Latest On Broncos’ QB Situation
The Broncos traded for veteran QB Joe Flacco in February with the clear intention of having him serve as their starting signal-caller for at least the 2019 season. But given the state of Denver’s quarterback situation since Peyton Manning retired, GM John Elway hedged his bets in a big way, drafting talented but raw prospect Drew Lock in the second round of this year’s draft and handing a $136K guarantee to UDFA Brett Rypien.
Mike Klis of 9News.com examined the status of the Broncos’ QB depth chart as we inch closer to training camp, and to no one’s surprise, Flacco is the unquestioned starter. His performance during early Broncos practices this year made Elway comfortable enough to eschew a QB prospect in the first round of the draft, and despite some speculation that Lock could push Flacco for the starting job at some point in 2019, Klis says the long-time Raven will be Denver’s one and only quarterback this season, provided he stays healthy. The fact that Flacco has looked his best when playing in an offense similar to the one that new OC Rich Scangarello runs will certainly help his cause, and he built on his strong work early in the offseason by continuing to play well throughout OTAs and minicamp.
Klis notes that Lock has shown flashes of his potential, but his decision-making and ability to read defenses still need a great deal of refinement, and the Missouri product will have a legitimate battle with Kevin Hogan for the club’s backup job. Hogan has started just one game in his professional career, but he apparently showed enough in practice in 2018 for Denver to re-sign him this offseason. However, if Lock wins the No. 2 spot, then Hogan will likely be cut, with the third-string job going to Rypien. If Lock struggles and cedes the backup role to Hogan, then Rypien may be forced onto the practice squad, where he could be poached by another team.
The AFC West looks as if it will be a highly-competitive division in 2019, and Denver will not have an easy road back to the playoffs after a three-year absence. But if Lock shows significant improvement and can become a real candidate to start in 2020, that would be a decent consolation prize.
Revisiting The 2018 Free Agent WR Class
The 2018 free agent class of wide receivers reshaped the market in a number of ways and set the table for lucrative extensions for players like Odell Beckham, Brandin Cooks, and Stefon Diggs. But even allowing for the premium that teams often have to pay in the first wave of free agency, the size of the contracts that the 2018 FA wideouts landed raised a lot of eyebrows throughout the league. As we look ahead to Year 2 of some of those contracts, let’s examine the early returns.
Sammy Watkins‘ three-year, $48MM deal with the Chiefs topped the class in terms of total value, average annual value, and guaranteed money at signing ($30MM). And while his talent certainly merited that type of payday, his injury history was a concern, as he had missed 10 games over the prior three seasons. He ended up missing six games during his first year in Kansas City due to a foot injury, though he did manage to suit up for both of the club’s postseason contests. His raw numbers obviously don’t look too impressive as a result of the missed time, but he did rank fifth among all qualified wideouts in Football Outsiders’ DVOA metric, meaning he was very valuable on a per-play basis. He also tallied 10 catches for 176 yards during the Chiefs’ two playoff games, and while injury problems may always plague him, he continues to be a factor whenever he’s on the field. KC is likely not regretting Watkins’ deal at this point.
The Bears doubled up at wide receiver by signing Allen Robinson and Taylor Gabriel last March, which allowed them to part ways with Cameron Meredith. Chicago brought in Robinson on a three-year, $42MM pact, even though he suffered a torn ACL in Week 1 of the 2017 season and had only posted one elite season in his career (which came back in 2015). And after his first year with the Bears, Robinson is still looking for his second 1,000-yard campaign.
There is some reason to hope that he can get there, especially with a fully-healthy offseason and a year of building chemistry with quarterback Mitchell Trubisky under his belt. A-Rob played in just 13 regular season games last season but was targeted 94 times, and he was brilliant in the Bears’ lone playoff game, posting 10 catches for 143 yards and a score. Football Outsiders’ metrics didn’t love him, but Pro Football Focus assigned him an above-average grade that made him the 28th-best WR in the league. He may not have quite lived up to expectations, but there is still time for him to get there.
Chicago signed Gabriel to a four-year, $26MM deal in the hopes that he could become a big-play threat for Trubisky. But while Gabriel played in all 16 games for the club and saw 93 targets, he managed a fairly modest 10.3 yards-per-reception and two touchdowns. Advanced metrics weren’t overly fond of his work either, and he will be hoping for a bounce-back year in 2019.
It’s still too early to evaluate some of the other significant contracts given to 2018 wide receivers, because the signees saw their seasons derailed by injury. Marqise Lee, who re-upped with the Jaguars on a four-year, $34MM deal, missed the entire 2018 season due to a preseason knee injury, and he is not expected to be back until the end of this year’s training camp. The Dolphins were thinking highly of their three-year, $24MM accord with Albert Wilson, who was performing well for Miami until he landed on IR in October with a serious hip injury. He is expected to be ready for the start of the 2019 regular season, but he may not see the field until then.
Likewise, Paul Richardson showed flashes in the first year of the five-year, $40MM contract he signed with the Redskins last March, but he landed on IR in November with a shoulder injury.
But at least the aforementioned players are still on their respective teams. Michael Crabtree signed a three-year, $21MM deal with the Ravens after being cut by the Raiders, but he disappeared from Baltimore’s offense when Lamar Jackson became the starter, and Baltimore sent him packing in February (as of this writing, there has been no reported interest in his services). And Donte Moncrief signed a one-year contract for a surprising $9.6MM with the Jaguars, but his mostly disappointing performance in Jacksonville had him searching for a new team this offseason. He ultimately caught on with the Steelers.
All in all, then, the 2018 class of free agent wideouts was a mixed bag. None of the contracts those players signed look like a home run at this point, and while that could change in 2019, those who were surprised by the amount of money thrown at WRs last March were right to be a little skeptical.
Negotiations Between Raiders, Rookie Josh Jacobs Not Going Well
The Raiders have just one unsigned pick from this year’s draft class, RB Josh Jacobs. Jacobs is expected to be a featured part of the club’s revamped offensive attack in 2019, but according to Vic Tafur of The Athletic, negotiations between player and team are not going well.
Tafur adds that there is a growing belief that Jacobs will not report to training camp on July 23, when rookies are scheduled to arrive. Of course, since the 2011 collective bargaining agreement, rookie holdouts have become quite rare, given that the contract values and signing bonuses are predetermined. Some first-year players have taken issue with offset language, but Jacob’s concerns apparently involve the payment schedule of his signing bonus.
As the name implies, signing bonuses are fully guaranteed at signing, but as we have seen in the saga of the Seahawks and former second-round draft choice Malik McDowell, the team does not have to pay the full amount of the bonus upfront and instead can pay in installments. So, since McDowell sustained a non-football injury and was ultimately cut, Seattle did not pay him the final installment of his signing bonus and is now suing him to recover another installment.
Although Jacobs is presumably not planning to suffer a non-football injury of his own, it sounds as if he wants to paid a larger chunk of his signing bonus (or all of it) as soon as he puts pen to paper.
Given his background — Jacobs spent some of his childhood homeless and sleeping in a car — that’s easy to understand. But it would also seem to be in his best interests to get this matter resolved and to start seizing control of Oakland’s starting RB job. After all, head coach Jon Gruden has spoken glowingly of Jacobs, and Tafur believes the Alabama product could be the three-down workhorse that Gruden is looking for.
When Jacobs does sign, he will receive a four-year, $11.9MM deal with a $6.7MM signing bonus.
East Notes: Zeke, Giants, McCoy
Cowboys RB Ezekiel Elliott managed to escape a suspension for a potentially troublesome incident in May, but Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk suggests that if Elliott should even come close to violating the league’s personal conduct policy again, the punishment will be severe. Commissioner Roger Goodell gave everyone in the league office this week off, so Florio believes the only reason for Goodell to summon Elliott to league headquarters on Tuesday was to sufficiently scare him into staying on the straight and narrow. Goodell has been less harsh with players who run afoul of league policies in recent history, but if Elliott should put another toe out of line in the future, the commissioner will likely hand out a lengthy ban, and his decision to not suspend Elliott this time will help to justify such a measure.
Now for more the league’s east divisions:
- There do not seem to be any starting jobs up for grabs along the Giants‘ defensive line, even though the presumptive starters are young and mostly unproven. However, with that youth comes a great deal of potential, and one of the keys to Big Blue’s immediate prospects is the realization of that potential. Third-year player Dalvin Tomlinson, second-year talent B.J. Hill, and rookie Dexter Lawrence are expected to open the season atop the Giants’ D-line depth chart, as Paul Schwartz of the New York Post writes, and the addition of Lawrence allows Tomlinson to slide into a traditional nose tackle spot, to which he is better-suited.
- In a separate 2019 positional preview piece, Schwartz examines the Giants‘ tight end group, which is headed by Evan Engram. Engram had a disappointing start to 2018, his second professional season, but when Odell Beckham missed the final four games of the season, Engram excelled and finished with some positive momentum. Now that OBJ is in Cleveland, New York will need Engram to show more of the same in a crucial year for his development. The club’s second TE, Rhett Ellison, is a favorite of HC Pat Shurmur, while returnee Scott Simonson will have to hold off C.J. Conrad — a UDFA who impressed this spring — and former Syracuse QB Eric Dungey, another UDFA who is trying to make the club as a TE/gadget player.
- Vic Carucci of BNBlitz.com says it’s possible that Bills GM Brandon Beane and LeSean McCoy have adamantly pushed the notion that McCoy will be the team’s starter in 2019 in order to generate some trade interest. After all, the club does have a large stable of RBs, and McCoy, a 2020 free agent, appears to be nearing the end of his career. But Carucci says he has heard nothing to indicate that Buffalo is seeking to trade McCoy.
- In the same piece, Carucci says he believes Levi Wallace will start for the Bills at cornerback opposite TreDavious White.
- In case you missed it, we heard this morning that Cowboys edge rusher Randy Gregory will be applying for reinstatement shortly.
- Also from this morning: the Giants may deploy safety Jabrill Peppers as their primary punt returner.
Former Patriots LB Tedy Bruschi Suffers Stroke
Former Patriots linebacker and current ESPN analyst Tedy Bruschi suffered a stroke Thursday, per a statement from his family. The statement, which can be found on the Tedy’s Team Instagram page, reads as follows:
“Yesterday afternoon, Tedy had a stroke, known as a TIA. He recognized his warning signs immediately: arm weakness, face drooping and speech difficulties. Tedy is recovering well, and would like to thank the nurses, doctors and staff at Sturdy Memorial Hospital for all they have done. Tedy and his family thank you for your ongoing encouragement, and kindly ask for privacy at this time.”
The good news is that Bruschi is, as the statement indicates, recovering well. The bad news is that this is not the first stroke Bruschi has suffered. Just three days after playing in Super Bowl XXXIX in February 2005, Bruschi had a mild stroke that stemmed from a congenital heart defect. He returned to the playing field later that same year, appearing in nine games (all starts) for New England during the 2005 campaign.
That experience, which led to the creation of Tedy’s Team — a foundation dedicated to raising funds for stroke research — also apparently helped Bruschi to recognize his symptoms on Thursday and to immediately seek medical attention.
One of the most beloved players in New England franchise history and a member of the club’s Hall of Fame, Bruschi spent his entire career with the Pats, winning three Super Bowls during that time. Although it took a couple of years for the Arizona product to become a full-time starter after New England made him a third-round pick in the 1996 draft, he ultimately played in 211 games for the team, starting 156 of them (including playoffs). He racked up over 1,100 tackles in his career, along with 35 sacks, 14 interceptions, and four pick-sixes. He received one Pro Bowl nod and shared 2005 Comeback Player of the Year honors with Steve Smith.
We at PFR wish Bruschi the best in his recovery.
Giants To Use Jabrill Peppers In Return Game?
New Giants safety Jabrill Peppers, whom the Browns selected in the first round of the 2017 draft, is still highly-regarded in NFL front offices. Peppers, of course, was a key part of the trade that sent Odell Beckham to Cleveland, and Browns GM John Dorsey was loathe to let him go, while Giants GM Dave Gettleman was adamant that the former Michigan star be included in the deal.
We have already heard that Big Blue envisions a versatile role for Peppers. Although the club sees him as a classic strong safety, Peppers will not line up in the same position from snap to snap and will be asked to line up deep, up near the line, at slot cornerback, and at nickel linebacker. And, as Ryan Dunleavy of NJ.com writes, the Giants had their starting safeties on the field for almost all of the team’s defensive snaps last year, so Peppers — who didn’t play more than 76% of the defensive snaps in either of his two seasons with the Browns — could be looking at a healthy increase in playing time.
But will that increase carry over to special teams? Dunleavy observes that the Giants’ return game was a mess last season, and Peppers could help in a big way. He was a quality return man with the Wolverines, and while he has not been as electric in that regard at the professional level, he has been at least serviceable. New York’s coaching staff thinks he can thrive as a returner if he continues to get the opportunity.
Special teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey said, “[Peppers] is a for-sure ball-handler. Can make all the cuts full speed. He just brings juice.”
It remains to be seen whether Peppers’ heavier workload on the defensive side of the ball will force the Giants to keep him on the sidelines when they send out the special teams units. But Dunleavy expects Peppers to be the primary punt returner and to flank Corey Coleman on kickoff returns (Dunleavy believes Coleman will remain the team’s No. 1 kickoff returner given the stability he brought to that role last season).
If Peppers does need a breather, the club also has the sure-handed Golden Tate and rookie Darius Slayton at its disposal.
Latest On Jeffery Simmons’ Recovery
Despite two major issues that damaged his draft stock, DT Jeffery Simmons was selected by the Titans with the No. 19 overall pick of this year’s draft. When team owner Amy Adams Strunk signed off on the selection, that helped Simmons put one of those issues, an assault against a woman that Simmons committed while in high school, in the rearview mirror. And now, Simmons is a little closer to overcoming his second hurdle, a torn ACL that he suffered in February.
In early June, Simmons told Erik Bacharach of the Nashville Tennessean that he had not yet started running or jogging. He said, “I’m not rushing anything. If I don’t play this year, I’m fine with it, but my goal is to get healthy on my time and on this team’s time. There’s no time limit [on] when I can come back. Every day I come to work, I’m putting my mindset, you know, ‘I want to get back today.’ That’s how I come to work everyday and try to get better.”
But Simmons recently posted to his Instagram account a clip of himself running across a football field (h/t Titans Tape on Twitter). The clip is not long, and much of it is in slow motion, but the fact that he has been cleared to run is a major step in the right direction.
Of course, as Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk points out, the fact that Simmons is running in a straight line does not mean that he will be ready to hit the practice field when training camp opens next month. He likely won’t be cleared until the end of the regular season, and depending on where the Titans are in the playoff race at that point, he may ultimately miss his entire rookie campaign. But progress is progress, and Tennessee is doubtlessly encouraged by this latest development.
The Titans’ D-line is still a bit thin outside of star Jurrell Casey, and Simmons’ presence could go a long way towards bolstering that unit.
Randy Gregory To Apply For Reinstatement
Cowboys edge rusher Randy Gregory, who has been been banned indefinitely for another violation of the league’s substance abuse policy, will petition the NFL for reinstatement, as David Moore of the Dallas Morning News reports. Gregory hopes to be cleared in time to take part in training camp, which opens at the end of this month.
Gregory’s talent is undeniable, but he has not been able to shake his demons and get his professional career on track. Due to a failed drug test at the combine and potential mental health concerns, he tumbled to the second round of the 2015 NFL draft despite having top-10 ability. After a nondescript rookie campaign, he was hit with a four-game suspension in February 2016 for violating the substance abuse policy. That same year, Gregory failed a second drug test, resulting in an additional 10-game ban. Months later, we learned that Gregory had failed a third drug test, but since the league did not immediately institute a suspension for that violation, Gregory was able to play in the final two games of the 2016 regular season.
He was suspended for the entire 2017 campaign, but he was granted a conditional reinstatement that allowed him to play in 2018. Appearing mostly in a reserve role, Gregory managed six sacks and 25 tackles in 14 games last year while flashing the promise that made him a collegiate star at Nebraska. Unfortunately, this offseason brought with it news of another failed test and the aforementioned indefinite ban.
When news of the suspension first broke, we heard that the league was unlikely to revisit Gregory’s case until 2020 at the earliest. However, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones remained hopeful that Gregory would be cleared to play sometime in 2019, and he has remained steadfast in his support of his troubled defender. To that end, Dallas signed Gregory to an extension just over a month after the indefinite suspension was announced. Provided that Gregory is allowed to play, the extension will keep him under club control through 2020.
Moore reports that no paperwork has been filed yet, but the process is underway and the required documents are expected to be submitted shortly. Moore believes it’s unlikely that Roger Goodell will fully reinstate Gregory by the end of the month, though the commissioner could allow Gregory to take part in camp and preseason contests with an understanding he will still miss a specified number of games once the regular season begins.
Moore’s sources also indicate that Gregory has not failed or missed a drug test during his latest suspension, and that he wouldn’t be applying for reinstatement if he had slipped up. That’s encouraging news in and of itself, and given Goodell’s recent pattern of working with players battling substance abuse issues, perhaps Gregory will, in fact, suit up for Dallas this year.
AFC Notes: Bowlen, Shazier, Titans
The family of late Broncos owner Pat Bowlen will receive Bowlen’s Gold Jacket and Hall of Fame ring, as Mike Klis of 9News.com writes. Bowlen was elected to the Hall of Fame in February but passed away in June, making him the first HOFer to die between his election and his induction. Typically, the HOF doesn’t present the jacket and the ring to those enshrined posthumously because it doesn’t want the family to fight over the artifacts or sell them, but the production of the artifacts had already begun before Bowlen passed.
The family will display the items in the front lobby of the Broncos’ UCHealth Center headquarters so that they can be enjoyed by fans.
Now for more from the AFC:
- David Furones of the South Florida Sun Sentinel explores the relationship between Steelers linebacker Ryan Shazier and his high school teammate, trainer, and close friend, Jerome Howard. Howard has been with Shazier throughout his recovery and has assisted him in his efforts to get back to the playing field. The piece is well-worth a read, especially for Steelers fans, as it also details the remarkable progress that Shazier has made. A return to football is still a long way off, but he has already overcome tremendous odds just to be walking again, let alone exercising the way he is.
- We heard in May that Colts WR Deon Cain was expected to be a full participant in training camp, but Charean Williams of Pro Football Talk says that Cain’s status is still unclear. However, she does hear that Cain should be ready to go at least by the regular season opener, which could a huge boon to Indianapolis’ aerial attack. Cain, a 2018 sixth-rounder, generated a lot of hype before tearing his ACL last August and is highly-regarded by the coaching staff. He is currently the fourth WR on the depth chart.
- Jim Wyatt of TitansOnline.com believes linebacker Kamalei Correa will make the Titans‘ roster and will have an impact in 2019, but he is on the bubble and will need to fight for a spot on the club. In the same piece, Wyatt says that he does not expect Tennessee to bring back safety Johnathan Cyprien, although the team said after releasing Cyprien in March that it would like to re-sign him at a cheaper rate.
- Bills RB Christian Wade was assigned to Buffalo’s roster as part of the league’s international pathway program, which means he is eligible to be the 11th man on the club’s practice squad. But as Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk writes, Wade believes he can crack the 53-man roster. That will be a tall order given that veterans LeSean McCoy, Frank Gore, and T.J. Yeldon, along with third-round rookie Devin Singletary, are ahead of him on the depth chart. But McCoy and Gore will be free agents after the season, and Yeldon could be a cap casualty by that time, so if Wade impresses, he could be a roster candidate in 2020.
Jets Unlikely To Bring Back Kelvin Beachum In 2020?
Kelvin Beachum is under contract with the Jets through 2019, but Brian Costello of the New York Post does not expect him to return to Gang Green in 2020. The club could have cut him this offseason but opted to bring him back to serve as Sam Darnold‘s blindside protector for one more year.
Beachum signed a three-year, $24MM contract with the Jets in March 2017, and he has started every game for Gang Green since he signed that deal. However, he has not been especially productive, ranking 48th out of 80 qualified tackles in 2018 per Pro Football Focus’ advanced metrics. He also tied for the team lead with seven accepted penalties last year and had two more declined. He allowed five sacks, and his run-blocking left much to be desired.
Still, an $8MM salary for an average LT is not terrible, and it’s not as though the Jets needed the salary cap space they could have saved by cutting Beachum. Plus, New York does not have anyone on the roster who looks like an immediate upgrade. Third-round rookie Chuma Edoga may be able to step into the LT job next year, but there are concerns about his core power and maturity, and at the very least, it seems he will need a year or so to develop.
Costello believes new GM Joe Douglas will overhaul the entire O-line next year, and Beachum does not figure to be part of the revamped unit.