Broncos Notes: V. Miller, M. Jackson, Manning
Broncos general manager John Elway commended first-year Denver coach – and Elway’s former backup – Gary Kubiak for the way he handled the team’s awkward quarterback situation down the stretch, as Nicki Jhabvala of the Denver Post writes.
“Handing those type of situations are probably the hardest things that a head coach has to deal with, and that’s where Gary did such a tremendous job,” Elway said. “The way that he handled that process, the way that he communicated to his team — it’s a touchy situation, and it’s tough for the quarterbacks, too.
“You look at the things that Peyton [Manning] was going through, but also what Brock [Osweiler] went through. We wouldn’t have done what we did without both of those guys. They’re both to be commended, and ultimately it was Gary making that call as far as what his gut told him to do. To me, those are the things that make good coaches great, is to have that ability to make that call.”
Here’s more out of Denver:
- A source with knowledge of the situation tells Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk that the exclusive franchise tag for linebackers is currently on track to be worth $14.04MM. That number’s not set in stone, and neither is the non-exclusive figure, but early estimates have the two amounts looking pretty similar, meaning there would be no downside for the Broncos using the exclusive tag on Von Miller. That exclusive designation would allow Denver to prevent Miller from negotiating with other teams, while not necessarily costing the Broncos any extra money.
- Asked during an appearance on PFT Live about the possibility of re-signing with the Broncos, Malik Jackson said, “For me, I would love to say here and just continue with my boys, continue this run with them and try to get another one with this defense. It is a business, so we’ll see what happens.“
- Although most observers and fans expect Manning to retire this offseason, Broncos teammate DeMarcus Ware doesn’t think the future Hall-of-Famer necessarily has to call it a career, as NFL.com’s Kevin Patra writes. “I don’t know,” Ware said on Jimmy Kimmel Live. “But I just know that him winning this game put him out on top. If he is going to do it this year, it’s certainly a great time to do it. But if he wants to play a little bit more I feel like he still has a little bit in the tank.”
- If Manning does retire this offseason, he’s capable of immediately stepping into a general manager role with an NFL team, former Colts president Bill Polian said during an appearance on SiriusXM NFL Radio (link via Dana Hunsinger Benbow of the Indianapolis Star). “He knew the strengths and weaknesses of every player on every defense in the AFC and many on offense, because he met them and got to know them at the Pro Bowl and soaked up information,” Polian said of Manning, whom he observed first-hand for more than a decade in Indianapolis. “He is a football nerd, as am I. He’s more than prepared to do that job.”
Zach Links contributed to this post.
Armonty Bryant, De’Ante Saunders Indicted
FEBRUARY 10, 1:37pm: Bryant and Saunders have been indicted on felony charges, according to a report from NewsNet5.com. Bryant was indicted on two counts of felony drug possession, while Saunders was indicted for improperly handling firearms in a motor vehicle, per the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas.
DECEMBER 26, 2:32pm: A gun belonging to Saunders was in his glove compartment without a permit, the Akron Beacon Journal’s Nate Ulrich reports (on Twitter), with a Cuyahoga County prosecutor will review the matter.
A Cuyahoga County prosecutor will also review Bryant’s case, per Ulrich (on Twitter), and the third-year player has not been charged. Bryant was arrested for possession of Adderall, and he could not produce a prescription, Ulrich tweets. If he can’t provide a prescription, Bryant could also be subject to an NFL suspension, Cabot tweets.
1:25pm: Saunders has been charged with drunk driving and speeding and could also face a charge of having a gun while drunk, Evan McDonald of Cleveland.com reports (on Twitter, via Mary Kay Cabot).
Bryant could face charges if he’s unable to produce a prescription for the Adderall in his possession at the time of the stop, McDonald reports (via Cabot, on Twitter).
8:30am: Browns linebacker Armonty Bryant and cornerback De’Ante Saunders were arrested early Christmas morning, reports Scott Taylor of WOIO TV in Cleveland (via Twitter). According to Taylor, the duo was stopped on I-71 and arrested at 2:16 am on Friday morning. Saunders was arrested for OVI (operating a vehicle impaired) and speeding.
The two players were picked up by a friend after being processed early Christmas morning. Saunders refused a breath test, McDonald reports. He will appear in court Monday.
Browns general manager Ray Farmer gave Taylor a brief statement regarding the arrests (via Twitter):
“We have been made aware of the arrests of De’Ante Saunders and Armonty Bryant after a traffic stop early Friday morning.
These are charges that we take very seriously. The importance of responsible decision-making is something we continually stress to all members of our organizations, which makes it extremely disappointing that these two individuals would put themselves in this situation by making such poor decisions.
Armony will be inactive on Sunday for our game against the Chiefs and will not travel with the team to Kansas City so he can tend to this personal legal matter.
In addition to being a pending legal matter, this incident is subject to the NFL personal conduct policy and we have no further comment at this time.”
Bryant, a seventh-round pick in 2013, is having a career year in 2015. The 25-year-old has started two of his 14 games, compiling career-highs in tackles (40), sacks (5.5), and forced fumbles (two). Bryant is set to make $675K next season, but the Browns could cut the linebacker without being left with any dead money.
Saunders, an undrafted rookie, joined the Browns in November. The Tennessee State product made his only appearance in Week 9 against the Bengals, where he compiled a single tackle. The 23-year-old was on the Browns practice squad at the time of the arrest.
North Notes: Hayward, McManis, Manziel
A year ago, a pair of Packers cornerbacks – Tramon Williams and Davon House – reached the open market and signed with new teams, and it appears another Green Bay corner could explore his options in free agency this time around. As Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com details, Casey Hayward has hired a new agent, David Mulugheta, and isn’t sure whether he’ll get a new deal done with the Packers within the next few weeks.
“They normally wait til closer to the deadline [to negotiate],” Hayward told Demovsky this week in a text message. “But we shall see. I’ll probably hit the market.”
As Demovsky observes, the Packers typically prefer to re-sign their own homegrown players rather than bringing in outside free agents, but it appears the team is deep enough in the secondary to allow Hayward to gauge his value. If the 26-year-old finds that he has fewer suitors than expected, or doesn’t get an offer he likes, he could re-sign with the Packers even after becoming a free agent.
Here’s more from out of the NFL’s North divisions:
- Defensive back Sherrick McManis doesn’t play much on defense, but he’s extremely valuable on special teams, so the Bears ought to consider re-signing him this offseason, writes Jeff Dickerson of ESPN.com.
- Even if the Browns didn’t lie about Johnny Manziel‘s concussion diagnosis during the final week of the regular season, the team has played a part in enabling the former Texas A&M quarterback since drafting him two years ago, says Tony Grossi of ESPNCleveland.com.
- Under previous general manager Martin Mayhew, the Lions often made their veteran cuts shortly after the Super Bowl, but new GM Bob Quinn may be a little more patient when it comes to making decisions on potential cap casualties like Stephen Tulloch, according to Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press.
Washington Notes: Riley, D. Jackson, Scherff
Six-year veteran Perry Riley remains under contract, but Washington must decide whether to keep him in their plans or move on from him, as Mike Jones of The Washington Post writes. Riley, 27, is entering the final year of a three-year, $12MM contract that he signed in 2014. He’s set to earn a base salary of $4MM, with about $1MM in prorated signing bonus money bringing his total cap hit to $5MM+. Washington could save itself $4MM by cutting Riley.
Here are a few more notes out of the nation’s capital:
- Rich Tandler and Tarik El-Bashir of CSNMidAtlantic.com debated the merits of Washington bringing back DeSean Jackson in 2016. Jackson is set to cost $9.25MM against Washington’s cap in 2016 and the team can save $6.75MM in cap space by letting him go. Talent-wise, Jackson can still bring something to the table, but one has to wonder if GM Scot McCloughan will want to pay that kind of money to a veteran who skipped a substantial number of the team’s OTA sessions to film a TV reality series last year.
- Larry Michael of CSNMidAtlantic.com (video link) wonders if McCloughan will try to build Washington’s defense through free agency.
- Washington raised some eyebrows last spring when the team used its fifth overall pick on offensive lineman Brandon Scherff. However, the rookie had a solid first year in D.C., and his steady progress bodes well for the club going forward, writes John Keim of ESPN.com.
Zach Links contributed to this post.
Panthers Sign Eight To Futures Contracts
Having concluded their season on Sunday, the Panthers have begun to sign players to their 90-man offseason roster, inking eight players to reserve/futures contracts on Tuesday. The team’s official website has the complete list of signees, all of whom finished the season on Carolina’s practice squad:
- Chas Alecxih, DT
- Marcus Ball, S (previously reported)
- Brian Blechen, LB
- Damiere Byrd, WR
- Rakim Cox, DE
- Reese Dismukes, OL
- Ras-I Dowling, S
- David Foucault, T
With eight of the 10 Panthers practice squad players re-signing with the team, only defensive end Wes Horton and linebacker Nate Askew didn’t get new deals. It’s possible that Carolina didn’t offer either player a futures contract, but it also wouldn’t be a surprise if Horton, at least, wanted to explore other opportunities.
An undrafted rookie in 2013, Horton made 15 starts for the Panthers last season in place of suspended teammate Greg Hardy. Following a rookie campaign that saw him compile eight tackles and two sacks, the former USC standout finished 2014 with 26 tackles and three sacks. However, he returned to a bench role in 2015, then was suspended four games for violating the NFL’s policy on performance enhancing substances, before ultimately being cut from the 53-man roster in December. He signed with Carolina’s practice squad at the start of the postseason.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Philip Rivers’ 2016 Salary Becomes Fully Guaranteed
The 2016 base salary for Philip Rivers has become fully guaranteed, since the Chargers quarterback remains on the team’s roster beyond the second day of the NFL’s waiver period. Rivers is now assured of earning a $16.5MM salary for the coming season, an amount that was previously guaranteed for injury only.
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The fact that Rivers’ salary has become fully guaranteed is no surprise, since he just signed his new extension with San Diego in August, and showed no signs of slowing down during the 2015 season. Although the Chargers struggled, posting a 4-12 record, Rivers was as productive as ever, leading the league with 437 completions and racking up 4,792 passing yards to go along with 29 touchdown passes.
When taking into account his $16.5MM salary and $4.5MM of prorated bonus money, Rivers’ contract will count against the Chargers’ cap for $21MM this season. The team now won’t have a decision to make on its veteran quarterback until the second day of the 2017 waiver period, when $11MM of his $14MM salary for ’17 becomes fully guaranteed.
While Rivers was the only noteworthy player whose contract called for his salary to become fully guaranteed if he remained on his team’s roster beyond Tuesday, there are several players who are in a similar boat on Wednesday.
Saints quarterback Drew Brees, Saints safety Jairus Byrd, Browns cornerback Joe Haden, and Raiders linebacker Curtis Lofton are among the players who will see their 2016 salaries – or at least a significant chunk of them – become fully guaranteed if they’re not released today, per Joel Corry of CBSSports.com.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Extra Points: Combine, Brees, Chargers
The NFL has decided that prospects that have been convicted of domestic violence and sexual assault will be barred from the NFL scouting combine, as Chase Goodbread of NFL.com writes. “It is important for us to remain strongly committed to league values as we demonstrate to our fans, future players, coaches, general managers, and others who support our game that character matters,” stated NFL Football Operations Executive Vice President Troy Vincent in the memo to NFL teams. Last year, Tennessee linebacker A.J. Johnson was uninvited from the combine at the last minute after he was indicted on two counts of aggravated rape. He went undrafted and his court case is still pending.
Here’s more from around the NFL:
- Joel Corry of CBSSports.com ran down 18 key NFL offseason dates and notable contract deadlines. As he details, the third day of the waiver period – Wednesday, Feb. 10th – will be significant for a number of big-name players, including the Saints’ Drew Brees and Jairus Byrd, the Browns’ Joe Haden, and the Raiders’ Curtis Lofton.
- The Chargers finalized their coaching staff by naming former Notre Dame quarterback Tommy Rees as an offensive assistant and Marquice Williams as a special teams assistant, as Ricky Henne of Chargers.com writes. Rees quarterbacked the Irish from 2010-13, playing alongside current Bolts Manti Te’o, Chris Watt and Trevor Robinson.
- The Colts announced that they have hired Maurice Drayton as assistant special teams coach and Jemal Singleton as running backs coach. Drayton has 17 years of coaching experience, including 10 seasons at his alma mater, The Citadel. Singleton holds 14 years of collegiate coaching experience, including nine seasons at his alma mater, Air Force. He served as the special teams coordinator/running backs coach at Arkansas in 2015.
Reggie Bush To Continue Playing
It was not a banner year for Reggie Bush in 2015, but the veteran tailback isn’t about to call it quits. The free agent says that he hopes to continue playing in 2016. 
“I’m not retiring,” Bush told reporters Sunday, via Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. “I’m still playing. No, I’m not done. And I would never — knock on wood — I never want to end my career like that, going out with that.”
The Lions cut Bush in February 2015 to save money after he missed much of the 2014 season with ankle injuries. Bush later signed with the 49ers this season, but he played just five games before tearing his left ACL on the concrete at the Edwards Jones Dome in St. Louis. The 31-year-old sued the St. Louis Regional Convention and Stadium Authority over his injury in January. Bush rushed for just 28 yards before his season was brought to a premature end.
Despite getting heavy run as the lead back in Miami and Detroit between 2011 and 2013, he more likely would only carry value as a third-down specialty back if he returns for the 2016 season. Bush had one of his best seasons as a runner in 2013, surpassing 1,000 yards for the second time in his career. However, injuries caught up to him in 2014 as he was only able to play in 11 games and failed to reach even 300 yards on the ground.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
AFC East Notes: McCoy, Bills, Jets
Bills running back LeSean McCoy has hired noted Philly defensive attorney Jack McMahon to represent him, according to John Barr of ESPN.com (via Twitter link). Over the weekend, McCoy was accused of taking part in a brawl that involved the assault of two off-duty Philadelphia police officers. McCoy has yet to be arrested for the incident, but arrest warrants are expected to be issued in the coming days.
McCoy, 28 in July, was held back by injuries in his first season with the Bills. The tailback ran for 895 yards off of 203 carries, good for 4.4 yards per contest. He also had three rushing touchdowns and two receiving scores. However, he missed one-quarter of the regular season, breaking his two season streak of playing in all 16 regular season games.
Here’s more out of the AFC East:
- The police have completed their investigation into the McCoy case and turned it over to the district attorney’s office, which is reviewing it for potential charges against the Bills tailback, Mike Rodak of ESPN.com tweets.
- Jets guard Brian Winters, who replaced the injured Willie Colon and wound up starting ten games last season, will get a nice raise in 2016 worth roughly $1MM, Rich Cimini of ESPN.com writes. As part of the NFL’s rookie wage scale, Winters’ base salary (non-guaranteed) jumps to $1.696MM, the final year of his rookie contract. Previously, he was due to make $675K. The pay bump is thanks to the “proven performance escalator,” which allows mid- to late-round draft choices to make more money if they play a great deal. A player gets a raise if he was drafted in rounds three through seven and participated in at least 35% of the offensive or defensive snaps in two of his first three seasons.
- Jets coach Todd Bowles filled three coaching vacancies, as Randy Lange of NewYorkJets.com writes. Bowles promoted John Scott Jr. from defensive quality control coach to assistant defensive line coach, hired David Diaz-Infante as assistant offensive line coach, and brought in Tim Atkins to fill Scott’s role as defensive quality control coach.
- The Dolphins are adding Wisconsin defensive backs coach Daronte Jones as an assistant defensive backs coach, a source told Adam Caplan of ESPN.com (on Twitter).
Minor NFL Transactions: 2/9/16
Today’s minor signings, cuts, and other moves:
- The Steelers announced that they have signed offensive guard Cole Manhart to a reserve/future contract. Manhart originally signed with the Eagles as a UDFA out of Nebraska-Kearney in May 2015. After being released by the Eagles, he spent the 2015 training camp with the Saints, but he was cut in September of that year. Prior to his signing with Pittsburgh, his most recent stint was with the Raiders as a member of their taxi squad.
- The Panthers inked safety Marcus Ball to a deal, per Evan Woodbery of The Times-Picayune (on Twitter). Ball ended the season on Carolina’s practice squad.
- The Rams signed former Northwestern quarterback Kain Colter, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (via Twitter).
- The Steelers cut wide receiver David Nelson, as Aaron Wilson of The Houston Chronicle tweets.
- The Eagles cut Matthew Tucker with a non-football injury designation, Wilson tweets.