Rams Sign Blake Bortles
After visiting with him today, the Rams have signed embattled signal-caller Blake Bortles to a one-year deal, per a team announcement. ESPN’s Jeff Darlington was the first to report that a contract was being finalized (Twitter link).
Bortles will earn just $1MM, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter), but that doesn’t make much of a difference for the QB since his previous Jaguars contract contained offset language. The $1MM sum will eat into the $6.5MM he’s owed by the Jaguars, which results in the same income for Bortles and a bit of relief for Jacksonville.
Bortles will certainly test the theory that Rams head coach Sean McVay can make any quarterback successful, and he will serve as the backup to starter Jared Goff. This signing also likely means that Goff’s 2018 backup, Sean Mannion, will be moving on. Mannion is an unrestricted free agent.
The third overall selection in the 2014 draft, Bortles hasn’t come close to living up to his draft status. Since Bortles entered the NFL with the Jaguars, 17 quarterbacks have attempted at least 2,000 passes: among those signal-callers, Bortles ranks dead last in adjusted net yards per attempt, quarterback rating, and interception rate, and is second-to-last in touchdown rate.
Bortles has never worked with McVay, but the two do have a tangential connection. Greg Olson was Bortles’ Jacksonville offensive coordinator from 2015-16 before taking over as the Rams’ quarterbacks coach under McVay in 2017. Olson left for Oakland after one year in Los Angeles, but it’s fair to assume he’s given McVay a Bortles scouting report that McVay apparently likes well enough. Plus, Bortles’ first OC, Jedd Fisch, is an offensive assistant on the Rams’ staff.
The Jaguars will certainly be interested to see how much money the Rams will be paying Bortles. Bortles still had guaranteed salary remaining on his Jacksonville deal, but thanks to offset language, the Jags will receive a cap credit equal to the amount of Bortles’ base salary (up to $6.5MM).
Cowboys To Host Malik McDowell
The Cowboys are setting up visits left and right, and they are scheduled to meet with DT Malik McDowell tomorrow, as Todd Archer of ESPN.com tweets.
McDowell, 22, was the 35th overall pick of the 2017 draft, and the Seahawks selected him with the belief that he could become a regular along their defensive line. But he was involved in an ATV accident in the summer of 2017, and he has never played a down in the NFL.
Nonetheless, his youth and draft pedigree suggested that there would be at least a couple of teams willing to give him a shot, and the Cowboys are one of those teams. McDowell tallied 24.5 tackles for loss and 7.5 sacks in 32 games at Michigan State, and Dallas could see him as a backup to Tyrone Crawford or Antwaun Woods, especially now that David Irving is out of the picture.
Rashaan Melvin To Visit Lions
Well-traveled cornerback Rashaan Melvin will visit the Lions on Wednesday, per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter). Melvin started seven games for the Raiders last season, and he was a solid regular with the Colts in his two seasons in Indianapolis prior to that.
He did not have an impressive 2018 campaign with Oakland after signing a one-year, $5.5MM pact with the club last March, but he is certainly a capable CB. Following a breakout season in 2016, Melvin was just as productive in 2017, finishing with 36 tackles, three interceptions, and 13 passes defended. Pro Football Focus was particularly fond of his performance that year, ranking him 17th among 120 eligible cornerbacks.
The fact that he butted heads with Raiders head coach Jon Gruden last season is unlikely to be held against him. In Detroit, Melvin could start on the outside opposite Pro Bowler Darius Slay.
The Lions have already addressed their defensive backfield in free agency by adding slot corner Justin Coleman last week, and they’re obviously not done.
Cowboys Sign Kerry Hyder
The Cowboys have been very busy visiting with free agents and lining up other visits today, but the club did make one transaction official. Per Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle, the Cowboys signed former Lions DL Kerry Hyder (Twitter link). It will be a one-year pact for Hyder, per David Moore of the Dallas Morning News (via Twitter).
Detroit opted to non-tender Hyder, a former UDFA, earlier this month. Now 27, Hyder missed the entire 2017 season due to a torn Achilles and only appeared in seven games last season. With just one sack last year and a limited sample of work, it’s not surprising the Lions didn’t want to give him the lowest tender.
On the other hand, he did post eight sacks in 2016, and as Jon Machota of the Dallas Morning News tweets, Hyder is a good fit as a defense end in the Cowboys’ 4-3 scheme. He could be a low-cost boon to a pass rush that needs some reinforcements.
Eric Berry To Visit Cowboys
Former Chiefs safety Eric Berry is visiting the Cowboys tomorrow, per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter). After a long-rumored reunion of sorts with Earl Thomas never came to fruition, Dallas is still in the market for safety help, and the club is looking at another former First Team All-Pro.
Berry, 30, was cut by Kansas City after the Chiefs inked fellow safety Tyrann Mathieu to a lucrative free agent contract. Berry has always been a terrific player, but he has had difficulty staying on the field throughout his career.
In five of his nine pro seasons, Berry has failed to play more than five games. He’s been available for only three total regular season contests over the past two years after rupturing his Achilles in September 2017, but in spite of that, Berry doesn’t plan to undergo offseason surgery to correct his nagging heel concerns.
That is enough to give any team pause, but the Cowboys need a safety and may see Berry as a worthwhile gamble. The club met with Clayton Geathers earlier today, and while there is probably room in the defensive backfield to add both talented but injury-plagued talents, that is not an especially likely scenario.
This marks Berry’s first scheduled visit since he was cut.
Redskins Sign Ereck Flowers
The Redskins have signed free agent offensive tackle Ereck Flowers, per Pro Football Talk (on Twitter). Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets that it will be a one-year, $4MM pact.
Washington hosted the fifth-year pro yesterday, and the club elected to pull the trigger today. Flowers, of course, was selected by the division-rival Giants in the first round of the 2015 draft, but he never lived up to his pedigree. New York cut him last October and he subsequently caught on with the Jaguars, starting seven games at left tackle for Jacksonville.
His tenure with the Giants was marred by penalties and a matador-like approach to pass blocking, and even after Big Blue switched Flowers from left tackle to right tackle, they did not see an uptick in performance. But his improved play with the Jags caught the Redskins’ eye, and John Keim of ESPN.com says the club plans to to slide Flowers inside to guard.
However, he will also serve as a swing tackle and insurance policy for left tackle Trent Williams and right tackle Morgan Moses, while 2018 third-rounder Geron Christian — whom the team prefers at swing tackle — recovers froma torn MCL.
Aaron Lynch To Visit Seahawks
Free agent edge defender Aaron Lynch suddenly finds himself with a busy schedule. After visiting with the Raiders today, the 26-year-old is headed to Seattle to visit with the Seahawks, per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter).
Lynch spent the first four seasons of his career with the 49ers and signed with the Bears last season to reunite with then-Chicago DC Vic Fangio. After playing on roughly 16% of the 49ers’ defensive snaps over his last two years in San Francisco, Lynch saw an uptick in playing time last year, appearing in roughly 1/3 of the Bears’ defensive snaps.
The former fifth-round pick offers some pass rush ability, and he did record 12.5 sacks across the 2014-15 seasons. Seattle was one of the better pass rushing teams in the league in 2018 in terms of raw sack totals, but Lynch, who can line up at either DE or OLB, would be a welcome addition to most clubs as a situational pass rusher if the price is right.
Raiders Interested In Brandon Marshall; Also Interested In Vontaze Burfict?
The Raiders are interested in former Broncos linebacker Brandon Marshall, according to Mike Klis of 9News (via Twitter). Marshall, who saw his 2019 option declined by the division-rival Broncos, has attracted the attention of at least five clubs.
He does have a concerning injury history, but Oakland has very little firepower in its LB corps, and Marshall, who compiled 102 tackles and three sacks in 2017, would represent an immediate upgrade if he can stay healthy.
Vontaze Burfict would also represent an upgrade, and the Raiders, never a club to shy away from controversial players and big personalities, may also may be interested in the recently-released linebacker, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. The Bengals cut Burfict today after a seven-year run that included one Pro Bowl berth and a whole host of fines and suspensions, and though he may have lost a step or two, there is clearly a need for someone of his ability in Oakland.
In addition to their interest in Marshall and their potential interest in Burfict, the Raiders have also hosted Manti Te’o and Aaron Lynch, as Rapoport observes. Te’o, who just finished a two-year pact that he signed with the Saints in 2017, saw action in just five contests (two starts) last year, compiling 18 total tackles, but he did start 11 games in 2017 and played reasonably well. Plus, he is still only 28, and he would likely welcome a chance to sign with the Raiders given the playing time that might be available for him.
Unlike Burfict and Te’o, Lynch is an edge defender who can line up at DE or OLB. He was in for about 1/3 of the Bears’ defensive snaps in 2018, and he recorded three sacks in his 13 games played (three starts). The Raiders need someone who can get after the quarterback, and Lynch did post 12.5 sacks over his first two years in the league with the 49ers. At 26, he could be a low-risk, high-reward acquisition.
NFC Notes: Verrett, Peppers, Packers
The 49ers are placing a lot of faith in their training and medical staffs, as Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle observes (Twitter link). The club’s two major offseason acquisitions, Kwon Alexander and Dee Ford, come with medical red flags, as do new cornerback Jason Verrett and the recently re-signed Jimmie Ward. But Verrett could offer the most bang for San Francisco’s buck.
Verrett’s one-year deal carries a cap charge of just $1.5MM and maxes out at just $3MM. As Branch writes in a separate piece, Verrett has been told that the starting cornerback position opposite Richard Sherman is up for grabs, and Verrett, a 2015 Pro Bowler, is determined to make the most of his chance. He said, “[t]he opportunity is there for me. Wide open. It’s just there for me to take. It’s just for me to get back healthy and get back there on the football field and do what I love to do.” Verrett’s primary competition for the job is Ahkello Witherspoon and Tarvarius Moore.
Now for more from the NFC:
- Eli Manning will not collect his $5MM roster bonus until tomorrow, per Ralph Vacchiano of SNY.tv (via Twitter). It had previously been reported that Manning earned his bonus yesterday, all but ensuring that he will remain with the Giants in 2019. But Vacchiano says Manning is still expected to return next season and that he will not be cut within the next 24 hours.
- Paul Schwartz of the New York Post writes that the Giants are very excited about the acquisition of Jabrill Peppers, part of New York’s return in the Odell Beckham Jr. trade. Per Schwartz, Big Blue sees Peppers as a classic strong safety, but the club will take full advantage of his versatility. 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. New York brass has been heavily criticized for the OBJ deal, but if Peppers can live up to his draft pedigree, that will go a long way towards the Giants’ rebuild.
- Eagles top personnel executive Howie Roseman has made it abundantly clear that he does not value the running back position, as Eliot Shorr-Parks of 94WIP.com observes. Roseman has invested neither top dollar nor top draft capital in running backs, and that remains an area of glaring need at the moment. But since Roseman has built a strong offense and a roster that is in win-now mode, and since he has again avoided the free agent market for running backs, one has to think that he will use one of his three picks in the first two rounds of the 2019 draft to add some talent to the offensive backfield.
- The Packers made a rare foray into the top end of the free agent market this year, and thus far they have dished out free agent contracts with a total value of $184MM (though less than one-third of that figure is guaranteed). But as Pete Dougherty of PackersNews.com notes, Green Bay ranks near the bottom of the league in 2020 salary cap room, and it opted for smaller salary cap hits on its big-ticket FAs this year in exchange for bigger hits down the road. That means that at least a couple of the club’s major signees — Za’Darius Smith, Preston Smith, Adrian Amos, and Billy Turner — will have to pan out, and GM Brian Gutekunst will have to have a successful draft in order to field a competitive team over the next several seasons, as he will not be able to splurge again next year.
Ereck Flowers To Visit Redskins
Free agent offensive tackle Ereck Flowers is visiting the Redskins tonight, per Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (via Twitter). Flowers was selected by the division-rival Giants in the first round of the 2015 draft but never lived up to his pedigree. New York cut him last October and he subsequently caught on with the Jaguars, starting seven games at left tackle for Jacksonville.
He played decently for the Jags, and surprisingly graded out as an above average offensive tackle in 2018, per Pro Football Focus’ advanced metrics. However, his tenure with the Giants was mostly a disaster, as he yielded the most quarterback pressures of any offensive lineman in the league from Week 1 of his rookie campaign to Week 2 of 2018, his last appearance with Big Blue. Even after the Giants switched Flowers from left tackle to right tackle, they did not see an uptick in performance.
But his improved play with the Jaguars has led to some interest from the Redskins. Washington, of course, has Trent Williams entrenched as its starter at left tackle, but Williams has dealt with suspensions and injuries throughout his career, and he will be 31 when the regular season starts.
Morgan Moses, the Redskins’ right tackle, has started every game for the team since the 2015 season, but he wasn’t great in 2018. Flowers could provide an insurance policy for both Moses and Williams, which the Redskins need now that their former swing tackle, Ty Nsekhe, has signed with the Bills.
If signed by Washington, Flowers would reunite with his 2015 draft mate, Landon Collins.