Extension Candidate: Bengals WR A.J. Green
As one of the league’s most feared wide receivers, an extension for A.J. Green should be fairly simple. Unfortunately, after yet another injury-shortened season, the negotiations figure to be a bit complicated. 
On the plus side, Bengals owner Mike Brown has indicated that he wants Green to remain in Cincinnati on a new deal.
“Oh, I think he’s a proven commodity, isn’t he?,” Brown said in March. “The price range for him will be something we can figure out, it will come together. It’s true with anyone, if they suddenly get an injury..it reduces them. Well that changes the equation, but I never plan on that happening. I like to think that won’t happen. If A.J. is healthy, he’s as good a receiver as anybody in the league.”
Ditto for Green:
“Cincinnati is home for me,” Green said recently. “I’ve been here nine years. This is home as much as South Carolina. All I know is Cincinnati. I can’t see myself playing anywhere else or playing in a different city. Hopefully I can be here for a couple more years, so we’ll see on that part.”
Will Green have himself a fat new contract before or soon after his 31st birthday in July? That may depend on his willingness to accept a bit of a hometown discount.
Green has missed 13 games due to injury over the past three seasons and the Bengals, historically, have not been big spenders. They’ve also recently extended teammates Geno Atkins and Carlos Dunlap, so their flexibility is somewhat limited.
Green finished out the 2018 season with just 46 catches for 694 yards and six touchdowns, but when his nine-game season is adjusted for 16 games, those numbers are right in line with his career 75/1,113/8 average. It’s also worth noting that ’18 was only Green’s second season to fall shy of the 1,000-yard mark. The only other time that happened was in 2016, when he came just 36 yards shy, despite playing in just ten games.
Ultimately, a new deal for Green should put him right around Odell Beckham Jr.’s $18MM average annual value, particularly if fellow receivers Julio Jones and Michael Thomas ink their next deals first. Of course, Green’s deal will be shorter in length than OBJs, or, at the very least, have a much lighter load of guarantees beyond Year 2.
For now, Green is set to enter the final season of his four-year, $60MM contract.
This Date In Transactions History: Julius Peppers
After a mysteriously quiet 2007, Julius Peppers mounted a strong comeback campaign in ’08. Then, on the heels of notching a career-high 14.5 sacks and helping the Panthers return to the playoffs, Peppers wanted out. Specifically, Peppers expressed a desire to join a team with a 3-4 scheme so that he could move from defensive end to linebacker. 
Peppers insisted that he would never sign a long-term deal with Carolina and tried hard to discourage the team from using the franchise tender on him in the 2009 offseason.
“The front office has been informed of my desire to explore opportunities with other NFL teams following the expiration of my contract next month,” Peppers said in a statement (via ESPN.com). “At this point in my NFL career, I am seeking new challenges that will allow me to grow, develop and reach my personal potential on the football field.”
The Panthers held firm, however, and applied the one-year, $16.7MM placeholder on their top defender. In theory, another team could have signed Peppers as a restricted free agent, but that would have required the forfeiture of two first-round picks on top of a mammoth contract. While he was stuck between a rock and a hard place, Peppers abstained from offseason activities. The multiple-time Pro Bowler’s absence cast a serious shadow over the Panthers’ offseason and made the football world wonder whether the Panthers would cave and trade him.
Ultimately, Peppers’ agent was unable to find a suitable deal for him. And, on June 26, 2009, Peppers inked his one-year deal with the Panthers.
Peppers earned another Pro Bowl nod in 2009, and that proved to be the final season of his first Panthers run. After the season, the Panthers declined to use the franchise tag on him, allowing him to reach unrestricted free agency and to a six-year, $91.5MM deal with the Bears. When that deal was terminated in 2014, he stayed in the NFC North and signed with the Packers.
It took a while, but Peppers ultimately came full circle. In 2017, the veteran joined the Panthers on a one-year, $3.5MM deal. A few months later, the Panthers canned GM Dave Gettleman and brought back Marty Hurney as their top football executive, but there were no hard feelings between Peppers and Hurney.
Last March, Peppers and Hurney shook hands on a new one-year, $5MM deal to keep the then 38-year-old in Carolina. Then, this past February, Peppers walked away from the game with 159.5 career sacks.
Latest On Chiefs, Tyreek Hill
The Tyreek Hill investigation will take a major step forward on Wednesday. The Chiefs’ wide receiver will meet with NFL Special Counsel for Investigations Lisa Friel on Wednesday, according to Mike Florio of PFT. 
The NFL-Hill meeting has been in the works for some time, with word coming on Monday that the sit-down would occur sometime this week. Florio hears that there is expected to be just one interview of the wide receiver, though he’ll have to travel to New York to meet with Roger Goodell if the league determines that punishment is warranted.
Given the child abuse accusations levied against Hill and the damning audio that seems to support those accusations, it seems likely that Hill will be suspended and fined by the NFL. At this point, the only question may be whether Hill will be able to take the field at all in 2019.
Hill has been accused of hurting his three-year-old son, which is especially disturbing given his history of domestic violence against partner Crystal Espinal. While in college, Hill pleaded guilty to choking and beating Espinal, who was pregnant at the time.
Hill did not serve jail time for that incident in college and prosecutors have declined to pursue charges in connection with the alleged abuse of his son. Still, the NFL’s personal conduct policy allows for punishment even when the courts do not bring charges, and it also allows for pre-NFL events to be taken into consideration.
Release Candidate: Texans TE Darren Fells
The Texans signed Darren Fells to a one-year deal in March, adding a proven blocking tight end to their offensive unit. However, the 33-year-old could be looking for work before the summer is through. 
Roughly six weeks after signing Fells, the Texans used a third round pick on San Diego State’s Kahale Warring, a 6’5″ tight end who has shown serious promise as a blocker. Meanwhile, the Texans also have the Jordans – 2018 rookies Jordan Akins and Jordan Thomas – on their TE depth chart. Fells faces an uphill battle, even after the Texans released Ryan Griffin in May.
Fells’ blue collar blocking skills have made him a known commodity in a league obsessed with offensively explosive tight ends, but they might not be enough to get him over the hump in Houston. It’s also worth noting that Fells, despite his rep, wasn’t all that sharp of a blocker last season. Pro Football Focus assigned Fells a 72.9 pass-blocking grade in 2018, which put him near the middle of the pack among his position group, and a 55.9 grade in the run game, a mark which ranked near the bottom of the league.
Fells’ blocking foibles weren’t just recognized by the advanced metrics. The Browns, who inked him to a three-year, $12MM deal in the 2018 offseason, released him this year and took on a dead money hit of $1.4MM.
Fells seems likely to hook on somewhere for the 2019 season, but it might not happen with the Texans, who guaranteed him just $100K on his one-year, $1.5MM deal.
Oklahoma HC Lincoln Riley’s Buyout Set At $4.6MM
Oklahoma head coach Lincoln Riley hasn’t completely ruled out an eventual jump to the NFL, and if he ever decides to go pro, his contract won’t be prohibitive. Riley’s pricey new contract with the university calls for a $4.6MM buyout price, according to Eric Bailey of Tulsa World. 
The $4.6MM figure isn’t exactly chump change, but it’s probably not enough to dissuade an interested team from hiring the energetic coach, who turns 36 in September. Many teams were said to have interest in Riley before he inked his five-year, $32.5MM extension with OU and it’s not hard to see him being at the top of the heap in future offseasons. For reference, $4.6MM is less than the average NFL head coach earns on an annual basis.
It’s also worth noting that Riley’s buyout will decrease with time. The $4.6MM figure represents 22.5% of Riley’s remaining guaranteed compensation, but that number dips by about $1MM every year leading up to the contract’s expiration after the 2023 season. And, in March of 2022, the buyout becomes non-existent.
Bengals’ Williams Likely To Miss Season
Bengals first-round offensive tackle Jonah Williams is likely to miss the entire season after undergoing surgery on his left shoulder, according to a team announcement. It seems likely that the No. 11 overall pick will be placed on injured reserve soon, but no move has been made just yet. 
“We look forward to Jonah being a major contributor in the future, and know that he won’t let this injury deter him from still being an important part of this team,” said head coach Zac Taylor. “We’re confident in our offensive line personnel as we head into training camp, and we believe they can do their part in helping this team achieve its goals.”
Williams was slotted to start at left tackle with the team moving Cordy Glenn over to left guard. Without the rookie, the Bengals are likely to move Glenn back to LT and focus on finding an LG solution. That fill-in could be Christian Westerman, who took the bulk of the starter’s reps there during minicamp while Williams was out. There’s also veteran John Jerry, who just recently joined the team, to consider.
The Bengals are trying to put a positive spin on the situation, noting in their press release that the Patriots won the Super Bowl last year despite losing first-round pick Isaiah Wynn to a season-ending Achilles tear. The club also noted that center Billy Price, last year’s first-round pick, has put together a solid spring after missing much of his rookie campaign.
Cowboys Notes: Prescott, Cooper, Elliott
Scheduled to earn $2.025MM in 2019, Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott stands as one of the best values in the entire NFL. But, without the fifth-year option at the Cowboys’ disposal, they’ll have to pay a hefty sum to lock down the former fourth-round pick.
Dan Graziano of ESPN.com looked at Prescott’s case for a new deal and concluded that he could push to make more than Eagles QB Carson Wentz, who just re-upped on a new contract worth $32MM/year. In fact, he hears the Cowboys have been studying Wentz’s contract to see how it may impact negotiations with Prescott and he believes that it will serve as the main comp for talks.
It’s tricky to compare the two quarterbacks, but the tale of the tape does show some advantages in Prescott’s corner. Prescott has more career wins and division titles than Wentz, so it’s possible that the soon-to-be 26-year-old could wind up as the latest member of the $30MM/year club and the highest-paid QB in the NFC East.
Here’s more from Dallas:
- Wide receiver Amari Cooper is pushing for a major pay raise on his next contract, but he’s not necessarily playing hard to get with the Cowboys, as Jon Machota of the Dallas News writes. “If you play good football, you’re going to be around for a long time. I do want to be a Dallas Cowboy for a long time,” Cooper said. “I love the organization. I love everything we have going on.” Recently, Cooper acknowledged that he’ll have to prove himself over the course of a full season with the Cowboys before getting the long-term deal he desires.
- The Cowboys have put Ezekiel Elliott‘s extension talks on the back-burner and Mike Florio of PFT wonders if Elliott could be on the cusp of receiving the DeMarco Murray treatment from the club. Elliott has been the focal point of the Cowboys’ offense, but the club could shift to a greater focus on passing as Cooper sets his sights on a record-breaking 2,000-yard season. Even if Elliott is given a major workload in 2019, the club’s history with Murray suggests that they could cut him out of the plans entirely. After Murray set the franchise’s single-season rushing record in 2014, the Cowboys let him walk in free agency without much resistance.
Poll: Grading The Raiders’ Offseason
To say that this was an offseason of overhaul for the Raiders would be a drastic understatement. With the aid of new GM Mike Mayock, head coach Jon Gruden completely rebooted his team after a disappointing 4-12 finish last year. 
The renovations got underway in 2018 when the Raiders shipped out stars Khalil Mack and Amari Cooper for a combined haul of draft capital. The moves also gave the team financial flexibility this offseason, which was used to add wide receiver Antonio Brown, wide receiver Tyrell Williams, right tackle Trent Brown, and slot cornerback LaMarcus Joyner. Those four players alone account for more than $109MM in guaranteed money, signaling a clear desire to compete in 2019.
It’s hard to knock any of those additions – at least, when considering their expected value for the coming season. However, the Raiders’ draft was among the most polarizing in the NFL. After Gruden and Mayock sent their scouting department packing, they stunned every prognosticator by selecting Clemson defensive end Clelin Ferrell with the No. 4 overall pick. Then, at No. 24 overall, some felt that the Raiders reached again with their pick of Alabama running back Joshua Jacobs.
Other picks, such as Mississippi State safety Johnathan Abram at No. 27 overall, were better received. Abram projects to be a Day 1 starter alongside Karl Joseph and, ultimately, figures to inherit his spotlight after the club turned down Joseph’s fifth-year option for the 2020 season.
Despite some clear upgrades, question marks remain for the Raiders. The club tried to upgrade its backfield with the quietly effective Isaiah Crowell, but he was quickly lost to a torn Achilles and replaced by the return of Doug Martin. There were also rumblings that they would add a new quarterback to play ahead of Derek Carr, but they elected to stick with the signal caller in hopes that he could return to his old form. It’s also fair to wonder about the status of the Raiders’ locker room – the mercurial Brown always has the potential to rock the boat and he’s now joined by longtime rival Vontaze Burfict and controversial lineman Richie Incognito.
On the whole, how would you grade the Raiders’ offseason? Click below to cast your vote (link for app users) and back up your choice in the comment section.
Extension Candidate: Patriots QB Tom Brady
It’s rare for an NFL player to continue his career into his 40s and even rarer for that player to be up for an extension. But, of course, most players are not like Tom Brady.
The multiple-time Super Bowl champ will be out of contract after the 2019 season after he collects on $27MM in earnings. There’s no conceivable scenario in which Brady leaves the Patriots in free agency, but it remains to be seen how the Patriots will structure Brady’s next contract or when they’ll be able to come to an accord.
Brady will turn 42 in August and the Patriots have no succession plan in place for the future Hall of Famer. Theoretically, they could cuff him with the franchise tag if no agreement can be reached, but it would come at a rate of $32.4MM for the 2020 season (a 20% increase from his current cap figure).
Historically, Brady has given the Patriots significant hometown discounts, but he might not be feeling as generous this time around. Amidst rumblings of discord in Foxboro, the Pats added $5MM in incentives to Brady’s 2018 deal. However, he did not his the statistical markers necessary to realize the full potential of the bonus package.
So, what will a new deal for Brady look like? Although Brady showed some chinks in the armor last year, he could easily make a case to join the $30MM/year club, which currently counts Russell Wilson, Ben Roethlisberger, Aaron Rodgers, Carson Wentz, and Matt Ryan among its members.
Meanwhile, Brady’s last deal inked in 2016 averaged out to just $20.5MM/year. Adjusted for cap inflation, that number would be somewhere around $25MM/year, which would position him as just the tenth-highest paid quarterback in terms of average annual value.
Many expect Brady to settle in at that $25MM per annum figure, but don’t be surprised if the two sides shake hands at the midway point between that number and the star’s true market value.
Release Candidate: Cardale Jones
In 2015, Cardale Jones emerged as a superstar for Ohio State when quarterbacks Braxton Miller and J.T. Barrett were lost to injury. After leading the Buckeyes to wins over Michigan and Wisconsin before topping Oregon in the National Championship, Jones went from a relative unknown to a bonafide NFL prospect. Although he was benched midway through the 2016 season, many still believed that big things were in store for the athletic QB when the Bills tapped him in the fourth-round of the draft. 
In 2019, Jones’ NFL career is at a crossroads. After two years with the Chargers, Jones is very much in danger of missing the 53-man cut as he sits behind star Philip Rivers and fellow ex-Bill Tyrod Taylor. The Bolts could conceivably carry three quarterbacks on the varsity squad, but they already seem well set with the far more accomplished Taylor as Rivers’ stopgap.
“The evaluation is going to come in the preseason games when you’re out there against another team and you’re having to manage a lot of different things,” Chargers offensive coordinator Ken Whisenhunt said recently. “The trend for him has been good. He’s improving. Just seeing his command in the huddle now, opposed to what it was last year, it’s much better.”
If Jones does not impress in the preseason, it’s not a given that he’ll land an NFL contract. Last year, the Bolts cut Jones on Labor Day Weekend and were able to stash him on the practice squad. This year, he’s with the Chargers on a low-cost reserve/future contract.
There’s still reason to believe in Jones, but it’s hard to see another team carrying him on the 53-man roster as he approaches his 27th birthday in September.