Dolphins Trade Jamar Taylor To Browns
Entering his contract year, Jamar Taylor will have to attempt to book his second contract in another city. The Dolphins traded the fourth-year cornerback to the Browns for a seventh-round pick in this year’s waning draft, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport reports (on Twitter).
The Browns also sent their seventh-rounder to the Dolphins in the deal. As a result of the exchange, the Fins move up 27 spots in the seventh round to No. 223, Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald tweets. Miami still has pick No. 231 in the seventh.
Taylor did not enjoy a remarkable tenure in Miami, starting nine games in three seasons. His most extensive work came in 2015, when he started six games. Pro Football Focus did not view his work as particularly productive, assigning its fourth-worst grade among regular corners to the now-25-year-old Taylor.
A second-round pick out of Boise State, Taylor plummeted from No. 2 corner in Miami to start 2015 to being a healthy scratch in four of the Fins’ final five contests. The Fins have now moved on from each of their primary 2015 starters, with Brent Grimes signing with the Buccaneers and Brice McCain joining the Titans. Miami traded for embattled Eagles corner Byron Maxwell and traded Baylor’s Xavien Howard in the second round to help a rebuilding effort here.
Taylor will venture to Cleveland, where the cornerbacks haven’t drawn rave reviews much lately either — although that sentence can apply to most of the Browns’ position groups. With former No. 6 overall pick Justin Gilbert failing to see much time and Joe Haden regressing in 2015, the Browns also have Tramon Williams and Pierre Desir as auxiliary investments but could use some depth. Taylor made 48 tackles in his fourth season
Raiders Acquire 100th Pick From Browns
The Raiders have acquired the second pick of the fourth round, 100th overall, from the Browns, reports NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport (via Twitter). Oakland used the pick to select Michigan State quarterback Connor Cook. Cleveland will receive picks No. 114 and 154, according to Vic Tafur (via Twitter).
Cook was widely regarded as the best quarterback available entering Saturday’s portion of the draft. Despite finishing last season with 3,131 passing yards, 24 touchdowns and only seven interceptions, the senior saw a drastic drop in his draft stock.
Cook entered the season as one of the top-rated quarterback prospects, but question marks surrounding his attitude led to the free fall. Penn State’s Christian Hackenberg (Jets), North Carolina State’s Jacoby Brissett (Patriots) and Southern Cal’s Cody Kessler (Browns) were among the signal-callers to seemingly pass Cook.
Cook doesn’t have a clear role with Oakland, as starting quarterback Derek Carr showed real improvements during his second year in the league.
Draft Rumors: Browns, Pats, Rams, Bears
With the draft set to kick off in less than 3o minutes, let’s take a quick look at some draft rumors from around the NFL…
- ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweets that multiple teams are talking with the Browns about acquiring the first pick of the fourth round. Schefter believes these inquiring teams are targeting a quarterback with the pick.
- Entering the day with five sixth-round picks, Ben Volin of the Boston Globe says it’s “likely to quite likely” that the Patriots move up to the fourth or fifth round (Twitter link).
- With only five picks in this year’s draft, the Rams have been focusing in on potential undrafted free agents, tweets ESPN’s Nick Wagoner.
- Chargers general manager Tom Telesco is expected to use his fourth-round pick for the first time, tweets Michael Gehlken of the San Diego Union-Tribune. The team’s last fourth-round pick was Ladarius Green in 2012.
- The Bears will have seven selections on Saturday, and Rich Campbell of the Chicago Tribune writes that the organization is optimistic about their gameplan. “There’s a lot of good players in the draft tomorrow,” said general manager Ryan Pace. “And now we’ve got a lot of swings at those players.”
AFC Rumors: Browns, Bills, Broncos, Pats
After selecting USC quarterback Cody Kessler with the No. 93 pick in the draft, Browns executive Sashi Brown said he doesn’t think the team needs to make a roster move involving a quarterback right away, per Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal (Twitter link).
Cleveland’s depth chart at QB is getting crowded, with Kessler joining Robert Griffin, Josh McCown, Austin Davis, Connor Shaw, and Pat Devlin, so the team will have to make some decisions eventually, but Brown said tonight that he likes encouraging competition at the position.
The Browns’ executive VP of football operations also said after round three that the team will consider trade options at the start of day three. Cleveland currently holds the top two picks of the fourth round, and has four overall picks in the round. The team hasn’t been shy about trading down so far, and Brown is sure the team will receive calls about those fourth-rounders, as Ulrich tweets.
- The Bills are exploring finding a way to land Michigan State quarterback Connor Cook on Saturday, according to Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com, who suggests (via Twitter) that it would take “some 2017 ammo” for Buffalo to move up. The club currently doesn’t own a 2016 fourth-round pick that can be traded.
- Broncos general manager John Elway confirmed that his team is in no rush to add a fourth quarterback to a roster that features Mark Sanchez, Paxton Lynch, and Trevor Siemian, tweets Troy Renck of the Denver Post. Elway didn’t rule out adding another signal-caller, but suggested it’s not a priority for the club.
- If the Cowboys hadn’t taken Notre Dame linebacker Jaylon Smith early in the second round, the Patriots are one team that would have had interest in nabbing him, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. New England had back-to-back picks late in round two, but traded one of them, with Smith no longer available.
Panthers Acquire 77th Pick From Browns
The Panthers have acquired the 77th pick from the Browns, according to Sam Farmer of the Los Angeles Times (Twitter link), and have chosen West Virginia defensive back Daryl Worley, tweets Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald. In addition to No. 77, the Panthers received the 141st choice in exchange for Nos. 93, 129 and 168, per Joe Person of The Charlotte Observer (on Twitter). The 77th selection has changed hands multiple times, with Detroit previously sending it to Philadelphia and then the Eagles trading it to the Browns.
Worley was a playmaker at West Virginia, where he picked off 10 passes during his three-year college career, including a personal-best six last season. Along with free agent pickup Brandon Boykin and second-rounder James Bradberry, Worley’s presence in Carolina should help to fill the void left by star cornerback Josh Norman, whom the team pulled the franchise tag from last week. Norman went on to sign with Washington.
Browns Cut Saalim Hakim
- At the start of the week, the Browns announced that they had signed wide receiver Saalim Hakim. However, Hakim’s stint in Cleveland was short-lived. As Darin Gantt of Pro Football Talk writes, the Browns cut Hakim from their roster today.
Draft Rumors: Day 2, Ragland, Ravens, Cowboys
The consensus from evaluators is that there are more talented players still available today than they had anticipated, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. That means that we could see a lot of trade activity take place early on in the second round. Rapoport adds (via Twitter) that the Browns, Titans, and Cowboys, who hold the first three picks of the second round, are all getting phone calls about possible trades.
Here are a few more draft updates and rumors, with the second round less than two hours from getting underway:
- Rand Getlin of NFL.com (Twitter link) surveyed 11 teams about linebacker Reggie Ragland‘s enlarged aorta and none of those clubs expressed concern. Ragland, he adds, is still expected to come off the board early on in tonight’s proceedings.
- Reports last night suggested that the Ravens and Cowboys discussed a trade involving the fourth and sixth overall picks, but Dallas balked because Baltimore would have selected running back Ezekiel Elliott. Per Ed Werder of ESPN.com (Twitter link), the Ravens actually wanted to move up for defensive back Jalen Ramsey. However, Todd Archer of ESPN.com tweets that the Cowboys believed the Ravens were eyeing Elliott, and didn’t want to miss out on both Elliott and Ramsey by sliding down two spots.
- Agent Jimmy Sexton helped to stop Laremy Tunsil‘s slide on Thursday night by having his client call into war rooms and talk to team decision makers, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. In those conversations, Tunsil owned the past drug use shown in the video.
- Here’s a fun fact from Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter): Chip Kelly’s NFL teams have used 11 of their 23 picks on Pac-12 players, the most picks from a single conference by any head coach in that time. The 49ers, of course, used their two first-round picks last night on Oregon’s DeForest Buckner and Stanford guard Joshua Garnett.
- The Cardinals, Panthers, Falcons, and Seahawks are keeping their eyes peeled today for a backup quarterback, Ian Rapoport tweets.
Luke Adams contributed to this post.
AFC Rumors: Broncos, Wilkerson, Ravens, Fins
Having traded up on Thursday night to nab Memphis quarterback Paxton Lynch, the Broncos may now be in a better position to negotiate a long-term deal with star pass rusher Von Miller, suggests Jason Cole of Bleacher Report (video link).
Lynch’s rookie contract will likely call for cap hits that range from about $1.7MM in 2016 to $3MM by his fourth year in 2019, meaning Denver may not have much money tied up in the quarterback position for the next few years. While a Broncos source who spoke to Cole cautioned that the team still needs to make sure it has room to extend players like wideout Emmanuel Sanders and linebacker Brandon Marshall, there’s some optimism between the team and Miller’s camp that a long-term pact can eventually be reached.
Here’s more from around the AFC:
- The Jets have in fact fielded calls on Muhammad Wilkerson in recent weeks, but no serious suitors emerged, according to sources who spoke with Rich Cimini of ESPN.com. On Thursday night, GM Mike Maccagnan confirmed that a Wilkerson deal is now unlikely.
- Kevin Byrne of BaltimoreRavens.com takes a behind-the-scenes look at the Ravens‘ process last night as their No. 6 pick approached, including how the Laremy Tunsil video affected the team’s decision. Meanwhile, Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald examines the thinking of the team that did take Tunsil, at No. 13: the Dolphins.
- The NFL’s stance on having a franchise in Las Vegas is “evolving,” per commissioner Roger Goodell, but Jason Cole of Bleacher Report (video link) hears that the league still wouldn’t want a team like the Raiders to have any part-owners who have a stake in a Vegas casino.
- Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com explores the Browns‘ day-one draft decisions, noting that plenty of execs around the league are skeptical about the team’s approach and the selection of Baylor wideout Corey Coleman.
- Houston defensive tackle Tomme Mark got calls from the Chargers and Raiders and has drawn interest from Texans as a late-rounder or a priority free agent, per Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter link).
Zach Links contributed to this post.
Cowboys Looking To Trade Up To Browns At No. 32?
2:05pm: The Cowboys are now unlikely to move up from pick No. 34, Ed Werder of ESPN.com tweets. Owner Jerry Jones feels that there are still multiple players on the board with first-round grades.
11:19am: The Cowboys are looking to trade up to grab the Browns’ No. 32 pick, a source tells Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). The likely target is a pass-rusher, he adds.
It is not immediately clear as to who Dallas is looking to select. One player we know that Dallas will not select is UCLA linebacker Myles Jack. Jack has not been removed from the Cowboys’ board, sources tell David Moore of the Dallas Morning News, but they have determined that the risk of taking Jack with the third pick of the second round is too high to warrant his selection at No. 34 if he’s still available.
“Since we’re third, we want to be a little cautious about where we show our interest here,” owner Jerry Jones said late Thursday evening when asked specifically about Jack.
If a pass rusher is what the Cowboys are after, then they could select from a group that includes Clemson’s Kevin Dodd and Oklahoma State’s Emmanuel Ogbah. Kamalei Correa (Boise State) and Jihad Ward (Illinois) are also still on the board heading into Day 2.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Browns Didn't Try To Trade Up For Lynch
- The Browns didn’t attempt to trade up late in first round last night for Memphis QB Paxton Lynch, a source familiar with the situation told Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon-Journal (on Twitter).