Eagles Unwilling To Approach Jadeveon Clowney’s Asking Price?
Pass rushing stands as the Eagles’ biggest remaining need and Jadeveon Clowney stands as the best pass rusher left on the market. It seems like a natural fit for Howie Roseman & Co., but the Eagles’ don’t seem to have much interest in him at this time, according to SiriusXM’s Adam Caplan (via the Inside The Birds podcast).
[RELATED: Titans’ Mike Vrabel Hasn’t Spoken With Clowney]
In fact, the Eagles haven’t even been in touch with Clowney’s representatives, according to Caplan. Instead, the Eagles caught wind of Clowney’s asking price through the grapevine and quickly decided that it was too rich for their blood. When free agency started, Clowney was reportedly seeking $21MM. A few weeks in, he dropped that ask to somewhere around $17MM. Meanwhile, Caplan gets the sense that the Eagles would only explore Clowney if he slashed it down to about $10MM on a one-year deal. Even then, he’s not so sure the Eagles would bite.
Clowney, the top pick in the 2014 draft, has tallied 32 regular season sacks over the course of his career. Last year, he notched his first ever postseason sack and also caused a stir when he took out Carson Wentz with a late hit. For what it’s worth, Wentz recently said that he would be alright with Clowney joining the locker room.
“I don’t think he had any ill will with that hit,” Wentz said (via Reuben Frank of NBC Sports). “That’s part of football. But he’s a heck of a player, so I trust Howie to make the right decisions to make our team the best we can be.”
Unless Clowney drastically lowers his price, it sounds like Roseman will pass on Clowney. No matter what, the Eagles will have to improve their edge group between now and September. Last year, the Eagles’ D ranked just 19th against the pass and Brandon Graham represented the team’s only reliable blitzer. In the draft, the Eagles nabbed some offensive linemen, a pair of linebackers, tons of speedy wide receivers, and even a quarterback in Jalen Hurts, but they did not select an edge rusher until the seventh round.
Seahawks To Bring Back Geno Smith
The Seahawks have agreed to re-sign Geno Smith on a one-year deal, as NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport tweets. Smith first joined Seattle almost exactly one year ago today and spent the year in Seattle, though he did not see time on the field. 
Smith couldn’t have expected much playing time as he sat behind Russell Wilson, who has never missed a game in his eight-year career. He also probably didn’t expect to be released in late August and re-signed on September 1, but that’s exactly what happened.
The Jets installed Smith as their No. 1 QB after selecting him the second round of the 2013 draft, but Smith never looked the part of a starter. The Jets managed an 8-8 record in Smith’s first year under center, but Gang Green went just 3-10 in his second season. He was looking for redemption in 2015, but that campaign was erased by the fist of teammate IK Enemkpali in a locker room fight. If not for the ButtFumble, that incident would probably stand as the most infamous in modern Jets history. Smith, who is now years removed from his original team, may never shake that from his legacy.
In 2018, Smith hooked on with the Chargers, but threw only four passes as Philip Rivers‘ backup. Before that, he spent a year with the Giants, mostly behind Eli Manning but famously started one game ahead of him (much to the fans’ chagrin). This time around, Smith will look to find his place on the roster as he competes against undrafted rookie free agent QB Anthony Gordon.
Saints Re-Sign Patrick Omameh
Patrick Omameh has re-signed with the Saints, as Greg Auman of The Athletic tweets. Financial terms of the deal are not yet known.
Omameh has spent time with a number of teams, but he’s perhaps best known for his ill-fated free agent deal with the Giants in 2018. After two years with the Jaguars, the G-Men inked him to a three-year, $15MM deal. Dave Gettleman saw something in the former undrafted free agent that didn’t quite surface in New York, but he wasn’t alone. Other clubs were in on the bidding and the advanced metrics at Pro Football Focus positioned him as the No. 36 qualified guard in the NFL just one year earlier. In other words, Omameh wasn’t a first-rate blocker, but his $5MM AAV wasn’t outlandish.
Unfortunately, Omameh struggled in his first fall with the Giants. He was cut in November of that year; at the time, PFF had him just 61st out of 75 qualified guards. After finishing out the year with his old friends in Jacksonville, Omameh joined the Saints in the summer of ’19. Now, he’ll return to reprise his interior depth role.
Last year, Omameh appeared in 14 games for the Saints with just one start. For his career, Omameh’s suited up for 81 games with 57 starts, mostly coming with the Bucs and Jaguars.
NFL Draft Signings: 5/14/20
We’ll keep track of today’s late-round signings here:
- The Colts signed a pair of sixth-round picks on Thursday: wide receiver Dezmon Patmon and defensive tackle Robert Windsor. With that, the Colts are down to five unsigned selections as of this writing. Windsor, a Penn State product, tallied 20 tackles for loss, 14 sacks, and three forced fumbles over the course of his collegiate career. Patmon, out of Washington State, quietly impressed scouts as he tallied roughly 60 catches and 800 yards in his last two seasons on campus. Windsor will try to push Tyquan Lewis at the bottom of the DT depth chart. Patmon, meanwhile, will have his work cut out for him with lots of WRs already on Indy’s roster. On the plus side, Patmon’s 6’4″ build may give him an edge.
Raiders Had Interest In LeSean McCoy
We haven’t heard much about LeSean McCoy‘s market lately, but there have, in fact, been suitors. The Raiders showed interest in Shady before they added Devontae Booker to their running back depth chart, according to Mike Garafolo of NFL.com (Twitter link). 
[RELATED: LeSean McCoy Makes His Case To The Eagles]
McCoy “could see” himself with the Eagles, but Howie Roseman & Co. may be more keen on Carlos Hyde, if they can get the 1,000-yard rusher to agree to a dirt-cheap one-year deal. Last year, Hyde averaged 4.4 yards per carry with the Texans, proving that he still has lots left in the tank. McCoy, meanwhile, had a strange up-and-down year with the Super Bowl champs. After a red-hot start in his new Chiefs uniform, McCoy would up as a late-season afterthought.
Still, Jon Gruden loves his veteran players and the Raiders considered McCoy to join starter Josh Jacobs, Jalen Richard, Rod Smith, and third-round rookie Lynn Bowden. The Raiders probably don’t have room for McCoy, but plenty of other teams could be interested in the one-time superstar. If the Philly return doesn’t go down, the Bears would be a logical landing spot for someone like McCoy – ditto for fellow free agent RB Devonta Freeman.
T.Y. Hilton, Colts Haven’t “Dug In” On Deal
This week, T.Y. Hilton told reporters that he wants to remain with the Colts “for life”. Hilton also indicated that the team has engaged in talks with his representatives. That’s all true, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter), though he hears that the Colts have not yet “dug in” on negotiations with the wide receiver. The talks, so far, have been preliminary, and there’s no exact timetable for when things might pick up. 
[RELATED: O-Line Drew Philip Rivers To Colts]
There’s one year left on Hilton’s deal, set to count for $14.5MM against Indy’s salary cap. Colts GM Chris Ballard, ideally, would like to nudge that number down with a reworked deal. Hilton would probably be willing to accommodate, provided that he gets an extension with some guaranteed dollars. That deal, Hilton says, will be his last in the NFL, regardless of length.
Drafted in the third round of the 2012 draft, Hilton was a difference-maker right from the get-go. In Year One, Hilton showed he was a serious deep threat with 861 yards off of just 50 catches, good for 17.2 yards per grab. Things only got bigger and better from there. Over the course of the next seven years, Hilton tallied more than 8,000 yards, 500 catches for exactly 40 touchdowns and an average of 16.0 yards per catch. That, of course, was during his healthy seasons. Last year, Hilton’s calf capped him at just ten games – he finished with 45 catches, 501 yards, five scores, and perhaps a few questions as to whether he can still be the same player moving forward.
“I think [playing with Philip Rivers] will be special,” said Hilton, shrugging off any concerns (via NFL.com). “I think the way I’m training, the way my body feels, and Philip doing his thing. I feel like it’ll be an All-Pro year for me.”
Those who have watched Hilton’s work over the years tend to agree – he deserves one final payday with the Colts. Nat Newell of the Indy Star laid out a compelling case for the wide receiver this week, though he noted a key stat going against Hilton. Over the past two decades, Larry Fitzgerald, Steve Smith, Reggie Wayne, Anquan Boldin, and Hines Ward have been the only players to top 1,000 yards after their age-32 season. Hilton turns 31 in November, so the Colts might not be willing to give him WR1 money beyond 2021.
Todd Gurley Still Hasn’t Taken His Falcons Physical
In March, the Falcons agreed to sign Todd Gurley to a one-year deal. Weeks later, in early April, they officially the agreement, though Gurley had yet to actually sign his deal or take his physical. We’re now midway through May and Gurley still hasn’t taken a physical for Atlanta, according to offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). 
[RELATED:Falcons To Consider Competition For Younghoe Koo]
“The main question that no one seems to know is, ‘What’s his health status?,” Koetter said.
NFL players have not been able to take undergo traditional physicals during the pandemic, so it’s not a shock to hear that Gurley hasn’t been checked out by the Falcons’ team doctors yet. Other free agents have had physicals conducted with independent and mutually agreed upon doctors, but Koetter’s comments seem to indicate that the Falcons are in the dark, to a degree, when it comes to their new running back.
For what it’s worth, those close to Gurley say that he is in minimal pain and healing up about as well as anyone could have expected. Once things get back to normal, the Falcons will want to take a close look at Gurley’s knee and formulate a game plan to keep him on the field. That injury has plagued the two-time All-Pro. With the Rams last year, he averaged just 3.8 yards per tote and just 6.7 yards per catch. Prior to that, he managed 40 all-purpose touchdowns between ’17 and ’18 while averaging 4.8 yards per carry.
“What’s his workload?,” Koetter asked, rhetorically (via ESPN.com’s Vaughn McClure). “He averaged about 17 touches a game last year, which is a little lower than he had been when he was All-Pro. We’re just gonna have to find that out once we get here and get him working, get him up and running.”
In a worst case scenario, Falcons GM Thomas Dimitroff says the team has injury protection on Gurley’s deal. Assuming everything checks out, Gurley will star in the Falcons’ backfield on a one-year, $11MM deal. Only $6MM of that figure comes from the Falcons’ books – the Rams are on the hook for $7.5MM and the rest ($2.5MM) comes by way of offset pay.
Titans HC: I Haven’t Talked To Jadeveon Clowney
The Titans have been heavily connected to Jadeveon Clowney, but we haven’t heard much on that front in recent days. When head coach Mike Vrabel was asked the edge rusher on Thursday, he indicated that nothing is imminent. 
[RELATED: Jadeveon Clowney Willing To Wait For Right Deal]
“[I haven’t] talked to JD personally,” Vrabel said in an interview on SiriusXM (transcript via PFT). “I would say Jon and I continue to evaluate the roster and the available free agents. As of now, I would say that nothing is off the table but nothing is certainly on the table either. He’s not on the team.”
If the Titans were on the cusp of a deal with Clowney, he probably would have spoken directly with their head coach by now. Of course, that doesn’t mean that Clowney and his agent haven’t been in touch with GM Jon Robinson or other folks from Tennessee’s front office. In fact, last month, Robinson confirmed that he’s touched base with Clowney’s camp.
The Titans came into the offseason with edge help on their to-do list and they addressed it – at least, partially – by signing former Falcons defensive end Vic Beasley to a one-year deal. In the draft, they focused on other areas and only used one of their six selections on the D-Line. NC State’s Larrell Murchison could turn out to be a fine player, but he plays on the interior, and the fifth-round pick doesn’t offer the same kind of difference-making potential as Clowney.
The Clowney/Titans chatter figures to continue for a while, especially given his history with Vrabel. Vrabel coached him in Houston, guiding him to his best season ever in 2017. In that campaign, Clowney notched a career-high 9.5 sacks en route to his second of three Pro Bowl appearances.
Latest On Jadeveon Clowney
The Seahawks don’t seem interested in re-signing Jadeveon Clowney and it could be a while before the edge rusher joins any NFL team. Jay Glazer of The Athletic hears that the free agent defensive end wants to wait a while – “perhaps as late as the summer” – before signing. 
Clowney isn’t the only notable vet willing to wait for the right deal. Former Panthers quarterback Cam Newton is also said to be sitting tight, though he’s opening up to the idea of serving as someone’s backup in 2020. Clowney’s situation is different, but he might have to ease his own expectations in terms of salary.
When free agency opened, Clowney was said to be asking for $21MM/year. Weeks later, that ask was reduced to around $17-$18MM per annum. Since then, the Seahawks have pretty much tackled their edge needs with players like Bruce Irvin and Benson Mayowa. The Titans are said to still have interest in the former No. 1 overall pick; ditto for the Ravens and Eagles. The Browns – long believed to be a frontrunner – are also lurking. Clowney would profile as a potential upgrade over Olivier Vernon, whose contract could be easily wiped from the books.
Clowney didn’t play up to par last year in Seattle as he finished with just three sacks in 13 contests. However, he’s still only 27 and he has 32 career sacks to his credit, not to mention a No. 1 pick pedigree. Eventually, Clowney will find a solid one-year platform opportunity, but it might not come before the end of the month.
PFR’s NFL Glossary: Waivers
Here at Pro Football Rumors, you’ll see a number of stories posted on players being cut, waived, or released by their NFL teams. While these terms are often used interchangeably, they’re not quite synonymous. A player who is “cut” has been removed from his team’s roster, but whether he is “waived” or “released” generally depends on his NFL experience.
Between the day after the Super Bowl and the following season’s trade deadline, players with less than four years of service time – or “accrued seasons” – have to pass through waivers after they’re cut by an NFL team. The other 31 clubs around the league have a day to place a waiver claim on that player, adding him to their roster and taking on his contract. That’s why we refer to these players as having been waived, rather than released.
If a player with more than four years of service time is cut between the Super Bowl and the trade deadline, he is not subjected to the waiver process, meaning he becomes a free agent immediately, able to sign with a new team right away if he so chooses.
This isn’t the case all year round, however. Once the trade deadline passes, any player who is cut by his team must pass through waivers, regardless of how many accrued seasons are on his resume. So if a team drops a 12-year veteran in Week 10 of the season, that player must pass through waivers unclaimed before he’d be free to sign with a team of his choice.
Here are a few more details on the waiver process:
- If two teams place a waiver claim on the same player, he is awarded to the team with the higher priority. Waiver priority is determined by the previous season’s standings — this year, for example, the Bengals have first dibs, while the Super Bowl champion Chiefs have 32nd priority.
- However, the waiver priority order will change starting in Week 4. At that point, waiver priority is determined by records of the current season.
- The window to claim a player closes at the end of the NFL’s business day, which is at 3pm central. So if a player is waived by one team on Monday, the other 31 clubs have until Tuesday afternoon to submit a claim. Players cut on Friday clear waivers (or are awarded to a new team) on the following Monday.
- Prior to the first cutdown date in training camp, injured players with fewer than four years of service time cannot be placed on injured reserve until they pass through waivers. Teams will cut this sort of player with a waived-injured designation, allowing other teams to place a claim if they so choose. If the player goes unclaimed, his team can place him on IR or agree to an injury settlement, then fully release him from the roster.
Note: This is a PFR Glossary entry. Our glossary posts explain specific rules relating to free agency, trades, or other aspects of the NFL’s Collective Bargaining Agreement.