HEADLINES

Jameis Winston

Extra Points: Winston, Buccaneers, Eagles

July 1st, 2014 at 10:44pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston has taken out an insurance policy that would pay $8-10MM in the event of disability or loss of value, reports Rand Getlin of Yahoo! Sports. The policy is predicated on the expectation that Winston will be picked in the top-10 of the 2015 draft; if he is not selected in the first round due to injury or illness, the policy will presumably pay out. Though Winston has designs on spending two more years at FSU, Getlin writes that this policy makes that scenario unlikely. Premiums on coverage plans such as Winston’s are often in excess of $50K annually, meaning the Heisman winner will probably need to earn an NFL salary to pay off the fee.

  • Jason Fitzgerald of Over the Cap zeroes in on the Buccaneers’ secondary while dissecting the team’s best and worst contract, labeling Alterraun Verner‘s deal as the most team-friendly, and Dashon Goldson‘s pact as the most perilous to Tampa Bay’s cap situation.
  • The Eagles have several intriguing candidates for the return jobs on special teams, writes Reuben Frank of CSNPhilly.com. During minicamp, Darren Sproles was used as the main punt returner, while rookie Josh Huff was the primary option on kick returns.
  • Eagles offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur, Browns defensive coordinator Ray Horton, and Seahawks offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell top Pat Kirwan of CBSSports.com’s list of assistants who are likely to get a head job soon.

Extra Points: Winston, Flowers, CJ2K, 49ers

June 19th, 2014 at 9:26pm CST by Zachary Links

Jameis Winston‘s father, Antonor Winston, believes his son plans to play two more seasons at Florida State, writes Jeff Sentell of The Birmingham News. The quarterback is slated to graduate in December of 2015 but if he jumps early, he’ll likely find himself as a top 10 pick in next year’s draft. Winston is also a promising baseball prospect and has been projected by some to be a first round pick in the 2015 MLB Draft. Tonight’s glance around the NFL..

  • Matt Vensel of the Star Tribune (via Twitter) heard this morning from a league source that free agent cornerback Brandon Flowers is not expected to visit the Vikings. Flowers, who was cut loose by the Chiefs last week, is visiting with the Chargers before potentially taking visits elsewhere, but it sounds like Minnesota is not on the docket.
  • Jets tailback Chris Johnson is upset with the Titans for cutting him so late in the offseason and former NFLPA president Kevin Mawae is on his side. “I’ve got to give some credit to Chris,” Mawae said on 102.5 The Game, according to Terry McCormick of TitanInsider.com. “There are some times when the business side of it is done wrong and if the team knew they were gonna cut him or whatever, then I’m in agreement with Chris that they should have done it earlier. There’s no sour grapes about it. You just don’t do business that way, is what I think Chris is trying to say and I would agree with that.”
  • Tight end Vernon Davis and guard Alex Boone want new contracts from the 49ers and are holding out from practice until they get them. Unfortunately for them, as Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com explains, the club has a history of not caving into such holdouts. San Francisco set an important precedent in 2011 with running back Frank Gore and it’s hard to see them going against that now with Davis and Boone.
  • Although some have hammered Colin Kaepernick for signing a team-friendly deal with the 49ers, he says the contract is an all-around win, writes Lindsay H. Jones of USA Today Sports. “You can skew things anyway you want,” Kaepernick said. “At the end of the day, a lot of the way the contract is set up is the way every other quarterback’s contract is set up. The things that aren’t set up like those contracts are because we wanted them that way, so we could sign other players.“
  • Brandon Pettigrew has been a scapegoat for the Lions‘ struggles during his five years in Detroit, but he says he didn’t let that cloud his judgement before deciding to re-sign with the club, writes Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. This season, Pettigrew will share playing time with first-round pick Eric Ebron and second-year pro Joseph Fauria.

Winston Plans To Play Two More Years At FSU

February 7th, 2014 at 9:13am CST by Luke Adams

Coming off a season in which he led the Florida State Seminoles to a BCS National Championship victory and became the youngest player to win the Heisman, quarterback Jameis Winston is one of the top young prospects in college football. However, backing up comments made by FSU coach Jimbo Fisher this week, Winston says he intends to play college ball for two more years rather than entering the NFL draft when he’s eligible in 2015, according to Kareem Copeland of The Associated Press.

“Everybody says, well he’s going to stay one (more) year and leave,” Fisher said this week. “I think it’ll be two.”

Asked about his his coach’s declaration, Winston confirmed that “whatever he says most likely is true,” adding: “Obviously I’m a big baseball person, so that’s an accurate statement because I plan on playing baseball [at FSU] next season anyway.”

Plenty could change between now and next year’s draft, so there’s no guarantee that Winston sticks to his plan and waits until 2016 to head to the NFL. Still, even if he doesn’t declare his intent for the 2015 draft, it shouldn’t have a significant effect on NFL teams’ approaches for the coming offseason. Perhaps clubs in need of a young quarterback will be slightly more inclined to draft one this year, but considering how quickly Winston figures to come off the board when he’s draft-eligible, it would have been misguided for any one team to bank on landing him anyway.