Panthers To Sign Gerald McCoy
Free agent defensive tackle Gerald McCoy has elected to sign with the Panthers, as Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports (via Twitter). Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times tweets that it will be a one-year, $8MM pact that can be worth as much as $10.25MM with incentives, and Schefter adds that it includes a $4MM signing bonus (Twitter link).
Ian Rapoport of NFL.com adds more details on the incentive package (Twitter link). In addition to his $4MM signing bonus and $3MM base pay, McCoy can earn $500K in camp roster bonuses, another $500K in 45-man per game bonuses, $500K if he tallies six sacks, and $1.5MM if he posts eight sacks. He also has playoff and Pro Bowl incentives.
McCoy quickly became the hottest name on the market upon his release from the Buccaneers, and he visited with the Browns, Ravens, and Panthers. It sounds as though the Ravens were the runner-up in the McCoy sweepstakes, as Schefter tweets that McCoy left Baltimore thinking he may very well sign there. But Carolina wowed him during his visit, and Panthers QB Cam Newton made a convincing sales pitch. The fact that he can now terrorize his old team twice in 2019 may have also been a factor.
The Panthers reinforce a strong D-line that now includes three Pro Bowlers in McCoy, Dontari Poe, and Kawann Short. McCoy may not be the player he once was, but the 31-year-old is still a fearsome presence, especially considering his ability to generate an interior pass rush. He has 54.5 career sacks to his credit, and he is also durable, as he has not missed more than three games in a season since 2011.
Short and Poe each played between 50-60% of the Panthers’ defensive snaps in 2018, so McCoy fits nicely into the club’s rotation. He ranked fourth among defensive tackles with 21 quarterback hits in 2018 and finished as the NFL’s No. 28 interior defender, per Pro Football Focus.
The Panthers cleared out $9MM in cap space over the past week by officially releasing Matt Kalil and restructuring the contract of Torrey Smith. As Joe Person of The Athletic tweets, Carolina still has $8MM to conduct the rest of its offseason business.
AFC East Notes: Bell, Bills, Flores
The Bell has rung. As Rich Cimini of ESPN.com tweets, Le’Veon Bell has arrived at the Jets‘ facility in advance of tomorrow’s mandatory minicamp. There was never a chance that Bell would fail to show up for minicamp, but given the drama that has followed him from Pittsburgh to New York, it’s still noteworthy, if for no other reason than to see how he will interact with new head coach Adam Gase.
Now for several more items from the AFC East:
- Speaking at Jim Kelly‘s annual charity golf tournament this morning, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said he believes that a new stadium is essential to the stability of a franchise (via Matthew Fairburn of The Athletic). With respect to the Bills specifically, Goodell made it very clear that team ownership will need to address the club’s stadium situation at some point in the near future to keep the Bills in Buffalo. Goodell has made similar remarks in the past, but the article — which includes more of Goodell’s comments — are well worth a read for Bills fans, as it also details the unique challenges that ownership faces in meeting Goodell’s demands.
- Brian Flores is making a strong first impression with the Dolphins, as Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald writes. A number of players are less than keen on the old-school mentality and the demanding nature of the new coaching staff, but others are enjoying it, and Flores himself has drawn rave reviews. Players have lauded the rookie head coach both publicly and privately, which is a bit more meaningful for Flores than it might be for another HC. The Dolphins are in full rebuild mode, so Flores will be judged not necessarily on wins and losses — at least not for a year or two — but on how his players respond to him and compete for him.
- In the same piece linked above, Jackson notes that the Dolphins are taking a wait-and-see approach with several players entering the final years of their contracts like RB Kenyan Drake and WR Jakeem Grant.
AFC East Notes: Jets, Harry, Harris
Let’s take a quick swing around the AFC East:
- Rich Cimini of ESPN.com says the Jets may have their new GM by the end of the week, and in keeping with all other reports we’ve heard to date, he says that Eagles VP of player personnel Joe Douglas is expected to be the guy. Gang Green began their meeting with Douglas last night, and the visit is continuing today.
- Cimini says the weakest position group on the Jets‘ roster may be the cornerbacks. The position was suspect last year, and New York did little to address those deficiencies this offseason. The free agent cupboard is predictably pretty bare at this point, but the team could still reunite with Morris Claiborne, and the Jets will surely be on the lookout for other clubs’ cap casualties.
- The Patriots have typically deployed smaller, shiftier players as their punt returners, but Mike Reiss of ESPN.com says the club has tried first-round draft pick N’Keal Harry (6-2, 228) in that role during OTAs. Reiss says Harry, who returned 14 punts over his final two collegiate seasons — including a 92-yard house call — has acquitted himself well thus far.
- Dolphins 2017 first-rounder Charles Harris finds himself at the top of the team’s edge rusher depth chart despite his disappointing performance over his first two years in the league. But as Cameron Wolfe of ESPN.com writes, new head coach Brian Flores is encouraged by what he has seen thus far. This offseason, Harris has spent more time upright as an OLB instead of with his hand in the dirt as a traditional 4-3 DE, and that may better suit his strengths. Flores said, “I can’t say enough good things about [Harris]. … Honestly, I don’t care about his past. I care about right now. … He’s smart. He’s hard-working. He’s got a lot of ability.” If Harris does not begin to live up to his potential, he may not be in Miami in 2020.
- We wrote earlier today that the Dolphins hope to trade Reshad Jones.
Dolphins Want To Trade Reshad Jones
Dolphins GM Chris Grier said back in April that he expected safety Reshad Jones to be a part of the club in 2019, but there have been rumblings that Miami intends to shop Jones, and Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald writes that the Fins would indeed prefer to trade the two-time Pro Bowler if they get an offer to their liking.
Jones has been absent from OTAs thus far, though head coach Brian Flores expects him to show up for this week’s mandatory minicamp. Jones, 31, is not a part of the Dolphins’ long-term future and carries significant yearly cap hits over the rest of his contract — which runs through 2021 — so it makes sense that Miami would want to make a trade.
Releasing Jones is not feasible because of the dead money that the team would incur, but if the Dolphins are able to deal him, they would carry just $4MM in dead money in 2019 while creating $13MM of cap space. Of course, another club would need to be willing to assume Jones’ contract, and given his age and the fact that he is coming off shoulder surgery, it is unclear if Miami will be able to drum up much interest.
As Jackson notes, the team won’t just give Jones away. If Miami can get a decent draft pick in return, it may be willing to pay part of his salary. If not, then the Fins will just hang onto him and cut him next spring, when the dead cap hit would be more palatable.
Because they don’t want to hurt his trade value, the Dolphins are not making a big deal about Jones’ absence from OTAs or the fact that he refused to go back in the team’s game against the Jets last November after being told earlier in the week that he would be used in a rotation. But the team internally believes those decisions run counter to Flores’ team-first mentality, which further underscores the desire to trade Jones.
If a deal is consummated, the club could shift 2018 first-rounder Minkah Fitzpatrick to safety, or if it feels Fitzpatrick is more valuable as a slot corner, then CB Bobby McCain would likely be asked to fill the void.
Malik McDowell: Seahawks Had Their Own Reasons For Not Letting Me Play
The Seahawks are suing Malik McDowell for the ~$800K that an arbitrator ruled he must pay back to the team, but as Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk (citing John P. Gilbert of FieldGulls.com) writes, Seattle initially wanted to recover even more.
As Gilbert notes, McDowell’s roughly $3.2MM signing bonus was to be paid out in installments, with about $1.6MM due at signing, $800K due in July 2017, and the final $800K due in July 2018. Seattle paid out the first $2.4MM, so it would seem that the arbitrator would have awarded at least that amount back to the club for McDowell’s breach of his contract (and, per Gilbert, the Seahawks actually asked for the full $3.2MM). But even though the bonus was to be completely paid by July 2018, the cap charges for the bonus were to be spread evenly from 2017-2020 in the amount of $800K per year. Since the Seahawks cut McDowell after the 2018 season, the CBA prohibits them from recovering the 2019-20 allocations totaling $1.6MM. Therefore, Seattle was only entitled to $1.6MM for the 2017-18 cap charges, less the $800K that it did not pay.
All of that is interesting enough, but more interesting is the fact that McDowell himself has taken to Twitter to address the issue (Twitter links 1, 2, 3, 4). Per McDowell, he was cleared by neurologist Dr. Jeffrey Kutcher to play football, but the team’s neurologist, Dr. Samuel R. Browd — whom McDowell says specializes in children under the age of two — did not clear him. McDowell suggests that the Seahawks hid behind Browd’s opinion and that the team had its own reasons for not letting him play, though he did not specify what those reasons might be.
After all, one would think that the Seahawks would want a player they just drafted in the second round and to whom they just paid $2.4MM to be a major contributor, so it’s difficult to envision a scenario in which the Seahawks would undermine that player’s efforts to return to the field. And, if McDowell had a legitimate grievance, one would also think that he would have contested the arbitrator’s ruling or appeal it, which he did not do.
Instead, this feels like McDowell’s attempt to suggest to potentially interested clubs that he is, in fact, healthy and ready to play. McDowell’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus, said in March that his client has been medically cleared by independent doctors, but the only team McDowell has visited after being cut by Seattle, the Cowboys, has been unable to give him a clean bill of health.
Latest On Darius Slay, Damon Harrison
We don’t know if Lions cornerback Darius Slay has explicitly asked the club for a new contract like defensive tackle Damon Harrison has, but we do know that neither player is taking part in Detroit’s OTAs. GM Bob Quinn has said that Harrison’s absence is not related to his contract, but that seems unlikely, and Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press writes that Slay and Harrison are indubitably angling for new deals.
Birkett goes on to examine the dilemma that Quinn faces in those negotiations, if he chooses to open negotiations at all. Both players have two years remaining on their current contracts, and teams are loath to extend contracts that have more than one year left. Plus, Slay is 28 and Harrison is 30, so while the defensive standouts have some quality play left in them, the Lions do not want to fork over big money for declining performance.
On the other hand, the Lions cannot afford a repeat of their disappointing 2018 season, and if they believe keeping Slay and Harrison happy financially will ensure their continued strong play, then they may be willing to talk. Then again, it may be just as likely that the players will be more motivated to play well if they are still trying to land one last big contract.
After all, Slay and Harrison have already forfeited $250K workout bonuses by staying away, and Birkett believes that neither player is likely to hold out into the regular season, when the real fines start to accumulate (though both Slay and Harrison are represented by Drew Rosenhaus, so all options are theoretically on the table). As such, the Lions could cross their fingers and hope that Slay and Harrison report to training camp, soldier through the regular season, and revisit negotiations in 2020. Alternatively, since both players are now underpaid relative to their peers, but not dramatically so, the team could add a pay bump or an incentive package to their current deals without tacking on additional years.
Interestingly, Harrison himself took to Twitter yesterday and said that major news is coming soon, so we’ll have to wait and see exactly what he’s referring to.
Mark Murphy On Matt LaFleur’s Role In Hiring Process
The door to future controversy in Green Bay was pushed open a bit last month when a report emerged from Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel suggesting that new Packers HC Matt LaFleur was not the sole decision-maker in filling out his first coaching staff. The report noted, for instance, that LaFleur wanted to hire Darren Rizzi as his special teams coach, but that the Packers offered Rizzi less money than he was seeking, so Rizzi ultimately signed on with the Saints.
Silverstein also suggested that LaFleur was “strongly encouraged” to retain defensive coordinator Mike Pettine, and that other assistant coaching decisions may not have been left up to LaFleur. When combined with Green Bay’s already unusual power structure, in which LaFleur, GM Brian Gutekunst, and director of football operations Russ Ball all report directly to team president and CEO Mark Murphy, it would be easy to foresee some discord in the club’s front office down the line if Silverstein’s report is accurate.
Murphy, of course, insisted that LaFleur had full autonomy in the hiring process, and he elaborated on that point yesterday in his weekly piece for the Packers’ official website (while taking a shot or two at Silverstein’s journalism). Murphy said:
“Coach LaFleur had complete control over the hiring of his coaching staff. The report was the result of an article in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel based on interviews with 20 anonymous sources. I told the author that Coach LaFleur had complete control to hire his assistants, but he included comments to the contrary from an anonymous source. The editors said they wanted to present a “balanced” view of the hiring process. Interestingly, they never asked Coach LaFleur if he was able to hire his assistants, something he would have confirmed. The article was obviously very disappointing, and I find the increasing use of anonymous sources very problematic. I served as an athletic director for over 16 years and directly supervised hundreds of coaches, and never once told a coach who he or she should or should not hire. Hiring assistant coaches is one of the most important factors in the success of a head coach, and I’ve always felt it is foolish to restrict them in any way. “
Obviously, Murphy would not say anything different, and this could all be a non-issue if LaFleur’s first campaign as a head coach is successful. But if the 2019 season is another disappointment, then you can be sure that Silverstein’s report will be frequently cited and that the Packers’ structure will be called into question.
LaFleur is undergoing surgery for a torn Achilles today, which will force him to run things differently than he had during his first several months on the job.
Eagles Notes: Long, FAs, Jenkins
Let’s round up several notes from the city of Brotherly Love:
- DE Chris Long called it a career yesterday, and he apparently made his intentions quite clear to the team all along. Per Zach Berman of the Philadelphia Inquirer, Long had been in touch with the Eagles all offseason and had told them to not count on his coming back (Twitter link).
- Long played on over half of the Eagles’ defensive snaps last season, and he may have elected to return in 2019 if the team could have assured him of a similar role. However, per Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer (via Twitter), the Eagles could not guarantee Long that his role would not be reduced, which apparently made his decision easier. Geoff Mosher of 97.3 ESPN hears the same (Twitter link).
- In a separate tweet, Mosher suggests that the team is unlikely to acquire a veteran defensive end to replace Long. The Eagles have already brought back Vinny Curry this offseason, and they added Penn State defensive end Shareef Miller in the fourth round of the 2019 draft.
- Eliot Shorr-Parks of 94WIP.com believes that Malcolm Jenkins‘ absence from team workouts this offseason is indeed contract-related, and Shorr-Parks believes that Jenkins is justified in demanding more money. He goes on to say that a new deal for Jenkins should be the Eagles’ top priority right now.
- We learned yesterday that the Eagles and quarterback Carson Wentz are discussing an extension.
Community Tailgate: Where Will Ndamukong Suh Sign?
We recently graded defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh as the best free agent remaining on the market, but the only reports we have heard on him this year have concerned teams who are not interested in his services rather than teams who are.
For instance, despite a positive meeting with Suh last year, the Titans are not expected to consider signing the three-time First Team All-Pro this year. And although Suh enjoyed a strong season with the Rams in 2018, Los Angeles is not expected to renew the partnership.
Rumor has it that Suh’s asking price is the major deterrent for clubs who may otherwise be interested in his services. As the No. 2 overall pick of the 2010 draft, when the old CBA was in effect, Suh landed a massive rookie contract from the Lions that included $40MM in guaranteed money, and his six-year, $114MM free agent deal with the Dolphins ratcheted him further up the career earnings leaderboard.
Even Suh’s one-year contract with the Rams paid him $14MM, so he has never had to “settle” for less than an eight-figure annual income. The 32-year-old is surely content to wait out the market until a team becomes more willing to meet his asking price due to injury or poor performance, so it may be awhile before this situation resolves itself.
We tabbed the Seahawks, Cowboys, Broncos, and Vikings as potential fits, and Minnesota would perhaps be the most likely destination if the club had more cap space. But unless the Vikes make several significant moves to free up some room, they will not likely be able to give Suh anywhere close to the money he wants.
Whoever does get the Nebraska product will add a player who will instantly upgrade the D-line. Suh may not be the same player he once was, but he showed in 2018 that he still has plenty to offer, and the only two games he has missed in his nine-year career were due to suspension rather than injury.
So where do you think Suh will ply his trade in 2019? Let us know in the comments, and feel free to offer a guess as to the contract he might get.
Latest On Jets’ Star Players, GM Search
Rich Cimini of ESPN.com passes along a number of interesting notes about the Jets this morning, including a few thoughts and reports on the futures of certain key players and the team’s hunt for a new GM.
For instance, Cimini reports that there is already speculation in league circles that head coach/interim GM Adam Gase is looking to move on from defensive lineman Leonard Williams. That does not mean that Gase wants to trade or cut Williams in 2019, but it sounds as though the new regime would be perfectly willing to allow Williams to sign elsewhere when he becomes a free agent at the end of the year. Cimini suggests that the club could franchise tag Williams or execute a tag-and-trade, but a long-term deal with the Jets does not seem likely at this point.
With respect to Le’Veon Bell, whose signing was a factor in the deteriorating relationship between Gase and former GM Mike Maccagnan, Cimini says it would not be surprising to see the Jets trade Bell after the 2019 season. If they cannot find a trade partner, then Bell can easily be cut after the 2020 season, when all of his guaranteed money will have been paid.
Robby Anderson‘s future with the club is more straightforward. Gase appreciates Anderson’s talent, and if the big-play wideout has a strong 2019, he could be back with Gang Green on a multi-year pact. If he disappoints, he will be gone.
And as far as the club’s GM search is concerned, Cimini says that the rumors connecting Peyton Manning to the job have no substance and that Manning is not on the Jets’ radar at the moment (which jibes with a report from yesterday). Cimini also hears that Eagles vice president of player personnel Joe Douglas remains the odds-on favorite for the job. Douglas has been billed as the front-runner since Maccagnan was fired.