"Toxic Leadership" Led To Ellison Departure
Tight end Rhett Ellison left the Vikings organization and signed a deal with the Giants last week. While the player cited his new team’s winning culture, his father indicated that he left Minnesota for other reasons.
Riki Ellison, a former NFL linebacker, sent out a Facebook post on Saturday night that blasted the Vikings for a “mentality of physical practices.” He noted that the number of free agent departures indicates “toxic leadership.”
So far this offseason, the Vikings have seen the departure of tackle Matt Kalil, cornerback Captain Munnerlyn, wide receiver Charles Johnson, punter Jeff Locke, and linebacker Audie Cole with Jacksonville.
NFC Notes: D-Jax, Eagles, Patterson, Saints
It hasn’t been an overly positive week for the Redskins, who became the first team in NFL history to lose two 1,000-yard receivers from the previous year in the same offseason. They lost Chris Baker and fired GM Scot McCloughan as well. Washington, though, did add Terrelle Pryor on a one-year deal, and before DeSean Jackson‘s Buccaneers agreement became finalized made a late push to keep him, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports (on Twitter). Reports continued to push Jackson out of Washington due to salary escalation, and the Bucs’ three-year, $33.5MM deal (with $20MM in guarantees) proved to be what the 30-year-old deep threat preferred.
Here’s more from the NFC.
- The Eagles attempted to trade Mychal Kendricks in yet another offseason but saw most of his 2017 salary become guaranteed on Friday. A Kendricks trade would create just $1.8MM in cap space, but a source tells Dave Zangaro of CSNPhilly.com there’s still a chance he’s dealt. The 26-year-old played just 27 percent of Philly’s defensive snaps last season.
- Cordarrelle Patterson has visited three teams — the Redskins, Raiders and Bears — but may want to stay with the Vikings. The fifth-year wideout/return man said on Snapchat (via Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press), “All I am hearing is stay with the Vikings!! Trust me I want to… But we all know business is business … So what you (going to) do, Rick.” It’s safe assume “Rick” is Vikings GM Rick Spielman. The Vikings did not pick up Patterson’s fifth-year option in 2016, but given his productivity as a return man (five career kick-return touchdowns, two first-team All-Pro distinctions), it’s reasonable to suggest the Vikes would want him back at a price cheaper than the $7.915MM it would have cost them to pick up that option.
- Rex Burkhead visited the Falcons today, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets. This marks the first update on Burkhead since he became a free agent. He rated as PFR’s No. 7 UFA running back this year. Given a bigger role with the Bengals after Giovani Bernard went down, Burkhead averaged 4.6 yards per carry last season and gained 489 yards from scrimmage on 91 touches. The Falcons, of course, have one of the best backfields in football, so Burkhead wouldn’t stand to leapfrog Devonta Freeman or Tevin Coleman.
- Prior to Marcus Cooper signing with the Bears, the Saints expressed interest in the fifth-year cornerback, Herbie Teope of NOLA.com reports.
- The NFL will strip the Patriots of the fourth-round pick they acquired from the Saints (No. 118) in the Brandin Cooks deal. (This represents the last Deflategate penalty.) But Mike Florio of Pro Football talk argued the Saints should have worked the phones to attempt to trade down from that spot. However, the trade became official on Saturday afternoon. The pick will now essentially disappear, unless New England acquires a higher fourth-round pick. The Patriots must forfeit their highest fourth-round pick, which was No. 132 prior to the Cooks trade, as part of the Deflategate penalty. Florio argues the Saints should have called teams that picked in between Nos. 119-131 to trade down — thus sending that selection to the Patriots — while picking up a minor return from another team in doing so.
Vikings Still Considering Matt Asiata
The Vikings are still mulling a reunion with running back Matt Asiata, according to Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press (Twitter link), who adds the door is “not closed” between the two parties. Still, Asiata is still considering other clubs, and is primarily waiting for the top free agent backs to sign before agreeing to a deal himself.
Now that Minnesota has cut ties with Adrian Peterson, its backfield is comprised of only Jerick McKinnon and C.J. Ham. Peterson might still return to the Vikings down the line, while the club is also meeting with free agent runner Eddie Lacy. Whatever running back avenue the Vikings choose to go down, the team clearly needs to add depth at the position, and possibly a starter.
Asiata, 29, would fall more into the depth category, as although he managed 121 carries for the Vikings last year, he only averaged a plodding 3.3 yards per carry. All told, he scored six touchdowns on the ground, and added 32 receptions in the passing game. Asiata also played on roughly a quarter of Minnesota’s special teams snaps.
NFC Contract Details: Fairley, Peppers, Reiff
Let’s take a look at the details of a few recently-signed NFC contracts:
- Nick Fairley, DL (Saints): Four years, $28MM. $14MM guaranteed. $8MM signing bonus. Base salaries of $1MM, $4.25MM, $5.95MM, $5.95MM (Twitter link via Wilson). $500K available yearly in sack incentives (link via Mike Triplett of ESPN.com).
- Captain Munnerlyn, CB (Panthers): Four years, $17MM. $8MM guaranteed. $6MM signing bonus. $1MM available via incentives (Twitter link via Matt Vensel of the Minneapolis Star Tribune).
- Julius Peppers, DL (Panthers): One year, $3.5MM. $750K available via incentives (Twitter link via Josina Anderson of ESPN.com).
- Riley Reiff, T (Vikings): Five years, $58.75MM. $26.3MM guaranteed. $11MM signing bonus (Twitter links via Ben Goessling of ESPN.com). Annual $500K Pro Bowl escalator clause (Twitter link via Wilson).
- Mike Remmers, T (Vikings): Five years, $30MM. $10.5MM guaranteed (Twitter link via Matt Vensel of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune).
- Dion Sims, TE (Bears): Three years, $18MM. $6MM guaranteed (Twitter link via Adam Caplan of ESPN.com).
- Stefen Wisniewski, OL (Eagles): Three years, $9MM. $3.25MM guaranteed. $1.75MM signing bonus (Twitter link via Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer)
Vikings To Sign OT Mike Remmers
The Vikings are set to sign tackle Mike Remmers, Mike Garafolo of NFL.com tweets. It’s a five-year, $30MM deal, according to his agent Brett Tessler (on Twitter). Of course, we still need to wait and see what the guarantees on his deal look like. 
Remmers bounced around the NFL over his first few seasons, but he seemingly found a home with the Panthers. After having played only six games during his first three seasons in the league, Remmers started all 32 games for Carolina over the past two years. This uptick in productivity certainly helped the free agent’s case, as PFR ranked the 27-year-old as the 10th-best free agent tackle.
In Minnesota, Remmers joins a tackle corps that includes the newly-acquired Riley Reiff, guard/tackle Jeremiah Sirles, T.J. Clemmings, Rashod Hill, and Willie Beavers. The Vikings’ offensive line has been snakebit by injuries in recent years and as expected they went out-of-house twice to fill their two starting tackle spots.
It remains to be seen how this Vikings O-Line will gel as a unit, but on paper, it’s looking pretty solid. From left to right, they’ll start Reiff, Alex Boone, Joe Berger, Sirles, and Remmers.
Remmers also had interest from the Lions.
RFA/ERFA Tender Decisions: 3/10/17
Rounding up some of this week’s tender decisions:
RFAs:
Tendered:
- Chiefs: WR Albert Wilson (via Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk)
Non-Tendered:
- 49ers: CB Chris Davis (via Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com)
- Buccaneers: LS Andrew DePaola (via Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times)
- Dolphins: TE Dominique Jones (via Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald)
- Saints: DE Kasim Edebali (via Herbie Teope of the Times-Picayune)
- Vikings: WR Charles Johnson (via Ben Goessling of ESPN.com)
ERFAs:
Tendered:
- Chargers: WR Isaiah Burse, TE Asante Cleveland, WR Geremy Davis, TE Sean McGrath, S Adrian Phillips (via Jack Wang of Los Angeles Daily News)
Latest On Adrian Peterson
Adrian Peterson is content to wait through first wave of free agency before exploring his options, Ben Goessling of ESPN.com tweets. Peterson is “still in no rush to sign,” he adds, and that’s probably a good thing since we still haven’t heard of one team having strong interest in signing him at this time. 
When the Vikings declined Peterson’s $18MM option, there was immediately word of several contending clubs having interest. Since then, we’ve learned that the market isn’t quite as hot as those reports indicated. Since Wednesday, it has been reported that the Texans, Patriots, Raiders, and Seahawks have shown little to no interest in signing Peterson. A return to the Vikings could still be in store for him, but Minnesota has yet to make an offer since turning down the option.
A Vikings return could be the most logical outcome for Peterson, but there’s no guarantee that option will be there as the club looks into free agent Eddie Lacy and other running backs. Even as far as aging running backs go, Peterson isn’t at the top of the heap in the eyes of most clubs. Jamaal Charles, apparently, is garnering more interest than AD.
Vikings, Texans To Meet With Mike Remmers
Offensive lineman Mike Remmers will meet with the Vikings today and Texans tomorrow, reports ProFootballTalk.com (via Twitter). This is the first we’ve heard of these organizations having interest in the tackle, with the Lions being the lone team connected to the veteran (prior to their signing of Ricky Wagner).
After bouncing around the NFL over the past few seasons, Remmer found a home with the Panthers. After having played in six games over his first three seasons in the league, Remmers started all 32 games for Carolina over the past two years. This uptick in productivity certainly helped the free agent’s case, as PFR ranked the 27-year-old as the 10th-best free agent tackle.
In Minnesota, Remmers would join a tackle corps that includes Riley Reiff, Jeremiah Sirles, T.J. Clemmings, Rashod Hill, and Willie Beavers. Meanwhile, the Texans depth chart consists of Duane Brown, Chris Clark, Kendall Lamm, and Josh Walker.
NFC Rumors: Romo, Baker, Jeffery, Eagles
Tony Romo was “never being waived” by the Cowboys, a source tells Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link). We presume the source means “cut” rather than “waived” since vested veterans cannot be waived in the offseason. Word on Wednesday was that the Cowboys would release Romo, allowing him to sign with another club. Then, on Thursday, it was reported that the Cowboys were expecting to trade the quarterback to the Broncos or Texans. For now, things remain in a holding pattern for Romo.
Here’s more from around the league on Day 1 of official free agency.
- The Redskins did not end up making an offer to Chris Baker, who agreed to a deal with the Buccaneers, Dianna Russini of ESPN.com tweets. Baker joined DeSean Jackson and Pierre Garcon as higher-end free agents who left Washington this week.
- Alshon Jeffery looks to be a believer in Carson Wentz. The sixth-year wideout turned out a turned down a multiyear deal with greater security from the Vikings to sign with the Eagles, Ian Rapoport tweets.
- Torrey Smith‘s Eagles deal is for one year and $5MM, Tom Pelissero of USA Today reports (on Twitter), adding that the contract contains two option years. Both option years are worth $5MM apiece. Smith will collect a $500K bonus from what will be his third NFL employer.
- Chance Warmack signed with the Eagles for one year and $1.51MM, per Pelissero (on Twitter). This looks like a value-re-establishing season for the former Titans first-rounder, who will receive a $500K signing bonus.
- The Seahawks‘ Luke Joeckel deal is for one year and up to $8MM, Mike Garafolo of NFL.com tweets. The guaranteed money here isn’t known yet, but Joeckel could do well for himself after seeing seeing the Jaguars pass on his 2017 option in 2016 and then going on IR.
- New Giants wide receiver Brandon Marshall said four teams were on his top tier in terms of giving him the best chance to win: the Giants, Patriots, Steelers and Seahawks, per Art Stapleton of The Record (on Twitter). Marshall has never made the playoffs in 11 seasons. The Giants made their first playoff berth in five years in 2016.
Sam Robinson contributed to this report.
Eddie Lacy To Visit Seahawks, Vikings
Eddie Lacy could leave the Packers but stay in the division. The running back is set to visit the Vikings, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets, as well as the Seahawks. Lacy will also meet with the Packers.
The Seahawks are obviously in the market for a veteran running back as they also have meetings scheduled with Latavius Murray and Jamaal Charles. Lacy would probably represent the most attractive option of the three, though he does come with some injury and conditioning concerns.
The Vikings are without a No. 1 running back after declining Adrian Peterson‘s $18MM option, but they’re obviously quite familiar with Lacy. The 26-year-old has thus far spent his entire career with archrival Green Bay, which selected him in the second round of the 2013 draft. Lacy has since recorded a pair of 1,100-yard rushing seasons, though his production has dropped over the past two campaigns. The ex-Alabama star averaged a so-so 4.1 yards per rush and posted a career-low three touchdowns over 187 carries in 2015, and after bouncing back with a 5.1 YPC through five games last year, he landed on injured reserve in October because of an ankle issue.
Lacy, who expects to be at full health by next month, made it clear in late February that the Packers wanted him back. Green Bay was unable to keep him from hitting the market, though, and will now have to compete with other teams for his services. Lacy stands as one of the top players available in free agency.