Schefter: McCarron Will Draw Interest Again
- While Tony Romo, Jay Cutler and Colin Kaepernick figure to be available this offseason, Schefter notes the younger trio of Garoppolo, Mike Glennon and A.J. McCarron will draw more interest. Both Glennon and McCarron wound up in trade rumors this offseason, with nothing substantial materializing for the current Buccaneers and Bengals’ backups. But Glennon will be a UFA at season’s end, and Schefter pegs his price range at $13-$15MM AAV. Although, that’s somewhat of an unpopulated middle ground between franchise-level starters and the highest-paid backups. Glennon has a larger sample size to judge than Brock Osweiler did, making 18 starts between 2013-14 pre-Jameis Winston. He went 5-13 in those games and finished both seasons with completion percentages under 60. However, the 27-year-old does have 30 touchdown passes compared to 15 interceptions, and Schefter could see Glennon’s price drifting onto the low-end franchise tier if a number of teams pursue him.
Bengals WR A.J. Green To Return Saturday
A.J. Green tells reporters that he will return from injury on Saturday. Green has missed multiple games with a hamstring injury. 
“I want to get back,” he said earlier this month. “No matter what type of season we have, I’m not the type of guy to cash it in. So, whenever it’s ready, I’ll be ready to go. But, I’m not going to rush it because I’m not going to have this be a continuing issue.”
The Bengals are not in the playoff mix this year, but Green is a competitor and has been pushing to come back this season. Initially, few thought that a 2016 comeback would be possible. The first reports on Green indicated that he had suffered a complete hamstring tear but further tests showed that it was not quite as severe.
The 5-8-1 Bengals face the Texans on Saturday. They wrap up the season on Jan. 1 at home against the Ravens. If the season ended today, the Bengals would own the No. 10 overall pick in the draft.
With 36 more yards, Green can hit 1,000 yards on the season. That would be his sixth-straight season with 1,000+.
Andrew Whitworth Hopes To Re-Sign With Bengals
- Bengals left tackle Andrew Whitworth is an impending free agent, but the Pro Bowl alternate declared Wednesday that he would like to return to Cincinnati for a 12th season in 2017. “I know I want to be back. I believe they want me back,” he told Jim Owczarski of the Cincinnati Enquirer. The 35-year-old also indicated he’d be open to a moving inside, where he has some experience, saying, “If it’s guard, if it’s tackle, if it’s anything else I look forward to the opportunity.” Whitworth has been more than fine at left tackle, as he ranks as Pro Football Focus’ second-best bookend among 79 qualifiers. However, Cincy does have two young tackles – Cedric Ogbuehi and Jake Fisher – who were high picks in 2015.
Bengals Waive Tyler Ott
- The Bengals announced that they’ve waive long snapper Tyler Ott, a sign that fellow LS Clark Harris is now ready to go for Cincinnati.
2017 NFL Draft Order Through Week 15
With just two weeks to go, the NFL playoff picture is starting to get clearer. The Cowboys, Seahawks, Patriots, and Raiders have already punched their playoff tickets while the Chiefs, Steelers, Falcons, and Giants are considered near locks by the forecasts at Five Thirty Eight.
Here’s a look at where the draft order stands for the teams not currently slated to make the cut (Note: Ties are broken by strength of schedule):
1. Browns 0-14
2. 49ers 1-13
3. Jaguars 2-12
4. Bears 3-11
5. Jets 4-10
6. Rams (pick belongs to Titans) 4-10
7. Eagles (pick belongs to Browns) 5-9
8. Chargers 5-9
9. Cardinals 5-8-1
10. Bengals 5-8-1
11. Panthers 6-8
12. Saints 6-8
13. Bills 7-7
14. Colts 7-7
15. Vikings (pick belongs to Eagles) 7-7
16. Redskins 7-6-1
17. Titans 8-6
17. Ravens 8-6 (Note: The Titans and Ravens are currently knotted up in terms of both record and strength of schedule. In all statistical likelihood, the SOS logjam will be broken by the end of the season.)
19. Texans 8-6
20. Buccaneers 8-6
Breer On GM Search, Harbaugh, Draft
When it comes to being a GM, is it more about who you know than what you know? In his latest column, Albert Breer of The MMQB spoke with one league official who suggested that the NFL’s career development advisory panel has something of a fraternity-vibe.
“It’s all full of nepotism. It’s a joke. And it starts with Charley Casserly,” the personnel man said.
Casserly rejected the idea that he, Ron Wolf, Bill Polian, Ernie Accorsi, John Madden, Tony Dungy and Carl Peterson are aiming to line up their friends with jobs, but he did acknowledge that connections help.
“It’s so different than it is with coaches,” Casserly said. “Coaches are so clearly defined. You know who calls the plays, you see them on TV, coordinators have press conferences. It’s just not like that in scouting. Are they pro? College? None of them are making big decisions. What you need is networking. It’s not politicking.”
Casserly was directly involved with the Jets’ coach and GM search process in 2015. Gang Green wound up hiring Todd Bowles and Mike Maccagnan – two former co-workers of Casserly’s.
Here’s more from Breer:
- Breer identified the following executives as people who could immediately jump into a GM job somewhere: Chiefs VP of player personnel Chris Ballard, Patriots VP of player personnel Nick Caserio, Ravens assistant GM Eric DeCosta, Seahawks co-director of player personnel Scott Fitterer, Texans director of player personnel Brian Gaine, Packers director of player personnel Brian Gutekunst, Seahawks co-director of player personnel Trent Kirchner, Cowboys assistant director of player personnel Will McClay, Cardinals VP of player personnel Terry McDonough, Vikings assistant GM George Paton, Falcons assistant GM Scott Pioli, Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin, Packers director of football operations Eliot Wolf.
- The widespread feeling in NFL circles is that Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh will be back in pro football eventually, even if it’s not happening right now. For his part, Harbaugh says that he is incredibly happy as the Wolverines’ coach.
- Is Wyoming quarterback Josh Allen the next under-the-radar quarterback prospect a la Carson Wentz? It was Craig Bohl who recruited Carson Wentz to North Dakota State and he is now Allen’s coach at Wyoming. It’s hard to say whether the 6’5″, 222-pound signal caller has the same kind of talent, but his stock is rising. “He’s a big ol’ kid with a big arm, and he’s pretty athletic too,” said one AFC exec. “We gotta learn more about him, but the tools are there.” Allen, a redshirt sophomore, has plenty of time to develop.
- Western Michigan coach P.J. Fleck recently predicted that Central Michigan quarterback Cooper Rush will be an “incredibly high draft pick” this year. Apparently, talent evaluators do not agree. “He may get drafted late because of the [lack of] quality at the position,” said one area scout assigned to CMU. “He’s an accurate thrower with deceptive athletic ability to extend plays with his feet. Not a dynamic or explosive athlete, but good enough to avoid the rush and create at times. Average arm at best, but he’s got solid touch on intermediate and deep balls. He just lacks elite velocity.”
A.J. Green Targeting Dec. 24 Return
- Bengals receiver A.J. Green is targeting a Dec. 24 return from a hamstring injury, a source told Bob Holzman of ESPN. The five-time Pro Bowler hasn’t played since Nov. 20, and even though the 5-7-1 Bengals are basically out of the playoff hunt, he has vowed to come back this season.
Brandon Thompson Out For 2016
- Bengals defensive tackle Brandon Thompson will remain on the physically unable to perform list and will not play in 2016, according to Katherine Terrell of ESPN.com. Thompson, 27, tore his ACL at the tail end of the 2015 campaign, but then re-signed with Cincinnati on a one-year deal. He’d been practicing for the past two weeks, but Bengals coaches don’t feel Thompson has progressed enough for a return to action.
Bengals’ Marvin Lewis Likely To Return In 2017
The Bengals will almost assuredly miss the postseason for the first time since the 2010 campaign, but head coach Marvin Lewis is still likely to return next year. Lewis said he will once again serve as Cincinnati’s coach in 2017 “if asked,” according to Paul Daugherty of the Cincinnati Enquirer, and the club’s ownership is overwhelmingly likely to welcome him back, per Enquirer scribes Paul Dehner Jr. and Jim Owczarski on today’s Bengals Beat Podcast.
[RELATED: Bengals Cut Mike Nugent]
Cincinnati inked Lewis to a one-year extension this spring, locking him up through 2017. Lewis, who has been coaching the Bengals since 2003, is the second longest-tenured head coach in the NFL, behind Bill Belichick in New England. During his 13+ seasons with the team, Lewis has led Cincinnati to a 115-99-3 regular-season record and has earned a playoff spot seven times. However, the Bengals have yet to win a postseason game under Lewis, going 0-7 in those contests.
Despite the lack of playoff success, the likely return of Lewis shouldn’t come as a surprise, especially given that Cincinnati preaches continuity above all else. Under owner/GM Mike Brown, the Bengals aren’t a team that makes reactionary decisions, and because Lewis exerts a strong influence on personnel decisions, his status as head coach is especially secure.
The Bengals haven’t officially been eliminated from the 2017 postseason, but their odds are extremely slim: FiveThirtyEight gives Cincinnati less than a one percent chance of making its way into the tournament.
Bengals Cut Mike Nugent, Claim Randy Bullock
The Bengals are making a change at kicker. The team announced that Mike Nugent has been dropped in favor of free agent Randy Bullock, whom Cincinnati claimed off waivers from Pittsburgh.
The NFL extended the distance of the extra point this year and Nugent hasn’t adapted well. On Sunday, Nugent missed his sixth XP of the season and also went 1-of-2 on field goal tries. For the year, he has made 23 of his 29 attempts, which is more or less in line with his career field goal percentage. Still, the PAT issue was maddening for Cincinnati and they’re moving on to another veteran. Nugent leaves the Bengals as the team’s third-leading scorer of all-time.
Bullock now gets a three-game audition for the Bengals, or perhaps another team that would be interested in him for 2017. Bullock, 26, was the Giants’ kicker during their season opener as Josh Brown served his one-game suspension. Recently, he served as the Steelers’ place kicker while Chris Boswell was out of action.