NFC Mailbags: Newton, Lions, McCarthy, Giants

We checked out ESPN.com’s AFC mailbags earlier this morning. Let’s now shift our focus to the NFC…

  • If quarterbacks like Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco can average $20MM annually, David Newton believes Cam Newton could certainly be included in that group. Ultimately, the writer believes the Panthers quarterback will receive a contract totaling about $100MM.
  • Kicker Matt Prater and defensive back Rashean Mathis want to return to the Lions next season, according to Michael Rothstein. There has been some contact between the organization and the agents for the team’s multiple free agents, but the writer cautions that nothing’s been “locked down.”
  • Despite Mike McCarthy‘s interest in the personnel aspect of the league, the Packers head coach does not want to be the team’s general manager, writes Rob Demovsky. The writer says the coach’s recent shuffling of the coaching staff indicates that he’d like to get involved in other areas of coaching.
  • Dan Graziano doesn’t see any incentive for the Giants to pursue Ray Rice over any other running back.
  • Considering the linebacker’s age and injury history, John Keim can’t envision Washington investing too much money in Brian Orakpo. Meanwhile, the writer could see the team bringing back quarterback Colt McCoy, tight end Niles Paul, and “perhaps” running back Roy Helu and wideout Leonard Hankerson. Santana Moss is among the players Keim would be surprised to see return.

AFC Mailbags: Chiefs, Raiders, Colts, Jags

It’s Saturday morning, and that means ESPN.com’s NFL writers are opening their mailbags and answering questions from readers. Let’s start off the day with some whispers from the AFC…

Chronic Back Injury Puts Lynch’s Career At Crossroads

Marshawn Lynch‘s stance on retirement continues to fluctuate, but the latest information regarding the running back’s stance relates to injury, not dissatisfaction, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport addressed on NFL Total Access and NFL.com colleague Dan Hanzus recaps and expands.

Sources close to Lynch told Rapoport the Seahawks running back deals with compressed cartilage in his back, and the condition “will not heal” and could get worse based on Lynch’s power-based style. Numerous football players have come forward with the chronic conditions they’ve faced after their playing days conclude, but a player as mercurial as Lynch evidently knowing of a condition that won’t heal is a red flag for his future.

The Seahawks already contributed slightly more money to Lynch during training camp last summer, converting various bonuses and incentives he would’ve received in 2015 to a $1.5MM bump last season, per the Seattle Times. Rapoport noted earlier this month of a contract extension the Seahawks proposed to Lynch that would provide him $10MM this fall despite entering his age-29 season. The former Bills running back plays on a four-year, $30MM deal — the fifth-highest in the league, according to OverTheCap.com — and has dominated carries in the Seattle backfield since rejuvenating his career there following a 2010 trade.

Despite this developing condition, Lynch has been extremely durable during his four-plus years in Seattle, suiting up for 76 of a possible 78 regular-season games since the Bills shipped him west. Over the four full seasons he has carried the load for the Seahawks, Lynch hasn’t accumulated fewer than 280 carries in any of them. Pro Football Focus (subscription required) hasn’t slotted Lynch below its top-five annual running back rankings since 2011, illuminating his value at a position where value has cratered this decade.

Primary backup Robert Turbin and elusive but rarely used speedster Christine Michael are the Seahawks’ current fallback options.

Panthers To Re-Sign Chris Scott

The Panthers will bring back free agent offensive lineman Chris Scott, a league source tells Yahoo! Sports’ Rand Getlin (Twitter link). Scott started eight games at both left and right guard for the Panthers in 2013 but experienced a less-stable 2014 season.

Carolina cut Scott in August before re-signing him in October. This appears to be a depth move, as the 27-year-old Tennessee product was the Panthers’ third-string guard last season. Scott had been eligible for restricted free agency.

Pro Football Focus (subscription required) gave the former fifth-round pick a negative grade in 506 snaps in 2013, by far his most involved season. Scott played for the Bills and Steelers previously, but his only eight starts came in 2013 after he took over for an injured Amini Silatolu. Scott then sustained a knee injury that slowed him for the rest of that campaign. Scott made a prorated portion of $730K during his time on Carolina’s roster last season, with barely half that counting against the Panthers’ cap.

The Panthers are more than $11MM under the salary cap before this minor transaction, according to OverTheCap.com.

NFC Notes: Harbaugh, Suh, Rams

Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh shared some thoughts about his former employer on the Tim Kawakami Show, telling the San Jose Mercury News columnist his parting with the 49ers “wasn’t exactly mutual.”

I didn’t leave the 49ers. I felt like the 49ers left me,” Harbaugh told Kawakami. The successful coach quickly exited San Francisco for Ann Arbor, Michigan, just after his fourth season as an NFL head coach concluded.

Mired in what appeared to be a consistent struggle with upper management, Harbaugh left despite taking the 49ers to three straight NFC title games, a destination the franchise hadn’t seen since 1997. Harbaugh also confirmed he was told he wouldn’t be back with the 49ers after a Week 15 loss in Seattle. The current Michigan coach, who will work for $5MM this season, didn’t deny then-defensive line coach Jim Tomsula was campaigning for his old job before getting it in January.

There was definitely a point where you walk down the halls and you … I wasn’t reading anything that was on the Internet, I was really focused on doing my job … but definitely walk down the halls and people look away or they look at you and you know something’s going on,” Harbaugh told Kawakami.

On to those who plan to be paid by NFL franchises this season …

  • If franchised, Ndamukong Suh‘s salary will balloon into the stratosphere reserved for baseball players and Roger Goodell, but Lions defensive coordinator Teryl Austin doesn’t care at this point, according to Tim Twentyman of DetroitLions.com. He plans on the free agent defensive tackle returning for a sixth season in the Motor City. Of course, there are other deciding voices on this expensive matter. Suh would draw a staggering $26.9MM should the Lions franchise him. The former No. 2 overall pick’s cap number was north of $22MM last season, according to OverTheCap.com. The near-$27MM figure would represent more than 19% of the Lions’ overall salary cap if they exercise this option. The team has 23 free agents and only $14.5MM worth of cap space, so some major restructuring would be necessary to make Austin’s ideal vision come to fruition.
  • Rams coach Jeff Fisher shed some light on his recent offensive coordinator hire, per ESPN’s Nick Wagoner on Twitter, saying it was going to be an in-house candidate. Fisher also noted he had only one in-person interview — Nathaniel Hackett — and a couple of phone conversations with Kyle Shanahan and Adam Gase (via Wagner on Twitter) before promoting quarterbacks coach Frank Cignetti. Jeff Garcia was interviewed for the quarterback coach job on Thursday and Friday, but more interviews are coming (Twitter link).
  • Amid another contract renegotiation, Larry Fitzgerald could finally enter the free agent market, but Kent Somers of the Arizona Republic explains why the 31-year-old Fitzgerald departing would not be the right move for his own sake. Fitzgerald is due $8MM if he’s on the roster when the new league year begins March 10, but that contract carries a $23.6MM cap charge, which is probably a non-starter for most players, let alone a one who hasn’t topped 1,000 receiving yards in a season since 2011. The Cardinals need to slash more than $10MM, according to OverTheCap.com, to move under the salary cap by March 10, and Fitzgerald’s deal is front and center.

Off-Field Notes: Bradshaw, Fairley, Hardy

Impending free agent Ahmad Bradshaw‘s road back to the field now includes more than just another injury rehabilitation after the veteran running back was cited for marijuana possession Feb. 5 in Ohio, WDTN in Dayton reports.

Also cited for following too close on Westbound I-70, Bradshaw could be subject to the NFL’s personal conduct policy. While with the Colts last year, 29-year-old was one of the league’s best all-around backs in 2014 on a per-touch basis, averaging 4.7 yards per carry and 7.9 yards per catch en route to an eight-touchdown year — his most since 2011 with the Giants. Bradshaw graded as Pro Football Focus’ 11th-best back (subscription required) despite missing more than five games due to the season-ending fractured fibula he suffered against the Patriots in November.

The multipurpose ball-carrier also missed most of the 2013 campaign — his first with the Colts — with a season-ending neck injury. Since playing in at least 15 games in his first three seasons, Bradshaw has missed at least four during the past four slates.

Coupled with his most recent brush with the law — of which there were more during his college days, issues that resulted him spending time in jail while with the Giants — Bradshaw entering his age-29 season will not make him a high commodity on a running back market that also includes younger performers DeMarco Murray, Ryan Mathews and C.J. Spiller.

  • Nick Fairley, on the other hand, can enter his free agent year relatively free of distractions after being found not guilty for driving under the influence, WKRG’s Jacqueline Quynh tweeted. The jury did find Fairley guilty of reckless driving, however. A former Lions first-round pick in 2011, the 27-year-old Fairley is a free agent after Detroit did not pick up his fifth-year option. After posting a top-20 season for defensive tackles, per PFF (subscription required), Fairley should be a reasonably coveted commodity in March, especially now that his chances of missing the first two games on a personal conduct-related issue are slimmer — but not out of the question.
  • Even though Greg Hardy‘s domestic violence case was dismissed earlier this week, the NFL seeks his court file, reports Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. The free agent defensive end ,who drew the franchise tag from the Panthers last offseason before the incident forced him off the field for almost all of 2014, can still be suspended. The former Pro Bowler, however, is now a free agent with a clearer future than he had entering this month.

Peyton Manning Ready To Return?

The Denver Broncos may finally be able to devote their attention to their throng of priority free agents soon, because their five-time MVP and “non-free agent” appears ready to officially include them in his plans for a fourth season. Peyton Manning told Broncos officials he is ready to play at a “significant level” in 2015, sources told ESPN’s Chris Mortensen. Manning’s quadriceps injury that plagued him down the stretch of last season is fully healed, Mortensen reports.

Debated for weeks, Manning’s decision on whether or not to return for Year 18 and, as of right now, an NFL-high $19MM salary set for this season to go along with a $21.5MM cap figure — by far the highest on the Broncos — will likely coincide with his team’s ability to determine which of its free agents to focus on retaining.

A free agent group that includes Demaryius Thomas, Julius Thomas, Terrance Knighton and more than a third of the Broncos’ starting lineup, however, simply won’t be as effective without Manning, who’s fired 131 touchdown passes in his three years guiding their explosive offense. Mortensen also notes a key item that Pro Football Rumors also discussed earlier today: Manning could be receptive to a contract restructure, which would obviously go a long way in attempting to convince Julius Thomas and Knighton to remain Broncos with Demaryius Thomas almost certain to be franchise-tagged. The Broncos currently possess just more than $26MM in salary cap room, according to OverTheCap.com. Manning earned $18MM in 2012 and $15MM in each of the past two seasons.

Contingent with the the five-year contract he signed in 2012, Manning will still need to pass a physical sometime between Feb. 23 and March 5, according to the Denver Post, to make this re-agreement of sorts stick and guarantee his as-of-now $19MM this year.

The 39-year-old quarterback threw 39 touchdown passes last year, but his production took a nosedive in the season’s second half. But free of injuries, Manning opened the year throwing 22 touchdown passes to just three interceptions in last season’s first seven games. That recent level of play plus tonight’s reported proclamation essentially keeps the Broncos’ short-term Super Bowl window open despite their ugly loss to the Colts in the AFC divisional playoffs last month.

Minor Moves: Friday

The Browns released offensive lineman Paul McQuistan earlier today, a notable transaction because the move leaves Cleveland with some dead money on its cap for the 2015 season. However, the following transactions aren’t quite as noteworthy, involving players who didn’t see the field much – or at all – in 2014, or players who won’t be receiving any guarantees on their new contracts. Here are today’s minor moves:

  • The Falcons have signed former Seahawks linebacker Allen Bradford, the team announced today in a press release. Bradford has been well-traveled since entering the league as a sixth-round pick in 2011, spending time with the Buccaneers, Browns, Giants, and Jaguars, in addition to playing under new Atlanta head coach Dan Quinn in Seattle. However, the 26-year-old has only appeared in 13 career regular season contests.
  • Per Jon Machota of the Dallas Morning News, the Cowboys have signed free agent defensive tackle Davon Coleman, who spent some time with the club during the 2014 season after signing as an undrafted free agent last spring. Machota adds that Dallas has also locked up one of its exclusive rights free agents, re-signing linebacker Cameron Lawrence. Both players figure to receive minimum-salary contracts.
  • According to Adam Caplan of ESPN.com (via Twitter), the Cowboys made one more transaction today, waiving linebacker DeVonte Holloman with a failed physical designation. Holloman had been on the injured reserve list all season.
  • Offensive tackle Xavier Nixon has been claimed off waivers by Washington, according to Caplan (via Twitter). Nixon, cut this week by the Colts, spent some time with Washington before heading to Indianapolis in 2013.
  • The Falcons officially removed defensive lineman Peria Jerry from the reserve/left squad list today, tweets Caplan. This was a procedural move, since Jerry announced his retirement back in July.

Browns Release Paul McQuistan

A year after signing him as a free agent, the Browns have parted ways with veteran offensive lineman Paul McQuistan, tweets Adam Caplan of ESPN.com (via Twitter). McQuistan’s deal with the Browns was a two-year pact, so he’ll reach free agency a year earlier than he would’ve if he had played out the contract.

McQuistan, a former third-round pick, spent three seasons with the Seahawks before signing with the Browns, starting 40 games for the club from 2011 to 2013. Despite being a regular contributor in Seattle, the 31-year-old saw his playing time significantly scaled back during his first and only year in Cleveland. McQuistan played just 121 offensive snaps, recording a -6.8 grade during his limited run with the club, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required).

The contract McQuistan signed with the Browns included a $750K signing bonus, so half that amount ($375K) will count against the team’s cap in 2015. However, the offensive lineman’s overall cap hit on Cleveland’s books has been reduced by $1.395MM, the amount of his non-guaranteed base salary.

Roger Goodell Earned $35MM+ For 2013/14

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell earned a salary of $35,017,000 for the 2013/14 league year, according to Darren Rovell of ESPN.com. The figure was revealed on the NFL’s tax return, which Rovell and ESPN got their hands on in advance of this Tuesday’s deadline for the league to file it to the IRS.

It’s been a miserable, controversy-filled season for Goodell, but this $35MM+ figure reflects his salary for the year ending on March 31, 2014, so we don’t yet know what sort of salary he earned for his work these past few months, as he dealt with scandals involving Ray Rice, Adrian Peterson, and underinflated footballs.

What we do know is that 2013/14’s figure is roughly in line with the commissioner’s 2012/13 salary — as we wrote last February, he received $44MM+ that year, but about $9MM of that total was made up of deferred pay, putting his actual salary for the year in the $35MM neighborhood.

“The Commissioner’s total compensation in 2013 is a fair reflection of his leadership and contributions during the year,” said Falcons owner and chairman of the compensation committee Arthur Blank in a statement. “Compensation packages for Roger and other senior executives are reviewed annually; accordingly, the compensation committee will conduct a thoughtful review and make a determination of 2014 compensation in March.”

While Goodell’s annual salary had been steadily on the rise since his first year on the job, from $4.5MM in 2006 to $35MM+ in each of the last two seasons, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see that figure decline a little for 2014, after all the negative publicity the league received.