Chiefs Sign LeSean McCoy
LeSean McCoy‘s stay on the open market didn’t last long. Released by the Bills yesterday, Shady immediately drew interest from four teams, and as Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports, McCoy will sign with the Chiefs. Terez A. Paylor of Yahoo! Sports says it will be a one-year, $3MM pact with incentives that can increase the value to $4MM (Twitter link).
Paylor adds in a separate tweet that the Chargers offered McCoy a similar contract, but McCoy opted to head to Kansas City due to his familiarity with head coach Andy Reid and the club’s front office. McCoy spent the first four years of his career under Reid when both men were with the Eagles.
The Chiefs’ decision to sign McCoy suggests that they were not entirely comfortable with presumptive RB1 Damien Williams taking the lion’s share of the carries. McCoy and Williams — much to the chagrin of Williams fantasy owners — will likely share the load, with sixth-round rookie Darwin Thompson and second-year player Darrel Williams in support.
McCoy struggled in 2018, which turned out to be his final year in Buffalo, but the Bills’ O-line was a mess. The six-time Pro Bowler is definitely nearing the end of the road, but he did top 1,000 yards in each of his prior two seasons with the Bills, and with a dynamic offense around him and younger players to ease some of his burden, there is reason to believe that he can be productive for the Chiefs in 2019.
McCoy, 31, has 10,606 career rushing yards, good for 25th on the all-time list.
Texans Acquire Laremy Tunsil, Kenny Stills From Dolphins
The Texans are going full edge makeover on Saturday. Despite the Dolphins not being the team to land Jadeveon Clowney, they are finalizing a deal to send Laremy Tunsil to Houston, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets.
This is a blockbuster. Kenny Stills will also head to Houston for a package of picks, and NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport, Tom Pelissero and Mike Garafolo report (on Twitter) one of those will be a first-rounder. In fact, two of those picks will be first-rounders. The Texans are sending two first-rounders and a second-rounder to the Dolphins for Tunsil and Stills, the NFL.com trio adds (on Twitter). This is a massive return for the Dolphins’ now-Chris Grier-led front office.
The full details of the picks changing hands are as follows, courtesy of Albert Breer of SI.com (Twitter link). Miami will get first-round picks in 2020 and 2021 from Houston, and a second-rounder in 2021. The Texans will get a 2020 fourth-rounder as well as a 2021 sixth-rounder back from the Dolphins.
Additionally, the Dolphins will receive two players from the Texans as well. Tackle Julie’n Davenport and special-teamer Johnson Bademosi will head to Miami, Rapoport tweets. Davenport, a 2017 fourth-round pick, started 15 games for the Texans last season.
To recap, the Texans dealt Jadeveon Clowney to the Seahawks, acquired Carlos Hyde from the Chiefs, landed cornerback Keion Crossen from the Patriots and are now receiving Tunsil and Stills from the Dolphins. The Texans are operating without a GM. De facto GM Bill O’Brien has now given up a Khalil Mack-level haul for the Tunsil-headlined package.
With the Colts losing Andrew Luck, the Texans became the Las Vegas favorites to win the AFC South. The division champions in three of the past four seasons, the Texans are using Saturday as a springboard to solidify their position. This comes despite Houston drafting linemen in the first two rounds this year — Tytus Howard and Max Scharping — and signing Matt Kalil. The Texans were set to play Howard at guard and Kalil at tackle. Tunsil will now protect Deshaun Watson‘s blind side.
No quarterback since Jon Kitna in 2006 took more sacks than Watson did in 2018, 62. As a result, the Texans will have a nearly remade offensive front. Tunsil started 30 games for the Dolphins at left tackle since 2017. He played left guard in 2016. He was expected to be 2016’s No. 1 overall pick before a leaked video damaged his draft stock, dropping him to Miami at No. 13.
Tunsil became extension-eligible in January, and it’s a good bet the Texans — who just cleared Clowney’s $15.9MM tag price off their books — will begin discussions soon. Two years remain on Tunsil’s rookie contract. Unlike the Mack trade, there is no extension coming immediately, but Rapoport adds (via Twitter) that is in the Texans’ plans.
Stills functioned as Miami’s deep threat for four seasons. While he never matched his career-best yardage total for the 2014 Saints, Stills twice surpassed 700 yards and has scored 21 touchdowns over the past three years. He makes for an interesting fit alongside DeAndre Hopkins and Will Fuller. The latter is one of the NFL’s better deep threats. Stills, 27, is under contract through 2020. Nearly $15MM remains on his deal.
The Dolphins resisted dealing Tunsil in a Clowney swap, but the rebuilding team will now have an additional first-round pick with which to work. This accelerates the Dolphins’ rebuild project and obviously weakens their 2019 roster. They will be perhaps the top contender for the 2020 No. 1 overall pick, which could well be a quarterback. Miami was the first team reported to be eyeing the 2020 signal-caller crop.
Chargers Place Russell Okung On Reserve/NFI List
Russell Okung‘s Chargers season cannot begin until at least Week 7. The Bolts placed their starting left tackle on the reserve/NFI list, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets.
Okung has been dealing with blood clots. A Chargers line that struggled down the stretch last season will now not have one of its anchors. This has obviously become a rather serious situation for Okung, a 2010 first-round pick, and it’s now conceivable he will not play this season.
Los Angeles has third-round rookie Trey Pipkins and second-year UDFA Trent Scott as backup options and could look to waivers for additional help.
The soon-to-be 32-year-old edge blocker made the 2017 Pro Bowl and has started 31 games with the Bolts since signing a lucrative contract in 2017. Okung’s four-year, $53MM deal has two years remaining. He is on the Los Angeles cap sheet at $15.9MM in 2019.
Chargers Give Melvin Gordon Permission To Seek Trade
With contract talks between the Chargers and Melvin Gordon not progressing, the team will give the fifth-year running back permission to seek a trade, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports (on Twitter).
Gordon has not ruled out returning to the Bolts on his current contract, per RapSheet, but the Pro Bowl back will now explore his options elsewhere.
The running back has balked at the Bolts’ proposal to this point and has been training in Florida. Gordon can’t sit out the entire season — or at least, he can’t sit out the entire season if he wants to become a free agent next spring (which he does). If Gordon doesn’t report by November 29, he won’t be eligible to play during the 2019 campaign. At that point, his contract would toll: his $5.605MM salary would simply carry over to 2020, and he’d remain under the Chargers’ control.
The Chargers saw Austin Ekeler average north of five yards per carry last season, and the team drafted Justin Jackson in last year’s second round. This duo would be likely set for a timeshare if Gordon heads elsewhere. The next few days will give the former Wisconsin star a chance to determine his value. That process may well lead him out of Los Angeles, but it could also end his holdout — if the money from other teams is not to Gordon’s liking.
Chiefs To Send Carlos Hyde To Texans
The Texans will have an experienced running back headed their way. The Chiefs reached an agreement to trade Carlos Hyde to the Texans in exchange for offensive lineman Martinas Rankin, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets.
Houston will address the league’s thinnest backfield position, adding a seasoned starter to its mix. The Texans were looking for running back help on the trade market, and they found it in the form of a player the Chiefs were set to release. The Chiefs signed Hyde earlier this offseason, but he was likely set to miss their 53-man roster.
Hyde spent 2018 with the Browns and Jaguars, being traded midseason. He initially signed a multiyear deal with the Browns, but the Jaguars released him after last season. The Chiefs added Hyde but will go with younger backs Darrel Williams and Darwin Thompson behind holdover starter Damien Williams.
A former 49ers second-round pick, Hyde posted back-to-back 900-plus-yard seasons in 2016 and ’17. He totaled 1,288 yards from scrimmage for the ’17 49ers, scoring eight touchdowns. The 28-year-old back will join Duke Johnson in Houston.
Rankin was a 2018 third-round pick who made four starts with Houston last season. He will be set for a depth role in Kansas City.
Jaguars, Myles Jack Agree To Extension
The Jaguars and one of their young defenders reached an extension agreement Saturday. The Jags will extend Myles Jack on a four-year, $57MM deal, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports (on Twitter).
One of a few impact defenders who entered camp extension-eligible, Jack will earn $33MM guaranteed on this pact. Jack joined Jalen Ramsey and Yannick Ngakoue as members of the team’s standout 2016 draft class, and the team’s top linebacker became the first to see a new contract.
Jacksonville saw Telvin Smith step away earlier this offseason. It is not known if this is a retirement, but the Jags took care of his longtime running mate. This is a more lucrative deal than the one the team gave Smith (four years, $44MM), with Jack’s $14.25MM-AAV figure sitting behind only Bobby Wagner and C.J. Mosley among off-ball ‘backers. Jack’s $33MM guarantee ties him with Anthony Barr for sixth among this contingent.
Jack has been the least vocal of the Jags’ 2016 defender draftees about a re-up, with Ngakoue holding out into camp and Ramsey making no secret he believes the Jags can afford to give him top cornerback money. But this marks another win for a college superstar who entered the 2016 draft with injury-damaged stock. Both Jack and Jaylon Smith fell out of the first round because of injuries; both are now on high-end linebacker contracts.
The soon-to-be 24-year-old ‘backer has played in 98% of Jacksonville’s snaps since 2017. He’s made 197 tackles over the past two seasons, playing a key role on a defense that has been one of the league’s best in that span.
Talks Between Cowboys, Ezekiel Elliott “Intensifying”
It sounds like Ezekiel Elliott could be on the field for Week 1. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports (via Twitter) that talks between the Cowboys and the star running back are “intensifying.” Both sides are determined to finalize a new deal this weekend.
While there have been plenty of recent reports regarding negotiations between both sides, it sounded like the two sides hadn’t made any progress in recent weeks. We heard earlier this week that both camps were standing strong on their initial offers; the Cowboys had offered a contract that was assumed to be around $14MM, while Elliott was seeking a deal that would pay him $15MM per season (thus setting the benchmark at the position).
While the organization had reportedly made an Elliott extension a priority, owner Jerry Jones said yesterday that he was operating as if their star running back wouldn’t be on the field. Regardless, today’s report is the most clarity we’ve received in some time, and it’s good news for Dallas that both sides are focused on completing a deal.
While team’s are understandably wary of handing out big money to running backs, Elliott has proved that he deserves to be one of the highest-paid running backs in the NFL. The former fourth-overall pick showed off his pass-catching prowess in 2018, hauling in a career-high 77 receptions for 567 yards and three scores. He was also prolific in the running game, compiling 1,434 rushing yards and six touchdowns. Perhaps most importantly, Elliott managed to play in 15 games after being limit to only 10 in 2017.
Had Zeke ended up sitting out part of the regular season, the Cowboys were ready to roll with rookie running back Tony Pollard and veteran Alfred Morris. Assuming an extension gets done, the organization now has a formidable trio of backs to rely on from the start of the season.
Texans To Trade Jadeveon Clowney To Seahawks
The Jadeveon Clowney era in Houston has come to an end. The Texans and Seahawks have agreed to a trade that will send the star edge rusher to Seattle. Albert Breer of TheMMQB.com tweets that the Texans will receive a 2020 third-rounder, defensive end Barkevious Mingo, and linebacker Jacob Martin.
While the deal is all but “done” according to NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero (on Twitter), there are a few formalities that need to be taken care of. ESPN’s Adam Schefter tweets that Clowney is currently in Seattle to sign his franchise tender, which would enable Houston to trade him. Clowney, Mingo, and Martin will also need to pass physicals before the deal’s completed. We learned earlier today that the two sides had been progressing towards a deal.
The move makes plenty of sense for the Seahawks. Seattle doesn’t have to commit to a new Clowney deal until the offseason, allowing them to evaluate his fit on the team. Further, if the edge rusher ends up leaving in free agency, they’re likely land a 2021 third-round compensatory draft pick. While the organization will have to fit Clowney’s $15.9MM tag charge into their $25MM in cap space (the team cleared $4MM by trading Mingo), it was still clearly worth the “risk.”
Considering the Seahawks’ need for pass-rushing, Clowney’s desire to play in Seattle, and the minimal asking price, there’s really no risk at all. While the Seahawks did add defensive end Ziggy Ansah, they moved on from veteran Frank Clark. The team will also be without defensive tackle Jarran Reed for the first six games due to suspension, necessitating their need for help up front.
The Texans were somewhat stuck behind a rock and a hard place when it came to the Clowney trade talks. The 26-year-old did have a bit of leverage regarding where he could land, and it apparently worked. Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald tweets that the Dolphins and Texans were well on their way to hammering out a deal. When Clowney refused to play in Miami, it allowed one of his preferred suitors to swoop in.
In other words, the Texans did relatively well considering the circumstances. Most teams would purely view Clowney as a rental, so a third-rounder is fine value for an impending free agent. Plus, while Martin may not be a recognizable player, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport tweets that one GM gushed about the player’s motor. The 2018 sixth-round pick had nine tackles and three sacks as a rookie.
Mingo, a former first-rounder, has bounced around the NFL during his six-year career. He started a career-high 14 games for Seattle in 2018, compiling 48 tackles and two forced fumbles.
Texans, Seahawks Agree To “Parameters” Of Clowney Trade
It sounds like Jadeveon Clowney will get his wish. Jay Glazer of FOX Sports reports (via Twitter) that the Texans and Seahawks have agreed to the parameters of a trade. The deal is contingent on Clowney and other traded players passing their physicals. Albert Breer of TheMMQB.com tweets that the Texans are expected to receive a 2020 third-rounder, while Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle writes that Houston will also be acquiring two players.
Earlier today, Wilson reported (via Twitter) that the Texans and Seahawks have had a “dialogue” about the star edge rusher. Meanwhile, NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo and Tom Pelissero (via Twitter) said the two sides were “deep” in trade talks, with Clowney declaring Seattle as his preferred trade spot.
After firing his agent on Tuesday afternoon, it appears that Clowney is serious about landing the long-term deal he desires. We heard that Clowney preferred the Seahawks and the Eagles as trade destinations, and Seattle larer emerged as the front-runner. NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport tweets that Clowney would willingly sign his tag if traded to Seattle. Meanwhile, Wilson tweets that the Seahawks would essentially be renting Clowney, with the organization evaluating a long-term fit throughout the season.
Clowney met with the Dolphins earlier this week after the organization emerged as a potential trade partner. However, it sounds like Clowney isn’t interested in playing for Miami. The front office has also talked trade with the Jets and Redskins.
As an unsigned franchise player, Clowney does have a bit of leverage in this matter. The Texans have been unwilling to commit to the former top-overall pick, and he might have enough juice to force a trade to one of his preferred teams.
Of course, that doesn’t mean Houston will simply give him away. We heard that the Texans would actually like to keep Clowney, and they’ve also established an asking price in trade talks. If the defender ends up sitting out games as he pursues a new contract and/or a trade, he’ll forfeit around $1MM per game. In other words, there are also some negotiating advantages for the Texans.
Bills Release RB LeSean McCoy
A surprise cut out of Buffalo. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports (via Twitter) that the Bills have released veteran running back LeSean McCoy.
There had been rumblings of a potential divorce for several months. McCoy was entering the final year of his five-year, $40MM deal, and cutting the veteran would save the organization more than $6MM. While the organization had been touting McCoy as their 2019 starter throughout the offseason, some pundits wondered if the front office was simply trying to generate trade interest.
However, back in January, GM Brandon Beane made it clear that the running back was staying put.
“LeSean will come back in 2019 and we’ll go from there,” the GM said.
Despite their faith in McCoy, the organization still brought in a pair of inexpensive vets in Frank Gore and T.J. Yeldon. Third-round rookie Devin Singletary has also emerged as an intriguing piece during the preseason. Considering the financial discrepancy between McCoy and the other three running backs, the team decided to move on from their four-year starter.
While McCoy was productive during his first three years in Buffalo, he struggled in 2018. The 31-year-old finished the campaign with a career-low 3.2 yards per carry, compiling 514 yards and three touchdowns on 161 carries. He also hauled in 34 receptions for 238 yards.
McCoy still offers serious burst and cutting ability, even at his advanced age, so there’s reason to believe that he can get back to his old form in 2019. Several teams will surely kick the tires on the veteran, so he shouldn’t be a free agent for long.