AFC Notes: Chiefs, Patriots, Bills, Blount
Appearing on SiriusXM NFL Radio today, Danieal Manning said signing with the Cowboys “would be fun,” since he grew up rooting for them. However, the free agent safety added that a team’s direction and opportunity to win will be determining factors in his decision on where to sign (Twitter links). That’s not to say that Dallas should be ruled out as a suitor, but it makes sense that Manning’s first two visits are to a pair of AFC playoff teams. Last night, we heard about his scheduled meeting with the Bengals, and today during his SiriusXM appearance, he confirmed that a visit to the Chiefs is also on tap (Twitter link).
Here’s more from around the AFC as the league’s free agent period enters its fourth week:
- Mike Reiss (Twitter link) passes along word from ESPN.com colleague John Clayton that free agent defensive end Will Smith is visiting the Patriots today. Smith, who was cut by the Saints earlier this offseason, indicated shortly after his release that he’d be open to playing in a 4-3 or 3-4 defense.
- Speaking to WBEN in Buffalo, billionaire Donald Trump confirmed that he has been approached about the possibility of joining an investment group in a bid to buy the Bills. Suggesting that he’ll “take a look” at the possibility, Trump stressed that he wants to see the franchise remain in Buffalo, as Mike Rodak of ESPN.com details.
- LeGarrette Blount’s new two-year deal with the Steelers includes a $150K incentive for reaching 800 yards rushing in 2014, tweets Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun.
NFC East Notes: Manning, Eagles, Doughty
The latest from the NFC East:
- Recently-released safety Danieal Manning grew up in the Dallas area, and has always fantasized about playing for the Cowboys, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com.
- Todd Archer of ESPNDallas.com lists safety, defensive end, interior offensive line, and receiver as areas where the Cowboys could look to add depth through free agency. Archer lists Thomas DeCoud, Robert Ayers, Kyle Cook, and Nate Burleson as players who could potentially help at those respective positions. The Cowboys have about $6.4MM in cap space with which to work.
- In separate pieces, Zach Berman of Philly.com and Sheil Kapadia of PhillyMag.com make much the same point: the Eagles need to find a way to continue to beat man coverage following the departure of DeSean Jackson. Opposing defenses primarily employed man coverage because it was the simplest to way to combat the Eagles fast-paced offensive attack. Jeremy Maclin will now become the focal point in the receiving game, but the team is expected to add a receiver from what is regarded as a loaded wideout class. Florida State’s Kelvin Benjamin, at 6’4″ and 240 pounds, is the type of physical receiver who could take on opposing defensive backs.
- NFL Network analyst Mike Mayock disputes the notion that the Eagles need a receiver, and thinks they should draft their highest-rated defensive player left on the board (via Bryan Fischer of NFL.com).
- The “door is not closed” between safety Reed Doughty and the Redskins, but he is not a priority in Washington, tweets Tarik El-Bashir of CSNWashington, also noting that several other teams have inquired on Doughty.
- New Redskins safety Ryan Clark will act as a mentor to young defensive backs Phillip Thomas and Bacarri Rambo, and try to fill the leadership void left by the retiring London Fletcher, writes John Keim of ESPN.com. But Clark was signed due to his ability, as well, as Keim notes (in a nice turn of phrase highlighting the Redskins ineptitude on defense last season): “[W]hile Pittsburgh let [Clark] walk because he’d lost a step, the Redskins have been seeking a safety who had any steps to begin with. They weren’t losing steps; they never had any.”
Jason Garrett On Cowboys’ Offseason
Cowboys’ head coach Jason Garrett spoke about his team’s offseason, an unusual one considering the Cowboys are used to being the team that spends big money to acquire high profile free agents. Of course, their dire cap situation made it impossible to spend that money, in fact causing the opposite, as the team was forced to part ways with a few notable contributors, most significantly DeMarcus Ware and Miles Austin.
The team was able to add a few new pieces, with a focus on retooling a defensive line and pass rush that will be without not only Ware, but Jay Ratliff and Jason Hatcher as well. The Cowboys’ response was to add Terrell McClain, Jeremy Mincey, and Henry Melton. David Moore of DallasNews.com was able to transcribe some of Garrett’s thoughts on the new signings, among other things.
Garrett referred to McClain as “an interior player who can have an impact on our team”, and calls Mincey “a really solid football player.” The head coach believes that McClain brings versatility that can be utilized at nose tackle or at a three-technique, and that Mincey could potentially fill a void at defensive end. Garrett lauded Melton’s physical ability, referencing his past as a high school running back.
“You see some of those running back traits in terms of quickness, explosiveness, change of direction,’’ says Garrett. “He was hurt last year and only played in three games. He’s coming off an ACL, but he played very well for Rod Marinelli a couple of years ago and I feel like we can get him to that place.’’
Garrett, the former quarterback, also spoke about picking up Brandon Weeden as a backup to Tony Romo. “We want to develop a guy, and we feel like Brandon Weeden is a guy we can develop,’’ Garrett said of the 30-year-old quarterback. “We feel like he’s got a lot of upside, and we want to get him in an environment where we can help him grow and develop.’’
Garrett also addressed new offensive coordinator Scott Linehan, who has been given play-calling duties despite Bill Callahan calling the plays last season and still being on staff.
“He and I have very similar philosophies about offensive football and how we do things. There are some terminology things that are common to both of our offensive systems and certainly they are philosophically similarly in foundation,” said the head coach. “You always want to evolve your offense from year to year and continue to grow with your system. There is a foundation that we have in place, a philosophy that’s very similar, and we’re excited about the different things that he’s going to bring.’’
While it is unusual for play-calling responsibilities to change hands without letting go of the coach, an equally peculiar move happened on the other side of the ball, where Monte Kiffin relinquished his role as defensive coordinator, a role now filled by Rod Marinelli. Kiffin will still remain on staff as a defensive assistant.
NFC Mailbag Roundup: Cowboys, Packers
Thanks to ESPN dedicating a seasoned reporter to each NFL team, there’s never a shortage for content. Today is mailbag day, where the reporters answer Twitter questions from fans in posts on the ESPN NFL Nation site. We’ve perused the mailbags and are bringing you the most relevant information from the NFC:
- Todd Archer thinks $11MM a year for Cowboys receiver Dez Bryant might be a little high, in part because of the money tied up in quarterback Tony Romo. However, if the contract is structured in such a way to encourage Bryant to prove it every year — with yearly roster bonuses, for example — it would make more sense.
- Rob Demovsky takes on the Packers center situation, saying the team can’t pay everyone big money on the offensive line. Guards T.J. Lang and Josh Sitton are each on their second contracts, while tackles Bryan Bulaga and Derek Sherrod earn first-round pick salaries. Demovsky pegs center candidate J.C. Tretter as “smart, athletic, extremely versatile and a tough guy,” and says Don Barclay and possibly a draft pick with challenge Tretter for the job.
- In an interesting bit of news, Demovsky reports that the Packers will gain $350K in salary-cap space for this season and every season through 2017 thanks to an insurance policy that kicked in when quarterback Aaron Rodgers missed seven games with a fractured left clavicle.
- Cornerback Charles Godfrey currently carries a $7.1MM salary cap figure, and David Newton says the Panthers want Godfrey on the roster, but not at that number. Godfrey suffered an Achilles injury in Week 2 that prematurely ended his 2013 season, and his recovery from the injury will go a long way to figuring out his status on the team.
- Mike Triplett says there’s probably a “good chance” the Saints will add another veteran receiver.
- Michael Rothstein does not agree with the Lions‘ choice to not exercise the defensive tackle’s $5.5MM option for 2015.
- Dan Graziano says North Carolina tight end Eric Ebron “remains a strong possibility” for the Giants with the No. 12 overall pick.
- Ryan Clark remains an option at free safety for the Redskins, John Keim writes, adding that he thinks the team will draft someone at the position.
- Ben Goessling doesn’t think the Vikings were willing to spend what the Giants ended up spending for Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie.
Draft Notes: Manziel, Barr, Bucannon, Webster
As mentioned earlier today, the Browns were one of only two teams that weren’t in attendance for Texas A&M’s (or, realistically, Johnny Manziel‘s) Pro Day. This is interesting, considering the team has the No. 4 pick in this year’s draft and has been seeking a franchise quarterback for a very long time. Among those that believe the team will snag a quarterback in the first round is Brown’s wide receiver Josh Gordon. The All-Pro talent said that he was “pretty sure” that his team would select a quarterback, but Gordon did not initially mention Johnny Football. According to Pat McManamon of ESPN.com, the receiver instead brought up former UCF quarterback Blake Bortles or Louisville junior Teddy Bridgewater. Of course, Gordon eventually added Manziel to his list, saying the former Heisman winner would “seem to be the top guy on (his) list right now.”
A couple of other notes regarding some NFL prospects…
- Former UCLA linebacker Anthony Barr will meet with the Cowboys, Falcons, Titans and Vikings, according to Ross Jones of FoxSports.com. The meeting with the Falcons is scheduled for this Saturday.
- All-American safety Deone Bucannon will visit the Ravens today and tomorrow, tweets Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun. The former Washington State Cougar would fit in nicely with a secondary that just lost veteran James Ihedigbo to the Lions.
- Bloomsburg defender Larry Webster has a busy week ahead of him, according to Tony Pauline of DraftInsider.net (via Twitter). Webster has a visit and workout scheduled with the Lions, a workout scheduled with the Panthers, and visits set up with the Cardinals and Buccaneers.
Draft Notes: Manziel, Fiedorowicz, Lee, Latimer
While plenty of schools have held their Pro Days within the last few weeks, none have included more media members or notable guests than Texas A&M’s, which was attended by former president George H.W. Bush, among others. Johnny Manziel, Mike Evans, and the Aggies also attracted interest from most NFL teams, with representatives from 30 clubs showing up to check out the A&M prospects — only the Bears and Browns weren’t in attendance, according to Albert Breer of the NFL Network (Twitter link).
According to Charean Williams of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Twitter links), GMs for the Jets, Texans, Vikings, Rams, Steelers, Jaguars, Bills, and Lions, along with head coaches for the Texans, Vikings, Jaguars, Steelers, Lions, Buccaneers, Eagles, and Raiders were in attendance today.
Meanwhile, Manziel will meet privately with the Texans, Jaguars, Bucs, and Raiders today, as well as the Vikings tomorrow, says Breer (Twitter links). And although the Browns didn’t show up today, they have a private workout lined up with the young quarterback, according to Williams (via Twitter).
Here’s more on the 2014 draft class:
- Iowa tight end C.J. Fiedorowicz is scheduled to work out privately for the Cowboys and Texans on Friday, and also has plans to visit the Bucs, Lions, Falcons, and Patriots in the next few weeks, writes Jeff Arnold at ChicagoFootball.com. The Packers and Panthers have also expressed interest in Fiedorowicz, according to the tight end.
- The Ravens are hosting USC wide receiver Marqise Lee for a visit this week, tweets Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun.
- Albany offensive tackle Kadeem Williams worked out for the Bucs and Chargers, and moved well in positional drills, a source tells Wilson (Twitter link).
- Indiana receiver Cody Latimer has visits lined up with the Panthers, Raiders, Eagles, Bills, and Lions, according to Tony Pauline of DraftInsider.net (Twitter links).
- Boston College quarterback Chase Rettig will work out for the Falcons tomorrow, tweets Pauline.
- The Dolphins are scheduled to work out a pair of Monmouth players, tight end Mike McLafferty and cornerback Tevrin Brandon, according to Pauline (Twitter link).
- Syracuse cornerback Keon Lyn has visits scheduled with the Dolphins, Lions, and Raiders, says Pauline (via Twitter).
Extra Points: Allen, Jackson, Clowney, Spencer
The Jets kept an eye on the Jared Allen situation but never made a firm offer before the defensive end signed with the Bears, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. Meanwhile, Rapoport adds (link) that the Raiders actually offered more money than the Bears. Oakland was willing to give Allen a deal worth $9MM per year, but he believed Chicago was the best fit for him. What made Chicago such a good fit for the Pro Bowler? Rapoport says he chose the Bears in part because he has a great deal of faith in Jay Cutler‘s ability to win championships (link). Here’s tonight’s look around the NFL..
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In an Insider-only piece for ESPN.com, Field Yates explores the trade market for Eagles receiver DeSean Jackson, identifying the Jets, Raiders, Browns, and Panthers as trade partners that could make sense.
- Texans ownership, coach Bill O’Brien, and General Manager Rick Smith will be meeting and dining with Jadeveon Clowney the night before his South Carolina pro day next week, tweets Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com.
- Anthony Spencer remains on the Cowboys radar, but there’s no rush on the part of Dallas or any other club to sign him as the defensive end fights his way back from microfracture surgery on his knee, writes David Moore of the Dallas Morning News. Spencer’s representative Jordan Woy says his client, who underwent the surgery last fall and missed the final 13 games of the Cowboys season, is “structurally” sound and now working on his strength and conditioning.
- Bernie Miklasz of the Post-Dispatch likes the Rams‘ signing of Shaun Hill as their veteran backup quarterback for 2014. Hill, he writes, has been one of the better backup QBs in the NFL since getting his first opportunity to start in a relief role for the 49ers in 2007 and now he’ll be reunited in St. Louis with Frank Cignetti, who was the QB coach with SF during Hill’s time there.
- San Jose State cornerback Bené Benwikere, who had 14 interceptions over four seasons, penned a journal entry for USA Today Sports and disclosed that he’s set to work out for the Panthers on April 1st.
- Scouts Walter Juliff and Chris Hall and quarterbacks coach Wade Wilson are expected to be the Cowboys‘ representatives at Johnny Manziel‘s pro day, tweets Charean Williams of the Star-Telegram.
NFC East Notes: Garrett, Redskins, Giants
Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett said last month that he’s not thinking about his contract situation, despite entering the last year of his deal. Following those comments, owner Jerry Jones stressed that 2014 is not necessarily a make-or-break season for Garrett, and he expressed that sentiment in stronger terms yesterday. Asked if the head coach must lead the Cowboys to the postseason this year in order to keep his job, Jones said he doesn’t look at it that way “at all,” according to David Moore of the Dallas Morning News.
Here’s more from around the NFC East:
- According to head coach Jay Gruden, no teams have contacted the Redskins about acquiring Kirk Cousins. Gruden indicated today he’s excited to have Cousins backing up Robert Griffin III , tweets Mike Jones of the Washington Post.
- Discussing Brian Orakpo, Gruden said he wouldn’t mind the linebacker playing out the 2014 season on his one-year franchise tag to see what he can do before the Redskins lock him up to a long-term deal (Twitter link via Jones).
- The Giants added Rashad Jennings and re-signed Peyton Hillis in free agency, but with Andre Brown likely to sign elsewhere and David Wilson still recovering from neck surgery, head coach Tom Coughlin suggested today that the team will likely need to add another running back to be safe (Twitter link via Bart Hubbuch of the New York Post).
- Coughlin, the NFL’s oldest current head coach, also said today that he feels great health-wise and feels like he can keep coaching beyond this season, tweets Rich Cimini of ESPNNewYork.com.
NFC Notes: Ware, Jordan, Eagles, Packers
The Cowboys had to let veteran DeMarcus Ware go this offseason, but head coach Jason Garrett says it was far from an easy decision to make.
“DeMarcus Ware is one of the best players the franchise has ever had,” Garrett told Calvin Watkins of ESPNDallas.com. “He played his position over the past eight or nine years as well as anybody has in the National Football League. Those are very difficult and challenging decisions. There’s a lot of different factors that go into making a decision like that and we just felt like at this time, the best thing for us to do was to not compete to the extent that we would have had to to keep him in a Cowboys uniform. A great player, a great human being, one of the cornerstones of our franchise. But you have to make some of these hard decisions and you have to be disciplined to do that.”
Here are a few more NFC links:
- Coach Andy Reid says Akeem Jordan’s versatility and reliability will help the Redskins, writes Mike Jones of the Washington Post. Reid coached Jordan for six seasons in Philadelphia, and then brought him with him to Kansas City last season. Now, Jordan has traveled east to join him in Washington D.C.
- The Eagles are going to have to make several difficult and most likely unpopular decisions in the next year to get under the 2015 salary cap, explains Reuben Frank of CSNPhilly.com. 13 players have a combined 2015 cap hit of $68,025,140, or 47 percent of the Eagles’ current 2015 total cap figure. Aside from LeSean McCoy and Jason Peters, any of those players could wind up as cap casualties after the 2014 season.
- Packers coach Mike McCarthy told reporters, including Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com, that they shouldn’t put a label on newly-acquired veteran Julius Peppers. Peppers will play a combination of outside linebacker and defensive lineman that Green Bay will refer to as an “elephant.” This means means Peppers will not work directly under defensive line coach Mike Trgovac, who was Peppers’ defensive line coach and defensive coordinator with the Panthers from 2002-08.
- McCarthy wants to have unrestricted free agent Matt Flynn back in the fold, but he’s realistic and knows it might not be in the cards. “I’d like to have Matt back,” the Packers coach said, according to Jason Wilde of ESPNWisconsin.com. “I thought Matt was a good addition to our football team. I have great respect and admiration for him, just being around him a lot on a positional basis. Yeah, I’m hoping financially it works out.”
NFC Notes: Newton, Cowboys, Suh, Rams
Although the Panthers would like to eventually reach an agreement with quarterback Cam Newton that keeps him in Carolina for several years, for now the club expects to take advantage of its fifth-year option for 2015, GM Dave Gettleman confirmed today. As a top-10 pick in 2011, Newton will be in line for a fifth-year salary worth the amount of the quarterback transition tag. Here are a few more updates from across the NFC:
- Like the Panthers, the Cowboys hope to lock up their own 2011 first-rounder, Tyron Smith, for the long-term, but in the meantime, “all signs point to” the club exercising its fifth-year option for 2015 on Smith, according to Brandon George of the Dallas Morning News.
- Cowboys owner Jerry Jones dismissed the idea that his team is in rebuilding mode, as Calvin Watkins of ESPNDallas.com details.
- Lions president Tom Lewand confirmed today that he has been in contact with Jimmy Sexton, the agent for Ndamukong Suh. However, the two sides won’t meet in Orlando to discuss an extension for Suh, since Lewand doesn’t believe it’s an ideal setting to do business (Twitter links via Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press).
- Jimmy Graham of the Saints and Greg Hardy of the Panthers are still on the franchise tag for now, but Saints owner Tom Benson is very confident New Orleans will work out a multiyear deal with Graham sooner or later, writes Larry Holder of the Times-Picayune. As for Hardy, Gettleman says the Panthers are letting the smoke clear before revisiting a potential long-term contract for the star defensive end, tweets David Newton of ESPN.com.
- Although the Rams may have some interest in Mark Sanchez, Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch believes that interest is tepid at best.
- Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun reports (via Twitter) that both players the Rams signed on Monday received minimum-salary deals, with Greg Reid inking a three-year contract and Etienne Sabino signing for one year. Neither pact included a bonus.