Workout Notes: Dolphins, Texans, Saints
Here are today’s workouts and auditions:
- Cornerback Dexter McDonald worked out for the Dolphins, per Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (via Twitter). McDonald was a seventh-round pick of the Raiders in 2015 and appeared in 27 games (six starts) for Oakland from 2015-17. He spent all of last year on IR with an ankle injury.
- The Texans worked out running back Johnny Thomas, Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle tweets. Thomas signed with the Bengals this year as a UDFA out of Penn State, where he was primarily a special teams contributor.
- The Saints worked out safety Jordan Moore, per Wilson (Twitter link). Moore, who played for both TCU and the University of Texas at San Antonio as a collegian, signed with the Falcons as a UDFA in 2017. He was cut in August of that year and later caught on with the Broncos’ taxi squad, but Denver waived/injured him last September.
Falcons Notes: Julio, Neal, Allen, Smith
We learned earlier today that the Falcons may already have a new deal in place for star receiver Julio Jones, but GM Thomas Dimitroff declined to put a timetable on the negotiations. As Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com writes, Dimitroff did express optimism that the two sides would reach an accord.
Dimitroff said, “[w]e have the utmost faith that Julio is coming here and he’s taking care of his business while he’s here, and we’ll keep plugging away with [Jones’ agent] Jimmy [Sexton]. We have a very good working relationship and respect for Jimmy Sexton and CAA, and I’m confident [the deal] will get done.”
Sexton could not be reached for comment, but after getting long-term deals for Grady Jarrett and Deion Jones done this month, it looks like the Falcons will give Julio Jones his new contract in short order.
Now for more from Atlanta:
- We heard back in May that the Falcons’ starting safety tandem of Keanu Neal and Ricardo Allen, who suffered major injuries that ended their 2018 seasons prematurely, were expected to be ready for training camp, and that turned out to be true. As Ledbetter writes, Allen returned to the practice field Monday and went through most of the team drills, and Emmanuel Morgan of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution says that Neal has participated in drills and has taken reps with the first-team defense. Unfortunately, the club lost backup safety J.J. Wilcox for the season after he tore his ACL on Monday.
- The Falcons plan to expand RB Ito Smith‘s role this season, as Morgan writes in a separate piece. Smith will serve as the club’s No. 2 back behind Devonta Freeman, and he will look to improve his pass protection and his ability to hit holes at full speed while continuing to refine his abilities as a pass catcher. Running backs coach Matt Brock hinted that the club may only carry three RBs, so the battle for the No. 3 spot behind Freeman and Smith is one that he expects to be highly competitive.
- Defensive lineman Michael Bennett suffered a broken ankle on Monday, but he could return this season, as D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution tweets.
- The Falcons signed veteran DL Allen Bailey yesterday.
More On Chiefs, Tyreek Hill
Back in March, we learned that the Chiefs and wide receiver Tyreek Hill were negotiating a contract extension, and Albert Breer of SI.com reports that the team was willing to pay Hill roughly $20MM per season. Then, of course, news of the child abuse scandal that has dominated NFL headlines for months broke, and Hill was indefinitely banned from the team.
Breer says that Kansas City, despite its apparent inclination to give Hill a record-setting contract for a receiver, was proceeding with caution, especially because it knew that Hill had rekindled his historically toxic relationship with Crystal Espinal, the mother of his child. At one point, it seemed inevitable that Hill would be hit with a lengthy suspension, but he managed to avoid league discipline and is now back on track for a long-term deal.
Breer — whose piece also succinctly breaks down the events in this saga over the past few months, in case you should need a refresher — offers two reasons as to why the league opted against suspending Hill. First, he suggests that there has been a push among league owners, including several highly-influential ones, to get out of the “investigation business” and to go back to following law enforcement’s lead. Second, with new CBA negotiations looming, the league may choose to be cautious when it comes to matters like this in order to avoid having those negotiations become contentious like they were in 2011 (of course, the league recently opted to suspend Seahawks defensive lineman Jarran Reed for an incident that did not lead to an arrest or criminal charges, so it’s hard to say just what the NFL is thinking at this point).
But it also sounds as though the league did not get much cooperation from prosecutors in the Hill matter. A.J. Perez of USA Today reports that the Johnson County (Kansas) District Attorney’s office denied the NFL’s request for information relating to Hill’s case, citing an exception to Kansas’ open-records law as the basis for its denial.
As Mike Florio of Pro Football reminds us, the league has no authority to subpoena documents or testimony, so it is often at the mercy of local authorities. Hill is undoubtedly quite grateful for this reality, as he appears likely to end up with his $20MM/year deal (even if it comes with a number of conditions attached).
No Progress In Talks Between Cowboys, Byron Jones
We have written a great deal about the Cowboys top extension candidates — Dak Prescott, Ezekiel Elliott, Amari Cooper, and Byron Jones — this offseason. It does not appear that the club is particularly close to striking a long-term deal with any of those players, and Calvin Watkins of the Dallas Morning News reports today that there has been no progress between the Cowboys and Jones (Twitter link).
Dallas made Jones the No. 27 overall pick of the 2015 draft, and though he spent most of his first three years in the league as a safety, he converted to cornerback full-time last season, and it was a highly-successful transition. Jones was one of Pro Football Focus’ best-graded boundary defenders in 2018 en route to a Second Team All-Pro nod, and he has positioned himself nicely for a big payday.
Jones is due roughly $6.2MM in 2019 under the fifth-year option of his rookie contract, but a new deal would give him a considerable raise. The Dolphins made Xavien Howard the highest-paid CB in league history several months ago after signing him to a five-year, $76.5MM extension ($46MM guaranteed), and Jones will be shooting for a similar payout.
Given all of the big-money negotiations that the Cowboys are engaged in, it’s not surprising that they haven’t made much progress with Jones. But if they don’t get something soon, Jones may price himself out of the team’s range.
Ricky Jean-Francois Visits Lions
Free agent defensive lineman Ricky Jean-Francois is visiting the Lions today, as Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports (via Twitter). Of course, the two parties know each other quite well, as RJF played in all 16 games for Detroit in 2018 after signing a one-year deal with the club last July.
The Lions traded for Damon Harrison last October and also return A’Shawn Robinson, but they are apparently still on the lookout for experienced depth. Jean-Francois provides just that.
The 32-year-old LSU product entered the league as a seventh-round pick of the 49ers in 2009, and he has managed to carve out a career that most seventh-rounders would envy. Although he has started just 48 of the 137 games he has appeared in, he has established himself as a quality part of a defensive line rotation who can at least hold his own when given meaningful snaps.
This marks the first reported visit that Jean-Francois has taken this offseason. He compiled 30 tackles and two sacks for the Lions last year.
Contract Talks Between Jaguars, Yannick Ngakoue Break Down
Jaguars defensive end Yannick Ngakoue skipped minicamp as part of his efforts to land a new contract, and now it appears he will hold out of at least a portion of training camp as well.
A source with knowledge of the situation tells Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk that negotiations between player and team have broken down, and that Ngakoue will likely continue to stay away as a result.
Ngakoue is entering the final year of his rookie contract, and there’s no denying that he is criminally underpaid, given his performance. For now, he’s slated to earn just $2.025MM in 2019 after racking up 29.5 sacks across three seasons.
The Jaguars would, presumably, love to lock down the Maryland product for years to come. However, the continued explosion of the edge rushing market makes this an extremely costly proposition for Jacksonville. The Maryland product, who just turned 24 in March, is undoubtedly looking to meet or exceed the five-year, ~$105MM deals that fellow pass rushers Demarcus Lawrence and Frank Clark signed this year, both of which came with over $60MM in guarantees.
Ngakoue does have to report to camp by August 6 to earn an accrued season towards free agency, so he may choose to not hold out beyond that date.
Texans Sign P Bryan Anger
The Texans have signed veteran punter Bryan Anger, according to a team announcement, and Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets that it is a one-year, $1MM pact. In a related move, Houston waived UDFA linebacker Drew Lewis.
The Buccaneers cut Anger in May, thereby saving $3MM against the cap. At the end of the 2016 season, Anger signed an extension with Tampa Bay that would have kept him under club control through 2021, but the Bucs elected to move forward with Bradley Pinion instead.
Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle makes it sound as if Anger was signed merely for camp depth, as he suggests that second-year player Trevor Daniel will remain the starter. However, Sarah Barshop of ESPN.com tweets that Anger and Daniel will compete for the job.
Anger, a former third-round pick of the Jaguars who was selected ahead of players like Russell Wilson and T.Y. Hilton, spent the first four years of his career in Jacksonville before signing with Tampa Bay in March 2016. He has a net average of 40.6 yards per kick for his career.
Packers, Dean Lowry Agree To Extension
The Packers have agreed to a contract extension with DE Dean Lowry, according to a team announcement. Tom Pelissero of NFL.com reports that it will be a three-year, $20.325MM extension (Twitter link).
Lowry, a fourth-round pick out of Northwestern in 2016, was heading into the last year of his rookie deal and was scheduled to earn $2.025MM this year. Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets that the $20.325MM (which includes a $6MM signing bonus) will be new money on top of that $2.025MM.
Lowry has quietly put together a very strong start to his professional career, and 2018 was his best season to date, as he recorded 57 tackles (seven for loss), three sacks, three passes defensed, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery, two QB hits, and 14 QB pressures in 16 games (eight starts).
He is, at the very least, a solid piece of the club’s D-line, and now that he is in the fold for the foreseeable future, Green Bay may turn its attention to fellow DE Mike Daniels, who is also entering the last year of his current contract.
Broncos Worked Out WR Travis Rudolph
The Broncos’ WR corps represents one of the club’s biggest question marks in 2019. The unit is fronted by Emmanuel Sanders, but Sanders is 32 and is coming off a torn Achilles. Denver hopes that second-year players Courtland Sutton and DaeSean Hamilton will continue to progress, and former UDFA Tim Patrick flashed at the end of last season, but it may be asking a bit much for all three players to consistently perform at a high level in 2019.
To that end, the Broncos continue to be on the lookout for WR depth, and they signed rookie wideout Jamarius Way yesterday. Ryan O’Halloran of the Denver Post expects sixth-round rookie Juwann Winfree and UDFA Trinity Benson to make the club, and Benson has been playing particularly well, even earning some playing time with the first-stringers.
As Nicki Jhabvala of The Athletic tweets, before the Broncos signed Way, they also worked out Travis Rudolph. Rudolph, a Florida State product, signed with the Giants after going undrafted in 2017, and he saw action in seven games (one start) for Big Blue that year. He posted eight catches for 101 yards.
New York waived Rudolph last September, and he signed on with the Dolphins’ practice squad in October. Unfortunately, he suffered a torn ACL during a practice with Miami, which brought his season to an end. Jhabvala notes that Rudolph’s tryout with Denver was his first since the injury, and while the Broncos went in a different direction, it’s encouraging that Rudolph has been cleared for football activities. It wouldn’t be surprising to see him get more workouts in the coming weeks.
West Notes: 49ers, N. Bosa, Wagner, Benson
The 49ers have not had a high draft pick hold out of training camp since the new CBA and its rookie wage scale were instituted in 2011. However, the club’s top two 2019 draft choices, No. 2 overall pick Nick Bosa and No. 36 overall pick Deebo Samuel, have yet to sign their rookie deals. Cam Inman of the Mercury News believes that both players will be under contract by the time camp opens on Friday, but it seems that the club’s history, rather than any specific information on Bosa or Samuel, is the primary reason for that belief.
Now for more from the league’s west divisions:
- In the same piece linked above, Inman says that new 49ers acquisitions Kwon Alexander and Jason Verrett — along with every other member of the roster — should be cleared for action when camp opens, though San Francisco may ease them back into action. Inman also suggests that the backup QB competition between Nick Mullens and C.J. Beathard will be a close one.
- This doesn’t come as much of a surprise given earlier reports that new Seahawks defensive end Ezekiel Ansah could miss at least the first month of the regular season, but Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times writes that Ansah is expected to open training camp on the PUP list. It remains to be seen if Ansah will, in fact, miss any regular season action, though Condotta says there should be more clarity on that front this week.
- Condotta also believes that Seahawks linebacker Bobby Wagner will get an extension before the season begins, and it could happen as soon as this week.
- We have taken several looks at the Broncos‘ WR corps over the past week or so, and UDFA Trinity Benson‘s name keeps cropping up. As Mike Klis of 9News.com writes, Benson took reps with the first-team offense Saturday and caught several passes from Joe Flacco. New head coach Vic Fangio said he will continue to put his unproven players on the field with the presumptive starters, and it seems that Benson has acquitted himself nicely thus far. The fact that he served as a kickoff and punt returner in college will only help his cause.