49ers Open To Kaepernick Return
6:35pm: NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport echoes Schefter’s report, providing more details on the meeting.
“My understanding is Colin Kaepernick sat down with general manager Trent Baalke and discussed among other things potential free agent targets for next year and the plan for 2016, a sign that maybe — just maybe — the 49ers are not done with Kaepernick yet,” Rapoport said on NFL Network’s GameDay Morning (via Kevin Patra of NFL.com). “I’m told he is in their plans for 2016.”
9:22am: Most NFL writers and talking heads believe that the 49ers and quarterback Colin Kaepernick will part ways this offseason. San Francisco appears to be headed towards a rebuilding phase, Kaepernick’s performance has declined precipitously over the last several seasons, and there is plenty of reported interest in Kaepernick’s services among quarterback-needy teams who remain intrigued by the 28-year-old’s upside. Indeed, the majority of articles published over the last several weeks have focused on where Kaepernick will end up in 2016, and San Francisco has not appeared on many of those lists.
But according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter (via Twitter), Kaepernick met with team officials last week, and both sides are open to a reunion in 2016. Of course, neither party would publicly foreclose the possibility of a return at this point, but it is interesting to note that there was a meeting between team and player that apparently went well. Both sides were rumored to be looking for a fresh start, and recent reports indicated that the 49ers would continue to dangle Kaepernick in trade talks in the offseason after they were contacted by at least three teams who were interested in acquiring the signal-caller in advance of this year’s trade deadline.
Of course, Kaepernick’s contract situation is a complicating factor in all of this. His $11.9MM salary in 2016 is currently guaranteed for injury only, but it becomes fully guaranteed on April 1, 2016. The shoulder surgery that he underwent on November 24 has a recovery time of four to six months, and if he cannot pass a physical by April 1, the team would be forced to guarantee his salary. If that’s the case, and if a trade is untenable–as at least one national writer believes–then maybe Kaepernick will, in fact, return to the team he starred for not long ago.
Justin Bethel Signs Extension With Cardinals
5:05pm: The deal is official, via Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com.
“With the guys we’ve got here, especially in our secondary, Pat (Peterson), Ty (Mathieu), Rashad (Johnson), Jerraud, Deone (Bucannon), Tony (Jefferson), all those guys, I think we have a really, really close group,” Bethel told Urban. “It shows on the field. Being able to get my deal done, and hopefully get some other guys done, is a really big deal to me.
“I’m just thankful I could stay with the team that drafted me.”
SUNDAY, 11:13am: Former NFL agent Joel Corry passes along (via Twitter) a couple of details on the impact of this extension on the Cardinals’ salary cap. As Corry notes, Bethel’s cap numbers will be $3.25MM in 2016, $5.25MM in 2017, and $5.75MM in 2018.
SATURDAY, 9:47am: Cardinals Pro Bowl defensive back Justin Bethel has signed a three-year, $15MM extension, agents Damarius Bilbo and Fletcher Smith told NFL Network’s Rand Getlin (via Twitter). The deal will contain $9MM in guaranteed money and $1.8MM in incentives and escalators (Twitter link). NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport was the first to report that a deal was close.
Bethel, the Cardinals’ sixth-round pick in 2012, was set to become a free agent following this season. The cornerback has yet to miss a game in his career, although he only recently earned his first career start. In 2015, the 25-year-old has compiled 18 tackles, five passes defended, and an interception (which was brought back for a score). While he’s only played 201 snaps on defense this season, his 247 special teams snaps are tops on the team.
The Presbyterian College alumni was named a First-Team All-Pro in 2013, and he made the Pro Bowl in both 2013 and 2014. The team will presumably now switch their focus to fellow defensive backs Jerraud Powers and Rashad Johnson, who are set to hit free agency following the season.
Extra Points: Amendola, Patriots, Los Angeles
Returning from injury, Patriots receiver Danny Amendola has had a nice — and profitable — day so far, as New England is tied with Philadelphia as the contest heads to halftime. Amendola not only caught a touchdown pass from Tom Brady, but caught his 50th pass of the season, good for a $150K bonus, according to Field Yates of ESPN (Twitter link).
Here’s more from around the league as the second slate of NFL games reach their midway points…
- Appearing on the Patriots‘ pre-game show, owner Robert Kraft said that NFL owners discussed the possibility of moving a team — or teams — to Los Angeles for roughly three hours at last week’s owner’s meetings. However, the group still has “no sense” of what clubs will ultimately end up in southern California (Twitter link via Ben Volin of the Boston Globe).
- While the owners might not have a solid plan for the NFL in LA, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk has several, which he outlined earlier this morning. Each scenario involves some combination of the Rams, Chargers, and Raiders in either Carson or Inglewood, CA, and the entire post is well worth a read.
- The league recently shortened the legal tampering period from three days to two, and according to Florio, that’s not the only change the NFL will implement. Actual negotiations will be allowed to take place during that two-day window, a source tells Florio, instead of just vague contract concepts. Whether or not that means teams and agents can come to concrete agreements is still unknown.
PFR Originals: 11/29/15 – 12/6/15
The original content and analysis produced by the PFR staff during the past week:
- Luke Adams went over the 2016 cap outlook for the two clubs that will square off on Monday Night Football tomorrow night — Washington (link) and the Cowboys (link). While Washington might need to release several notable players (Robert Griffin III, Pierre Garcon), Dallas figures to restructure the contract of Tony Romo once again.
- Luke also rounded up the best of the football blogs in the latest edition of Pigskin Links. Got a great football blog post that you want to see featured in next week’s Pigskin Links? Email it to Zach or tweet it to him: @ZachLinks.
Jonathan Vilma Announces Retirement
Former Jets/Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma has announced his retirement from the NFL, according to a statement issued by the Saints. Vilma, 33, is set to be honored later today before New Orleans’ game against Carolina.
“I’m excited to be retiring from my playing career as a member of the New Orleans Saints,” said Vilma. “I loved everything about being a Saint and was fortunate to be surrounded by so many outstanding coaches and teammates for six years and to be a part of the team that won Super Bowl XLIV. I would also like to thank our fans for making my playing career in New Orleans so memorable. I will never forget the amazing fans here and the experiences we shared together.”
Vilma, a first-round draft pick in 2004, played four seasons with New York before heading to the Saints in a 2008 trade. The former Miami Hurricane would spend the next six seasons in New Orleans, starting starting 68 games during that time. Injuries sapped Vilma’s ability during the 2013 season, and though he drew free agent interest during the summer of 2014, he never latched on with another club. The three-time Pro Bowler finishes his career with more than 600 tackles, 10.5 sacks, and 12 interceptions.
Off the field, Vilma was just as productive, starting the Jonathan Vilma foundation in 2010 to help victims from the devastating 2010 Haitian earthquake. Vilma, whose parents both hail from Haiti, helped raise more than $400K, and was a key figure in establishing three new charter schools in his parents’ native country. He was named the Saints’ 2010 “Man of the Year.”
“Jonathan Vilma is one of the most talented, dedicated and determined players that I have had the pleasure to coach,” said said Saints head coach Sean Payton. “Whether it was on the practice field, in the meeting room or in the weight room, Jonathan’s leadership, preparation and effort were second to none. He was an enormous asset to our team and was an integral part of us winning a Super Bowl.”
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Week In Review: 11/29/15 – 12/6/15
The headlines from the past week at PFR:
Key News:
- Having already fired their head coach and defensive coordinator earlier in the year, the Dolphins continued to clean house, firing offensive coordinator Bill Lazor, promoting quarterbacks coach Zac Taylor to take his place.
- The 49ers made a change in their front office, reassigning team president Paraag Marathe; however, he’ll continue to lead the club’s salary cap.
- The NFL made two rules changes this week, shortening the legal tampering period to two days, and allowing the trading of compensatory draft picks beginning in 2017.
Extended:
- Cardinals – Justin Bethel, CB (through 2018)
- Chargers – Tom Telesco, GM (through 2019)
Signed:
- Browns – Terrelle Pryor, QB (link)
- Panthers – Cortland Finnegan, CB (link)
Waived:
- Dolphins – C.J. Mosley, DT (link)
Injuries:
- Browns – Josh McCown, QB (IR)
- Cardinals – Chris Johnson, RB (IR-DTR)
- Colts – Ahmad Bradshaw, RB (IR)
- Falcons – Leonard Hankerson, WR (IR)
- Giants – Geoff Schwartz, G (IR)
- Jaguars – Toby Gerhart, RB (IR)
- Seahawks – Jimmy Graham, TE (IR) and Paul Richardson, WR (IR)
Sunday Roundup: Payton, Lacy, Osweiler
As Week 13 gets underway in full force, let’s take a look at some news and notes from around the league:
- The Saints will not release head coach Sean Payton, but the team is warming to the idea of trading him for draft picks, per Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports. New Orleans though, would not deal Payton to a team he does not wish to coach, and Payton would not sign an extension with any team that does not appeal to him.
- 2015 has been nothing short of a disappointment for Packers RB Eddie Lacy, and his on-field struggles are just one cause for concern. Per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (article via Conor Orr of NFL.com), Green Bay is troubled by Lacy’s off-field behavior–Lacy was, of course, disciplined for a curfew violation Wednesday night–and the team in fact cut fellow RB Alonzo Harris and did not resign him to the practice squad because he is a close friend of Lacy’s and the Packers apparently believe Harris is a bad influence on their star back.
- Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap.com examines the type of deal that Broncos QB Brock Osweiler might command in the offseason. The Broncos may offer him a contract with an AAV of roughly $12MM–which is what Nick Foles is earning with the Rams–but assuming Osweiler finishes the regular season with a 6-1 or 5-2 record as a starter, he would have no reason to accept such an offer, as there would be plenty of teams willing to shell out much more than that in free agency. Instead, Denver may be forced to extend Von Miller and use the franchise tag–which it planned to use on Miller–on Osweiler.
- In a separate piece, Fitzgerald examines the 2016 class of free agent defensive ends.
- Although he lost the opportunity to finish the season as the Browns‘ starting QB several weeks ago, Johnny Manziel has been told by the club that he will start again this season, according to ESPN’s Chris Mortensen. When that will be, however, is anyone’s guess.
- After failing in his attempts to purchase the Bills, Jon Bon Jovi is still attempting to buy an NFL club, and La Canfora writes that Bon Jovi, along with a number of other potential suitors, is paying close attention to the Titans, a team that other owners believe could formally come for sale in the spring or fall as the Adams family continues to sort through tax and estate issues.
- Texans right guard Brandon Brooks, who has dealt with a number of stomach ailments over the past year, experienced nausea this morning at Ralph Wilson Stadium and went to a Buffalo-area hospital for further evaluation, per Aaron Wilson of The Houston Chronicle. Needless to say, Brooks was scratched from Houston’s game with the Bills this afternoon.
- Matt Barrows of The Sacramento Bee tweets that the 49ers have not yet determined if they will move rookie WR DeAndre Smelter off the NFI list. The deadline to do so is tomorrow, and the team’s decision could be impacted by its injury situation after today’s clash with the Bears.
Tom Telesco To Remain With Chargers
Although it had been previously unannounced, Chargers GM Tom Telesco signed a multiyear extension with the club over the summer, per Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports. His job is therefore secure and he will return to the team next season, but head coach Mike McCoy remains on the hot seat, as the Chargers will evaluate all of their coaches after the season. According to Michael Gehlken of The San Diego Union-Tribune (Twitter links), the extension runs through 2019 and was not originally reported because it was signed very close to the start of the season and the team did not want to create a distraction.
We heard just two weeks ago that both Telesco and McCoy were in danger of losing their jobs at the end of the 2015 campaign, but La Canfora’s report is consistent with a mid-November story that Telesco would get at least one more year to right the ship. Sources familiar with the inclinations of John Spanos, the Chargers president of football operations, say Spanos prefers continuity among his top decision-makers, and Spanos apparently believes that injuries, more than poor roster construction, are to blame for the Chargers’ 3-8 record. Of course, Telesco’s predilection for small and speedy players could be a cause of the team’s rash of injuries, and it also has had a direct impact on the team’s performance. After all, the defense is undersized and not especially physical, and even before the injuries started to mount, there were not many players on the defensive side of the ball that were worthy of a starting job.
On the other hand, Telesco did manage to piece together a contending club during his first two seasons in San Diego despite inheriting the an aging roster, and it’s not as though many of the players who are currently struggling with injury had any type of injury history in college that should have made Telesco wary of drafting them. While Telesco has been an abject failure in free agency, the team was willing to reaffirm its faith in its first-time GM by granting him a contract extension.
The Chargers are facing a very uncertain future, both in terms of officials and location, but they apparently believe Telesco is the right personnel man to lead them into their next era. When the offseason rolls around, Telesco’s first priority may be to find a new head coach to replace the one who joined the organization at the same time he did.
East Notes: Kelly, McDaniels, Coughlin
Just a week after Eagles head coach Chip Kelly was said to be “despondent” and “mulling all options” on the heels of back-t0-back blowout losses, Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports writes that the head coach is likely to return to the Philadelphia sidelines in 2016. Owner Jeffrey Lurie remains a staunch Kelly supporter, even though he is aware of some dissension in the locker room, and per La Canfora, Lurie “did not hand Kelly total control to the roster a few months ago to consider launching a new search for a coach and GM now.” Although it is not inconceivable that Kelly could return to the college ranks in 2016, those vacancies are filling up quickly and team officials would be shocked if Kelly left the Eagles before completing his fourth season with the club.
- Although Kelly surely appreciates Lurie’s loyalty, Jeff McLane of The Philadelphia Inquirer wonders if Kelly himself is too loyal to under-performing players. During Kelly’s tenure with the Eagles, he has never released or benched a player for poor performance, and McLane thinks certain members of the club may have become complacent.
- Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels is once again a hot head coaching candidate, and La Canfora writes that he is open to speaking with teams this offseason. Of course, given McDaniels’ disastrous stint in Denver, he would only go to a team that has a strong organizational structure from ownership down, since another failed tenure would likely spell the end of his head coaching opportunities. Many clubs are enamored with McDaniels’ offensive mind and ability to extract a great deal of production from an offense that has to continually reinvent itself, and McDaniels is viewed as the closest thing to a Belichick clone to emerge from the Belichick coaching tree.
- If McDaniels is to leave the Patriots, Ben Volin of The Boston Globe sees the Lions as the most likely landing spot, given that the team has a good young quarterback in place and ownership that has shown patience in the past. The Titans have been viewed as a fit, and they may be, but their ownership situation is unstable, and Volin does not believe McDaniels would disrespect New England by going to a team like the Dolphins or Colts that has a history of bad blood with the Patriots.
- Giants head coach Tom Coughlin may be on the hot seat, but as Ralph Vacchiano of The New York Daily News writes, Coughlin typically thrives with his back to the wall. Of course, the team had a chance to take a commanding lead in the NFC East last week and failed to do so, which means that the Giants’ string of four straight seasons without a playoff berth is in danger of continuing. If that happens, Coughlin’s two Super Bowl rings and respect from team ownership may not be enough to save him.
Los Angeles Updates: 12/6/15
A source with knowledge of the situation expects that there will be a solution to the Los Angeles relocation dilemma in early January, according to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. Of course, we learned several days ago that NFL owners would convene in Houston on January 12th and 13th and may vote on relocation at that time. Florio’s latest report indicates that the vote will, in fact, take place.
There had been rumblings that this process could be dragged out until 2017, but league owners and league officials understand the importance of resolving the matter as soon as possible. Keeping three teams in limbo for an extended period of time could degrade the markets in those three cities, which could make it difficult for the clubs that do not relocate to thrive in the future, and per Florio, “the league seems to understand that fans of every team in every city are growing fatigued by the process.” Ultimately, Florio writes that Roger Goodell or Panthers owner Jerry Richardson–the de facto Los Angeles committee chairman–could force the hands of the other owners in January by refusing to terminate the meetings until 24 votes are cast in favor of one outcome or another.
Although it has appeared for the past several months that the Carson project–the proposal that would see the Raiders and Chargers share a venue just outside of LA–enjoys the majority of ownership support, that proposal did take something of a hit recently. According to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (article via Conor Orr of NFL.com), a 200-acre piece of land that had been viewed as parking and additional development space for the Carson project is no longer available. That tract of land, the Links at Victoria Golf Course, was part of the league’s vision to turn its future Los Angeles outpost as a grandiose centerpiece, and its loss could theoretically be a blow to the Oakland/San Diego relocation efforts. Carson advocate Carmen Policy, however, does not think so. According to Policy:
“We have our core piece of land, we don’t need anything else. Obviously, if the league gives its approval, we’ll be looking at other developments and expansion ideas in the entire area.”