Yannick Ngakoue Prepared To Sit Out 2020 Season?
As you probably know by now, Jaguars defensive end Yannick Ngakoue wants out of Jacksonville. He is not inclined to sign his $17.788MM franchise tender, and while he wants a new contract with an average annual value in excess of $20MM, he does not want to sign such a contract with the Jags.
We heard yesterday that the 25-year-old is still pushing for a trade, but given the amount of draft capital Jacksonville has asked for in the past — in addition to the fact that an acquiring team would have to pony up a $100MM+ payday, a tough sell in this COVID-19 climate — a trade does not seem especially likely at this point. However, a burying of the hatchet between player and team seems equally unlikely, and Mike Garafolo of the NFL Network is hearing that Ngakoue could sit out the entire 2020 season (video link).
A key point here is that Ngakoue just finished his rookie contract and has yet to sign a second professional deal. Although the new CBA is harsher than its predecessor with respect to holdouts, those stricter provisions only apply to players who hold out after having signed a contract as a veteran. So while a full-year absence would toll Ngakoue’s service time, it seems he can hold out through training camp and a chunk of the regular season without worrying about mandatory fines and losing an accrued season.
A young pass rusher like Ngakoue is a hot commodity in today’s NFL, but as it stands right now, if he wants to play this season and earn a paycheck, he will have to do so with the Jags. Of course, an injury and/or more clarity with respect to the 2021 salary cap could make a rival club more inclined to discuss a trade, and it sounds like Ngakoue is willing to wait.
Cardinals Cut Jermiah Braswell After Arrest
5:07pm: Hours after news of this arrest surfaced, the Cardinals waived Braswell, Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle tweets.
1:53pm: Cardinals undrafted free agent wide receiver Jermiah Braswell was arrested for DUI on June 27 after he allegedly drove his Camaro into Lake Erie, per Corey Vallas of WFMJ.com. When the aptly-named Put-in-Bay police arrived at the scene, they found Braswell’s vehicle off the embankment and sitting in the water. Braswell was still in the driver’s seat attempting to move the car and could not explain what had happened.
Braswell subsequently failed a breath test and was arrested. Fortunately, no one else was in the vehicle and neither Braswell nor any bystanders were injured.
Braswell enjoyed a career year during his senior season at Youngstown State in 2019, recording 24 catches for 515 yards and seven TDs. The raw numbers are not flashy in and of themselves, but his outrageous 21.5 yards per reception clearly caught the eye of Arizona brass, who decided to take a flier on him when he went undrafted.
Of course, it’s difficult for any UDFA to make an NFL roster or even the taxi squad, and Braswell was one of five undrafted wideouts the Cardinals brought in this year. Given that, and considering the team’s WR depth chart was pretty strong to begin with, it would not be surprising to see the Cardinals cut bait in the coming days.
AFC East Notes: Newton, Tua, Fins, Bills
The Patriots made a big splash last night when they signed former league MVP Cam Newton to a one-year contract. The assumption is that Newton will be the team’s starting signal-caller, but Mike Garafolo of the NFL Network says the Pats made no promises in that regard. Still, while there is technically an open competition between Newton and second-year pro Jarrett Stidham, it would be stunning if Newton did not win the job (video link). Garafolo also points out that Newton still has to pass a physical, but the Patriots are confident he will do so.
Garafolo also passes along a fun fact (via Twitter): New England is the third team in NFL history to lose one MVP and sign another in the same offseason. The 2000 Dolphins parted ways with Dan Marino and brought in Thurman Thomas, and the 2005 Cardinals bid farewell to Emmitt Smith and signed Kurt Warner.
Now for more from the AFC East:
- The Dolphins drafted Tua Tagovailoa with the belief that he will be the franchise signal-caller the team has been seeking for the past 20 years. He may not start right away, but Albert Breer of SI.com believes the southpaw will be put into the starting lineup at some point this season. While the 2020 Dolphins should be an improved squad over last year’s iteration, Miami is still probably at least a year away from playoff contention, so the team will have no reason to keep Tagovailoa on the sidelines for the entire campaign.
- Miami is set at the LG and C spots with Ereck Flowers and Ted Karras, respectively. Beyond that, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald says the Dolphins are still undecided as to whether second-round rookie Robert Hunt would be a better fit at RG or RT in 2020. If Hunt gets a shot at RT and performs well, that could bump 2019 starter Jesse Davis back to the interior or to the bench. Meanwhile, Michael Deiter will compete for the starting RG and backup C slots.
- In the same piece linked above, Jackson notes that the Dolphins are working out WR Gary Jennings in the slot — where he thrived in college — and on the outside. Jennings was a fourth-round pick of the Seahawks in 2019, but Seattle waived him in November and Miami scooped him up. He played in just one game for the ‘Fins before getting hurt, but his draft pedigree and upside will give him a good chance to make the club as the fifth or sixth WR.
- In a minor trade last summer, the Bills acquired OL Ryan Bates from the Eagles in exchange for DE Eli Harold. Philadelphia subsequently cut Harold, but Buffalo hung on to Bates, who was active for nine games. Per Adam Caplan of InsideTheBirds.com, the Bills view Bates, a 2019 UDFA, as a viable right tackle, guard, and center, so they expect him to be a key backup in 2020 who may take on a bigger role down the road.
- Joe Buscaglia of The Athletic, meanwhile, views Bates as a potential trade candidate. Buscaglia also looks at a few other players that the Bills could put on the trade market, a list headed by WR Robert Foster and TE Jason Croom.
No Progress In Contract Talks Between Chiefs, Chris Jones
Contract negotiations between the Chiefs and star DT Chris Jones still haven’t gained much traction, per James Palmer of the NFL Network (video link). Jones, who is one of five franchise-tagged players yet to sign his franchise tender, did not participate in Kansas City’s virtual offseason program.
Jones was also pushing for a long-term deal last year, and he skipped the 2019 offseason program in an effort to make that happen, but he did not get his wish. Nothing of note transpired on the contract front throughout the 2019 campaign, and Jones was hit with the franchise tag in February. He expressed frustration with the process about a week later.
“It’s like a mix of emotions,” Jones said. “Because you figure, you know, after four years, you do everything the right way, within the team way, you try to stay under the line, out of trouble, and be a good citizen for a team and for the city, you expect to be rewarded. … It’s like, ‘Man, what else you want me to do?’”
Those comments were made before COVID-19 sent the entire country into lockdown, and the pandemic has brought already slow negotiations to a standstill. Nonetheless, the Chiefs have consistently maintained that they want to get a deal done with Jones, and Palmer reports that nothing has changed in that regard. The team has until July 15 to work out an extension, and it hopes to have a better idea of what the 2021 salary cap will look like prior to that date so it can make a well-informed decision on Jones.
In addition to the Jones talks, the team is also discussing what will surely be an otherworldly contract for QB Patrick Mahomes, but there is no imminent deadline on the Mahomes negotiations. Jones, whose franchise tender would pay him $16.1MM in 2020, has been pushing for a deal with an AAV of about $20MM, so even if the Chiefs do get a little clarity from the league before July 15, they will have a lot of work to do and not much time in which to do it.
49ers Sign Javon Kinlaw, Brandon Aiyuk
The 49ers have signed first-round picks Javon Kinlaw and Brandon Aiyuk, the team announced (Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reported the Kinlaw signing via Twitter prior to the club announcement). Kinlaw and Aiyuk become the fourth and fifth of 32 first-rounders to sign their rookie deals.
Any other year, all (or almost all) rookies would be under contract by now. But thanks to COVID-19, many teams are waiting until their new draftees can report to team facilities before signing them.
Kinlaw was the No. 14 overall selection of this year’s draft. The 49ers traded fellow DL DeForest Buckner to the Colts earlier this offseason in exchange for the No. 13 overall pick, and then they traded down one spot on draft day to allow the Buccaneers to move up and select OL Tristan Wirfs.
The selection of Kinlaw marked the fourth time in the last five years that the 49ers used their top pick on a D-lineman. Kinlaw will be asked to step into the void left by Buckner, the No. 7 overall pick in 2016, and he will line up alongside Solomon Thomas, the No. 3 overall pick in 2017. The 49ers declined Thomas’ fifth-year option in May, so if Kinlaw impresses this year, the club could allow Thomas to leave via free agency in 2021.
Kinlaw, a South Carolina product, was deemed a moderate injury risk by most clubs, but he has boundless potential. The 6-4, 319-pounder moves with great explosiveness for a man of his size, and his ability to collapse the pocket will serve him well against the pass and the run. His inspiring backstory also makes him a player worth watching.
Like Kinlaw, Aiyuk has a chance to make an immediate impact. The 49ers watched Emmanuel Sanders depart in free agency, and second-year pro Deebo Samuel suffered a broken foot that puts his availability for the first few weeks of the season in doubt. San Francisco’s WR corp was not particularly deep to begin with, so Aiyuk will be instrumental in the team’s early season success.
The Niners’ brass certainly has confidence in Aiyuk. The team moved up from No. 31 to No. 25 to nab the Arizona State product, who caught 65 passes for 1,192 yards and eight scores in his final collegiate season. He offers excellent YAC ability, so looks for HC Kyle Shanahan to scheme ways to get the ball in his hands. His route-running is a bit raw, but he and Samuel should complement each other nicely when the latter is ready to return to the field.
Per the terms of their slots, Kinlaw will take home a four-year, $15.5MM deal, and Aiyuk will receive a four-year, $12.5MM pact. Both contracts, of course, come with a fifth-year option that would be fully-guaranteed if exercised. Here’s the full rundown of the Niners’ class, via PFR’s tracker:
1-14: Javon Kinlaw, DT (South Carolina): Signed
1-25: Brandon Aiyuk, WR (Arizona State): Signed
5-153: Colton McKivitz, T (West Virginia): Signed
6-190: Charlie Woerner, TE (Georgia)
7-217: Jauan Jennings, WR (Tennessee): Signed
Latest On Adam Gase, Jamal Adams
Jets safety Jamal Adams formally requested a trade last week, and since then, the already lengthy saga took another couple of turns. For instance, we learned that Adams may be seeking an extension worth upwards of $20MM per year, and that his relationship with head coach Adam Gase is one of the reasons why he wants out.
Adams, among other Jets players, reportedly do not “trust” Gase and are skeptical of his leadership abilities. Offensive lineman Alex Lewis, however, took to Instagram to defend his HC.
“I have mad respect for Coach Gase,” Lewis wrote. “We are building a winning culture and mentality from the top down. I believe in this staff, this organization, and most importantly my teammates.”
Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News was the one who reported the animosity that Adams and his teammates feel towards Gase, and Lewis addressed Mehta directly.
“I felt like all of this needed to be said on the heels of reading Manish Mehta’s article lumping all players in one mindset disparaging the head coach,” Lewis continued. “You (Mehta) don’t speak for the locker room or myself. You got no place in the locker room if you are going to overgeneralize all players. Manish you are a poison to this team.”
Regardless of how he is perceived by his team, plenty of folks outside of the Jets’ locker room are also unsure about Gase’s viability as a head coach, but he remains at the helm for now. Gase was asked today about his relationship with Adams, and he had nothing but good things to say.
“My relationship with Jamal has been good since the time I’ve gotten here,” Gase said (via Brian Costello of the New York Post). … “To me, we’ve always gotten along well. There’s been a lot of dialogue between us, especially about on and off the field type topics.”
Gase confirmed that he wants Adams to stay with the Jets, though he did not say whether the team is amenable to giving him the extension he wants before the season starts. He did, however, talk about Adams as a player.
“He’s been one of our best players and most consistent guys that we had last year,” the 42-year-old HC said. “I covered a lot of this at the end of the season, the value that he brings to this team and what he does on not only game day but in practice. This is the tough part of the business. It’s something that we’ve got to keep working through.”
Lions Notes: COVID, Stafford, Kaepernick
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer has authorized the return of professional sports, as we learned earlier this morning. She made it clear that capacity crowds will not be permitted until there is a COVID-19 vaccine, but Lions team president Rod Wood is trying to get Ford Field opened up to fans just the same. Wood released the following statement via the team’s official Twitter account.
“Governor Whitmer’s most recent Executive Order is an exciting step forward in our preparation for the 2020 season. We are working closely with her office to evaluate when and how we can safely play in front of our fans. With nearly 3 months until our regular season home opener at Ford Field, I’m optimistic and encouraged by our progress.”
It seems that most, if not all, teams will be playing in front of empty or partially-full stadiums in 2020, and Wood is hopeful that his club will be able to generate at least some gate revenue this year.
Now for more on the Lions:
- Lions QB Matthew Stafford has been saying for some time that he is fully healthy, and the team posted a brief video clip of its signal-caller working out with teammates, which suggests that Stafford is indeed ready to go (Twitter link). While that’s certainly encouraging, it’s also notable that the workout is in contravention of the advice of NFLPA medical director Thom Mayer, who said players should not be practicing together privately. Stafford is by no means the only QB1 to be participating in workouts, and as Michael Rothstein of ESPN.com writes, the 32-year-old signal-caller has made adjustments to try and keep himself and his teammates healthy.
- Sheila Ford Hamp will take over her mother’s duties as principal owner and chairperson of the Lions, and she said she is going to take a very hands-on approach (Twitter link via Rothstein). Given Lions fans’ general feelings towards the Ford family, that may or may not be welcome, but Hamp said her first course of business will be to meet with members of the organization’s departments that she is less familiar with. As Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press tweets, Hamp specifically noted that she wants to learn more about the analytics side of the operation.
- Hamp has also said that she would sign off on the team’s acquisition of QB Colin Kaepernick if her football people thought it was in the club’s best interests (video link via Ian Rapoport of NFL.com). The Lions, though, appear to be an imperfect schematic fit for Kaepernick, and in any event, neither Detroit nor any other club has reached out to him yet.
No Teams Have Reached Out To Colin Kaepernick
Earlier this month, we heard that there has been significant recent interest in free agent signal-caller Colin Kaepernick, much more than there has been in the past several years. Given the sustained nationwide outcry over George Floyd’s death at the hands of the police, as well as recent statements made by commissioner Roger Goodell, it seems that clubs are increasingly amenable to signing Kaepernick.
But according to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, if teams are indeed interested, they have not let Kaepernick or his agent know about it. So while it’s possible that clubs are simply waiting to pull the trigger until they can bring him in to their facilities — which is why a number of high-profile free agents are still on the market — it’s also possible that the general push to see Kaepernick back in the league may eventually blow over without him getting another opportunity.
Chargers head coach Anthony Lynn said that Kaepernick should be on every team’s emergency workout list, but he has not spoken with the 32-year-old passer directly and does not have immediate plans to bring him in for a look. Meanwhile, Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll recently expressed regret over not signing Kaepernick after he took a free agent visit in 2017, but Seattle is not interested at this time.
As Kaepernick has not played in an NFL game since 2016, any team that does sign him would obviously view him as a backup. Presumably, such a team would be one with a mobile starting quarterback and an offensive system that plays to its QB’s running abilities.
Kaepernick took the league by storm in 2012, when he led the 49ers to a Super Bowl appearance. And while he was solid the following year, his play subsequently began to taper off, and he was ultimately benched in favor of Blaine Gabbert in 2015. Gabbert won the starting job prior to the start of the 2016 campaign, though Kaepernick replaced Gabbert a few weeks into the season and played pretty well down the stretch.
Michigan Allows Pro Sports To Resume
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer has authorized the return of professional sports, as Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press writes. Whitmer’s statement reads as follows:
“Good news, sports fans. We are now ready to gradually and safely allow professional sports to resume in Michigan. While this is an encouraging step in the reopening of our economy, it is critical for athletes to continue social distancing and taking precautions to stay safe. We want to keep our momentum going and keep moving forward, so it’s incumbent on everyone doing their part to slow the spread of COVID-19.”
Whitmer’s executive order makes it clear that live audiences are still not permitted. However, the order does allow for the Lions to start training camp at the end of July as planned, and perhaps for the team to host a preseason contest at Ford Field.
Whitmer has maintained for some time that capacity crowds will not be permitted until there is a COVID-19 vaccine, which could happen at the end of 2020 or early 2021. But even partially-filled stadiums feel like something of a stretch for most teams, the Lions included.
“[T]he fact of the matter is, COVID-19 is a novel virus and that means it’s like nothing we’ve ever seen before,” Whitmer said in May. “We’re learning a tremendous amount. Every week that goes by, we’ve learned so much more about this disease and what it’s going to take to keep us safe and to avoid that second wave.”
So if the NFL season moves forward, the Lions will be at Ford Field. It just doesn’t sound like any of their fans will be joining them.
49ers KR/WR Richie James Suffers Broken Wrist
More difficult news for the 49ers on the injury front. WR1 Deebo Samuel suffered a broken foot earlier this week and is unlikely to be ready for the start of the regular season, and now Mike Garafolo of the NFL Network reports that fellow wideout Richie James has suffered a broken wrist (Twitter link).
James will be sidelined for at least two months, so his availability for Week 1 is also in doubt. And while he is not nearly as important to the 49ers’ offense as Samuel is — James has appeared in less than 20% of the club’s offensive snaps over his first two years in the league and has just 15 catches for 295 yards and two TDs in that time — he has served as San Francisco’s primary kick and punt returner.
In 2019, he averaged eight yards per punt return and 21.4 yards per kick return. Those numbers don’t necessarily jump off the page, but they’re not bad either. If James is forced to miss time, Dante Pettis or Trent Taylor may get a crack at return duties.
The 49ers selected James in the seventh round of the 2018 draft. His injury comes at an especially unfortunate time, as he may have had an outside chance at more training camp reps at WR given Samuel’s absence.