Patriots To Bring Back Demaryius Thomas?
The Patriots cut free agent signee Demaryius Thomas yesterday, but Mike Reiss of ESPN.com says the door is open for Thomas to re-sign with the team. Indeed, Reiss says “there is an expectation” that Thomas will return to New England.
The longtime Broncos star is on the back nine of his career, but his strong route running could make him a productive role player in the Pats’ precision offense. He is still working his way back from an Achilles tear that he suffered in December, and he played in the Patriots’ preseason finale Thursday, his first game action since the injury. He looked good against fringe NFLers, compiling seven catches for 87 yards and two scores.
Reiss suggests that New England’s decision to release Thomas allowed the team to keep punt returner Gunner Olszewski, who, unlike Thomas, would have had to clear waivers if he had been cut. The move also allowed the Pats to include rookie wideout N’Keal Harry on the initial 53-man roster, which will make him eligible to return later in the season if he is forced to go on IR. Harry has been sidelined since suffering an injury in the preseason opener.
But if the Pats do want Thomas back, they could have some competition. A source tells Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk that the Broncos — whose WR depth chart is generally very green — are interested in a reunion.
More On Jadeveon Clowney Trade
A pair of blockbuster trades were consummated on cutdown day, one of which featured Jadeveon Clowney heading to Seattle. More details on that trade and how it went down may come out over the next couple of days, but here’s a roundup of what we have so far:
- Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports that the Texans paid Clowney a $7MM signing bonus while the Seahawks will pick up the remaining $9MM of Clowney’s 2019 salary (Twitter link). The trade was already viewed as a big win for Seattle, and this tips the scales even further in the Seahawks’ favor. Critically, the Seahawks have promised Clowney that they will not put the franchise tag on him in 2020.
- At one point, the Dolphins believed they were the frontrunners for Clowney, and when the trade to Seattle was first reported, we heard that Miami and the Texans were indeed headed towards a deal before Clowney made it clear that he would refuse to play for the Fins. Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald confirms that report and says the Dolphins and Texans were on their way to a trade that would have sent Clowney and two very high picks to Miami in exchange for LT Laremy Tunsil, but Clowney’s aversion to South Beach scuttled that (Twitter link). Of course, the two sides did agree to a Tunsil trade, it just didn’t include Clowney.
- Jackson adds in a separate tweet that the Dolphins only really considered Clowney a bonus, not necessarily a long-term piece. The team really wanted premium draft capital in a Tunsil trade, and that’s ultimately what Miami got.
- Mike Garafolo of the NFL Network says that, when Clowney did not report to the Texans after their third preseason game, as Houston had expected, the team’s leverage was reduced even further. And when Clowney suggested that he was willing to miss regular season action if he was not traded, the Texans had to act to make the best deal they could (Twitter link).
- Clowney will re-hire longtime agent Bus Cook, whom he had fired less than a week ago, as Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle tweets.
Bears Sign G Cody Whitehair To Extension
The Bears have signed guard Cody Whitehair to a massive extension, sources tell Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (Twitter link). It will be a five-year, $52.5MM pact that features $27.5MM in guaranteed money, the second-highest guaranteed sum for a guard extension in league history.
Whitehair has been a key factor in the Bears’ offensive line success over the past three seasons, but despite earning a Pro Bowl nod in 2018, he was asked to change positions this year. Chicago is inserting 2018 second-round pick James Daniels at center, meaning Whitehair has been shifted to left guard.
Whitehair has experience moving between positions. At Kansas State, the now-27-year-old spent his first two seasons at guard before moving to tackle for his junior and senior campaigns. In the NFL, Whitehair has mostly stuck at center, although he did line up at both guard positions for a bit in 2018. The results have mostly been spectacular, as Whitehair graded as a top-10 center last season while ranking top-six in pressures allowed (min. 50% playtime), per Pro Football Focus.
Though the guarantee is nice, the average annual value of the deal ($10.5MM) shows that Chicago is paying Whitehair more like a top center than like a top guard. The AAV places Whitehair ninth among all guard contracts but third among all center contracts. But Whitehair, who would have been eligible for free agency in 2020, opted for the financial security of the extension rather than bet on himself for a marginally larger payday next year.
Dolphins Trade Kiko Alonso To Saints
The Dolphins aren’t cutting linebacker Kiko Alonso after all. We heard yesterday that Miami was releasing Alonso, which suggested the club’s efforts to trade him had been fruitless. However, Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network reports that the Fins are trading Alonso to the Saints (Twitter link), and Nick Underhill of The Athletic tweets that New Orleans is sending back LB Vince Biegel.
For Alonso, this is good news from a competitive and financial standpoint. Since he was traded rather than released, he remains tied to his $6.48MM salary for 2019, for which the Saints are now on the hook. Plus, New Orleans is a legitimate Super Bowl contender, while Miami is in the middle of a complete teardown.
Alonso has started every game in which he has appeared for the Dolphins since joining the team in 2016, compiling 354 tackles and five interceptions over that time. However, despite the nice interception total, he generally struggles in coverage and is not especially well-regarded by advanced metrics.
He can be effective when deployed properly, and he will join a Saints defense that also includes A.J. Klein, Alex Anzalone, and Demario Davis. He will provide solid depth if nothing else, but given the salary the team is taking on, it seems that New Orleans plans to give him a significant role. Plus, Anzalone and Craig Robertson haven’t practiced in some time, and Klein missed practice all of last week, so the Saints needed a plug-and-play LB.
Biegel, who has just 14 career tackles to his name, was used as an edge rusher and as a linebacker in the preseason, as Mike Triplett of ESPN.com tweets. The Dolphins may have been intrigued by his versatility, but it’s not as though they had a ton of leverage to ask for a more established player or for draft picks. Biegel appeared primarily on special teams for the Saints in 2018, but he will have the opportunity to earn a larger role with the Fins.
Chiefs Sign LeSean McCoy
LeSean McCoy‘s stay on the open market didn’t last long. Released by the Bills yesterday, Shady immediately drew interest from four teams, and as Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports, McCoy will sign with the Chiefs. Terez A. Paylor of Yahoo! Sports says it will be a one-year, $3MM pact with incentives that can increase the value to $4MM (Twitter link).
Paylor adds in a separate tweet that the Chargers offered McCoy a similar contract, but McCoy opted to head to Kansas City due to his familiarity with head coach Andy Reid and the club’s front office. McCoy spent the first four years of his career under Reid when both men were with the Eagles.
The Chiefs’ decision to sign McCoy suggests that they were not entirely comfortable with presumptive RB1 Damien Williams taking the lion’s share of the carries. McCoy and Williams — much to the chagrin of Williams fantasy owners — will likely share the load, with sixth-round rookie Darwin Thompson and second-year player Darrel Williams in support.
McCoy struggled in 2018, which turned out to be his final year in Buffalo, but the Bills’ O-line was a mess. The six-time Pro Bowler is definitely nearing the end of the road, but he did top 1,000 yards in each of his prior two seasons with the Bills, and with a dynamic offense around him and younger players to ease some of his burden, there is reason to believe that he can be productive for the Chiefs in 2019.
McCoy, 31, has 10,606 career rushing yards, good for 25th on the all-time list.
Ryan Fitzpatrick To Be Dolphins Week 1 Starter?
Dolphins head coach Brian Flores still hasn’t officially named his starting quarterback, but all signs are pointing to a Week 1 display of FitzMagic in Miami. As Adam H. Beasley of the Miami Herald writes, the team’s starting offense is not playing in tonight’s preseason finale, but Josh Rosen might.
Although Rosen will not start against the Saints tonight — that honor belongs to Jake Rudock — he is dressed and will go in if Rudock gets injured. It therefore seems clear that the 36-year-old Ryan Fitzpatrick will get the nod to open the season. Cameron Wolfe of ESPN.com (Twitter link) hears that will indeed be the case.
It’s fair to wonder if it’s wise for a rebuilding team like Miami to turn to an aging journeyman under center rather than evaluating what it has in Rosen, who was the No. 10 overall pick in last year’s draft. But while Rosen was said to be closing the gap on Fitzpatrick earlier this month, it seems the bearded veteran has managed to hold off his younger competition.
Neither player has lit the world on fire in preseason contests. Rosen has completed 28 of 45 passes for 352 yards and has thrown one interception, while Fitzpatrick has completed 17 of 32 passes for 166 yards and one touchdown.
Panthers To Place Graham Gano On IR?
Graham Gano, one of the highest-paid kickers in the league, may be headed to the injured reserve, as David Newton of ESPN.com writes. Gano, who also finished the 2018 season on IR, continues to deal with a sore knee.
The team could carry Gano on its initial 53-man roster and then put him on IR, which would make him eligible for a return later in the season. As Newton observes, Gano is not a trade candidate because of the injury and his high cap number (roughly $3.7MM).
If Gano is not ready for Week 1, the Panthers will likely turn to Joey Slye, unless a more appealing kicker becomes available during final cutdowns. Slye, a Virginia Tech product, auditioned for the Bucs last year but ultimately remained unsigned.
He hooked on with the Giants in May, but Big Blue subsequently waived him. He signed with the Panthers at the beginning of this month and has impressed in the preseason, converting all six of his field goal attempts and both of his extra point chances. He could win the job with a strong showing in Carolina’s preseason finale tonight.
Latest On Cowboys G Connor McGovern; Cowboys Receiving OL, DL Trade Interest
The Cowboys selected offensive lineman Connor McGovern in the third round of this year’s draft with the expectation that he could compete for the team’s starting left guard job. However, Todd Archer of ESPN.com says that McGovern, who sustained a partially torn pectoral muscle during the offseason program and who participated in just two training camp practices, has suffered a setback.
It’s presently unclear if McGovern will need surgery or if he can simply rehab the injury. According to David Moore of the Dallas Morning News, McGovern is dealing with a smaller strain of his pectoral muscle separate from the earlier tear (Twitter link). Both Moore and Archer suggest that the Cowboys could include McGovern on the initial 53-man roster, which would then allow them to put him on IR with the possibility of bringing him back later in the season, but a source tells Calvin Watkins of the Dallas Morning News that the team is considering keeping McGovern on the shelf for his entire rookie season (Twitter link).
After all, Dallas does have the offensive line depth to withstand a redshirt season from its Day 2 draft choice. Even with McGovern’s uncertain status, Charean Williams of Pro Football Talk writes that the Cowboys are open to trading players from either its O-line or D-line (or perhaps both).
“We do get calls on both offensive and defensive lines,” executive vice president Stephen Jones said yesterday. “We’ve made that a priority over the years, and it’s a strength of ours, and some teams are interested in it. Yeah, I think there’s a possibility for sure that we could move somebody.”
It seems that Dallas will go into the season with Connor Williams as the starting LG. If the Cowboys do swing a trade, Williams suggests that they would want a draft pick, not a player, in return.
Latest On Dolphins’ Pursuit Of Jadeveon Clowney
Reports just two days ago suggested that the Dolphins would not trade offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil to the Texans for Jadeveon Clowney, and earlier this week, Miami reportedly assured Tunsil’s camp that the former first-rounder would not be dealt.
However, Adam H. Beasley of the Miami Herald notes that the Tunsil-to-Houston rumors will not go away. It sounds as if Miami is still strongly considering a Clowney trade, but if the team deals Tunsil — one of the best and most-liked players on the team — Beasley says the Dolphins could have a mutiny on their hands.
Beasley’s source said, “[t]he backlash would be amazing. Guys would legit revolt.”
Beasley added the Fins will only include Tunsil in a Clowney trade if they are blown away by the offer. In other words, Houston would have to send back Clowney and premium draft capital if it wants to land the 25-year-old Ole Miss product. The Texans have been persistent in their efforts to pry Tunsil away, but the Dolphins are holding the line for now.
Miami clearly believes Tunsil can be a key component of its next competitive roster, but a package of draft picks could allow the team to assure itself of one of the top QB prospects in the 2020 draft, which would obviously help accelerate the rebuild. If the Dolphins are convinced to part with Tunsil, though, new HC Brian Flores will apparently face the first real chemistry test of his head coaching career.
Jake Butt Headed To IR Again?
Broncos TE Jake Butt just can’t seem to catch a break. The Michigan product, who looked destined to be a first- or second-round draft pick in 2017 before a torn ACL suffered in his final collegiate game caused him to fall to the fifth round, is trying to battle back from another torn ACL, which came during a walkthrough practice last September.
He looked to be making progress in that regard, as he made it back to 11-on-11 drills earlier this month and played in the Broncos’ preseason game against the Rams on Saturday. Butt even indicated that he had “turned the corner.”
But head coach Vic Fangio said today that Butt has been shut down again and will not play in Thursday’s preseason finale due to renewed problems in his knee (h/t Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk). Fangio said Butt could miss some time, and it seems that the 24-year-old may be IR-bound once again.
If Denver wants to put Butt on IR but retain the option of bringing him back at some point this season, he will need to be on the team’s initial 53-man roster before being placed on IR. We will know soon if the Broncos want to go that route.
Denver invested a first-round pick in raw but talented tight end Noah Fant this year, and Butt’s time with the Broncos may be running out. He played in three games (all starts) last year, posting eight receptions for 85 yards. That represents his only regular season action to date.