Pompei On Byrd, Graham, Joseph, McCown
Dan Pompei of Bleacher Report leads off his latest column by discussing Bills safety Jairus Byrd, who looks poised to reach the open market in the next few days. Many front office executives around the league view Byrd as the top difference-maker of this year’s free agent class, so the 27-year-old figures to draw plenty of interest, even if he won’t come cheap — Pompei suggests the “word on the street” is that Byrd will seek $9MM+ per year. Here’s more from the BR piece:
- The Seahawks are unlikely to pursue franchised Saints tight end Jimmy Graham, since the investment required in Graham could preclude deals for one or more of the team’s own young players.
- Others clubs around the league believe Buccaneers guard Davin Joseph could be available via trade, says Pompei. Joseph is a two-time Pro Bowler, but is owed $6MM in 2014 and turns 31 later this year.
- Josh McCown‘s market is “developing quite nicely,” according to Pompeti, who suggests that it’s starting to look like the free-agent-to-be won’t return to the Bears. Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweeted something similar today, indicating that it looks like the signal-caller will hit the open market next week. The Buccaneers, Jets, and Vikings could be among McCown’s suitors, writes Pompei.
- Don’t expect Greg Schiano to join the Patriots‘ staff, despite the time he spent with Bill Belichick at last month’s combine. A source tells Pompei that New England doesn’t have a spot on the staff for the former Bucs head coach, and isn’t likely to create one.
- The 49ers front office “thinks very highly” of defensive line coach Jim Tomsula, according to Pompei, who suggests that if the reported tension between the club and Jim Harbaugh develops into anything real, Tomsula could be next in line for the head coaching job.
NFC Notes: Graham, Jones, Tate, Guion
The franchise tag is viewed as a way to essentially take an unrestricted free agent off the market, but that’s not technically what the tag does. It simply makes it more costly for another team to sign that free agent away from his current club, since the signing team would have to give up two first-round picks as compensation.
For some players though, that price tag may be worth paying, and there’s a sense around the league that a team may be willing to do so for Jimmy Graham, writes Mike Freeman of Bleacher Report. It’s not clear yet which club might make a run at Graham, but teams with late first-round picks like the Seahawks and Patriots have been mentioned as possible candidates, and Freeman says not to rule out the Ravens either. For what it’s worth, a Packers source tells Freeman that Green Bay making a run at Graham “won’t happen.” Still, it sounds as if the Saints may need to fight to keep their star pass-catcher.
Here’s more from around the NFC:
- James Jones isn’t expected to be back in Green Bay next season, but the free agent receiver still thinks there’s a chance he could re-sign with the Packers, as he told Around the League on the NFL Network yesterday (link via Dan Hanzus of NFL.com). If he doesn’t continue with the Packers, Jones thinks the Colts and Chargers might be good fits for him.
- With just a few days until he can hit the open market, Golden Tate tells SiriusXM NFL Radio that he hasn’t heard much from the Seahawks, as Curtis Crabtree of Pro Football Talk details. “I’ve kind of just trusted in my agent and him being good at his work,” Tate said. “Todd [France] has had some great deals in the past and so I’m letting him handle it. Just trying to stay stress free and really enjoying being a Super Bowl champ.”
- Veteran defensive tackle Letroy Guion, who only played in about a third of the Vikings‘ defensive snaps in 2013, may be asked to take a pay cut, says Adam Caplan of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Guion has a 2014 base salary worth $3.95MM and a total cap number of $4.3MM.
- If the Buccaneers are going to trade Darrelle Revis this offseason, it will likely happen sooner rather than later. Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk explains why.
FA Rumors: Tatupu, Graham, Shaughnessy
Former Seahawks linebacker and three-time Pro Bowler Lofa Tatupu is working out today for the Broncos, according to ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter (via Twitter). Knee and pectoral injuries derailed the career of Tatupu, who hasn’t played a regular season game since 2010, but he’s still just 31 years old, so a comeback isn’t out of the question. The former All-Pro linebacker is an unrestricted free agent right now, but the rest of the players in this roundup will have to wait another week before getting the chance to hit the open market. Let’s dive in and check out the latest….
- While Jimmy Graham will have the ability to field offers from suitors in free agency, the franchise tag will limit his options. In any case, Saints GM Mickey Loomis is confident that his club will find a way to reach a long-term deal with the star tight end, as he said today on SiriusXM NFL Radio (link via Pro Football Talk). “I had hoped and I’m sure he had hoped we’d come to some conclusion on a longer-term deal before this,” Loomis said. “But we haven’t yet, and hopefully we will…. We’ll just let it play out, and I’m sure we’ll get something resolved.”
- The Cardinals are in talks with Matt Shaughnessy‘s agent Rick Rosa in hopes of signing the free agent DE/LB to a new deal, according to Kent Somers of the Arizona Republic. “They are actively trying to re-sign him,” Rosa said. “He wants to be there, so we’ll see how it goes.”
- Although cornerback Alterraun Verner acknowledges that he loves Tennessee and his Titans teammates, he sounds lukewarm on the idea of giving the club a “hometown discount” in free agency, as Jim Wyatt of the Tennessean writes.
- The Broncos have the cap room in 2014 to bring back prospective free agent Eric Decker, but future obligations to Demaryius Thomas and Julius Thomas will make the team wary about investing too heavily in Decker, says Mike Klis of the Denver Post, who spoke to the wide receiver about his impending free agency.
Saints Use Franchise Tag On Jimmy Graham
MONDAY, 4:05pm: Graham has officially been tagged as a tight end, says Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter). That had been expected, and sets the stage for Graham and his reps to file a grievance.
SATURDAY, 9:15am: The Saints tagged Graham with the non-exclusive designation, adds ESPN’s Chris Mortensen (via Twitter). Calculated based on the average of the non-exclusive franchise numbers at a player’s position over the last five years and their percentage of the salary cap, the designation allows Graham to sign an offer sheet with another team, at which point the Saints would have five days to match or accept two first-round picks as compensation.
FRIDAY, 4:58pm: The Saints have formally used their tag on Graham, a source confirms to Pro Football Talk (Twitter link).
12:43pm: The Saints will use their franchise tag on Jimmy Graham before Monday’s deadline, reports Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (via Twitter). Schefter’s tweet suggests that a long-term agreement isn’t close, though the two sides could still work out a multiyear contract after Graham has been tagged.
As Ian Rapoport of NFL.com noted earlier this week, when an NFL team tags a player with the franchise designation, the club doesn’t specify a position. That decision is left to the league office. In this case, the team and player are expected to disagree on Graham’s position, with the Saints preferring to consider him a tight end, while Graham’s camp will push for a wide receiver designation. The difference between one-year franchise salaries for the two positions is expected to be nearly $5MM.
Assuming a grievance is filed, as expected, an arbitrator will be tasked with determining Graham’s position. Considering he lined up as a receiver for about two-thirds of his snaps in 2013, Graham and his reps will argue that, by the letter of the law, he should receive the franchise salary for a receiver, which is expected to be about $11.5MM. The CBA dictates that a franchise player’s position is the one “at which the franchise player participated in the most plays during the prior league year.”
Of course, this process could be avoided if the Saints and Graham agree to a long-term deal. But as of Tuesday, the two sides were said to be several million dollars apart on an annual salary, which likely stems from that disagreement on the 27-year-old’s position. The club is reportedly willing to make Graham the NFL’s highest-paid tight end, exceeding Rob Gronkowski‘s $9MM annual salary. However, Graham is said to be seeking a salary that would pay him like a top-five receiver, in the neighborhood of $12MM per year.
In recent years, Vincent Jackson, Dwayne Bowe, and Mike Wallace have inked deals whose annual salaries range from $11-12MM, and you could make a strong case that Graham has a more significant impact as a receiver than any of those players. In 2013, Drew Brees‘ favorite weapon recorded 86 catches, 1,215 receiving yards, and a career-high 16 touchdowns.
For a refresher on the franchise tag, be sure to check out our glossary entry and our list of candidates to be tagged.
FA Rumors: Spikes, Jackson, Mack, Graham
With the 2014 free agent period now eight days away, we’re starting to get a clearer idea of which players will actually be available when we turn the calendar to March 11, and a new league year begins. Plenty of free-agents-to-be will still be locked up between now and then, but many more will hit the open market, and perhaps change teams. Here’s the latest on a number of current or prospective free agents:
- The Patriots and Brandon Spikes aren’t discussing a new deal, meaning the linebacker appears likely to become a free agent and sign elsewhere, writes Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald.
- Having met with the Broncos and Titans already, linebacker D’Qwell Jackson is on his way to Miami today to visit the Dolphins, according to Jim Wyatt of the Tennessean (via Twitter). The former Brown has a leg up on this year’s class of free agent linebackers, since he’s free to sign prior to March 11 if he so chooses.
- The Browns‘ brass met with center Alex Mack this weekend, and are serious about mending fences with Mack that may have been torn down by the old regime, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com.
- In the view of ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter (Twitter link), the Seahawks and Packers should be open to the idea of signing Jimmy Graham to an offer sheet and giving up two first-round picks to snatch him away from the Saints. However, Peter King of TheMMQB.com doesn’t think giving up a pair of top picks for the right to pay Graham $12MM per year is worth it.
- Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap.com takes a look at the Saints‘ perspective when it comes to negotiating a new deal for Graham.
- Chris Murray, the agent for defensive back Marcus Sherels, is optimistic that he and the Vikings will complete a deal for his restricted free agent client before March 11, tweets Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press.
- The Giants will be bringing back exclusive rights free agent OL Dallas Reynolds, says Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News (via Twitter).
- Pro Football Focus has released a list of its top 75 free agents.
NFC Notes: Suh, Bethea, Ware, Graham
Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh is going to be the next player to break the bank, writes Joel Corry of the National Football Post. Suh is under contract through the 2015 season; however, that year is a player option, which Suh will likely decline. 2014, then, is effectively the last year of his current deal. If the Lions do not sign the star lineman to a new contract before next season, the franchise tag will probably not be an option, as his tag figure would be an untenable $26.87MM.
Suh has restructured his contract twice in as many years in order for the Lions to gain more cap space. An extension would serve the same purpose, as well as lowering Suh’s cap number, which is second in the league at approximately $22.4MM. The Lions are still feeling the effects of selecting high in the draft under the previous collective bargaining agreement, when rookie salaries were much higher. The rookie deals of Suh, quarterback Matthew Stafford, and receiver Calvin Johnson have put the team in an unenviable position. Extending Suh, as the Lions did with both Stafford and Johnson, would help to alleviate some of that cap strain.
More items from the NFC:
- Safety Antoine Bethea could be an option for the Falcons, writes Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com. The team is expected to release Thomas DeCoud, and has been linked to free agent Louis Delmas. Jairus Byrd could also be intriguing, but both he and Delmas might be too expensive for Atlanta’s tastes.
- Demarcus Ware, due $26MM over the next two seasons, is too expensive to be traded, but he could brought back to the Cowboys at a lower salary, argues Todd Archer of ESPN.com in a recent mailbag.
- Mike Triplett of ESPN.com believes the Saints’ Jimmy Graham is a tight end, writing that lining up in the slot is simply part of that position’s job description in today’s NFL. Triplett thinks the murky situation could be resolved with a long-term contract in excess of $10MM annually.
- The Rams could add two quarterbacks to backup Sam Bradford, according to Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com. Kellen Clemens could return, and the team figures to draft a quarterback somewhere in the third-to-fifth-round range.
- In a mailbag segment, Bill Williamson of ESPN.com says receiver will be a priority in the draft for the 49ers, and singles out Oregon State WR Brandin Crooks as an option. He also writes that running back LaMichael James could be used more in the slot and on screens as the teams aims to get the speedy back more touches.
Jimmy Graham’s Next Contract
Now that Jimmy Graham has been officially hit with the franchise tag, his next contract could go in a number of different directions. In normal situations, a franchised player has two options: either play the next season under the tag number for your position or continue to work on a long-term agreement.
However, for the Saints’ pass catcher, it is not so simple.Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk outlined ten key points about the Graham situation, including the obvious controversy about which position Graham should be franchised as. Graham will argue that he lined up as a receiver more often than as a tight end, and the Saints will argue that all tight ends move around the formation, and no receiver actually lines up next to the tackle during a play.
Florio also notes that the two sides have until July 15 to come to terms on the long-term deal.
In signing a long-term extension, Graham will likely also argue that he should be paid like one of the most productive receivers in the NFL. Andrew Cohen of OvertTheCap.com sees Rob Gronkowski‘s six year, $54MM deal as the baseline for his long-term negotiation. Still, he sees that Graham has better leverage as Gronkowski had two years left on his deal, with a much longer injury history and a smaller salary cap to work under.
Cohen also sees the possibility, while unlikely, that a team offers Graham a contract in the hopes that the Saints will not match. Though the team will have to send the Saints two first-round draft picks for the opportunity to pay Graham, he believes this could be a worthwhile decision for either the Dolphins or the Jets. Both teams have the salary cap space to offer a frontloaded contract with a big signing bonus, and he writes that they are unlikely to find a better offensive weapon in the draft.
FA Rumors: Delmas, Jackson, Decker, Pace
A handful of potential free agents, including wide receiver Riley Cooper, center Roberto Garza, and defensive lineman Chris Baker, came off the board today, having agreed to new contracts with their current teams. However, there are still plenty of rumblings about other players who will hit free agency on March 11, not to mention those who are already available. Let’s dive in and round up the latest….
- Free agent safety Louis Delmas, who was cut by the Lions earlier this month, visited the Saints today, according to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk (Twitter link). Because he was released, Delmas is eligible to sign before March 11 if he gets an offer he likes.
- Recently released linebacker D’Qwell Jackson is in the same boat, and has already lined up weekend visits with the Titans and Broncos, says Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (via Twitter). La Canfora adds (Twitter link) that the Vikings among the clubs looking to schedule a visit for next week, while Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun tweets that eight interested teams have already reached out.
- Following up on a tweet from Vic Lombardi of CBS4 in Denver that indicated there could be mutual interest between wide receiver Eric Decker and the Colts, Stephen Holder of the Indianapolis Star says (via Twitter) that potential interest is unlikely to materialize into anything concrete.
- The Jets met with linebacker Calvin Pace‘s reps at the combine in Indianapolis and made it clear they’d like to re-sign him, writes Brian Costello of the New York Post. However, the club has not yet engaged in contract talks for Pace, tweets Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News.
- Costello adds in a tweet that the Jets also have interest in retaining defensive tackle Leger Douzable, who will be an unrestricted free agent.
- Chris Brown of BuffaloBills.com explores the possibility of the Bills using their franchise tag on free agent safety Jairus Byrd, which it sounds like the team is willing to do.
- Free-agent-to-be Rashad Jennings has signed with VMG Sports and will be represented by Mike Simon, Greg Diulus, and Adam Heller, tweets Liz Mullen of SportsBusiness Journal. The Raiders running back had previously been repped by Kelley Drye.
NFC Notes: Wharton, Panthers, Lions, Saints
The Panthers have already lost one starting lineman to retirement this week, when longtime left tackle Jordan Gross called it a career. Now, left guard Travelle Wharton tells Joseph Person of the Charlotte Observer that he’s not 100% sure about his future either. However, it sounds like if he keeps playing, the free agent lineman wants to do so in Carolina.
“I love it here in Charlotte. This is where we want to live,” Wharton said. “If there’s going to be a next year, we have to sit down and talk about it.”
Here’s more on the Panthers and a couple other NFC teams:
- Steve Smith‘s age (35 in May) and contract ($9MM in dead money, three years remaining) make him a tricky case for the Panthers, as Jason Fitzgerald explores in his latest piece at OverTheCap.com. Fitzgerald thinks it makes sense for the two sides to continue their relationship, but makes some suggestions for how to make the veteran receiver’s contract more tenable for the club.
- When the Lions inked Matthew Stafford to his long-term contract extension last summer, the team agreed to defer the payment of $17.5MM of his $27.5MM signing bonus. That bill has come due, according to Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press, who says the team will pay Stafford the remainder of the bonus this Friday. Glover Quin, Reggie Bush, and Jason Jones will also receive deferred bonus money within the next few weeks, but the lump-sum payments won’t alter the team’s cap outlook.
- Running back Mikel Leshoure expressed a desire for a bigger role, either in Detroit or elsewhere, and it looks like he may receive that opportunity with the Lions, writes Kyle Meinke of MLive.com.
- Add linebacker and special teams player Ramon Humber to the growing list of pending Saints free agents who have had early discussions with the club about a new deal, writes Ramon Antonio Vargas of The Advocate.
Extra Points: Ware, Packers, Graham, Smith
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said recently on ESPN’s SportsCenter that it’s possible the club will part ways with DeMarcus Ware to avoid a sizable cap hit. Meanwhile, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (on Twitter) hears that Dallas has yet to ask Ware to take a pay cut and there has been no communication between the two sides. Here’s tonight’s look around the league..
- The Packers would like to have restricted free agent linebacker Jamari Lattimore back on the roster next season, but don’t appear ready to offer him the right-of-first-refusal tender, according to Pete Dougherty of the Green Bay Press-Gazette. With Green Bay likely willing to offer a salary closer to the minimum, Lattimore figures to test the open market.
- There’s a lot of debate over whether Saints star Jimmy Graham should be designated as a tight end or a wide receiver when it comes to the franchise tag, but Ian Rapoport of NFL.com rightfully notes that it’s a decision made by the league office, not the team.
- The Saints have reached out to running back Pierre Thomas to discuss his future with the club, writes Larry Holder of The Times-Picayune.
- Panthers general manager Dave Gettleman recently acknowledged that the club could conceivably cut ties with Steve Smith this summer and the wide receiver is less than thrilled about hearing that second hand, writes Jonathan Jones of the Charlotte Observer.
- The Rams plan to take a wait-and-see approach with their backup quarterback situation, writes ESPN.com’s Nick Wagoner.
- Raiders free agent defensive tackle Vance Walker has signed with A3 NFL agent Tommy Sims, according to Liz Mullen of Sports Business Journal (on Twitter). He was formerly repped by 5 Star Athlete Management.
Luke Adams contributed to this post.