Latest On COVID-19’s NFL Impact
Although a lockout marred the 2011 NFL offseason, this year will eclipse that delayed offseason for the most unusual in the league’s modern history. Here is some of the fallout from how COVID-19 has affected the NFL during free agency and how it will impact the league going forward:
- Some teams have inserted coronavirus-triggered language into contracts. With players not permitted to visit team facilities and take physicals and teams not allowed to have staffers meet with free agent targets, some teams have included provisions into contracts indicating that failed physicals would void signing bonus money, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com reports. Players are prohibited from entering team facilities until at least April, and with this likely set to be an offseason without OTAs, it could be months before free agents take physicals with their new teams. It is not known how many teams are taking this hard-line stance, Fowler notes.
- Teams are permitted to use independent physicians for physicals, but Tom Pelissero of NFL.com notes (via Twitter) some of the league’s franchises are not comfortable doing so. The delay on physicals has led to most free agency deals yet to be officially announced. Some teams that have announced trades got around these rules. The Falcons and Ravens announced their Hayden Hurst-centered trade because Hurst took his physical before the COVID-19 rules went into effect, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk notes. This delay on teams’ medical staffs being able to examine players figures to keep some free agents with injury questions unsigned and has certainly impacted the Cam Newton trade market.
- Due to the stock market’s uncertainty because of coronavirus, multiple NFL owners instructed their front offices to defer signing bonus payments for as long as possible, Florio reports. Signing bonuses are committed to players when they sign, but teams often pay them in installments. Some teams are trying to push back the windows for some of the bonus money to be paid, Florio adds, noting that the Raiders are avoiding signing bonuses altogether. Las Vegas made multiple splashy signings early in free agency, but no details of signing bonuses emerged after those agreements.
- Some NFL execs were unhappy the league moved forward with free agency during this unprecedented climate in North American sports. “Tone deaf is right!” a GM told NBC Sports’ Peter King. “The world has stopped. We’re in a national emergency as a country and we do this? It’s awful. We’re telling the rest of the world we don’t care.” While the NFL provided the sports-following world with a distraction this week, the uncertainty surrounding OTAs and minicamps — and the lack of pre-draft visits and workouts — will send the league into a strange period similar to what the other major American sports are navigating because of coronavirus.
- The NFL will make some changes to the draft, and some notable unknowns still exist a month away from the annual April event.
AFC Contract Details: Bulaga, Cobb, Collins
Here are the latest contract details as of Sunday night. We will focus on the AFC here.
- Bryan Bulaga, T (Chargers): Three years, $30MM. $19.25MM guaranteed; $10MM signing bonus. Bulaga’s salaries in 2020 ($1.5MM) and 2021 ($7.75MM) are guaranteed. A $2.5MM roster bonus is due on Day 3 of the 2022 league year, Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle tweets.
- Randall Cobb, WR (Texans): Three years, $27MM. $18MM guaranteed; $6MM signing bonus. Base salaries in 2020 ($3.75MM) and ’21 ($8.25MM) are guaranteed; non-guaranteed salary of $7.9MM in 2022. Wilson notes (on Twitter).
- Rodney Gunter, DL (Jaguars): Three years, $18MM. $11.15MM guaranteed; $4.25MM signing bonus. 2020 and ’21 base salaries of $2MM and $4.9MM are guaranteed. Non-guaranteed 2022 base of $5.4MM, per Wilson (on Twitter).
- Vic Beasley, OLB (Titans): One year, $9.5MM. The $9.5MM is guaranteed and includes a $6MM signing bonus. $2.5MM worth of sack-based incentives exist in the deal, Wilson adds (on Twitter).
- Maliek Collins, DT (Raiders): One year, $6MM. $5.75MM guaranteed. Deal includes a $1.5MM sack-based incentive, Wilson tweets.
- De’Vante Bausby, CB (Broncos): One year, $825K. The deal contains no guaranteed money, Mike Klis of 9News tweets.
Contract Details: Lawson, Trufant, Shelton, Witten,
Kyler Fackrell (Giants), One year, $4.6MM, $3.5MM guaranteed, base salary 2020: $2.6MM, $2MM roster bonus, according to Jordan Raanan of ESPN.
Antonio Hamilton (Chiefs), One year, $1.047MM, $887.5k guaranteed, $137.5k signing bonus; salary 2020: $910k ($750k guaranteed), according to Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle.
Shaq Lawson (Dolphins), Three years, $30MM, $21MM guaranteed, $4MM signing bonus; salaries 2020: $6.4MM (fully guaranteed), 2021: $7.9MM (fully guaranteed), 2022: $8.9MM; $2.5MM fully guaranteed roster bonus in 2020, $100k workout bonus in 2020-2021, potential $2MM in annual incentives, according to Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle.
John Miller (Panthers), One year, $4MM, $2MM guaranteed, $2MM signing bonus; salary 2020: $1.79MM; $160k in per-game roster bonuses, according to Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle.
Danny Shelton (Lions), Two years, $8MM, $4MM guaranteed, $2.5MM signing bonus; salaries 2020: $1.5MM (fully guaranteed), 2021: $4MM, according to Michael Rothstein of ESPN.
Desmond Trufant (Lions), Two years, $20MM, $14MM guaranteed, $5MM signing bonus; salaries 2020: $4.5MM (fully guaranteed), 2021: $9.5MM ($4.5MM guaranteed for injury at signing); $500k in annual per-game roster bonuses, according to Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle.
Jihad Ward (Ravens), One year, $1.047MM, $637.5k guaranteed, $137.5k signing bonus; salary 2020: $910,000 ($500,000 guaranteed), according to Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle.
Jaylen Watkins (Texans), Two years, $3MM, $300k guaranteed, $300k guaranteed; salaries 2020: $1.1MM, 2021: $1.4MM; 200k first-game roster bonus in 2020, per Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle.
Jason Witten (Raiders), One year, $4MM, $3.5MM guaranteed; salary 2020: $3.5MM (fully guaranteed); $500k in per-game roster bonuses, according to Tom Pelissero of NFL.com.
Minor NFL Transactions: 3/21/20
Today’s minor moves:
Cleveland Browns:
- Signed: CB Donovan Olumba
Denver Broncos
- Re-signed: LB Joseph Jones
Las Vegas Raiders
- Re-signed: RB Rod Smith
Tennessee Titans
- Signed: TE MyCole Pruitt
Details On Raiders’ Pursuit Of Tom Brady, Quarterback Situation
Tom Brady is a Tampa Bay Buccaneer now and that’s settled, but we’re starting to learn more about the process that ended in him landing there. It’s been reported that the Chargers and Buccaneers were the only two teams to make concrete offers, and that Brady also had the option of returning to New England. But while some have said the Raiders were never that serious in their pursuit, Las Vegas was indeed “sniffing around Brady as late as this week,” sources told Vic Tafur of The Athletic.
While Tafur acknowledges that the Raiders never made an official offer to Brady, he writes that “some ballpark numbers were made known to him at some point.” Tafur also reports that the Raiders weren’t willing to spend the $50MM guaranteed the Bucs ended up giving over two years as the “game film the last two years just didn’t warrant that in the Raiders’ minds.”
Had Brady signaled to the Raiders that they were a “serious finalist,” they would’ve started shopping Derek Carr, Tafur writes. But while they were interested in adding the legendary Brady, that doesn’t mean they aren’t satisfied with Carr. Tafur writes that the team won’t be pursuing another veteran, and they won’t be making a surprise trade up in the draft to take a quarterback early.
Of course, the Raiders ended up signing Marcus Mariota in free agency, but Tafur doesn’t view him as a serious threat to Carr’s job. Instead he writes that many in the organization feel Carr deserves a third year in Jon Gruden’s system. Carr’s numbers certainly got better in his second year under Gruden, but the offense as a whole wasn’t great and Carr once again received a ton of criticism for being too risk-averse.
Carr and Gruden clashed on the sidelines a number of times and while they both downplayed the incidents, both Gruden and general manager Mike Mayock hedged instead of committing to him this offseason. Tafur no longer thinks the Raiders are considering Utah State’s Jordan Love with either of their first-round picks, so it sounds like Carr will be entering 2020 as the starter no matter what. How long his leash will be is an entirely different question.
Raiders To Add TE Nick O’Leary
The Raiders have agreed to terms with a second tight end this week. Days after their Jason Witten commitment, the Raiders are signing Nick O’Leary, according to ESPN.com’s Field Yates (Twitter link).
Tight ends currently on the Raider roster: Darren Waller, Witten, Derek Carrier, Foster Moreau and now O’Leary. It would appear Carrier’s roster spot is in jeopardy.
O’Leary spent last season with the Jaguars and Dolphins. Initially a 2015 fifth-round pick, O’Leary spent three seasons with the Bills. He topped out with 22 receptions for 322 yards and two touchdowns on the 2017 Bills but spent the 2018 season on Adam Gase‘s final Dolphins squad.
While O’Leary is not a prolific receiver, he will certainly not be asked to do that much in Las Vegas given the Waller-Witten tandem’s presence. O’Leary graded as the NFL’s best tight end in a somewhat obscure skill last year, however. He rated as significantly ahead of the next-closest player in pass protection among tight ends. He played 320 snaps with Miami and Jacksonville in 2019.
Raiders To Add WR Nelson Agholor
The Raiders continue to make additions in the opening days of free agency, and they will add a wide receiver who played a key role for a Super Bowl champion.
Nelson Agholor and the Raiders agreed to a deal, Jerry McDonald of the Bay Area News Group tweets. The former first-round pick played out his five-year rookie contract with the Eagles and will follow Jason Witten in moving from the NFC East to the Raiders’ first Las Vegas pass-catching contingent. Agholor’s pact is for one year, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.
This marks an interesting move for Las Vegas, which has been linked to high-end free agent wideout Robby Anderson and has been deficient at the position since Antonio Brown‘s drama tour involved a release from Oakland. Agholor was inconsistent during his Eagles tenure, but the former first-round pick proved essential during Philadelphia’s Super Bowl LII march.
The USC product surpassed 700 yards in both the 2017 and ’18 seasons, helping Carson Wentz emerge as one of the game’s most promising young players. Working mostly as a slot target in Philly, Agholor combined for 12 touchdown grabs in those seasons. He caught a game-high nine passes for 84 yards in the Eagles’ Super Bowl victory.
However, Agholor failed to eclipse 400 yards in his other three seasons and is coming off a 2019 slate marred by a knee injury. The ailment kept Agholor out of Philadelphia’s first-round playoff game, but he caught just 39 passes for 363 yards in 10 games last season. As a result of the down campaign, the 2020 season will double as a value-reviving opportunity for the once-coveted prospect.
The Raiders picked up Tyrell Williams‘ 2020 option and have Hunter Renfrow established as their slot receiver. Former second-round pick Zay Jones also remains on Las Vegas’ roster. The Raiders still figure to make a splashier addition to their receiving corps this offseason, but Agholor profiles as an interesting flier.
Raiders Sign OL Eric Kush
Eric Kush is joining the eighth team of his career. The veteran offensive lineman is joining the Raiders, reports Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle (via Twitter).
After inking a two-year deal with the Browns last offseason, Kush was cut by the team this past February. During his lone season in Cleveland, the 30-year-old appeared in a career-high 16 games, including seven starts.
Kush was with the Bears between the 2016 and 2018 seasons, including a 2017 campaign that was wiped out by a torn hamstring. The lineman has also spent time with the Rams, Texans, Panthers, Buccaneers, and Chiefs.
Chris Harris Turned Down Raiders Offer
- Veteran cornerback Chris Harris says he turned down a three-year offer from the Raiders before inking a two-year, $20MM deal with the Chargers, tweets Mike Klis of 9News. Per Harris, he simply didn’t feel “comfortable” with the Raiders, and preferred to join a Chargers defense that already includes stalwarts like Joey Bosa, Melvin Ingram, Casey Hayward, and Derwin James. Harris, 30, also attracted interest from teams like the Saints, Jets, Eagles, and says he picked up “tons” of one-year offers before deciding on Los Angeles.
Raiders Decline Option To Play 2020 Season In Oakland
An option existed for the Raiders to play a fourth lame-duck season in Oakland, in the event their Las Vegas stadium was not ready on time. But the Raiders will not take it, according to Josh Dubow of the Associated Press.
The COVID-19 pandemic has injected uncertainty into the Raiders’ stadium situation, but they notified officials in Oakland they will not exercise an option to play at the Oakland Coliseum in 2020. The Raiders still plan to play in Las Vegas; 2020 has served as their relocation window for years.
As for the stadium construction amid this health crisis, Dubow adds that the project remains ongoing. Nevada has shut down numerous businesses, and casinos have been temporarily closing. But the stadium project has been deemed “essential” and is continuing as scheduled. The $1.9 billion domed stadium remains scheduled to open this summer.
The Raiders received approval to relocate in 2017 but played the 2017, ’18 and ’19 seasons in Oakland. UNLV’s current home venue — Sam Boyd Stadium — was deemed a non-starter as a temporary Raiders site years ago. Mark Davis also did not give serious consideration to sharing Levi’s Stadium with the 49ers, so it appears, for the time being, the Raiders will power through this coronavirus pandemic in an effort to have their stadium ready.