Extra Points: Bills, Smith, Romo, Redskins
Former Buffalo Sabres owner Tom Golisano intends to bid on the Bills when they’re put up for sale, according to John Kryk of the Toronto Sun. Reports for more than a month have pegged the billionaire originally from Rochester, N.Y., as a likely bidder, so the news doesn’t come as a surprise.
More from around the league:
- With regards to Aldon Smith pleading no-contest in today’s proceedings, 49ers GM Trent Baalke said “Today was an important step towards bringing that situation to a resolution.” The 49ers exercised Smith’s fifth-year option earlier this offseason despite his off-the-field troubles.
- Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo is no stranger to rumors over his job security but he’s not letting that talk bother him. “There’s no question in my mind that not only will I make it though 16 games – I’ll make it through another five years,” Romo told 105.3 The Fan in Dallas. The QB is coming off of not one but two recent back surgeries.
- John Keim of ESPN.com is sizing up the Redskins‘ draft picks and today he zeroed in on third-round pick Morgan Moses. The third-round tackle out of Virginia has been referred to as a first-round talent, but Keim believes that he’ll need some time before he’s thrust into a starting role.
- Longtime Texans receiver Andre Johnson revealed his frustration with the with the team earlier this offseason but teammates are confident that everything will work out, writes Dave Zangaro of CSNHouston.com. Johnson says he isn’t planning on attending OTAs or the team’s mandatory minicamp this offseason.
- Saints cornerback Keenan Lewis is excited about the arrivals of Champ Bailey and Jairus Byrd, writes Terrance Harris of The Times-Picayune.
NFC Notes: Suh, Witten, Falcons, 49ers
Speaking to reporters after practicing with his Lions teammates today, Ndamukong Suh attempted to reinforce the idea that he likes playing in Detroit and wants to remain with the team long-term, but his comments resulted in more questions than answers. As Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press outlines, Suh alluded to having an opportunity on draft day in 2010 to be selected by a team besides the Lions, in the same way that Eli Manning pushed to land on the Giants rather than the Chargers.
“It is my choice. It is, for sure, my choice,” Suh said, when asked if he really had any say in which team selected him. “But like I said, that’s water under the bridge. I’m here in Detroit, I’m happy to be here in Detroit, I’m going to continue to play my heart out as I’ve always done and continue to do.”
Although Suh brought up the 2010 draft in order to illustrate his satisfaction with being a member of the Lions, it may have had the opposite effect, since it hadn’t been public knowledge that the defensive tackle even entertained the possibility of a Manning-esque move back in ’10.
Here’s more from around the NFC:
- At age 32, Jason Witten is one of the oldest players on the Cowboys, but he said earlier this week that he hasn’t considered retirement at all, and doesn’t necessarily believe he’s in the final stages of his career. Jon Machota of the Dallas Morning News has the details and quotes.
- Asked about Atlanta’s receiving duo of Julio Jones and Roddy White, Falcons owner Arthur Blank said that he’d like to see both players remain with the club for their entire careers, writes Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com. Jones had his fifth-year option picked up for 2015, while White is entering the final year of his deal, so both players figure to discuss contract extensions soon. “We love Roddy, and Julio as well, so we’ll continue to work with them and their agents closely,” Blank said.
- Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com passes along an interesting story from Tom Elliott of the St. Cloud Times about Bemidji State’s Zach Noreen, a basketball player who received a minicamp invite from 49ers GM Trent Baalke despite not having played a football game since 2009 in high school.
- Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune and Pat Yasinskas of ESPN.com have provided signing bonus info for the Bears‘ and Buccaneers‘ UDFA signings, respectively. We’ve updated our posts on those signings with those bonus amounts.
Draft Signings: Titans, Raiders, Jaguars, 49ers
We’re dedicating individual posts to draft pick signings from the first two rounds while rounding up the deals from rounds 3-7 in bulleted posts. To keep tabs on all of this year’s draft pick signings to date, be sure to check out our tracker. Here are Tuesday’s latest draft signings from the later rounds:
- The Titans announced that they have agreed to terms with sixth-round quarterback Zach Mettenberger and fifth-round linebacker Avery Williamson, writes Jim Wyatt of The Tennessean. Mettenberger, whose deal we heard about earlier today, fell in the draft partially due to a torn ACL suffered at the end of his final season.
- Three seventh-rounders have inked their deals with the Raiders, the team announced today in a press release. Cornerback Travis Carrie, defensive end Shelby Harris, and safety Jonathan Dowling are now officially members of the club, and they’ll receive respective signing bonuses of about $67K, $54K, and $46K, according to Jason Fitzgerald’s figures at OverTheCap.com.
- Former UCF standout Storm Johnson has signed his rookie deal with the Jaguars, the team announced via Twitter. The 6’0″, 209-pound tailback, who was selected with the seventh pick in the seventh round, has shown quick feet for a player of his size.
- The 49ers announced that they have signed seventh-round fullback Trey Millard, tweets Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com.
Luke Adams contributed to this post.
NFC Notes: Glennon, Crabtree, Jeffery, Eagles
Although a few trade rumors were swirling around Buccaneers signal-caller Mike Glennon prior to the draft, head coach Lovie Smith made it clear in speaking to reporters earlier this month that he views Glennon as the team’s quarterback of the future. In addition to making that view public, Smith has also been assuring Glennon of the same thing privately, according to the quarterback himself, who said today that the coach called him twice during the draft to assure him there was no truth to trade rumors involving him (Twitter links via Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times).
Here’s more from around the NFC:
- Jay Cutler’s extension last year with the Bears was viewed as the potential floor for Colin Kaepernick’s next contract with the 49ers, and as Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com explains, Chicago’s new agreement with Brandon Marshall could also provide a blueprint for talks between Michael Crabtree and the Niners.
- Meanwhile, with Marshall locked up, the Bears figure to turn their attention to their other top wideout, Alshon Jeffery. Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk wonders what sort of deal the 24-year-old Jeffery may be in line for if the 30-year-old Marshall is worth $10MM per year.
- With the Eagles‘ 90-man roster now full, Sheil Kapadia of PhillyMag.com takes a look at the club’s offensive depth chart, breaking down positional battles and the odds of several recent signees making the team. Over at ESPN.com, Josh Weinfuss takes a similar look at the Cardinals‘ depth chart.
- New Giants tight end Xavier Grimble tells Jordan Raanan of NJ.com (Twitter link) that the 49ers, Falcons, Redskins, and Raiders were among the clubs who reached out to him after he went undrafted.
NFC Notes: Marshall, Packers, 49ers
The Vikings will have the first opportunity to pitch their city as the host of Super Bowl LII in 2018, according to the team’s Twitter account. As NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport points out (via Twitter), that is exactly what the team was hoping for. Minneapolis hasn’t hosted a championship since 1992 and the construction of a new stadium may be enough to bring the game back to Minnesota. The Saints and Colts are also finalists for the bid.
Now, for more notes from around the NFC…
- Brandon Marshall will donate $1MM to the mental healthy community, the Pro-Bowler announced during his appearance on “The View” (via Larry Mayer of ChicagoBears.com).
- Marshall’s new contract will likely have an impact on future deals for Packers receivers Randall Cobb and Jordy Nelson, tweets ESPN’s Rob Demovsky.
- The 49ers have two starting-caliber nose tackles in Glenn Dorsey and Ian Williams and could very well trade one of them, writes Matt Barrows of The Sacramento Bee. The team only plays the position on about 40 percent of their defensive plays, so they could move one of the veterans to acquire more draft picks. Barrows mentions Williams as being the most likely to be traded.
- Josh Johnson will have no impact on the 49ers cap room, writes Barrows in another article. The quarterback signed with the team last week, and because the player’s salary is not among the top-51 on the team, it will have no impact on the 49ers’ available offseason cap space.
Minor Moves: Bowanko, Broncos, Rice Jr.
Here are an assortment of moves on this Monday afternoon…
- The Jaguars have announced the signing of sixth-round pick Luke Bowanko, according to the team’s Twitter account. His signing bonus will be worth $94,052, tweets Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times-Union.
- The Panthers have signed punter Jordan Gay and cut offensive linemen Travis Bond, Michael Jasper and Phillipkeith Manley, according to the team’s Twitter account. Gay was waived by the Giants last week.
- The Broncos have signed a trio of players, according to Aaron Wilson of The Baltimore Sun (via Twitter): Charles Mitchell, Chase Vaughn and Greg Hardin. Mitchell is a former draft pick of the Falcons and Vaughn has been in the UFL since 2010. Hardin was announced as an undrafted free agent signee last week.
- The Broncos also waived injured defensive end John Youboty, according to Lindsay Jones of USA Today (via Twitter). The former practice squad participant suffered an achilles injury and is expected to be placed on the IR after clearing waivers.
- The Bears have released running back Willie Carter, writes ESPN.com’s Michael C. Wright.
- Jerry Rice Jr. will join the 49ers for the rookie minicamp, the player announced on his twitter. The son of legendary receiver Jerry Rice will be a non-roster player, writes Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com.
NFC Roundup: Suh, Cowboys, Bears, Eagles
Despite the fact that he will be attending organized team activities this week, Ndamukong Suh continues to be the subject of trade rumors. According to Mike Freeman of Bleacher Report, teams are still contacting the Lions to inquire about Suh, despite Detroit claiming that no teams have shown interest (Twitter links). A trade of the All-Pro defensive tackle would yield almost $3MM in cap space for the Lions, but Suh’s 2014 $12.55MM base salary would probably prove too costly for any team looking to acquire him. In order for a trade to take place, it would probably take a willingness from Suh to restructure his deal, along with a first- or second-round pick heading to Detroit.
More news from the NFC:
- The Cowboys have a fondness for Boise State players, so it was logical that the team surrendered its second- and third-round picks to move up and select BSU linebacker Demarcus Lawrence, writes Rainer Sabin of the Dallas Morning News. “We like Boise guys,” said Dallas head coach Jason Garrett. “We always take a hard look at where the player has played, what kind of program [it is] and what that program is all about. They do a great job up there. It’s a very competitive program. The players that come out of there compete; they play hard. We’ve got two of them,” he said, referencing Orlando Scandrick and Tyrone Crawford.
- Jason Witten was pleased with the Cowboys draft, as he believes the selection of guard Zack Martin shows Dallas wants to improve to the running game, according to Carlos Mendez of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “I think it says a lot about where our football team’s headed,” said Witten. “It was huge for us, because for a long time, we didn’t have that solidified. I think it speaks volumes for where we’re at and where we’re trying to go.”
- Despite the presence of veteran corners Charles Tillman and Tim Jennings, Bears first-rounder Kyle Fuller is expected to contribute in 2014, specifically because of the spread offense. “Typically, at least half of the snaps that you’ll play in the season will be with five defensive backs in the game,” said defensive coordinator Mel Tucker. “And sometimes you’ll go into game weeks or games and almost every snap will be in sub personnel…A third corner is like a starter. A third corner plays as much if not more than your third linebacker in a 4-3″ (per Patrick Finley of the Chicago Sun-Times).
- Eagles second-rounder Jordan Matthews is expected to replace Jason Avant in the slot, and fellow rookie receiver Josh Huff isn’t thought of as a field-stretcher, but that hasn’t stopped the DeSean Jackson comparions, writes Martin Frank of USA Today.
- 49ers coach John Harbaugh is known as a quarterback guru, and after San Francisco added Josh Johnson to compete for the third QB role, Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com ran through the extensive list of signal-callers that Harbaugh and company have brought in over the past three seasons.
NFC Rookies: Lions, 49ers, Seahawks, Sam
Lions‘ draft picks Nevin Lawson and T.J. Jones have officially signed their rookie deals, reports Tim Twentyman of DetroitLions.com. Lawson, a cornerback out of Utah State, was a fourth-round selection. Jones, the receiver out of Notre Dame, was taken in the sixth round. That leaves only three players left to be signed, which Twentyman writes is expected soon.
Here are some other notes from around the NFC:
- The 49ers have announced the signing of sixth-round draft pick Kenneth Acker, according to the team’s official website. The SMU cornerback signed a standard four-year deal with the team. He is one of six rookie draft picks to sign his deal.
- The Seahawks have officially announced the signing of defensive tackle Jimmy Staten, reports Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times (via Twitter). Staten, a fifth-round pick out of Middle Tennessee State, is the third draft pick to sign with the team.
- While Michael Sam and the Rams have yet to agree on their rookie contract, the player and team already made one big decision together, as the OWN Network’s documentary on Sam has been postponed, reports Chris Mortensen of ESPN (via Twitter). The Rams have said they prefer to treat Sam like any other seventh-round draft pick.
Draft Signings: 49ers, Jets, Johnson, Boyd
There have been a flood of draft signings so far today, and you can get caught up on the earlier ones with our previous roundups. We’ll be keeping track of signings from rounds 3-7 in these posts while dedicating individual posts to players taken in the top two rounds. The latest signings..
- The Texans have agreed to sign sixth-round fullback Jay Prosch (Auburn), according to Mark Berman of FOX 26 (on Twitter).
- The 49ers have agreed to terms on a deal with fourth-round pick cornerback Dontae Johnson, a source tells Adam Caplan of NFL.com (on Twitter). The corner is known mainly for his speed and versatility and can play pretty much any position in the secondary.
- The Jets have signed sixth-round pick Tajh Boyd to a four-year deal, tweets Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News. The Clemson quarterback will look to hook on as the club’s third option behind incumbent Geno Smith and free agent pickup Michael Vick.
- The Jets also signed fourth-round wide receiver Shaq Evans, tweets Caplan. The 6’1”, 213-pound UCLA product boasts solid hands, route running abilities, and overall instincts.
West Notes: 49ers, Kaepernick, Latimer
Stanford linebacker Shayne Skov was projected to be drafted anywhere from the second round to the fifth round but he didn’t hear his name called at all on draft weekend. “Yeah, it puts a chip on your shoulder,” the 49ers rookie said, according to Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com. “I think everybody kind of has an idea and expectation for themselves, so when the public opinion or people’s perceptions are different than your own, then obviously you’re going to take that a little bit personally.” More out of the West divisions..
- Kent Somers of the Arizona Republic (video link) analyzes Cardinals‘ third round pick John Brown. The Division II wide receiver signed his deal with Arizona earlier today.
- Josh Johnson is back with the 49ers and he’s glad that Colin Kaepernick is the starter this time around, writes Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle. “Alex [Smith] was the starter then,” Johnson said of his last go ’round with SF. “Kap is the starter now. Kap is an athletic quarterback. I’m an athletic quarterback as well.”
- A Broncos source told Josina Anderson of ESPN (on Twitter) that Denver had Indiana wide receiver Cody Latimer ranked as the best blocking wide receiver in the 2014 class. Latimer rocketed up draft boards in the month of April and wound up going to Denver in the second round.