushing about the guy that they have now.”
“It’s wait and see,” another source with knowledge of the situation said. “[Garoppolo is] still under evaluation. It could go in a few different directions, and is it possible he’s not the guy next year? That’s fair. I don’t think that’s lost on anybody.”
La Canfora names Matt Ryan and Kirk Cousins as potential replacements if the team chooses to go in a different direction, though Cousins in particular would seem to be be a downgrade from Garoppolo. However, many executives expect the QB market to be active again in 2021, and Shanahan and GM John Lynch may be active in that market. If they really want to save money in a year when the salary cap is expected to decrease, they could trade Garoppolo and find their next signal-caller in the draft.
Bengals Looking To Trade Carlos Dunlap
This won’t come as much of a surprise given the tension between player and team, but the Bengals have had active trade talks surrounding defensive end Carlos Dunlap, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com writes. In fact, Dunlap may be deactivated for this afternoon’s game against the Browns so that he doesn’t suffer an injury that would scuttle a potential deal.
Dunlap started Cincinnati’s first four games of the season and played in 75% of the team’s snaps in its Week 4 win over the Jaguars. But he did not start in the Bengals’ Week 5 loss to the Ravens — the first time in years he had not started a game — and he ultimately played in just 46% of the defensive snaps.
The 31-year-old took issue with the fact that head coach Zac Taylor did not talk to him personally about his demotion, and he recently posted the Bengals’ edge rotations on social media, saying “I don’t got time for this” (via Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic on Twitter). With Cincinnati in rebuild mode, it would not be surprising to see them move on from their unhappy pass rusher.
Of course, plenty of pundits and executives believed the Bengals should have been sellers at last year’s trade deadline, but the team elected to stand pat and did not make any moves to add to its draft capital. Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports reports that Cincinnati may do the same this year, with one NFC executive saying the team’s asking prices on its veteran trade candidates are too high.
Jones’ CBS Sports colleague, Jason La Canfora, is also hearing from rival execs that the Bengals’ have unrealistic demands, though there is a sense that a trade is likelier to get done this year than it was last year. Dunlap, as Rapoport suggests, may have already played his last snap as a Bengal, but RapSheet says Geno Atkins and A.J. Green are probably not going anywhere.
Jags Could Bench QB Gardner Minshew
Jaguars quarterback Gardner Minshew has generally been a fun player to follow since he entered the league as an unheralded sixth-round pick in last year’s draft. He was surprisingly thrust into action in Week 1 of the 2019 season, and in 14 games, he threw for 21 TDs against just six interceptions and a 91.2 passer rating. Though there were some concerns, including 13 fumbles, he acquitted himself about as well as a sixth-round rookie could.
And when Jacksonville traded Nick Foles this offseason, it paved the way for Minshew to become the unquestioned starter in 2020. But after he led his team to a Week 1 win over the Colts, Minshew’s play has fallen off. His raw statistics look decent enough — he’s completed 67.5% of his passes for 11 TDs and five interceptions, good for a 94.1 QB rating — but much of his production has come with the Jaguars trailing.
Fumbling continues to be an issue, and Ian Rapoport of NFL.com suggests that Jacksonville could bench Minshew, perhaps as soon as this afternoon’s game against the Chargers. Current backup signal-caller Mike Glennon would get the nod if that happens.
Since the 1-5 Jags are clearly not going to contend for a playoff spot — and since the soon-to-be 31-year-old Glennon is hardly the long-term answer — it would make sense for them to at least see more of Minshew before reevaluating their QB situation this offseason. But perhaps the club believes it has a good idea of what Minshew can do at this point and wants to see what it has in rookie Jake Luton, whom the team selected in the sixth round of this year’s draft.
Indeed, Rapoport says that if Jacksonville turns to Glennon today, it will then use its bye next week to determine how it wants to move forward. That would seem to be the ideal time to give Luton, a strong-armed passer from Oregon State, his shot to be this year’s Minshew.
Baker Mayfield’s Job Not In Jeopardy
Browns QB Baker Mayfield‘s inconsistent play this season, combined with his disappointing sophomore campaign in 2019, has led to plenty of speculation that the former No. 1 overall pick could be benched in favor of backup Case Keenum. However, Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com says that’s not going to happen.
Per Cabot, Mayfield will get the final 10 games of the season to prove himself. Though she does add that he may not keep his job if he continues to throw a high number of interceptions, the Browns are still high on Mayfield and believe his performance will improve.
Mayfield obviously offers far more upside than Keenum, and Cleveland has far more invested in the third-year passer, so the decision is not an especially difficult one. Still, the fact that Mayfield has played well against poor defenses in 2020 and has struggled mightily against the better teams is cause for concern. He did play through sore ribs in last week’s blowout loss to the Steelers and had only one full day of practice leading up to the game, so perhaps there is reason for optimism moving forward.
After all, the 4-2 Browns have the easiest remaining schedule in the NFL, and after they battle the Bengals this afternoon, they will have a bye next week. At that point, Mayfield should be completely healthy and ready to lead a talented offense towards a playoff berth.
If he does play well down the stretch, Cabot says Cleveland will certainly pick up his fifth-year option, though the team’s evaluation may be made more difficult by the relatively low level of competition that Mayfield will be facing. If he does not play well, or if he continues to be hit-or-miss, new GM Andrew Berry will have a very tough call to make.
Patriots, Titans Close Facilities Again; Pats-Broncos Rescheduled
12:17pm: We have an update on Cam Newton to pass along. According to Jay Glazer of FOX Sports, Newton has yet to return the two consecutive negative tests required to return to action (video link). But now that the Pats’ game against the Broncos has been pushed to next week, he will have more time to get right.
10:37am: Assuming the Titans are able to play on Tuesday, the Broncos and Patriots will indeed play each other next Sunday, as Schefter tweets. The Broncos and Chargers will then play each other in Week 8, which was supposed to be when Denver had its bye, and the Dolphins will now play the Broncos in Week 11. However, the Jaguars have now been impacted by this mess, as they were supposed to play the Broncos in Week 8. So there is still more rearranging to be done.
08:35am: The Patriots had one new positive COVID-19 test this morning, as Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports (via Twitter). It was a player who tested positive, and Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk says that player was starting DT Byron Cowart. The team’s facility has been shut down again, more testing is being done, and Cowart will be placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list today.
Meanwhile, the Titans released a statement indicating that a coach tested positive. Their facility has been shut down as well, but as Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network reports, that coach hasn’t been in the building for nearly two weeks (video link). As such, his positive test might be unrelated to the outbreak that has plagued the team, and contact tracing is being done as we speak.
New England and Tennessee just returned to their facilities yesterday after two consecutive days of negative tests. The Pats’ game against the Broncos this week had been pushed to Monday, and the Titans’ contest against the Bills was rescheduled for Tuesday, but now the Broncos-Patriots matchup has been moved to next Sunday (Twitter link via Schefter). New England and Denver will have their byes this week, and the league will need to reschedule the Broncos-Dolphins game that was originally slated for next week.
We heard several days ago that new positive tests were expected on the Patriots and Titans given the results of contact tracing on both clubs. The league was clear that additional positives would not necessarily mean the cancellation of games, and initial reports this morning indicated that the NFL still planned to move forward with Broncos-Pats tomorrow (Twitter link via Schefter).
However, a decision needed to be made quickly given that the Broncos were scheduled to make a cross-country flight to Foxborough today. Plus, Tom E. Curran of NBC Sports Boston says the Pats were not going to let the league compel them to play, and that if players and coaches are uncomfortable, they will not play (Twitter link).
Given the on-going contact tracing taking place within the Tennessee organization, there is not yet an official word from the league as to the Titans-Bills game. Since the Titans have already lost their bye week, the NFL will presumably want to move forward with that contest. Even if that happens, though, it seems that a Week 18 for rescheduled games around the league is becoming more and more realistic.
As always, we will keep you updated as soon as we have more to pass along.
Could Jets Trade Sam Darnold?
The Jets have stumbled to an 0-4 record to start the 2020 season and have undeniably looked like the worst team in the league. As such, New York has a great chance of finishing the season with the No. 1 overall pick, which means the club would be in position to land a potentially generational QB talent in Clemson signal-caller Trevor Lawrence.
Of course, that would leave Sam Darnold — the No. 3 overall pick of the 2018 draft — on the outs. Plenty of fans and writers alike have connected the dots and have wondered if the Jets would consider trading Darnold, and if so, what the club could expect in return.
Last year, the Cardinals traded Darnold’s draftmate, QB Josh Rosen, to the Dolphins in exchange for second- and fifth-round selections. A few executives tell Adam Schefter of ESPN.com that the Jets could expect similar compensation if they elect to move Darnold.
Although Darnold has certainly shown more flashes of promise than Rosen had when he was traded, the Jets’ passer has not come close to living up to his draft status. Of course, there are plenty of organizational, coaching, and talent issues outside of Darnold’s control that have led to his struggles, but his overall body of work has left much to be desired.
Still, there are a few clubs that might not be drafting high enough to select a future franchise quarterback that will nonetheless need a talented young passer sooner rather than later. Those clubs include teams like the Colts, Bears, and Saints, all of whom could theoretically make a play for Darnold.
Matt Miller of Bleacher Report also names the Steelers as a great fit, and he believes Pittsburgh should trade a second-round pick plus a player or two to land the USC product (Twitter link). Unsurprisingly, Mark Kaboly of The Athletic says the Steelers have no interest in Darnold, though he does believe Darnold or a player in his situation will ultimately be the type of passer that Pittsburgh will need to target to adequately replace Ben Roethlisberger.
Any Darnold trade would not happen until after the season, and if he continues to struggle, the Jets’ price would continue to drop, especially since rival clubs would see Lawrence as an inevitability for Gang Green at that point. Plus, an acquiring team would need to make a decision on Darnold’s fully-guaranteed ~$24MM fifth-year option for 2022 at some point in May, which would be just one more complicating factor.
Darnold will miss the Jets’ game against the Cardinals today due to a shoulder injury. Over the first four games of the season, he has completed under 60% of his passes and has thrown three TDs against four interceptions.
Latest On Texans’ GM, HC Search
With Bill O’Brien gone, the Texans find themselves with an interim GM in Jack Easterby and an interim HC in Romeo Crennel. Earlier this week, team owner Cal McNair said that internal conversations as to how the team will permanently fill those roles had yet to begin, but it seems that has changed.
Per Adam Schefter of ESPN.com, McNair has hired Jed Hughes, the vice chairman of the search firm Korn Ferry, to assist him. The club will reportedly wait until after the season to hire a new head coach and general manager, but obviously McNair wants to start the process as soon as possible. Interestingly, Hughes also played a key role in helping the Texans identify and hire O’Brien back in 2014.
According to Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports, Patriots exec Nick Caserio is once again under consideration for the Houston GM job. As many of our readers probably remember, the Texans made a play for Caserio in June 2019, only to back out when the Pats threatened to file tampering charges.
Caserio is widely considered to be a top GM candidate, and though he did sign a two-year extension with New England in February, La Canfora says that the new deal prohibits the Pats from interfering with Caserio’s pursuit of a GM job. JLC adds that McNair remains high on Caserio.
Meanwhile, Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, who has been a hot head coaching candidate in recent years, was one of the first names to surface in speculation after O’Brien’s dismissal. And La Canfora says Bieniemy has a fan in Texans QB Deshaun Watson, whose opinion and feedback will be valued by McNair. Indeed, Watson has already advocated for Bienemy, who may have several options but who will unlikely find an HC-needy team with a signal-caller as good as Watson.
McNair is said to be seeking a QB guru, so Patriots OC Josh McDaniels and Bills OC Brian Daboll will also be under consideration.