Latest On 2020 Draft
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, there will be no draft-related events of any kind in Las Vegas next month. Although the draft remains scheduled for April 23-25, Sam Farmer of the Los Angeles Times reports that the selections will be broadcast from a studio setting with cut-ins from the headquarters of the teams on the clock.
We heard last week that the league had canceled public events in Las Vegas, but it was unclear whether the draft would still proceed in some smaller scale fashion in Sin City. We speculated that the process would take place remotely via video conferencing, and that now seems to be the case.
Of course, one of the most exciting parts of the draft, for players and fans alike, is commissioner Roger Goodell‘s announcement of each first-round selection, followed by that player’s walk to the stage — assuming that player was invited to the event and elected to attend — to greet Goodell and receive his new jersey. As no one knows what travel restrictions will look like next month, it remains to be seen if the league will attempt to bring in this year’s top prospects in an effort to simulate the usual pomp and circumstance.
Farmer obtained a memo from Goodell to league employees with respect to the decision, which reads in part as follows:
“Planning for the Draft is a good example of how we need to think differently, embrace technology and collaborate. We will also use the Draft to help support fans and those people impacted in our communities. While there have been changes to the way we work and some of our plans, we have an unwavering commitment to upholding the NFL’s legacy of unifying and lifting the spirit of America, and bringing out the best in our fans and in our communities around the world. You’ll hear more from us in the days and weeks ahead about how we intend to demonstrate that commitment well beyond our fields.”
Bengals Plan To Franchise Tag A.J. Green
MARCH 16: Less than two hours before the tag-applying deadline, the Bengals informed Green he will be tagged, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets. The 31-year-old standout voiced opposition to this move months ago and is coming off a season-long absence.
But after Burrow indicated he would like to have Green in the fold, should he become Cincinnati’s top pick, the Bengals followed through on their expected course of action. A Green tag will cost the Bengals $17.9MM.
MARCH 1: The Bengals plan to put the franchise tag on wide receiver A.J. Green, per Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The club wants him back in 2020, either on the tag or under a new multi-year pact.
The move will not make Green too happy, as he has previously indicated that he is opposed to the franchise tag. He conceded he would not engage in a season-long holdout if he and Cincinnati cannot work out a new contract, but he is open to holding out throughout the offseason program and training camp. Given that the Bengals will presumably have rookie QB Joe Burrow under center in 2020, Green’s presence during the spring and summer months will be especially crucial, so look for the team to ramp up negotiations in short order.
Of course, determining fair market value for Green won’t be easy. He will doubtlessly be shooting for the top of the wide receiver market, and his abilities and track record make that a fair ask. But he missed the entire 2019 campaign due to an ankle injury, and he hasn’t suited up for a game since Week 13 of the 2018 season. Plus, he will be 32 before the 2020 regular season gets underway, so player and team may have a hard time finding a middle ground.
The Bengals would not have been a playoff team in 2019 even with a healthy Green, but his presence was sorely missed. Cincinnati’s offense was one of the least efficient units in the league last year, and the club finished near the bottom of the pack in terms of yards per game and points per game.
Green, who made the Pro Bowl in each of his first seven years in the league, has topped 1,000 yards every year in which he has appeared in at least 13 games. He has averaged nearly 15 yards per catch in his career, and he has reach double-digit touchdowns three times. He was, without question, one of the best receivers in the league. The Bengals need to figure out if he still is.
Colts Re-Sign LT Anthony Castonzo
The Colts and left tackle Anthony Castonzo have agreed to terms on a new contract, the team announced. Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network reports that it’s a two-year, $33MM deal (Twitter link).
Indianapolis’ offensive line is perhaps the team’s biggest strength, thanks in no small part to Castonzo, who has anchored the blindside for Colts signal-callers since his rookie year in 2011. As ESPN’s Field Yates observes (via Twitter), Indy was the only team to start the same five offensive linemen in every game in 2019, and the current unit will remain intact for the third consecutive year in 2020.
Though Castonzo has never made the Pro Bowl, he’s started in all 132 of his games with consistently strong play. Last year, the Boston College product graded out as Pro Football Focus’ No. 7 ranked tackle in the entire NFL. His 81.3 overall score was even stronger than his 2017 and 2018 showings, proving that he still has plenty of football left in the tank.
His previous four-year, $43.8MM deal expired at the end of the 2019 season, and he was reportedly considering retirement earlier this year. However, he recently announced that he would continue his playing career, and he made it clear that he would not consider signing with a club other than the Colts.
Though that statement didn’t do much to help his leverage, it turns out he didn’t need it. The $16.5MM AAV he will see under his new contract puts him at the top of the left tackle market.
Bucs Not Expected To Re-Sign Breshad Perriman
In the wake of injuries to star wideouts Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, Bucs receiver Breshad Perriman put together a very impressive showing at the end of the 2019 season. From Weeks 15 to 17, the big-play threat caught 17 passes for 349 yards and four TDs, so he re-enters the free agent market with plenty of momentum.
It’s quite a swing for Perriman, a 2015 first-round pick of the Ravens who busted out of Baltimore due to injuries and inconsistent play and who caught on with the Browns in October 2018 after being cut by the Ravens and the Redskins the month before. He flashed some ability with Cleveland, and he actually agreed to re-up with the Browns last year before the team acquired Odell Beckham Jr. and allowed Perriman to back out of his deal. The UCF product subsequently signed with the Bucs, and though he didn’t do much through the first 12 weeks of the 2019 season, he made the most out of his increased workload down the stretch.
While Tampa Bay has plenty of cap space, the club will focus most of those dollars on defense and QB. Plus, this year’s draft is remarkably deep at WR, so Jenna Laine of ESPN.com does not expect the Bucs to bring Perriman back (Twitter link).
Perriman, though, will have a market. We heard earlier today that the Jets could make a run at him if they can’t re-sign Robby Anderson, and any number of teams in need of a field-stretching target could be interested.
Jaguars To Trade Calais Campbell To Ravens
The Jaguars and Ravens have agreed to a trade that will send veteran DE Calais Campbell from Jacksonville to Baltimore in exchange for a fifth-round pick, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter (via Twitter). The Ravens will try to work out an extension with Campbell.
The extension aspect of this is critical, as Baltimore does not have a ton of cap space, and Pro Football Talk tweets that the Ravens will be taking on the full $15MM owed to Campbell in 2020. An extension for the 33-year-old will obviously help to spread out Campbell’s cap charge, as would a long-term deal for the recently franchised Matt Judon.
From an on-field perspective, the trade makes plenty of sense for Baltimore. Pass rusher was perhaps the top item on the team’s offseason priority list, but almost all of this year’s top edge defenders who are eligible for free agency are expected to remain with their current teams. So GM Eric DeCosta got creative, and while the Ravens will be left without a fifth-rounder in the 2020 draft, they still have two third-rounders and three fourth-rounders to work with.
Campbell, the reigning Walter Payton Man of the Year, earned Pro Bowl nods in each of his three seasons with the Jags, and though his sack total dipped to 6.5 in 2019 after posting double-digits in 2017 and 2018, he still graded out as the third-best edge defender in the league last year, per Pro Football Focus’ advanced metrics. He is stout against the pass and run, and his ability to collapse the pocket should only create more opportunities for Judon and promising second-year talent Jaylon Ferguson.
The Jags, meanwhile, have recently parted with two formerly prized FA acquisitions in Campbell and corner A.J. Bouye. Both players were key members of Jacksonville’s run to the AFC Championship Game in 2017, but the Jags are clearly in rebuild mode. In addition to the $15MM of cap space created by this move, Jacksonville now has 11 draft picks in 2020 and nine in 2021, including two first-rounders.
Titans Not Interested In Tom Brady
Scratch the Titans off the list of Tom Brady suitors. Per Dianna Russini of ESPN.com, Tennessee is no longer interested in Brady and is focused on getting a deal done with incumbent Ryan Tannehill (Twitter link). Indeed, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com hears that Tannehill and the Titans are “on the verge” of a multi-year extension (Twitter link).
Earlier this month, there were reports that the Titans were confident they could beat out the Patriots for Brady’s services. Tennessee made a surprising run to the AFC Championship Game thanks in large part to Tannehill’s 2019 renaissance, but his uneven track record and the high price tag that goes hand-in-hand with his performance last season made it a possibility that the Titans could go in another direction.
The Titans were one of a handful of clubs that had a legitimate chance to use a franchise and transition tag this offseason, as Tannehill, RB Derrick Henry, and RT Jack Conklin are all eligible for free agency and would be at or near the top of the market for their respective positions. But now that a new CBA is in place and teams can only use one tag, the need to get at least one of those players under contract immediately is magnified.
After all, if the Titans had put all their eggs in the Brady basket, Tannehill could have gotten away and Tennessee could have been left scrambling for a replacement signal-caller. Henry will almost certainly be tagged, and it seems as if Conklin will hit the open market.
Meanwhile, the new CBA does allow for more flexibility for teams like the Patriots, who can spread out dead money hits for cut players and cap charges for free agent signees over multiple years. As Mike Reiss of ESPN.com notes, that could help New England in a competitive-bidding situation for Brady, and having one major competitor bow out of the race obviously increases the chances that Brady will return to Foxborough.
AFC East Rumors: Jets, Bell, Butler, Norman
The Jets are widely expected to be active in free agency, and now that a new CBA has been approved, they can increase their ability to spend by designating Trumaine Johnson as a post-June 1 cut. Rich Cimini of ESPN.com takes a look at the players that Gang Green is expected to target, and unsurprisingly, some of this year’s most prolific O-lineman, edge rushers, and cornerbacks are on the list.
But what are the Jets’ fallback plans if they can’t land their top targets? Connor Hughes of The Athletic has heard that the team could pursue Eagles OT Halapoulivaati Vaitai, and if the Jets miss out on guards like Graham Glasgow and Joe Thuney, Hughes says they have looked into Panthers guard Greg Van Roten.
Now for more from the AFC East:
- The Jets would like to retain WR Robby Anderson, but if his price tag gets too high, both Hughes and Cimini believe Breshad Perriman would be a target. Perriman offers field-stretching ability and had a strong finish to the 2019 season with the Bucs.
- Jets RB Le’Veon Bell receives a $2MM roster bonus today. As Cimini points out, that bonus makes it a little less likely that Bell is traded, though that never seemed like a realistic proposition to begin with.
- Mike Reiss of ESPN.com believes the Patriots are prepared to move on from WR Phillip Dorsett, though it’s a different story for Adam Butler. The fourth-year DT recently switched agents, and Reiss says extension talks could be on tap. Butler, a former UDFA, recorded six sacks last season.
- The details are in on Josh Norman‘s new contract with the Bills, courtesy of Dan Graziano of ESPN.com (via Twitter), The deal was originally reported as a one-year, $6MM pact that could increase to $8MM with incentives, but Norman has a number of workout and roster milestones to hit before he collects the full $6MM. His salary is just $2.8MM, $1.5MM of which is guaranteed.
Players Approve Collective Bargaining Agreement
The votes are in. Per ESPN’s Adam Schefter (via Twitter), NFL players have ratified the proposed collective bargaining agreement, signaling another era of labor peace between the union and the league. The new CBA will run through the 2030 season.
The final count was incredibly close. About 80% of dues-paying players made their voices heard — which, as Brooke Pryor of ESPN.com tweets, was more than many expected — and 1,019 players voted to approve against 959 votes to reject. The prospect of playing out the 2020 season under the old CBA was very real, and that could have resulted in a work stoppage in 2021.
There is plenty to unpack here, but we have been covering the CBA negotiations from Day 1, so by clicking the “Collective Bargaining Agreement” tag at the bottom of this article, you can read through all of our CBA-related posts to see exactly what this agreement means for the league. However, we would be remiss if we didn’t point out a few highlights:
- The playoffs will expand to seven teams per conference in 2020;
- We will see a 17-game season at some point in the near future, perhaps as early as 2021;
- There will be an increase in minimum salaries;
- Players will obtain a bigger share of the league’s total revenue (48-48.5%);
- Rosters will expand from 53 to 55 players (with active rosters increasing from 46 to 48 players). However, the two extra players will be practice squad players;
- Practice squads will expand from 10 to 14 players;
- Fifth-year options for first-round picks from 2018 forward will be fully-guaranteed (not guaranteed for injury only), will be based on performance, and can be as high as the franchise tag number for the player’s position;
- All pension amounts increase by 10%;
- There will be no marijuana-related suspensions.
This also means that teams who would have been permitted to use the franchise and transition tags in 2020 (namely, the Cowboys and Titans) will now only be able to use one of those tags. On the flip-side, cap-strapped teams like the Saints can release players and spread their dead money hit over two seasons by designating such players as post-June 1 cuts. Likewise, it will be much easier for teams to spend cash in free agency now, because they can push cap charges into future years.
Furthermore, the league has now set the 2020 salary cap at $198.2MM. That is lower than what some expected, but still a $10MM increase over the 2019 figure. Larger jumps are expected in 2021 and beyond, and now the league can focus on securing new TV deals, which will only increase the total pie.
The complicating factor in all of this, of course, is the coronavirus pandemic that has had a wide-reaching impact throughout the sports world. The league did not want to make any changes to its schedule prior to the CBA vote, but now that the CBA has been approved, the league and union will discuss delaying the start of free agency. As of right now, the legal tampering period is slated to open tomorrow, March 16, with free agency set to open on Wednesday, March 18.
The NFLPA’s statement on the vote can be found here. Commissioner Roger Goodell‘s statement can be found here. Dan Graziano of ESPN.com also does an excellent job of analyzing the key points of the new CBA.
Chance Warmack Hopes To Play In 2020
Chance Warmack sat out the entire 2019 season, but the veteran guard hopes to play in 2020, as Mike Garafolo of the NFL Network reports (Twitter link). Warmack has recently hired a new agent, Ron Slavin, and has several free agent visits lined up once team facilities reopen.
The Titans selected Warmack with the 10th-overall pick of the 2013 draft, and he was a full-time starter throughout his first three years in the league. Unfortunately, a hand injury limited him to just two games in 2016, and he had to settle for a modest one-year pact from the Eagles in March 2017.
But Philadelphia liked what it saw from the Alabama product in training camp and the preseason that year, and they extended him through 2018 before the 2017 regular season got underway. But Warmack appeared in only nine games in 2018, and almost all of his limited snaps came on special teams. The Eagles had hoped to trade him prior to the 2018 deadline, but they could not find any takers.
Still, Warmack was a competent starter during his early tenure with the Titans, and between that and his first-round pedigree, it’s not surprising that he has generated some interest. After all, if Alex Boone, who is older and who has been out of the league longer is getting some looks, it stands to reason that Warmack would as well.
Warmack won’t turn 29 until September.
Shaq Barrett Willing To Play Under Tag
The Buccaneers are widely expected to use the franchise tag on breakout pass rusher Shaq Barrett, and while Barrett obviously wants the security of a long-term deal, he is open to playing out the 2020 season under the tag.
“I’m gonna play off the tag [if] I got to but I do want that long-term deal,” Barrett said (via Jelani Scott of NFL.com). “It’s all about security for me and my family; that’s all I’ve been fighting for my whole time in the NFL. Even a franchise tag, I’m still getting the security too but I just want a long contract and long-term security.”
Indeed, even one year of franchise tag money (about $16MM for a linebacker like Barrett) would dwarf the roughly $10MM he has earned in six professional seasons to date. And maybe the Bucs, who are flush with cap space and who can therefore afford to carry Barrett under the tag, would like to see if his breakout 2019 season was sustainable before committing to a long-term pact.
But one way or another, both sides have made it clear that they plan to continue their relationship through at least the 2020 season. And if the Bucs are successful in their pursuit of QB Tom Brady, things could get very interesting in Tampa this year.