Owner/GM Quotes: Lions, Patriots, Colts, Seahawks
The NFL’s owner meetings were held earlier today, giving the league’s various reporters an opportunity to talk to owners and general managers. We’ve compiled notable quotes regarding some of the offseason’s biggest moves, which you can find below…
Lions GM Martin Mayhew on his team’s outlook following Ndamukong Suh‘s departure (via Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press):
“I think anytime you lose a quality player like that, especially in the short term, that is to your detriment. I think in the long term, I think we’re going to be glad we don’t have that contract on our books. But in the short term, that’s an issue.”
“There’s a lot of different ways to give somebody $100 million, so a lot of times the structure comes into play, too, and all those things matter. But I know we have some quality players on our team that we probably couldn’t keep if we had that deal on our books.”
“I couldn’t say we misjudged anything about (the situation). I think every step throughout the process I think we made a rational, thoughtful decision to move forward and then I think it got to a point where economically in terms of building a sustainable quality football team it didn’t make sense. And at that point, we decided that we weren’t going to continue to offer more.”
La Canfora’s Latest: Wilson, Peterson, Titans
Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com has been busy today at the NFL’s March meetings in Arizona, publishing three pieces — one on Russell Wilson‘s contract, one on the Titans‘ ownership situation, and one that addresses a few other items of note from around the league. Here are a few highlights from all three of La Canfora’s Monday articles:
- La Canfora continues to hear that no new deal is imminent for Wilson and the Seahawks, and while both sides would like to get something done, there’s no sense that real progress has been made. The two sides figure to keep negotiating throughout the spring and the summer, but Wilson is prepared to play the 2015 season without an extension in place if need be, knowing that even without a new contract, he’d likely be in line for $20MM+ if Seattle franchises him next winter.
- Adrian Peterson doesn’t want to play for the Vikings, but there may not be much trade interest in him at his current salary, and Minnesota doesn’t appear willing to cut him either. That may end up essentially creating a game of chicken between the star running back and the team — the Vikes could probably find a trade partner if Peterson were open to significantly reworking his deal, but it’s not clear how much he’d be willing to sacrifice to get out of Minnesota. La Canfora believes the Cowboys, Cardinals, and Washington would have interest at the right price, but that price likely isn’t $45MM over three years.
- Some team executives around the NFL are growing frustrated with the league for dragging out investigations into the Patriots (Deflategate), Browns (Textgate), and Falcons (Noisegate), questioning why there’s still no resolution on any of those issues.
- “Lot of people like [Marcus] Mariota a lot more than what you are seeing in the media,” said a high-ranking official for one NFL team. La Canfora believes Mariota will be the second overall pick, or at least a top-five selection.
- Currently, veteran free agents signed after June 1 don’t factor into the following year’s compensatory picks. According to La Canfora, the league may change that date to May 1 to help benefit players (who could find a home a few weeks earlier) and teams (who could get those players to their facilities sooner).
- Rumblings about a potential Titans sale have only increased since Tommy Smith left the franchise. La Canfora writes that billionaire Dave Tepper, who currently owns 5% of the Steelers, is considered by some league insiders as the favorite to land the Titans. However, the CBSSports.com scribe warns not to count out current Browns owner Jimmy Haslam, who is a Tennessee native and would love to own the Titans. While a “swap” of franchises between owners is unlikely, it’s worth keeping an eye on Haslam just in case, says La Canfora.
AFC Notes: Browns, Housler, Titans, Jags, Pats
Having lost Jordan Cameron to the Dolphins and missed out on Charles Clay, who signed with the Bills, the Browns are considering tight end Rob Housler, writes Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com. According to Fowler, the Browns have had discussions with Housler, and there’s mutual interest between the two sides, but no visit has been planned and no deal is imminent. Housler, who turned 27 last week, caught just nine balls for the Cardinals last season after recording 84 combined receptions in 2012 and 2013.
Here’s more from around the AFC:
- Jim Wyatt of the Tennessean takes a closer look at Tommy Smith‘s decision to retire as CEO of the Titans, reporting that the decision was made in part because of a shift in thinking within the club’s ownership group. According to Wyatt, there was no longer a consensus among ownership that Smith’s wife, Susie Adams Smith, daughter of the late Bud Adams, should be the franchise’s controlling owner. The Titans are currently on the lookout for a new president and CEO.
- Jaguars head coach Gus Bradley discussed one running back his team landed and one that got away, telling reporters today, including Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times-Union (Twitter links) that GM David Caldwell has done “a lot of research” on Bernard Pierce, and that the team “held [its] stance” in pursuit of DeMarco Murray.
- Patriots owner Robert Kraft pointed to upcoming free agencies for players like Chandler Jones and Dont’a Hightower in explaining why the team couldn’t offer Darrelle Revis a massive contract, tweets Ben Volin of the Boston Globe.
- Per Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun (via Twitter), Darian Stewart‘s two-year contract with the Broncos is worth $4.25MM, with a $1.5MM signing bonus and a 2016 escalator.
Giants’ Mara On Rule Changes, L.A.
Heading into the NFL owners’ meetings, which begin Monday, Giants co-owner John Mara provided a status report on the chance of the proposed rule changes passing, writes ESPN’s Mike Reiss.
The Patriots have three proposals set to be up for debate this week: Bill Belichick‘s continued quest to expand replay to include penalty reviews, along with ideas for more boundary cameras and a realignment of the extra point. Of the three, the revamped extra point has the best chance of passing, according to the Boston Herald’s Jeff Howe.
Seeking a more difficult try that would place the ball at the 15-yard line — a 33-yard try — the Patriots’ proposal needs 24 votes to pass.
“We’ve had a lot of discussions about that,” Mara said, via Howe. “I think that one has a chance. I don’t know if it’s going to get 24 votes, but I happen to be in favor of that one and think it’s a good proposal because we have a play right now that is a ceremonial play, and why not make it competitive?”
Mara said the replay expansion idea failed 9-0 in the competition committee and is unlikely to pass this week, citing subjectivity in that thought process as opposed to the black-and-white nature of most of the already-reviewable sequences. New England’s effort to increase cameras on sidelines and end zones also hovers below the passing threshold, per Howe.
While not on the table this year, a 14-team playoff field is inevitable, the Giants co-owner told Howe, with a potential hang-up of scheduling the third wild-card games as part of tripleheaders or as stand-alone contests on Monday night. The NFL increased playoff eligibility from four to five teams per conference in 1978 and five to six in 1990, making this current six-team standard by far the longest-standing bracket limit since the AFL-NFL merger.
The league will have at least one team in Los Angeles in 2016 and possibly two, Mara told ESPN’s Dan Graziano (via Twitter), with the Rams’, Raiders’ and Chargers’ quests to return to the city well-documented.
East Notes: Hardy, Washington, Pats
The Cowboys‘ signing of Greg Hardy understandably raised a few eyebrows in this era of heightened scrutiny of players with histories of domestic violence. Dallas mayor Mike Rawlings called the signing a “shot to the gut,” and Dan Lebowitz, executive director of the Center for the Study of Sport in Society at Northeastern University, wonders if the decision to allow someone like Hardy a path to redemption is compassionate or irresponsible.
Nonetheless, as Rainer Sabin of the Dallas Morning News writes, even the most ardent critics of the Hardy decision realize that if the Cowboys did not believe Hardy could contribute on the field, he would not be there. Josh Brent and Joseph Randle would not be there. The Cowboys, who also signed Michael Sam to their practice squad last season, are not trying to be a vehicle for social dialogue, they are simply trying to build a better football team. And since Dallas is well-acquainted with the type of controversy that Hardy brings, their latest high-profile acquisition has a good chance to do just that.
Now for some more notes from the league’s east divisions:
- Washington‘s free agent acquisitions this offseason were generally greeted with more enthusiasm than last year’s class, and John Keim of ESPN.com looks at how the major signings of 2014 panned out and what to expect from them moving forward.
- Rich Tandler of CSNWashington.com believes Washington, just like last year, will bring in a kicker to compete with incumbent Kai Forbath. But despite Forbath’s relative lack of leg strength, which manifests itself in opposing teams’ starting field position, Tandler does not see anyone unseating Forbath at this point.
- Given the departure of Vince Wilfork, the fact that Chris Jones and Sealver Siliga both underwent offseason surgery, and Dominique Easley‘s appearance on the injured reserve list in December, Mike Reiss of ESPNBoston.com expects the Patriots to further solidify their defensive tackle corps this offseason.
- Echoing sentiments that have been widely shared across the league, Vic Carucci of the Buffalo News writes that this offseason has narrowed the gap between the perennial class of the AFC East, the Patriots, and the rest of the division.
Draft Notes: Gardner, Funchess, Irving
With teams beginning to set their draft boards in stone, many are meeting with prospects to try to learn as much as they can as they prepare for the 2015 NFL Draft.
Here are a few prospects that have visited with organizations, with new updates added to the top:
- LSU offensive lineman La’el Collins will visit with the Ravens prior to the NFL draft, writes Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun. Collins had already met with the team during both the NFL Combine and the Senior Bowl.
- Michigan quarterback Devin Gardner says that between three and four teams are interested in him as a passer, while the rest of the league views him as a wide receiver, writes Michael Rothstein of ESPN (via Twitter). Gardner has already worked out with the Falcons and Bengals, and has visits with the Patriots and Chiefs coming up next week (via Twitter). He will also be meeting with the Steelers before the draft as well (via Twitter).
- Rothstein also notes thats fellow Wolverine Devin Funchess worked out for the Falcons last week, at both wide receiver and H-back (via Twitter).
- Former Iowa State defensive tackle David Irving will work out in San Jacinto, California on Monday morning. Despite being dismissed from the team due to an arrest and missing the 2014 season, at least two NFL teams are expected to attend, writes Gil Brandt of NFL.com (via Twitter).
AFC East Links: McCoy, Patriots, Dolphins
One of the more surprising offseason moves has been the LeSean McCoy trade. The running back was traded to the Bills earlier in the month, and the two sides soon came to an agreement on an extension. Meanwhile, the Eagles replaced McCoy with a pair of big names, DeMarco Murray and Ryan Mathews.
McCoy did not mince words when he was asked about the Eagles‘ offseason strategy. In fact, while appearing on the The Rich Eisen Show, the 26-year-old touched on Chip Kelly‘s willingness to pay new running backs, but not one of their stars (via Sheil Kapadia of PhillyMag.com):
“I thought about that a little bit,” he said. “I didn’t understand it. I should say that. And Chip I think is a really good coach. I think this is something different for him kind of managing both, from being a coach to now kind of managing the team as far as the players that they get and they pay.
“I saw that they originally were trying to get Frank Gore, and he backed out. So then when they got DeMarco and they got Ryan Mathews, I thought it was like a panic move. With that media in Philadelphia, they can get tough on you. So I guess that was just the way to make it right. I don’t know. I can’t really answer it. They took two backs to replace one. I think DeMarco’s a hell of a back. I think he’ll do a good job there. I’m not sure how that went.”
Let’s take a look at some more notes from the AFC East…
- Defensive end Jabaal Sheard has plenty of reasons to be excited. Not only did he sign a two-year, $11MM contract with the Patriots, but he also went from a non-playoff team to a Super Bowl contender. “Coming from a not-so-good program to a great program that has been winning and doing well, I’ve just been excited,” Sheard told Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald. “I want to win in the league, and I want to be part of a great organization. That was a big part of me signing.”
- Another new member of the Patriots, tight end Scott Chandler, is thrilled about the opportunity to compete for a championship. “I’ve been playing for a while, and I wanted to be a part of an organization that has a pretty good chance to win,” said Chandler (via Howe). “Mr. (Robert) Kraft and coach Belichick have done an amazing job of not only creating that but sustaining it for a long period of time. I’m looking forward to going into this year and doing whatever I can to be a part of that.”
- Dolphins safety Louis Delmas re-signed with the organization yesterday, and the 27-year-old revealed that he’s quickly recovering from his season-ending ACL tear. “The knee is great,” Delmas said (via ESPN.com’s James Walker). “My doctors and my training staff have been doing a great job of managing me and making sure I’m doing everything protocol-wise to be able to play the first game of the season…I definitely know that I will be ready for the first game of the season.”
NFL Investigates Jets’ Pursuit Of Revis
On March 8, Day 2 of “soft free agency,” an NFL investigator visited the Jets’ facilities Florham Park, N.J., to interview GM Mike Maccagnan and other Jets front office members about their pursuit of Darrelle Revis, the New York Daily News’ Manish Mehta reports.
Mehta, who said owner Woody Johnson was not interviewed, called this investigation a “witch hunt” stemming from the Patriots’ tampering charge based on Johnson’s pro-Revis sentiments expressed in a December 2014 interview.
Mehta’s sources indicated New England was out on Revis a full day before the Jets eventually reacquired the dominant cornerback on a five-year, $70MM deal, while he goes on to cite New York’s financial and location advantages before delving into the Patriots’ rapid 2014 signing of Revis hours after his release from the Buccaneers.
CSN New England’s Tom Curran disagrees, calling the Patriots’ accusation legitimate with the Jets owner clearly violating the tampering rules with his desire to see Revis return. Johnson’s December comments about the then-Pats employee displays “blissful ignorance” of the rules, Curran asserts.
It’s clear the soon-to-be 30-year-old corner’s latest transaction didn’t exactly soothe tensions between the rivals.
Draft Rumors: Mariota, Winston, Williams
If Jameis Winston goes No. 1 to the Buccaneers, expect the Titans to receive a flurry of offers at No. 2, suggests CBS Sports’ Jason La Canfora. The NFL insider anticipates the Rams, Browns, Eagles, Chargers and Saints to consider making a move for Marcus Mariota.
Armed now with the Seahawks‘ No. 31 pick in addition to their own at No. 13, the Saints may be in the last year of Drew Brees‘ tenure and could continue their makeover offseason with a move for the Oregon spread prodigy, La Canfora muses, and he notes the Chargers at No. 17 could be in the same boat with Philip Rivers, whose deal expires after 2015.
Some other notes from an extensive day of draft rumors …
- In case Tampa Bay has an 11th-hour change of heart, Tennessee will prepare by hosting Winston on a private workout around Winston’s pro day (March 31), 247Sports reported. Mariota is due to visit the Titans in April.
- Armed with possibly the worst tight end situation heading into free agency, the Falcons added two former starting tight ends to their corps today in Jacob Tamme and Tony Moeaki. But they also worked out the draft’s top tight end, Minnesota’s Maxx Williams, earlier this week, according to ESPN Falcons reporter Vaughn McClure. A pass-rusher remains the priority at No. 8, notes McClure, but the Falcons have also worked out Michigan’s Devin Funchess — a tight end/wide receiver hybrid.
- Florida State cornerback P.J. Williams worked out for the Lions today, Tim Twentyman of DetroitLions.com reports. Williams, who NFL.com’s Mike Mayock lists as the fourth-best corner in the draft, watched tape with Lions coaches during his visit.
- The Patriots met with Stanford defensive tackle David Parry after the Cardinal’s workout today, Draftinsider.net’s Tony Paulie notes on Twitter.
- West Georgia rising defensive line prospect Tory Slater will visit the Falcons and Seahawks, National Football Post writer Aaron Wilson said. Slater, who had 10 sacks last season and played wide receiver in high school, will tour the Falcons’ facilities April 7 and trek to Seattle on April 16.
- Utah cornerback/safety Eric Rowe will visit the Ravens, Dolphins and Lions and conduct private workouts with the Texans and Bucs, according to Wilson, writing this report for the Baltimore Sun. Neither Rowe nor Slater are top-10 prospects at their respective positions according to ESPN draft expert Mel Kiper Jr.
Contract Details: Shorts, Lewis, Cadet
Here are some details on a few of the contracts agreed to or signed within the last few days:
- Cecil Shorts, WR (Texans): Two years, $6MM base value. $1MM signing bonus. $750K of $1MM 2015 base salary fully guaranteed (Twitter link via Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun).
- Kendrick Lewis, S (Ravens): Three years, $5.4MM. $1.4MM signing bonus (link via Wilson).
- Garrett Reynolds, OL (Rams): Two years, $2.2MM base value. $250K roster bonus for 2015. Up to $1MM annually in playing-time and team-related incentives (Twitter links via Wilson).
- Travaris Cadet, RB (Patriots): Two years, $1.75MM. $65K signing bonus. Various roster bonuses (Twitter links via Wilson).
- Bradley Fletcher, CB (Patriots): One year, $1.5MM base value. $100K signing bonus. $250K of $800K base salary guaranteed. Up to $1MM in incentives (Twitter link via Wilson).