Packers Re-Sign John Kuhn
The Packers have re-signed veteran fullback and fan favorite John Kuhn, according to Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com (via Twitter), who cites Kuhn’s agent Kevin Gold. Gold tells Demovsky (Twitter link) that his client is “excited to remain in the place that is best suited for his talents.” It’ll be a one-year deal worth a little over $1MM, tweets Mike Garafolo of Fox Sports.
Although the Packers let Kuhn hit the open market, a return to Green Bay always looked to be the likeliest outcome. A March report indicated that the fullback was talking to teams besides the Packers, but those mystery suitors were never specifically identified.
Kuhn, 31, will assume the role of lead blocker, short-yardage specialist, and occasional pass-catcher, which he has done in Green Bay for the last seven seasons. While his 23 touches last season represented his lowest mark since 2009, Kuhn still managed to find the end zone at least once for the sixth straight year.
DeSean Jackson Updates: Monday
With most of this year’s notable free agents off the board, DeSean Jackson‘s release breathed some new life into the free agent market, and rumors swirled around Jackson and his potential landing spots for much of the weekend. Yesterday, we asked which club would eventually land the standout receiver, and you made the Raiders your pick, with the Redskins not too far behind. Do today’s updates and rumors reflect that result? Let’s dive in and round up the latest….
- ESPN’s Ed Werder jumps into the fray, saying there is no deal between the Redskins and Jackson, noting that he will continue meeting with the Redskins tomorrow as well as keep talking with other interested teams (Twitter link).
- A source close to Jackson says it’s a “done deal” between the Redskins and the receiver, tweets Tim McManus of PhillyMag.com. However, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com also chimes in, saying that while the two parties had a good meeting, Jackson has more visits lined up tomorrow, and a number of teams are still competing for the playmaker (via Twitter).
Earlier updates:
- Werder, who reported earlier (as we note below) that two mystery teams are believed to be deep in negotiations with Jackson, adds the Jets and Panthers to the list of clubs expected to be involved, and says the Patriots, Saints, and Packers are out (Twitter link).
- Jackson will visit the Redskins today, and the trip is expected to extend through Tuesday, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com, who adds that the Raiders and Bills are also in the hunt.
- Peter King of TheMMQB.com thinks Redskins owner Dan Snyder and GM Bruce Allen will “put on the hard sell” to sign the former Eagle. King adds that Allen could include details in the team’s contract offer that would provide Washington some insurance in the event of any off-field incidents.
- On the other hand, Mark Maske and Mike Jones of the Washington Post write that the Redskins may not be willing to be break the bank for Jackson. The Post duo hears that while the team is “all-in” in its pursuit of the receiver, it has to be at the right price.
- According to ESPN’s Ed Werder (Twitter link), two teams who have yet to be publicly identified as having interest in Jackson are deep in talks with the receiver.
- Among the teams not expected to pursue Jackson: The Lions, according to Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press, and the Browns, according to Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com.
NFC North Notes: Lions, Manziel, Perry, Allen
In the wake of Shaun Hill‘s signing with the Rams, the Lions are still in the market for a backup quarterback, and the team is set to investigate all possible avenues for a solution, according to Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. The Lions initially posited that they were in the market for a veteran to solidify the QB depth chart behind starter Matthew Stafford, but after failing to retain Hill, and missing out on another target in Luke McCown (who re-signed with the Saints), Detroit’s decision-makers may be changing their tune. “We keep looking and we could certainly address it a number of different ways, and all options are open at this time,” said new head coach Jim Caldwell.
One such route may be the draft, where the Lions could look to add a developmental quarterback in a later round. Another option would be to promote No. 3 quarterback Kellen Moore to the backup role. Moore, who has never taken an NFL snap, has reportedly “taken great strides,” according to Lions general manager Martin Mayhew. A veteran addition may still be in the works, as Birkett notes that Dan Orlovsky, a former Lion, could be of interest to the team.
Other notes from the NFC North:
- Vikings coach Mike Zimmer says “some flags” came up after a recent meeting with quarterback Johnny Manziel, according to an interview with 104.9 The Horn (via the Minneapolis Star Tribune). Zimmer cites several off-the-field worries, mostly regarding dedication and Manziel’s willingness to “eat, breath, and sleep football.” The Vikings are expected to strongly consider drafting a quarterback with the eighth overall selection in May’s draft.
- The Packers are still determining where to play third-year defender Nick Perry, writes ESPN.com’s Rob Demovsky. Most of Perry’s success has come when rushing the passer from the right side; this presents a problem, however, as All-Pro Clay Matthews occupies the right outside linebacker position. Perry, like new signee Julius Peppers, could see more work in the “elephant” role, a position in defensive coordinator Dom Capers’ scheme that combines the responsibilities of a defensive lineman and a rush linebacker.
- New Bears defensive end Jared Allen says that the team’s aging players on defense will add valuable experience, and not cost the team wins, writes John Mullin of CSNChicago. While Allen notes that he is excited to play with veterans like Lance Briggs, Charles Tillman, and Tim Jennings, it is important to remember that these are the same players who contributed to the Bears’ 25th overall defensive rating by DVOA.
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.
North Notes: Carr, Ravens, Bears, Flynn
On a busy Friday for NFL signings (Maurice Jones-Drew, LeGarrette Blount) and cuts (DeSean Jackson), let’s check out some of the latest headlines from around the league’s two North divisions….
- Derek Carr‘s private workout with the Browns is scheduled for Monday, a source tells Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com.
- In a round-up of Ravens notes, Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun says he gets the sense from talking to people around the team that Corey Graham was the toughest free agent departure this month. Zrebiec also writes that that if Baltimore doesn’t draft a quarterback, the club could wait until after the draft to see if a team that does take a QB jettisons one of its veterans.
- As Dan Wiederer of the Chicago Tribune details, Bears head coach Marc Trestman has a number of traits he’s looking for in a No. 2 quarterback.
- It appears likely that the Packers will ultimately end up re-signing Matt Flynn to compete with Scott Tolzien for the team’s backup job, writes Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com.
- As Nick Fairley heads into the 2014 season without the security of the Lions picking up his fifth-year option for 2015, Kyle Meinke of MLive.com says the team shouldn’t reward Fairley with a lucrative contract next year even if he has a strong ’14.
- Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap.com has the details on a pair of new contracts: Vlad Ducasse inked a one-year, minimum salary benefit deal with the Vikings that includes a $65K signing bonus, while Domata Peko‘s two-year extension with the Bengals includes a $4.4MM roster bonus for 2014 and is worth $9MM in total.
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).
NFC North Rumors: Capers, Orlovsky, Sanchez
Seeing Jared Allen rush the quarterback for a division rival might be strange, but it’s hardly unprecedented, writes Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press. “It will be pretty weird seeing Jared with the Bears, but you’ve got to remember Alan Page played his last (3-1/2 years) with Chicago, so it won’t be any different,” Fran Tarkenton said of the former Vikings standout. “And Alan arguably was our best defensive player that has ever been.” More out of the NFC North..
- Got a problem with the play calling of Packers defensive coordinator Dom Capers? Coach Mike McCarthy doesn’t want to hear it. “Dom Capers has the toughest job on our staff; I can tell you that from experience,” McCarthy told reporters, including Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com. “Anytime you’re a coordinator for a head coach that is predominantly on the other side of the ball, there’s a lot of responsibility there. His responsibility with his assistant coaches is a lot higher than with the offensive coordinator, and obviously his background of being a head coach was a big part of why we went that direction. You know, he has a lot of responsibility, and I’m very in tune with the way he goes about it.“
- Pete Dougherty of the Green Bay Post-Gazette (on Twitter) says former Colts offensive lineman Mike McGlynn is set to visit the Packers this week. Meanwhile, USA Today’s Howard Balzer (via Twitter) hears the visit to Green Bay already happened.
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With the Vikings eyeing quarterbacks in this year’s draft, Tajh Boyd could be a late-round option for the team, according to Tony Pauline of DraftInsider.net, who tweets that offensive coordinator Norv Turner is “intrigued” by the Clemson signal-caller.
Luke Adams contributed to this post.
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.”
Bears’ Mills Tops Performance-Based Pay List
Bears rookie right tackle Jordan Mills, whose base salary was $495k last season, will receive approximately $318k from the performance-based pay pool, more than any other player in the league. Created in order to reward players who make the least and play the most, the performance-based league pool is $3.46MM per team. Each team’s performance-based pay leader can be found here, courtesy of USA Today.
Mills, a fifth-round pick out of Louisiana Tech, started all 16 games for the Bears. However, his starts were more a reflection of the team’s lack of options, as Mills rated as one of the league’s worst starters, ranking last in pass protection (-32.5 rating) and hurries allowed (62). Other notables (dollar figures rounded):
- Vontaze Burfict (Bengals): $316k
- Ronald Leary (Cowboys): $307k
- Larry Warford (Lions): $261k
- Jason Kelce (Eagles): $260k
- David Bakhtiari (Packers): $257k
- Danny Trevathan (Broncos): $245k
- Keenan Allen (Chargers): $218k
- Will Hill (Giants): $215k
2014 NFL Compensatory Draft Picks
The NFL has officially announced the 32 compensatory draft picks for 24 that have been handed out to teams who had the most significant losses in free agency a year ago. These picks are determined by a formula that accounts for salary, playing time, and postseason honors. Teams can’t receive more than four picks each, and this year’s selections were divided up among 13 clubs. Here’s the list of 2014 compensatory picks by team, with the round and overall selection number included:
- 49ers: 3rd (100)
- Bears: None
- Bengals: 6th (212), 7th (252)
- Bills: None
- Broncos: None
- Browns: None
- Buccaneers: None
- Cardinals: None
- Chargers: None
- Chiefs: None
- Colts: None
- Cowboys: 7th (248), 7th (251), 7th (254)
- Dolphins: None
- Eagles: None
- Falcons: 4th (139), 7th (253), 7th (255)
- Giants: 5th (174)
- Jaguars: None
- Jets: 4th (137), 6th (209), 6th (210), 6th (213)
- Lions: 4th (133), 4th (136)
- Packers: 3rd (98), 5th (176)
- Panthers: None
- Patriots: 4th (140)
- Raiders: None
- Rams: 6th (214), 7th (249), 7th (250)
- Ravens: 3rd (99), 4th (134), 4th (138), 5th (175)
- Redskins: None
- Saints: None
- Seahawks: None
- Steelers: 3rd (97), 5th (173), 6th (215)
- Texans: 4th (135), 6th (211), 7th (256)
- Titans: None
- Vikings: None