NFC West Notes: Seahawks, Rams, 49ers
While it’s being viewed as something of an inevitability that the Seahawks will work out an extension with Russell Wilson as he enters the final year of his rookie contract, Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com isn’t so sure it’s a lock. La Canfora thinks it’s possible that Wilson chooses to gamble on himself, playing out the final year of his deal before signing a massive extension next winter.
Sources tell the CBSSports.com scribe that there hasn’t been a ton of progress made so far on any extensions for notable QBs, including Wilson, Andrew Luck, and Cam Newton. That will likely change, and if Wilson does reach an agreement with the Seahawks this offseason, expect to be a “mega-deal” and not anything similar to the more modest arrangements agreed upon by guys like Andy Dalton and Colin Kaepernick.
Here’s more from around the NFC West:
- Seahawks general manager John Schneider confirmed today that his team won’t be using its franchise tag prior to the March 2 deadline, tweets Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times. That doesn’t come as a surprise — as I wrote earlier this month, cornerback Byron Maxwell is really the only viable candidate, and the Seahawks aren’t likely to spend big on him.
- After interviewing Jeff Garcia for the role, the Rams have opted to hire another ex-NFL quarterback as their QB coach, according to ESPN’s Derek Tyson, who tweets that former Heisman winner Chris Weinke is joining Jeff Fisher‘s staff in St. Louis.
- Echoing comments made by GM Trent Baalke yesterday, albeit using different terminology, 49ers head coach Jim Tomsula told reporters today that he intends to “shoot the bologna” with Justin Smith soon, writes Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee. According to Tomsula, he has had a similar conversation with Smith – who may retire – at the end of the last three or four seasons.
Rams Allow Sam Bradford To Seek Trade?
THURSDAY, 8:47am: In his full story on the Bradford situation, Thomas clarifies that the Rams have told agent Tom Condon that if he wants to check around to see if there’s a market for Bradford, he can do so. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that the Rams would be willing to make a trade.
WEDNESDAY, 3:04pm: Snead “emphatically denies” that Bradford is being allowed to explore trade possibilities, tweets Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, adding that the GM said today that the Rams aren’t “deleting” the quarterback from their roster. Regardless of whether St. Louis is considering trading Bradford, or whether his agent is looking into the possibility, a deal seems unlikely, as I noted below.
1:36pm: The Rams have given quarterback Sam Bradford permission to seek a trade, according to Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (via Twitter). As La Canfora notes, given Bradford’s contract situation and his injury history, finding compensation to the Rams’ liking may be difficult, but the QB’s agent has been given the go-ahead to speak to other teams.
While the Rams have said both publicly and privately that they’d like to bring back Bradford for at least one more season, it appears the front office is intent on finding a solution that benefits both the player and the club. La Canfora notes (via Twitter) that the most likely scenario may still be the Rams working out a restructured contract with the former first overall pick, but that has been a “slow process” so far. Still, discussions on that front are at least underway, GM Les Snead confirmed today (Twitter link via Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com).
This year’s group of available quarterbacks is weak – both in free agency and in the draft – and there are plenty of teams looking to add a veteran signal-caller, so there may be a market for Bradford. Jason Cole of Bleacher Report also recently reported that some clubs may be more comfortable adding Bradford than a rookie like Jameis Winston or Marcus Mariota. Still, La Canfora tweets that there’s probably no other team that values Bradford more than the Rams do, and the 27-year-old’s contract also makes a deal tricky.
Entering the final year of his rookie pact, Bradford is on the Rams’ books for a $16.58MM cap number, and a $12.985MM base salary. Whether Bradford sticks in St. Louis or joins a new club, it will likely require slashing those numbers to accommodate him. The Oklahoma product is also coming off back-to-back seasons lost to ACL injuries, so any club interested in acquiring him would have to be certain that he’s on his way back to full health.
Rams Rumors: Bradford, Hill, Long, Barksdale
One of the more notable news items to come out of the first full-fledged day of media availability at the combine in Indianapolis was a report from Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com indicating that the Rams were allowing Sam Bradford to seek out a potential trade. General manager Les Snead disputed that report, but whether or not it’s true, a deal involving Bradford appears unlikely. Given his contract situation and his injury history, Bradford’s best bet may be agreeing to a pay cut to remain in St. Louis, where it looks like he’ll have a good chance to re-assume the starting QB job for the Rams.
Here’s more on the NFC West squad:
- While the Rams and Bradford’s agents don’t have a meeting scheduled for this week in Indianapolis, the two sides will at least talk over the phone, tweets Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
- St. Louis does have at least one meeting with a quarterback’s agent set up for this week, according to Thomas, who reports (via Twitter) that the club will meet with the rep for free-agent-to-be Shaun Hill.
- Offensive tackle Jake Long, who missed the second half of the 2014 season with a torn ACL, has a $10.5MM cap number for 2015, and the Rams have begun discussions about possibly lowering that number, according to Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com (via Twitter). Long, a former first overall pick, figures to move to a different position if he returns to the Rams in 2015, since last year’s first-rounder, Greg Robinson, appears poised to take over left tackle on a full-time basis (Twitter link via Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald).
- Speaking of offensive tackles, Snead said that Joe Barksdale is among the players who are expected to test the free agent market next month, tweets Wagoner. If Barksdale signs elsewhere, that would open up the right tackle spot for Long, assuming he has recovered from his knee injury in time for the 2015 season.
Extra Points: Fairley, Tamme, Broncos
A company that is gunning to build an NFL stadium in Los Angeles has given $118K in campaign contributions to officials in the city, according to The Associated Press. San Francisco-based Hollywood Park Land Co., the company developing the proposed 80,000-seat stadium, has claimed Rams owner Stan Kroenke as a partner in the company since last year. Here’s more from around the NFL..
- A source tells Josina Anderson of ESPN.com (Twitter link) that Lions defensive tackle and potential free agent Nick Fairley “just wants to be in the most comfortable situation possible.” The status of Ndamukong Suh could go a long way toward determining whether or not that situation is in Detroit.
- Broncos tight end Jacob Tamme told Alex Marvez of FOX Sports (on Twitter) that he expects to hit the free agent market. Still, he says he’d “love the chance to be back in Denver.” Tamme went on to say that his skill set would work well in Denver’s new offense (link).
- Whether Peyton Manning returns or not, the Broncos can say goodbye to any chance of returning to their second Super Bowl in three seasons without a reconfigured offensive line, Troy Renck of The Denver Post writes. According to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), the Baltimore Ravens, for whom Kubiak served as offensive coordinator last season, posted a 41.4 run-blocking score. The Broncos checked in at minus 4.1.
- In a chat with Alex Marvez of FOX Sports (on Twitter), Buccaneers center Evan Dietrich-Smith compared the Buccaneers 2014 offense to trying to assemble something without directions because of the coaching issues. The Bucs hope that they have fixed their offensive issues with new coordinator Dirk Koetter.
- The idea of Ndamukong Suh joining the Raiders has been a well-documented scenario for weeks, but there are plenty more fish in the sea, Bill Williamson of ESPN.com writes. More affordable options on the open market include Terrance Knighton, Henry Melton, Nick Fairley, and Jared Odrick. Knighton, he argues, would make the most sense of anyone in the group. Pot Roast played for new coach Jack Del Rio in Jacksonville and Denver and has expressed his desire for a reunion.
Luke Adams contributed to this post.
West Rumors: 49ers, Manning, Gore, Chargers
Over the weekend, Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News reported that the 49ers may have hired Adam Gase as their head coach last month, had he agreed to make Jim Tomsula his defensive coordinator. Today, Albert Breer of the NFL Network follows up on that story, reporting (via Twitter) that Gase wanted to keep Vic Fangio as his DC in San Francisco, or to hire Vance Joseph from the Bengals for the job. As it turned out, Fangio left the Niners for the Bears and Joseph remained in Cincinnati, but it’s not clear if either coach’s situation would’ve been different had Gase landed San Francisco’s HC job.
Let’s round up a few more items from out of the NFC and AFC West divisions….
- Peyton Manning reportedly told John Elway and the Broncos last week that he’s preparing to play in 2015, and Peter King of TheMMQB.com writes today that the team “definitely” wants its quarterback to return, recognizing that its best chance for a deep playoff run comes with Manning at the helm. King adds that Denver may “quietly rattle some sabers” about reducing Manning’s 2015 salary and/or cap hit, but the MMQB.com scribe cautions that moving too much dead money to 2016 or beyond might be risky, since ’15 could very well be Manning’s last season.
- As Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com details, veteran running back Frank Gore publicly expressed some doubt this weekend on Instagram about how invested 49ers management is in him. However, agent Drew Rosenhaus tells Ed Werder of ESPN.com (Twitter link) that there’s “nothing negative” between Gore and the team, and that GM Trent Baalke has made it clear he wants to bring back the longtime Niner.
- Three players in the West – Rams quarterback Sam Bradford, Cardinals wideout Larry Fitzgerald, and Chiefs edge defender Tamba Hali – lead off Joel Corry’s list of candidates to take pay cuts this year. Here’s the full story from Corry at the National Football Post.
- The San Diego committee tasked with coming up with a plan for a new NFL stadium for the city will meet today with Mark Fabiani, the Chargers‘ point man on stadium issues, according to Tony Perry of the Los Angeles Times. With Stan Kroenke preparing to move forward with a new stadium in Inglewood, there’s a little more urgency in San Diego than there has been in past years to get something done.
East Notes: McCourty, Jets, JPP, Eagles
Titans cornerback Jason McCourty likes the idea of playing in the same secondary as his twin brother, and tells Dan Duggan of NJ.com that he hopes to get a chance to recruit Devin McCourty, even while acknowledging it’ll be hard to get the safety out of New England.
“As March closes in he’ll get a chance to see what New England wants to do, and I know he wants to be back there. He feels like that’s home. I think that’s where he’ll want to play his entire career,” the Titans defensive back said of his brother, adding: “You know how the business side of it goes. We’ll see. If he becomes a free agent, I’ll be doing everything in my power to try to get him to Tennessee.”
For his part, Devin admits that he’s “excited” to see how the free agent process will play out. The 27-year-old safety is a viable candidate to receive the franchise tag from the Patriots sometime in the next two weeks.
Here’s more from around the NFL’s two East divisions:
- Taking a look at the Jets‘ options as they explore adding a quarterback, Rich Cimini of ESPNNewYork.com notes that the team has an “interesting name” on its radar: Sam Bradford. The Rams have made it clear they’d like to bring back the former No. 1 overall pick, assuming he’s willing to rework his contract, but if Bradford isn’t willing to take a significant pay cut, it’s possible he’ll hit the open market and join a weak class of free agent QBs.
- As of the start of the month, the Giants and the reps for Jason Pierre-Paul had yet to exchange contract numbers, and nothing has changed on that front as of today, a source tells Jordan Raanan of NJ.com. Raanan writes that the next two weeks will be “vital” to JPP’s potential future in New York as the team decides whether or not to use its franchise tag on the defensive end.
- If the Eagles can’t find a quality safety in free agency to complement Malcolm Jenkins, it’s possible the team will bring back Nate Allen, but it feels like that relationship has run its course, writes Tim McManus of PhillyMag.com. McManus expects the Eagles to address the hole in its secondary in either free agency or the draft, rather than promoting an in-house option to the starting lineup.
- Vic Carucci of the Buffalo News examines the Bills‘ chances of keeping pass rusher Jerry Hughes on their roster, estimating that the team would likely have to pay Hughes a deal worth $8MM per year, with up to $20MM in guaranteed money.
West Notes: Chiefs, Manning, Knighton
Count Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith among those who didn’t see the shakeup in San Francisco coming. “I think for me, it’s still just tough to believe all those guys are gone, all that turnover,” Smith told Mark Purdy of the San Jose Mercury News. “I wasn’t there so obviously it’s hard for me to speculate on any of that. I was just kind of shocked. There were a lot of ballgames that got won over the last few years, but for whatever reason, they couldn’t make it work.” Smith, of course, played for the 49ers from 2005-12 before being traded to Kansas City. Here’s more from the West divisions:
- Smith’s backup, Chase Daniel, is scheduled to count $4.8MM against the Chiefs’ cap in 2015, the highest such figure for a No. 2 quarterback in the league. Kansas City can save $3.8MM by releasing him, but Daniel doesn’t expect that to happen, according to Todd Palmer of the Kansas City Star. Indeed, as Palmer notes, cutting Daniel would leave the Chiefs with inexperienced options like Aaron Murray and Tyler Bray behind Smith, although the club did add Terrelle Pryor earlier this offseason.
- Following reports that Peyton Manning intends to play next season, Jason Fitzgerald of Over the Cap looks at a few salary cap maneuvers the Broncos could use to lower the future Hall of Famer’s cap hit. Fitzgerald writes that Denver could either convert most of Manning’s base salary into a signing bonus, or add voidable years to the end of his contract — either move would allow them to retain Demaryius Thomas and make other additions.
- Terrance Knighton is a perfect fit for the Broncos’ new 3-4 scheme, and although he wants to remain in Denver, there haven’t been any contract talks as of yet, writes Troy E. Renck of the Denver Post. Renck speculates that Knighton could latch on with former Broncos defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio in Oakland, projecting a five-year, $30MM deal.
- Joel Corry of CBSSports.com looks at the top candidates to take a pay cut before the 2015 season, and three of the players — Sam Bradford of the Rams, Larry Fitzgerald of the Cardinals, and Tamba Hali of the Chiefs — reside in West divisions. I took a look at Hali’s chances of getting released last month.
NFC Notes: Rams, LA, Free, Bucs, Hardy, Lions
Rams owner Stan Kroenke is intent on moving his club to Los Angeles, but the city of St. Louis is just as keen on retaining the Rams. St. Louis’ stadium task force has been impressive its quest to build and fund a new stadium, and if they’re successful, the NFL could be faced with a public relations nightmare, with Kroenke leaving for a major market in LA even though St. Louis rose to the challenge presented by the league.
Presenting an alternate theory, Bernie Miklasz of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch offers two scenarios that would seemingly please both entities involved. In one, Kroenke could purchase the Rams from Mark Davis and move the team to LA, leaving the Rams in St. Louis. In the second (and more likely, per Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk) scenario, Kroenke and the Rams would move to Los Angeles, but Davis and the Raiders would move to St. Louis and a new stadium. As Florio writes, Miklasz’s “theory” sounds like a detailed account, as though he might have heard it from an off-the-record source but isn’t allowed to actually “report” the news, so it will be interesting to see if any more comes of this.
Here’s more from the NFC:
- Cowboys tackle Doug Free‘s 2015 and 2016 contract years voided today, according to Joel Corry of CBSSports.com (Twitter link). Dallas will carry $3.98MM in dead money on its books in 2015 as a result. The 31-year-old Free, meanwhile, should be one of the top free agent tackles on the market, and reports have indicated that the Cowboy will only sign one of him or Jermey Parnell.
- Longtime Jaguars defensive end Paul Spicer is interviewing for the Buccaneers assistant D-line coaching job, tweets Alex Marvez of FOX Sports. As Marvez notes, Spicer played under current Tampa defensive line coach Joe Cullen while the two were in Jacksonville.
- Even though the domestic violence charges against Greg Hardy were dismissed, the league will take a hardline stance on the Panthers defensive end, writes Joseph Person of the Charlotte Observer. The NFL has asked to unseal the court documents from Hardy’s case and could look to suspend him for up to six games. If the league does so, the NFLPA will surely file a grievance, adds Person.
- The Lions are likely to lose either Ndamukong Suh or Nick Fairley to the open market, and backups C.J. Mosley and Andre Fluellen are pending free agents, as well. But defensive end Darryl Tapp (also a FA-to-be) is confident that Detriots’s management will bring back a defensive line full of contributors. “I have no reason to think it wouldn’t be the same situation going into next year as far the guys they would bring in who would buy completely into the system and do things the right way,” Tapp told Carlos Monarrez of the Detroit Free Press.
Extra Points: Bradford, Rice, Starks
The Rams introduced their new offensive coordinator, Frank Cignetti, on Friday. The most significant information that came from Cignetti’s press conference was the vote of confidence given to quarterback Sam Bradford, writes NFL.com’s Kevin Petra.
Bradford, the No. 1 overall pick in 2010, has been inconsistent and injury prone during his five-year career, with an underwhelming 79.3 passer rating and just 49 of a possible 80 regular-season appearances. Bradford missed all of last season with a torn ACL and there was some question as to whether the Rams would bring him back in 2015, the final year of his deal, but head coach Jeff Fisher and Cignetti officially put such speculation to rest.
Asked if he wanted Bradford back next season, Fisher said, “That’s correct, yes. He’s been in the building since the season ended. He’s doing well,” according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Jim Thomas.
Fisher even said Bradford’s presence influenced the promotion of Cignetti, who was previously St. Louis’ quarterbacks coach.
Bradford’s cap number for next season is a whopping $16.58MM, and Thomas wrote earlier this week that the team hopes to restructure the 27-year-old’s contract.
Here’s more from around the NFL:
- Clifton Brown of CSNBaltimore.com took a look at the factors working for and against Ray Rice in his quest to return to the league after a yearlong hiatus resulting from the 28-year-old’s assault of his then-fiancée. Working in Rice’s favor, according to Brown, is that the likes of Michael Vick and Richie Incognito recently found second chances after committing serious off-the-field offenses. Conversely, one of the reasons Rice might not find much of a market is his poor 2013 performance. Rice was among the worst starting running backs in the league that year, amassing just 660 yards and four touchdowns in 15 games. His 3.1 yards-per-carry average was significantly lower than his career mark (4.3).
- Rich Tandler of CSNWashington.com sees “virtually no chance” of Washington using the franchise tag on anyone this offseason. Tandler notes that the $13.75MM cost for tagging outside linebacker Brian Orakpo would be too steep, and fellow free agents-to-be Niles Paul, Roy Helu and Jarvis Jenkins aren’t candidates to be among the five highest-paid players at their respective positions. Earlier this month, our own Luke Adams covered the possibility of Washington using the franchise tag this offseason, also concluding that it was unlikely.
- Dolphins defensive lineman Randy Starks is one potential cap casualty who could make sense for the Patriots, tweets the Boston Globe’s Ben Volin. The 31-year-old Starks is scheduled to count $6MM against Miami’s cap in 2015.
NFC Notes: Harbaugh, Suh, Rams
Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh shared some thoughts about his former employer on the Tim Kawakami Show, telling the San Jose Mercury News columnist his parting with the 49ers “wasn’t exactly mutual.”
“I didn’t leave the 49ers. I felt like the 49ers left me,” Harbaugh told Kawakami. The successful coach quickly exited San Francisco for Ann Arbor, Michigan, just after his fourth season as an NFL head coach concluded.
Mired in what appeared to be a consistent struggle with upper management, Harbaugh left despite taking the 49ers to three straight NFC title games, a destination the franchise hadn’t seen since 1997. Harbaugh also confirmed he was told he wouldn’t be back with the 49ers after a Week 15 loss in Seattle. The current Michigan coach, who will work for $5MM this season, didn’t deny then-defensive line coach Jim Tomsula was campaigning for his old job before getting it in January.
“There was definitely a point where you walk down the halls and you … I wasn’t reading anything that was on the Internet, I was really focused on doing my job … but definitely walk down the halls and people look away or they look at you and you know something’s going on,” Harbaugh told Kawakami.
On to those who plan to be paid by NFL franchises this season …
- If franchised, Ndamukong Suh‘s salary will balloon into the stratosphere reserved for baseball players and Roger Goodell, but Lions defensive coordinator Teryl Austin doesn’t care at this point, according to Tim Twentyman of DetroitLions.com. He plans on the free agent defensive tackle returning for a sixth season in the Motor City. Of course, there are other deciding voices on this expensive matter. Suh would draw a staggering $26.9MM should the Lions franchise him. The former No. 2 overall pick’s cap number was north of $22MM last season, according to OverTheCap.com. The near-$27MM figure would represent more than 19% of the Lions’ overall salary cap if they exercise this option. The team has 23 free agents and only $14.5MM worth of cap space, so some major restructuring would be necessary to make Austin’s ideal vision come to fruition.
- Rams coach Jeff Fisher shed some light on his recent offensive coordinator hire, per ESPN’s Nick Wagoner on Twitter, saying it was going to be an in-house candidate. Fisher also noted he had only one in-person interview — Nathaniel Hackett — and a couple of phone conversations with Kyle Shanahan and Adam Gase (via Wagner on Twitter) before promoting quarterbacks coach Frank Cignetti. Jeff Garcia was interviewed for the quarterback coach job on Thursday and Friday, but more interviews are coming (Twitter link).
- Amid another contract renegotiation, Larry Fitzgerald could finally enter the free agent market, but Kent Somers of the Arizona Republic explains why the 31-year-old Fitzgerald departing would not be the right move for his own sake. Fitzgerald is due $8MM if he’s on the roster when the new league year begins March 10, but that contract carries a $23.6MM cap charge, which is probably a non-starter for most players, let alone a one who hasn’t topped 1,000 receiving yards in a season since 2011. The Cardinals need to slash more than $10MM, according to OverTheCap.com, to move under the salary cap by March 10, and Fitzgerald’s deal is front and center.