East Notes: Wilkerson, Eagles, Cousins, Jets
The Jets reportedly intend to use their franchise tag on Muhammad Wilkerson within the next couple weeks, but that doesn’t mean Wilkerson won’t have suitors this offseason. Given the Jets’ depth at defensive end, the team is expected to at least listen to trade offers for Wilkerson, and it sounds like the standout defender wants to make it clear that he’s recovering from well from the broken leg that ended his season last month.
“Great visit w/ Dr. Anderson 2day in NC,” Wilkerson tweeted today. “Leg responded gr8, starting rehab ahead of schedule. Anxious to get to work. Thx for all the support!”
Wilkerson’s leg injury was never expected to sideline him for any of the 2016 season, but the fact that he’s ahead of schedule in the rehab process is a good sign for the Jets and for any teams that may be considering making a play for him in the coming weeks.
Let’s check in on several more updates from out of the NFL’s East divisions…
- Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets that Chase Daniel will be a “name to watch” this offseason for the Eagles. Daniel, a free-agent-to-be, has been previously linked to Philadelphia, due to the team’s hiring of former Chiefs offensive coordinator Doug Pederson. Rapoport suggests the Eagles’ new head coach views Daniels as “more than a backup.”
- John Keim of ESPN.com and Mike Garafolo of FOX Sports each examine the Kirk Cousins contract situation in Washington, with Keim suggesting the team must maintain future cap flexibility, with many other extension candidates on deck in a year or two. As for Garafolo, he still sees the franchise tag as the most likely outcome for Cousins, since the quarterback has far more leverage at this point than Washington does.
- Ryan Fitzpatrick isn’t a franchise quarterback, but he’s a great bridge option for the Jets, who must re-sign him, writes Rich Cimini of ESPN.com. Cimini projects a three-year, $24MM pact, including $12MM guaranteed, for Fitzpatrick, whom the ESPN scribe expects to be back in New York next season.
- Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald expects the Dolphins to either lock up Olivier Vernon to a multiyear contract or use their franchise tag on him, since “it makes no sense” to allow a young pass rusher like Vernon to reach the open market.
- Although Mel Kiper’s latest mock draft has the Cowboys selecting Jared Goff with the No. 4 overall selection, Todd Archer of ESPN.com remains skeptical that Dallas will use that pick on a quarterback.
Latest On Kirk Cousins, Washington
6:32pm: The likelihood of the two sides reaching a long-term pact is “not good,” per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. However, that could change after Washington applies the franchise tag to Cousins, Rapoport adds (Twitter link).
9:53am: There will be no long-term deal “now nor anytime soon” between Washington and quarterback Kirk Cousins, according to ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter (on Twitter). However, things are not contentious between the two sides, he says. 
[RELATED: 2016 NFL Franchise Tag Candidates]
Earlier this week, there were some conflicting reports as to whether talks between the two sides were active. The discussions have “broken off,” yet the two sides are “still talking,” just without much to discuss at the moment, Schefter tweets. That report alone sounds pretty ambiguous, but the main point here seems to be that there probably won’t be a long-term pact hammered out in the coming weeks.
Reports late in the 2015 season suggested that Washington intended to retain Cousins by any means necessary, and the franchise tag wouldn’t be a bad outcome for the player. Based on a projected salary cap of $154MM for 2016, the non-exclusive franchise tag for quarterbacks this year would be worth nearly $20MM, and that salary becomes fully guaranteed if and when a player signs the franchise tender. Locking in a guarantee of nearly $20MM for one year and setting a baseline for a longer-term extension could help improve Cousins’ leverage in contract talks. And of course, if Washington doesn’t use its franchise tag to lock him up, he would potentially have the opportunity to reach the open market, where multiple lucrative offers would likely be waiting for him.
Perhaps no player in the league did more over the last four weeks of the regular season to help his stock than Cousins, who completed 74% of his passes for nearly 1,200 yards, while posting a 12:1 touchdown-to-interception ratio to go along with a 134.0 quarterback rating. For the season, Cousins thew 29 touchdowns against 11 interceptions, led the league in completion percentage (69.8%), and helped Washington win its first division title since 2012.
We ranked Cousins third overall in our most recent free agent power rankings, and identified him earlier this week as one of 2016’s top franchise-tag candidates.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Latest On Kirk Cousins Contract Talks
8:30pm: Cousins and Washington have not stopped discussing a contract, a source with knowledge of the situation tells Mike Florio of PFT. The source, Florio writes, was “adamant” that discussions are still active.
1:54pm: Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com, who reported over the weekend that Washington and Cousins were nowhere close to an agreement, tweets that they still need to bridge that gap in negotiations. However, he hears that conversations between the two sides are ongoing.
1:15pm: Washington and quarterback Kirk Cousins have broken off negotiations on a new contract for the signal-caller, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com, who tweets that no further discussions are currently scheduled. Schefter’s update comes on the heels of a weekend report which suggested the two sides were “nowhere near” reaching an agreement.
While it may be true that no further talks are presently on the docket for Cousins and Washington, that doesn’t mean that the two sides won’t talk again sometime before March 9th, when the new league year opens, or even March 1st, the franchise-tag deadline. It’s more likely that this is a negotiating tactic by one side or the other, rather than an insurmountable roadblock.
With the window for teams to use their franchise tag on players opening today, it’s possible Cousins’ camp has broken off talks in an effort to encourage the club to tag the quarterback. Reports late in the 2015 season suggested that Washington intended to retain Cousins by any means necessary, and the franchise tag wouldn’t be a bad outcome for the player.
Based on a projected salary cap of $154MM for 2016, the non-exclusive franchise tag for quarterbacks this year would be worth nearly $20MM, and that salary becomes fully guaranteed if and when a player signs the franchise tender. Locking in a guarantee of nearly $20MM for one year and setting a baseline for a longer-term extension could help improve Cousins’ leverage in contract talks. And of course, if Washington doesn’t use its franchise tag to lock him up, he would potentially have the opportunity to reach the open market, where multiple lucrative offers would likely be waiting for him.
Perhaps no player in the league did more over the last four weeks of the regular season to help his stock than Cousins, who completed 74% of his passes for nearly 1,200 yards, while posting a 12:1 touchdown-to-interception ratio to go along with a 134.0 quarterback rating. For the season, Cousins thew 29 touchdowns against 11 interceptions, led the league in completion percentage (69.8%), and helped Washington win its first division title since 2012.
We ranked Cousins third overall in our most recent free agent power rankings, and identified him earlier this week as one of 2016’s top franchise-tag candidates.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Washington, Kirk Cousins Not Close To Deal
Washington and pending free agent quarterback Kirk Cousins were “nowhere near” an agreement on a new contract after the Senior Bowl, sources tell Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com. Cousins projects to enter free agency on March 9 if no deal is reached, but Washington does have the option to apply the franchise tag.
There’s little doubt that Washington will use the franchise tender if it can’t reach an extension with Cousins, who placed third in the latest edition of our free agent power rankings. In his column today examining candidates for the franchise tag, Ben Volin of the Boston Globe estimated that the quarterback will come in around $19.7MM — that figure would rank 10th among QB annual values league-wide. Cousins is likely the only quarterback who will be franchised, as reports indicate that the Eagles are unlikely to use the tag on Sam Bradford, while the Broncos will likely franchise Von Miller (and not Brock Osweiler).
[RELATED: Washington GM Scot McCloughan talks free agency, RG3, Cousins]
Washington can franchise Cousins as soon as Tuesday (February 16), and has until March 1 to apply the tag. The two sides would then have until July 15 to reach a long-term deal — if no extension is reached, Cousins would be forced to play until the one-year deal (the salary of which would be fully guaranteed).
After accounting for the impending release of Robert Griffin III, Washington is projected to have roughly $24.5MM in cap space for 2016. The club can make moves to increase that figure — cutting defensive backs Dashon Goldson and DeAngelo Hall, for example, would save Washington another $11.4MM — so fitting Cousins in via the franchise shouldn’t be an issue. It could certainly make things tight, however, so a long-term deal (with a lower year-one cap charge) is probably best from the team’s side.
[RELATED: Washington RB Alfred Morris likely to depart via free agency]
It remains to be seen whether Cousins will push for a Colin Kaepernick/Andy Dalton extension (low guarantees, large maximum value based on incentives and escalators), or aim for a more traditional deal, including a large signing bonus. Either way, Cousins certainly has an argument his salary floor should be Ryan Tannehill‘s $19.25MM. Subsequently, $20MM annually is probably the starting point in negotiations, with Cousins’ ultimate target being even higher.
Perhaps no player in the league did more over the last four weeks of the regular season to help their stock than Cousins, who completed 74% of his passes for nearly 1,200 yards, while posting a 12:1 touchdown-to-interception ratio to go along with a 134.0 quarterback rating. For the season, Cousins thew 29 touchdowns against 11 interceptions, led the league in completion percentage, and helped Washington win its first division title since 2012.
East Notes: Bills, Hicks, Cousins
Vic Carucci of The Buffalo News takes an interesting and in-depth look at the Bills‘ coaching dynamics prior to the hiring of Rex Ryan in early 2015. In 2014, the Bills’ defense under Jim Schwartz was terrific. It ranked fourth in yards allowed, first in sacks, and near the top of the league in a number of other statistical categories. Plus, there were no complaints that the system did not fit the players or that the team did not have enough talent to succeed on defense. So when former head coach Doug Marrone surprisingly decided to leave the team after his second year in Buffalo, Schwartz assumed the Bills would hire another offensive-minded head coach.
And then reports began to surface that the Bills were preparing to hire Ryan. Buffalo ownership wanted Schwartz to remain the team’s defensive coordinator, but given the philosophical differences between Schwartz and Ryan, Schwartz had no idea if he would remain the defensive coordinator in title only while someone else actually ran the defense. Ryan himself did not contact Schwartz until the day after he was hired, and that was to advise Schwartz that his services would no longer be required. The Bills defense, of course, took a major step back under Ryan, and there is a palpable sense of discontent among the team’s defensive players. As of right now, it is difficult to see the team making major strides in 2016, which could leave the front office with another tough coaching decision to make next year.
Now let’s round up a few more notes from the league’s east divisions:
- In light of the NFL’s recent race to Los Angeles, there has been a great deal of speculation as to whether the Bills will pursue a new stadium of their own, even though the lease on Ralph Wilson Stadium is not due to expire until 2023. But Carucci, in a separate piece for The Buffalo News, says team ownership has absolutely no desire to move forward with a new stadium, and New York governor Andrew Cuomo is of the same mindset. As Carucci writes, “after investing $130 million in renovations at The Ralph, staying in Orchard Park is a long-term solution that works best for everyone.”
- Phil Perry and Tom E. Curran of CSNNE.com, along with Mike Reiss of ESPNBoston.com, identify Akiem Hicks as the Patriots‘ top impending free agent. The 26-year-old Hicks was an excellent run-stuffer in 2015, and he showed a reasonable amount of pass rush ability as well. Hicks combined with Malcom Brown and Alan Branch to form a stout defensive front last season, but considering Dominique Easley‘s injury history and the lack of depth behind that core group, Perry and Curran believe re-signing Hicks should be New England’s top priority this offseason. Reiss, however, would be surprised if the team used the franchise tag on Hicks, as the 2016 franchise tag value for defensive tackles is projected to be over $13MM.
- Rich Tandler of CSNWashington.com examines what a new contract for Kirk Cousins might look like and what the odds are that Cousins gets the franchise tag, but Tandler does not envision any scenario in which Cousins will not be playing for Washington next year.
- John Keim of ESPN.com says Washington GM Scot McCloughan will approach free agency this season the same way he addressed it last year: with a number of relatively modest signings designed to add veteran stability to the team’s areas of need, like the defensive line and the secondary.
- Free agent guards Alex Boone and Jahri Evans would be good fits for the Dolphins, who could use some help at both guard positions, but considering Miami’s other needs, James Walker of ESPN.com does not believe the team has enough cap room to sign either player.
NFC East Notes: Eagles, Cousins, Goldson, Eli
After meeting with several candidates for their front office opening, the Eagles have halted their search for a new personnel chief for now, as we learned earlier this week. Speaking on Wednesday to reporters, including Zach Berman of the Philadelphia Inquirer, Howie Roseman explained why the team doesn’t plan to fill that position until after the draft.
“Just by the nature of the time of year, teams aren’t necessarily going to be so aligned with [a comprehensive search],” Roseman said. “We’re looking at this as a long-term decision for us – not just a five-month decision. The candidates we looked at were good, but we also want to make sure we’re looking at all the good candidates that are available.”
Roseman was also asked about the possibility of re-signing quarterback Sam Bradford and extending defensive lineman Fletcher Cox, and while he declined to go into specifics, he expressed some interest in locking up both players. “Everything is positive about Sam” and the Eagles have the cap space to re-sign him, according to Roseman, who said of Cox, “We’d love for him not only to start his career but finish his career as an Eagle.”
Here’s more out of the NFC East:
- Although Jason Fitzgerald of Over the Cap initially thought the Eagles overpaid offensive tackle Lane Johnson on his new extension, a deeper dive into the number reveals the deal is more team-friendly than it looks on the surface, as Fitzgerald explains.
- Mike Jones of the Washington Post weighs the pro and cons of Washington franchising Kirk Cousins or signing him to a multiyear deal, concluding that locking the quarterback up to a long-term deal now would “probably bring more benefits” than the franchise tag would.
- Veteran safety Dashon Goldson is set to count for $8MM on Washington‘s books in 2016, and the team could clear that entire amount by cutting him. However, John Keim of ESPN.com thinks Goldson will stick around, perhaps after accepting a pay cut or restructure, since the club still values what he can provide both on the field and in the locker room.
- As his 39-year-old brother prepares to play what could be his last game, Giants quarterback Eli Manning said this week that he believes he has several more good years of football in him and is optimistic about playing until he’s 40, per Paul Schwartz of the New York Post.
Washington GM On Free Agency, RG3, Cousins
A look at the latest out of the nation’s capital:
- In Scot McCloughan‘s first offseason as GM in Washington, he signed five free agents to fairly modest contracts. He says that fans should expect more of the same this spring. “I think we’ll have a little bit of money but it’s going to be similar,” he said, according to Rich Tandler of CSNMidAtlantic.com. “We’re not going to be big players. I don’t believe in that.” Any free agent the team does sign, he says, will have to be in the team-first mold. Last season, nose tackle Terrance Knighton was the only 2015 free agent to start more than six games for Washington.
- Washington will almost certainly release Robert Griffin III from his contract, but the team’s GM won’t tip his hand on the quarterback’s future, as JP Finlay of CSNMidAtlantic writes. “We have until March 9th,” McCloughan said when asked what will happen next with the Baylor product. McCloughan’s answer indicates that Griffin will not be cut until we get closer to the start of free agency.
- When it comes to retaining Kirk Cousins, all options are on the table, and that includes the franchise tag, as Finlay writes. “It’s an option,” the general manager said of the tag. “Of course you’d rather not.” Placing the franchise tag on Cousins would cost Washington a one-year guaranteed contract worth at least $19MM.
NFC Notes: E. Rogers, Lions, Cousins, Morstead
Standout CFL receiver Eric Rogers is signing with the 49ers, but it was a visit to the Eagles that helped convince him to choose San Francisco. As he explains to Scott Mitchell of the Calgary Sun, Rogers was impressed at a December workout with the Eagles that head coach Chip Kelly took the time to attend and to meet with him despite Philadelphia having a game to play a couple days later. Kelly’s enthusiasm for the Calgary Stampeders star didn’t dim at all when he became the Niners’ new head coach.
“When he got hired by the Niners, he called me two or three hours after it got announced that they were going to hire him,” Rogers said. “He basically told me, ‘I guess I had to come to Cali to sign you since you’re a Cali boy.’ So he still had that kind of recruitment in him like he was at Oregon. He was like, ‘You’re the first player I called and I want you to be the first player I sign at my new job.'”
As we look forward to seeing if Rogers can earn a roster spot and make an impact for the 49ers this season, let’s check in on a few more items from out of the NFC….
- During an appearance on SiriusXM NFL Radio, new Lions general manager Bob Quinn said that he approached the decision of whether or not to retain head coach Jim Caldwell with an open mind (link via Tim Twentyman of DetroitLions.com). “We had a series of meetings,” Quinn said. “It wasn’t just one day or one hour. It was over a couple of days and a dozen hours. Really, get to know you sessions. My philosophy and his philosophy meshed.”
- With Kirk Cousins in line for a new contract, Washington will aim to build its roster around the quarterback, and will have to build its salary cap strategy around his new deal, writes Master Tesfatsion of the Washington Post. Former agent Joel Corry tells Tesfatsion that he doesn’t expect Cousins to agree to a team-friendly long-term deal like the ones signed by Colin Kaepernick and Andy Dalton.
- Mike Triplett of ESPN.com doesn’t expect the Saints to cut Thomas Morstead this offseason, but says the team will have to consider it, since the veteran punter – who has a $4.45MM cap hit in 2016 – may be a luxury the team can’t afford. I suggested as much back in September in my preview of New Orleans’ cap outlook for ’16.
- Former Falcons tackle Lamar Holmes continued to work out for NFL teams this week, auditioning on Wednesday for the Cowboys, per Adam Caplan of ESPN.com (via Twitter). Holmes spent most of the 2015 season on the PUP list before being cut by Atlanta with an injury settlement.
East Notes: RGIII, Cousins, Jets, Bills, Eagles
Washington quarterback Robert Griffin III made it through the 2015 season healthy, which means his 2016 salary – currently guaranteed for injury only – won’t become fully guaranteed. As such, it’s probably just a matter of time until the team releases the former second overall pick, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets and Jason Reid of ESPN.com writes.
The RGIII era in Washington is set to come to an end, having overlapped with the start of the Kirk Cousins era, and it remains to be seen what sort of long-term future Cousins has in Washington. For now though, all signs (and reports) point to the club aiming to lock up its new starting quarterback via a multiyear contract or the franchise tag this offseason.
Following Washington’s Wild Card loss to the Packers, Cousins was asked about his future and replied, “I want to be where I am wanted,” per John Keim of ESPN.com. For now, that will almost certainly mean staying in D.C.
Here’s more from across the NFL’s East divisions:
- Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News has 10 suggestions for offseason roster moves for Jets general manager Mike Maccagnan. Among them? Re-signing Ryan Fitzpatrick and Bilal Powell, extending Damon Harrison, drafting a quarterback and edge rusher, and trading Muhammad Wilkerson.
- With the Bills not expected to be major players in free agency, the team will have to explore different avenues to find contributors for 2016. As Tyler Dunne of The Buffalo News suggests, that means that a few of the 14 players signed by the team in December could end up being in the mix for roster spots next season.
- Zach Berman of the Philadephia Inquirer takes an early look at some upcoming offseason decisions for the Eagles, identifying the club’s biggest needs and most important free agents.
Breer’s Latest: Cousins, Bucs, L.A., Titans
In his latest notes column for NFL.com, Albert Breer of the NFL Network takes a closer look at the group of top quarterbacks in the 2016 draft class, before exploring several other noteworthy topics from around the NFL. Let’s dive in and round up the highlights….
- Washington continues to plan on having Kirk Cousins back next season, as has been previously reported. Sources tell Breer that the team wants to lock up Cousins to a long-term contract before the deadline to apply franchise or transition tags to players. But if the two sides can’t work something out by then, Washington is “fully prepared” to franchise its quarterback.
- Having worked in Arizona and observed the relationship between Steve Keim and Bruce Arians, Buccaneers GM Jason Licht would like to create a similar dynamic in Tampa Bay. Licht wants to hire a head coach who “he can challenge and be challenged by, without anyone getting offended.” The ideal candidate for the Bucs would also “instill toughness” and “set a culture,” and those are considered more important factors than whether a coach is offensive- or defensive-minded, according to Breer.
- At this point, among the NFL’s team owners, there are two distinct camps when it comes to the Los Angeles relocation proposals — one camp is focused on the projects, and favors the Rams‘ proposal, while the other camp is focused on the owners and teams involved, and favors the Chargers‘ and Raiders‘ Carson plan. Neither side has the necessary votes, and it won’t be easy to obtain them, says Breer.
- There’s concern within the Titans organization about how often their quarterbacks – particularly Marcus Mariota – have been hit and injured over the last couple seasons. Breer suggests that could be a factor that makes the team shy away from hiring Chip Kelly, since his quarterbacks in Philadelphia were frequently injured as well. Of course, one could argue that those injuries were the result of bad luck and/or poor offensive line play, rather than being coaching-related, but Michael Vick and Nick Foles both went down while playing behind solid lines for the Eagles.
- The Browns‘ head coaching job certainly isn’t considered the most desirable one among the seven that are currently available, but coaches consider it significant to have a direct line to a team’s owner, and Cleveland’s next coach will report directly to Jimmy Haslam, Breer observes.