Latest On Dolphins, Justin Herbert
The Dolphins held a predraft video meeting with Oregon quarterback Justin Herbert, according to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, who reports no NFL team has done as much work on Herbert as the Dolphins. Herbert is fully expected to come off the board in Round 1 of next week’s draft, but it’s unclear if Miami will be comfortable taking him with the fifth overall selection. Per Jackson, the Dolphins’ questions about Herbert are twofold: he’s more of an introvert than an extrovert, and he is occasionally inaccurate.
Miami also conducted a video conference with LSU running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire, per Jackson, who indicates the Dolphins could consider Edwards-Helaire with pick Nos. 39 or 56 in the second round. While the Dolphins already signed veteran Jordan Howard this offseaon, Edwards-Helaire, who caught 55 passes in 2019, would add another dimension to Miami’s backfield.
- Speaking of the Dolphins, former NFL executive Gil Brandt says it would not not be a surprise for Miami to take a non-quarterback with the fifth overall pick (Twitter link via Ralph Vacchiano of SNY). While the Dolphins have seemingly spent the past year-plus acquiring draft capital in order to land a quarterback, it’s possible that they could go in a different direction. If Miami opts for another position at No. 5, offensive tackle could speculatively be a target area.
2020 NFL Cap Room By Team
The biggest names in NFL free agency might be off the board, but there are still plenty of noteworthy players on the board and high-profile cuts on the way. And, while some teams did their spending early, others are still sitting on lots of cash.
The latest cap figures from OverTheCap show that several teams are poised to pounce in the latter waves of free agency, starting with the Browns. The numbers also show that teams like the Rams still have work to do in order to sign their upcoming draft class. Also, the Eagles’ 2020 figure doesn’t quite tell the whole story – thanks to high-priced multi-year deals including Darius Slay’s new contract, they’re already overcommitted on dollars for 2021.
Here’s the complete rundown for all 32 teams, in descending order of cap space:
- Browns – $40.2MM
- Lions – $29.5MM
- Eagles – $27.1MM
- Colts – $24MM
- Dolphins – $23.9MM
- Redskins – $23.8MM
- Chargers – $22.3MM
- Titans – $21.5MM
- Bills – $20.9MM
- Texans – $18.6MM
- Broncos – $17.5MM
- Giants – $17.1MM
- Jets – $15.5MM
- Jaguars – $14.6MM
- Cowboys – $13.6MM
- Buccaneers – $13.5MM
- 49ers – $13.4MM
- Seahawks – $12.6MM
- Vikings – $12.3MM
- Ravens – $11.3MM
- Packers – $11.08MM
- Bears – $11.03MM
- Panthers – $9.4MM
- Raiders – $8.8MM
- Bengals – $7.3MM
- Steelers – $7.2MM
- Cardinals – $7MM
- Saints – $5.3MM
- Chiefs – $2.9MM
- Falcons – $2.4MM
- Patriots – $1.2MM
- Rams – (-$5.3MM)
Dolphins Favoring Herbert Over Tua?
Connected to the 2020 quarterback class for over a year, the Dolphins may have a major decision to make in Round 1. They may well have to choose between Tua Tagovailoa and Justin Herbert at No. 5 or be prepared to trade up for one of them.
Less than two weeks away from the draft, Herbert may be pulling ahead. At this juncture, 90% of the pre-draft intel on the Dolphins’ QB hierarchy points to them going with Herbert over Tagovailoa, Matt Miller of Bleacher Report notes.
This is peak smokescreen time. But teams do not have the same tools to throw competition off the scent — pro day attendance, pre-draft visits, workouts — and one scout told Miller he believes the Dolphins are trying to execute such an operation to drive down the Tua market.
Miami holds the No. 5 overall pick. Tagovailoa was viewed as this draft’s No. 1 pick for much of 2019, but his hip injury and list of previous maladies have created the possibility he will be available at No. 5. Though, Herbert would seem to have a much better chance of dropping to 5. The Dolphins going in that direction would allow them to hold onto their bounty of draft picks rather than trading some to move up.
Tua proceeded through a voluntary medical recheck recently, but former NFL GM Michael Lombardi said a team failed the ex-Alabama standout on a physical. Multiple teams have, per Miller, who notes the concern around the league is the southpaw’s ability to have a long career. Tagovailoa suffered multiple high ankle sprains, a knee sprain and, per Lombardi and Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald, a broken wrist during his college run. Tagovailoa’s agent, as could be expected, said medical concerns around his client are overblown (Twitter link via ESPN.com’s Cameron Wolfe).
Still, Tagovailoa’s upside is seen as greater than Herbert’s. Miller slots Tua sixth on his big board and Herbert 27th. Scouts Inc. has the Alabama alum seventh and the four-year Oregon starter 26th. Jordan Love comes in ahead of Herbert, per Scouts Inc. The Dolphins have also been connected to the Utah State product as well. But reports of their Herbert interest began to emerge before the 6-foot-6 talent fared well at the Combine.
If the Dolphins do pass on Tua, Miller adds the “overwhelming expectation” would be for the Chargers to pounce.
Patriots, Saints, Packers, Others Doing Homework On Jordan Love
Although the rules leading up to the virtual draft make it more difficult to determine teams’ interest in prospects, franchises are doing their homework in different ways. And several teams are doing extensive research on Jordan Love.
The Utah State-developed quarterback prospect has drawn interest from teams with varying levels of quarterback needs. Among the teams doing homework on Love: the Saints, Patriots and Packers, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com notes. The Dolphins, Chargers and Redskins are also examining the intriguing passer.
With Joe Burrow, Tua Tagovailoa and Justin Herbert expected to be the first three quarterbacks drafted, that places Love in an interesting spot. Following the Bengals, Dolphins and Bolts in the top six, there are not many teams with an immediate quarterback need. The Patriots, though, do qualify. Picking at No. 23, the Pats have not used a first-round pick on a quarterback since Drew Bledsoe 27 years ago and last picked one in Round 2 in 2014 (Jimmy Garoppolo). The Pats are believed to be prepared to give Jarrett Stidham a genuine shot to succeed Tom Brady, but it certainly would not surprise if they either drafted a quarterback early or signed one of the high-profile free agents.
Some scouts view Love as the draft’s best pure thrower, but Fowler adds others see him as a Day 2 pick. He finished last season with a 20-17 TD-INT ratio, well off the prolific pace he set as a sophomore (32-6) in 2018. Texas Tech coach Matt Wells — the former Utah State head coach — said seven NFL HCs have contacted him about Love in the past five days, per Fowler.
The Saints and Packers have been previously linked to the 6-foot-4 passer and have spoken with him leading up to the draft. New Orleans placed a first-round tender on Taysom Hill, but the former UDFA has 13 career pass attempts and will soon turn 30. The Packers have Aaron Rodgers under contract through 2023, and the 36-year-old star has indicated he wants to play into his 40s.
The Dolphins got in a meeting with Love before the NFL nixed the in-person components of the pre-draft process due to COVID-19. While Miami has been most closely connected to Tagovailoa, the organization has been mentioned as being interested in Love going back to February. In addition to their No. 5 overall pick, the Dolphins hold picks 18 and 26 in this draft.
Dolphins LB Vince Biegel Signs RFA Tender
Vince Biegel will play next season under the RFA tender. The restricted free agent linebacker signed his deal with the Dolphins today (per the team’s Twitter account). Biegel will earn around $2.13MM next season.
We heard back in January that the two sides were working on a long-term, and Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald tweets that that was indeed the case. However, the two sides couldn’t agree to terms, resulting in today’s transaction. Biegel was initially tendered at his original-round level by the Dolphins back in March.
The 2017 fourth-round pick spent his first two professional seasons in a backup role for the Packers and Saints. Prior to the start of the 2019 regular season, he was traded to Miami for Kiko Alonso, and he proceeded to have the best season of his career. The 26-year-old established career-highs across the board, finishing with 59 tackles, 2.5 sacks, and one interception in 15 games (10 starts).
Biegel isn’t the first restricted free agent to sign his tender with the Dolphins. Last week, punter Matt Haack inked his new deal with Miami.
FIU QB James Morgan Drawing Interest
FIU quarterback James Morgan is starting to generate some buzz as we get closer to draft day, as Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle writes. Morgan made his way onto our site for the first time today, when we wrote that the Patriots have shown some interest, and New England is not the only team sniffing around.
Per Wilson, a number of clubs are closely vetting Morgan, though COVID-19 restrictions obviously mean that he can’t visit teams or work out privately for them. Wilson’s sources say that in addition to the Patriots, the Packers, Bears, Colts, Raiders, Giants, Bills, Jets, and Dolphins are among the teams intrigued by Morgan.
It is not surprising to see most of the teams on that list. New England, of course, is in the market for a collegiate passer after watching Tom Brady sign with the Buccaneers, and the Dolphins have long been connected to this year’s top rookie QBs. The Raiders, Bears, and Colts have varying degrees of long-term uncertainty at the quarterback position, and the Packers had planned to host the best QB prospects before pre-draft visits were cancelled (Morgan is actually a Green Bay native, and the Packers may be starting to prepare for life without Aaron Rodgers).
Meanwhile, all three New York outfits seem to have a long-term solution under center already, although none of their incumbents are sure things at the moment. And given that Morgan is a mid- to late-round prospect, it couldn’t hurt for those teams to at least have a look.
Morgan performed well at this year’s scouting combine and at the East-West Shrine Game, and a Southeast Area NFL scout said Morgan has one of the three strongest arms in the draft, along with the intelligence and leadership qualities that teams covet. After an uneven tenure at Bowling Green, Morgan transferred to FIU in 2018 and earned Conference USA Newcomer of the Year honors by completing over 65% of his passes for 26 TDs and seven interceptions.
His 2019 effort was not quite as strong, but he has put together enough quality tape to start rising up draft boards.
Dolphins Prefer Herbert Over Tua?
While the expectation is still that Burrow is the pick, there is “a lot of buzz in scouting circles that the Bengals will at least listen to calls” on potential trades for the top choice, Miller writes. Since there’s no one ahead of them, it wouldn’t make all that much sense for the Bengals to be playing games if they weren’t actually planning to listen to inquiries. As of a couple of weeks ago we had heard that the Dolphins were still interested in trading for the first pick and selecting Burrow.
- Speaking of the Dolphins, if they aren’t able to pull off the shocking trade up for Burrow, their situation is pretty up in the air. Although there has been a ton of talk over the last year linking Miami to Alabama signal-caller Tua Tagovailoa, multiple sources told Miller the team isn’t “convinced Tua is the best option and could instead target Oregon’s Justin Herbert.” In fact, the “buzz around the league is that Herbert has the most fans in the Dolphins’ draft room,” Miller writes. This echoes what Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald wrote back in February, when he reported that Miami had an “increasingly positive” view of Herbert and that the Dolphins were concerned about Tagovailoa’s hip as well as his long-term durability.
Minor NFL Transactions: 4/2/20
Today’s minor moves:
Arizona Cardinals
- Signed exclusive rights tender: T Justin Murray
Buffalo Bills
- Signed exclusive rights tender: WR Robert Foster, CB Levi Wallace
Miami Dolphins
- Signed original round RFA tender: P Matt Haack
Latest On QB Jordan Love
It is difficult to pinpoint exactly where Utah State QB Jordan Love will land in this month’s draft, and as such, he is generating interest from plenty of teams. Kevin Patra of NFL.com says that the Saints, Packers, Chargers, Raiders, Dolphins, and Colts have all been in contact with Love via FaceTime and other virtual means.
Despite an uneven 2019 season, Love possesses all the physical tools that a team could want in a signal-caller and showed enough of his ability at the scouting combine to create some buzz. So while teams like the Chargers and Dolphins have more immediate needs at quarterback, it’s not surprising that clubs like the Colts and the Packers would be taking a look as well, as they could have Love learn from their current starters while he continues to refine his game. Indeed, Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says Green Bay had planned to host Love and most of this year’s top QB prospects at its facility before pre-draft visits were cancelled (Twitter link). Of course, the Packers drafted Aaron Rodgers when Brett Favre was still playing at a high level, so if Love falls to them, perhaps they could make a similar move.
The Saints’ involvement is somewhat surprising since we heard last month that New Orleans was not interested in Love. But while the team holds Taysom Hill in high regard and views him as the heir to Drew Brees, the fact remains that Hill will be 30 in August and has thrown 13 passes in his professional career, so a little due diligence couldn’t hurt.
The Dolphins, meanwhile, are reportedly very high on Love. While Miami’s dream scenario remains one in which it acquires the No. 1 overall pick from Cincinnati to select Joe Burrow, the ‘Fins will definitely walk away from the draft with a high-end signal-caller in tow.
Love looked like such a player in 2018 by throwing 32 touchdowns against six interceptions. Unfortunately, his arm strength and stature didn’t yield the same results last year, as he had 20 TDs against 17 INTs while playing with a lesser supporting cast. But plenty of QBs have had disappointing final seasons in college and have gone on to do big things in the pros, and apparently a number of teams believe Love can do just that.
East Notes: Williams, Mills, Flowers
Trent Williams has been one of the most-discussed players in the NFL for about a year now, and it presently does not sound like the Redskins are close to trading their disgruntled left tackle. One of the more overlooked talking points, however, is what happens if a trade is not completed?
We recently heard that the team does not plan to release Williams, which means he would remain under contract with the Redskins through 2020. And holding out wouldn’t earn him any leverage with the Redskins or with a team interested in trading for him, so as Albert Breer of SI.com writes, Williams would have no choice but to play for Washington next season. He clearly does not want that to happen, but at this point, his clearest path to a lucrative new deal may be to stick it out for one more season with the ‘Skins and prove he is still a top-tier LT.
Let’s round up a few more items from the league’s east divisions:
- CB Kendall Fuller is back with the Redskins on a four-year deal, and he tells John Keim of ESPN.com that a number of factors brought him back to D.C. The Baltimore native played his collegiate ball at Virginia Tech and was drafted by the Redskins in 2016, so Washington is home for him. He also cited new head coach Ron Rivera and Rivera’s reputation for developing CBs as a draw, along with the defensive staff as a whole. Fuller indicated that he does not know if he will play primarily in the slot or outside the numbers (Twitter links).
- The Eagles brought back Jalen Mills on a one-year, $4MM pact, and the club plans on transitioning him from cornerback to safety in the wake of Malcolm Jenkins‘ departure. Mills says that Philadelphia was the only team that wanted to move him to safety (Twitter link via Eliot Shorr-Parks of 94 WIP), but obviously that switch was agreeable to the 2016 seventh-rounder. It’s fair to wonder, however, exactly how much interest Mills was generating as a CB on the open market.
- Ereck Flowers couldn’t hack it as an offensive tackle in the NFL, but he has reinvented himself as a guard and parlayed a strong showing at LG with Washington in 2019 into a surprising three-year, $30MM contract with the Dolphins last month. This will not come as much of a surprise, but Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald says Miami intends to have Flowers line up at guard, though his experience at tackle made him attractive to head coach Brian Flores, who clearly targeted FAs with positional versatility.
- The Bills opted against giving WR/KR Isaiah McKenzie an RFA tender, but they did re-sign him to a one-year pact just the same. McKenzie told Jay Skurski of the Buffalo News that he did have other free agent offers, but despite the fact that he is unlikely to see more playing time with the Bills in 2020 than he did in 2019, his preference was to return to Buffalo (Twitter link).