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Andre Johnson Had Interest In Dolphins

July 8th, 2015 at 9:37am CST by Luke Adams

When Andre Johnson was released by the Texans back in March, it didn’t take him long to find a new home in the AFC South. After receiving some interest from the Chargers, Eagles, and a handful of other clubs, the veteran wideout signed with the Colts, joining former Miami Hurricanes teammate Frank Gore in Indianapolis.

While he’s happy to be a Colt, Johnson admitted that, after having played his high school and college ball in Miami, playing for the Dolphins “was something [he] thought about,” writes Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald.

“I always had a dream of playing at home. I was a huge Dolphins fan,” Johnson said. “But they never called.”

The Dolphins revamped their wide receiving corps this offseason, jettisoning Mike Wallace, Brian Hartline, and Brandon Gibson, while bringing aboard Kenny Stills, Greg Jennings, and first-round draft pick DeVante Parker.

While Johnson could’ve potentially filled the role occupied by Jennings, Miami seemed to be targeting younger, cheaper players for its top roles, while Jennings is expected to be a complementary piece — at two years and $8MM, Jennings was a more affordable veteran addition than Johnson (three years, $21MM) would have been.

Extra Points: Battle, Browns, Gipson

July 7th, 2015 at 10:00pm CST by Luke Adams

The NFL released the full schedule of 2015’s training camp reporting dates for rookies and veterans for all 32 teams today, and we’re only about a couple weeks away from rookies starting to show up. Rookies for the Ravens, Browns, and Saints will report on July 22, while the earliest reporting date for veteran players is July 25, for the Vikings and Steelers. Veterans for all 32 teams will report to camp no later than August 2.

As we look forward to the return of real NFL football, let’s check in on some odds and ends from around the league today….

  • Clemson offensive tackle Isaiah Battle had 26 NFL teams in attendance for his Pro Day today, a school official tells Mike Reiss of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Battle, who is eligible for Thursday’s supplemental draft, is considered the player most likely to be selected. If he does come off the board, Battle would become the first prospect selected in the supplemental draft since the Browns nabbed Josh Gordon in 2012.
  • Browns safety Tashaun Gipson appears likely to play out the 2015 season on his one-year RFA tender before testing the free agent market in 2016, writes Pat McManamon of ESPN.com. It’ll be a crucial year on the field for Gipson, who wants to prove that he’s worth Devin McCourty money.
  • Dana Hunsinger Benbow of the Indianapolis Star passes along the findings of an analysis conducted by NerdWallet.com, which determined that the Colts have been the second-most financially efficient NFL team over the last 15 years. The only team ahead of Indianapolis, unsurprisingly, is the Patriots.
  • The Vikings ownership group will end up putting about $572MM into the team’s new stadium, writes Lee Schafer of the Star Tribune, noting that money from the NFL, along with seat licensing and naming rights, will make up a good chunk of the owners’ contributions.

Largest 2015 Cap Hits By Team: AFC South

July 7th, 2015 at 1:33pm CST by Luke Adams

Before NFL training camps get underway later this month, we’ll be taking a closer look at the top 2015 cap hits for teams around the league. We began our series in June by focusing on the NFC East and AFC East divisions, and last week we looked at the NFC North, AFC North, and NFC South. Today, we’ll head back to the AFC to examine the South division.

Listed below are the top 10 cap hits for the coming season for each of the four AFC South franchises, accompanied by some observations on the spending habits of those clubs. Let’s dive in….

Houston Texans:

  1. J.J. Watt, DL: $13,969,000
  2. Johnathan Joseph, CB: $11,750,000
  3. Duane Brown, LT: $9,500,000
  4. Arian Foster, RB: $8,706,250
  5. Brian Cushing, LB: $7,891,250
  6. Kareem Jackson, CB: $7,453,125
  7. Andre Johnson, WR: $7,319,585 (dead money)
  8. Brian Hoyer, QB: $5,218,750
  9. Jadeveon Clowney, DE/OLB: $5,062,045
  10. Derek Newton, RT: $4,500,000
    Total: $81,370,005

Not many players have an interior defensive lineman atop their list of cap hits, but no other team has an interior defensive lineman that has the same impact on the field that Watt does. Without a top quarterback to pay, the Texans are able to devote a significant chunk of cap space to defensive players like Watt. Of course, the All-Pro had originally been slated to have an even higher cap number in 2015 before a restructure reduced that figure by $8MM.

Joseph, Cushing, and Jackson are the notable defenders besides Watt taking up sizable pieces of cap room, and their performances will go a long way to determining how the Houston defense performs this season, and what sort of value the Texans are getting out of their top 10 cap hits.

Cushing stayed mostly healthy in 2014 after missing more games than he played in 2012 and 2013, but it wasn’t one of his better seasons. Joseph, meanwhile, has been effective but perhaps overpriced — an extension this offseason added two seasons to his contract at a rate of $7MM per year, which is a more reasonable rate. As for Jackson, he re-upped with the Texans in the offseason, so this will be the first year of his new deal with the team.

Indianapolis Colts:

  1. Vontae Davis, CB: $11,250,000
  2. Andre Johnson, WR: $7,500,000
  3. Robert Mathis, OLB: $7,470,586
  4. Anthony Castonzo, LT: $7,438,000
  5. Arthur Jones, DL: $7,100,000
  6. Andrew Luck, QB: $7,034,363
  7. Trent Cole, OLB: $6,953,125
  8. Gosder Cherilus, RT: $6,900,000
  9. Greg Toler, CB: $5,833,334
  10. D’Qwell Jackson, LB: $5,750,000
    Total: $73,229,408

With only one player on the roster whose cap hit exceeds $7.5MM, the Colts have loaded up on players in that $5MM-7.5MM range — everyone but Davis on this list is separated by a mere $1.75MM. Of course, some of those players will likely eventually have to take pay cuts or be released when Luck’s big payday arrives, but for now, the fact that the former No. 1 pick remains on his rookie contract allows the Colts to surround him with several mid-level investments.

Of course, one reason the Colts were able to add several of these players at reasonable prices is that many are likely past their primes. Mathis is 34, Cole will turn 33 in October, and Jackson will turn 32 in September. Those veterans are expected to be key contributors on defense, and if their performances don’t match up to their salaries, we could see them become release candidates a year from now.

The other noteworthy veteran on this list is Johnson, who shows up on two separate top-10 lists in the AFC South, since he’s still counting for over $7MM in dead money on the Texans’ cap. The standout receiver will turn 34 later this week. However, taking into account the numbers he has posted in recent years in Houston while playing with mediocre quarterbacks, it’s not hard to see why the Colts were willing to commit a decent portion of cap room to him this year to see what he can do with Luck.

Jacksonville Jaguars:

  1. Julius Thomas, TE: $10,300,000
  2. Jared Odrick, DL: $9,000,000
  3. Jermey Parnell, RT: $8,000,000
  4. Paul Posluszny, LB: $6,885,416
  5. Davon House, CB: $6,500,000
  6. Luke Joeckel, LT: $5,782,254
  7. Sen’Derrick Marks, DT: $5,425,000
  8. Zane Beadles, G: $5,000,000
  9. Chris Clemons, DE: $5,000,000
  10. Blake Bortles, QB: $4,694,273
    Total: $66,586,943

The first few names on the Jaguars’ list of top 10 cap hits reads like a who’s-who of the team’s offseason free agent signings. Thomas, Odrick, Parnell, and House all headed to Jacksonville as free agents in March, while Posluszny reworked his deal with the club.

Most of the time, cap numbers for newly-signed players start small before increasing in the later years of their contracts, but the huge amount of cap room Jacksonville held heading into the offseason allowed the team to frontload those deals — the 2015 cap numbers for those four free agent signees all exceed the annual values of their contracts. In 2016, their combined cap hits will total $27.8MM, as opposed to $33.8MM this year.

It’ll be interesting to see how the Jaguars’ free agent class performs in 2015, since players like Parnell and House weren’t even starters for their old teams. But, like every other team in the AFC South, Jacksonville isn’t currently devoting big bucks to its quarterback, which gives the club the flexibility to roll the dice on these players with upside. If they don’t pan out, they’ll be gone long before Bortles reaches his second contract.

Tennessee Titans:

  1. Jason McCourty, CB: $8,600,000
  2. Andy Levitre, G: $8,600,000
  3. Michael Griffin, S: $8,100,000
  4. Jurrell Casey, DL: $6,720,000
  5. Delanie Walker, TE: $5,275,000
  6. Sammie Lee Hill, DT: $4,666,668
  7. Brian Orakpo, OLB: $4,468,750
  8. Derrick Morgan, OLB: $4,000,000
  9. Da’Norris Searcy, S: $3,625,000
  10. Ropati Pitoitua, DL: $3,612,500
    Total: $57,667,918

No team that we’ve examined in our series so far has a smaller No. 1 cap charge than the Titans, whose $8.6MM figures for McCourty and Levitre pale in comparison to some other cap hits around the league — you could triple that number and still not match Drew Brees‘ $26.4MM, for instance. The lack of an eight-digit cap hit for any player ensures that the Titans’ top 10 players count for only about $57.67MM overall against the cap, which is also easily the lowest figure we’ve encountered so far.

With nearly $26MM in cap room still remaining, the Titans have more space than every other NFL team except the Jaguars, and it’s a little curious that the Titans didn’t emulate their division rivals when it comes to structuring free agent contracts. Orakpo, Morgan, and Searcy all signed free agent deals with Tennessee this spring, but those contracts aren’t nearly as frontloaded as Jacksonville’s. That trio will count for $20.785MM against the Titans’ 2016 cap, nearly doubling their combined total for 2015.

Of course, there’s one notable name missing from this list, as first-round pick Marcus Mariota has yet to sign his rookie deal with the Titans. As the second overall pick, Mariota will be in line for a 2015 cap number of $4,402,541 when he eventually signs his contract, which would place him eighth on this list, bumping off Pitoitua.

Information from Over the Cap was used in the creation of this post.

AFC Mailbags: Browns, Bills, Titans, Raiders, Colts

July 4th, 2015 at 3:01pm CST by Sam Robinson

Earlier today, our Ben Levine pored over some of the NFC mailbags; here are some notes from the AFC side.

  • The Browns‘ front office no longer expects Josh Gordon to operate at the superstar level he showed in 2013, writes Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. The longtime Browns scribe notes the team will consider trading the fourth-year wideout who’s perpetually afoul with the league if he proves he can come back to the team sober.
  • Cabot envisions Josh McCown winning seven or eight games if things go well this season and only sees Johnny Manziel re-emerging on the field if the Browns are slumping down the stretch. She does not, however, view Connor Shaw as a legitimate threat to the former Heisman Trophy winner’s backup job, noting third-stringers rarely receive sufficient practice reps and that Manziel will at least work plenty with the scout team as the No. 2 quarterback.
  • The Bills will probably approach Mario Williams about restructuring his $19.4MM cap number, which jumps to $19.9MM in 2016, in order to make room to re-sign Marcell Dareus, writes Vic Carucci of the Buffalo News. Additionally, the Bills writer suggests extending Matt Cassel ($4.75MM cap number in 2015) if he wins the starting job, and possibly cutting guard Kraig Urbik ($2.2MM), among others, to clear a payment path for Dareus to join Williams as one of the league’s highest-paid defenders.
  • Zach Brown appears to be fully recovered from the torn pectoral injury that ended his 2014 campaign after just four snaps, offers Paul Kuharsky of ESPN.com. Coverage hasn’t been an issue for the fourth-year linebacker that came to the Titans as a second-round pick, but run-stoppage consistency has, per Kuharsky.
  • ESPN.com Raiders reporter Bill Williamson doesn’t think the Raiders will add another guard to compete on the right side before training camp, with the team being satisfied with J’Marcus Webb, Khalif Barnes and rookie Jon Feliciano. With Gabe Jackson coming off a solid rookie slate, the right side is indeed in need of a production uptick. Pro Football Focus (subscription required), which took scant pleasure in watching the Raiders last year, tagged Barnes as the Raiders’ worst starting lineman in 2014. Waived by the Vikings after being beaten on a blocked field goal in December, Webb’s started just one game since 2012 but is being offered the chance to compete at guard rather than his customary tackle spot.
  • Michael Crabtree‘s in a year-long preseason of sorts, with each game serving as part of the inconsistent wideout’s audition to either return to the Raiders or earn the long-term contract he coveted this offseason, writes Williamson.
  • Fourth-round safety Clayton Geathers has the talent to usurp Dwight Lowery in the Colts‘ starting secondary, writes ESPN.com’s Mike Wells. Wells viewed the Central Florida rookie as the No. 2 first-year attraction behind Phillip Dorsett and notes that Chuck Pagano mentioned the possibility of Geathers working as a dime linebacker.

Minor Moves: Thursday

July 2nd, 2015 at 9:07pm CST by Zachary Links

Today’s minor moves..

  • The Colts announced that they have signed undrafted free agent inside linebacker Justin Shirk and waived defensive end Camaron Beard. Shirk played in 45 games over his four-year career at Bloomsburg and finished with 392 tackles, 45.0 tackles for loss, 18.0 sacks, five forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries, and one interception. Beard originally signed with the Colts as an UDFA on June 2nd. He played in 41 games at Cincinnati and finished with 75 tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss and 2.0 sacks.

Minor Moves: Tuesday

June 30th, 2015 at 4:10pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

Here are Tuesday’s minor moves from around the NFL, with any additional transactions added to the top of the list throughout the evening:

  • The Colts signed free agent defensive tackle Jeris Pendleton, according to their official website. The 31-year-old has been a member of the Colts organization since 2013, when he last appeared in a game. He missed all of last season because of a knee injury.
  • Offensive guard Cole Manhart – whom the Eagles waived Monday – passed through waivers unclaimed, reports Adam Caplan (Twitter link). The Eagles signed Manhart as an undrafted free agent out of Nebraska-Kearney earlier this year.

AFC Mailbags: McGloin, Richardson, Bengals, Jets

June 27th, 2015 at 9:45am CST by Ben Levine

It’s Saturday morning, and that means ESPN.com’s NFL writers are opening their mailbags and answering questions from readers. Let’s start the day with some notes from the AFC…

  • Considering the presence of Derek Carr and Christian Ponder, Bill Williamson believes the Raiders could shop quarterback Matt McGloin. If he ends up having a good preseason, another team could look to acquire the 25-year-old.
  • Regardless of the play of Raiders running back Latavius Murray, Williamson believes Trent Richardson will make the team’s opening day roster.
  • Coley Harvey would prefer to “wait and see” how the Bengals receivers perform before declaring that they need more depth at the position.
  • Rich Cimini guesses that four running backs will make the Jets roster, an indication that Zac Stacy will be safe. As the writer points out, the team surrendered a draft pick for Stacy, so the organization will try to make it work.
  • If Henry Anderson ends up starting on the defensive line for the Colts, Mike Wells says we can point to Kendall Langford‘s contract as a mistake.

Sunday Roundup: Kelly, Beachum, Fauria

June 21st, 2015 at 12:41pm CST by Rory Parks

Jeff McLane of The Philadelphia Inquirer says that coaches like the Eagles‘ Chip Kelly, who exercise control over both the football and business side of a team’s operations, frequently succumb to the pressures and difficulties of absolute power. Bill Belichick has managed to make it work in New England, but he is the exception to the rule.

Philadelphia’s recent saga with Evan Mathis demonstrates just how difficult Kelly’s position can be. As McLane writes, “Kelly received nothing in return for a Pro Bowl guard who had little leverage and claimed that he was prepared to report and perform without being a disruption – as he did last year.” And if the decision to release Mathis turns out to be a poor one, Kelly will have no higher authority to share the blame.

Although players will typically side with their teammates when asked about contract difficulties, the responses to Mathis’ release suggest that Kelly is still commanding respect in the locker room even as he takes full control of the team’s personnel affairs. McLane says that Mathis’ former teammates offered “vociferous support of management” after Mathis was cut, and tight end Zach Ertz had this to say: “I understand where [Mathis is] coming from. In his mind he thinks he’s underpaid, so he’s got to do what he thinks is best. But we want people here that are going to trust the process.”

Of course, there will be many more difficult personnel decisions to be made, decisions that will truly test whether Kelly can first construct a talented roster and then get that roster to win football games. It is a decidedly tall task, and one that most have been unable to meet.

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

  • One of Kelly’s acquisitions this offseason was Miles Austin, who signed a one-year, $2.3MM deal with the club. Austin might not be getting a lot of attention from those outside the Eagles locker room, but Kelly himself is pleased with what he has seen from the one-time star, writes Connor Orr of NFL.com. “He’s got really, really good range,” Kelly said. “Catches the ball extremely well. Intelligent. Kind of knows the subtleties of the exact route running, kind of exactly where to maybe place his elbow to get separation in terms of pushing off the hip and things like that. And he’s imparted that on the younger guys, which I think has really helped us to have that true veteran route runner in there, and I think he’s been really good at doing that.”
  • The Colts have four locks to make the team at wide receiver in T.Y. Hilton, Andre Johnson, Donte Moncrief, and first-round pick Phillip Dorsett, writes Kevin Bowen of Colts.com. After that, they have three players competing for either one or two spots in Vincent Brown, Duron Carter, and Griff Whalen.
  • David Newton of ESPN.com says Jerricho Cotchery is likely to make the Panthers‘ final roster due to his leadership abilities, but Newton does not see him making a significant on-field contribution considering the talent ahead of him on the depth chart.
  • In the same piece, Newton says he does not see the Panthers making any significant additions along the offensive line unless there is a major injury in training camp, even if a player like the newly-acquired Michael Oher struggles.
  • The Steelers have not spoken with tackle Kelvin Beachum, who is entering the final year of his contract, about a new deal, tweets Alex Marvez of FOXSports.com. Beachum though, says he is not sweating his contract situation and is fully focused on the 2015 season.
  • Tashaun Gipson is the talk of the town in Tony Grossi’s latest mailbag for ESPN.com, and Grossi writes that the recent contract drama surrounding Gipson has created a bad vibe between player and team. He also addresses whether the Browns could keep Johnny Manziel inactive all year during his recovery.
  • Michael Rothstein of ESPN.com is somewhat surprised by how limited Lions tight end Joseph Fauria was in the spring, and the fact that the team signed David Ausberry and attempted to claim Tim Wright off waivers suggests that Detroit is at least considering contingency plans. That said, Fauria is expected to be ready for training camp, and the Lions continue to be impressed by his upside.

Rob DiRe contributed to this post.

AFC Mailbags: Bills, Raiders, Jets, Colts

June 20th, 2015 at 11:22am CST by Sam Robinson

It’s a June Saturday, so that means a full dose of mailbags from the NFL beat writers. We’ll start with some Bills thoughts.

  • Walk-year left tackle Cordy Glenn could be the odd man out when it comes to contract re-ups next offseason, writes Vic Carucci of the Buffalo News. The fourth-year starter’s put together a solid body of work, particularly in 2013 where Pro Football Focus slotted the 2012 second-round pick as its 13th-best tackle. But with Marcell Dareus‘ massive second payday forthcoming, Glenn’s next deal may come from elsewhere, since Carucci doesn’t believe the Bills view him as a certainty to play up to the kind of contract a quality left tackle commands in free agency.
  • Showing up late for minicamp may cost right tackle Seantrel Henderson his starting job, with 2014 second-rounder Cyrus Kouandjio stepping in as a result. This could just be for minicamp as Buffalo assesses its front-line talent, but Carucci notes that with Glenn potentially in his last season with the team, they may need to see what they have in Kouandjio.
  • Third-round pick Clive Walford has a chance to beat out incumbent Mychal Rivera for the Raiders‘ starting tight end job if he keeps up the play he showed during minicamp, notes ESPN.com’s Bill Williamson. The ESPN scribe already views Walford, a 6-foot-4 Miami product, as a more dynamic playmaker than Rivera, who despite being a quality garbage-time fantasy option, rated as Pro Football Focus’ second-worst tight end (subscription required) in 2014.
  • Jets ESPN.com reporter Rich Cimini thinks re-signing both Muhammad Wilkerson and, eventually, Sheldon Richardson will be difficult, with the possibility of defensive linemen making as much as $30MM per year in 2017. That eye-popping figure may be a bit high considering J.J. Watt and Ndamukong Suh don’t average $20MM per season. The Jets do allocate a league-high $34.4MM to their offensive front, and renegotiations there could help keep together what could be the best defensive line in the game. But Cimini expects the Jets to take a hard-line stance with Wilkerson after drafting Leonard Williams at No. 6.
  • After alternating snaps in minicamp, Lance Louis and Hugh Thornton are the Colts‘ top candidates to start at right guard if Jack Mewhort moves to right tackle, writes ESPN.com’s Mike Wells. The oft-injured Donald Thomas is an outside candidate to reclaim that spot after multiple season-ending injuries, although he didn’t participate in minicamp.

AFC South Notes: Titans, Colts, Hilton

June 16th, 2015 at 1:54pm CST by Luke Adams

While the Titans had planned to hire a new president/CEO, that search has been put on hold, and interim president Steve Underwood will continue to hold the position through the 2015 season, writes Jim Wyatt of the Tennessean.

“We had applications from a number of people that I have known for many years who have been presidents of NFL clubs, who were highly qualified, and they’d be good leaders,” Underwood said. “But we didn’t interview any of them; we never got that far along in the process. I just think our ownership group, as the weeks went by, they got a better and better comfort level in the direction we’re heading and they decided they’d rather put that off if I would decide to stay and get us through the season.“

As the Titans’ ownership group and front office has done repeatedly in recent months and years, Underwood also reiterated today that the franchise is not for sale, according to Wyatt.

“There is no talk of selling. The owners haven’t entertained it,” Underwood said. “The people who suggest a sale are guessing and I don’t have to guess — I know there is not a sale underway. They are not entertaining offers for a sale. There is no ‘for sale’ sign in our yard.“

Here’s more from out of the AFC South:

  • Shonn Greene wasn’t cut today by the Titans because he was out of shape or injured — according to head coach Ken Whisenhunt, the running back passed a physical before he was released, tweets Jim Wyatt of the Tennessean.
  • The Colts aren’t pursuing Evan Mathis, and it appears unlikely that the team will reconsider that stance, a source tells Stephen Holder of the Indianapolis Star.
  • Mike Chappell of Indy Sports Central looks at T.Y. Hilton‘s resume in an attempt to assess his value, noting that it’s far from a given that Hilton will get an extension. Colts owner Jim Irsay has rarely signed any player to an extension, including Peyton Manning, who played out his contracts before signing new ones. The Colts also have rookie Phillip Dorsett in the fold, which could give them a fallback option if Hilton is not retained in the long term.
  • Trent Cole‘s best years are almost certainly behind him, but he told reporters this week, including Mike Wells of ESPN.com, that he feels “rejuvenated” after joining the Colts this offseason.
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