Bob Iger Talks Los Angeles, Carson, Inglewood
The Carson stadium proposal put forth by the Raiders and Chargers got a big boost earlier this fall when Disney CEO Bob Iger came aboard. Iger, who became attached to the project a month ago, will only officially take over as the chairman of Carson Holdings if NFL owners vote to approve the Carson proposal, which would relocate the Raiders and Chargers to Los Angeles. However, he’s already involved in the planning process, and spoke to reporters on Thursday about the latest developments. Here are a few highlights from the Disney CEO, via Ramona Shelbourne of ESPNLosAngeles.com:
On why he decided to become involved with the Carson proposal, rather than the Inglewood plan:
“First of all, I believe in the two-team concept. This is a great market in Los Angeles, and it hasn’t had football for a long time. I’m convinced that not only can it sustain two teams, but if you’re going to bring football back to Los Angeles, do it in a big way, and two is twice as big as one. Why not give the fans real choice in terms of the teams they want to root for? It also enables the creation of a stadium that is affordable but also very exciting. It just makes such a loud statement about the NFL being back to Los Angeles. I like that. … I also thought that the concept for Carson and the choice of location was attractive and unique from a variety of different perspectives. It was an easy thing for me to get behind.”
On the possibility of leaving Disney in 2018 and potentially buying a minority stake in either the Chargers or Raiders:
“This is a great job, and it’s one I don’t want to give up quickly. But I have decided that 2018, I will have been in this job for 13 years at that point, it’ll be time. I am looking to have a variety of different activities post-Disney. I love the sport of football. I like the NFL a lot. I thought this would be a great opportunity for me to use the dozens of years of expertise that I have in entertainment and in sports and apply myself in a different way.”
On what his role would be if the Carson projects gets approved:
“I’m really working, should they get the approval, to shape the project. That’s everything from the fan experience to how the stadium will be programmed to repositioning the teams both physically and from a brand perspective to the Los Angeles market. Bringing my knowledge of site-based entertainment and customer/user interface and my knowledge of Southern California to the project.”
On the likelihood of the Carson or Inglewood plan getting approval:
“There is not much leeway. If the decision is not made soon, neither team will be able to relocate. … [But] I get a strong sense, and I actually have some optimism, that there is true momentum. While I can’t guarantee that it will happen, I feel pretty good about the prospects about the NFL finally reaching a decision and moving the NFL back to such a great city.”
Browns Sign Gary Barnidge To Extension
FRIDAY, 9:09am: Barnidge’s three-year deal is worth $12.3MM, with just over $5.5MM in guaranteed money, tweets Mike Garafolo of FOX Sports.
THURSDAY, 3:25pm: Barnidge’s new deal is a three-year contract, a source tells Pat McManamon of ESPN.com. Ian Rapoport of NFL.com adds (via Twitter) that it’s worth north of $12MM.
1:31pm: The Browns’ extension with Barnidge is now official. The tight end himself took to Twitter to announce the deal, posting a photo of himself putting pen to paper.
12:04pm: The Browns are moving toward locking up one of their top pass catchers to an extension, keeping him off the free agent market, reports Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (via Twitter). According to La Canfora, a new deal for tight end Gary Barnidge and the Browns is “imminent.” Albert Breer of the NFL Network (Twitter link) confirms that the two sides are nearing a deal, adding that it could get done today.
Barnidge, 30, caught just 44 balls in 92 games with the Panthers and Browns between 2008 and 2014, after being selected in the fifth round of the 2008 draft by Carolina. However, he has blown away all his previous career highs this year, catching 60 balls for 817 yards and seven touchdowns in an increased role for the Browns.
Had he played out his contract, Barnidge would’ve been eligible for unrestricted free agency this offseason. Instead, it looks like he’ll continue to catch passes for the Browns in 2016 and beyond. Coming off a $1.2MM salary in 2015, the Louisville product will be in line for a significant raise on his new contract.
It’s not yet known what sort of deal the Browns and Barnidge are discussing, but I imagine the four-year, $18.5MM ($6.75MM) pact signed by Lance Kendricks earlier this year will be a point of reference. That deal put Kendricks just inside the league’s top 15 highest-paid tight ends, despite the fact that he had never caught more than 42 passes or four touchdowns in a season.
Based on his 2015 numbers, Barnidge probably deserves to be valued higher than that — perhaps even within the top 10, which would mean an annual salary of $7MM+. I imagine his age and his lack of a track record will limit Cleveland’s willingness to invest too heavily in him, but the Browns certainly have no shortage of future cap room, so it’ll be interesting to see how much the club is willing to commit to its breakout tight end.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
DeMarco Murray Wants Cowboys Return?
When asked this week if he regrets signing with the Eagles in the offseason, star running back DeMarco Murray denied having second thoughts. As it turns out, Murray might not be telling the truth. A source with knowledge of the situation tells Mike Florio of PFT there’s “a lot of truth” to the notion that he would like to play for the Cowboys again. That jives with a previous report from Jason Cole of Bleacher Report, who spoke with NFL execs that heard rumblings of Murray wanting to go back to Dallas.
Murray had a remarkable season in 2014, setting a franchise single-season rushing record with 1,845 yards. After running up his odometer, however, the Cowboys made only a so-so effort to retain him. In the offseason, Murray went on to ink a five-year, $40MM deal with the rival Eagles. The deal gave Murray the perfect platform to make Jerry Jones regret his decision, but Philly’s offense has sputtered in 2015.
It might be a little bit early for Cowboys fans to dust off their Murray jerseys, however, as there are a couple of major roadblocks to a trade. First, it’d be fairly surprising to see the Cowboys and Eagles come together to pull the trigger on a trade of this magnitude. Secondly, Murray’s onerous contract will make any trade difficult. As a part of his $40MM pact, Murray is owed a fully guaranteed $7MM in 2016. It’s even harder to see the Eagles saddling themselves with all of the dead money which would come from releasing Murray outright.
Murray, 28 in February, elevated himself into the upper echelon of tailbacks last season when showed that he can stay healthy, produce (4.7 YPC), and work at a nearly unprecedented rate. The advanced numbers also showed that Murray was also at the top of the heap last season. Pro Football Focus‘ numbers (subscription required) resulted in an overall score of 15.2, placing him fifth amongst all tailbacks in 2014. His lack of meaningful production in the passing game, fumbles, and below average blocking were his only real demerits. This season, Murray has run for just 3.5 YPC, a career low.
NFL Practice Squad Updates: 12/10/15
Today’s practice squad moves:
Miami Dolphins
- Signed: CB Dax Swanson (Twitter link via Adam Beasley of the Miami Herald)
New England Patriots
- Signed: CB Rashaan Melvin (Twitter link via Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle)
- Cut: CB Chris Greenwood (link)
Washington
- Signed: RB Mack Brown (Twitter link via Tarik El-Bashir of CSNWashington.com)
Bills Safety Aaron Williams Mulling Retirement
Bills safety Aaron Williams, who has been sidelined since Week 2 with a neck injury, is mulling retirement, according to Mike Rodak of ESPN.com (Twitter links). Williams returned to Bills practice on Thursday with an eye on returning this season, but it’s not a certainty that he will. Whatever Williams does on the practice field and in live action this year will apparently be a litmus test for whether he will continue in 2016 and beyond.
While at practice on Thursday, Williams revealed that he underwent a “procedure” on his neck about a month ago and doctors cautioned him that his playing days may be over. The veteran indicated that his first hit upon returning will give him an idea of what his next step will be.
Williams is technically eligible to play on Sunday against the Eagles, but that remains highly unlikely. When asked to handicap the likelihood that Williams will return at all in 2015, coach Rex Ryan said the odds are probably 50/50, as Rodak writes. Williams, 25, suffered a very scary neck injury in Week 2 but made it back on to the field in Week 5. Unfortunately, he was not back at 100% and he was given the team’s IR-DTR designation days later.
Williams inked a four-year extension with the Bills back in March of 2014 worth a healthy $26MM. At the time, the former second-round pick was coming off of a season in which he grabbed four interceptions and registered 82 tackles, both of which were easily career highs.
Latest On Rams, Possible New St. Louis Stadium
A city of St. Louis committee has OK’d a financing plan for a new $1 billion stadium, as Jim Salter of the The Associated Press writes. A final vote on the matter from the city will take place next week, in advance of a Dec. 30 deadline imposed by the NFL for the three cities whose teams want to move to Los Angeles.
However, in an interview on WXOS, NFL Executive VP Eric Grubman opined the city “will fall short of having a compelling proposal that would attract the Rams.” Grubman also said the proposed stadium will “cost more than is at the drawing board at the moment, the funding has declined and new taxes are being proposed to the Rams.” For his part, St. Louis stadium task force co-chairman Dave Peacock is surprised by Grubman’s comments, as Daniel Kaplan of Sports Business Journal tweets. Peacock feels that the 7-2 vote is a “significant milestone” in the city’s effort to retain the Rams and he dismissed Grubman’s comments as a negotiating tactic.
The St. Louis proposal calls for the city to contribute $150MM while the NFL team would kick in $250MM. On top of that, the league would give the team a $200MM loan and fan seat licenses would generate $160MM. The rest of the funding would come from the state, either through tax credits or bonds. Peacock has said in the past that while the new stadium is being built to try and keep the Rams in St. Louis, the city could alternatively use the stadium to try to bring another franchise to Missouri.
Mort & Schefter: Manziel, Hasselbeck, Martin
When Johnny Manziel takes the field for the Browns on Sunday, he won’t just be auditioning for Cleveland – he’ll be showing his stuff to every team who could want a QB in 2016, Adam Schefter and Chris Mortensen of ESPN.com write. One prominent team executive tells the ESPN duo that he’s not optimistic about the impression Manziel can make on the Browns’ front office given the cast around him.
“He would almost have to be spectacular and the Browns win games we don’t expect them to win. And even then, to what extent has [Manziel] burned bridges there where no matter what he does, either the present regime or the next regime will still be looking for another guy?” the executive said.
Here’s more from their column:
- Two GMs say that if 40-year-old Colts quarterback Matt Hasselbeck has the desire to play another season, he will have an opportunity to be one of the more valued free agents on the open market. Hasselbeck obviously isn’t going to get a $100MM deal, but a deal paying him as much as $5MM to serve as a backup for a contender makes sense. One GM even suggested it was short-sighted to look at Hasselbeck as simply a mentor for a team with a young quarterback. He said Hasselbeck also would be ideal for an established quarterback who is going through a coordinator change.
- Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson, Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey, and Alabama running back Derrick Henry are this year’s frontrunners for the Heisman trophy and the ESPN duo spoke with NFL personnel people to get their evaluations of their NFL futures. Henry, who will be eligible for the 2016 draft, has drawn comparisons to Eddie George (though perhaps without the same upside) and one exec sees him as a top 20 pick. Watson and McCaffrey both have upside as well, but they will not be eligible until 2017.
- It would not be surprising to see Mark Ingram‘s deal serve as a model for Doug Martin‘s before free agency this winter, Mort and Schef write. After seeing his fifth-year option declined, Ingram inked a four-year, $16MM deal with the Saints last offseason that included $7.6MM guaranteed. Now in a similar spot, the Bucs have made it known that they want to retain Martin.
NFC Notes: Saunders, Donnell, Ingram, Packers
Wide receiver and return man Jalen Saunders, who is on the Bears‘ practice squad IR list, just finished serving a four-game suspension, but before he could even become eligible to return to Chicago’s active practice squad, he was hit with another penalty. According to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter), Saunders has now been suspended 10 games by the NFL for violating the league’s substance abuse policy.
The 10-game ban will mean that Saunders will miss the final four games of the 2015 season, as well as the first six games of next year. By that point, it’s hard to imagine that he’ll still be in the Bears’ plans at all, and it may be hard for the Oklahoma product, a Jets fourth-round pick in 2014, to find another team willing to take a shot on him.
Here’s more from around the NFC:
- Giants tight end Larry Donnell won’t play again this season, having been placed on injured reserve by the team. But at this point, there’s optimism that Donnell’s neck injury won’t be a long-term issue that impacts his career in future years, head coach Tom Coughlin said today (Twitter link via Paul Schwartz of the New York Post).
- Having been placed on injured reserve on Wednesday, Saints running back Mark Ingram will undergo surgery to repair his torn left rotator cuff, writes Evan Woodbery of the New Orleans Times-Picayune. Ingram is the second Saints running back to land on IR this season, joining Khiry Robinson on the list.
- Packers offensive lineman Matt Rotheram is the latest practice squad player to get a raise, according to Field Yates of ESPN.com. Yates tweets that Rotheram is now earning $25,588 per week, equivalent to what he’d earn as a minimum-salary player on the active roster. Green Bay likely bumped up the lineman’s salary after he received some interest from rival teams.
- British rugby player Tom Burgess will continue his NFL tour today with a workout for the Seahawks, according to Tom Pelissero of USA Today (Twitter link). Burgess has already auditioned for the Steelers, Giants, Jets, and Bills, and could be in line for a reserve/futures contract at season’s end.
Cary Williams Visiting Titans
Veteran cornerback Cary Williams is paying a visit to the Titans today, according to Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post. It’s the first free agent visit Williams has made since he was released by the Seahawks earlier this week, though we heard he had received interest from several teams, including the Rams.
After spending several seasons as a starting cornerback for the Ravens and Eagles, Williams signed a three-year, $18MM deal in March with the Seahawks, looking to step in as a replacement for departed free agent Byron Maxwell. However, the 30-year-old struggled this season, with Pro Football Focus ranking him 102nd out of 118 qualified cornerbacks. Williams was inactive for his final two games with Seattle before he was cut.
As for the Titans, their secondary has been affected by injuries, with Jason McCourty having landed on IR. The team could use a cornerback to add depth and to complement Perrish Cox and Coty Sensabaugh.
Browns Rumors: Benjamin, Barnidge, Roper
The Browns signed tight end Gary Barnidge to a contract extension today, and while the salary numbers on the deal aren’t yet known, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets that he believes Barnidge’s camp was targeting $4MM per year.
That would be a team-friendly price for a player who ranks among the NFL’s best tight ends in terms of catches, yards, and touchdowns this season. As I noted in our story on Barnidge’s extension, Lance Kendricks signed a four-year deal worth $4.625MM annually with the Rams in March, and he has never had a season nearly as productive as Barnidge’s 2015. On the other hand, the Browns tight end is 30 years old, and had only caught 44 balls in 92 career games coming into the season.
As we wait on the figures for Barnidge’s new contract, let’s round up a few more news items and notes from out of Cleveland….
- Another Browns pass catcher, wide receiver Travis Benjamin, indicated earlier in the season that he’d like to remain in Cleveland beyond this year, and the team has since engaged him in extension discussions. According to Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com and Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal (Twitter links), Benjamin said today that he thinks he’s about 75% or 80% of the way to reaching a new deal with the Browns.
- Discussing his extension, Barnidge explained today that he decided not to test the open market because he wanted to repay the Browns for giving him a shot (Twitter link via Cabot). “I want to be part of the turnaround,” Barnidge said.
- According to Tony Grossi of ESPNCleveland.com, Browns owner Jimmy Haslam has conducted at least one meeting to discuss “how to pick up the broken shards left from the 2015 season.” Team president Alec Scheiner and general manager Ray Farmer were present at that meeting, says Grossi, within a piece examining Farmer’s track record as Browns GM.
- Browns senior offensive assistant Kurt Roper will finish the season with the team, but he’s on track to become South Carolina’s new offensive coordinator, Cleveland head coach Mike Pettine confirmed today (Twitter link via Ulrich).
- With the 49ers on the schedule for Cleveland this week, ex-Niners punter Andy Lee reflected on his time in San Francisco, praising the franchise for how it handled his traded to the Browns. Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com has the story, along with Lee’s quotes.