HEADLINES

Ryan Wendell

AFC Links: Gordon, Patriots, Moreno, Bortles

September 13th, 2014 at 9:37pm CST by Dallas Robinson

If Josh Gordon is allowed to play this season (as expected), he will then only be under contract through 2015, according to Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon-Journal (Twitter link). Had Gordon’s suspension been upheld, and he had been forced to sit out the entire year, his contract would have tolled, meaning the Browns would have controlled his rights through the 2016 season. Instead, Gordon will earn $1.068MM in 2015 and then hit free agency unless an extension is worked out. If his 2014 ban is reduced to ten games as reported, he will earn 7/17 of that salary (~$440K) in base salary this season. Here’s more from around the AFC.

  • Defensive lineman Kona Schwenke, who was waived from the Chiefs’ practice squad on Thursday, worked out for the Patriots today, reports Mike Reiss of ESPN.com (via Twitter). At 6’4″, 303 pounds, the 22-year-old Schweneke has the size required to play in New England’s multiple defensive fronts.
  • Patriots offensive lineman Ryan Wendell has $200K in gameday active roster bonuses included in his contract — he’s already been ruled out for tomorrow’s game, meaning he will miss out on $12,500K, per Reiss (on Twitter).
  • In a piece for Athlon Sports, Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Daily News examines 10 offseason moves that look regrettable following Week 1. Atop the scribe’s list is the Broncos’ decision to let Knowshon Moreno defect to the Dolphins. Moreno reportedly didn’t receive interest from any other team besides Miami, so it’s hard to quibble with Denver’s lack of interest in retaining the veteran running back. Still, Moreno did perform well on Sunday, rushing for 134 yards and a touchdown against the Patriots.
  • Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times-Union wonders when the Jaguars should transition to rookie quarterback Blake Bortles, arguing that it should be after Jacksonville wins it first game, so that the pressure on Bortles isn’t as extreme.

AFC East Notes: Patriots, Bills, Jets

April 3rd, 2014 at 5:52pm CST by Ben Levine

Ryan Mallett hasn’t had much of an opportunity to prove himself as a starting-caliber quarterback since joining the league in 2011. Tom Brady‘s backup is entering the final season of his contract and there have been rumblings that team’s could be interested in trading for the former Razorback. If the Pats did decide to pull the trigger and trade Mallett, they aren’t likely to get much back, writes Mike Reiss of ESPNBoston.com. Reiss actually has little faith that the team would get anything of use in return, and thinks Mallett is more valuable even as an expiring-contract backup than as a trade asset.

Let’s take a look at some more rumblings from around the AFC East…

  • In the same article, Reiss discusses his confidence that Devin McCourty will sign an extension with the Patriots. Reiss expects to see a new contract as early as this offseason.
  • Reiss also addresses Ryan Wendell‘s new contract with the Patriots, stating that the new deal doesn’t guarantee that Wendell will be starting this season. Reiss sees the offensive lineman as more of a backup and believes that the team will continue to look at upgrading the position.
  • The Bills announced that Mary Wilson, wife of the team’s late founder and owner, will now be the controlling owner, according to a post on BuffaloBills.com. Meanwhile, a source tells Tim Graham of The Buffalo News that the team won’t “ease” into the sale process and that a deal could come as soon as October.
  • Wide receiver Brandin Cooks has scheduled a pre-draft visit with the Jets, reports Rich Cimini of ESPNNewYork.com (via Twitter).

Patriots Re-Sign Ryan Wendell

April 1st, 2014 at 9:50am CST by Luke Adams

TUESDAY, 9:50am: The initial NFLPA records for Wendell’s contract had a misprint, adding an extra zero to his annual roster bonuses, according to Field Yates of ESPN Boston. Rather than receiving annual $2MM roster bonuses, Wendell is eligible for annual $200K roster bonus, says Yates. As such, the two-year deal is actually worth significantly less than initially reported — it has a base value of $3.25MM ($850K guaranteed) and can be worth up to $4.55MM with incentives.

FRIDAY, 2:18pm: The Patriots have re-signed center Ryan Wendell, according to Tom Curran of CSNNE.com (via Twitter). Field Yates of ESPN Boston, citing NFL records, tweets that it’s a two-year, $6.85MM contract.

Wendell, 28, has started every one of the Patriots’ regular season contests over the last two seasons, and figures to enter 2014 as the team’s center. As I noted when I examined the free agent market for centers last month, Wendell had a poor 2013 season following a very good 2012. The Fresno State product ranked as the league’s worst pass-blocking center in ’13, according to Pro Football Focus’ advanced metrics (subscription required), and received a negative pass-blocking score from PFF in ’12 as well, even though he ranked fourth overall among centers.

While Wendell’s poor pass-blocking grades may be a cause for concern for Tom Brady and New England’s passing attack, it appears the team is confident enough in the veteran center to commit to him as the starter in 2014 and perhaps 2015.

According to Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun (Twitter links), the deal includes an $850K signing bonus, base salaries of $1MM in both seasons, roster bonuses worth $2MM in both years, and up to $1.3MM in playing-time incentives for 2015.

AFC East Notes: Dolphins, Wendell, Jackson

March 30th, 2014 at 1:39pm CST by Dallas Robinson

After the Dolphins’ signing of Knowshon Moreno, at least one running back is set to lose his roster spot in Miami, writes James Walker of ESPN.com. Moreno and second-year-pro Lamar Miller are guaranteed to make the squad, so that leaves a competition between Daniel Thomas, Mike Gillislee, and Marcus Thigpen for the final two RB roster spots (assuming the ‘Fins keep four backs). Thigpen offers special teams value, so the last slot will likely come down to Thomas or Gillislee. A training camp battle will determine the final outcome, but my guess would be that Thomas stays. He has the higher pedigree as a former second-round-pick, and Gillislee saw just nine snaps last season.

More from the AFC East, with notes from ESPNBoston.com’s Mike Reiss:

  • Center Ryan Wendell‘s underwhelming market was due to two factors. First, Wendell was viewed as nothing more than a fallback option for teams who couldn’t land their top option. Second, Wendell’s main backer in New England was offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia, who recently retired. Wendell, who eventually re-signed with the Patriots on a two-year deal, is expected to face competition for his starting spot on the offensive line.
  • Reiss does not believe the Patriots can sign DeSean Jackson due to his reported gang ties, especially after the Aaron Hernandez situation unfolded last offseason.
  • The Patriots simply don’t believe in financial commitments to running backs, as evidenced last season by the loss of Danny Woodhead to the Chargers, and this offseason when they allowed LeGarrette Blount to sign with the Steelers.
  • Although Vince Wilfork is viewed as a prototypical run-stuffing nose tackle, he will be a part of some sub packages. Wilfork’s ability to stay on the field is personally crucial — breaking the 70% snap threshold is one of three requirements for him to earn all $8MM of his 2014 salary.

Pats Notes: Blount, Ayers, Wilfork, McCourty

March 23rd, 2014 at 8:39am CST by Rory Parks

Even though the Patriots may lose LeGarrette Blount this offseason, Christopher Price of WEEI.com notes that the team is still ahead of the game with its stable of running backs and the complementary skill-sets those backs possess. Although Price notes that Maurice Jones-Drew and Knowshon Moreno are still available, he believes that if the Pats want to replace Blount, they are more likely to do so with a big-bodied back in the middle rounds of the draft.

Now for some more Patriots notes:

  • As far as the team’s need for a pass-rusher is concerned, although Andre Carter may want to come back to New England, it is unclear if the feeling is mutual. Given Carter’s age (he will turn 35 in May) and Jared Allen‘s price tag, both Price and Karen Guregian of the Boston Herald believe that Robert Ayers is a more realistic option to bolster the team’s pass rush and provide some support to the revamped secondary. Guregian notes that Shaun Phillips might also be a potential fit.
  • Mike Reiss of ESPNBoston.com notes that there is a belief that, the longer Vince Wilfork remains under contract, the greater the possibility that the two sides will work something out. Wilfork, of course, requested his release from the team a little more than a week ago, but the Patriots have not obliged just yet. For his part, Reiss believes every option is still on the table as far as Wilfork is concerned, and he is intrigued to see what owner Robert Kraft has to say about the situation when he speaks with reporters at the NFL’s annual meeting in Orlando over the next several days.
  • Considering the big-money deal that Jairus Byrd recently landed with New Orleans and Earl Thomas‘ impending free agency, Reiss believes the Patriots will approach Devin McCourty with a lucrative contract extension before he becomes a free agent at the end of the 2014 season.
  • Reiss also expresses surprise that free agent guard Ryan Wendell, who started every game for New England in each of the past two seasons, has not garnered more interest on the open market.

NFC East Rumors: Ayers, Wendell, Tuck

March 12th, 2014 at 11:01am CST by Zachary Links

The latest from the NFC East..

  • The Cowboys are interested in defensive end Robert Ayers, tweets Calvin Watkins of ESPNDallas.com. However, no visit has been scheduled with the Broncos free agent. Ayers, 28, registered a career-high 5.5 sacks in 15 games (3 starts) last season for Denver.
  • Center Ryan Wendell is a name to watch for the Giants, tweets Dan Graziano of ESPN. Pro Football Focus’ metrics weren’t kind to Wendell in 2013, placing him 33rd out of 36 eligible centers.
  • There are more teams in play for free agent Justin Tuck than the Raiders and Giants, tweets Mike Garafolo of FOX Sports. Tuck has been a staple in New York for the last nine seasons but this could be the winter that he winds up somewhere else. Last season, Tuck recorded 11.0 sacks and appeared in all 16 games, starting in 15 of those contests.

AFC East Notes: Wendell, Mankins, Dolphins

February 20th, 2014 at 9:24am CST by Luke Adams

As Thursday’s slate of head coach and general manager press conferences gets underway at the NFL combine in Indianapolis, let’s check in on a few updates out of the AFC East, including a certain Dolphins head coach finally breaking his silence on the Ted Wells report….

  • The Patriots have yet to enter negotiations with free agent center Ryan Wendell about a new deal or talk to Logan Mankins about an extension to reduce his cap number, according to Ben Volin of the Boston Globe (via Twitter). Volin adds in a second tweet that both players would likely be receptive to those talks.
  • Speaking to reporters at the combine today, Dolphins coach Joe Philbin indicated that no decisions have been made yet on whether the team will bring back players like Richie Incognito, John Jerry, and Mike Pouncey (Twitter link via Shalise Manza Young of the Boston Globe). While that may be true, it seems pretty clear that Incognito and Jerry, who are eligible for free agency, won’t be back.
  • Philbin also told reporters, including Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun (Twitter link), that Dolphins owner Stephen Ross has reached out to Jonathan Martin and will meet with him. Philbin was noncommittal on Martin’s future with the club.