Seahawks Place Mychal Kendricks On IR
Jan. 8: The Seahawks have placed Kendricks, who will require knee surgery, on IR, per head coach Pete Carroll. The team will promote OT Chad Wheeler from the practice squad to take Kendricks’ place on the roster.
Dec. 30: If you were watching the thrilling Seahawks-49ers bout last night, you saw Seattle linebacker Mychal Kendricks in obvious pain after making a tackle along the sidelines in the third quarter. Per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com, Kendricks is believed to have suffered a torn ACL, which would obviously rule him out of the Seahawks’ playoff run (Twitter link).
It’s a tough blow for Seattle, as Kendricks started all 14 games in which he appeared this season and is an important piece of the team’s front seven. Kendricks has compiled 71 tackles, three sacks, four passes defensed, and an interception in 2019.
Of course, this could be last we hear of Kendricks for awhile. He pleaded guilty to insider trading in September 2018, and while his sentencing date has been postponed five times, he is currently scheduled to be sentenced in February 2020.
The Seahawks will travel to Philadelphia to battle the NFC East champion Eagles on wildcard weekend, which is about as favorable of a draw as they could have hoped for. Both teams are far from healthy, but the Eagles have dealt with a historic number of injuries for a playoff squad, so Seattle will have a good chance to advance to the divisional round and perhaps earn a rematch with the 49ers.
Texans, D.J. Reader Not Close On Extension
Texans defensive tackle D.J. Reader is far from a household name, but he looks poised to become a very rich man in the near future. The Clemson product, who was selected by the Texans in the fifth round of the 2016 draft, is finishing up the last year of his rookie contract and is eligible for unrestricted free agency in March.
In his platform year, Reader has continued to thrive as a run-stopper, and his ability to absorb blocks and open lanes for Houston’s linebackers is a key component of the team’s defense. He has also shown growth as a pass rusher, and even though he hasn’t posted a sack since Week 5, head coach Bill O’Brien recently acknowledged that Reader gives the defense some “juice” in the passing game.
As such, it makes sense that Houston would want to retain Reader’s services for the foreseeable future, but as Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle writes, the two sides are “nowhere close” on a new deal. Such a contract may look similar to the five-year, $54MM ($27.5MM guaranteed) pact the Ravens gave to Brandon Williams in 2017, which looked like an overpay at the time but which now may be more in line with the current market. Like Williams, Reader is a natural 3-4 nose tackle who can play defensive end and whose primary job is to stop the run and eat blocks while making opposing quarterbacks uncomfortable when he can.
If the two sides cannot come to an agreement before free agency opens, Wilson suggests that the franchise tag could be in play for Reader, who was named as a Pro Bowl alternate this year. The 2020 tag for DTs is projected to be roughly $15.5MM.
For what it’s worth, Reader would like to stay with the Texans. “Oh, you know I love it here,” Reader said. “I love the fans. I love the organization. They gave me my first real job. I love the city. People love me here. Hopefully, that opportunity comes around.”
Jake Fromm Declares For Draft
Georgia quarterback Jake Fromm will enter the 2020 NFL draft, as Fromm himself tweeted. The 21-year-old joins a strong QB class that includes Joe Burrow, Tua Tagovailoa, Justin Herbert, Jordan Love, and Jacob Eason.
Given the overall strength of the class, which is not projected to be as talent-laden next year (despite the presumed appearance of Trevor Lawrence), Fromm’s decision is somewhat surprising. After all, he went into the 2019 season as a surefire first-round pick, and perhaps even the No. 1 overall selection, but he turned in a bit of a disappointing year and may tumble out of the first round altogether.
Fromm led the Bulldogs to the National Championship Game as a true freshman in 2017, and he did guide them to a Sugar Bowl win this season. But his 2019 completion percentage (60.8%) was the lowest of his collegiate career, and his TD numbers were down from his sterling sophomore campaign.
He remains capable of making all the throws that an NFL QB is expected to make, and he has played well on big stages. He also appears to have all the intangibles that pro teams are looking for in franchise signal-callers, and with a number of clubs potentially in the market for a rookie quarterback, maybe one will fall in love with him and nab him in the first round.
The Bengals are all but certain to select Burrow, but the Dolphins, Colts, Chargers, and even Patriots are among the teams who could take a look at Fromm.
Antoine Winfield Jr. Declares For Draft
Minnesota safety Antoine Winfield Jr. is declaring for the 2020 NFL draft, as ESPN’s Josina Anderson reports (via Twitter). His name is very familiar to NFL fans, as his father, Antoine Winfield Sr., played in the league for 14 seasons after being selected by the Bills in the first round of the 1999 draft. Also a defensive back, the elder Winfield made three consecutive Pro Bowls with the Vikings from 2008-10.
The younger Winfield played in 10 games as a true freshman in 2016 and recorded 52 tackles, a pick-six, and three passes defensed. He missed much of the next two seasons due to injury, but he was a star in 2019, recording seven interceptions, 83 tackles, and three sacks. He did not win the Jim Thorpe award, as his father did in 1998, but he established himself as one of the best safeties in the class.
As such, he has a real chance of being selected in the first round. His injury history may hurt his stock, but he has good technique, is capable against the run and the pass, and has excellent ball skills to boot.
Teams like the Cowboys, Saints, and 49ers could be in play for Winfield, as could his father’s old team, the Vikings.
Brittany Bowlen “Only Successor” To Pat Bowlen
Although it has been clear for some time that Brittany Bowlen would likely be the only one of Pat Bowlen‘s seven children to take over ownership of the franchise, Broncos CEO Joe Ellis — one of the trustees of the Pat Bowlen Trust — had previously stated that there is no “depth chart” as to which child would replace Pat as principal owner.
But much has changed over the past couple of months. In late November, we learned that Brittany would begin working with the team as Vice President of Strategic Initiatives, which was the first time the team had acknowledged that she was definitively a part of the succession plan. More recently, Ellis announced that Brittany had distinguished herself as the “only successor” (Twitter link via Adam Schefter of ESPN.com).
However, Ellis also made it clear that the rest of the Bowlen family would need to rally around Brittany and support her, and if that does not happen, the trustees may be forced to sell the team to an outside party. And given that two of Pat’s older daughters from an earlier marriage, Amie Klemmer and Beth Bowlen Wallace, have filed a lawsuit challenging their father’s mental capacity to approve the Trust, it’s difficult to imagine Brittany will be getting full support from her family.
Ellis did concede that full family support is not a requirement, and a Trust source tells Mike Klis of 9News.com that Brittany would not need unanimous approval from the other six Bowlen children. While such approval would be ideal, given that all seven children would continue to have an equal financial share in the team, Klis said Pat did not want the club to be sold outside the family.
So even though Brittany still looks like the safe bet, she will need to step up to bring the family together, which will not be an easy task. And in any event, nothing can happen during the pending lawsuit, the next court date for which is in the spring.
49ers’ LT Joe Staley Not Considering Retirement
The 49ers have had a great year, but San Francisco stalwart Joe Staley has had to watch most of it from the sidelines. Between a broken fibula and a dislocated finger, the 35-year-old left tackle has played in just seven games this season, and given his age and the injuries, some have wondered if he might consider retirement after the season.
If the 49ers capture the Lombardi Trophy, which is really the only goal that Staley has not achieved in his long and illustrious career, one would think that retirement might be even more attractive. But Staley himself recently indicated that he has no intention of retiring, as Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle writes.
“I don’t know why everyone’s been asking me that question,” Staley said. “Because I got injured, everyone’s like, ‘Oh, you’re going to be retiring now.'” He added,“I signed a contract here. I still love playing football. It’s like the ninth time someone’s asked me that, and I’m starting to wonder why.”
Branch says that Staley was in a good humor when he made those comments, but his point was clear: he remains under contract through 2021, so he will at least play through the end of next year.
To be fair, reports in April 2019 indicated that Staley, the 28th-overall pick of the 2007 draft, was undecided on playing in 2020. But he signed an extension shortly thereafter, and his injury-plagued season has been an anomaly. He missed just four games from 2011-18 and was named to five Pro Bowls in that span.
And while he did not look much like himself during the games he did play in 2019, the season finale against the Seahawks, which secured the No. 1 seed in the NFC for the 49ers, was his best performance of the year, and he may be returning to form at just the right time. The 49ers host the Vikings in a divisional-round bout on Saturday.
Chiefs, Patrick Mahomes Expected To Reach Extension This Offseason
The Chiefs are expected to finalize a new contract with star QB Patrick Mahomes this offseason, per Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network (video link). The two sides have not done much work on an extension yet, but the team does expect a new deal to be in place in the coming months.
Rapoport says Kansas City wants to wait until after the first wave of free agency in March, at which point there will hopefully be a new CBA in place. Before giving Mahomes an inevitably record-breaking contract, the Chiefs want to know exactly how that contract will fit into the league’s collective bargaining framework.
We heard last January that KC was planning to extend Mahomes after the 2019 season, and obviously Mahomes has done nothing this season to suggest he is not worthy of a massive new contract. On the contrary, the third-year signal-caller turned in a second straight stellar campaign despite dealing with a sprained ankle and a scary-looking dislocated kneecap. He missed two games this season, but he still threw for 26 TDs against just five interceptions and lifted his team to a first-round bye.
Given his youth and talent, Mahomes may well land the league’s first $200MM deal. The Falcons’ Matt Ryan is the current standard-bearer in terms of total contract value ($150MM) and fully-guaranteed money ($94.5MM), and it seems likely that Mahomes will easily eclipse both of those figures.
The 24-year-old will lead the Chiefs against the Texans in next week’s divisional round.
Benjamin Watson Likely To Retire
Patriots tight end Benjamin Watson is likely to retire, as the 39-year-old told reporters, including Zack Cox of NESN, in an emotional interview last night (video link).
New England was eliminated from the postseason on Saturday, and Watson, who was brought in to help fill the void left by Rob Gronkowski‘s retirement, caught three passes for 38 yards in the game. He also had a long reception called back due to an ineligible receiver downfield penalty.
Of course, Watson announced in December 2018 that he would be hanging up the cleats, but he chose to come out of retirement to sign with the Pats in May. Unfortunately, he was suspended for the first four games of the 2019 season due to a violation of the league’s PED policy — he reportedly took a testosterone supplement subscribed by his doctor while he was still retired — and New England released him on October 7. But he re-signed with the team shortly thereafter, and he ended the season with 17 catches for 173 yards.
In sixteen seasons in the NFL that included two separate stints with the Patriots and Saints, in addition to stops with the Ravens and Browns, Watson — who has been a finalist for the Walter Payton Man of the Year award on several occasions — compiled 547 catches for 6,058 yards and 44 TDs. He also captured a championship ring as a member of the Patriots’ Super Bowl XXXIX team.
Watson said, “there’s only so much your body can take, and so much you want to put your family though, before you want to settle down and have some roots. Figure out what the next chapter of your life is going to be.”
Redskins Nearly Hired Rick Smith
There have been conflicting reports as to whether former Texans GM Rick Smith is ready to return to football, but if this morning’s report from Adam Schefter of ESPN.com is accurate, Smith will be back in the league sooner rather than later.
In the wake of Washington’s dismissal of former team president Bruce Allen, owner Dan Snyder thought long and hard about replacing Allen with Smith, per Schefter. Snyder and Smith met in the Bahamas multiple times and discussed their plans for putting the Redskins back on the right track, but Snyder ultimately elected to make a fundamental change to his team’s power structure and run the franchise through his new head coach, Ron Rivera, rather than through a team president.
Sources expected a deal with Smith and the Redskins to get done, but an entirely different dynamic was probably the right way for Snyder to go. The conversations with Washington, though, suggest that Smith is going to return to a prominent position in the NFL in the near future. Smith’s wife passed away of cancer last January, and Smith left the Texans at the end of the 2017 to care for her and his three children.
As we heard when the Rivera hire was reported, the Redskins are expected to wait until after the draft to hire a GM, per Schefter (Twitter link). Snyder believes he has the people in place to get through free agency and the draft, though there will be changes to the front office after the draft is over. Louis Riddick has already been connected to the GM job, and John Keim of ESPN.com says Colts exec Morocco Brown is another name to watch out for. Interestingly, it does not sound as if Smith is a GM candidate for the ‘Skins.
In other Redskins news, Rivera is hiring former Panthers LBs coach Steve Russ to serve in the same capacity in Washington, per Schefter (via Twitter). Alex Marvez of SiriusXM NFL Radio tweets that Rivera is also bringing on former Chargers assistant DBs coach Chris Harris to be the Redskins’ DBs coach.
Latest On Drew Brees’ Future
Patriots QB Tom Brady indicated that he is unlikely to retire, but with all of the talk surrounding Brady, not much has been said about the future of another future Hall-of-Famer, Saints signal-caller Drew Brees.
Brees, like Brady, is eligible for free agency, but unlike Brady, it does not sound as if there is any possibility that he could be playing for a different club in 2020. Per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com, Brees wants to remain with the Saints, and given the way he’s playing, it’s likely that the two sides come together on a new contract after the season is over (video link).
The franchise tag is also a possibility, though Rapoport says that would be a last resort. Brees, who will turn 41 later this month, is having an excellent season despite missing five games with a thumb injury (which, in retrospect, may have allowed him to stay fresh). He has thrown 27 touchdowns against just four interceptions en route to a career-high 116.3 quarterback rating, and he is a big reason why the Saints look like one of the most complete teams in football.
Of course, if the Saints do win their second Lombardi trophy this year, there will be speculation that Brees could retire to end his career on the mountaintop. But that does not sound likely either, as a source close to Brees told Rapoport that, if the New Orleans legend wins the Super Bowl in 2020, he’ll just want to win again in 2021.
The Saints host the Vikings in the wildcard round today, a game in which New Orleans is favored by 7.5 points.