Ricky Wagner On Vikings’ “Radar”
The Ravens are trying to keep soon-to-be free agent right tackle Ricky Wagner from hitting the open market. Should their efforts fail, the Vikings are among the teams with Wagner on their “radar,” Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News hears (Twitter link).
With the Bengals’ Andrew Whitworth unlikely to sign elsewhere, per Paul Dehner Jr. of the Cincinnati Enquirer (via Twitter), Wagner could end up as the most appealing bookend available. The 27-year-old Wagner is coming off his third season with at least 14 starts, and he ranked as Pro Football Focus’ 18th-best tackle among 78 qualifiers in 2016.
Given Wagner’s track record, his price tag will be high – perhaps around $10MM per year – but the Vikings have a good amount of spending room and gaping holes along their offensive line. Thus, it’s no surprise that Wagner’s on the Vikings’ list as free agency nears, and general manager Rick Spielman indicated Wednesday that the team could be aggressive on the market.
“I think we can go out and attack some of this,” he said (via Matt Vensel of the Star Tribune). “We have the flexibility to do that with the money that we’ve cleared up over the last couple of weeks.”
Minnesota’s O-line finished the season as Football Outsiders’ 30th-ranked group after clearing the way for an NFL-low 3.2 yards-per-carry average and allowing the league’s 10th-most sacks (38). Injuries were a major part of the problem, particularly at tackle, as Matt Kalil, Andre Smith and Jake Long missed most of the year. All three of those players are set to become free agents, leaving the Vikings without an obvious solution at either tackle spot.
Latest On Browns’ QB Possibilities
Colin Kaepernick has informed all 32 NFL teams he’s going to opt out of his contract with the 49ers and become a free agent. When that happens, one team that definitely won’t pursue Kaepernick is the quarterback-needy Browns, a league source told Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com.
Browns head coach Hue Jackson has demonstrated an affinity for Kaepernick in the past, so it’s conceivable the 29-year-old could have been on their radar. Jackson had interest last offseason in Kaepernick, who was then coming off an injury-plagued, statistically subpar campaign. But Kaepernick bounced back to a degree in 2016, as he tossed 16 touchdown passes against four interceptions, averaged 7.2 yards per attempt (up from 6.2 in 2015) and finished second among QBs in rushing yards (468, on a lofty 6.8 per carry) as part of a two-win team.
The only signal-caller who outrushed Kaepernick last year, the Bills’ Tyrod Taylor, will be on the Browns’ list if Buffalo releases him, reiterates Cabot. So could Buccaneers backup and soon-to-be free agent Mike Glennon, and the Browns also aren’t going to give up on acquiring either Patriots No. 2 Jimmy Garoppolo or Bengals reserve A.J. McCarron via trade, according to Cabot. The Patriots are reportedly unlikely to deal Garoppolo, though, while the Bengals will place a high price tag on McCarron – a former Jackson pupil – if anyone inquires about his availability.
Should the Browns fail to reel in a palatable long-term option via trades or free agency, the draft – in which they’re set to pick first and 12th overall – could be the avenue they take. Cabot notes they’ll “strongly consider” selecting a potential franchise passer then.
For now, their most established option under center is Robert Griffin III, who’s due a $750K roster bonus March 11. It’s possible Griffin will stay on the roster beyond that date, though, head of football operations Sashi Brown said Wednesday (via Cabot).
“That’s not going to be a major decision for us one way or the other in terms of a lever for making that decision,” he revealed. “We’re going to evaluate Robert, not his contract. And we’ve had some discussions there.”
Salary Cap Numbers For All 32 Teams
On Wednesday, we learned that the 2017 salary cap will be set at roughly $167MM. However, every team’s number will be different depending on how much money each team elects to rollover from the previous season.
Courtesy of the NFLPA, we now have the total cap numbers for all 32 clubs. Here they are, listed by division and in descending order:
AFC East
- Dolphins – $175.36MM
- Patriots – $171.29
- Bills – $169.84MM
- Jets – $167.37MM
AFC North
- Browns – $217.12MM
- Bengals – $173.58MM
- Steelers – $170.27MM
- Ravens – $169.55MM
AFC South
- Jaguars – $206.31
- Titans – $191.05MM
- Colts – $173.61MM
- Texans – $171.94MM
AFC West
- Raiders – $175MM
- Broncos – $174.24MM
- Chiefs – $172MM
- Chargers – $167.11MM
NFC East
- Redskins – $182.06MM
- Eagles – $174.93MM
- Cowboys – $169.4MM
- Giants – $168.8MM
NFC North
- Bears – $175.1MM
- Packers – $174.98MM
- Lions – $171.73MM
- Vikings – $167.4MM
NFC South
- Panthers – $180.21MM
- Saints – $172.75MM
- Buccaneers – $172.33MM
- Falcons – $167.93MM
NFC West
- 49ers – $205.71MM
- Cardinals – $171.4MM
- Seahawks – $169.07MM
- Rams – $167.3MM
Bengals Not Shopping QB A.J. McCarron
The Patriots aren’t trading their talented backup quarterback and it doesn’t sound like the Bengals will be doing so either. Bengals executive Duke Tobin indicated to reporters that A.J. McCarron is probably staying put. 
“We are not actively trying to diminish our team by trading A.J. McCarron,” Tobin said (Twitter link via Ian Rapoport of NFL.com).
At the same time, he would not completely rule out the possibility of a deal, telling reporters “the phones in our office work.” Tobin also wouldn’t rule out the possibility of an intra-divisional trade, though he said it is unlikely.
McCarron, 27 in September, has completed 66% of his passes in the NFL, though that is drawing from a very small sample. For his part, McCarron is hoping to get more burn in 2017 and wouldn’t mind a trade that would free him from serving as Andy Dalton‘s understudy. McCarron’s trade value increased further when it was learned that he will be a restricted free agent after the 2017 season. At the same time, that makes him even more attractive to the Bengals who would like to keep McCarron as a quality and inexpensive Plan B behind Dalton.
Kevin Zeitler Could Get $10MM Per Year
- Free agent guards Kevin Zeitler (Bengals) and Larry Warford (Lions) are likely to land mega-deals. Zeitler figures to sign for around $10MM per year, which might be too pricey for the Bengals, while Warford could come in around $9MM per annum. Each ranked among PFF’s top guards last year, with Zeitler at No. 7 and Warford 20th.
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Marvin Lewis Backtracks On Extension Push
Marvin Lewis‘ desire for another Bengals extension may have stemmed from wanting to see his staff more at ease instead of securing his own future. But the longtime Cincinnati leader appears to be backing off of this push.
Lewis is signed only through the 2017 season. He told Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com he wouldn’t mind an extension into ’18, but some urgency at Bengals headquarters might not be the worst thing after the most recent season Cincinnati completed.
“I don’t think [an extension is] critical or crucial. If things work out we would look to do that,” Lewis said, via Hobson. “I think some people are sometimes more at ease with that. Maybe that’s not where we need to be. Maybe that’s not the right place for us to be right now … everybody is year-to-year, right?”
The 58-year-old coach took the Bengals to the playoffs six times in a seven-year span, from 2009-15, but saw a veteran-fueled team fall well short of expectations last season. The Bengals signed him to a one-year extension last April despite the team coming off of a wild-card collapse, cementing a fifth straight loss in this round. Cincinnati then finished third in the AFC North at 6-9-1 — its worst record since 2010.
Lewis added that he doesn’t have a set date at which he plans to step away from the game. Going into the season as a lame-duck coach would still be an interesting development for the league’s second-longest-tenured HC, given the Bengals’ consistency this decade.
Bengals To Prioritize Re-Signing Brandon LaFell
Brandon LaFell turned in a strong 2016 for the Bengals after signing a modest one-year, $2.5MM deal with the club last offseason. As a result, Jim Owczarski of the Cincinnati Enquirer says that LaFell is one of Cincinnati’s top free agent priorities, as the Bengals believe his strong route-running skills and his red zone presence would be even more effective if they can get fully healthy seasons from A.J. Green and Tyler Eifert. LaFell indicated that he would like to return, though he should attract plenty of attention on the open market if he does not re-up with Cincinnati before free agency opens.
Marvin Lewis On Jeremy Hill, Rex Burkhead
- The torn ACL Giovani Bernard suffered in November could help spur the Bengals to select a running back as early as Round 1 of the draft, writes Katherine Terrell of ESPN.com. Neither Bernard nor Jeremy Hill reached the 4.0 yards-per-carry mark last year, though the former posted strong pass-catching numbers and the latter scored nine touchdowns. Hill is set to enter the last year of his contract in 2017, while Rex Burkhead is on track to hit free agency next month after putting up a lofty 4.6 YPC on 74 tries in 2016. Head coach Marvin Lewis spoke on both Hill and Burkhead on Friday, telling Geoff Hobson of the team’s website: “We have to coach [Hill] better. We bet on him. We have no other choice. We bet on Jeremy to continue to progress and move forward. Our job is to try and re-sign Rex. That doesn’t affect Jeremy.”
North Notes: Bengals, Smith, Ravens, Vikes
With Cincinnati’s offensive line facing offseason uncertainty, a reunion with former Bengal/current Viking right tackle Andre Smith could make sense for both parties, as Paul Dehner Jr. of the Cincinnati Enquirer opines (Twitter links). Smith, whom the Bengals made the sixth overall pick in 2009, played seven seasons in the Queen City before inking a one-year deal with Minnesota last year. If he did rejoin Cincinnati, Smith would slot back in at right tackle, where 2015 first-round pick Cedric Ogbuehi recently struggled. One problem with such a scenario, per Dehner, would be forcing 2015 second-round pick Jake Fisher — who played well at right tackle last year — to guard, a position he hasn’t played much of in the NFL.
Here’s more from the NFL’s two North divisions:
- Although Kyle Juszczyk would view a return to the Ravens as “phenomenal,” the veteran fullback would consider other any offers that might be proposed this spring, he tells SiriusXM NFL Radio (Twitter link). The 25-year-old Juszczyk led all NFL fullbacks in both offensive snaps (465) and receptions (37) in 2016, although the lack of fullback usage in the league figures to drive down his market. In terms of positional spending, the Chiefs’ Anthony Sherman currently leads all fullbacks with a $2.1MM annual salary. Juszczyk, a former fourth-round pick out of Harvard, will join a free agent fullback class that includes Patrick DiMarco (Falcons), Marcel Reece (Seahawks), and Jerome Felton (Bills).
- Former Vikings quarterbacks coach Scott Turner has joined the University of Michigan as an offensive analyst, tweets Albert Breer of TheMMQB.com. Turner’s father, Norv, resigned as Minnesota’s offensive coordinator midway through last season, and while Scott was retained to finish out the campaign, he was fired by the Vikings last month. Although Turner had coached in the NFL since 2011, he didn’t have many options around the league if he wanted to continue leading quarterback rooms — the only QB coaching job still available is in Kansas City, per Dan Hatman of The Scouting Academy (Twitter link).
- Cornerback Bene Benwikere‘s one-year deal with the Bengals is worth $690K, the minimum for a player with three years experience, according to Katherine Terrell of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Still only 25 years old, Benwikere took visits with four other clubs (including the Jets) before signing with Cincinnati. He’ll compete for a spot in the Bengals’ secondary that includes Adam Jones, Darqueze Dennard, William Jackson III, Josh Shaw, and pending free agent Dre Kirkpatrick.
Bengals Prioritizing Andrew Whitworth Deal
The Bengals and left tackle Andrew Whitworth are in discussions regarding a new deal, the pending free agent told SiriusXM NFL Radio on Monday. With the market set to open March 9, the Bengals have made Whitworth their No. 1 priority, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer’s Paul Dehner Jr., who expects the two to reach an agreement (Twitter links).
Although the 35-year-old Whitworth spent some time at guard last season, the Bengals will let him man his typical position as a blindside bookend if he’s with the club in 2017, per Dehner. Whitworth has been a rock at left tackle in Cincinnati, which selected the ex-LSU standout in the second round of the 2006 draft, having logged 164 starts out of 168 appearances and earned three Pro Bowls nods. The 6-foot-7, 325-pounder is now fresh off his third straight 16-start season, one in which he ranked as Pro Football Focus’ second-best tackle among 78 qualifiers.
It’s unclear how much the Bengals would have to pay Whitworth to keep him off the market, but it’s worth noting he played 2016 on a $9MM deal. Given the ever-increasing salary cap, a raise on a short-term pact seems like a strong possibility. Should Whitworth eschew free agency, it would further weaken an already uninspiring class of unsigned tackles. Whitworth is easily the premier option in a group that also includes Riley Reiff, Ryan Clady, Matt Kalil, Luke Joeckel and teammate Eric Winston, among others.
Along with Whitworth and Winston, the Bengals – who have $43MM-plus in cap space – are facing key decisions on soon-to-be free agents like guard Kevin Zeitler, cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick and wide receiver Brandon LaFell. Zeitler might be the most appealing player of the bunch, but he could be on his way out of Cincinnati.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.