AFC Notes: Houston, Gregory, Raiders
Team chairman Clark Hunt is optimistic the Chiefs can sign Justin Houston to a long-term deal, as Terez A. Paylor of the Kansas City Star writes. Hunt told reporters in Arizona that he wants Houston “to be a Chief for life” and GM John Dorsey also expressed confidence that a deal will come together. The Chiefs hit the linebacker with the nonexclusive franchise tag in early March and there hasn’t been major progress since then. Here’s more from the AFC..
- ESPN draft guru Mel Kiper believes that embattled Nebraska pass rusher Randy Gregory could fall to the Browns at No. 12 overall, but Tom Reed of the Northeast Ohio Media Group isn’t so sure that they should take the risk.
- Bill Williamson of ESPN.com ran down the Raiders‘ remaining free agents and where they stand. He notes that even though the Raiders told Tarell Brown that they want to try and get younger at the cornerback position, the veteran could still return on a team-friendly deal.
- Earlier today, the Bengals signed veteran defensive tackle Pat Sims.
AFC West Notes: Wisniewski, Bolts, Del Rio
The food safety manager who blew the whistle on health violations at the Chiefs‘ Arrowhead Stadium and the Royals’ Kauffman Stadium was fired by Aramark, as Paula Lavigne of ESPN.com writes. After Jon Costa told ESPN’s “Outside The Lines” about the health violations, the city came in and inspected the Royals’ and Chiefs’ stadiums and found violations at 20 out of 26 stands, including 37 critical violations. You can read Lavingne’s story for more detail, but we suggest that you do so after dinner. Here’s a look at the AFC West..
- Asked about whether the Raiders would consider re-signing Stefen Wisniewski as a guard to play alongside new center Rodney Hudson, Vic Tafur of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets that “that ship has sailed,” indicating Wisniewski won’t be back in Oakland.
- According to Matt Miller of Bleacher Report (via Twitter), “a lot of very smart people” believe the Chargers will try to trade up to No. 2 in next month’s draft. The Chargers have said they have no plans to trade Philip Rivers, and such a move would likely require Rivers to be involved, so it seems unlikely at this point. Still, it’s worth keeping an eye on — Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com wrote earlier today that he expects Marcus Mariota to be drafted second overall, either by the Titans or a team trading up.
- Bears coach John Fox has nothing but high praise for new Raiders coach Jack Del Rio, as Scott Bair of CSNBayArea.com writes. “I had a tremendous staff in Denver, and Jack was a huge part of that,” Fox said. “More often than not we had a top five defense. I plucked him from the Baltimore Ravens back when he was a linebackers coach and gave him his first coordinator job back in Carolina. At that time we were No. 31 in total defense, and that was only because there were 31 teams. We jumped all the way to second with Jack at the helm. I’ve worked with him a lot, and Jack’s a tremendous coach and a tremendous person. I wish him nothing but the best in Oakland.”
Luke Adams contributed to this post.
Raiders Sign C.J. Wilson
Free agent defensive lineman C.J. Wilson has signed with the Raiders, the player tweeted. Wilson’s deal is for two years and $4.6MM, according to Patrick Quinn of WNCT (Twitter link).
Wilson, who will turn 28 later this month, accrued 23 tackles and two sacks in 16 games (seven starts) with the Raiders last season. Pro Football Focus (subscription required) ranked Wilson 27th out of 57 qualifying 4-3 defensive ends for his work, and he recently drew interest from the Seahawks.
The five-year veteran entered the league as a seventh-round pick of the Packers in 2010 and spent his first four seasons in Green Bay, with which he appeared in 50 games and made 11 starts.
AFC Notes: Browns, Titans, Steelers, Raiders
ESPN reports that Browns officials were told at this week’s owners meetings that the team will face “severe” discipline for violating an NFL policy. Cleveland will be punished for the actions of general manager Ray Farmer, who admitted to sending text messages (reportedly to members of the club’s sideline) during games last season. That violates the league’s electronic device policy, and it could cost the Browns in the form of fines or the loss of draft picks. The extent of the Browns’ punishment will be announced next week.
Here’s more from around the AFC:
- Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette tweets that the odds of the Steelers extending the contract of defensive end Cameron Heyward prior to the season are “100%.” Heyward will make just under $7MM in 2015, the last year of his deal, and could hit free agency in 2016. The four-year veteran finished last season with a career-high 7.5 sacks, giving him 15 since entering the league in 2011. The former first-round pick has appeared in all 64 of Pittsburgh’s regular-season games since he joined the club, and has finished in the top 20 of Pro Football Focus’ ranking system (subscription required) for 3-4 defensive ends three straight years.
- Linebacker James Harrison seems to regard his recent decision to re-sign with the Steelers as bittersweet. The Titans were also vying for Harrison’s services, and choosing Pittsburgh over Tennessee means he won’t get to continue working under defensive guru Dick LeBeau. The 77-year-old left the Steelers after 11 seasons and joined the Titans’ staff in February. “You don’t want to let (coach LeBeau) down, you want to be loyal to him to a fault,” Harrison said on the “Ike Taylor Show,” according to Jim Wyatt of The Tennessean. “It came down to I had to take a step back and look at it and it was a business. Both offers being the same, it wasn’t a good business move to go to Tennessee because I would have to uproot everything and I already had everything in Pittsburgh combined with the fact my legacy is in Pittsburgh.”
- Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie isn’t content with his team’s offensive line. “I don’t have enough offensive linemen on the roster. I want to bring some good ones in,” McKenzie said, according to Scott Bair of CSNBayArea.com. The Raiders’ biggest O-line need is at right guard, an area they could address in the upcoming draft. “Right guard is going to be a competitive situation in camp,” said new head coach Jack Del Rio.
West Notes: Chargers, Raiders, Murray, 49ers
Speaking to reporters this morning in Phoenix at the AFC coaches’ breakfast, Chargers head coach Mike McCoy addressed the team’s backfield, including quarterback Philip Rivers. Asked about Rivers’ decision to play out his contract, McCoy responded that the team plans on Rivers “retiring as a Charger” (Twitter link via Ed Werder of ESPN.com).
McCoy also indicated he’s confident the Chargers can win with the three running backs they have on the roster at the moment (Twitter link via Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune). Donald Brown, Branden Oliver, and Danny Woodhead are currently slated to share the load for San Diego, with Ryan Mathews having departed in free agency. The club could also address the position in the draft.
Here’s more from around the NFL’s two West divisions:
- Within a piece on Jeremy Maclin, Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports, citing a league source, that the Raiders offered running back DeMarco Murray “significant more guaranteed money” than the Eagles did.
- Raiders head coach Jack Del Rio identified defensive end and pass rusher as two spots he expects his team to focus on early in the 2015 draft, tweets Scott Bair of CSNBayArea.com. Del Rio added that receiving help could also come via free agency, as Vic Tafur of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets.
- 49ers general manager Trent Baalke confirmed that his club has interest in several free agent inside linebackers, including Brandon Spikes. However, according to Baalke, there’s no official visit lined up for Erin Henderson at this point (Twitter link via Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com).
- Casey Pearce of the Rams clarified today (via Twitter) that the Rams will have their own seventh-round pick this year — it was the Patriots‘ pick that St. Louis sent to the Falcons in a subsequent trade. With 2015’s compensatory picks now announced, the league should officially confirm the complete draft order soon.
- UCLA’s Brett Hundley, considered perhaps the best 2015 quarterback prospect not named Jameis or Marcus, has a private workout scheduled with the Cardinals, according to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com (via Twitter).
Extra Points: Peterson, Rivers, Murray, Hardy
Some assorted notes from around the league as we wrap up this Monday evening…
- Adrian Peterson‘s agent, Ben Dogra, reiterated that his client shouldn’t be playing for the Vikings in 2015. “I don’t think it’s in the best interests of [Adrian Peterson] to play for the Minnesota Vikings,” Dogra said (via Bleacher Report’s Jason Cole on Twitter).
- However, Vikings owner Mark Wilf whistled a different tune to USA Today’s Tom Pelissero. “He’s an important part of the Minnesota Vikings and we look forward to him being part of our team in 2015,” the owner said (Twitter link).
- Chargers general manager Tom Telesco said the the team isn’t considering trading quarterback Philip Rivers, according to ESPN.com’s Eric Williams (on Twitter).
- ESPN.com’s Bill Williamson says (via Twitter) the Raiders are not currently pursuing Eagles offensive guard Evan Mathis.
- Jaguars general manager David Caldwell said the Eagles offer to DeMarco Murray exceeded his team’s offer by a “large amount,” tweets Ryan O’Halloran of Jacksonville.com.
- Cowboys coach Jason Garrett touched on his team’s addition of defensive end Greg Hardy (via David Moore of SportsDayDFW.com on Twitter): “If we didn’t believe that Greg Hardy could become the right kind of guy we would not have signed him.”
- Moore also tweets that the Cowboys have interest in bringing back linebacker Rolando McClain, but Garrett said the sides haven’t made any recent progress on a contract.
Latest On Los Angeles Relocation
At the league meetings this week in Phoenix, the subject of Los Angeles is expected to come to the forefront, with NFL executive vice president Eric Grubman set to report the league’s findings on relocation possibilities to owners this morning.
“This will be the first time that I’ll have the opportunity to give specific answers,” Grubman said on Sunday evening, per Scott Bair of CSNBayArea.com. “Up until now, I’ve had to walk a tight rope of giving a briefing without parting with any information that was confidential. No teams were out in the open. No sites were out in the open. Now we have a lot more to work with.”
As we wait to hear what Grubman and the league have to say, here are a few notes on the possibility of L.A. relocation, via the Twitter account of Albert Breer of the NFL Network (unless otherwise indicated):
- The Rams, Chargers, and Raiders will be free to answer questions today about their potential Los Angeles plans, but it’s more likely that those clubs will address questions about their current home markets, with the league handling L.A. inquiries.
- The Rams appear to have the strongest plan for relocation to L.A., but by the league’s criteria they’re the least qualified of the three teams to move there, which complicates the issue.
- The likely outcome when the dust settles is two teams in Southern California, whether that means two in Los Angeles, or one in L.A. and one in San Diego. While there are many scenarios in play, one interesting one is the Rams moving to L.A. and the Raiders moving to St. Louis, with the Chargers staying put. That would leave Oakland out in the cold, and as Grubman noted in Bair previously-linked piece, Oakland has yet to get “specific” or “aggressive” in its plan to keep the Raiders.
- The NFL is doing its own market assessment on San Diego, Oakland, and St. Louis, and is planning on making April visits to each city.
- Giants co-owner John Mara predicted that at least one team will be in Los Angeles in 2016, and Breer agrees with that assessment, noting that the three-team competition makes for better projects. However, we likely won’t get any concrete answers this week — we should know more by October or November.
Latest On Kroenke’s Inglewood Proposal
The March NFL owners meetings begin tomorrow in Phoenix, and as Sam Farmer of the Los Angeles Times writes, Rams owner Stan Kroenke is bringing finished schematic plans for his proposed Inglewood stadium with him. Kroenke’s proposal would put a futuristic, highly-interactive and highly-integrated stadium in Los Angeles, which has not hosted an NFL franchise in 21 years.
Of course, the assumption is that Kroenke, if he were able to build his $1.86 billion palace, would bring the Rams to LA. But there are complications. For one, as Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes, there are some in the league who want to “make returning football to Los Angeles a California solution — involving the Chargers and/or Raiders. Not the Rams.” The Chargers and Raiders joined forces last month and announced their plan to share a stadium in Carson.
Meanwhile, there has been progress in the efforts to build a new stadium on the riverfront in St. Louis, but as Thomas notes, the land acquisition and financing necessary for those plans to come to fruition are yet to be done. Kroenke, on the other hand, has already purchased the land in Inglewood, and while he is not quite ready to put a shovel in the ground, Farmer writes that the major pieces of the project are now fully drawn. It would take less than three years to build the stadium, and any team that relocates to Los Angeles could play in the Coliseum or Rose Bowl in the meantime.
One of the more interesting aspects about Kroenke’s proposal is that it is “two-team compliant.” Although Kroenke has enough money to fund the project on his own and does not need to partner with another franchise, the NFL believes Los Angeles is a two-team market and would like any stadium built in the area to be capable of hosting two clubs. Kroenke undoubtedly does not wish to share the wealth generated by a project for which he is assuming the risk by himself, but it is nonetheless an interesting twist in an already fascinating saga.
The league has said that no team would be allowed to relocate before the 2016 season, and it is unlikely that any vote to move a franchise–such a move would require support from three-quarters of the league’s 32 owners–would take place before the fall. But this week, what we have known for months will become even more clear: Los Angeles is primed to get an NFL team for the first time in over two decades, and while San Diego, Oakland, and St. Louis have all made progress in their efforts to keep the Rams out of Hollywood, Kroenke continues to lead the race.
L.A. Stadium Notes: Carson, Oakland, Coliseum City
The Rams, Raiders, and Chargers are still the three teams being thrown around in rumors surrounding a relocation to the Los Angeles market. Last we checked in, Raiders owner Mark Davis mentioned that other cities would be involved as possible relocation destinations, including St. Louis should the Rams move to California.
Here are some recent updates surrounding the cities attempting to find a new team:
- A proposal to build a new stadium in Carson that would be home to both the Chargers and Raiders took the next step today as a petition with 14,000 signatures was submitted in support of the initiative, reports Nathan Fenno of the Los Angeles Times. That is more than twice the signatures needed to move forward, but less than the 22,000 a rival stadium proposal in Inglewood was able to gather earlier this year.
- The City of Oakland and Alameda County will work together to keep the Raiders in Oakland, writes Scott Bair of CSNBayArea.com. San Diego-based developer Floyd Kephart is trying to finance a project to redevelop the Coliseum complex, and with cooperation from the city, county, and ultimately the Raiders, the grounds could eventually include a new football stadium.
- For more information about Kephart’s plan for “Coliseum City” including his personal credentials and his vision for keeping the Raiders in town, Matthew Arts of InsideBayArea.com profiles the project and the man who has become the driving force behind it.
Contract Details: Bush, Richardson, Guy
Here are some details about contracts signed or agreed to within the last few days:
Reggie Bush, RB (49ers): One year, $2.2MM base value. $500K signing bonus. $1.1MM guaranteed. $100K workout bonus (via CBSSports.com’s Jason La Canfora on Twitter).
Trent Richardson, RB (Raiders): Two years, $3.45MM base value. $600K fully guaranteed. Can earn extra $400K in per-game roster bonuses (notes ESPN’s Adam Caplan on Twitter)
Lawrence Guy, DE (Ravens): Two years, $2.3MM base value. $500K to sign. (via Baltimore Sun reporter Aaron Wilson).