Minor NFL Transactions: 4/30/17
Today’s minor moves:
- The Chargers have waived OT Tyler Johnstone, per Howard Balzer of BalzerFootball.com (via Twitter).
- The Falcons announced that they’ve waived guard Blake Muir, defensive end Martin Ifedi, and tight end Brian Vogler. Atlanta is clearing out roster space in order to sign its draft class and a crop of undrafted free agents. None of Muir, Ifedi, and Vogler has ever appeared in an NFL game.
Colts DT David Parry Avoids Jail Time
Colts DT David Parry, who was arrested in late February and charged with theft of a means of transportation and resisting arrest with physical force — both felonies — pleaded guilty to two lesser charges last week, per Stephen Holder of the Indianapolis Star. Holder writes that Parry pleaded guilty to attempted unlawful means of transportation, a low-level felony charge, and disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor, which will allow him to avoid jail time. Parry will be put on supervised probation at a sentencing hearing on May 31, but the length of the probation is currently unknown (presumably it will be at the judge’s discretion).
Parry was reportedly one of three passengers in a street-legal golf cart whose driver was ultimately the victim who contacted police. Per the victim, once the other two riders had been dropped off, Parry hit the driver in the head and stole the cart. Police later found the cart crashed into a gate, with Parry, apparently intoxicated, on the sidewalk.
The incident and subsequent court proceedings took place in Arizona, but the probation can be transferred to Indiana and as Holder writes, the guilty plea should have minimal effect on Parry’s ability to play in the NFL (though he could, of course, face a fine and suspension under the NFL’s personal conduct policy). However, Parry still faces a DUI charge as a result of the incident, which will be resolved in a different court.
Parry, 25, was selected by the Colts in the fifth round of the 2015 draft. Over the first two years of his NFL career, Parry has started every game and racked up four sacks. Last year, Parry graded as just the No. 110 interior defender among 127 qualifiers, per Pro Football Focus. Entering the third year of his rookie deal, Parry is set to make the minimum in 2017, with a cap charge of roughly $670K. And now that the club has added Johnathan Hankins, Margus Hunt, and fourth-round pick Grover Stewart, Parry could be on the outside looking in.
Colts GM Chris Ballard has suggested Parry’s place on the roster will be determined by his on-field performance, but his legal trouble certainly won’t help him.
Draft Fallout: Kizer, Abdullah, Butt, Jags
The Browns were the club most frequently connected to new Bears’ QB Mitch Trubisky prior to the draft, but Chicago made the surprising decision to trade up to the No. 2 overall pick and nab the former UNC signal-caller, and then Patrick Mahomes came off the board before Cleveland could nab him with the No. 12 overall selection. So the Browns dealt that pick and waited until the the second round to get a quarterback, selecting Notre Dame’s DeShone Kizer, whose stock slipped over the last few months but who certainly has first-round ability.
As Tony Grossi of ESPN.com writes, the Browns are open to having Kizer start right away. Head coach Hue Jackson said, “If he can handle [starting], great. We are not going to say, ‘No, you can’t play,’ if he is ready to play.”
Now for more fallout from the 2017 draft:
- The Lions did not select a running back in this year’s draft, and as Michael Rothstein of ESPN.com writes, GM Bob Quinn stated afterwards that Ameer Abdullah, who missed almost all of 2016 with a foot injury, will be the team’s starting back going into 2017.
- The Packers drafted three running backs over the past several days, but head coach Mike McCarthy said that converted wideout Ty Montgomery will “absolutely” be the team’s starting back (via Jason Wilde of the Wisconsin State Journal).
- The Cardinals landed guard Dorian Johnson in the fourth round of this year’s draft, even though his talent level should have made him a Day 2 selection. Johnson has a liver condition that made a number of clubs wary of making him a second- or third-round choice, and Johnson’s agent, Joe Panos, took exception to his client’s slide, saying, “I had GMs tell me they couldn’t risk a 2nd or 3rd on Dorian due to the recent discovery of a liver condition he’s had since birth, even though his heptalogist said his condition will in no way affect his ability to play. Teams couldn’t risk a high pick on him. Yet every year I see teams risk high picks on guys with serious character issues. Bad guys. They’ll take risks on those guys because his coaches ‘vouched’ for him. [A coach’s] word is gold. But Dorian’s heptalogist, he doesn’t know what he’s talking about?” (all links go to Twitter via ESPN’s Adam Caplan).
- New Broncos tight end Jake Butt slipped to the top of the fifth round of this year’s draft due to an ACL injury he suffered in his final collegiate game (prior to the injury, he was projected to be picked at the top of the second round). But before the 2016 college season, Butt purchased a loss-of-value policy that partially compensated him for the money he lost due to his draft slide, as Darren Rovell of ESPN.com writes. Had Butt been selected at the top of the second round, he would have earned $4MM guaranteed, but as an early fifth-rounder, he is guaranteed only $380K. The insurance policy paid out roughly $900K (pre-tax), so the injury ended up costing Butt a little shy of $2.8MM. These loss-of-value policies have become increasingly popular over the last few years, and Ifo Ekpre-Olomu and Jaylon Smith are two of the more notable recent beneficiaries of such policies.
- The Jaguars acquired Branden Albert earlier this offseason, but GM Dave Caldwell said second-round draft pick Cam Robinson will compete with Albert for the starting left tackle job (via Hays Carlyon of 1010XL). Albert has been absent from voluntary workouts as he seeks a new contract, though if he proves to be the best man for the job, Caldwell did indicate that Robinson could move, at least temporarily, to guard.
- The Jaguars selected Oklahoma wideout Dede Westbrook in the fourth round yesterday despite his two domestic violence arrests that caused some teams to remove him from their boards completely. As Albert Breer of TheMMQB tweets, one AFC area scout said of Westbrook, “No thoughts. It is what it is. He’s a degenerate.”
Bills Fire GM Doug Whaley, Entire Scouting Staff
Less than 24 hours after the 2017 draft wrapped up, the Bills announced that they have fired GM Doug Whaley. The move does not come as a major surprise, as we heard earlier this week that major changes could be coming to the Buffalo front office, and it was clear that Whaley was losing clout to new head coach Sean McDermott. Indeed, the Bills hadn’t allowed Whaley to speak to reporters since the Senior Bowl in January, and that did not change during the draft. As ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweets, McDermott “had taken over this team in every way. [Whaley] had been phased out, well before today. Now it’s just official.”
Whaley, who became the team’s GM prior to the 2013 season, did not have much success in that position, as the Bills’ best record during his tenure was 9-7, and they did not qualify for the playoffs in any of his four seasons at the helm. He also made several notable missteps, like the aggressive draft trade for Sammy Watkins and the ill-advised extension for Marcell Dareus, and he failed to identify a franchise quarterback. Nonetheless, Whaley was given the rare opportunity to hire his third different head coach after Rex Ryan was let go towards the end of the 2016 campaign (Whaley also had a hand in hiring Ryan’s predecessor, Doug Marrone). Team owner Terry Pegula also insisted several times over the course of the past several months that Whaley’s position was secure, which Mike Rodak of ESPN.com called an “awkward charade” that the Bills would have been better off avoiding.
Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap.com, though, feels differently. He believes, since the Bills clearly felt comfortable with McDermott running the show, it made sense for them to keep the spotlight off their rookie head coach during the draft and to bring in a new GM now to help clean up Whaley’s (and Ryan’s) messes and handle post-draft matters (Twitter links).
As Tom Pelissero of USA Today Sports tweets, multiple members of the Panthers’ front office could become candidates for the Bills’ GM position due to their connections with McDermott, including Carolina’s assistant GM, Brandon Beane. Joe Person of the Charlotte Observer expects McDermott to push for Beane, and while the Panthers will try to keep him, they cannot block him from accepting a GM job elsewhere (Twitter link).
Another potential candidate to replace Whaley is Chiefs’ co-director of player personnel Brett Veach, as suggested by former NFL exec Joe Banner (via Twitter). Veach worked with McDermott when both men were in Philadelphia and is highly-regarded in Kansas City.
Pegula issued the following statement on Whaley’s dismissal:
“After a thorough review of our football operations over the past several months, Kim [Pegula] and I informed Doug this morning that we will be moving in a new direction. We have enjoyed working with Doug. He is a good person and we want to thank him for his work and commitment to our football team. This was my decision. It was not an easy decision but I believe it’s the right one for the future of the Buffalo Bills. Our search for a new general manager will begin immediately.”
In addition to Whaley, the Bills also dismissed their entire scouting staff, as Rodak reports.
“50-50 Chance” Jets Trade Sheldon Richardson
The Jets were trying to trade Sheldon Richardson during the draft, and now that the draft is over, they are still trying to move the big defensive lineman. Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News reports that New York had conversations with several teams over the past couple of days about a potential trade, and that the Redskins were one of those teams (the Cowboys also expressed some interest in Richardson before last year’s trade deadline).
Of course, the Jets have been trying to deal Richardson for some time, but one of the major roadblocks to a trade is Richardson’s salary. He is owed a a fully-guaranteed $8.1MM this season, and no one wants to absorb that hit for a player who, for all his promise, has seen his production slip over the past two seasons and who has two separate suspensions to his name. Mehta says that, if Richardson were amenable to a pay cut, he would have been traded during the draft.
Nonetheless, one of Mehta’s sources said that there is a “50-50” chance that Richardson is traded over the coming months, and Mehta reports that the team’s asking price has dropped. After all, the Jets don’t have a ton of leverage, as rival clubs know that New York has already committed major dollars to Muhammad Wilkerson and has a rising star in Leonard Williams at the other bookend, so keeping Richardson long-term isn’t really viable.
Whether or not the asking price has dropped enough for another team to pull the trigger is unclear, but a change of scenery is clearly best for both Richardson and the Jets. Even though Richardson does not have a great deal of incentive to accept a pay cut at this point, perhaps he will concede to enough of a reduction to force someone to take on the former Defensive Rookie of the Year.
Draft Rumors: Redskins, Trubisky, Browns
The Redskins recently re-signed RB Chris Thompson, but as John Keim of ESPN.com writes, the team wants to add another back to complement Thompson and incumbent starter Rob Kelley. It is unclear whether that will happen in free agency or the draft, but head coach Jay Gruden has said that the team would only select a running back high in the draft if such a running back is a “home run hitter.” Christian McCaffrey and Dalvin Cook certainly fit that description, and Keim believes they could tempt Washington in the first round of this week’s draft. In a separate piece, Keim writes that the Redskins want to draft a difference-making pass rusher “in the worst way,” and given that this year’s draft is rich in pass-rushing talent, they could be picking from a few intriguing options at No. 17 overall. However, they could also consider Alabama linebacker Reuben Foster if he is still available when Washington is on the clock (and he may be, given his recent failed urine test).
Now for more draft-related nuggets:
- Rich Cimini of ESPN.com believes there is truth to the rumors that the Browns and Jets are discussing a deal that would see the Browns send their No. 12 overall pick and multiple other selections to New York in exchange for the Jets’ No. 6 overall selection. Such a deal would likely be contingent on, among other things, Mitch Trubisky‘s still being available, but the teams are talking and Cimini believes the Jets should pull the trigger if they can.
- Speaking of the Browns and Trubisky, Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer hears that the Browns’ interest in taking the UNC signal-caller with the No. 1 overall pick is genuine, but she still thinks the team will select Myles Garrett with that choice.
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The Browns are hoping that the Moneyball approach will translate to the NFL, Aaron Wilson of The Houston Chronicle writes. Former baseball executive Paul DePodesta has the Browns evaluating things differently and stockpiling picks in a way that we haven’t seen before in the NFL. Heading into the draft, Cleveland has five picks within the first 65 selections this year, including the Nos. 1, 12, 33, 52, and 65 overall picks. That’s not including the 2018 second-round draft pick they received for taking on the contract of quarterback Brock Osweiler. The hiring of DePodesta was met with mixed reactions, but it’s hard to find fault with all of the ammo the Browns currently have, which will allow them to trade up if necessary to land the quarterback they want.
- Steelers WR Martavis Bryant is expected to be reinstated and to contribute in a big way to the Steelers’ passing attack in 2017, but given that he missed all of the 2016 season and has yet to actually be reinstated, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com believes Pittsburgh will approach this week’s draft as if Bryant is not in the mix. The team’s first-round pick is too late to land one of this year’s top WR prospects, but Fowler names Zay Jones, Chris Godwin, and Josh Reynolds as potential fits.
- Michael Gehlken of the Las Vegas Review-Journal realizes that the Raiders have not yet acquired Marshawn Lynch, and the team has some questions at right tackle, but the expectation is that GM Reggie McKenzie will devote the majority, if not entirety, of his earliest draft resources to the defensive side of the ball. That trend likely will continue to some degree in the fourth through seventh rounds.
Zach Links contributed to this post.
Ted Thompson’s Frugal Approach Hurting Packers?
Packers GM Ted Thompson operates about as conservatively as any general manager in the league, and it is difficult to argue with the results, as Green Bay has qualified for the playoffs eight years in a row and captured a Super Bowl title in the 2010 season. But Thompson has recently come under fire for his recent poor draft record, and his decision to let T.J. Lang walk in free agency this offseason may have widened the chasm between the front office and the players/coaching staff.
As Bob McGinn of the Journal Sentinel writes, Packers’ coaches and players were “incensed” by Lang’s departure, and their anger might not stem solely from the fact that they lost a valuable member of the club. McGinn writes that Green Bay’s front office has a growing reputation in the league for being cheap, which has hurt the Packers’ image within the locker room and in the court of public opinion.
The Packers consistently roll over a significant amount of cap room from one year to the next, and today they sit over $22MM under the cap, which will in all likelihood allow them to carry over a great deal of money to the 2018 cap as well. As McGinn observes, Thompson is overly concerned that the NFL’s revenue-sharing system regarding network television and other endeavors might one day end, perhaps in the not-too-distant future. As such, Thompson believes that by saving money “for a rainy day,” he is protecting the franchise from a potential financial nightmare.
But even if last year’s ratings decline were a harbinger of things to come, and even if the league is forced to make dramatic changes in the way it does business, an immensely popular club like the Packers would have time to adjust and to preserve its financial well-being. So when Thompson fails to re-sign players like Lang — which, in a vacuum, is certainly a defensible decision — or when he fails to dip his toes into the deep end of the free agent pool from time to time, he opens himself up to criticism. Last year’s Josh Sitton debacle, when combined with Lang’s departure, has put Green Bay’s offensive line in a very precarious position, and now the Packers may be forced to draft a guard from a draft class without many top-tier O-line prospects when they could have been focusing almost exclusively on defense.
There have been recent reports suggesting that Thompson could step aside into a senior scouting position, but he does have two years left on his contract and vice president Russ Ball appears to share Thompson’s conservative thinking. It is therefore difficult to see Thompson leaving his present role until he is ready, but it is likewise easy to see how the team’s players and coaching staff could be increasingly frustrated with their front office.
Ali Marpet To Shift To Center
After spending the first two years of his career at right guard, Buccaneers offensive lineman Ali Marpet will be moving to center, according to Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times. Marpet performed very well for Tampa Bay last season, grading as the 13th-best guard in the league out of 71 qualifying players, per Pro Football Focus’ advanced metrics (subscription required).
However, with guard J.R. Sweezy set to return after missing all of 2016 with a back injury, the Bucs are hoping Marpet’s success will continue at center. The team also has veteran centers Evan Smith and Joe Hawley on the roster, both of whom received $1MM bonuses in the offseason – and Hawley performed pretty well himself in 2016 – so it would be easy enough to simply line Sweezy up at left guard and keep Hawley and Marpet where they were last year. But the Bucs apparently have a different vision for the future of their line.
Marpet has snapped before and during practices in case he was ever called upon as an emergency center, but he never even played center in a high school or collegiate game, much less a professional one.
Nonetheless, the 2015 second-round pick out of D-III Hobart College is excited about the transition. He said, “I’m a center. It’s always been in the back pocket. I can still play guard. I know. I’ve played guard. I imagine they’re not saying ‘You’re the starter, no matter what you do.’ But they like the idea, so we’re going to try it.” He and Pro Bowl defensive tackle Gerald McCoy believe he could be especially effective in the more confined spaces that a center is required to work in.
Tampa Bay’s line returns almost entirely intact from last season, and despite a couple of moving pieces, that consistency should be a boon to young signal-caller Jameis Winston and the offense as a whole in 2017.
Jaylon Smith To Be Ready For OTAs?
Cowboys’ 2016 second-round pick Jaylon Smith is expected to be ready for OTAs, as Josh Clark of CBS-DFW writes. Smith, of course, was expected to be a Top-10 pick in the 2016 draft, but a major knee injury suffered late in his collegiate career put his NFL dreams in flux and caused his draft stock to plummet. Dallas eventually nabbed him with the 34th-overall selection, knowing he would miss at least his entire rookie season but betting on his vast upside.
Since then, there have been differing viewpoints on whether Smith will be able to contribute in 2017. Dallas brass, inevitably, has expressed the most optimism, whereas national reporters have heard less promising opinions. For instance, we heard in March that there has been no significant change in the nerve damage in Smith’s knee, and that, despite the public statements issued by club owner Jerry Jones and COO Stephen Jones, the team is not especially bullish on Smith’s prospects.
It is therefore worth noting that this most recent report is based on a statement from Stephen Jones and should probably be taken with a grain of salt. Smith has been participating in the team’s voluntary offseason workouts at The Star in Frisco, which is certainly good news, but it is unclear at this point exactly what those workouts entail.
Stephen Jones, though, has doubled down on his public stance, saying he’s “more fired up than ever” that Smith is on the team, and that the Notre Dame product is “making great improvements.” He added:
“[Smith’s] another guy that when you look at how we improve our defense over last year, him and (Charles) Tapper both, as we all know, were high picks for us that didn’t contribute last year. We certainly have high hopes for both of those guys and feel like they’re going to be ready to go here when OTAs and minicamp start.”
Given Smith’s potential, it would be good not just for the Cowboys, but for football is a whole, if Jones is right.
Poll: Who Will Be The First QB Selected?
This year’s quarterback class is widely considered to be a weak one, but that has not stopped the usual pre-draft chatter surrounding the top signal-caller prospects. After all, quarterback is the most important position in all of sports, so even in a down year, teams without a long-term solution under center will be anxious to find one.
North Carolina’s Mitch Trubisky is considered by many to be the most talented passer in the draft, but he has only one year of starting experience at the collegiate level, and that has led some to wonder whether he is truly ready to take the next step. Patrick Mahomes of Texas Tech has seen his stock rise dramatically over the past several months, and it has been speculated that he could be a top-3 pick.
Meanwhile, the Bills are said to be “in love” with Clemson’s Deshaun Watson (my personal favorite), though there are concerns about his instincts and decision-making. And Notre Dame’s DeShone Kizer has a strong arm, but questions about his accuracy persist, and in late January, we heard that scouts were “cooling” on him.
Further complicating projections is the sheer number of teams who could theoretically draft a QB on Day 1. The Browns are almost certain to select DE Myles Garrett with the No. 1 overall selection, but they could have their pick of the litter when they are back on the clock at No. 12. The 49ers, who currently hold the No. 2 overall pick — but who are apparently open to trading down — could also draft a quarterback in the first round, as could the Bears (No. 3 overall), Jets (N0. 6), Bills (No. 10), Cardinals (No. 13), Texans (No. 25), Chiefs (No. 27), and Saints (who hold the No. 11 and No. 32 picks, but who would be more likely to use the No. 32 pick on a passer). And those are just the obvious possibilities.
In PFR’s first mock draft, Dallas Robinson projects Trubisky as the first QB off the board, predicting that the Browns would snag him with the No. 12 selection. After that, our mock shows the Chiefs trading up to No. 24 to land Watson, while the Saints nab Kizer with the last pick of the first round.
But what do you think? Make your voice heard in the poll below, and let us know your thoughts on this year’s class in the comments section.