South Rumors: Glennon, Bucs, Hardy, Panthers
With the Broncos, Jets, and Browns among the teams still in the market for a possible starting quarterback for the 2016 season, Buccaneers GM Jason Licht was once again asked today about the likelihood of a Mike Glennon trade, as Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times details.
Licht confirmed that teams have expressed interest in Glennon, and didn’t oppose the idea of a deal as strongly he has in some past instances. However, it still sounds like he and the Buccaneers prefer to keep the backup signal-caller, with Licht suggesting he feels “very good about the fact we have two good young quarterbacks.”
The Bucs GM also dismissed the idea that he has been demanding a first-round pick from any team interested in Glennon: “It’s false that I’ve been calling every team saying I need a first (round pick). I haven’t been calling every team. Even with those that have inquired, it’s been ‘Let’s keep talking.’ It hasn’t been, ‘we need this.'”
As we wait to see if Glennon remains in Tampa, let’s check in some other items from out of the NFL’s South divisions…
- Licht also said today that the Buccaneers have not discussed the possibility of signing free agent defensive end Greg Hardy, per Greg Auman of the Tampa Bay Times (Twitter link). The Buccaneers reportedly considered Hardy a year ago, but passed on him then and appear likely to pass again this time around.
- Panthers head coach Ron Rivera likes his current group of edge defenders, but wouldn’t mind adding another pass rusher “for the future,” tweets Joseph Person of the Charlotte Observer.
- Saints cornerback Damian Swann was arrested early last Friday morning on charges of reckless driving and speeding, according to Jason Butt of the Macon Telegraph.
- Texans head coach Bill O’Brien spoke to NFL Network’s Steve Wyche about the team’s decision to sign Brock Osweiler, suggesting that he and the Texans’ front office did plenty of homework on the ex-Broncos QB beyond the seven games he played in 2015. Marc Sessler of NFL.com has the details and the quotes from O’Brien.
Jets Sign Steve McLendon
MARCH 21, 2:45pm: The Jets have officially signed McLendon, the team announced today via its official website.
MARCH 16, 11:29am: The Jets’ deal with McLendon is a three-year pact worth up to $12MM, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link), who adds that it features $4MM in guaranteed money. Terms of the deal were first reported by Dom Cosentino of NJ.com.
MARCH 15, 6:18pm: The Jets will sign nose tackle Steve McLendon, as Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com tweets. McLendon will help fill the void left by Damon Harrison when he signed a five-year deal with the Giants.
The Steelers liked McLendon and wanted to retain him, but they were reportedly resistant to paying big money to a player who only sees the field for about 25-30% of the club’s defensive snaps. Pittsburgh could now enhance Dan McCullers‘ role with McLendon heading to New Jersey. Up until now, McLendon had spent his entire six-year career in Pittsburgh.
In 2015, the 6’4″ interior lineman saw time in all of Pittsburgh’s 16 regular season games and made 10 starts. In that time, McLendon tallied 14 tackles and 1 sack. Pro Football Focus (subscription required) rated McLendon as the No. 91 interior lineman in the NFL last year out of 123 qualified players. He did, however, earn a decent 74.8 grade for his run defense, which put him in the 50s. Harrison, meanwhile, was Pro Football Focus’ top ranked run defender in 2015.
Pro Football Rumors had McLendon ranked as the No. 15 interior defensive lineman in this year’s free agent crop, putting him ahead of players like Kevin Williams, Al Woods, Ahtyba Rubin, Randy Starks, and Henry Melton.
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Jaguars Notes: Kiffin, Draft, Hurns, Beachum
The Jaguars made a big-name addition to their coaching staff today, formally announcing that veteran NFL coach Monte Kiffin would be joining the team as a defensive assistant. Kiffin, formerly the defensive coordinator in Dallas, Tampa Bay, New Orleans, and Minnesota, served in 2014 and 2015 as an assistant head coach for the Cowboys. In 2016, he’ll work with a unit that will be adding Malik Jackson, Prince Amukamara, and 2015 first-rounder Dante Fowler Jr., among others.
Here’s more on the Jaguars:
- In addition to hiring Kiffin, the Jaguars also announced a couple more coaching changes, adding John Benton as assistant offensive line coach and John Donovan as offensive quality control coach.
- GM Dave Caldwell is open to the idea of moving down in the draft, suggesting to Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times-Union that he’d be willing to go from No. 5 overall to “somewhere in the early teens.” Caldwell’s comments suggest that the Jags probably feel the top of the draft is fairly deep, and that the team will keep an eye out for opportunities to add another early pick.
- Caldwell acknowledged that the Jaguars may look into a contract extension for wide receiver Allen Hurns this offseason now that he’s eligible for a new deal. “I think we’ll wait until after the draft to see where we’re at,” Caldwell said, per O’Halloran. “And if we did anything, it would be before the season.” I’d be surprised if Jacksonville gets anything done with Hurns this year, since he won’t be eligible for unrestricted free agency until 2018.
- Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle provides several details on the Kelvin Beachum contract (all Twitter links). The deal is worth $5MM in year one, with a $2.5MM salary and up to $1MM in per-game roster bonuses. $1.5MM of that $5MM comes in the form of a guaranteed roster bonus. After the 2016 season, the Jaguars will have until 22 days prior to the start of the 2017 league year to decide whether or not to exercise Beachum’s $5MM option bonus for 2017-2020, when his salaries would range from $7.5MM to $10MM.
Chiefs Formally Appeal Tampering Penalties
Amidst this month’s free agent frenzy, at least one noteworthy story flew somewhat under the radar, with the NFL announcing on the first day of the 2016 league year that it had fined the Chiefs $250K and taken away two draft picks from the franchise – including a 2016 third-rounder – as penalties for tampering with wide receiver Jeremy Maclin prior to last year’s free agent period.
At the time, owner Clark Hunt indicated that the Chiefs intended to fight those sanctions, and Hunt has now confirmed to Terez A. Paylor of the Kansas City Star that his club formally filed that appeal. The franchise had five days to appeal the decision in writing, and did so.
“We’re in the very beginning process of that,” Hunt said. “We’ve not had a discussion with the league on the (timeline), but I’ll say from our standpoint, we would like it done by the draft.”
It’s not clear what sort of odds the Chiefs have of overturning some or all of the penalties handed down by the NFL, but Adam Caplan of ESPN.com tweets that he has heard the league “has pretty strong information” it gathered on the situation. The NFL alleged that the Chiefs were in direct contact with Maclin during the time leading up to 2015 free agency. Teams are only permitted to talk to player agents – not players themselves – during the legal tampering period, and can’t discuss free agents at all prior to that.
In addition to being docked a 2016 third-round pick, the Chiefs also lost a 2017 sixth-rounder as a result of the league’s ruling.
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NFC East Notes: Cowboys, Washington, Eagles
Cornerback Patrick Robinson and running back Alfred Morris are visiting Dallas today, and Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reported this morning (via Twitter) that there’s an expectation that at least one of them – likely Robinson – could sign with the club. Clarence Hill of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram confirms (via Twitter) that the Cowboys are indeed closer to getting a deal done with Robinson than they are with Morris, though nothing has been finalized yet.
As we wait to see if the team can work something out with Robinson, and perhaps Morris as well, let’s check in on some other NFC East items….
- Washington general manager Scot McLoughan sounds prepared to move down more than once in this year’s draft, suggesting that he’d like to add four more picks to the club’s current collection of eight. Andrew Walker of Redskins.com has the details and the quotes from McLoughan.
- Nose tackle is a position of need for Washington, and the team has plenty of options, including re-signing Terrance Knighton. As John Keim of ESPN.com writes, Washington hasn’t ruled out the possibility of bringing back Pot Roast, but could opt instead to sign another veteran or add a prospect in the draft.
- Whereas money “does a lot of the talking” early in the free agent process, Eagles GM Howie Roseman believes offering players the opportunity to fill a potential hole or compete for playing time is a key factor during this later stage of the free agent period, per Les Bowen of the Philadelphia Daily News. Roseman acknowledged the Eagles may still add some free agent depth, but said the club is shifting its primary focus to draft preparation.
- The Cowboys are scheduled to have a private workout with Florida State linebacker Terrance Smith today, tweets Todd Archer of ESPN.com. Smith projects as a probable late-round pick.
Packers Promote Eliot Wolf, Brian Gutekunst
The Packers announced a pair of front office promotions today, confirming in a press release that former director of player personnel Eliot Wolf is now the team’s director-football operations. Replacing Wolf as Green Bay’s director of player personnel is Brian Gutekunst, who had previously been the club’s director of college scouting.
“We think both of them are very worthy of those promotions and it’s an indicator… for stuff that they’re already doing,” general manager Ted Thompson said, per Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “They’ve become leaders and have been leaders in our organization for some time now. Maybe it’s a little overdue. We thought this was a good time. We’re leading up to the draft, so everybody understands the contributions they make.”
Wolf, the son of former Packers GM Ron Wolf, has received several promotions since joining the club’s front office in 2004, and is viewed by many as a future general manager himself. Although Wolf has been cited as a potential candidate for several teams who have hired new GMs in recent years, he has always been considered highly unlikely to leave Green Bay, since he’s viewed as the possible heir apparent to Thompson.
As for Gutekunst, he has also drawn interest from outside the Packers’ organization in the past. When Chip Kelly was looking to hire a personnel executive for the Eagles in 2015, Gutekunst was considered a candidate, but ultimately didn’t interview — either he or the Packers turned down the Eagles’ request.
Lions Sign Jeremy Kerley
11:49am: The Lions have officially confirmed their deal with Kerley, per a press release.
9:49am: It’s a one-year deal worth just over $1MM for Kerley, reports Caplan (via Twitter).
9:41am: The Lions continue to fortify their wide receiving corps, according to Adam Caplan of ESPN.com, who reports (via Twitter) that the team has agreed to a deal with free agent wideout Jeremy Kerley. Because Kerley was released by the Jets, his signing won’t count toward the compensatory draft pick formula for 2017.
Kerley, 27, agreed to a four-year extension with the Jets about a year and a half ago, but GM John Idzik and head coach Rex Ryan were replaced by Mike Maccagnan and Todd Bowles, respectively, shortly after that deal was signed. Largely written out of New York’s offense in 2015, Kerley posted the worst statistics of his career, hauling in only 16 passes for 152 yards, and was subsequently released.
Still, Kerley has enjoyed some productive seasons in the past, most notably in 2012, when he hauled in 56 passes for 827 yards and a pair of touchdowns. In Detroit, he’ll likely compete for the No. 3 job on the depth chart behind Golden Tate and the newly-signed Marvin Jones. Calvin Johnson, of course, is no longer in the mix in Detroit, having announced his retirement earlier this month.
Kerley also drew interest from – and reportedly made visits with – the Chiefs and Bills before agreeing to sign with the Lions.
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Browns Downplay Interest In Colin Kaepernick
Speaking today to reporters, including Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com, Browns executive VP of football operations Sashi Brown downplayed the team’s interest in 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, suggesting that those trade discussions were “way over-reported,” as Tony Grossi of ESPNCleveland.com tweets.
According to Brown, the team isn’t currently actively engaged in trade talks for Kaepernick, and only had preliminary discussions, which didn’t include specific negotiations on draft pick compensation or a new contract for the quarterback. Brown added that the Browns didn’t instigate those conversations, and Grossi clarifies (via Twitter) that it was Kaepernick’s representatives, rather than the 49ers, who contacted the Browns.
Although it’s possible that Brown’s comments today are a negotiating tactic or an attempt to regain some leverage, it doesn’t seem likely at this point that Cleveland will land the San Francisco signal-caller. The Browns appear more focused on other options, including Robert Griffin III, who visited Cleveland on the weekend — no deal with RGIII is imminent, but the club is doing its homework on the former No. 2 overall pick.
The Browns, Jets, and Broncos were identified earlier this month as the three teams showing interest in Kaepernick, but the Jets’ interest was believed to be tepid, so if the Browns aren’t a serious suitor either, it looks increasingly likely that the 28-year-old will be a Niner or Bronco in 2016. San Francisco is expected to continue to explore the trade market after Kaepernick’s $11.9MM base salary becomes fully guaranteed on April 1, but the team is also prepared to hang onto him if no suitable trade offer materializes.
In addition to downplaying Cleveland’s interest in Kaepernick, Brown also suggested that a Joe Thomas trade is not in his club’s plans, as Grossi tweets. With fellow linemen Mitchell Schwartz and Alex Mack departing in free agency, there was some speculation that Thomas would ask for the Browns to be traded, but if that’s something the team intends to consider, the executive VP of football operations isn’t tipping his hand.
“That’s not our plan at all,” Brown said. “Our plan is not to trade Joe Thomas.”
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AFC East Notes: Bills, Taylor, Wendell, Branch
The Bills came into the 2016 offseason as one of the NFL’s most cap-strapped teams, and while the team was able to retain its top two free agents – offensive linemen Cordy Glenn and Richie Incognito – that lack of cap flexibility resulted in some key losses.
In speaking to Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press about defensive lineman Stefan Charles and to Tom Curran of CSNNE.com about wide receiver Chris Hogan, Buffalo general manager Doug Whaley repeated a similar refrain, suggesting that the Bills “can’t pay everybody.” The team non-tendered Charles, who was eligible for restricted free agency, allowing him to sign with the Lions as an unrestricted free agent. As for Hogan, he got an RFA tender from Buffalo, but it was a low-end tender, allowing the Patriots to sign him to an offer sheet that Whaley and the Bills couldn’t match.
“It was (difficult to let him go),” the Bills GM said of Hogan. “He’s done a great job, not only on the field as a third and fourth wide receiver (and) special teams, (but also) what he’s brought to the community. He’s a great asset to the Patriots. We’re sorry we’re gonna lose him. And add the fact that we’re gonna have to deal with him with the other end of that being (Tom) Brady, it’s a tough matchup because he’s a talented person.”
Here’s more from around the AFC East:
- It appears increasingly likely that Tyrod Taylor will enter the 2016 season without a contract extension in hand, says Vic Carucci of The Buffalo News. According to one of Carucci’s sources, there has been little – if any – progress in contract talks between the Bills and their starting quarterback. The team is more focused on locking up cornerback Stephon Gilmore before the start of the 2016 campaign.
- Veteran offensive lineman Ryan Wendell remains in a holding pattern when it comes to his free agency, agent Frank Bauer tells Mike Reiss of ESPN.com. Wendell’s 2015 season ended after just two games due to a knee injury, and even if and when he returns to full health, it’s not clear whether there will be a spot on the Patriots‘ 2016 roster for him.
- Defensive end Andre Branch is looking forward to a “new beginning” in Miami that will see him become part of a Dolphins‘ defensive line featuring players like Ndamukong Suh, Mario Williams, and Cameron Wake. As James Walker of ESPN.com details, Branch is expected to fill the hole vacated by Derrick Shelby, who signed with the Falcons.
Nick Fairley Meeting With Patriots
Decision-makers for NFL teams are congregating in Boca Raton, Florida this week for the league’s spring owners’ meetings, but that doesn’t mean those clubs are putting their free agency pursuits on hold. According to Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com (via Twitter), free agent defensive tackle Nick Fairley was on his way to the owners’ meetings this morning to meet with the Patriots.
A free agent a year ago, Fairley signed a one-year pact with the Rams, and was a rotational piece on the team’s talented defensive line in 2015, appearing in less than 40% of the defensive snaps. Although he wasn’t a full-time player and his counting stats were modest (29 tackles and 0.5 sacks), the former first-round pick graded out as a top-25 interior defender, according to Pro Football Focus.
Since he hit the open market earlier this month, Fairley has a paid a visit to the Saints and has also been linked to the Jets and Eagles, though he hasn’t formally met with those teams. Speaking to Wagoner (Twitter link), Fairley confirmed his visit to New Orleans and said that he’s still talking to the Rams as well. It sounds as if the veteran defender is letting the process play out and hasn’t eliminated any suitors from contention.
The Patriots are in the market for some help at defensive tackle after seeing Akiem Hicks and Sealver Siliga depart in free agency.
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