Le’Veon Bell Not Interested In Jets?
Le’Veon Bell, technically, is scheduled for free agency. Should he reach the open market without any restrictions, it doesn’t sound like he’ll be joining the Jets. When asked by a fan on Twitter if he would sign with the Jets for $60MM “cash,” the running back replied, “That ain’t enough to come run with the Jets.” 
Of course, it’s considered unlikely that Bell will be an unrestricted free agent in March. The Steelers have the ability to franchise tag him for a second consecutive season and they are expected to do so if they cannot sign him to a long-term deal. Even if he is allowed to test the open waters, the Jets have bigger fish to fry than finding a running back (though we did list RB as one of the team’s top three needs this offseason).
If the Jets make a major expenditure in free agency, they are much more likely to push those funds in the direction of Kirk Cousins. Signing both may be possible in the literal sense, but it wouldn’t show great cap management on the part of GM Mike Maccagnan to dedicate upwards of $44M to two players.
For what it’s worth, the Steelers and Bell are closer in long-term contract negotiations than they were last year, according to the running back.
Rob Gronkowski To Play In Super Bowl
The Patriots will have the services of Rob Gronkowski on Sunday. The tight end has cleared concussion protocol, according to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport (on Twitter). 
Members of the press got their first clue that Gronk had cleared concussion protocol when he was announced to be available to media Thursday afternoon. This was the expected outcome as Gronkowski answered in the affirmative on Tuesday when asked if he would play.
Gronkowski was forced out of the Pats’ AFC Championship Game victory against the Jaguars two weeks ago, leading to some question about whether he would be ready to go. With the extra week off between the semifinal and the Super Bowl, the Pats star had enough time to clear the cobwebs and gain medical clearance.
Gronkowski hauled in a team-high 69 catches for 1,084 yards and eight touchdowns this year. Now that the Jaguars know he’ll be on the field, they’ll have to game plan for one of the game’s scariest offensive weapons. The Eagles’ linebackers will do their part to cover Gronkowski near the line, but Philly may be forced to use members of the secondary against him as well.
Terence Newman Plans To Play Next Year
Terence Newman will turn 40 in September, but he’s not thinking about retirement. Fueled by a desire to get the mountaintop, Newman says he plans to play in 2018. 
“I want to play [next season], because we made it to an NFC Championship. We fell short. We fell way short … I want to be able to have an opportunity to win a ring. It’s that simple,” Newman said (via KFAN 100.3 on Twitter).
Bound for free agency, it’s not a guarantee that Newman will return to the Vikings next season. It seems like that Minnesota will have interest in retaining him, however, for his valuable veteran leadership and on-field production. In 2017, Newman graded out as Pro Football Focus’ No. 66 ranked cornerback, which puts him on the fringe of starter quality.
The Vikings are slated to start Xavier Rhodes and Trae Waynes at cornerback, but Newman could once again serve as support for that duo, along with Mackensie Alexander. If not, he’ll be exploring opportunities with other contending clubs.
John DeFilippo Likely To Stay With Eagles?
Eagles quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo may be a candidate for the Vikings’ offensive coordinator vacancy, but it doesn’t sound like he’ll fly the nest this offseason. Sources believe DeFilippo will stay in Philadelphia, Ben Goessling of ESPN.com tweets. Meanwhile, Vikings quarterbacks coach Kevin Stefanski remains a strong candidate for the position. 
The Vikings are reportedly hopeful they will get a chance to speak with DeFilippo about their OC job once Super Bowl LII is in the books. The Vikings have taken longer to fill their coordinator vacancy than most other teams in the league and it’s possible that DeFilippo’s name is keeping things in a holding pattern. If DeFilippo turns down the opportunity to interview after the big game, we could theoretically see a hire made early next week.
So far, four candidates have interviewed for the job: Stefanski, ex-Seahawks OC Darrell Bevell, Texans QBs coach Sean Ryan, and Saints tight ends coach Dan Campbell.
Falcons Open To Long-Term Deal With Ricardo Allen
Free safety Ricardo Allen is a restricted free agent this offseason, but the Falcons may look to lock him up with a multi-year contract. When asked about whether Allen could receive a long-term deal rather than play out the year under the one-year restricted free-agent tender, GM Thomas Dimitroff seemed open to the possibility. 
“Yes, I believe we can create space for Rico and a number of other players,” Dimitroff said (via Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com). “That said, we are always striving for creativity. And decisions made on certain free agents, whether they be restricted or unrestricted, oftentimes are contingent on the creativity they enable or not.”
No matter what, Allen is in line for a significant pay bump. Last year, he earned just $615K as an exclusive-rights free agent. Meanwhile, he proved to be an excellent value as he graded out as Pro Football Focus’ No. 31 ranked safety in the NFL (tied with Eric Reid, Tashaun Gipson, and Tre Boston).
The Falcons seem likely to at least place a second-round tender on Allen, which figures to come in at just under $3MM this year. RFAs have until April 20 to sign an offer sheet from a rival club and teams have until June 15 to withdraw the tender. Even if Allen signs a tender, it will not preclude the team from inking him to an extension.
As McClure notes, right tackle Ryan Schraeder signed a $2.553MM second-round tender in March 2016 only to agree to a five-year, $31.5MM extension with the Falcons that November. Allen could take that route, but he may also want to borrow a page from Andrew Norwell‘s playbook. The Panthers guard played under the $2.746MM RFA tender in 2017 and now figures to become one of the highest-paid players at his position as an unrestricted free agent this offseason.
Zach Miller Hopes To Continue Playing
After a scary leg injury last year, Bears tight end Zach Miller says that he hopes to continue playing. At the same time, he acknowledges that he may be facing an uphill battle. 
“[If it doesn’t happen], then that’s just the way it goes and we’ve got to move on and do something else,” Miller told Scott Voorhees of 1110 KFAB (audio link). “Physically I’ve been through a number of surgeries or whatever it may be. I can recover from that. But the mental aspect is something you’ve got to learn how to work it, how to block out some stuff and really just stay positive, which I’ve done a pretty good job doing.”
After severely dislocating his left knee and tearing his popliteal artery, doctors told Miller that he was at risk for losing his leg. Thankfully, after nine surgeries, Miller’s knee is safe. Of course, playing football represents a much steeper challenge.
Miller has done his best work over the past three years with the Bears. In 2016, Miller caught a career-high 47 passes and 486 yards with four touchdowns. In 2017, he was on pace for similar numbers with 20 catches for 236 yards and two TDs through the end of October.
Larry Fitzgerald Would Only Play For Cardinals
Larry Fitzgerald is pondering his future in the NFL, but there’s no question about where he wants to play, according to his father. Larry Fitzgerald Sr. says that his son is only interested in playing for the Cardinals. 
“There’s no chance,” Fitzgerald Sr. told Gil Brandt and Alex Marvez of SiriusXM. “This will be it. If it’s not with the Cardinals, we’ve seen the last of Larry Fitzgerald in the National Football League wearing No. 11.”
Still, it’s not clear when Fitzgerald will make the call on playing versus retiring. At the moment, the 34-year-old (35 in August) has a lot to digest between the team’s hiring of Steve Wilks as head coach and the retirement of Carson Palmer, which leaves the team without a clear successor at quarterback. If Fitzgerald decides to move forward with the new-look Cardinals, there’s already a contract in place thanks to his one-year, $11MM extension signed in November.
Fitzgerald has plenty of incentive to return to football, including his pursuit of a Super Bowl ring and his own personal place in the record books. With another 92 catches and 390 receiving yards, he’ll bypass Tony Gonzalez and Terrell Owens for second all-time on the NFL’s receptions and receiving yards list, respectively.
Latest On Johnny Manziel
Recently, Johnny Manziel‘s agent set a deadline of January 31 for the CFL’s Hamilton Tiger-Cats to present his client with a deal to his liking. That date has come and gone, but the Ti-Cats say that they will continue to pursue a deal with the troubled quarterback. 
“While the discussions with Johnny Manziel and his representative have been very cordial and informative, there is nothing imminent and nothing to report. We will continue to do our due diligence and will have no further public comment on the matter as we move forward,” the team said in a statement.
Manziel’s camp is trying to play hardball with Hamilton, but the reality is that the QB doesn’t have many options on the table. So far, no NFL team has been willing to take a chance on the former first-round pick, not even on a practice squad deal. The Tiger-Cats hold the CFL’s exclusive negotiating rights for Manziel and the north-of-the-border league is the best professional platform for Manziel to showcase himself. Ultimately, he may have no choice but to accept whatever offer is put in front of him.
In his statement last month, agent Erik Burkhart said that he was seeking a contract in line with what other Ti-Cats QBs have received in recent years. As ESPN.com’s Kevin Seifert notes, last year’s starter Zach Collaros earned about $500K in 2017.
For his part, Manziel doesn’t seem to think the two sides are far apart in negotiations (Twitter link).
Redskins, Kirk Cousins Haven’t Talked
Even before the Redskins traded for Alex Smith, Kirk Cousins probably sensed that he wouldn’t be back in Washington next year. Cousins and the Redskins haven’t had any contact since the regular season ended, a source tells Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter). Of course, now that the Redskins have acquired Smith and extended him, they’ll be going their separate ways. 
The Cousins saga will go down as one of the strangest storylines in Redskins franchise history. Cousins fully emerged from Robert Griffin III’s shadow in 2015 and led the team to the NFC East title. Unwilling to commit to Cousins in the long term, the Redskins used the non-exclusive franchise tag to retain him on a one-year, $20MM deal. In 2016, Cousins placed third in the NFL with 4,917 passing yards, but the Redskins were still unwilling to give him a fair market value contract and tagged him for a second consecutive year. This time around, the Redskins punted rather than offering Cousins a top-tier contract or tagging him for a third time at a cost of $34.47MM.
Finally, Cousins will reach the open market as an unfettered free agent. QB-needy teams flush with cash like the Browns, Jets, and Broncos will be eager to speak with Cousins in March and some club out there make Cousins an even richer man with a four or five-year deal. In time, the Redskins may come to regret their course of action with the 29-year-old.
Reactions To Alex Smith Trade
It was widely rumored that the Chiefs would trade Alex Smith this offseason, but few expected him to be moved in January and almost no one saw him going to the Redskins. But, on Tuesday night, Kansas City and Washington agreed to a blockbuster deal which will have far-reaching implications around the NFL. Here’s a look at some of the reactions following the mega-trade:
- Cornerback Kendall Fuller was a vital part of the Redskins and a tough piece to part with, ESPN.com’s John Keim writes. Fuller, who earned a tremendous 90.0 overall grade from Pro Football Focus in 2017, was one of the best pieces of Washington’s D. Meanwhile, fellow cornerback Bashaud Breeland is scheduled for free agency, so Washington could have multiple holes to fill in the secondary.Keim also feels that it’s tough to justify the extension for Smith which will reportedly pay him at an average of $23.5MM per year with $71MM guaranteed. Then again, the full details of the extension have yet to surface, so the deal might be more palatable for Washington if they can easily escape the contract after the first year or two.
- The Smith deal means that Kirk Cousins will finally hit free agency and Mike Sando of ESPN.com lists the Cardinals, Browns, Broncos, Bills, Jets, Dolphins, Jaguars, Vikings, Giants, Buccaneers, and Colts as possible landing spots. Still, it’s not a given that all of these teams will make a run at him. The Cardinals would almost certainly like to add someone of Cousins’ caliber, but their cap room is an issue. The Buccaneers already have Jameis Winston under center, so it’s not especially likely that they’ll make a serious play for Cousins. Cousins signing with the Colts would be a shock – to say the least – given that Andrew Luck is expected to come back healthy in 2018. The Jaguars, who have less cap room than most of the teams listed here, may want to stick with Blake Bortles after reaching the AFC Championship Game. The Vikings, meanwhile, have three starting-caliber quarterbacks about to hit the free agent market and logic dictates that they will try to retain one of them (most likely Case Keenum).
- In a sense, the Redskins’ sacrifice of a third-round pick in this year’s draft will be offset by the likely addition of a third-round compensatory pick in 2019 gained after Cousins signs elsewhere, as Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports tweets. The Redskins also will have more cap room to work with in the coming years with Smith under center rather than Cousins.
- The Redskins did a good job of fixing the mess they made with Cousins, but Bill Barnwell of ESPN.com refuses to congratulate owner Daniel Snyder and president Bruce Allen for creating the mess in the first place. The Redskins also could have gotten a better return for Cousins by franchising him for a third season at $34.5MM and fielding trade offers from teams that would have acquired him and extended him to reduce the cap hold. Now that they have Smith under contract with a $20MM+ cap charge in 2018, they have no choice but to allow Cousins to walk.
- More from Barnwell, who writes that it’s too early to grade the trade for the Chiefs. Patrick Mahomes is a high-ceiling, low-floor option for 2018 and even under the best of circumstances, there should be some growing pains. Still, Barnwell believes that Kansas City got a tremendous talent in Fuller. Fuller emerged as an excellent slot cornerback last season and still has two years left on his rookie deal at a combined cost of less than $1.4MM. The Chiefs may put Fuller on the outside to see if he can be their new CB2 opposite of Marcus Peters, but they could also leave him in the slot and use him as a roving weapon.
- Multiple teams expressed some interest in trading for Smith, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter) hears. One source tells Schefter that six clubs reached out to Kansas City to try and trade for the veteran. We know that the Cardinals and Browns both had interest in acquiring the soon-to-be 34-year-old.
- Fun fact: Smith is the first QB to lead the NFL in touchdown-to-interception ratio (26 TD, 5 Int, a 5.2 ratio) in one season and then change teams the following year, according to the Elias Sports Bureau (Twitter link).