Lions Notes: Fairley, Backup QBs
As a first-round pick under the the new CBA, Lions defensive tackle Nick Fairley received a four-year deal with a fifth-year club option. As our Luke Adams wrote several weeks ago, the Lions declined to exercise that fifth-year option, which is worth about $5.5MM this season. Chris McCosky of the Detroit News says that the Lions’ decision in that regard is a “proactive risk.”
As McCosky writes, after several years of toiling at community college and Auburn, Fairley saw a “multi-million dollar-carrot dangling in front of him in the form of the NFL draft,” so Fairley re-dedicated himself in 2010. Indeed, “Fairley finally put in the time to get his body in shape, finally put in the time to understand the finer points of playing defensive tackle and, lo and behold, he became the most dominant player defensive player in the country, helping Auburn win the national championship.”
According to McCosky, the Lions are hoping that history repeats itself. By not picking up his option, Detroit hopes that Fairley will devote himself to his craft with the same intensity he displayed in 2010 and that the team will reap the rewards. Of course, if that should happen, then it will suggest that perhaps Fairley is one of those players that can consistently perform at an elite level only when he is at risk of losing a big payday.
Several other quick notes from Motown:
- Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press names Fairley as one of the five players for whom this offseason looms largest. He writes that the Lions continue to insist they are interested in a long-term deal with the big defensive tackle if he shows up to camp in shape and demonstrates a more consistent work ethic.
- Another player who faces a pivotal offseason, writes Birkett, is quarterback Kellen Moore. The Lions signed Dan Orlovsky several days ago, and although Moore could still win the job as Matthew Stafford‘s backup, ESPN.com’s Michael Rothstein writes, “There was no way new Lions coach Jim Caldwell, who lost his job in Indianapolis in part due to not having an experienced backup behind Peyton Manning in 2011, was going to go into his first season without a seasoned backup.“
- In the same piece, Rothstein says it would not be a surprise to see the Lions draft a QB late to provide even more camp competition.
Broncos, Will Montgomery Agree To Deal
THURSDAY, 1:31pm: Although Montgomery’s deal is worth $1.325MM in base salary and per-game roster bonus money, there’s also another $600K available in incentives, says Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap.com.
TUESDAY, 8:56pm: It’s a one-year, $1.3MM deal, tweets Mike Klis of the Denver Post.
8:34pm: The Broncos and former Redskins center Will Montgomery have agreed to terms on a one-year deal, according to Jeff Legwold of ESPN.com (via Twitter).
Montgomery, who graded out as the 14th-best center in the league according to Pro Football Focus’ metrics, was released by the Redskins on March 14. As our Dallas Robinson wrote when it was first reported that Montgomery was visiting with Denver several weeks ago, Montgomery will take over at center for the Broncos and Manny Ramirez will shift from center to left guard, replacing the departed Zane Beadles.
Montgomery, selected by the Panthers in the seventh round of the 2006 draft, is at his best when part of a zone-blocking scheme, so he should continue to perform well in Denver. Ramirez should also see an uptick in his performance by virtue of moving to guard, his natural position, so the Broncos have in essence killed two birds with stone with this solid acquisition.
It is worth noting that Montgomery is capable of playing guard as well, so head coach John Fox has some flexibility if one of Ramirez or Montgomery should struggle or get hurt.
Redskins Sign DeSean Jackson
1:21pm: Ian Rapoport of NFL.com provides a breakdown of Jackson’s contract (via Twitter), reporting that it’s actually a four-year, $32MM deal that voids down to three years and $24MM. It includes a $5MM signing bonus and a 2014 cap number of $4.25MM. Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun adds, in a series of tweets, that the base salaries on the deal are actually fairly modest, with a significant portion of the money tied up in per-game roster bonuses in 2014, 2015, and 2016.
12:16pm: According to Mike Jones of the Washington Post (via Twitter), the cap hit on the deal for 2014 is expected to be in the neighborhood of $4MM, despite the fact that Jackson will make $8MM in ’14. We’ll have to wait for the full details, but I’d expect a signing bonus in the ballpark of $6MM. Jones adds that all the guaranteed money on the contract is in the first two seasons.
12:05pm: Less than a week after being released by the Eagles, DeSean Jackson is joining the Redskins. Jackson officially signed a three-year contract with Washington on Wednesday, according to the team (Twitter link). The three-year pact is said to be worth $24MM, with $16MM fully guaranteed, and $8MM owed in the first year.
Although those overall figures don’t look huge, the average annual value ($8MM) and overall guarantee ($16MM) are both slightly higher than what Eric Decker received from the Jets on what had been the largest receiver contract of 2014. Additionally, the fact that it’s only a three-year deal means Jackson will hit the open market again at age 30, at the latest.
It has been an interesting road for Jackson since rumors first surfaced early last month that the Eagles may be willing to trade their mercurial receiver. Jackson’s personality and occasional hotheadedness have been well-documented, and it was rumored that those attitudes ran counter to the type of culture that head coach Chip Kelly is trying to create in Philadelphia. That seemed to be just one of the reasons why the Eagles were willing to trade or release Jackson, who is a dynamic player on the field and who enjoyed the best season of his career in 2013, Kelly’s first year on the job. In 2013, the 27-year-old caught 82 passes for 1,332 yards and nine touchdowns, all career highs.
When Jackson was officially released last week, rumors flew in earnest as to what teams would have the cap space, the culture, and the desire to bring him aboard. At one point, it appeared as though the Redskins, Bills, and Raiders were the most serious suitors, although we heard late Monday night that Jackson was expected to meet with the 49ers if he left Washington without a contract. Indeed, Bill Williamson of ESPN.com tweeted that the Niners made a late run at Jackson but ultimately did not have the money to sign him.
Bringing Jackson to Washington will add an explosive weapon to new head coach Jay Gruden‘s offense and will create a potentially dynamic 1-2 punch at receiver for the Redskins, who already have Pierre Garcon on the roster and signed Andre Roberts last month. Jackson will also remain in the NFC East, meaning his old club in Philadelphia will be tasked with trying to stop him twice in 2014 — and perhaps in future seasons as well, depending on how year one of the new relationship between Jackson and the Redskins goes.
The Redskins didn’t have the cap flexibility of other rumored suitors for Jackson, such as the Raiders or Jets. However, as we’ve seen with a number of deals signed over the last few weeks, like Jairus Byrd‘s pact with the Saints or Jared Allen‘s deal with the Bears, there are ways to structure lucrative contracts so that the first-year cap hit isn’t exorbitant.
Dianna Russini of NBC Washington and ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter first reported that an agreement was in place between Jackson and the Redskins, while Mike Jones of the Washington Post (via Twitter), Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter), Darren Heitner of Sports Agent Blog (via Twitter), and Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk (via Twitter) added details. PFR’s Luke Adams contributed to this post.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Notes On Visits: Reynolds, Verrett, Smallwood
Free agent guard Garrett Reynolds is scheduled to meet with the Titans on Wednesday, according to Jim Wyatt of The Tennessean.
Reynolds, selected by the Falcons in the fifth round of the 2009 draft, appeared in 15 games for Atlanta last season and started 10 of them. He only played in seven games in 2012 (starting six of them), so he has accumulated about a full season’s worth of snaps over the course of the past two years. Over that time, however, he has earned positive grades for his play, so this would mark a quality, low-cost signing should Tennessee pull the trigger.
Our Luke Adams put Reynolds in the third tier of free agent guards last month but specifically mentioned him as a potentially valuable asset for a team not looking to pay big money at the position.
Now for some quick notes on other visits:
- Joe Buscaglia of WGR550 has compiled a list that will continue to be updated of the prospects the Bills are bringing in to team facilities for official visits. This list might be particularly relevant for Bills fans; Buscaglia tweets that Buffalo’s first round pick in each of the last four years visited Orchard Park prior to the draft.
- One of the top corners in this year’s draft, TCU’s Jason Verrett, will be visiting the Steelers, Jets, and Cardinals in the coming weeks, according to Alex Marvez of FOX Sports (Twitter link).
- Although he did not play at a big-time football program, UConn linebacker Yawin Smallwood was a bit-time playmaker for the Huskies. Despite tweaking his hamstring at the combine, Smallwood has a number of visits lined up, according to Ross Jones of FOX Sports. He will meet with the Falcons later this week.
Corry On The Franchise Tag
After a flurry of low-key but significant signings, the night has suddenly grown quiet. While we wait for the next piece of news concerning DeSean Jackson, let’s take a look at a typically excellent piece from Joel Corry of the National Football Post. Corry describes how the rules surrounding the use of the franchise tag have become a bit antiquated and do not necessarily reflect how the league has evolved. Some snippets are provided below, but the entire piece is certainly worth a read.
On how to avoid the issues created by “tight ends” like Jimmy Graham:
A new classification differentiating between tight ends who take a majority of their snaps in-line and those who don’t could be created. One possibility could be for tight ends that function similarly to wide receivers to receive a franchise tag with the average of the tight end and wide receiver franchise tags. This hybrid tag would be $9.593 million this year.
Personally, the only problem I would have with this would be that it seems to create a new issue of what players qualify as “tight ends that function similarly to wide receivers.” As the league continues to evolve, there will be fewer and fewer players who play the majority of snaps as the traditional in-line end, and those that do are unlikely to have to worry about the franchise tag anyway; they will simply be end-of-the-roster players summoned in certain short-yardage or max protect packages.
As such, the term “tight ends that function similarly to wide receivers” will increasingly become a redundant one; almost all of them will function similarly to wide receivers. At that point, the only justification for labeling certain players as a tight ends will be their body type (i.e. are they built more like Tony Gonzalez or Jacoby Jones?), which is certainly an undesirable outcome.
Nonetheless, Corry is certainly right in theory, and a hybrid tag containing a tiered compensation system based upon how much time a player spends as an in-line tight end and how much time they spend in the slot or split out wide is probably the best bet. And if a player spends little to no time as an in-line tight end, then teams will simply have to bite the bullet and pay them like the wideouts they are.
On separating offensive linemen by specific position:
Offensive line should be split to reflect the three main positions (center, guard and tackle). Typically, the franchise tag is composed of tackles, so guards and centers get a financial windfall when franchised. For example, New York Jets center Nick Mangold had the only center salary cap number over $7 million while the 2013 franchise tag for offensive linemen was $9.828 million.
This is a common sense proposal and it is baffling as to why the NFL has not adopted it yet. Browns center Alex Mack, who was given the transition tag by Cleveland this offseason–the transition tag, of course, has similar compensation rules to the franchise tag–will be paid like a top left tackle, not a top center, which is nonsensical.
On eliminating the July 15 deadline for multiyear contracts:
Prior to the 2006 CBA, there was a 30-day period immediately following the franchise tag designation deadline to agree to a long-term deal with a franchise player before what essentially amounted to a four-month signing moratorium began. During this four-month period, if a franchise player signed a long-term deal, his designation lasted for the duration of the contract, which prevented teams from franchising another player until then. The restriction didn’t apply for long-term deals signed after July 14.
The 2006 CBA eliminated the rules—which led to the signing moratorium—but created a July 15 deadline for long-term deals. In 2013, Broncos offensive tackle Ryan Clady was the only one of the eight players given a franchise tag that got a multi-year contract. The deadline has led to Cliff Avril, Dwayne Bowe and Jairus Byrd missing parts of training camp and the preseason over the last two years to either protest their franchise tags or as an attempt to minimize the risk of injury before regular season play began. The best of the past and current CBA rules on franchise tag signings can be achieved by abolishing the July 15 negotiating deadline.
No problems here. For a league that ostensibly would like to put the highest-quality product on the field and protect its players’ long-term security, one would think that an arbitrary deadline limiting the possibility of a long-term deal would be eliminated.
On decreasing franchise tag compensation
Franchise players rarely switch teams because the compensation on an unmatched offer sheet is two first round picks….The current CBA eliminated the highest restricted free agent tender, which required first and third round picks as compensation for unmatched offer sheets. This level of compensation may be more appropriate for franchise players than two first round picks.
Although I tend to agree with this proposal, and although it would create more excitement as teams would be more hesitant to use the tag and other teams that covet a certain player might be more willing to pony up a first- and third-round pick rather than two first-rounders, it’s not necessarily a proposal that impacts fairness to the player or improves the quality of the game.
Ravens Notes: TEs And Backup QBs
Ravens head coach John Harbaugh spoke with reporters today, and while there were no “major revelations,” he did indicate that the team is still talking to free agent tight ends Ed Dickson and Owen Daniels, according to Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun (via Twitter). The team is looking for a complement to No. 1 tight end Dennis Pitta, who recently signed a five-year extension with the club.
It is unclear if the team prefers Dickson or Daniels at this point. Dickson has generally underperformed and has struggled with drops since the Ravens drafted him in 2010, so Daniels would present a significant upgrade from a pure talent standpoint. However, Daniels is five years older and has struggled with injuries in recent seasons, so Baltimore would be taking a gamble with him as well.
A few early mock drafts predicted that North Carolina tight end Eric Ebron would fall to the Ravens in the draft, but now it is generally believed that he will be off the board before the Ravens are on the clock with the No. 17 overall pick.
A few more quick notes from Charm City:
- Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun tweets that the team is “in discussions” with several veteran backup QBs. Wilson does not indicate who those veteran backups might be, but it became clear that the Ravens would look to bring in legitimate competition for current backup Tyrod Taylor when it was revealed that they had spoken to Brandon Weeden before he signed with the Cowboys. The top QBs still available include Matt Flynn, Josh Freeman, and Rex Grossman.
- In a separate tweet, Zrebiec notes that it is worth keeping an eye on the Texans’ quarterback situation. Houston currently has three quarterbacks on the roster–Ryan Fitzpatrick, Case Keenum, and T.J. Yates–and is likely to draft a QB in the early rounds of the draft, so it appears as if at least one of Keenum or Yates will become available. Ravens offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak is of course familiar with both players, and Baltimore seems to have a penchant for acquiring Houston’s cast-offs and successfully integrating them into its roster.
- The Ravens signed newly-acquired center Jeremy Zuttah to a five-year extension shortly after trading for him, an extension that lessened Zuttah’s 2014 cap hit to $1.7MM. Baltimore now has $6.971MM to work with, according to Jamison Hensley of ESPN.com.
Johnny Manziel To Visit Patriots
Texas A&M product and top quarterback prospect Johnny Manziel is in Foxboro and will meet with the Patriots tomorrow, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter). Rapoport adds that Manziel’s agent, Erik Burkhardt, would not confirm the visit, though Alex Marvez of FOX Sports tweeted that the meeting will indeed take place.
This is probably nothing more than thorough due diligence on New England’s part. Nonetheless, the NFL Network’s Albert Breer tweets that the visit is “interesting” in that it comes on the heels of the team’s meeting with UCF quarterback Blake Bortles in Orlando last week. Bortles, like Manziel, is expected to be taken early in the first round of this year’s draft, and although the Patriots may be looking for a quarterback to groom given Tom Brady‘s age and the fact that Ryan Mallett will be a free agent at season’s end, it is highly unlikely that they would spend their first-round pick on such a quarterback at this point. For that matter, it is highly unlikely that Bortles or Manziel would even fall to New England, who hold the 29th overall pick in the draft.
Nonetheless, it is sure to be an intriguing visit, and we will keep you posted if anything of note should come of it.
Saints Sign Parys Haralson
The Saints have re-signed free agent LB Parys Haralson to a one-year deal, the team announced (via Twitter).
New Orleans acquired Haralson last season in a trade with the 49ers, sending a 2014 seventh-round draft pick to San Francisco in exchange for the veteran linebacker. Haralson played in all 16 games for the Saints last season, starting eight of those games and finishing with 30 tackles and 3.5 sacks.
Over the course of his eight-year career, the former Tennessee Volunteer and 2006 fifth-round draft pick has played in 102 games, including 76 starts, and has amassed 330 tackles, 25 sacks, five passes defensed, three forced fumbles, four fumble recoveries, and 24 special teams stops. Haralson is capable of playing either on the weak-side or the strong-side, and is particularly particularly adept against the run; his presence would have been missed in New Orleans had he signed elsewhere.
Jets Sign Dimitri Patterson
The Jets have signed free agent cornerback Dimitri Patterson, the team announced (via Twitter). According to a tweet from Pro Football Talk, it is a one-year, $3MM deal, which Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News confirms (via Twitter).
The Jets will be the sixth different team that Patterson has played for in his nine-year career, having also suited up for the Redskins, Chiefs, Eagles, Browns, and Dolphins. Despite missing 10 games with a groin injury, Patterson played well for the Dolphins last season, recording four interceptions in just 240 defensive snaps. He also tallied four picks with Philadelphia in 2010, the only season in which he played the full 16 games.
Patterson, who will turn 31 before the season begins, helps to solidify a very uncertain New York secondary. Excluding Patterson, the top three corners on the depth chart are Dee Milliner, Darrin Walls, and Kyle Wilson, none of whom have inspired a great deal of confidence. Of course, the Jets either missed out on, or did not pursue, top free agent corners like Vontae Davis, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, and Darrelle Revis (who signed with division rival New England after being released by the Buccaneers). For a defense predicated on strong man-to-man play from its cornerbacks, the inability to land a top corner represented a major concern.
Although Patterson is at his best when lined up in the slot, he did play primarily on the outside with Miami and proved that he could at least hold his own there. Given the lack of experience of the other corners currently on the roster, Patterson will certainly have the chance to start for the Jets and, assuming he stays healthy, may prove to be a quality signing for a bargain price.
DeSean Jackson Rumors: Sunday
More speculation regarding the DeSean Jackson saga:
- The Chiefs “would’ve loved” to sign Jackson, but they simply don’t have the cap space available to compete with other suitors, tweets NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport.
- We noted earlier that the Redskins are very interested in Jackson, but Mike Jones of the Washington Post tweets that cap room might be a problem in Washington, as well. The Redskins have roughly $7MM in space, while other potential bidders such as the Bills and Raiders have about $14MM available. If Washington is serious about making a legitimate offer to Jackson, a backloaded deal with a low first-year salary might make the most sense.
- In a couplet of tweets, Albert Breer of NFL.com writes that Jackson, unsurprisingly, is expected to “follow the money,” but also notes that the receiver market has been relatively modest, noting the lower-than-expected salaries of Eric Decker, Golden Tate, and others. Breer also opines that a strong receiver draft class works against Jackson’s demands.
Earlier Updates:
- Citing multiple reports, Rich Tandler of CSNWashington.com writes that the Redskins intend to make a serious bid to sign Jackson during his visit tomorrow, and Jackson is excited about the prospect of playing for the ‘Skins.
- NFL Network’s Albert Breer tweets that the number of serious suitors for Jackson could be relatively small. With the Jets seemingly out and the Chiefs out, the Redskins, Raiders, and Bills would seem to comprise the current class of “serious suitors.”
- Breer also tweets that the Raiders are “still doing background work” on Jackson and realize there is a risk in bringing him to Oakland.
- Although the Redskins get the first shot at Jackson and the Raiders have plenty of cap space, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets that the Bills should not be ruled out, and he implies that they are serious in their interest. Rapoport also tweeted that Buffalo is quietly researching and recruiting Jackson.
- Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer offers his take as to why Jackson was let go.
- Bob Brookover of the Philadelphia Inquirer has a similar opinion on Jackson’s release.
- Sheil Kapadia of Philadelphia Magazine offers a useful roundup of national media rumblings on the Jackson story.