Panthers Owner David Tepper Considering Major Changes
When David Tepper purchased the Panthers for over $2.2 billion earlier this year, he indicated that he was comfortable with the team’s coaching and management situation and was not looking to make major changes. However, Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports writes that Tepper is growing increasingly uneasy with the status quo and has told those close to him that he may need to make those changes after all.
The Panthers got out to a hot start in 2018 but have lost three in a row and now find themselves on the fringes of the NFC playoff picture. Tepper is reportedly concerned about the dearth of modern analytics in the team’s operations, and the team’s regression on defense and a few questionable in-game decisions by head coach Ron Rivera have added to Tepper’s worries.
Rivera has served as Carolina’s head coach since 2011, and he has generally been quite successful, having compiled a 70-52-1 record and an NFC Championship. His job security has come into question a couple of times over the course of his tenure, but it was expected that Tepper, a former minority owner of the Steelers, would want to bring the Steeler Way to Carolina. In other words, he was expected to champion the ideals of continuity and stability, particularly with respect to someone like Rivera, who has established a mostly strong track record with the club.
GM Marty Hurney, who is in his second stint leading Carolina’s front office, was hired as the interim GM in 2017 and had the interim label removed earlier this year. If Rivera’s status is up in the air at this point, Hurney’s probably is as well.
Of course, the Panthers are still more than capable of qualifying for the playoffs and making a deep run, which would probably make all of this a moot point. Jourdan Rodrigue of the Charlotte Observer tweets that Tepper has been consistently communicative with the team’s front office and coaching staff about where they stand, though Rodrigue concedes that much will depend on how the Panthers perform down the stretch.
If Tepper does decide to part ways with Rivera, he may have his pick of the top head-coaching candidates. The roster already has plenty of talent, and Tepper himself is seen as bright, engaged, and progressive. The team’s GM position would be similarly attractive for those reasons.
La Canfora says that Tepper’s confidants have urged him to remain patient, but it sounds as if Rivera and Hurney could be on their way out if Carolina does not make the postseason.
Reuben Foster Will Not Appeal Commissioner’s Exempt List Designation
The league recently placed new Redskins linebacker Reuben Foster on the commissioner’s exempt list, and Foster has elected not to appeal that decision, per Adam Schefter of ESPN.com. That means that Foster will likely miss at least the rest of the 2018 campaign while the league investigates the incident at the 49ers’ team hotel last weekend that prompted San Francisco to cut ties with the 2017 first-rounder.
Schefter says that Washington is not surprised by the decision, and the club claimed Foster off of waivers last week with the belief that he could be a factor on its defensive unit next season, not this season. Of course, once the NFL concludes its investigation, Foster will almost certainly be suspended — and given the nature of the offense, he would face a minimum six-game ban — so it’s difficult to say when in 2019 the Redskins can expect Foster to suit up for a regular season game.
The Redskins were the only team to put a claim in on Foster, and they have been heavily criticized for the decision. But it is not just the media and fans who have expressed outrage. Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports writes that rival executives were shocked and dismayed that Washington claimed Foster, and La Canfora’s sources did not mince words. One GM said, “I wouldn’t even present [claiming Foster] to my owner. Maybe once we know the outcome of the investigation. Maybe as a free agent down the road once he’s cleared waivers. But I didn’t even think about claiming him. I couldn’t believe they did.”
Another high-ranking executive said, “What do they gain by doing this now? It reflects poorly on the entire league. It makes all of us look bad. They said in their own press release he might not ever play a snap for them. What’s the point? I’m kind of disgusted by it.”
In light of the strong outcry from executives around the club, any team interested in claiming the recently-waived Kareem Hunt may be having second thoughts.
Kareem Hunt Under Investigation For Two Incidents
10:56am: ESPN’s Lisa Salters interviewed Hunt from his Kansas City home this morning, which Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk summarizes. Hunt acknowledges lying to the Chiefs about the incident and said that he is ashamed of his actions during the February altercation. He said he never met his alleged victim before the night in question and has not had any contact with her since. He also confirmed that the NFL never broached the incident with him.
Salters did not ask Hunt about the alleged June incident.
08:46am: In addition to the disturbing incident in February that compelled the Chiefs to cut star running back Kareem Hunt, Hunt was also allegedly involved in a separate matter in which he is said to have punched a man in the face at an Ohio resort, per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. That second incident took place in June, and the league was investigating that altercation even before the video of the February brawl was released.
Rapoport says that Hunt could therefore be handed a longer suspension than what was originally reported. As Albert Breer of TheMMQB.com writes, and as we wrote yesterday, Hunt can expect a minimum six-game ban for the February incident. If the NFL finds enough evidence to indicate that Hunt took part in another violent act — and according to Rapoport, the league believes it does have sufficient evidence — then Hunt could be banned for even longer.
Rapoport also writes that Hunt would consider simply admitting wrongdoing and serving a potential NFL suspension as soon as possible rather than waiting on the Commissioner Exempt list while the league finishes its investigation. The problem with that, of course, is that Hunt cannot serve a suspension if he is not on a team, so if he goes unclaimed on waivers — the deadline for clubs to place a waiver claim on him is 4pm ET tomorrow — he will need to wait until someone is willing to sign him before the suspension clock starts running.
Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports says that some league executives do believe that Hunt will be claimed on waivers, and the consensus is that he will be playing in 2019 one way or another. La Canfora adds that the league will schedule a formal interview with Hunt — which it did not do following the initial police reports back in February — and will reach back out to the alleged victim and other witnesses. The NFL did not receive cooperation from those parties during its original investigation, and as we already learned, it was denied the video footage that was recently released by TMZ.
Breer suggests that the league did its due diligence in trying to obtain that footage, and he and Rapoport detail the NFL’s efforts in the pieces linked above. However, it is certainly curious that the league did not at least reach out to Hunt and instead relied on the Chiefs’ interview with him, and Nate Taylor of The Athletic reports that the league actually told Kansas City to stop trying to obtain the video once it began its investigation.
As Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk writes, it makes sense that the league would take that step, as it has exclusive jurisdiction over off-field, offseason matters of personal conduct. But the fact that TMZ was able to get the video and the NFL could not — and that the league did not get out in front of the matter by acknowledging that it was not getting the type of cooperation it needed to thoroughly investigate — will once again subject the league to public scrutiny.
Hunt could still face charges from either incident, and it will be interesting to see whether either of the alleged victims elects to file charges now that these incidents are firmly in the national spotlight.
West Notes: Cardinals, Wilks, Taylor, Gordon
We learned at the end of November that Cardinals head coach Steve Wilks is very much on the hot seat less than one year after being one of the hottest head coaching candidates on the market. Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network confirms as much today, reporting that Arizona will reassess its entire football operations and coaching staff at the end of the 2018 campaign (video link). Rapoport says all options are on the table, including dismissing both Wilks and GM Steve Keim, keeping both, or keeping one and not the other. Wilks’ fate will depend in large part on whether the 2-9 Cards continue to play hard for him down the stretch.
Now for more from the league’s west divisions:
- If Wilks does get the boot, Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports reports that current Jets head coach Todd Bowles could return to the Cardinals as their HC. Bowles served as Arizona’s defensive coordinator from 2013-14 before accepting the head coaching job with Gang Green, and he remains a beloved figure in the desert. He enjoyed his time with the Cardinals, has strong ties with many prominent figures in the organization, and has a good relationship with some of the existing assistant coaches, so the Cardinals could turn to Bowles if they want to replace Wilks but avoid a complete overhaul. Bowles is expected to be fired by the Jets at the end of the 2018 season.
- The Rams‘ success under head coach Sean McVay is having a trickle-down effect on his coaching staff. La Canfora writes that Los Angeles’ quarterbacks coach, Zac Taylor, is drawing plenty of buzz as a head coaching candidate and is expected to receive significant interest from clubs looking for a new HC this year. Taylor served as Miami’s offensive coordinator during the second half of the 2015 season and earned rave reviews for his work, and teams would love to bring the 35-yard-old aboard as a coordinator. But the relatively shallow pool of top HC candidates expected to be available in 2019 suggests that Taylor could make a McVay-like leap to the head coaching ranks next year.
- Chargers running back Melvin Gordon, who is currently sidelined with a Grade 2 MCL sprain, could be back as soon as next week, per Adam Schefter of ESPN.com. Gordon will miss tonight’s game against Pittsburgh but has a chance to return for the team’s December 9 matchup with the Bengals or the December 13 game in Arrowhead.
- Chiefs safety Eric Berry, who returned to practice this week, is not expected to play today, per Rapoport (Twitter link). However, Berry has not suffered any setbacks, so he could be ready to go when Kansas City hosts the Ravens next week.
- More troubling news has emerged regarding former Chiefs star Kareem Hunt, which we detailed this morning.
Latest On Andy Dalton, Marvin Lewis
Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis, now in his 16th year at the helm, appeared all but gone from Cincinnati at the end of last season. It was reported last December that Lewis was expected to leave the team to pursue opportunities elsewhere, which included another head coaching job or perhaps a front office role. However, Lewis and the Bengals surprisingly reversed course, and the two sides came to terms on a two-year extension back in January.
However, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports that the two-year extension was actually a one-year pact with a team option for 2019, so the club can move on from Lewis without penalty at the end of the season if it so chooses. Which means, as Rapoport notes, that Lewis’ future as the club’s head coach is once again in doubt.
Lewis has guided the Bengals to a 130-118-3 mark during his tenure, and his club has qualified for the playoffs seven times (including five straight seasons from 2011-15). But Cincinnati is 0-7 in playoff games under Lewis’ watch, and the team now appears destined to miss the postseason for the third consecutive year.
One of the reasons for the Bengals’ disappointing 2018 campaign is injuries. Lewis’ club has been ravaged by the injury bug — the Bengals have put more players on IR in 2018 than they did the last three years combined — and a number of key players who have avoided IR have nonetheless been sidelined for multiple games. So, as Paul Dehner Jr. of the Cincinnati Enquirer writes, owner Mike Brown will have to think about how much different the season would have been if the Bengals had not been hit so hard by injuries and determine Lewis’ fate based on that. We learned last week that current special assistant Hue Jackson could succeed Lewis as the Bengals’ head coach, and Rapoport confirms that report. RapSheet also suggests that Lewis could transition to a front office role with Cincinnati.
As for quarterback Andy Dalton — who is now among those Bengals on IR — Rapoport says that the Red Rifle will be back with the team in 2019. Dehner writes in a separate piece that Dalton, who did have surgery to repair a torn ligament in his thumb, is expected to make a full recovery before the team’s offseason program begins next year. Dalton believes he has the full support of the team’s decision-makers, and Dehner agrees that no one is expecting the Bengals to part ways with the 31-year-old signal-caller (even though they could do so without taking on any dead money).
Ravens Notes: Flacco, Suggs, Harbaugh
Quarterback Joe Flacco is expected to return to practice on Tuesday, per Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports (Twitter link). Of course, first-round rookie Lamar Jackson is getting his second consecutive start today as Flacco deals with a hip injury, and if Jackson can lead Baltimore to a win over Oakland this afternoon, La Canfora suggests that he could keep the starting job even if Flacco proves that he is healthy.
Now for more out of Charm City:
- Ageless linebacker Terrell Suggs indicated back in May that 2018 would not be his last season in the league, but it is his last season under contract with the Ravens. La Canfora confirms that Suggs fully intends to continue playing, but given that the Ravens are transitioning to a new GM and are potentially parting ways with fellow stalwarts Flacco and John Harbaugh at the end of the season, it seems they will let Suggs test the market for the first time in his career. Suggs is still playing at a fairly high level and has adamantly asserted that he wants to finish his career in Baltimore, and that is certainly not out of the question in light of his continued strong performance. But other teams will finally get a crack at him first.
- Speaking of Harbaugh, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com says that the 11th-year head coach would be one of the top three candidates for the expected head coaching vacancy at USC (Twitter link). It is unclear if the Trojans — who are also interested in Penn State coach James Franklin and free agent Jack Del Rio — would wait for Harbaugh to finish his season, but if so, he could join brother Jim Harbaugh in the collegiate ranks.
- We have heard that the Ravens and John Harbaugh are headed for a parting of the ways at the end of the season, and Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk says that Baltimore players expect Harbaugh to be gone unless the team qualifies for the playoffs. Of course, as Florio notes, Harbaugh will immediately garner plenty of interest from other NFL clubs in need of a head coach, and, as noted above, perhaps at least one blue blood college team.
- The Ravens activated CB Maurice Canady from IR yesterday and cut offensive lineman Hroniss Grasu in a corresponding move.
49ers Notes: Foster, Mack, Goodwin
We know that soon-to-be-former 49ers linebacker Reuben Foster was arrested on a domestic violence charge last night following an incident at the team’s hotel in Tampa Bay, and that the team is going to put Foster on the waiver wire tomorrow. GM John Lynch has since given an interview on the situation, and he indicated that the decision to cut Foster was made because Foster failed to uphold the standards set for him after the issues he had earlier this year (Twitter link via Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com). Lynch added that he and team ownership agreed on the move.
Now for more from San Francisco, starting with more Foster fallout:
- Matt Barrows of The Athletic provides a series of tweets with more detail on the Foster incident and Lynch’s reaction to it.
- Former NFL agent Joel Corry notes that the 49ers will carry roughly $2.35MM in dead money for Foster on the 2019 cap (Twitter link). Foster’s two-game suspension that he served at the beginning of this season wiped out his base salary guarantees, so the dead money figure stems entirely from signing bonus proration.
- In two separate pieces, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk examines Foster’s chances of being picked up by another club. Florio notes that any team interested in Foster’s services would first want to know if the league plans to place Foster on the Commissioner Exempt list, which is a device for keeping players off the field when those players face certain types of criminal charges, including allegations of domestic violence. A player cannot be placed on the list unless he is on a team, but he would be eligible to be paid during his stay on the list. Any team is free to call the league office to determine what its intentions are with respect to Foster, but unless the league is able to definitively say that Foster is not a candidate for the list — which seems unlikely — it does not appear that Foster will be claimed on waivers. It also seems that no one will be interested in signing Foster even when he clears waivers until his status with the league is determined.
- We knew that the 49ers were interested in trading for Khalil Mack before he was dealt to the Bears, but we also heard that San Francisco had simply been outbid by Chicago. However, Lynch indicated during a radio interview with 95.7 The Game on Friday that he continues to believe that the 49ers had a better offer on the table for Mack (audio link). To get Mack, the Bears gave up two first-round picks, a 2019 sixth-rounder, and a 2020 third-rounder (though some draft capital came back to Chicago as well), so Lynch is apparently suggesting that he was prepared to give more than that to land the elite defender.
- Wide receiver Marquise Goodwin traveled with the team to Tampa Bay, but he is not present for San Francisco’s matchup with the Bucs, as Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. Goodwin was reportedly excused from the team to address a personal matter, and he was also excused from practice earlier this week due to a personal matter, though it is presently unclear whether it is the same issue.
- Ahkello Witherspoon, who was selected two rounds after Foster in the 2017 draft, is at something of a crossroads with the 49ers, as Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle writes. Witherspoon has been benched twice this year and has regressed in coverage and tackling after a strong rookie campaign, and while it seems unlikely the 49ers would cut him at the end of the season, his play over the course of the team’s final six games will have a big impact on how aggressively the 49ers pursue cornerback upgrades in the offseason.
Latest On Philip Rivers’ Future With Chargers
Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers is having, at age 36 (37 in less than two weeks), a career year. He has completed 67% of his passes for 2,860 yards and 23 touchdowns against just six interceptions, good for a 112.1 quarterback rating — which would be the highest of his career — and he is on the fringe of the MVP conversation. More importantly, his team sits at 7-3 and is in full control of its playoff destiny.
However, his contract expires at the end of the 2019 season, and between that and his advanced age, there are plenty of questions about his future with the club. Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network says the Chargers want Rivers to be their starting quarterback “for as long as he wants to do it” (video link). RapSheet notes that Rivers, who is owed just $11MM in base salary in 2019, is also due a $5MM roster bonus near the start of the 2019 league year in March, which Los Angeles is expected to pick up. The team will therefore be paying him $16MM next season unless they reach an extension before then, which is a bargain for a quarterback of his caliber.
Rapoport also suggests that Rivers wants to be the Bolts’ QB at least until the team moves into its new stadium, but the stadium will open in 2020, so that does not do much to clarify Rivers’ long-term future. As Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk writes, it makes sense for player and team to have a frank, candid discussion about how long Rivers wants to play. The 2004 first-round pick has said that he would like to play for a few more seasons, but it is unclear exactly what that means, and the Chargers will need to know that before they go ahead and agree to pay Rivers a boatload of guaranteed money.
Rapoport says that the Chargers are willing to draft a quarterback and allow him to sit behind Rivers for several seasons, and depending on what Rivers tells them about his plans, that could happen as soon as 2019. Indeed, the Chargers were rumored as a potential fit for Baker Mayfield prior to the 2018 draft.
Coaching Rumors: McDaniels, Arians, Marrone
Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels seemed to irreparably damage his future head coaching prospects with every team in the league except New England when he infamously jilted the Colts last offseason. But he has already been mentioned as a candidate for the Browns‘ head coaching job, and as Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports writes, there will be no shortage in interest in McDaniels when the head coaching carousel starts spinning in 2019. La Canfora does not specifically name any teams who are expected to pursue the 42-year-old, but his sources indicate that McDaniels will be under strong consideration despite the fiasco in Indianapolis.
Now let’s take a look at other rumors concerning current, and possibly future, head coaches:
- Speaking of the Browns, former Colts and Cardinals HC Bruce Arians recently said he would only consider becoming a head coach again if he were hired by Cleveland, but he walked those comments back shortly thereafter. However, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com says Arians was serious the first time and that he will contemplate returning to the sidelines if he can become the Browns’ head coach. Arians indicated that he will not consider overtures from any other clubs, but that if he does land the Cleveland gig, he would keep Freddie Kitchens as offensive coordinator and would consider keeping defensive coordinator Gregg Williams — currently the Browns’ interim HC — as well.
- It remains to be seen whether Arians’ interest in the Browns is mutual, but La Canfora reports that the team is expected to reach out to Iowa State coach Matt Campbell, who is very much on the NFL’s radar as a legitimate head coaching candidate. We have heard previously that Cleveland GM John Dorsey is a big fan of Campbell.
- Although the Jaguars are in the midst of a hugely disappointing season, Rapoport says that head coach Doug Marrone is not on the hot seat and is in no danger of losing his job at the moment (video link).
- Despite unceremonious ousters from Oakland and Cleveland, La Canfora writes that Hue Jackson could become a head coach again as soon as next year. Jackson is back in Cincinnati as special assistant to Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis, and if Lewis were to retire or transition to an upper-management position, JLC suggests that Jackson could take the reins. Team owner Mike Brown, who does things his own way, is a big fan of Jackson, and league sources say they would not be surprised if Brown goes that route.
- The Bears‘ defense is excelling in 2018, which means that Chicago defensive coordinator Vic Fangio will once again garner significant interest from teams looking for a new HC this offseason, per La Canfora. Fangio has interviewed previously for the head-coaching jobs in Chicago and San Francisco, and the Bears paid him very well to keep him aboard as Matt Nagy‘s DC when they hired Nagy to be their head coach earlier this year. There is a general bias against defensive-oriented coaches these days, but Fangio is regarded as one of the best defensive minds in the game and has a strong reputation for being able to connect with troubled players and to get the most out of his units.
Latest On Extension Talks For Amari Cooper, Dak Prescott
The Cowboys indicated earlier this month that they are planning on signing the newly-acquired Amari Cooper to an extension. However, as Adam Schefter of ESPN.com writes, the two sides have not yet had any talks regarding a new deal. Cooper is under club control through 2019 under the fifth-year option that Oakland had previously exercised, and Cooper would be a legitimate franchise tag candidate for at least the 2020 season if it comes to it, so the Cowboys have not prioritized a new contract. However, Schefter said player and team do plan to discuss a long-term extension after the season, and that Dallas is prepared to pay Cooper.
Cooper’s price, though, is only going up. He is starting to look a little like his old self in Dallas, and he exploded for 180 yards and two scores in the team’s Thanksgiving Day win over the Redskins. Now riding a three-game winning streak, the Cowboys have suddenly become the favorites to win the NFC East, and Cooper — who has 22 receptions for 349 yards and three TDs in four games with the team — is a big reason for that.
Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk examines what a new contract for Cooper could look like, and he suggests that any deal reached prior to the 2019 season would need to include at least $30.6MM in fully-guaranteed money, and probably more. Plus, in light of recent contracts for players like Sammy Watkins and Brandin Cooks, Cooper could easily make a case for a deal that features an average annual value of $16MM+. Cooper is represented by agent Joel Segal, who of course did wonders for Khalil Mack earlier this year.
In addition to Cooper, the Cowboys are also planning an extension for third-year signal caller Dak Prescott. as Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network confirms (video link). Owner Jerry Jones and executive VP Stephen Jones are reportedly convinced that Prescott is the team’s franchise quarterback, and they plan to pay him accordingly. As Florio notes, it will be difficult to determine a true starting point in negotiations for Prescott, but Rapoport says that Dallas wants to lock up both Cooper and Prescott for the foreseeable future this offseason and that the club is making financial preparations now. The Cowboys have not yet initiated talks with Prescott’s camp either but will do so at season’s end.
As we heard yesterday, star running back Ezekiel Elliott may be left out once Dallas has finished paying Prescott, Cooper, and (potentially) Demarcus Lawrence.