East Notes: Giants, J. Marshall, Patriots
Let’s take a quick swing around the league’s east divisions:
- Jordan Raanan of NJ.com believes the Giants will bring in a veteran wide receiver at some point over the next couple of months, though there is no rush for the team to do so right now, as there is currently not much of a market for the remaining free agent wideouts. Raanan sees Anquan Boldin and Andre Johnson as potential fits, as both bring the size and physicality that would complement the speed of diminutive receivers Odell Beckham, Jr., Sterling Shepard, and Victor Cruz while giving Eli Manning another credible redzone threat.
- 13 of the Jets’ crop of 14 undrafted free agents received signing bonuses, and three of those players–Jalin Marshall, Doug Middleton, and Lawrence Thomas–received bonuses higher than $10K, suggesting that they were “priority” free agents. Of that trio, Rich Cimini of ESPNNewYork.com sees Marshall, the former Ohio State wideout, as the player with the best chance to make the club, as he has the kick return ability to contribute right away while he develops his fledgling receiver skills. Gang Green, of course, struggled mightily in the return game last year.
- Former NC State quarterback Jacoby Brissett, one of the Patriots‘ three third-round draft choices this year, is the only New England draftee who has not yet signed his rookie contract, as Mike Reiss of ESPNBoston.com observes. Brissett is the league’s only draft pick to not hire a traditional sports agent, instead relying on former NFL safety Abram Elam, whom Brissett is consulting as an adviser, and NFLPA director of salary cap and agent administration, Mark Levin. Although rookie contracts under the new CBA are fairly straightforward as a result of the rookie wage scale–Brissett himself has said that the deal will get done, and he will get a four-year contract worth roughly $3MM with a $680K signing bonus–the Brissett situation serves as a reminder that there is still some back-and-forth between teams and rookies, especially third-round draftees. As Reiss points out, while nearly 75% of this year’s draft class has signed, only 15 of 35 third-round picks have inked their rookie deals. First- and second-round picks can receive a maximum of 25% allocation of a team’s rookie salary cap, but because the third round does not max out at 25%, there is often debate over what the correct percentage should be, and therefore more room for negotiation and the inclusion of incentives like workout bonuses.
- In the same piece linked above, Reiss observes that Patriots’ fourth-round draft pick Malcolm Mitchell was one of 41 rookies invited to the NFL Players Association Premiere in Los Angeles from May 19-22, and he was the only one that did not attend the event. Mitchell reportedly felt traveling cross country before arriving back in town at midnight tonight or early tomorrow morning would have put him in a position where he wouldn’t be at his best for tomorrow’s start of voluntary organized team activities. Although the NFLPA might not be in love with Mitchell’s decision, New England will certainly appreciate Mitchell’s concern for his new club.
Florio: Mike Shanahan Has “Given Up” On Coaching
Several days ago, Jason Reid of TheUndefeated.com shed some light on the beginning of the end of Mike Shanahan‘s tenure as head coach of the Redskins. In 2012, Robert Griffin III‘s rookie campaign, Washington grabbed the NFC East title behind it’s dynamic young quarterback before succumbing to the Seahawks on Wild Card Weekend.
Despite the loss, and despite the fact that RGIII would need surgery to repair the damage to his knee that he sustained during that matchup with Seattle, the 2012 campaign was widely regarded as a harbinger of good things to come for the Redskins. But about a month after Washington was bounced from the playoffs, Griffin held a summit with Shanahan, then-OC Kyle Shanahan (Mike’s son), and then-QBs coach Matt LaFleur to discuss changes he wanted to make to the offense. Mike Shanahan, who was very candid and expansive in his interview with Reid, knew from the language that Griffin used during his audience with the coaching staff and the substance of the concerns that Griffin voiced that the young signal-caller was either acting on the orders of team owner Dan Snyder, or at least had ownership’s blessing to call the meeting. All that did was further strain the relationship between head coach and owner, and both Shanahans were fired after the 2013 season, which saw the Redskins stumble to a 3-13 record.
As Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk writes, Shanahan’s openness with Reid suggests that his career as an NFL head coach is officially over. Per Florio:
“Shanahan’s decision to speak so openly and candidly—and critically—regarding one of his former NFL bosses reflects an acknowledgment that the two-time Super Bowl winner[‘]s chances of getting another NFL head-coaching job are slim and none. Whatever they were before his comments were published, his prospects are dimmer now, because owners don’t want to have to worry about a former coach putting the organization on blast after walking out the door, voluntarily or otherwise.”
Florio’s conclusion is a logical one, but it is noteworthy because Shanahan was recently a finalist for the 49ers’ head coaching job before San Francisco hired Chip Kelly to fill the vacancy. Shanahan did say at the beginning of April that, if he were to return to the NFL as a head coach, it would have to be a perfect situation, and he conceded that he may be better suited to a consultant position at this stage of his life. Nonetheless, the fact that he was apparently a viable head coaching candidate just a couple of months ago do render his remarks to Reid somewhat surprising, but if Shanahan simply does not want to coach anymore, he really does not have anything to lose. And, as Florio observes, he may have something to gain, because his comments help to absolve Kyle Shanahan of responsibility for much of went wrong in Washington during the early RGIII era. As such, Mike Shanahan may be attempting to help get his son, once predicted to be a head coach himself sooner rather than later, reestablish his head coaching candidacy.
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Jaguars Sign Jalen Ramsey
The Jaguars have signed first-round draft pick Jalen Ramsey, according to John Oesher of Jaguars.com, and Michael DiRocco of ESPN.com reports that it is a four-year, $23.5MM deal, with a $15.1MM signing bonus. Ramsey, one of the most dynamic defensive players in this year’s class, is the sixth Jacksonville draft choice to put pen to paper, leaving third-round pick Yannick Ngakoue as the team’s only unsigned selection. There are now just 11 first-round picks who have yet to sign their rookie contracts, as our tracker shows.
Ramsey received considerable hype prior to the draft after a standout collegiate career with Florida State, with the only real knock on his game being a general lack of playmaking statistics (he mustered just three interceptions during his tenure with the Seminoles, although that could be explained by the fact that opposing quarterbacks simply did not throw in his direction that often, as Ramsey allowed a completion rate of just 38.5%). Ramsey is remarkably athletic, and he has the ability to play either safety or cornerback at the next level. The Ravens, who held the No. 6 overall selection in the draft, tried to nab Ramsey by swapping picks with the Cowboys, who held the No. 4 overall selection, but the two sides could not agree on a deal. As a result, Jacksonville was able to land the heralded defensive back with the No. 5 pick. At least one team, the Dolphins, had Ramsey rated as the best player in the draft.
However, Ramsey suffered a right knee injury earlier this week, a disturbing bit of deja vu for a team that lost last year’s first-round pick, Dante Fowler, for his entire rookie season after Fowler tore his left ACL on the first day of minicamp. Ramsey’s injury is being characterized as a small meniscus tear, and as ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweets, Ramsey will visit Dr. James Andrews this week for a second opinion. Ramsey is expected to require surgery, but as of now, Schefter says, the team plans to have him back prior to the beginning of the regular season. However, even a player with Ramsey’s ability and upside will need some time to adjust to the professional game, so he will be at a disadvantage if he is forced to miss a significant portion of training camp.
Jacksonville’s second-round selection, Myles Jack, has major knee concerns of his own, which caused him to plummet from a surefire top-10 pick to the No. 36 overall pick. All the Jaguars can do at this point is remain optimistic about the prognosis of their prized young defenders, and as of now, there is no reason for them not to be.
Jarryd Hayne Retires
MONDAY, 5:30pm: The 49ers have officially put Hayne on reserve/retired list, tweets Cam Inman of the Bay Area News Group.
SUNDAY, 12:32pm: 49ers running back Jarryd Hayne has announced his retirement from the NFL, according to the team’s official website. Hayne, of course, was born in Australia and put together a very impressive rugby career before announcing in October 2014 that he intended to pursue his dream of playing in the the NFL.
In March of last year, the 49ers signed Hayne to a three-year deal, and he ultimately made the team’s 53-man roster on the heels of a successful preseason that only added to the considerable hype surrounding Hayne. He racked up only eight carries over San Francisco’s first six regular season games, though he did return at least one punt in each of those contests, including a memorable muffed punt in the team’s Week 1 matchup against the Vikings.
The 49ers waived Hayne on October 31, 2015, but he was ultimately re-signed to the club’s practice squad after clearing waivers. He was promoted from the practice squad back to the 53-man roster for the final two weeks of the season, picking up nine carries for 27 yards and five receptions for 20 yards in the team’s penultimate game against the Lions.
He finishes his NFL career with 17 carries for 52 yards and six receptions for 27 yards, to go along with eight punt returns for a total of 76 yards. He will return to the sport he starred in for so long, joining the Fiji Rugby Sevens for the upcoming Olympic Games.
Hayne and the 49ers have both issued formal statements, which can be found at the above link.
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Sunday Roundup: Fitz, Amendola, Panthers
Rich Cimini of ESPNNewYork.com believes that the Jets‘ willingness to wait until training camp to re-sign free agent quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick–if the re-sign him at all–could backfire. After all, if there is no Fitzpatrick deal by late July and the Jets decide to move on, they will have wasted valuable time that could have been used to break in another veteran quarterback. And if the team completes its four weeks of offseason practices, which begin on May 24, with only Geno Smith, Bryce Petty, and Christian Hackenberg on the quarterback depth chart, Cimini says the Jets will have essentially handed the starting job to Smith, since Petty and Hackenberg are not ready to be starters and since another veteran signal-caller would not be able to arrive in New York in July and win the job by Week 1. Plus, Cimini says, even if Smith is arguably better than other veteran options that could be available, like Nick Foles and Josh McCown, Petty and Hackenberg are not even adequate backups at this point in their careers, so the team would still need to bring in someone else.
Now let’s take a look at some more links from around the league:
- Earlier this month, Danny Amendola took a significant pay cut to remain with the Patriots. When weighing whether he should accept the pay cut or decline and perhaps try his luck on the open market, Amendola says one of the most significant factors impacting his decision to accept was the presence of the newly-signed Chris Long. Amendola and Long were teammates on the Rams from 2009-12, and Amendola said, “[Long]’s a great teammate and one of my best friends,” adding that it will be “a lot of fun” to share a locker room again with Long (link via Mike Reiss of ESPNBoston.com).
- Panthers head coach Ron Rivera has liked what he has seen thus far from the trio of cornerbacks that the team drafted last month–James Bradberry, Daryl Worley, and Zack Sanchez–and as Joe Person of The Charlotte Observer writes, Carolina is not currently in the market for cornerback help. Rivera did, however, leave open the possibility that the Panthers could add a veteran corner later in the summer.
- In his latest mailbag, Eric D. Williams of ESPN.com looks at a few undrafted free agents that have the best chance of cracking the Chargers‘ roster. Williams names Washington State receiver Dom Williams, Houston safety Adrian McDonald, and Navy fullback Chris Swain as three players with fairly good odds. Williams points out that four UDFAs made San Diego’s roster in 2015.
Texans Re-Sign Eric Lee
It has already been a busy couple of weeks for Eric Lee, who signed with the Texans as an undrafted free agent earlier this month. Not long after signing with Houston, Lee was waived by the club, but according to Aaron Wilson of The Houston Chronicle, the Texans have officially re-signed the South Florida product, who is expected to transition from defensive end to outside linebacker.
Lee will work under the tutelage of linebackers coach Mike Vrabel, who, like Lee, was a defensive end at the collegiate level before making a successful transition to outside linebacker after being drafted by the Steelers. At 6-3, 260 pounds, Lee has the athleticism and mobility to make the transition himself, and he worked out privately for Vrabel prior to the draft. He finished his senior season with 45 tackles (12 for loss), five sacks, an interception, four pass breakups, two forced fumbles, and a fumble recovery. He had a sack and an interception in the Miami Beach Bowl, and he served as a team captain. He also was a second-team all-conference selection who won the Lee Roy Selmon award as the Bulls’ top defensive lineman.
Lee drew interest from one of Vrabel’s former teams, the Patriots, prior to the draft. The Bears, Dolphins, and Buccaneers were also among the clubs reported to be interested in Lee’s services.
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Browns “Surprised” By Return From Trade With Eagles
The Browns, with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2016 draft but with a fairly depleted roster, were looking to trade the N0. 2 pick in an effort to acquire more selections and address their numerous weaknesses with as much young talent as possible. Apparently, though, they did not know just how fruitful such a trade would be.
Rather than keeping the No. 2 overall pick and selecting quarterback Carson Wentz or an elite defensive prospect like Jalen Ramsey, the Browns–who had already signed Robert Griffin III in free agency–traded the pick, along with a fourth-round selection in 2017, to the Eagles in exchange for the No. 8 overall choice, a third-rounder and a fourth-rounder in 2016, a first-rounder in 2017, and a second-rounder in 2018.
Cleveland executive VP of football operations, Sashi Brown, speaking at a state of the team address at the Browns’ Fan Fest yesterday, said, “We were pleased with it. I was a little surprised we got as much as we did, but some hard negotiating and [VP of player personnel Andrew Berry] was a big help in that, keeping me at bay and not pulling the trigger too soon. We were able to come away with what should be the foundation of the championship team that we’re going to build.” (link via Mary Kay Cabot of The Cleveland Plain Dealer).
The Browns, of course, were not done there. On draft day, they dealt the No. 8 overall pick from Philadelphia to the Titans in exchange for Tennessee’s No. 15 overall choice, the No. 76 overall choice, and a 2017 second-rounder. After even more wheeling and dealing, Cleveland ended the draft with 14 new players, including a quarterback, Cody Kessler, and now have two first-round and two second-round picks in 2017.
But building upon that youthful foundation and turning it into a winning product is an entirely different matter, as Browns fans know all too well. As Brown said earlier this month, “You always have that second-guessing in the back of your mind that if the player that we would’ve selected there at two pans out. You’re going to be thinking about it for a long time certainly.”
Nonetheless, Brown cannot doubt the process that led him to this point, especially since Philadelphia was willing to part with more assets than Cleveland had anticipated. Said Brown, “When we really sat down and talked with Philly, understand the batch of picks they were wanting to put together, where we sit as a roster today, this was the right decision for us. We felt like we could still get the No. 1 wide receiver on our board (Corey Coleman), which was coveted by us certainly in the building to support [Griffin], and what we want to do on offense and the running game that will be the engine of what we want to do on [offense]. But we were able to do position ourselves for today to address the roster but also moving forward in the future to have more flexibility.”
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Lions Pick Up Ziggy Ansah’s Fifth-Year Option
MONDAY, 10:05am: The Lions have officially exercised Ansah’s option, worth $12.734MM, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com.
SUNDAY, 10:02am: The Lions are expected to pick up Ziggy Ansah‘s fifth-year option in short order, according to Kyle Meinke of MLive.com. After concluding his first draft as Detroit’s GM Saturday night, Bob Quinn told the media, “I’ll have an update on [Ansah] for you in a few days.”
In March, we learned that an extension was not yet in the works, and nothing appears to have changed on that front. For the time being, the Lions appear content to control their star pass rusher via the fifth-year option in 2017, and, if need be, the franchise tag in 2018.
Of course, neither of those routes are going to be cheap. The fifth-year option for Ansah will cost the Lions nearly $13MM, and the 2017 franchise tag value for defensive ends may top $16MM. And, if Ansah’s career continues at its current trajectory, any long-term contract that the Lions attempt to work out in the future will make a major dent on the team’s books.
When Detroit selected Ansah with the fifth overall pick of the 2013 draft, it knew it was getting a raw player with vast potential waiting to be unlocked. And over his first three years in the league, Ansah has steadily unlocked that potential, exploding for 14.5 sacks in 2015 to go along with his first Pro Bowl nod (he also graded out as the 27th-best edge defender out of 110 qualified players per Pro Football Focus’ advanced metrics). As Joel Corry of CBSSports.com observed last month, when Ansah and the Lions begin to discuss a new contract, Olivier Vernon‘s five-year, $85MM deal with the Giants containing $52.5MM in guarantees will be an important benchmark.
Michael Rothstein of ESPN.com writes that, when the Lions exercise Ansah’s fifth-year option, the two sides may begin preliminary conversations about a long-term deal. The team has until Tuesday, May 3, to exercise the option, a process you can read all about right here.
Now let’s check out a a couple more notes on the Lions:
- Quinn did not offer an update on linebacker Stephen Tulloch‘s status on Saturday night, as Justin Rogers of MLive.com observes. The Lions had been trying to trade Tulloch, but they could find no takers either before or during the draft, and with the team’s 10 draft picks, and more than a dozen reported undrafted free agents expected to sign Thursday, Detroit would be over the 90-man limit if it does not release Tulloch soon. Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press tweets that Tulloch will, in fact, be receiving his walking papers shortly.
- Per Rothstein, in the same piece referenced above, Quinn did not have an update on the team’s college evaluation staff, but a shakeup could be coming in the next few weeks. As Rothstein writes, “considering how Quinn remade the pro personnel side of the Lions front office and scouting department, there could be more changes coming along the way.” Birkett is in agreement, writing that the Lions are expected to let go of multiple scouts as early as next week.
Sunday Roundup: Kaep, Bradford, Washington
Afters weeks of anxious buildup, the 2016 NFL draft is now over, but we’ll still be discussing the fallout from the draft years down the line. Let’s take a look at some of that fallout right now, along with a couple of other notes:
- The draft has come and gone, and Colin Kaepernick is still a 49er. As Eric Branch of The San Francisco Chronicle writes, the 49ers‘ actions during the draft–i.e. waiting until the sixth round to pick up raw signal-caller Jeff Driskel, instead of drafting a more pro-ready prospect in the early rounds as many pundits anticipated–suggest that one of Kaepernick or Blaine Gabbert will be the team’s starter in 2016. And, since Kaepernick’s most likely suitors drafted quarterbacks of their own, it looks like we can finally put the Kaepernick rumors on ice for a little while.
- We learned last night that the Eagles have not had any contact with Sam Bradford since Bradford requested a trade, and head coach Doug Pederson–who is installing a new offense that projected backup quarterback Chase Daniel is very familiar with–admitted that Bradford is losing valuable time, as Kevin Patra of NFL.com writes. Philadelphia continues to insist that Bradford is the starter, but that could change if he misses significant offseason time. When Pederson was asked at what point Bradford loses the role of presumptive starter, Pederson said, “I think it depends on when he does come back and how fast we can catch him up and put him in that situation and see where he’s at, at that time.”
- Washington was widely lauded for its selection of TCU wideout Josh Doctson in the first round of the draft, but, as anticipated, his arrival probably means the end of Andre Roberts‘ tenure in the nation’s capital, as Mike Jones of The Washington Post writes. Likewise, Jones writes that the addition of Virginia Tech corner Kendall Fuller could allow the team to release Chris Culliver, whose health status is still uncertain after his ACL surgery and who is due an $8MM salary–with a $9.25MM cap number–in 2016.
- During his post-draft press conference Saturday night, Raiders GM Reggie McKenzie declined to tip his hand as to whether the club will pick up D.J. Hayden‘s fifth-year option, but as Jimmy Durkin of The Bay Area News Group points out, the team will almost certainly decline the $8.03MM option, thereby allowing Hayden to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the 2016 season. Durkin admits it was somewhat surprising that Oakland did not draft a corner over the past couple of days, as the Raiders are still thin at the position even after signing Sean Smith. The Raiders’ approach suggests that they expect Hayden to provide quality depth as a fourth corner, but he will have to prove himself in a big way in 2016 to remain with the club (and to remain in the league, for that matter).
- Most GMs like to say that they do not reach for need during the draft and that they will select the best player available, regardless of position. As Darin Gantt of Pro Football Talk writes, Panthers GM Dave Gettleman admitted last night that he adapted his strategy to make sure the team could adequately fill out its defensive back depth chart after the Josh Norman saga that ended when Norman signed with Washington. To that end, Carolina drafted three corners–James Bradberry, Daryl Worley, and Zack Sanchez–that looked like reaches to many fans. Gettleman insisted, though, that he did not reach, but he had to focus on corners to prevent a “position disaster.”
- Greg Auman of The Tampa Bay Times expected the Buccaneers to draft one defensive end and one tackle, and while Tampa Bay did draft a DE (Noah Spence), the team did not grab a DT. As such, Auman expects the club to sign a DT before training camp opens (Twitter link).
- Former Panthers offensive lineman Edmund Kugbila, whom Carolina selected in the fourth round of the 2013 draft but who has yet to play a single professional snap due to various injuries, has been medically cleared to play and has several visits lined up, according to Aaron Wilson of The Houston Chronicle (via Twitter).
Mike Neal Has “Moved On” From Packers?
When the Packers selected Utah State linebacker Kyler Fackrell in the third round of the draft on Friday night, free agent linebacker Mike Neal took to Twitter to indicate that his tenure with Green Bay had come to an end. As Michael Cohen and Lori Nickel of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel write, Neal backpedaled from that remark in subsequent tweets, suggesting that he was simply being sarcastic and “playing games” with the media.
However, team director of player personnel Eliot Wolf appears to be taking Neal’s original tweet at face value. Wolf spoke to the media on Saturday afternoon, and in response to a question about adding size to the defense, he said, “I think it’s a priority. Obviously with B.J. (Raji) retiring, we lost some guys up front, and Mike Neal’s moved on so it just looks like something that we addressed as need, and we’ve been able to fill it so far. Couple more picks to go.”
GM Ted Thompson, though, was more noncommittal than his young associate. Thompson said, “There’s a lot of different things that can happen during the course of an off-season that would change things. So I wouldn’t be strong enough to say that [we have moved on from Neal].”
Neal, Green Bay’s second-round pick in the 2010 draft, has spent his entire career with the Packers. He has become a regular part of the team’s front seven rotation–starting 15 games in 2015–and has racked up at least four sacks in each of the past four seasons. He visited the Seahawks and Lions during the early stages of free agency, and at that time, the Packers had not ruled out a reunion. With Fackrell in the fold, though, it appears as though at least one high-ranking member of the Packers’ front office is prepared to part ways.
Without Neal, the Packers have six outside linebackers on the roster: Clay Matthews, Julius Peppers, Nick Perry, Jayrone Elliott, Lerentee McCray and Fackrell.
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