RFA/ERFA Tender Decisions: 3/6/17
Here are today’s ERFA decisions as teams make their final preparations for free agency.
- David Irving emerged as a viable pass-rusher for the Cowboys down the stretch last season, and the team will understandably extend an ERFA tender offer to the defensive end, Todd Archer of ESPN.com reports. He will make $615K in 2017.
- Two Panthers wide receivers, though, won’t be tendered and will thus become free agents. RFAs Philly Brown and Brenton Bersin will become UFAs, Joseph Person of the Charlotte Observer reports. Brown started 22 games for the Panthers and had a key role in Super Bowl 50. In three seasons, Brown caught 79 passes for 1,019 yards and seven touchdowns. Bersin also spent the past three seasons on Carolina’s roster but wasn’t utilized nearly as much.
- The Bears have re-signed ERFA tight end Daniel Brown to a one-year deal, the team announced. The team also tendered ERFAs Josh Bellamy, a wide receiver/special-teamer, and Bryce Callahan, a cornerback.
- The Saints plan to submit a tender to retain wide receiver Willie Snead, Josh Katzenstein of The Times-Picayune writes. However, his camp is hoping New Orleans will pay him more than the one-year minimum salary. The 24-year-old Snead is an ERFA despite arriving in New Orleans in 2014. However, the standout target only has two accrued seasons since he spent his rookie year on the practice squad. In those, he’s combined for more than 1,800 yards and scored seven touchdowns.
- The Vikings have agreed to tender offensive lineman Zac Kerin at the one-year, $615K level, Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press writes.
Latest On Tony Romo
The Cowboys are hoping a team comes in with a Tony Romo trade offer and hoping the 36-year-old passer would accept the deal, Clarence Hill of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports (via Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk). Romo is believed to be open to helping Dallas facilitate a trade, but Jerry Jones said he plans to “do right by” the longtime starting passer. Hill also notes Romo would be inclined to sign an playing time-incentive-based contract that would make it easier for a team to justify adding him.
- One team with interest in Romo said the Cowboys QB will likely have to take a low base salary in the $6MM-$8MM range with per game incentives, Jason Cole of Bleacher Report (on Twitter).
Cowboys Notes: Elliott, Crawford
- Cowboys owner Jerry Jones says he has heard nothing new about the league’s investigation into assault allegations against Ezekiel Elliott, Jon Machota of the Dallas Morning News writes. “Absolutely nothing anywhere that indicates anything other than what they told us when we left training camp,” Jones said, “and that is that they have no cause.” Jones added that if the investigation had turned anything up, he “would have heard about it.”
- Cowboys defensive end Jack Crawford has interest from roughly five teams, Jason Cole of Bleacher Report tweets. There’s a chance he could return to Dallas, but the Colts, Bills, and Jaguars are also in play for his services. Last year, Crawford re-signed with the Cowboys on a one-year, $1.1MM deal with a $240K signing bonus. This time around, he could command more money. Crawford, 29 in September, made a career-high eleven starts in 2016 and had 25 tackles with 3.5 sacks.
Cowboys Were Targeting JPP Pre-Tag
Had the Giants let Jason Pierre-Paul hit free agency instead of franchise-tagging him for the second time, the Cowboys were prepared to intervene. Dallas was going to attempt to pry JPP away from the Giants if he were available, Ralph Vacchiano of SNY.tv reports. While fitting Pierre-Paul’s high-end salary demands would have been difficult for a Cowboys team that as of now has the least cap room in the league at $3.3MM, Jerry Jones wants to upgrade his team’s pass-rushing corps.
A source informed Clarence Hill of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram the Cowboys are seeking help at pass-rusher and wide receiver this offseason. An interest at wideout seems interesting given that the Cowboys stand to return their top three pass-catchers from 2016, with only Terrance Williams being a free agent, and the team having shifted to a run-based offense. Dallas plans to try and retain Williams, but only at a certain price, per Hill. If the sides can’t work something out, the Cowboys will target a receiver in free agency or the draft.
Cowboys Working On Extensions For Linehan, Marinelli; More On Jaylon Smith
The Cowboys are working on contract extensions for offensive coordinator Scott Linehan and defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli, Jon Machota of The Dallas Morning News reports. Both men are under contract through the 2017 season, having signed three-year deals in January 2015. Linehan has served as the Cowboys’ OC since 2014, while Marinelli worked as the team’s D-line coach in 2013 before being promoted to DC in 2014.
- We learned several days ago that the Cowboys are proceeding as if LB Jaylon Smith will play in 2017, although there has been no significant change in the nerve damage that caused Smith’s draft stock to plummet last year and that forced him to miss the entire 2016 campaign. As Charean Williams of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram writes, Dallas not only expects Smith to play this year, the team expects him to be a full participant in offseason workouts. Jones, as per usual, is especially bullish on Smith’s chances of being an impact player this year.
Latest On Cowboys’ Tony Romo Decision
Jerry Jones fielded 33 Tony Romo-related questions today in an expansive interview today, and while nothing has been decided about a possible trade or release just yet, the owner will not be watching his longtime franchise quarterback play for the Redskins.
A Romo-to-Washington scenario is a non-starter for Jones, Clarence Hill of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports. There is also an unspoken understanding, per Hill, that Romo will not sign with the Redskins if he becomes a free agent. A report circulated on Friday that had a three-team blockbuster trade — one sending Romo to the Redskins, Kirk Cousins to the 49ers and draft picks to the Cowboys — hovering as a possible scenario.
Jones emphasized the team will treat Romo respectfully here and not trade him to a destination where he wouldn’t want to land. The owner met with the 36-year-old quarterback before the Super Bowl at Cowboys headquarters. Romo did not ask to be released, Hill reports, but the two Cowboys cornerstones did discuss the possible outcomes of this process. No other meetings between the two are scheduled, although the sides will communicate, Hill reports.
Jones added the team will make a decision sooner rather than later but won’t be held hostage by the start of free agency on March 9.
“It is implied that we will work in the best way we can for the mutual interest of Tony and the Cowboys,” Jones said, via Hill. “That’s important here. Now we’ve got to abide by every league rule. We can’t have agreements without it being within the boundaries of the NFL. But when you’ve got a situation like we got, we’ll do the do-right rule. That’s it. That is it. Very important. We do the do-right rule. We have that kind of relationship.”
Romo has been rumored to be seeking a starting role with a contender. The Broncos and Texans appear to be the qualifiers here, with the Chiefs having every notable franchise decision-maker publicly commit to Alex Smith. Helping Dallas facilitate a trade isn’t out of the question for the 15th-year veteran, but he expects to be released. Jones would want Romo to stay in Dallas if possible but understands that might not be what the quarterback wants.
“He’s considering options,” Jones said. “Obviously, we all know that he’s going to have the opportunity to look at whatever situation, if there are situations, he’s going to have an opportunity to look at it. He gets to say and control this situation every bit as much as we do.”
Brandon Carr Eager To Gauge Free Agency
- Brandon Carr does not appear to be considering retirement like he was after the Cowboys‘ divisional-round loss in January. Instead, the 30-year-old corner looks set to see what’s out there in free agency. “I’m looking forward to it,” Carr said of free agency, via Jon Machota of the Dallas Morning News. “I love defending the star. I love representing everything that comes with the Dallas Cowboys organization, so that’s first and foremost. But also, you have to play the game. There’s a business side to it as well, and I’m prepared to do both.” Carr won’t be signing for $10MM annually like he did in 2012 but should generate some interest as a second-tier option. The veteran defender who grew up a Cowboys fan is one of two corners, joining Morris Claiborne, that could defect from Dallas this month.
- The Saints have expressed interest in bringing back Sterling Moore, Herbie Teope of NOLA.com reports. Moore said last month he was certain mutual interest existed between he and the Saints, and there now appears to be something to that. The 26-year-old corner helped stabilize a ravaged New Orleans cornerback group, one that lost Delvin Breaux for much of the season and P.J. Williams for nearly all of it. Moore played on a one-year deal in New Orleans last season after bouncing from the Patriots to the Cowboys to the Buccaneers between 2011-15. PFF tabbed Moore as the Saints’ top corner last season.
Cowboys Haven't Been Contacted About Three-Team Tony Romo Deal
Houston’s last known stance on this matter surfaced more than a month ago, when owner Bob McNair said the team intends to draft a quarterback. Romo was not believed to be an option for the Texans at that point. Since, Romo’s been connected to the Broncos, Chiefs, Redskins, 49ers, Bears and Bills — with a scenario now involving a three-team trade between the Cowboys, 49ers and Redskins being the most unique — in what’s becoming quite the complicated race. But the Texans are an obvious fit, Brock Osweiler‘s contract notwithstanding, due to their hole at quarterback and strong defense.
Regarding the blockbuster three-team trade mentioned on Friday, a high-ranking Cowboys official told Clarence Hill of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Twitter link) that the team hasn’t been contacted about a deal that would send Romo to Washington and Kirk Cousins to San Francisco. Multiple sources told Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk the Romo-to-D.C. proposal might be implausible.
If the smoke clears on that would-be megadeal and Romo is still with the Cowboys, the Texans will still have Osweiler’s contract to deal with. The sixth-year passer struggled last season but has three seasons remaining on the four-year, $72MM pact he signed last March. And $25MM in dead money is attached to that accord for 2017, providing a deterrent to the Romo-to-Houston talk. Romo has three seasons left on his Cowboys deal, one that includes a league-high $24.7MM cap number in ’17, but he expects to be released. The Texans have $23MM-plus in cap space but want to re-sign A.J. Bouye, who is expected to be one of the highest-paid free agents on the market.
Cowboys Could Have Trouble Finding Taker For Alfred Morris
- The Cowboys plan to shop running back Alfred Morris, but they’re going to have difficulty finding a taker because of his contract, opines Rich Tandler of CSN Mid-Atlantic. Although Morris is due an affordable base salary of $1.2MM in 2017, his deal also includes $500K in per-game roster bonuses.
Cowboys Rumors: Romo, Free
The Redskins could attempt to acquire Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo in a trade also involving the 49ers, but it’s not going to happen on Jerry Jones‘ watch, tweets Clarence Hill Jr. of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Of course, it’ll be interesting to see if that will be Jones’ stance if the Redskins make the only trade offer for Romo, who’s a prime release candidate.
- Despite some other chatter this week, Hill tweets that Cowboys offensive tackle Doug Free is not retiring. Head coach Jason Garrett said Wednesday he has not heard any word of the 33-year-old Free walking away.