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Detroit Lions News & Rumors

Coaching Notes: Pats, Browns, Giants, Lions

January 25th, 2016 at 6:36pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

The latest NFL coaching updates:

  • One day after Patriots quarterback Tom Brady absorbed 20-plus hits in a 20-18 AFC title game loss to Denver, the Pats are parting ways with offensive line coach Dave DeGuglielmo, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link). DeGuglielmo, who had been New England’s O-line coach since 2014, was aware he was on the hot seat, adds Mike Garafolo of Fox Sports (Twitter link).
  • Former NFL running back Rock Cartwright is the newest addition to the Browns’ Hue Jackson-led coaching staff. Cartwright will work as an offensive quality control coach, tweets ESPN’s Adam Caplan.
  • The Giants have interviewed Paul Pasqualoni about their defensive line coach vacancy, per Fox Sports’ Alex Marvez (Twitter link). Pasqualoni held the same position with the Texans last season.
  • Marvez reported Saturday that David Walker was set to become the Lions’ running backs coach. That hiring is now official, writes Tim Twentyman of the team’s website. Walker coached Indy’s RBs from 2011-14, including one season under Jim Caldwell.

NFC Notes: Eagles, Packers, Cowboys, Lions

January 23rd, 2016 at 3:41pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Eagles were prepared to offer new Giants head coach Ben McAdoo their top coaching job had he come in for the second interview he scheduled, Zach Berman of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

The Giants moved up their interview with their then-offensive coordinator to expedite their process and retain him, but multiple sources told the Inquirer he would’ve gotten the Eagles’ job had he interviewed again.

Philadelphia also did not offer new coach Doug Pederson final say on the 53-man roster like Adam Gase, the Eagles’ initial coaching interview as part of their 10 “Tier 1” candidates, received upon accepting the Dolphins’ job.

Linebackers coach Ken Flajole turned down the UTEP DC job to land in Philadelphia. UTEP had to amend a Jan. 14 press conference to inform that Flajole, the Rams’ DC from 2009-11, would be returning to the NFL instead of guiding the Miners’ defense.

Jeffery Lurie told Berman the regular season’s final week, after he fired Chip Kelly, proved beneficial in terms of communicating with the players on what exactly went wrong under Kelly and how best to re-route the team.

Here are some more notes on the Eagles, along with the latest from other NFC locales.

  • With Pederson saying Sam Bradford “fit perfectly” into the offense he plans to run with the Eagles, Daniel Zangaro of CSNPhilly.com notes in his Eagles mailbag the best course of action for the franchise going forward would be to sign the former No. 1 pick to a long-term deal. Despite an unremarkable season, Bradford will still figure to have his share of suitors if he reaches the market, with the Texans and Browns also in dire need of a quarterback. Bradford threw 19 TDs, 14 INTs and completed 65.3% of his passes in 14 games — the most he’d played in since 2012.
  • Tony Romo will undergo a CT scan this week to determine if he’ll require any surgery to repair his troublesome collarbone, according to a report on the Cowboys‘ website. “We have a pretty good idea, but we’re going to get a CT scan here this coming week and then make all the choices from there,” Romo said. “I think we know which way we’re siding and some of the things. We’ve had exhaustive discussions about it.” In December, Romo discussed attaching a plate to his collarbone to reduce the reinjury risk. Romo said he’ll be “ready to rock” by the time OTAs begin.
  • Lance Dunbar, Rolando McClain and Morris Claiborne should be available to the Cowboys on cheaper, one-year deals, and Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap lists them as free agents the team should consider bringing back. Fitzgerald suggests the team move on from Greg Hardy and consider bringing back DeMarcus Ware on a one-year deal in the event the Broncos release him to clear cap space.
  • The Packers hired Rams running back coach Ben Sirmans for the same position, Alex Marvez of Fox Sports reports (on Twitter). Sirmans will now be traveling from the league’s second-largest market to its smallest. He coached running backs in St. Louis for four years after spending the previous 16 coaching in college.
  • Lions defensive tackle Caraun Reid underwent ankle surgery this week but is expected to return sometime during the offseason, Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press reports. Reid started 12 of the 14 games in which he played, but was hampered throughout the season by the high-ankle sprain he suffered in training camp. The team regularly held its 2014 fifth-round pick out of practice down the stretch as a result. Reid is the only interior defensive lineman guaranteed to return to Detroit, with Haloti Ngata, Jason Jones and Tyrunn Walker‘s contracts having expired.

NFC Links: Lions, Brees, Washington

January 23rd, 2016 at 11:50am CST by Ben Levine

Haloti Ngata was banged up for much of his first season in Detroit. Still, the veteran enjoyed his time with the Lions, and the impending free agent is very interested in returning.

“I’d love to stay,” he told Tim Twentyman of DetroitLions.com. “I love what coach (Jim) Caldwell has done here. I love playing under him and coach Kris (Kocurek). I feel like I got in a groove at the end of the season and hopefully I can play a full season understanding the system.”

Let’s look at some more notes from around the NFL…

  • The Lions are expected to hire David Walker as their running backs coach, reports Fox Sports’ Alex Marvez (via Twitter). Walker previously spent time on the Colts coaching staff, where he worked under Lions head coach Jim Caldwell.
  • Drew Brees doesn’t necessarily need to take a payout to save the Saints some money, writes ESPN.com’s Mike Triplett. The veteran quarterback could sign a multi-year extension, and the organization could then distribute the cap hit however they’d like. Ultimately, the writer believes the team should continue to pay Brees $20MM a season. While it isn’t necessarily a paycut, it’s well below what the veteran could make on the open market.
  • Safety Dashon Goldson could be among the surprise cap casualties for Washington this offseason, according to Rich Tandler of CSNMidAtlantic.com. Meanwhile, Tarik El-Bashir points to lineman Kory Lichtensteiger and receivers Pierre Garcon and DeSean Jackson.

NFC Notes: Kaepernick, Schraeder, Henderson

January 22nd, 2016 at 7:54pm CST by Sam Robinson

Chip Kelly‘s official preference on Colin Kaepernick now that he’s in control of the 49ers hasn’t been established. But rival defensive coordinators are under the impression the former Eagles coach will extend an olive branch to the maligned quarterback once thought set for the trade market, given what the pair could accomplish together, NFL.com’s Albert Breer writes.

Whereas the DCs informed Breer that Sam Bradford did not evoke much fear in Kelly’s attack, the mobile Kaepernick could, considering how Kelly’s offense looked when he was coaching Marcus Mariota or Darron Thomas at Oregon.

“I think [Kaepernick] is a good enough passer, but obviously what’ll be a nightmare is his ability to run. That offense is straight ‘Freddy Krueger’ when you have a quarterback that can pull the ball and run at any given time,” one rival coordinator told Breer.

Kelly’s Philadelphia tenure began with Michael Vick at the controls, but Vick at that point did not represent the kind of dual-threat signal-caller Kaepernick has shown himself to be at his best. The former second-round pick’s strong arm will bring something else Bradford didn’t last season, per another rival DC, along with his ability to play a zone-read-style system alongside Carlos Hyde.

“Awesome — could be scary. You get the run threat back to keep the ball on zone read,” the coordinator said. “… And Kap can throw it deep. Chip stretched the field with [Nick] Foles vertically, and not as much with Bradford. … And Kap did a good job with simple reads and progressions early in San Francisco. Chip’s intermediate pass game in Philly had those features.”

Assuming Kelly wants to see how Kaepernick looks in his offense, the 28-year-old will enter the third year of his contract and cost the 49ers $15.9MM against their 2016 salary cap once he’s on the roster after April 1.

Here are some other items from around the league as 28 teams are in their early offseason phases.

  • With the Cowboys and Jaguars’ coaching staffs set to instruct sides at next weekend’s Senior Bowl, a source told David Moore of the Dallas Morning News secondary coach Jerome Henderson‘s status will be resolved by Monday when the staff leaves for the all-star game. The 46-year-old Henderson interviewed for the Browns’ head-coaching job, the Jaguars’ defensive coordinator role and on Friday spoke with the Falcons regarding an unspecified position with the Atlanta defense. Cowboys officials, however, have expressed desire to retain Henderson, however, according to Moore. His contract expires at the end of the 2016 season. Henderson and the Cowboys have discussed his contract, with the understanding that Henderson will only depart if he can become a coordinator somewhere.
  • Falcons restricted free agent Ryan Schraeder may require more than a second-round tender to keep after a dominant third season, McClure writes. A first-team All-Pro right tackle, according to Pro Football Focus, Schraeder receiving the second-round tender would cost the Falcons $2.47MM but would allow another team to sign him while surrendering only a second-round pick. An ex-UDFA, Schraeder made $585K last season. “Atlanta has given me an opportunity,” Schraeder told McClure. “I felt like I’ve tried to make the most out of it. Whatever happens in the future, happens. But I know deep down inside that I can play in this league. My agent [Joel and Justin Turner], I feel like I have the best agents in the business. They’ll handle a lot of that. And I’ll probably give them some input.” A first-round tender cost a team $3.354MM last year.
  • The Lions fired senior vice president of football operations Cedric Saunders, Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press reports. Saunders joined the Lions 10 years ago under Matt Millen and began overseeing the Lions’ budget with regards to personnel under Martin Mayhew. He’s one of several executives to be ousted since new GM Bob Quinn‘s arrival.
  • The Giants‘ ideal free agent targets, in the mind of NJ.com’s Jordan Raanan, should be Olivier Vernon, Danny Trevathan and Tashaun Gipson. Big Blue’s defense risks losing its most accomplished players this offseason in Prince Amukamara and Jason Pierre-Paul, although Raanan tabs Amukamara as having a “better than 50% chance” of staying, and hasn’t had much luck fortifying its defense with talent through the draft. Gipson went through a contentious stretch with the Browns last summer as a restricted free agent, and Trevathan faces a long road back to Denver next season due to potential eight-figure AAV players the Broncos have yet to sign in Von Miller and Brock Osweiler.

49ers To Hire Curtis Modkins As OC

January 22nd, 2016 at 2:50pm CST by Luke Adams

Shortly after word broke that Bills assistant head coach Anthony Lynn was withdrawing his name from consideration for the 49ers’ offensive coordinator position, San Francisco has apparently found its man for the job. According to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (via Twitter), the Niners are hiring Lions running backs coach Curtis Modkins to be their offensive coordinator.Curtis Modkins

[RELATED: 49ers considering Jason Tarver, Don Martindale for defensive coordinator job]

With Lynn no longer in the running for the job, Modkins and former Eagles quarterbacks coach Ryan Day were the only two known candidates for Chip Kelly and the Niners. According to Adam Caplan of ESPN.com (via Twitter), Day is now set to become the new quarterbacks coach in San Francisco.

While Day has worked with Kelly previously, Modkins and the new 49ers head coach don’t appear to have overlapped at all during their coaching careers. Before becoming the Lions’ running backs coach in 2013, Modkins served as the Bills’ offensive coordinator and running backs coach. He also worked for the Cardinals and Chiefs as their respective running backs coaches after making the leap from the NCAA ranks in 2008.

Colin Kaepernick and Blaine Gabbert each made eight starts for the 49ers in 2015, and the team’s offense struggled to get much going under either quarterback. For the season, San Francisco finished 31st in the NFL with just 303.8 yards per game. The running game, with ranked 21st, was slightly more effective than the passing game (29th), but it wasn’t a productive year for Geep Chryst‘s unit. Chryst was let go by the team earlier this week.

In San Francisco, Kelly will continue to call offensive plays, as he did in Philadelphia, while Modkins and his staff will “set [the] stage” during those game-day play calls during the week, tweets Cam Inman of the Bay Area News Group.

In addition to bringing in a new offensive coordinator, Kelly and the 49ers are also set to name a new special teams coordinator, according to Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee, who reports that Derius Swinton is expected to take over the role. Swinton has been a part of John Fox‘s staffs for the last few years, serving as a special teams assistant in Denver before joining the Bears last year as Chicago’s assistant special teams coach.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

NFL Reserve/Futures Contracts: 1/21/16

January 21st, 2016 at 5:17pm CST by Ben Levine

Here are today’s reserve/futures contract signings from around the NFL:

Cleveland Browns

  • Terrell Watson, RB (Twitter link via Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle)

Detroit Lions

  • Austin Willis, WR (via Tim Twentyman of DetroitLions.com on Twitter)

New England Patriots

  • James Vaughters, LB (via ESPN’s Mike Reiss on Twitter)

Philadelphia Eagles

 

NFC Notes: E. Rogers, Lions, Cousins, Morstead

January 21st, 2016 at 11:24am CST by Luke Adams

Standout CFL receiver Eric Rogers is signing with the 49ers, but it was a visit to the Eagles that helped convince him to choose San Francisco. As he explains to Scott Mitchell of the Calgary Sun, Rogers was impressed at a December workout with the Eagles that head coach Chip Kelly took the time to attend and to meet with him despite Philadelphia having a game to play a couple days later. Kelly’s enthusiasm for the Calgary Stampeders star didn’t dim at all when he became the Niners’ new head coach.

“When he got hired by the Niners, he called me two or three hours after it got announced that they were going to hire him,” Rogers said. “He basically told me, ‘I guess I had to come to Cali to sign you since you’re a Cali boy.’ So he still had that kind of recruitment in him like he was at Oregon. He was like, ‘You’re the first player I called and I want you to be the first player I sign at my new job.'”

As we look forward to seeing if Rogers can earn a roster spot and make an impact for the 49ers this season, let’s check in on a few more items from out of the NFC….

  • During an appearance on SiriusXM NFL Radio, new Lions general manager Bob Quinn said that he approached the decision of whether or not to retain head coach Jim Caldwell with an open mind (link via Tim Twentyman of DetroitLions.com). “We had a series of meetings,” Quinn said. “It wasn’t just one day or one hour. It was over a couple of days and a dozen hours. Really, get to know you sessions. My philosophy and his philosophy meshed.”
  • With Kirk Cousins in line for a new contract, Washington will aim to build its roster around the quarterback, and will have to build its salary cap strategy around his new deal, writes Master Tesfatsion of the Washington Post. Former agent Joel Corry tells Tesfatsion that he doesn’t expect Cousins to agree to a team-friendly long-term deal like the ones signed by Colin Kaepernick and Andy Dalton.
  • Mike Triplett of ESPN.com doesn’t expect the Saints to cut Thomas Morstead this offseason, but says the team will have to consider it, since the veteran punter – who has a $4.45MM cap hit in 2016 – may be a luxury the team can’t afford. I suggested as much back in September in my preview of New Orleans’ cap outlook for ’16.
  • Former Falcons tackle Lamar Holmes continued to work out for NFL teams this week, auditioning on Wednesday for the Cowboys, per Adam Caplan of ESPN.com (via Twitter). Holmes spent most of the 2015 season on the PUP list before being cut by Atlanta with an injury settlement.

Coaching Notes: Bills, Bucs, Jags, Texans

January 20th, 2016 at 7:05pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

The Bills have made a groundbreaking hire, reports Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, as they’ve named Kathryn Smith a special teams quality control coach. Smith is the NFL’s first-ever full-time female assistant coach. She previously served in lesser roles under Rex Ryan with both the Jets and Bills.

Regarding Smith’s hiring, Ryan said, “She has proven that she’s ready for the next step, so I’m excited and proud for her” (Twitter link via The Buffalo News’ Tyler Dunne).

Other coaching news from around the NFL . . .

  • New Buccaneers head coach Dirk Koetter will call the team’s offensive plays, but he still plans to hire an O-coordinator (Twitter link via Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times).
  • The Jaguars expect to have a defensive coordinator in place by Monday, tweets Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times-Union. The front-runner for the job is defensive line coach Todd Wash, per O’Halloran (Twitter link). As PFR’s Coordinator Tracker shows, Jacksonville has also shown interest in some currently available outside candidates, having interviewed Jerome Henderson, Marquand Manuel and Lou Anarumo for the job.
  • In other Jaguars news, assistant coach coach Doug Marrone will return for a second season with the club, per O’Halloran. Marrone interviewed for four different head coaching vacancies in recent weeks, but those teams hired other candidates.
  • Paul Pasqualoni has stepped down as the Texans’ defensive line coach after just one season because of family reasons, according to Mark Berman of FOX 26 (on Twitter). Anthony Weaver, who coached Cleveland’s D-line the past two seasons, could take Pasqualoni’s spot.
  • The Colts have named Greg Williams their secondary coach, reports Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter link). Williams was San Diego’s assistant secondary coach the previous three seasons.
  • With Terry Robiskie on his way to Tennessee, the Falcons’ wide receivers coach position is open. Atlanta will likely promote offensive assistant Mike McDaniel to take Robiskie’s place, according to D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. McDaniel previously coached wideouts in Washington (2013) and Cleveland (2014).
  • Changes are coming to the Lions’ strength and conditioning staff, as the club has fired coordinator of physical development Jason Arapoff and assistant strength coach Ted Rath, writes Tim Twentyman of the team’s website.

West Notes: Modkins, 49ers, Chargers, LA

January 19th, 2016 at 9:09pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The 49ers are looking for a new offensive coordinator after firing Geep Chryst earlier tonight name to keep an eye on is Lions run game coordinator Curtis Modkins, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link). Modkins does have OC experience — he worked under Chan Gailey with the Bills from 2010-12 — but he didn’t call plays during that time. With Chip Kelly leading the staff in San Francisco, Modkins wouldn’t call the 49ers’ plays, either.

Here’s more from the NFL’s two West divisions:

  • Unsurprisingly, the Chargers have applied to trademark the phrases “Los Angeles Chargers” and “LA Chargers” in advance of their expected move to Inglewood, reports Nathan Fenno of the Los Angeles Times. Talks between the Chargers and the Rams reportedly began yesterday, and the NFL is apparently pushing Chargers management to accept the move to Los Angeles.
  • The Chargers also worked out CFL receiver Eric Rogers, tweets Field Yates of ESPN. Rogers has now auditioned for or visited half the teams in the NFL, per Yates, so he should be able to find a contract heading into 2016.
  • In a detailed piece for CBSSports.com, Joel Corry looks at what lies ahead for the recently-eliminated Seahawks. Not only will the club have to decide on the fate of running back Marshawn Lynch, but Seattle will need to negotiate its salary cap knowing full well that quarterback Russell Wilson‘s cap number is about to jump to than $18MM. With the team needing help along both the offensive and defensive lines, personnel changes could be coming to Seattle.

Coach Rumors: Eagles, Schwartz, 49ers, Fins

January 19th, 2016 at 11:39am CST by Luke Adams

While there are no head coaching jobs in the NFL that still need to be filled, many clubs are still tweaking their coaching staffs, making changes among position coaches or hiring new coordinators. Here’s a round-up of the latest news and rumors on those changes from across the league:

  • There’s mutual interest between the Eagles and Jim Schwartz for the defensive coordinator role in Philadelphia. Per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter), if Schwartz and Eagles head coach Doug Pederson hit it off and all goes well at today’s interview, Schwartz will likely end up with the job.
  • Rapoport (Twitter links) also has a couple updates on the 49ers‘ defensive staff, reporting that Eric Mangini will interview to remain in his defensive coordinator role, while former Buccaneers linebackers coach Hardy Nickerson talked to the Niners about the same position in San Francisco.
  • Longtime offensive coach Al Saunders, who has worked recently with the Dolphins, Raiders, and Ravens, is a “strong candidate” to join Hue Jackson‘s Browns coaching staff, according to Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (via Twitter).
  • Veteran coaches Jim Washburn and Jeremiah Washburn are headed to the Dolphins, according to Alex Marvez of FOX Sports and Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press (Twitter links). Jim, the elder Washburn, will work with the defensive line as a senior defensive assistant, while his son Jeremiah will be an offensive line assistant. The duo previously spent time with the Lions, so Jim has a history of working with Ndamukong Suh.
  • Marvez adds (via Twitter) that the Lions denied the Dolphins‘ interview request for defensive line coach Kris Kocurek, who would have been a candidate for that DL job in Miami.
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