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Indianapolis Colts News & Rumors

South Notes: Titans, D. Brown, Colts, Saints

January 4th, 2016 at 9:03am CST by Luke Adams

The NFL appears to believe the Titans‘ ownership structure in the wake of Bud Adams‘ passing may not comply with all the league’s rules and provisions, and litigation could be looming between the team and the league, writes Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. According to Florio, the Titans “strongly disagree” with the NFL’s position on the situation, believing there are several other franchises with “more difficult ownership situations” than Tennessee’s.

As we wait to see how the situation in Tennessee plays out, here’s more from around the NFL’s South divisions:

  • Texans left tackle Duane Brown will have surgery this Wednesday to repair a torn right quadriceps, tweets Mark Berman of FOX 26 Houston. Brown, who will miss the playoffs, had another solid season in 2015 and probably isn’t going anywhere. Still, it’s worth noting that he’s now in his 30s, and he barely has any dead money left on his contract, which features $9.5MM+ cap hits for the next three years.
  • Per Stephen Holder of the Indianapolis Star (Twitter links), the Colts haven’t yet discussed a contract extension with linebacker Jerrell Freeman, who is eligible for free agency this winter. That doesn’t necessarily mean the club won’t make an effort to get something done in the coming weeks or months, but as Holder points out, Indianapolis has explored other options at the position within the last year.
  • Sean Payton‘s accomplishments over the last 10 years with the Saints speak for themselves, and if he decides he wants to pursue another head coaching opportunity this offseason, GM Mickey Loomis owes it to the coach to allow him that opportunity, writes Jeff Duncan of the New Orleans Times-Picayune. Earlier today, we heard that the Saints may seek a second-round pick as compensation for Payton if they decide to let him go, though there’s some skepticism that the team would get more than a mid-rounder.
  • Whether Payton stays or goes, a tumultuous offseason is on tap for the Saints, says Evan Woodbery of the Times-Picayune.

Top 20 Teams Set For 2016 NFL Draft

January 4th, 2016 at 12:04am CST by Luke Adams

With the 2015 NFL regular season now complete, the 2016 draft order has been set for the teams that didn’t earn playoff berths this year.

The order for the top 20 is determined first by record — the teams with the worst records get the highest picks. The tiebreaker for teams that finish with identical records is strength of schedules. The easier the team’s schedule, the higher its pick. The thinking there is that if two teams finished with the same record, the team that played the easier schedule is likely the “worst” of the two teams, earning that club the higher pick.

Via NFL.com, here’s how the top 20 breaks down for the 2016 NFL draft, with each team’s record and opponents’ winning percentage noted in parentheses:

  1. Tennessee Titans (3-13, .492)
  2. Cleveland Browns (3-13, .531)
  3. San Diego Chargers (4-12, .527)
  4. Dallas Cowboys (4-12, .531)
  5. Jacksonville Jaguars (5-11, .473)
  6. Baltimore Ravens (5-11, .508)
  7. San Francisco 49ers (5-11, .539)
  8. Miami Dolphins (6-10, .469)
  9. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-10, .484)
  10. New York Giants (6-10, .500)
  11. Chicago Bears (6-10, .547)
  12. New Orleans Saints (7-9, .504)
  13. Philadelphia Eagles (7-9, .508)
  14. Oakland Raiders (7-9, .512)
  15. St. Louis Rams (7-9, .527)
  16. Detroit Lions (7-9, .535)
  17. Atlanta Falcons (8-8, .481)
  18. Indianapolis Colts (8-8, .500)
  19. Buffalo Bills (8-8, .508)
  20. New York Jets (10-6, .441)

While teams that played weaker schedules will get the higher draft picks – via tiebreaker – in the first round, that’s not the case for every round. Teams that finished with identical records will rotate order throughout the draft, so the Browns, for instance, will pick ahead of the Titans in round two.

As for the remaining 12 spots, those will be determined based on which teams are eliminated from the playoffs first. The four teams knocked out in the Wild Card round will pick 21st through 24th, for example — the clubs with the weaker records will get the higher picks. The full order will be determined after the Super Bowl, with this year’s champion getting the last pick of the first round — unless, of course, that’s the Patriots, who won’t have a first-rounder in 2016.

Adam Gase, Teryl Austin Line Up HC Interviews

January 3rd, 2016 at 11:12pm CST by Luke Adams

Two NFC North assistants are among the hottest head coaching candidates of the offseason, and Bears offensive coordinator Adam Gase and Lions defensive coordinator Teryl Austin have already lined up multiple interviews for this week, according to various reports.

We had already heard that Gase would get interviews from at least three teams with head coaching vacancies, but Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link) has since confirmed the preliminary schedule for the Chicago OC. Gase will interview with the Eagles on Tuesday, the Browns on Wednesday, and the Dolphins on Thursday, per Rapoport.

Stephen Holder of the Indianapolis Star tweets that Gase would have “definite interest” in the Colts’ head coaching job as well. However, Indianapolis has yet to confirm a decision one way or the other on Chuck Pagano, and it’s not clear if Gase would be one of the team’s targets if Pagano is replaced.

As for Austin, Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com tweets that he currently has formal interviews lined up with the Browns and Dolphins, with Chris Mortensen of ESPN.com indicating (via Twitter) that Austin’s meeting with the Browns will happen on Tuesday.

According to Rapoport (via Twitter), Austin will likely meet with the Eagles this week as well. However, Mortensen says Philadelphia will meet first with interim head coach Pat Shurmur and – as previously noted – Gase.

Got all that? If not, don’t worry — on Monday, Pro Football Rumors will introduce a head coaching search tracker so you can easily keep tabs on which candidates each team with an opening is pursuing and interviewing.

Coaching/GM Notes: Pagano, Browns, Fins, Cowboys, Lions

January 3rd, 2016 at 5:57pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

The latest news on various teams’ coaching and front office situations as Black Monday approaches:

  • Colts owner Jim Irsay will meet with Chuck Pagano on Monday to discuss the head coach’s future, writes Mike Wells of ESPN.com. After helping lead the Colts to playoff berths in his first three years with the team, Pagano’s club missed out this season during an injury-riddled, tumultuous campaign, going 8-8. As a result, the Colts are expected to let go of Pagano, whose contract is up, according to CBS Sports’ Jason La Canfora (Twitter link).
  • With Ray Farmer out as the Browns’ general manager, the franchise might turn its football operations over to executive vice president/general counsel Sashi Brown, Vic Carucci of The Buffalo News reports (Twitter link).
  • Adam Gase, Jim Mora Jr., Mike Shanahan, Teryl Austin, Mike Smith, Dirk Koetter and Doug Marrone are all currently connected to the Dolphins’ head coaching job, according to Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald (Twitter link).
  • Not surprisingly, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones confirmed Sunday that Jason Garrett will return in 2016 for his seventh season as the team’s head coach. “Let me be real clear: There’s no thought of replacing Jason. At all,” Jones said, according to Charean Williams of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Twitter link). Jones acknowledged that Garrett’s staff could change, though, as four assistant coaches’ contracts expire (Twitter link via Williams). Whether those changes happen will be up to Garrett, who Jones says is “the ultimate-decision maker” when it comes to the coaching staff (Twitter link via Fox Sports’ Matt Mosley).
  • Lions president Rod Wood says the club’s search for a new general manager will begin in earnest Monday, tweets Tim Twentyman of the team’s website. Interim GM Sheldon White will be among those interviewed, according to Wood (Twitter link via Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press), and Greg Gabriel of NFPost.com reports the Lions will also talk to Giants assistant GM Kevin Abrams (via Twitter). Another Giants executive, Marc Ross, could also get a look, tweets Fox Sports’ Mike Garafolo.

Cole’s Latest: Colts, Giants, Saban, Raiders

January 3rd, 2016 at 3:53pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Let’s take a look at the latest from Bleacher Report’s Jason Cole (all video links):

  • The presence of Andrew Luck could lead several high-profile names to be interested in the Colts‘ potential head-coaching vacancy, per Cole, who reports that Mike Shanahan, Jon Gruden, and Sean Payton could all have varying levels of interest in the position. The key question, according to Cole, is how much roster/personnel control owner Jim Irsay is willing to hand over.
  • Luck makes the Colts job very attractive, but the most desirable landing spot on the market? The Giants, says Cole, due to ownership’s “hand-off” approach. Plus, the combination of Eli Manning and Odell Beckham Jr. is very enticing to candidates.
  • Despite interest from numerous teams, Alabama head coach Nick Saban is not expected to make the leap to the NFL. Saban, who does have NFL experience with the Dolphins, is quite comfortable in Tuscaloosa, and he doesn’t want to take any attention away from his team’s looming championship game against Clemson on January 11.
  • Sources tell Cole that billionaire Larry Ellison (founder of Oracle Corporation) has spoken with Raiders owner Mark Davis about buying a portion of the team. While nothing is close, the mere presence of Ellison could potentially attract other investors, per Cole, and ultimately help the club make the move to Los Angeles.

Coaching Updates: 1/3/16

January 3rd, 2016 at 10:42am CST by Rory Parks

After learning this morning that the 49ers are expected to fire Jim Tomsula and that Jim Caldwell is more likely than not to return to the Lions in 2016, let’s dive into a few more notes on the league’s head coaching carousel:

  • A “plugged-in source” tells Pro Football Talk that Chip Kelly could be headed to the Browns (Twitter link).
  • Before that somewhat mysterious tweet from PFT, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweeted out a list of a few candidates the Browns are expected to interview in the coming days after they formally fire Mike Pettine. That list includes popular targets Adam Gase, Teryl Austin, and Doug Marrone. Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer writes that the team is especially interested in Gase and has already laid the groundwork for an interview with the Bears’ offensive coordinator. It was something of a surprise that Gase did not land a head coaching job last year, but it looks like 2016 will find him in charge of his own club.
  • Rapoport also passes on some news on the Colts (via Conor Orr of NFL.com), reporting that if Indianapolis parts ways with Chuck Pagano, the team will make Sean Payton and Nick Saban say no before turning its search in another direction. Although the presence of franchise quarterback Andrew Luck could alter his thinking somewhat, Saban, as Rapoport tweets, has been approached by NFL clubs countless times in recent years and always says no.
  • Current Chiefs offensive coordinator Doug Pederson is “a name to watch” as the Eagles attempt to fill their new head coaching vacancy, per Albert Breer of the NFL Network, who adds that the team would have to do some “fence-mending” to lure Sean McDermott, one of the hottest head coaching candidates, away from Carolina (Twitter links). ESPN.com news services confirms the team’s interest in Pederson, who spent four seasons as an offensive assistant under Andy Reid in Philadelphia, and adds that interim head coach Pat Shumur has not been ruled out.
  • The Titans will look at interim head coach Mike Mularkey as a legitimate candidate to become the team’s permanent head coach, as Rapoport writes in his Black Monday primer.
  • In the same piece, Rapoport writes that Mike McCoy has a much better chance to stay with the Chargers than originally anticipated. The NFL.com scribe reports that San Diego brass will step back and look at factors like the injuries the team has endured, the close losses it has suffered, and the omnipresent Los Angles dilemma before making a final decision. While McCoy could still be fired, it appears as though he will at least get a thorough evaluation before that happens.

AFC South Notes: Texans, Grigson, Titans

January 1st, 2016 at 6:43pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

A look around the AFC South:

  • Rick Smith has been the Texans’ general manager since 2006, but his role might change sometime during the offseason – perhaps after the draft – tweets Neil Stratton of Inside the League. According to Stratton, Smith could get a promotion (possibly to team president), thus elevating director of player personnel Brian Gaine to GM.
  • Speaking of AFC South GMs, Mike Wells of ESPN.com took a look at whether Ryan Grigson deserves to continue running the Colts. The reasons to fire Grigson exist in greater quantity than the ones to keep him, Wells writes. One excuse to let Grigson go: a 2013 trade that went horribly awry. Back then, Grigson sent a 2014 first-rounder to Cleveland for running back Trent Richardson, who spent two unproductive seasons in Indy and is now out of the NFL. Further, the imperious Grigson has meddled in the affairs of head coach Chuck Pagano – who’s also a candidate for the chopping block.
  • Titans interim head coach Mike Mularkey has a supporter in tight end Delanie Walker, according to Terry McCormick of TitanInsider.com (Twitter link). Walker, who easily leads the Titans in receptions (85), yards (994) and touchdowns (six), thinks Mularkey is capable of fixing the team’s problems if he is promoted to the full-time head coaching role. That seems unlikely, however, especially given Mularkey’s lack of results as a head coach. He’s just 18-37 in three-plus seasons with the Bills, Jaguars and Titans.
  • If the Titans do move on from Mularkey, Bob Brookover of Philly.com offers his version of the perfect replacement: erstwhile Eagles coach Chip Kelly. Of course, Kelly and Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota were together previously at Oregon and helped the Ducks to a 12-1 record and second overall ranking in 2012. Brookover thinks a Kelly-Mariota reunion should be too enticing for Tennesee to let go by the wayside.

Minor NFL Transactions: 1/1/16

January 1st, 2016 at 4:47pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Let’s take a look at a New Year’s Day edition of the league’s latest minor moves:

  • The Rams have promoted receiver Nick Toon to their active roster, according to Woodbery (Twitter link), placing cornerback Eric Patterson on injured reserve to create a roster spot (Twitter link via Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle). Toon, a former fourth-round pick, has 21 career receptions, all with the Saints.
  • The Jaguars also made a practice squad promotion, signing defensive tackle Richard Ash to the active roster while placing defensive end Abry Jones on injured reserve, tweets Wilson. Ash has spent the entire season on Jacksonville’s taxi squad.
  • The Chargers made a couple of procedural moves, per Wilson (Twitter link), who reports that San Diego has cut receiver Torrence Allen and guard Ben Beckwith from injured reserve.

Earlier updates:

  • The Saints have placed running back Kendall Hunter on injured reserve, head coach Sean Payton told reporters, including Evan Woodbery of NOLA.com (Twitter link). The 27-year-old former 49er, who has just one carry on the season, was apparently injured during practice this week.
  • The Colts have waived receiver Griff Whalen off injured reserve, tweets Josina Anderson of ESPN. Whalen appeared in 14 games this season, catching 19 balls for 205 yards and one touchdown.

Extra Points: Colts, Browns, B. Kelly, Bears

December 31st, 2015 at 8:55pm CST by Dallas Robinson

We learned earlier today that the Colts are not expected to retain head coach Chuck Pagano, and Bob Kravitz of WTHR provides details on at least one reason why — the contentious relationship between Pagano and general manager Ryan Grigson. The entire article is well worth a read, as sources tell Kravitz that Grigson has repeatedly overstepped his responsibilities as GM and interfered with the coaching staff, whether by forcing Pagano to play Trent Richardson and Josh Cribbs, or forcing the hire of ex-offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton.

Here’s more from around the league…

  • Browns safety Tashaun Gipson hasn’t had any talks with the club since Week 1, he tells Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com (Twitter link), and though he’s open to returning, he’s also interested in reaching the open market. Meanwhile, fellow free-agent-to-be Mitchell Schwartz also says he’d like to re-sign with Cleveland, but allowed that business is business (Twitter link via Nate Ullrich of the Akron Beacon Journal).
  • Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly has long been rumored as a future NFL coach, but he doesn’t sound all that eager to make the leap, writes James Kratch of NJ.com. As Kelly expresses, he has full autonomy at Notre Dame, where he essentially acts as owner, general manager, and coach. Unless a club was willing to hand him full roster and personnel control, Kelly doesn’t seem to have an incentive to jump to the professional ranks.
  • If Adam Gase is able to land a head coaching opportunity, the Bears will be in need of a new offensive coordinator, and Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune believes John Fox will have plenty of options. Ken Whisenhunt, whom Fox nearly hired in Denver, Pat Shurmur, and Mike McCoy (if fired by the Chargers) could all be on the table for Chicago.
  • Offensive tackle Zach Strief wants to retire a Saint, and he doesn’t plan on moving to another team if New Orleans lets him go. “I will come back here until they tell me to stop coming,” Strief told Katherine Terrell of NOLA.com. Strief is set count $4.6MM against the club’s cap next season, and Terrell believes New Orleans would ask the veteran to restructure his deal to stick around.

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 12/31/15

December 31st, 2015 at 6:40pm CST by Luke Adams

Here are the practice squad signings and cuts from around the NFL on the last day of 2015….

Dallas Cowboys

Indianapolis Colts

San Diego Chargers

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