Latest On Derrius Guice
Former LSU running back Derrius Guice, widely regarded as the second-best back in this year’s class behind Penn State’s Saquon Barkley, slipped to the bottom of the second round before the Redskins snapped him up with the No. 59 overall selection. The slide was not especially surprising in light of reports of personality concerns that emerged earlier this month, and yesterday we heard that his visits with NFL clubs did not go well.
There are now a few more details on that front. Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, citing Ian Rapoport of NFL.com, said that Guice’s meeting with the Eagles — who were certainly in the market for a running back in the draft, though they ultimately did not select one — ultimately devolved into a “shouting match.” One unnamed source called it the worst meeting Philadelphia ever had with a player.
Florio had the opportunity to speak with Guice prior to the draft, and when he asked Guice to comment on the conflicting stories he told as to certain questions he claimed NFL teams asked him, Guice chose to simply avoid the topic. He has been described as “immature” and “high-maintenance,” and one executive from a club that had several opportunities to draft him said that, unless he matures quickly, he will wear out his welcome in Washington in a couple of years.
Eagles GM Howie Roseman, though, has downplayed any talk of an altercation between his team and his new division rival. Per John Keim of ESPN.com, Roseman said, “There was no altercation. When you hear the word ‘altercation,’ it sounds like fisticuffs or something, or yelling or screaming. I don’t know I’ve ever been in a room where a player has yelled at anyone. Sometimes you can’t believe everything you read or hear.”
For his part, Guice is prepared to put his negative publicity behind him and move on. He said, “Everything that is behind me is behind me. This is a fresh, clean slate. I’m just ready to get to work.”
Not being picked in the first round will hurt Guice’s earnings on his rookie contract, but he is still expected to be the Redskins’ starting running back.
Eagles Re-Sign Darren Sproles
Darren Sproles has agreed to return to the Eagles and play a 14th NFL season. The elusive running back agreed to terms with the defending Super Bowl champions, Howie Roseman announced Saturday. It’s a one-year deal with a total guarantee of $1MM, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets. The pact can be worth up to $1.415M with $1.433M in likely to be earned incentives.
The Eagles had been in communication with Sproles for a while now, and he’ll be part of Philadelphia’s backfield picture again this season — which will be his fifth in eastern Pennsylvania.
Rumored to be on the lookout for running backs in this year’s draft, the Eagles used five picks on other positions last week. Sproles being back in the fold figures to provide a boost to the backfield, which lost LeGarrette Blount but still houses Jay Ajayi and Corey Clement. Philly also has Donnel Pumphrey and Wendell Smallwood on the team, but with Sproles back, there likely is only room on the 53-man roster for one of these players.
Sproles will turn 35 before this season begins and is coming off multiple severe injuries — a broken arm and a torn ACL. However, Roseman is optimistic he will be ready to play by Week 1 (via Philly.com’s Jeff McLane, on Twitter).
Eagles Acquire No. 233 Pick From Patriots
The Super Bowl LII opponents made an 11th-hour deal. Never averse to trade down, the Patriots moved out of the No. 233 position by trading the pick to the Eagles.
New England will receive Philadelphia’s No. 250 selection as well as a 2019 seventh-round pick, Jeff McLane of Philly.com tweets.
The Eagles selected offensive lineman Jordan Mailata, an Australia native and rugby player, with what is now their final 2018 draft choice. Philadelphia made five picks in this year’s draft — beginning at the No. 49 spot — and the last two were tackles. Four of the defending Super Bowl champions’ five selections came on Day 3.
Eagles Trade Up, Acquire Colts’ No. 49 Pick
The Eagles will make their first pick in this year’s draft, moving up into the Colts’ No. 49 slot to do so, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets.
With this newfound draft real estate, the defending Super Bowl champions will add to their tight end mix by drafting Dallas Goedert. They may well have made this move to slide in front of the Cowboys, who pick at No. 50, with Jason Witten likely to retire.
Brett Bensley of Fox 59 tweets the Eagles will send the Colts the No. 169 selection in order to move up three spots and select the South Dakota State pass-catcher. Goedert will join an Eagles team that released Brent Celek last month.
As for the Cowboys, they were mentioned as being interested in Courtland Sutton — who went at No. 40 to the Broncos — and are likely set to see their franchise’s all-time great tight end go into broadcasting.
Draft Notes: Penny, Chiefs, Jets, Jackson
Excepting the Eli Manning-for-Philip Rivers exchange, NFL draft trades rarely unfold like NBA draft-night swaps, with teams making picks and then sending players elsewhere. But the Seahawks indicated such an offer emerged on Thursday night. After they’d made their somewhat surprising Rashaad Penny selection at No. 27, John Schneider said (via Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times) another team called them to try and acquire the running back. Schneider said that was the first time he’d seen such an offer as an NFL executive. Schneider said he would have authorized a Penny pick at No. 18, which would have been even more interesting since the San Diego State product was viewed as a fringe first-round prospect going into the night, and the Seahawks obviously held onto their new rookie after the surely strange phone call.
Here’s more from the draft world going into Night 2.
- Despite talk connecting the Jets to Baker Mayfield, Josh Allen, and (to a lesser extent) Josh Rosen before the draft, Sam Darnold was the top quarterback on their board, Manish Mehta of the Daily News tweets. The Jets did not expect Darnold to be on the board at No. 3, hence the franchise’s late maneuvering to secure more face time with its top QB prospect.
- The Chiefs made two blockbuster trades this offseason, and the team unloading Marcus Peters for second- and fourth-round draft choices deprives Kansas City of what was probably a top-three player on its roster. The now-Brett Veach-run franchise had discussions of moving up from No. 54 and all the way into the first round, and they’ve been reportedly considering a trade-up sequence in Round 2. Albert Breer of SI.com reports the Chiefs discussed moving into the Eagles‘ No. 32 spot last night before the Ravens did so and that a move north tonight will be with a cornerback acquisition in mind. The Chiefs traded for Kendall Fuller and signed David Amerson, but their defense — the No. 30 DVOA unit with Peters — still has a need at this spot.
- Some evaluators think that Lamar Jackson‘s best position in the NFL would be at wide receiver, but don’t tell that to Ravens offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg. When asked about his plans for the Louisville product, he said, “[Jackson] is a quarterback. Done.” (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero). He also emphasized that Joe Flacco will remain the team’s starter.
Ravens Acquire No. 32 From Eagles
Baltimore’s wrapped up a busy evening with another trade. Sam Farmer of the LA Times reports (via Twitter) that the team has acquired the No. 32 pick from the Eagles. Baltimore has acquired the first-rounder and No. 132 (fourth round), and they’ll be sending No. 52 (second round), No. 125 (fourth round), and a 2019 second-rounder to Philly.
The Ravens have used the pick to select quarterback Lamar Jackson. The Louisville product and former Heisman winner is the fifth quarterback taken during the first round. He had another productive season in 2017, completing 59.1-percent of his passes for 3,660 yards, 27 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions. He also added another 1,601 rushing yards and 18 touchdowns on 232 carries. Barring some unexpected transaction, Jackson will likely serve as a backup to Joe Flacco for at least the upcoming season.
This is the third trade of the night for Baltimore, who also completed deals with the Bills and Titans. Reports had indicated that the organization was eyeing offensive linemen like Mike McGlinchey and Kolton Miller, although there were whispers that the organization could pursue a future starting quarterback.
Draft Rumors: Ravens, Seahawks, 49ers, Pats
Let’s dive into some last-minute draft rumors as we anticipate the start of the first round…
- Should the Ravens go on the clock and Mike McGlinchey is off the board, it looks like they will strongly consider UCLA’s Kolton Miller. Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle tweets the Ravens are focused on Miller as a McGlinchey contingency plan at No. 16. These two are viewed by many as the top tackles in this year’s draft. Although Baltimore needs a right tackle after cutting Austin Howard, this serves as one of the possible Lamar Jackson destinations. Assuming the top four QB prospects are gone by this point in the draft, it could open up the trade market for the picks in the latter teens with the 2016 Heisman winner still available.
- Albert Breer of SI.com writes that there are several teams interested in moving down, including the 49ers (No. 9), Seahawks (No. 18), Lions (No. 20), Titans (No. 25), and Eagles (No. 32). Seattle would have particular interest in trading their pick if safety Derwin James or any of the top pass-rushers are off the board. Meanwhile, Breer notes that San Francisco could benefit if a quarterback-needy team wants to trade up.
- Ben Volin of the Boston Globe tweets that he keeps hearing Miami defensive lineman Chad Thomas being connected to the Patriots. Thomas didn’t earn a spot on NFL.com’s Daniel Jeremiah’s top-50 list, and he’s ultimately projected to be a third- or fourth-round pick. The senior was plenty productive in 2017, compiling 41 total tackles, 12.5 tackles for loss, and 4.5 sacks.
Browns, Colts Lead League In Cap Space
The Browns and Colts have the most cap room of any team in the NFL heading into draft, as Field Yates of ESPN.com (on Twitter) notes. Here’s the official rundown of every team’s cap space for 2018 on the eve of draft weekend:
- Browns – $69.5MM
- Colts – $59.8MM
- 49ers – $43.8MM
- Titans – $35.8MM
- Texans -$35.6MM
- Bears – $24.1MM
- Jets – $21.9MM
- Bills – $19.4MM
- Jaguars – $18.6MM
- Cardinals – $18.1MM
- Redskins -$17.1MM
- Bengals – $16.8MM
- Packers – $16.2MM
- Vikings – $15.5MM
- Broncos – $14.6MM
- Patriots – $13.8MM
- Buccaneers – $12.3MM
- Cowboys -$11.9MM
- Chargers – $11.4MM
- Lions – $9.4MM
- Giants -$9.4MM
- Ravens – $8.8MM
- Seahawks – $7.6MM
- Chiefs – $6.7MM
- Saints – $5.7MM
- Panthers – $5.2MM
- Dolphins – $2.9MM
- Eagles – $2.2MM
- Steelers – $2MM
- Raiders – $1.8MM
- Falcons – $1.3MM
- Rams – $264K
Eagles’ Brandon Brooks Restructures Deal
For the second time in five months, Eagles guard Brandon Brooks has amended his contract, as ESPN.com’s Field Yates tweets. This time around, the offensive lineman has reworked his deal to accommodate teammate Nick Foles. 
The revision to Brooks’ deal will create $6.37MM in cap space by converting his base salary into bonuses. The adjustment drops his cap number to $4.768MM in 2018, allowing the Eagles to give Foles a raise this season, plus extra incentives.
“If [you’re] wondering about the restructure, I get $4MM now [and] $4MM by Sept. 1 with a couple hundred thousand over the season,” Brooks tweeted. “The reason I did it was because the [expletive] SUPER BOWL MVP DESERVED MORE MONEY. Love you bro.”
Brooks, 29 in August, earned his first career Pro Bowl selection last year. He graded out as Pro Football Focus’ No. 4 ranked guard in the entire NFL in 2017, behind only Zack Martin of the Cowboys, David DeCastro of the Steelers. and Andrew Norwell of the Jaguars (formerly of the Panthers).
Eagles In A Historically Weak Draft Position
- Les Bowen of the Philadelphia Inquirer looks into the Eagles’ historically weak draft position this year. The team holds the No. 32 overall pick in the first round and doesn’t have a pick in the second or third round. The team has averaged four selections through the top 125 picks over the last 15 drafts and the last time they picked less than twice in the first three rounds came in 1977. It’s definitely possible that the Eagles could trade down from the No. 32 pick with a team targeting a specific player. They could also use players like Ronald Darby and Mychal Kendricks as trade bait to collect more picks. Lastly, they could bank on their likely compensatory picks for the 2019 draft, due to a large group of players departing in free agency this offseason, and use their current 2019 picks to collect more draft capital.