Colts QB Andrew Luck Wants Extension
Colts quarterback Andrew Luck would be receptive to signing a long-term extension with the Colts, as Mike Chappell of CBS4 writes. Luck is under contract through 2016 with a base salary of $16.155MM.
[RELATED: Colts, Coach Chuck Pagano Still Mulling Future Together]
“Yeah, that would be great,” he said of a multi-year pact. “I haven’t thought about it too much. I wanted to make sure this season gets done. “But if there’s an opportunity for it, yeah, absolutely.”
A new contract for Luck could cost the Colts more than $22MM annually, exceeding Aaron Rodgers‘ average annual value with the Packers. In fact, Luck’s deal could even set a new watermark for guaranteed money in a deal. If they can’t hammer out a long-term contract, the Colts would have to use the franchise tag to keep him around beyond ’16. The former No. 1 overall pick ostensibly wants to get paid big bucks, but he also says that he is tired of the constant “rebuilding” talk in Indianapolis.
“It’s everybody’s goal to win the Super Bowl, right?” Luck said. “When you don’t do that, stuff happens. When you don’t get to the playoffs and give yourself a chance to win the Super Bowl, regardless of the situation going on (things happen). [Owner Jim] Irsay has done a great job of leading this franchise for a long, long time. It’s a winning franchise. Super Bowl winner and very, very successful. I know he has a vision for this team and whatever it is we’ll be there to make sure we try and get it done.”
Prior to the 2015 season, Luck led the Colts to three consecutive 11-5 seasons and established new career highs in 2014 with 4,761 passing yards and 40 touchdowns.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Colts: Still No Decision On Chuck Pagano
4:45pm: The two sides are still talking and both sides are evaluating the possibility of staying together, Rand Getlin of NFL.com (on Twitter) hears.
4:38pm: In an unusual move, the Colts announced they will not have a verdict on coach Chuck Pagano‘s future with the team tonight. One has to wonder if the team is stalling on its decision in order to see whether other candidates become available for the position, but the team’s reasoning is not immediately clear. 
After helping lead the Colts to playoff berths in his first three years with the team, Pagano’s club missed out this season during an injury-riddled, tumultuous campaign. After guiding the team to an 8-8 finish, the Colts have been widely expected to let go of Pagano, whose contract is up. However, his fate is still up in the air.
After finishing with an 11-5 record and an AFC South crown for three straight seasons, the Colts entered 2015 with Super Bowl aspirations, but took a significant step backward. While the Colts’ struggles could be attributed, at least in part, to injuries and questionable roster construction, Pagano was already under pressure to win heading into the year, with the team offering him only a one-year extension rather than any sort of longer-team deal — he turned down that offer. Pagano holds a 41-23 record during his four years in Indianapolis, which includes the time he missed in 2012 due to cancer treatments.
The fate of GM Ryan Grigson is also up in the air as the team has yet to decide on his status for 2016.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Latest On Browns, Joe Thomas
Browns left tackle Joe Thomas said he wants to see who the team’s new coach and GM will be before deciding whether he’ll ask for a way out of the organization, Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon-Journal tweets. The perennial Pro Bowl left tackle has been in Cleveland ever since the organization drafted him No. 3 overall in 2007. 
“When there’s turnover in the coaching staff, a lot of good players end up leaving, a lot of good coaches leave,” Thomas said over the weekend. “There’s a lot of uncertainty when there’s turnover in the coaching staff. Certainly I could be one of them not here next year.”
Thomas was hoping that coach Mike Pettine would return, but he was fired on Sunday, along with GM Ray Farmer. Now it seems that Thomas could follow both men out of the door in Cleveland.
Thomas has three years and $29.5MM left on his contract, which contains no dead money. Back in November, the Browns nearly completed a deal that would have sent the left tackle to the Broncos in exchange for valuable 2016 selections. It was reported that the deal broke down, at least in part, over a holdup on converting Thomas’ remaining salary for 2016 and 2017 into guarantees. However, Thomas denied those claims.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Rashean Mathis Still Undecided Between Retirement, Lions Return
Cornerback Rashean Mathis is undecided on whether to retire or return to the Lions, as Michael Rothstein of ESPN.com writes. Mathis, 35, says that the team’s coaching decision will factor into his own call on whether to continue playing. 
“If I’m not here then I’m nowhere,” Mathis said. “[Coach Jim] Caldwell, definitely, that could be a deciding factor if I decide if I want to play or not.”
Still, Mathis didn’t entirely rule out playing for another coach in Detroit besides Caldwell. The 35-year-old also doesn’t have a set timetable to make the call.
“It’s all my head, meaning how I want to handle things,” Mathis said. “Not from a health standpoint, meaning me mentally. I’ve given a lot and a lot has been given to me and I feel like I have done the best I could with both. And if I walk away, I walk away with my head up. And if I stay, I give it 100 percent again. And that’s just how I handle things. But the game has been good to me and I feel I have impacted some lives in this locker room and other locker rooms so in that case, I probably beat the game because I’ve given back. I feel like I’ve wanted to give back more than I’ve got so I’m proud of that.”
A second round draft choice of the Jaguars in 2003, Mathis has logged 175 career games with 636 tackles, 32 interceptions, eight forced fumbles, and five fumble recoveries. The Lions signed Mathis in 2013 after he was released by Jacksonville following the 2012 season and he has become very close with his teammates and the organization. Mathis was placed on injured reserve with a concussion midway through the 2015 season but unselfishly shifted to a mentor role for cornerbacks Darius Slay – a budding star -and Nevin Lawson, who replaced him in the starting lineup.
One thing that won’t factor into Mathis’ decision is his concussion. Mathis says that he has had everything checked out thoroughly and believes that he is now 100% healthy in that regard.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Minor NFL Transactions: 1/4/16
The 12 NFL teams still alive in the postseason can continue to make changes to their 53-man rosters this week, and a couple of them have already done so today, so let’s round up Monday’s minor moves….
- The Bengals have placed linebacker and special-teamer Emmanuel Lamur on injured reserve, promoting linebacker Trevor Roach from their practice squad in a corresponding move, according to Paul Dehner Jr. of the Cincinnati Enquirer (Twitter link). Cincinnati’s IR has been fairly sparsely populated this year, with Lamur joining Darqueze Dennard, Marquis Flowers, and James Wright on the list.
- Per agent Brett Tessler (Twitter link), the Texans are signing offensive tackle Andrew McDonald to their 53-man roster in advance of their playoff game against the Chiefs. When Houston makes the move official, the team figures to place injured tackle Duane Brown on IR to make room on the roster, tweets Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle. McDonald finished the regular season on the Chargers’ practice squad.
Titans CEO On GM Search, Coaching Search
The latest on the Titans as they seek a new GM to replace Ruston Webster and examine their head coaching job, which may or may not be filled by interim coach Mike Mularkey:
- Titans CEO Steve Underwood says that over a dozen candidates – names people “would know” – have asked about interviewing for the team’s GM job, Paul Kuharsky of ESPN.com tweets. He added that the club has multiple in-house candidates for both the team’s coaching gig and the GM vacancy (link).
- Underwood says the Titans will not consider a head coach/GM in one role, a la Chip Kelly (Twitter link via Terry McCormick of TitanInsider.com).
- Underwood said he has 14 GM finalists but he may not interview all of them, McCormick tweets.
- The CEO said there were 155 coaching candidates after Ken Whisenhunt was fired and he’s trimming that list down now (link).
- The CEO said that Amy Adams Strunk and Kenneth Adams will join him in the interview process, along with Vin Marino, Jim Wyatt of The Tenneseean tweets.
- The team has never been for sale and is not for sale now, Underwood claims (link).
Browns Fire Bill Kuharich, Morocco Brown
After parting ways with general manager Ray Farmer, the Browns have also let go of two front office executives he hired in 2014, reports Dianna Marie Russini of ESPN.com (via Twitter). Russini reports that Cleveland has fired Bill Kuharich and Morocco Brown.
Kuharich and Brown had been key members of the Browns’ player personnel department, with Kuharich serving as the executive chief of staff, while Brown held the title of VP player personnel. Kuharich, who interviewed last winter for the Jets’ general manager job, took over as the Browns’ GM on an interim basis in the fall when Farmer served his four-game suspension.
As for Brown, when Cleveland hired the former Washington director of pro personnel in May 2014, the move was lauded, with Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (Twitter link) suggesting that Brown was on track to run a team someday. We’ll see where he lands now that he’s out of the picture for the Browns.
When the Browns’ officially hire a new general manager, it looks like that GM could be tasked with adding new personnel execs of his own.
Chargers Fire OC Frank Reich
After announcing earlier in the day that they’ll retain head coach Mike McCoy for the 2016 season, the Chargers have begun making changes elsewhere on their coaching staff. According to Michael Gehlken of the San Diego Union-Tribune (Twitter link), offensive coordinator Frank Reich has been let go by the team.
It was just a year ago that Reich drew interest from multiple teams with head coaching openings, interviewing with the Bills and the Jets for their jobs before they went with Rex Ryan and Todd Bowles, respectively. However, the Chargers’ offense has seen its offensive efficiency slowly decline over the last three years.
In 2014, Reich’s first year as offensive coordinator, San Diego went from second in offensive DVOA to 11th. The team slipped to 15th this season, heading into its regular season finale. The Chargers also went from scoring nearly 25 points per game in 2013 to just 20 this season, despite the fact that Philip Rivers led the NFL in passing completions (437) and attempts (661).
Injuries have plagued the Chargers over the last couple years, and health problems on the offensive line likely contributed to the struggles of first-round running back Melvin Gordon, but Reich will take the fall for the regression, and he may not be the last Chargers assistant to go. A report earlier today suggested that defensive coordinator John Pagano‘s job isn’t safe either.
With Reich out of the picture in San Diego, it’s worth considering whether the man he replaced in 2014 – Ken Whisenhunt – would be a candidate to reclaim the Chargers’ OC job, now that he has been let go by the Titans.
49ers Rumors: Baalke, Tomsula, Kaepernick
The latest on the 49ers, who are on the hunt for a new head coach after canning Jim Tomsula:
- 49ers CEO Jed York says that Trent Baalke will remain as GM and that he will be in charge of finding the team’s next head coach, Matt Barrows of The Sacramento Bee tweets.
- Baalke has three years left on his contract, Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com notes (on Twitter). The GM was given an extension to line up with Tomsula’s years.
- York is making it clear that he’s relying on his uncle, Eddie DeBartolo, to serve as an advisor and mentor in the search, PFT tweets.
- When asked if he will sell the 49ers, York made it known that he is not interested in giving up the franchise. “My family owned this team before I was born. They’ll own the team after I’m gone,” York said (via Barrows on Twitter).
- Tomsula is the only member of the coaching staff who has been let go, but it will be up to the new coach to put together his own staff, York says (via Maiocco on Twitter).
- York says the 49ers will “eat” the remainder of Tomsula’s ~$10.5MM remaining salary, Barrows tweets.
- Tomsula will be in demand as a defensive line coach, Adam Caplan of ESPN.com tweets. I personally believe that it’s hard to see Tomsula getting looked at as a head coaching candidate right now, but anything is possible.
- Colin Kaepernick‘s thumb surgery is tentatively scheduled for Wednesday and his full recovery will take three months, Barrows tweets.
Free Agent Notes: Weddle, Jeffery, Fitzpatrick
Based on how the season played out for safety Eric Weddle and the Chargers, there’s a general belief that Weddle won’t be back with the franchise in 2016. That appeared to be his stance when he spoke to reporters today, according to Michael Gehlken of the San Diego Union-Tribune, who tweets that Weddle seemed “resolved” that he has played his final game as a Charger. The standout safety will be looking for the “right fit” in free agency, one that gives him a chance to win a title (Twitter link via Gehlken).
Here are a few more Monday items on this winter’s potential free agents:
- Asked today about whether he wants to come back to Chicago next season, free-agent-to-be Alshon Jeffery perhaps wasn’t quite as enthusiastic about the possibility of re-signing with his current team as some players are. As Rich Campbell of the Chicago Tribune writes, the Bears wideout repeatedly said he loves “the city of Chicago,” but deferred to his agent and GM Ryan Pace when asked about his contract situation, adding that “whatever happens, happens.”
- With Ryan Fitzpatrick eligible for free agency this winter, re-signing the veteran quarterback is a high priority for the Jets, head coach Todd Bowles said today. Bowles added that Fitzpatrick would be the club’s starter if he returns for 2016 (Twitter links via Brian Costello of the New York Post).
- Two key pieces of Buffalo’s offensive line, left tackle Cordy Glenn and left guard Richie Incognito, are potential free agents this offseason, and longtime Bills offensive lineman Eric Wood says it’s “very important” for the club to re-sign both players. Tyler Dunne of The Buffalo News provides the details and the quotes from Wood.