Vikings Cut Brandon Fusco, Mike Harris
The Vikings have cut a pair of offensive linemen. The team announced on Friday that Brandon Fusco and Mike Harris have been released. 
Harris, 28, stepped up for the Vikings in 2015 when their O-Line was ravaged by injuries. In a season in which both John Sullivan and Phil Loadholt went down, Harris started in every game for the team and finished out the year as Pro Football Focus’ No. 23 ranked guard. Although he re-signed with the team prior to the 2016 season, he was unable to suit up due to an undisclosed illness or condition. It’s not immediately clear whether he plans on continuing to play football.
Fusco appeared in 14 games (all starts) for the Vikings in 2016. The advanced metrics at PFF weren’t very impressed with his play, however, leaving him with one of the worst scores of any qualified guard in the league last year. His only quality season, per PFF, came in 2013 when he made 15 starts at right guard for Minnesota. Fusco, a former sixth-round pick, will turn 29 this summer.
Latest On Tyrod Taylor
Tyrod Taylor says that he wants to stay in Buffalo, but he won’t restructure his deal in order to facilitate a reunion. Taylor is unwilling to take a pay cut before reaching the open market, Vic Carucci of The Buffalo News hears. 
Agent Adisa Bakari firmly believes that Taylor will at least match his scheduled contract and possibly exceed it on the open market. If the Bills keep Taylor, they’ll have to pay him a guaranteed $30.75MM. Despite his ups and downs in 2016, Taylor’s rep believes that a better contract awaits him in March. In his defense, there are several clubs with major question marks at quarterback and this year’s so-so crop of draft QBs should only help Taylor’s value.
The Browns are said to have Taylor on their radar if they cannot land Jimmy Garoppolo in a trade with the Patriots. The Jets and 49ers also face major uncertainty at QB and Taylor could be of interest to them. And, despite some rocky games last year, Taylor did rank as Pro Football Focus’ No. 11 QB on the year thanks to his strong 87.5 score for running.
In my book, it would be foolish of Taylor to accept a reworked deal from the Bills at this time. At minimum, if he is secretly willing to accept less, he should wait until the March 11 deadline draws closer before settling.
Redskins C Kory Lichtensteiger To Retire
Redskins center Kory Lichtensteiger is retiring, according to Master Tesfatsion of The Washington Post (on Twitter). The offensive lineman spent nine seasons in the NFL. 
This year, Lichtensteiger was scheduled for a non-guaranteed base salary of $3.25MM. Given his injury troubles in recent years, he was unlikely to collect on that sum. Between 2015 and 2016, Lichtensteiger appeared in just nine regular season games.
In September 2016, Lichtensteiger was placed on IR after suffering a calf injury. When he went down, Washington turned to Spencer Long and added veteran John Sullivan as a backup. Long turned out to be a bright spot for Washington and he could be in line for a lucrative extension this offseason. Without a starting job or even a surefire 53-man spot, Lichtensteiger is opting to move on from the game at the age of 31.
DeSean Jackson Wants To Stay With Redskins
As he nears free agency, DeSean Jackson says that he would like to remain with the Redskins. Of course, that comes with the usual caveats. 
“I do want to still be here,” Jackson told Stephen Czarda of Redskins.com. “My family and my house, I have everything here and I don’t want to be in a transaction and move. First things first, I do want to be here and hopefully we can make it work. But once again this is a business so things happen. I’m just really excited about the opportunity I have to sit and now the ball’s in my corner a little bit and see what we can do. I’m just excited and I’m going to let my agent care of all that. Ready to just sit back and whatever offers come in but obviously, like I said, I do want to be here.”
In late 2016, we heard that Jackson is eyeing a reunion with the Eagles. Those rumors gained steam when Eagles defensive end Brandon Graham and ex-Eagles running back LeSean McCoy indicated that Jackson had told them the same thing. Jackson may be intrigued by the idea of closing out his career in Philly, but he’s also making it known that he would like to remain in D.C. Meanwhile, the Redskins might not want him back and they may prefer the idea of keeping Pierre Garcon.
In 15 games this season, Jackson had 56 catches for 1,005 yards and four touchdowns.
Steelers Want To Re-Sign Lawrence Timmons
The Steelers have bigger fish to fry this offseason, but they have shown interest in re-signing linebacker Lawrence Timmons, Mark Kaboly of DKPittsburghSports.com writes. For his part, Timmons has said throughout the season that he hopes to remain in Pittsburgh. 
[RELATED: Rival Clubs Asked About Antonio Brown Trade]
The Steelers have a host of important free agents this offseason and that list is headlined by Le’Veon Bell. The team is also looking to extend wide receiver Antonio Brown and defensive end Stephon Tuitt. Once the team gets a handle on how much money needs to be allocated towards those deals, they’ll turn their attention to Timmons, a player who provides valuable veteran leadership in the front seven.
Timmons, 31 in May, played in 92% of the team’s defensive snaps in 2016 despite talk that he would be supplanted by Vince Williams. He started all 19 games for the Steelers (16 regular season games + three playoff games) and led the team with 114 tackles in the regular season. Timmons also added 4.5 sacks and two interceptions.
Timmons carried a $15MM+ cap number in 2016 after restructuring his pact multiple times. He won’t make the same kind of money on his next deal, but he could still get a nice payday on a multi-year deal that would allow him to retire in black and yellow.
Albert Breer On Draft, Mixon, Trubisky
Could teams strike gold in this year’s draft? Those in the know tell Albert Breer of The MMQB that this is an exceptionally deep class.
“Depth-wise, it’s great,” said one AFC executive. “What I like about it is, if we do our job, and have faith in our scouts, we can get starters into the fifth round.”
“It’s a very good draft,” a top personnel executive for an NFC team added. “If you’re in a position like Cleveland is with a lot of picks—and you still gotta pick the right guys—but it’s an excellent draft. Very deep across the board.”
Breer’s entire column is worth a read, but here’s a look at some of the highlights:
- There has been a lot of talk about Oklahoma running back Joe Mixon going undrafted, but one area scout is insistent that he’ll be taken. “It needs to be the right market, a team that can handle the onslaught, the right PR staff, because you’ll have to weather the storm,” said one area scout assigned to the Sooners. “But the guy the Chiefs drafted (Tyreek Hill), Joe Mixon isn’t half the douchebag that guy was. … You’d have to search to find people that don’t like him. Maybe the parking-lot attendant. Everyone there loves him. And I believe them.”
- This year’s class of quarterbacks might not be as weak as advertised, according to some officials. “It’s a good quarterback class,” said our NFC exec. “Realistically, all five of those guys (Mitch Trubisky, DeShaun Watson, DeShone Kizer, Patrick Mahomes, and Davis Webb) go in the first two rounds.” That’s a bold prediction on the part of that anonymous exec since there have been only five drafts (2014, ’12, ’11, ’07, ’06) since 2000 in which five QBs went inside the first two rounds.
- Meanwhile, it sounds like Trubisky is still the leader of the pack. “I’ll be shocked if Trubisky’s not the first one off the board,” said one AFC exec. One AFC scout is confident that he’s a “top two or three pick.” However, as Breer notes, the UNC QB doesn’t project as a superstar and it remains to be seen whether a team is willing to burn a top pick on someone who projects to be more of an Andy Dalton than a Tom Brady.
- The strength of this year’s class will be in the secondary and at running back, Breer writes. There’s also depth when it comes to wide receiver and tight end. Where this class is lacking, however, is on the offensive line. NFL execs tell Breer that they are worried this is not a one-time instance, but a sign of things to code. The spread offense and practice restrictions, they say, are hurting the quality of college offensive linemen.
Falcons Promote Marquand Manuel To DC
Falcons secondary coach/senior defensive assistant Marquand Manuel will be promoted to defensive coordinator, a source tells Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com. He replaces Richard Smith after he was let go earlier this week. 
Manuel, 37, doesn’t boast any play-calling experience, but did interview for the Jaguars’ coordinator gig last offseason. Atlanta passing game coordinator Jerome Henderson, linebackers coach Jeff Ulbrich, and receivers coach Raheem Morris were also thought to be potential candidates for the job. Morris boasts head coaching experience, but the Falcons are giving the opportunity to the younger Manuel, who was an active football player as recently as 2010.
This past season, Atlanta ranked just 27th in defensive DVOA and Manuel will be charged with turning things around. The team will also have a new coordinator on the other side of the ball in Steve Sarkisian.
Seahawks Sign Blair Walsh
The Seahawks have signed former Vikings kicker Blair Walsh, according to a league source who spoke with Field Yates of ESPN.com (on Twitter). Stephen Hauschka is a free agent, so Walsh could be the man to replace him. 
[RELATED: Browns Claim Tyvis Powell From Seahawks]
Walsh and the Seahawks have some recent history together after he missed a game-winning field goal in the NFC Wild Card playoff matchup last year. Even though he badly missed that 27-yard chip shot, the Seahawks are intrigued by him and view him as their potential place kicker for 2017.
Last year, Walsh was cut by the Vikings in November and was unable to find work after that point. His 2016 season was rough, but he has a history of being a solid kicker. From 2012 through 2015, Walsh sank 85.2% of his field goal attempts, including going 6-of-8 from 50+ yards. In 2012, he was selected to the Pro Bowl and given First-Team All-Pro honors.
Panthers President Danny Morrison Steps Down
Panthers president Danny Morrison announced that he is leaving the team. 
“I have enjoyed my time with the Panthers and want to thank Mr. Richardson and everyone involved with the organization,” Morrison said. “This is something I have been thinking about for a while and the timing is right with the start of the business year. We have made great progress in a number of areas, but there are other endeavors, particularly on the college level, that interest me as a final chapter in my career.”
Within the press release, Jerry Richardson thanked Morrison for his “significant contributions” to the team over the last seven years and was highly complimentary. The decision to leave the team might not have been entirely Morrison’s, but at minimum, it’s an amicable parting of ways.
Morrison was more involved on the business side of things than football decisions, so this shouldn’t affect day-to-day operations for Dave Gettleman and his staff.
Johnny Manziel Auditions For CFL Team?
3:05pm: The GM of the Roughriders says the team is threatening to sue over the report (via TSN), so it sounds like it might be bogus.
1:38pm: Are we about to see the birth of Johnny Canadian Football? Johnny Manziel worked out for the Saskatchewan Roughriders, according to Justin Dunk of The Hamilton Spectator. 
The workout took place in Florida in January, according to sources familiar with the situation. If that’s accurate, then Saskatchewan could face league discipline since Manziel’s CFL negotiation rights are held by Hamilton Tiger-Cats. For what it’s worth, Roughriders GM/coach Chris Jones denied that the team has made contact with Manziel.
Manziel was released by the Browns more than a year ago and ever since then he has been in the news for all of the wrong reasons. Then, last month, he declared that he is sober and focusing on his comeback. Furthermore, he is reportedly willing to subject himself to drug testing to prove to a team that he is serious. In theory, a successful run in the CFL could endear him to NFL teams.
Over the summer, the CFL’s commissioner said that he would not stand in the way of Manziel joining the league.