Detroit Lions Rumors & News - Pro Football Rumors

Lions Hire Randy Edsall

January 31st, 2016 at 1:41pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Lions have hired former Maryland/UConn head coach Randy Edsall, reports Tim Twentyman of DetroitLions.com. Edsall, 57, will serve as the director of football research/special projects.

The role is certainly not a common one among NFL staffs, but according to Twentyman, Edsall will assist in gameday preparation (presumably scouting future opponents, searching for tendencies, etc.), and will also aid in draft and free agency work. Presumably, he’ll act as something of a liaison between the front office and the coaching staff, but I’d assume he’ll primarily work under general manager Bob Quinn, if only because the pair has a professional history — Quinn acted as a graduate assistant under Edsall when the latter was head coach at Connecticut.

Quinn, of course, came to Detroit from the Patriots’ scouting staff, and as Ryan Hannable of WEEI.com points out, director of football research, while not an ordinary NFL title, is a position on New England’s staff. Ernie Adams, a confidant of Bill Belichick, has long held the same job with the Patriots, working on in-game strategies and decision-making (Adams was profiled by Dan Shaughnessy of the Boston Globe last year).

Edsall’s coaching experience dates back to 1980, and while most of that time was spent in the college ranks, he did spend a few years in the NFL, acting as the Jaguars defensive backs coach form 1994-97. He’d been the head coach at Maryland since 2014, but was relieved of his duties after posting a 2-4 record to start the 2015 campaign.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Sunday Roundup: Hunt, Revis, Lions, Chargers

January 31st, 2016 at 12:59pm CST by Rory Parks

Eagles senior director of player personnel Tom Donahoe is expected to meet with Steelers pro personnel coordinator Brandon Hunt again today to discuss Philadelphia’s director of player personnel position, according to Geoff Mosher of 975TheFanatic (via Twitter). Mosher adds that Hunt is not high enough on the scouting chain to hold a vice president position like the one Tom Cable held before he was fired at the end of 2014, and the Eagles are still looking for someone with more experience than the 35-year-old Hunt. Per Mosher, the Eagles would prefer someone like Steelers director of football administration Omar Khan, but Mosher does not expect Pittsburgh to allow Khan to interview (all links to Twitter).

Now let’s take a look at some more links from around the league:

Rich Cimini of ESPNNewYork.com observes that the Jets could buy themselves some much-needed salary cap relief in 2016 if they were to rework Darrelle Revis‘ contract–and Revis would be open to it–but such a move could really handicap the team in the latter years of Revis’ deal. The Jets can create cap room in other ways–they could release Antonio Cromartie and ask D’Brickashaw Ferguson to take a pay cut, for instance–and they should pursue those options before approaching Revis about a restructure.
The Patriots have legitimate interest in Kansas State’s Glenn Gronkowski, Rob Gronkowski‘s younger brother, according to Tyler Dunne of the Buffalo News (via Twitter). “Little Gronkowski” practiced at tight end, fullback and H-back this week in preparation for yesterday’s Senior Bowl, and he could be a fit as the Patriots’ second tight end.
Tim Twentyman of DetroitLions.com looks at the to-do list for new Lions GM Bob Quinn, which will include important decisions on extensions for certain members of the team’s impressive 2013 draft class. That class included Ziggy Ansah, Darius Slay, Sam Martin, and Theo Riddick.
Now that the Chargers know where they will be playing their home games in 2016, the conversations regarding the team can return, at least to some degree, to football, writes Michael Gehlken of the San Diego Union-Tribune. Gehlken takes a brief look at what the future will hold for the team’s 23 free agents and potential cap casualties.
Texans linebacker Jadeveon Clowney will not need foot surgery this offseason, according to Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle. Clowney finished the 2015 season with 4.5 sacks and 40 tackles with one forced fumble, but he was limited to 13 games and nine starts due to injuries. He missed the team’s playoff contest this year with a sprained foot.

Patriots Notes: Gronk, Jones, FAs, Staff

January 30th, 2016 at 2:48pm CST by Sam Robinson

Ending their season after the AFC championship game for the third time in four seasons, the Patriots have experienced some staff turnover and now face decisions on who to prioritize in the long-term.

Here is the latest on how the Patriots plan to go about this.

Chandler Jones enters the final season of his rookie deal and stands to play out 2016 on his fifth-year option, which is worth $7.79MM. Although the Patriots could extend their explosive defensive end, Ben Volin of the Boston Globe notes the more likely scenario would be for the team to be cut, traded or play his season on this one-year extension of sorts rather than receive a lucrative long-term offer from the team. Jones led the Pats with 12.5 sacks this season, his second with double-digit sacks, but the troublesome incident involving police toward the end of the season could put the brakes on New England offering the 25-year-old a long-term deal soon. Volin views fellow 2012 first-rounder Dont’a Hightower as a likelier extension choice. Also set for a fifth-year option season, the inside linebacker is set to earn $7.75MM next season.
Danny Amendola and Sebastian Vollmer are players in danger of being released before the new league year begins, Volin writes. Both struggled in 2015 and can each create just more than $4MM in cap savings by being jettisoned.
The Patriots almost certainly will release the injury-prone Jerod Mayo rather than pay him the $4MM roster bonus he’s due March 9, Volin offers. A Mayo release saves the team $7MM on next year’s cap. The former first-team All-Pro missed 10 games in the 2013 and 2014 seasons before being used sparingly in 2015, his sixth with the Patriots. Mayo’s due to occupy the second-highest cap figure on the team next season at $11.4MM.
Rob Gronkowski‘s six-year, $54MM deal he signed in June 2012 includes a $10MM option bonus. The Patriots paid $4MM of that last year, Volin reports, and paying the additional $6MM of this bonus before March 9 will trigger the rest of Gronkowski’s extension, which has four more seasons and $34MM on it. The superstar tight end will only carry cap numbers worth $6.6MM and $7MM the next two seasons before those figures vault to $11MM and $12MM in 2018 and ’19.
Nate Ebner will be the likeliest of the Patriots’ expiring contracts to re-up with the team, Volin writes, with LeGarrette Blount potentially coming back but only on a near-league-minimum accord. The Patriots reporter expects Akiem Hicks, who will net the Pats a compensatory pick, to depart.
Of the Patriots’ RFAs, only fullback James Develin looks to receive a tender, Volin notes. Sealver Siliga, Brian Tyms and LaAdrian Waddle comprise the remainder of the Patriots’ restricted free agency contingent.
Lions GM Bob Quinn hired former co-worker Harold Nash to be the team’s strength and conditioning coach, Volin reports. Nash served in that capacity with the Patriots for five years. Assistant strength coach Moses Cabrera is ready to fill Nash’s post, team sources tell Volin. Nash’s contract wasn’t renewed with the expectation he’d receive a head strength job elsewhere.
The recent departures among Patriots staffers and front office personnel were more about greater opportunities elsewhere than the organization’s dissatisfaction, Volin reports. New Chargers offensive line assistant Dave DeGuglielmo was viewed internally as a short-term option rather than a cornerstone assistant, Volin reports, and new Giants defensive line coach Patrick Graham probably had more room for upward mobility in New York than in New England given Matt Patricia‘s entrenchment as the Pats’ DC.

North Notes: Mack, Browns, Lions, Vikings

January 29th, 2016 at 7:00pm CST by Luke Adams

Speaking to Jason Cole of Bleacher Report (video link) this week at Pro Bowl practices, Browns center Alex Mack said that he has yet to make a final decision on whether he’ll opt out of his contract this winter. According to Mack, he’ll start seriously considering his options after the Super Bowl, with a decision to follow within the next month or so.

Cole suggests that Mack will likely exercise that opt-out, which comes as no surprise — even if the veteran center ultimately wants to stay in Cleveland, it would make sense for him to sign a new contract with the team. Mack’s current pact calls for $8MM annual salaries for the next three seasons, and only his 2016 salary would be guaranteed if he opts in, so he should be able to easily exceed that deal on the open market.

As we wait to find out what Mack decides, let’s check in on some other items from out of the NFL’s North divisions…

Browns head coach Hue Jackson hasn’t been in touch with quarterback Johnny Manziel yet, but he has sat down and spoken with North Dakota State signal-caller Carson Wentz, writes Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com. Wentz, a potential target for Cleveland in the first round of this year’s draft, met with Jackson and the Browns at the Senior Bowl. “This just starts the process of getting to know these young players,” Jackson said. “It’s just phase one of the process. It’s just good to be able to talk to as many guys as we could. It was good to talk to him and find out a little bit about him and I’m sure I’ll get an opportunity to find out a little more as we go.”
The Lions have hired former Giants director of football operations Matt Harriss as their new vice president of football administration, the team announced today. Harriss is expected to play a significant role in managing the Lions’ salary cap.
Matt Vensel of the Star Tribune wonders if the Vikings ought to bring in some competition for punter Jeff Locke in 2016. As Vensel details, Locke’s production has trended in the wrong direction in recent years, so it would make sense for Minnesota to bring in a young punter to push him.

Lions To Hire Kevin Anderson

January 28th, 2016 at 5:34pm CST by Zachary Links

The Lions are hiring former Patriots director of player development, Kevin Anderson, to head their football operations department, according to Tim Twentyman of DetroitLions.com (on Twitter). Anderson will hold the title of Chief of Staff, Assistant to the GM and will report directly to GM Bob Quinn (link).

The Lions hired Quinn as GM back in January, crossing off one major task on their to-do list. And, earlier this month, they elected to retain Jim Caldwell as head coach. Of course, there are still many more items to go on that list for the Lions this offseason. For starters, Quinn still has to touch base with star wide receiver Calvin Johnson to figure out what he’ll be doing in 2016 and beyond. As the team gears up for free agency and the draft, they’ll now have a league veteran in Anderson to assist with all of their other matters.

Anderson wasn’t the only front office addition made by the Lions in the last couple of weeks. On January 10th, the team hired Ernie Accorsi as a special advisor to team president Rod Wood. Accorsi, who also consulted with the Bears during their GM hunt last offseason, brings a wealth of experience to the table as he works alongside Wood and first-time general manager Bob Quinn. The 74-year-old Accorsi has worked in the NFL since 1970, but his most memorable time came with the Giants, with whom he was employed from 1994-2007 (acting as GM from 1998 onward).

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Draft Notes: Packers, B. Miller, Saints, Giants

January 28th, 2016 at 3:45pm CST by Luke Adams

While inside linebacker is an area of need for the Packers, the team is unlikely to use its first-round pick on a player at that position, since they view it as a spot that can be addressed in the middle rounds, similar to running back, says Matt Miller of Bleacher Report (video link). According to Miller, Green Bay is more likely to use that 27th overall pick on an outside linebacker, a cornerback, or an offensive lineman.

Here are several more draft items from around the NFL:

The Steelers, Patriots, and Chiefs all like Ohio State wide receiver Braxton Miller as a potential second-round target, according to Tony Pauline of DraftInsider.net (Twitter link).
Pauline also reports (via Twitter) that Indiana tackle Jason Spriggs has been impressive in Mobile, Alabama this week and appears to be cementing himself as a late first-round pick.
The Saints appear to have their eye on defensive players like Eastern Kentucky pass rusher Noah Spence and Southeastern Louisiana cornerback Harlan Miller at the Senior Bowl. Mike Triplett of ESPN.com reports that New Orleans had an “extensive” lunch meeting with Spence this week, while Pauline tweets that Miller has had four separate meetings with Saints coaches and/or scouts.
The Giants have been keeping a close eye on linebackers at this week’s Senior Bowl practices, according to James Kratch of NJ Advance Media, who identifies a few players who have impressed scouts and coaches so far.
Defensive tackle is a position of need for the Lions, and it appears they’ll have plenty of options available for them on the first couple days of this year’s draft. As Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press details, Mike Mayock of NFL Network says this year’s Senior Bowl features the “best group of defensive tackles I’ve seen at this game in 10 years.”

North Notes: Bakhtiari, Browns, Lions

January 27th, 2016 at 3:46pm CST by Luke Adams

It’s not too early for Ted Thompson and the Packers to start thinking about extending David Bakhtiari‘s contract, according to Ryan Wood of USA Today-Wisconsin. Green Bay’s starting left tackle is entering the final year of his rookie contract, and is interested in remaining with the team beyond 2016, as he tells Wood.

“I think it’s mutual,” Bakhtiari said of his interest in sticking with the Packers. “I like it here, and they like me. I have another year. So I think if they want to do it early, awesome. If not, then we have one more year to work together. So we can talk about it then. I do think it’s too early though.”

The Packers don’t foray into free agency much, but do typically lock up their own players, so it could be a matter of when, not if, the team gets something done with Bakhtiari. We saw Green Bay lock up Mike Daniels months before he was eligible for free agency, but the club sometimes lets talks go down to the wire — Randall Cobb and Bryan Bulaga signed extensions a year ago just before hitting the open market.

As we wait to see if Bakhtiari and the Packers can get anything done this offseason, let’s round up some more items from out of the NFL’s North divisions….

Browns executive VP of football operations Sashi Brown would be shocked if the team traded up to No. 1 in the draft, telling Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com that the club is more likely to trade down, if it moves off the No. 2 pick. The Titans have the first overall pick, so if the Browns intend to select a quarterback second overall, the only way they won’t get their man is if another team trades for Tennessee’s pick.
New Lions general manager Bob Quinn said today that he hasn’t talked to Calvin Johnson yet about whether or not the wide receiver wants to continue playing, per Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. Although Quinn doesn’t want to rush Johnson into a decision, the GM admits he “absolutely” hopes to have resolution on the issue before free agency begins in March.
Although there’s no question that Lions players wanted Jim Caldwell back as the team’s head coach, Quinn didn’t consult with any players before making a decision on Caldwell, as Tim Twentyman of DetroitLions.com details.
Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle passes (Twitter links) along a couple workout updates, reporting that the Browns recently tried out kicker Kyle Brindza, while the Vikings auditioned running back Isaiah Pead.

Browns Interview Xanders, Vital For Top Personnel Job

January 27th, 2016 at 8:09am CST by Zachary Links

WEDNESDAY, 8:09am: In addition to speaking to Xanders, the Browns also interviewed former Falcons director of player personnel Lionel Vital for their top personnel job, sources tell Cabot. Vital was let go by Atlanta earlier this month after spending three years with the team.

TUESDAY, 7:44pm: The Browns have interviewed Lions senior personnel executive Brian Xanders for their top available personnel position, a league source tells Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com. Xanders was one of two men to interview for the job on Tuesday, though the identity of the other candidate to interview today is not yet known.

Besides the former Broncos GM, the Browns have also talked with former Dolphins GM Dennis Hickey and former Lions general manager Martin Mayhew and they have also been linked to ex-Eagles executive Rick Mueller. Whoever the Browns’ next big hire is will not carry the title of GM. Their next “Executive Vice President of Player Personnel” will have input when it comes to the roster, but Browns executive VP of football operations Sashi Brown will have final say.

Xanders, 44, comes with tons of experience having just completed his third season with the Lions and 22nd in the NFL. There’s no exact timetable for a hire, but the team is optimistic about making a decision shortly.

“We’re still on track to hopefully wrap things up in the next week or two,” said Brown. “We feel good about it. We’ve talked to some really talented people around the league despite not being able to interview everyone we were originally slated to. I feel like we’ll find a really talented personnel executive to come in and lead that function for us.”

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Coaching Notes: Campbell, Saints, Golden

January 26th, 2016 at 9:03pm CST by Zachary Links

New Saints hire Dan Campbell has been brought aboard as an assistant head coach to Sean Payton, but it is not accurate to say that he is the assistant head coach in New Orleans. Campbell, who was hired just weeks ago in New Orleans, will share the assistant head coach title with linebackers coach Joe Vitt, as Evan Woodbery of The Times-Picayune writes. With that matter cleared up, Payton says there is only one minor open matter remaining on his staff – finding an offensive assistant to work with receivers coach John Morton.

More coaching news from around the NFL:

Former Miami/Temple coach Al Golden is in line for a defensive assistant job with the Cowboys, Mike Garafolo of FOX Sports hears (via Twitter). Golden, 46, coached Miami to a 32-25 record from 2011 through 2015.
The Titans made some moves on their coaching staff, as Jim Wyatt of Titans Online reports (via Twitter links). Nick Eason will be the team’s defensive line coach, Bob Bratkowski is the Titans’ new wide receivers coach, and Sylvester Croom will remain as the team’s running backs coach. Croom has had many stints as an NFL RBs coach and also served as the head coach of Mississippi State from 2004-2008.
The Eagles requested permission to interview Lions defensive line coach Kris Kocurek, but they were denied, according to Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer (on Twitter). Kocurek is an advocate for an attacking 4-3 front which would have made him a good fit under defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz.

North Notes: Megatron, Packers, Haslam

January 26th, 2016 at 2:35pm CST by Luke Adams

There’s no decision yet, and no exact timetable, for Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson as he considers whether or not to continue his playing career, agent Bus Cook tells Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. Shortly after the regular season ended, Megatron issued a statement indicating he was considering retirement, but Lions fans will have to wait at least a little longer before finding out what the wideout’s future plans are.

“Nothing to report,” said Cook, who is currently in Mobile, Alabam for the Senior Bowl. “Have to wait and see. He has to think about what he’s going to do and then go from there.”

As we wait to find out what Johnson decides, let’s check out a few more items from out of the NFL’s North divisions….

After a weekend report suggested that Packers head coach Mike McCarthy was frustrated by the team’s lack of free agent spending, general manager Ted Thompson said on Monday that there’s no problem between him and McCarthy, according to Jason Cole of Bleacher Report (video link). However, Cole suggests there may be “growing tension” in Green Bay after McCarthy’s latest postseason loss.
Cole also has an update on the Browns (video link), reporting that team owner Jimmy Haslam is in Mobile for Senior Bowl practices, in an effort to take on a more “hands-on approach” as the head of the franchise. Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com (Twitter link) confirms Haslam’s attendance, but says the Browns owner plans to leave today after having dinner with scouts on Monday night.
The Browns have added Ken Delgado to their coaching staff as an assistant defensive line coach and former Titans assistant Cannon Matthews as an assistant defensive backs coach, reports Adam Caplan of ESPN.com (Twitter links).
The Bears announced today (via Twitter) that they’ve named Richard Hightower their new assistant special teams coach. Hightower replaces Derius Swinton, who joined the 49ers last week.
Justin Tucker‘s impressive track record when it comes to clutch kicks should give him some leverage when he and the Ravens discuss a new contract this winter, writes Clifton Brown of CSNMidAtlantic.com.

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