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Jaguars To Hire John Idzik As Consultant

February 25th, 2015 at 5:13pm CST by Zachary Links

The Jaguars are expected to hire former Jets GM John Idzik as a consultant, a source tells Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter). Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times-Union (on Twitter) hears from a source that Idzik will focus on focus on the salary cap and cash spending. Idzik will consult Tim Walsh, the team’s Director of Football Administration, in the Jags’ salary cap department, O’Halloran tweets.

The position sounds well-suited to Idzik, who made his name as a cap guru with the Seahawks but fell flat as the GM of the Jets. Idzik isn’t the most popular guy in the New York area, but recently Seahawks GM John Schneider told the press that he doesn’t think Idzik got a fair shake in New York.

“I felt bad for him. I think that, it’s just my personal opinion that you should be able to hire a head coach,” the Seattle GM said back in January.

After two bad seasons in New York, it’ll be a while – if ever – before we see Idzik land another GM job in the NFL. However, this job will give him the opportunity to get back to doing what he does best. Rich Cimini of ESPN.com hears that he won’t have any involvement in player evaluation.

Browns, Panthers Interested In Ted Ginn Jr.

February 25th, 2015 at 4:51pm CST by Luke Adams

4:51pm: Joseph Person of the Charlotte Observer (Twitter link) adds the Panthers to the list of teams with interest in Ginn.

1:15pm: Wide receiver and return man Ted Ginn Jr. became one of a handful of veteran players to hit the free agent market early when he was released on Monday by the Cardinals. Now, according to Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com, Ginn is drawing interest from the Browns, who have called his agent to convey that interest. Cabot adds that a number of other teams are eyeing the Cleveland native as well.

As Tony Grossi of ESPNCleveland.com detailed yesterday, Ginn once said that he’d be interested in finishing his career with his hometown Browns. At age 29, the next contract Ginn signs is unlikely to be his last, but the Browns would still be a good match, given the team’s huge amount of cap room, and a need at special teams. According to Football Outsiders, Cleveland ranked 14th in special teams DVOA in 2014, but that rank was buoyed by a solid kicking and punting game — the club received negative grades for kick and punt returns.

One current Browns player in favor of signing Ginn is veteran safety Donte Whitner, who said he texted head coach Mike Pettine to tell him that Ginn is interested in the Browns.

“[Pettine] said it’s definitely a consideration,” Whitner said. “There may be something to it. Hopefully it will happen. … [Ginn] can take the top off a defense and also take it to the house on returns. We need a guy like him on our team.”

If the Browns are in the market for a veteran return man, they could kick the tires on another player who became available earlier today, as the division-rival Ravens parted ways with Jacoby Jones.

Jarret Johnson Announces Retirement

February 25th, 2015 at 4:28pm CST by Dallas Robinson

WEDNESDAY, 4:28pm: The Chargers have officially cut the retired Johnson from their roster, tweets Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun.

TUESDAY, 3:45pm: Longtime edge defender Jarret Johnson has announced his retirement today via an Instagram post. A veteran of 12 NFL seasons, the 33-year-old Johnson spent the first nine years of his career with the Ravens before joining the Chargers in 2012. His statement reads:

“Today I am announcing my retirement from the game I love. I lived a dream which few can say but it’s time to move on. I want to thank the Chargers organization for giving me a home these past three years. I have nothing but respect for the players, coaches, front office staff and fans that were apart of me and my families lives. It’s been a great ride!! I also want to thank my Baltimore family. Where I leaned to be a pro and conduct yourself like a warrior on the field. Where I spent 9 of the best years of my life.”

Originally a fourth-round pick in the 2003 draft, Johnson eventually started 132 games in his career, racking up 349 tackles and 25.5 sacks. His best season came in 2009, when he started all 16 games, picking six sacks, two interceptions, and a forced fumble. Johnson displayed valuable versatility during his career, lining up at both outside linebacker and on the defensive line. And for what it’s worth, he was always regarded as a team leader in both Baltimore and San Diego.

Johnson was entering the final season of his contract. The Chargers will free up $5MM in cap space due to his retirement, but will carry $2.5MM in dead money. Johnson becomes the third notable Charger to retire this offseason, following offensive lineman Jeromey Clary and Nick Hardwick.

Lions Cut Reggie Bush

February 25th, 2015 at 4:14pm CST by Luke Adams

Less than an hour after the division-rival Packers parted ways with a former top-five pick, the Lions have done the same, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com. Schefter reports (via Twitter) that Detroit has released running back Reggie Bush from his contract, allowing him to hit the open market.

Bush, who turns 30 next week, spent the last two seasons in Detroit. The former second overall pick had an excellent season in 2013, racking up more than 1,500 yards from scrimmage in just 14 games, establishing a new career high. However, he was plagued by injuries in 2014, and wasn’t overly effective when he did play. Overall, Bush accumulated just 297 yards on the ground and another 253 through the air in 11 games.

Having inked a four-year, $16MM contract two years ago, Bush had been under contract through the 2016 season. A total of $3.556MM in dead money will now count toward the Lions’ cap in 2015, assuming the team doesn’t designate Bush as a post-June 1 cut. The move creates a little over $1.7MM in cap savings, which the club could put toward re-signing Ndamukong Suh or another free agent.

As for Bush, despite his age and his injury history, he still has some upside. He certainly won’t land another $16MM contract, but the former USC star should receive some interest on the open market, particularly since he can visit teams immediately rather than having to wait another two weeks.

The Lions currently have Joique Bell, Theo Riddick, and George Winn under contract at running back, and look like a decent bet to add an inexpensive rookie to their backfield during the draft this spring.

Packers Release A.J. Hawk

February 25th, 2015 at 3:33pm CST by Luke Adams

After spending the last nine seasons – his entire NFL career – in Green Bay, linebacker A.J. Hawk will be looking for a new contract and a new team. The Packers announced today in a press release that they’ve parted ways with the veteran linebacker, releasing Hawk from their roster.

“A.J. is a consummate Packer and we are grateful for all that he has given and how he represented the organization over the past nine seasons,” GM Ted Thompson said in a statement. “He was a durable and consistent contributor to our success, but more importantly, he is a great person and teammate. The Packers are grateful for all that he has done on the field and in the community.”

Hawk, a former fifth overall pick, had been entering the final year of his contract, and would have counted for $5.1MM on Green Bay’s cap. By cutting him, the Packers clear his base salary, roster bonus, and workout bonus from their books, creating $3.5MM in cap savings.

Over the last nine years, Hawk has been one of the most recognizable players on the Packers’ defense, averaging over 100 tackles per year and appearing in all but two of the team’s regular-season games. However, toward the end of his tenure with the franchise, the 31-year-old’s production no longer matched his salary. In 2014, he saw his playing time scaled back toward the end of the season and in the playoffs as he struggled with an ankle injury, and he recorded a -14.4 grade for the season, according to Pro Football Focus’ metrics (subscription required).

Hawk is the second longtime Packers linebacker to find himself on the free agent market within the last week. Green Bay also cut Brad Jones last Friday. Like Jones, Hawk won’t have to clear waivers, and is immediately free to sign elsewhere.

Extra Points: DeVito, L.A., Garcon, NFLPA

February 25th, 2015 at 3:07pm CST by Luke Adams

While hundreds of NFL writers will submit mock drafts within the next two months, few are more plugged in than Peter King of TheMMQB.com, whose first mock draft of the year lends credence to the idea that the Eagles have real interest in Marcus Mariota. King’s mock has the Eagles pulling off a trade with Washington to move up to the No. 5 spot and nab Mariota — Philadelphia gives up its first- and second-round picks this year, along with its first- and fourth-round picks for 2016, in the hypothetical swap.

Here’s more miscellany from around the NFL:

The Chiefs are expected to ask defensive lineman Mike DeVito to take a pay cut, reports Conor Orr of NFL.com. DeVito, who is set to earn a base salary of $3.75MM with a 2015 cap number of $5.4MM, could be cut by Kansas City if he decides he doesn’t want to accept a reduced salary.
As Nathan Fenno of the Los Angeles Times reported late last night (via Twitter), Inglewood’s City Council unanimously approved Stan Kroenke‘s Hollywood Park stadium project. By approving the project, the Inglewood City Council can skip a couple steps, Curtis Crabtree of Pro Football Talk explains. City officials can now avoid putting the stadium proposal up for a public vote, and can avoid “potentially lengthy” environmental reviews. Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune (Twitter link) notes that Carson officials are expected to do the same thing with the Raiders/Chargers‘ stadium proposal.
There have been “zero talks” about Pierre Garcon‘s contract between his camp and the Washington front office, according to John Keim of ESPN.com (via Twitter). That doesn’t mean discussions won’t happen at some point, but Keim notes there’s been nothing yet to indicate that any sort of move involving Garcon is coming.
An already crowded field got even more crowded today, as former NFL player Sean Morey emerged as the latest candidate to become executive director of the NFLPA, per Rand Getlin of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter).
The latest MMQB.com piece from ex-Packers executive Andrew Brandt touches on a handful of interesting topics, as Brandt explores the L.A. issue, notes the different between a contract restructure and a pay cut, and points out that salary cap flexibility can often be created fairly easily.

Steelers Rework Deals For Gilbert, Mitchell

February 25th, 2015 at 2:27pm CST by Luke Adams

2:27pm: The Steelers have also restructured the contract for safety Mike Mitchell, reports Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (via Twitter). According to Bouchette, the two moves create a total of nearly $6.2MM in cap space, so it sounds like Mitchell’s was a simple restructure as well, converting a portion of his base salary and his entire $2MM roster bonus into a signing bonus. That would reduce his 2015 cap hit by about $2.44MM, creating total cap savings of $6,165,250 when combined with Gilbert’s restructure.

8:16am: Offensive tackle Marcus Gilbert, who signed a five-year, $30MM contract extension with the Steelers last August, has already seen that deal modified, according to Field Yates of ESPN.com (Twitter links), who reports that the team has restructured Gilbert’s contract to free up a little cap space for 2015.

According to Yates, the Steelers have taken Gilbert’s $3.5MM roster bonus, which would have been paid out on the fifth day of the 2015 league year, along with $1.155MM of his $1.9MM base salary, and turned that $4.655MM into a signing bonus. Gilbert will receive that chunk of money immediately, but for cap purposes, it’s prorated over the next five seasons, at a rate of $931K per year.

While the move ensures that Gilbert’s cap hits for 2016 through 2019 all increase by $931K, it reduces his 2015 cap number by $3.724MM, taking it from $6.98MM down to $3.256MM. As Over The Cap’s data shows, the Steelers had been under the projected $143MM cap by less than $1MM prior to reworking Gilbert’s contract. The move should give the team a little breathing room, though I imagine further transactions are coming to create additional flexibility.

La Canfora On Manning, Suh, McCown, Saints

February 25th, 2015 at 2:01pm CST by Luke Adams

Weighing in on two of the biggest offseason stories, Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com leads off his latest piece by looking at the Peyton Manning and Ndamukong Suh situations. In La Canfora’s view, Manning will ultimately return to the Broncos after the two sides tweak his contract a little. As for Suh, the CBSSports.com scribe doesn’t have any updates on the Lions‘ talks with the defensive star, but says he thinks the Jaguars and Raiders will be major players. For those teams to be involved in the Suh derby, he’d have to reach the open market, which would mean no long-term deal or franchise tag from Detroit.

La Canfora also passes along plenty more tidbits related to free agency, so let’s dive in and round up the highlights….

When it comes to the market’s top pass rushers, La Canfora thinks Pernell McPhee can reach $10MM per year, with Jerry Hughes in the $9MM range, and Brandon Graham and Jason Worilds around $7.5MM. La Canfora also believes that all four of those players will join new teams next month.
Free agent quarterback Josh McCown is expected to decide on his new team later this week or early next week, and could land another deal worth $5MM annually. The Bills and Browns look like the best bets for McCown, according to La Canfora.
The Saints are working through contract issues with about a half-dozen players on their roster, sources tell La Canfora. If things work out the way the team hopes, Marques Colston, Jahri Evans, and Curtis Lofton would likely stick around on reduced salaries, while Ben Grubbs, Brodrick Bunkley, and David Hawthorne could be let go. As for Junior Galette, La Canfora is hearing that head coach Sean Payton has “expressed a desire” to part ways with him, following his January arrest. However, Galette’s contract still contains a sizeable chunk of guaranteed money, and the team likely can’t void those guarantees.
Percy Harvin probably won’t accept a pay cut from the Jets, which means the team will likely cut him. La Canfora expects the wideout to gamble himself in free agency, signing a one-year deal with a team that has a good quarterback in place.
The Jaguars will be seeking a top pass catcher, and La Canfora wouldn’t be surprised if the team lands a player like Randall Cobb or Julius Thomas. Per La Canfora, the Packers recognize Cobb’s market could get out of hand, and may focus on re-signing other key free agents, like Bryan Bulaga and Letroy Guion.
Chiefs center Rodney Hudson came very close to signing a four-year extension worth $6MM per year during the season. He’s a good bet to exceed that amount in free agency, and the Raiders are one viable suitor.
La Canfora anticipates the Ravens will work out a restructured deal with Lardarius Webb, but isn’t as certain about Haloti Ngata, who may play for a new team in 2015.
The Jets would have interest in Ryan Mallett if he reaches the open market. However, the Texans have made their interest in the quarterback clear, and Mallett himself said today that he’d like to return to Houston (Twitter link via John McClain of the Houston Chronicle).

FA Rumors: Pascoe, Jean-Francois, McCourty

February 25th, 2015 at 12:16pm CST by Luke Adams

The agent for tight end Bear Pascoe tells D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that his client will be moving on from the Falcons next month.

“We had a great conversation with the Falcons and it looks like at this point Bear is going to explore some other options for next year and the Falcons are going to do the same,” said Noel LaMontagne, Pascoe’s agent. “The front office and Bear both were really appreciative of everything over the last year, but with coaching changes, there will always be other changes, so Bear is going to see what else is out there for the future.”

Let’s round up a few more Wednesday updates on 2015’s prospective free agents:

After been released by the Colts earlier this week, defensive lineman Ricky Jean-Francois is seeking a new home for the 2015 season, and a pair of potential suitors has already surfaced. According to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter), Jean-Francois has visits lined up with Washington and the 49ers this week. Jean-Francois has a history with the Niners, having spent the first four years of his NFL career in San Francisco.
Asked about the possibility of being franchised by the Patriots, safety Devin McCourty wasn’t sure if that’s the team’s plan, but said being tagged wouldn’t be the worst thing (Twitter link via Karen Guregian of the Boston Herald). “The franchise tag is player-friendly now,” McCourty said (Twitter link via Phil Perry of CSNNE.com). “It’s a good number.”
After some confusion about his contract status, Lions defensive end George Johnson is being considered a restricted free agent by both the NFL and NFLPA, says Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press (Twitter link). As such, there’s a very good chance Johnson returns to Detroit.
Appearing on PFT Live today, veteran safety Mike Adams said he’d like to retire as a Colt (Twitter link). Adams, who is eligible for free agency, turns 34 next month, so there’s a chance his next contract will be his last.
As we heard this morning, the Dolphins are working to get a deal done with tight end Charles Clay. If he remains unsigned when the free agent period arrives though, Clay’s market will be “very strong,” tweets Adam Caplan of ESPN.com.
Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk takes a look at a few clubs to watch in free agency, identifying the Falcons, Buccaneers, Raiders, Jaguars, and Bills as the teams poised to spend big.

Ravens Cut Jacoby Jones

February 25th, 2015 at 11:08am CST by Luke Adams

Less than a year after locking him up to a new four-year contract, the Ravens have parted ways with veteran wide receiver and return man Jacoby Jones. The team made the move official today, announcing in a press release that Jones’ contract has been terminated.

Because Jones’ contract came with a $3.5MM signing bonus and still runs for three more years, the Ravens won’t free up much cap space by releasing the 30-year-old. Assuming the club doesn’t designate Jones as a post-June 1 cut, his cap hit will be reduced from $3.375MM to $2.625MM for 2015. Designating him a post-June 1 cut would create $2.5MM in cap savings.

Jones, a former third-round pick, continued to return kicks and punts for Baltimore in 2014, but his role on offense was significantly reduced — after being targeted 68 times and hauling in 37 passes in 2013, Jones received just 18 targets and caught nine passes in 2014. He also averaged 30.6 yards on 32 kickoff returns, and 9.2 yards on 30 punt returns.

Having decided to cut Jones, the Ravens still have a number of other important contract issues to address. Baltimore is working on restructuring deals for Haloti Ngata and Lardarius Webb, and Justin Forsett and Torrey Smith are among the team’s notable free-agents-to-be.

As for Jones, as a veteran with more than four years of NFL experience, he won’t pass through waivers, and is immediately eligible to sign elsewhere.