NFC Notes: Morris, Forte, Ross, Carr
Running back Alfred Morris is aware that his contract situation could become a subject of interest and speculation as he enters the final year of his rookie deal, but he tells Rich Tandler of CSNWashington.com that he couldn’t care less about it.
“I approach every year the same,” Morris said. “I’m a running back so I’ll be running the ball, blocking, catching it. I don’t even think about next year.”
For the team’s part, Washington appears set to take a wait-and-see approach with Morris. Since he was a sixth-rounder in 2012, the running back’s contract doesn’t feature a fifth-year option for 2016, but Washington will have exclusive negotiating rights until next March.
Here’s more from around the NFC:
- “It’s a hypocritical league,” Bears running back Matt Forte said of the NFL, in reference to his contract situation (link via Patrick Finley of the Chicago Sun-Times). Forte is seeking an extension, and recognizes that if he hadn’t reported to the voluntary portion of Chicago’s offseason program, he would’ve been labeled selfish. “But then if, say, I didn’t perform last year and (the Bears) wanted to cut me or cut my pay, they can do that,” Forte said. “They can get rid of you. So nobody says nothing to the team about that.”
- Former Giants defensive back Aaron Ross, who played 83 career NFL games for New York and Jacksonville, is aiming to return to action after missing last season with a torn Achilles, and has workouts lined up with the Rams and 49ers, according to Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post.
- Reports this offseason have indicated Brandon Carr isn’t interested in accepting a pay cut, but the Cowboys still hope to reduce the cornerback’s 2015 cap number, and owner Jerry Jones says there could be ways to do that that benefit Carr as well as the team, writes Rainer Sabin of the Dallas Morning News.
- The Vikings are expected to explore a possible contract extension with safety Harrison Smith this offseason, but he tells Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press that a new deal is “the furthest thing” from his mind at the moment. There’s no urgency for Smith or the Vikes, since his contract includes a fifth-year option for 2016.
Minor Moves: Monday
Today’s minor moves..
- The Chiefs signed offensive lineman Tavon Rooks, agent Richard Kopelman tells Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter).
- The 49ers signed center/guard Ben Gottschalk to a two-year deal while signing kicker Corey Acosta and wide receiver Mario Hull to three year deals, Wilson tweets. To help make room, Darius Davis has been waived (link).
- The Chargers have signed undrafted rookie offensive tackle Forrestal Hickman, according to a league source who spoke with Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post. Hickman, who stands at 6’8″ and 315 pounds, tried out for the Chargers during their rookie minicamp. The Missouri Science and Tech product was an all-conference selection last season.
- The 49ers released tackle/guard Chris Martin, according to agent Brett Tessler (on Twitter). Martin finished last season on San Francisco’s practice squad, but the agent says that the team simply had too many similar guys already on the roster.
- The Jets announced that they have waived/injured tight end Zach Sudfeld, who suffered a torn ACL, as Brian Costello of the New York Post tweets. In his stead, the Jets have inked tight end Steve Maneri.
- The Seahawks waived/injured defensive end Ryan Robinson, according to Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times (on Twitter). Condotta assumes that the Seahawks are hoping that he’ll pass through waivers, allowing them to stash him on IR.
- The Packers have waived rookie guard Marcus Reed, according to Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com (on Twitter). Reed was signed as a UDFA last month. Green Bay currently has 89 players on the roster.
- The Seahawks signed wide receiver Kasen Williams, according to Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post (on Twitter).
West Notes: Mathis, J. Houston, Raiders, Cards
A look at the latest from the NFL’s two West-based divisions:
- Veteran guard Evan Mathis, whom the Eagles released earlier this week, is expected to draw plenty of interest from around the NFL. One team that won’t go after him is the Chiefs, according to ESPN’s Adam Teicher, who notes that they’re loaded with guards and lack the cap space to pursue a high-profile player like Mathis.
- In other Chiefs news, star linebacker Justin Houston is without a contract after leading the league last year with a whopping 22 sacks. One major sticking point in whether he and the Chiefs can reach a deal will come down to the comparable contracts the two sides use with respect to both yearly salary and guaranteed money, tweets ESPN’s Lou Riddick. The Packers’ Clay Matthews leads all 3-4 OLBs in both total contract value ($66MM) and average annual value ($13.2MM). In the event Houston signs Kansas City’s franchise tender, he’ll make just under $13.2MM in 2015.
- Raiders rookie defensive lineman Mario Edwards Jr., a second-round pick out of Florida State, has made a positive impression on the team so far. “He’s had a great start to his rookie year,” head coach Jack Del Rio said, per Scott Bair of CSNCaliornia (via Twitter). Bair notes that Edwards has gotten plenty of first-team reps, having been used as both an end and a tackle.
- 49ers linebacker Aldon Smith was among the league’s most dominant defenders during the first three years of his career, amassing a prodigious 42 sacks in 43 regular-season games. Smith’s numbers declined last season, though, as he finished with just two sacks in seven games. However, Smith has been outstanding under new defensive coordinator Eric Mangini, according to Joe Fann of the 49ers’ official website, and is looking to return to his 2011-13 form. “I don’t think I played to my level, and I want to do everything it takes to play consistently at my level,” Smith said. “I know that when I’m playing consistently and I’m on my game, I can’t be stopped.”
- This year’s Cardinals could be the deepest they’ve been in a while and are built to make a run at Super Bowl contention, writes Dan Bickley of the Arizona Republic. The club has so much quality depth that Cards general manager Steve Keim is shopping their fringe players around the league instead of looking to release them outright, per Bickley.
NFC Links: Kuhn, Cardinals, Saints, Rams
Most players with John Kuhn‘s resume (including three Pro Bowl selections) would scoff as the idea of competing against a rookie. However, the Packers fullback is embracing the organization’s youth, including the team’s selection of fullback Aaron Ripkowski in the sixth round of this past year’s draft.
“Excitement,” he told Tyler Dunne of the Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel. “We preach around here that competition breeds the best football players. If you can’t embrace that, if you don’t believe it, then what’s the point of saying it?”
Even after re-signing with Green Bay this offseason, Kuhn isn’t taking anything for granted.
“You have to. This is the NFL. Thing happen all the time and if you don’t embrace it — if you don’t truly look at it as an opportunity to make yourself better — you’re only selling yourself short.”
Let’s take a look at some more notes from around the NFC…
- Count current 49ers wideout Torrey Smith among those who believe Ray Rice deserves a second chance. “Good people make mistakes,” Smith told TMZ Sports regarding his former Ravens teammate. “I believe in second chances and I think society is supposed to be built on the idea that you can suffer consequences and come back. . . . People sometimes want you to apologize a certain way, crying or all upset. He’s made things right with his wife and family and earned respect with his actions since the incident.”
- Cardinals general manager Steve Keim mentioned the team was open to the possibility of trades before the season, and Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com has picked out a few position groups that could still get shaken up. He picks the defensive line, secondary, and offensive line as places where the Cardinals may have some extra depth that could get moved for the right price.
- Saints owner Tom Benson’s competency trial should come to a conclusion sometime next week, but Jeff Duncan of NOLA.com assures fans that no matter what the outcome and who is eventually put in charge of the team, the team has no plans to relocate, and are locked into their stadium lease until 2025.
- The Rams need a new football stadium in St. Louis, and without it the team will be forced to relocate, writes Bernie Miklasz of STLToday.com. However, he analyzed the six owners Roger Goodell put in charge of overseeing possible relocation developments to Los Angeles–Clark Hunt, Robert Kraft, John Mara, Bob McNair, Jerry Richardson, and Art Rooney II. With that group in charge, Miklasz feels confident the city of St. Louis will be treated fairly.
Rob DiRe contributed to this post.
Minor Moves: Friday
Here are Friday’s minor transactions from around the NFL:
- The Lions claimed quarterback Garrett Gilbert from the Patriots earlier today, reports Howard Balzer of LockerDome.com (via Twitter). The team released quarterback Anthony Boone, according to Tim Twentyman of DetroitLions.com (via Twitter).
- The Seahawks have signed wide receiver Kasen Williams, according to John Boyle of Seahawks.com (via Twitter). The team waived linebacker Mister Alexander to make room for Williams, who announced the signing on his Instagram account.
- Wide receiver Zach D’Orazio was waived by the Patriots, and passed through waivers unclaimed, according to Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun (via Twitter).
- While the Buccaneers might have landed recently released tight end Tim Wright, Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports is interested to see the full list of teams who put in waiver claims for him (via Twitter). He adds that the Jets were one team that did.
- In order for the Buccaneers to make room for Wright on the roster, the team has waived tight end Taylor Sloat, according to Jenna Laine of SportsTalkFlorida.com (via Twitter).
- The Jets have signed former USC Trojan and Saints offensive tackle Charles Brown after they wrapped up their full-squad minicamp, reports Randy Lange of NewYorkJets.com. The team cut offensive tackle Sean Hooey to make room for the former second-round pick.
- Hooey wouldn’t be unemployed for very long, as the 49ers claimed him off waivers from the Jets, according to Wilson (via Twitter).
West Notes: Seahawks, Boldin, L.A., Cards
After the team traded away four-year starter Max Unger, Seahawks offensive line coach Tom Cable says that he expects “quite a battle” at the center position, as Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times writes.
Lemuel Jeanpierre, who has been with Seattle since 2010 – but has made only eleven starts – appears to be the frontrunner. However, Patrick Lewis started four games last year and is a definite contender. Also in the mix are Drew Nowak and rookie Kristjan Sokoli.
While the center position may be up in the air, the Seahawks fortified tight end in a big way when they acquired Jimmy Graham from the Saints in the Unger deal. Here’s more from out of the NFL’s two West divisions:
- The 49ers saw multiple players retire this offseason but Anquan Boldin said that he didn’t give any thought to joining that list, as Cam Inman of the Bay Area News Group writes. “If I felt we didn’t have a chance, I probably wouldn’t be here,” Boldin said Wednesday at minicamp. “There’s a lot of talent in this locker room. If we play the way we’re capable of playing, we’ll be right in the mix.”
- Longtime NFL executive Carmen Policy is helping the Raiders and Chargers with their Carson stadium project, and in Q&A with Vincent Bonsignore of the Los Angeles Daily News, Policy lays out his case for why Carson is the ideal location for the NFL to return to L.A.
- Demaryius Thomas, who received the franchise tag from the Broncos this offseason, has until July 15 to work out a long-term contract with the club, and his teammates are keeping a close eye on the situation, as Jeff Legwold of ESPN.com details.
- The Cardinals lost what little experience they had at the tight end position when John Carlson suddenly retired in May, leaving them to work with a much younger group, Kent Somers of The Arizona Republic writes.
Zach Links contributed to this post.
West Notes: Manning, Los Angeles, Bush
Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning has spoken with other players who walked away from the game because they grew bored with the tediousness of studying film and the monotony of practice. That’s not the case for him, however.
“I think everybody likes continuity and some consistency in what you’re doing. But I will say at age 36 when I got here and now 39 that I have been stimulated by the changes, which I do think keeps you engaged and energetic and focused in meetings,” Manning said, according to Arnie Stapleton of The Associated Press.
Here’s more from the West divisions..
Minor Moves: Wednesday
Here are Wednesday’s minor transactions from around the NFL, with additional moves added to the top of the list throughout the day:
- The 49ers re-signed linebacker Michael Wilhoite, according to Howard Balzer of USA Today Sports (on Twitter). Wilhoite was an exclusive rights free agent. At one point earlier this offseason, the 49ers were said to be shopping Wilhoite as a possible trade chip. However, that was back when San Francisco was still expecting to have Patrick Willis and Chris Borland back in the mix for 2015. In April, GM Trent Baalke indicated that he was working on a new deal with Wilhoite. Apparently, that did not come together as planned.
- As we heard yesterday, the Panthers are signing tight end Scott Simonson after working him out earlier this week. To make room on the roster, Carolina has waived punter Matt Wile, the team announced today (Twitter link). Wile initially joined the Panthers as an undrafted free agent out of Michigan about five weeks ago.
- The Lions have made some changes at the back of their 90-man roster, signing tight end David Ausberry and cutting safety Nathan Lindsey, tweets Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. Like Simonson, Ausberry is a former Raiders tight end, having spent four seasons with the team after being drafted in the seventh round back in 2011. He played sparingly during his time in Oakland, catching 11 career passes for 120 yards.
NFC West Notes: Wilson, Dockett, Keenum
The best roster in football belongs to the Seahawks, according to Sam Monson of Pro Football Focus (Insider-only link via ESPN.com), who ranks Seattle No. 1 on his list all 32 NFL rosters. As Monson details, the offensive line is a weak area, with perhaps three starters who should be upgraded, but the team has several above-average offensive skill players, and one of the league’s best defenses. The Seahawks “aren’t going anywhere for a while” with the talent they have all over their roster, in Monson’s view. No other NFC West team places in the top half of PFF’s roster rankings, with the 49ers coming in 17th, the Rams 22nd, and the Cardinals 24th.
Here’s more from around the NFC West:
- Former agent Joel Corry of CBSSports.com offers some specifics on what he thinks Russell Wilson‘s next contract should look like, suggesting a four-year, $89MM deal that includes $62.5MM in guaranteed money ($41MM+ fully guaranteed). After explaining why the structure of his proposed extension makes sense for Wilson and the Seahawks, Corry plays devil’s advocate and offers some reasons why it might not work.
- The Seahawks should try to get a deal done as soon as possible with Wilson, even if it means making him the highest-paid player in the NFL, says Terry Blount of ESPN.com.
- Despite a parade of departures via free agency and retirement since he joined the team, defensive lineman Darnell Dockett doesn’t regret his decision to sign with the 49ers this offseason, writes Cam Inman of the San Jose Mercury News. “My decision was easy. I wouldn’t change it,” Dockett said.
- Case Keenum has shuffled back and forth between Houston and St. Louis in recent years, and is hoping his latest stint with the Rams is “a little more permanent,” as he tells Joe Lyons of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Keenum and Austin Davis are competing for the No. 2 job behind Nick Foles, and the loser of that battle may not make the roster, since third-round rookie Sean Mannion is also in the mix.
- Bernie Miklasz of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch wonders if the city of St. Louis could get another team if it loses the Rams, like Cleveland did with the Browns.
NFC Notes: Reid, 49ers, Lions, Rodgers
Here’s a quick look at the NFC..
- 49ers safety Eric Reid is getting ready to play this season, but he told Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle that he’s given some thought to leaving the NFL because of the three concussions he’s sustained. “Everybody evaluates their own situation as far as playing this game,” the 23-year-old said. “I’ve evaluated mine and I’ve decided I still want to play.” The former 2013 first-round pick said he might seek more medical advice, but he intends to play in 2015.
- Former Lions guard Rodney Austin was found guilty today in a North Carolina court of four misdemeanor charges stemming from an April accusation of domestic violence, as Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press writes. Austin was found guilty of assault on a female, assault on a child under age 12, interference with an emergency communication, and larceny. Mark Magazu, Austin’s agent, said in a statement that Austin “maintains his innocence” but does not plan to appeal the judge’s findings. Austin has been a practice-squad player for most of the last three years with Detroit.
- With his entire entire starting offense back from last year, Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers feels that his team has what it takes to win the Super Bowl this year. “I think the talent is definitely there,” Rodgers said, according to Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com. “But just like last year, you’ve got to see how the team comes together.”