South Notes: Bucs, Winston, Saints, Colts
Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston is expected to selected first overall by Tampa Bay on Thursday night, and the Buccaneers have certainly done their research on the 2013 Heisman winner. General manager Jason Licht tells Joey Johnston and Roy Cummings of the Tampa Tribune that his club spoke with more than 75 people in an attempt to properly vet Winston. Curiously, the Bucs did not speak with the woman who accused Winston of sexual assault in 2013, but they did talk to a member of the Tallahassee State Attorney’s Office, which declined to press charges against Winston.
Here’s more from the NFL’s South divisions…
- Of the 18 prospects who are known to have visited the Saints, 12 are defensive players, which could be an indication of which direction New Orleans is leaning with its two first-round picks, writes Evan Woodbery of NOLA.com. Of course, as Woodbery adds, each club is allotted 30 predraft visits, so there up to 12 Saints player meetings that the public isn’t aware of.
- Speaking of the Saints, Mike Triplett of ESPN.com doesn’t think the club will take a risk on players with off-the-field trouble, such as edge rusher Randy Gregory or receiver Dorial Green-Beckham.
- The Colts will likely have to trade up if they want a chance at a player like Alabama safety Landon Collins, according to Mike Wells of ESPN.com. Indianapolis owns nine picks, so they could have the draft capital to make such a move.
- Although a poor draft (and a similarly underwhelming 2015 season) would probably threaten the job of Titans GM Ruston Webster more than head coach Ken Whisenhunt, Paul Kuharsky of ESPN.com thinks both could be in jeopardy if Tennessee struggles this year.
Sunday Roundup: Draft, Weddle, J. Houston
Let’s take a look at some notes from around the league on this Sunday afternoon, including one note on the first overall pick in Thursday’s first round:
- Multiple teams have reached out to the Buccaneers recently to determine what it would take to move up to the No. 1 overall pick, according to Rand Getlin of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter). However, Getlin adds in a second tweet that although the Bucs have listened, no offer has been strong enough for the team to seriously consider trading down just yet.
- Similarly, Conor Orr of NFL.com writes that Raiders GM Reggie McKenzie has fielded calls on Oakland’s No. 4 overall selection.
- In a separate piece, Orr writes that the Chiefs are keeping the lines of communication open with star outside linebacker Justin Houston, who was slapped with the franchise tag in March. Kansas City has a little under three months to work out a long-term deal with Houston, and the fact that talks are still ongoing and are still progressing is a good sign that something will get done.
- Paola Boivin of The Arizona Republic believes Wisconsin RB Melvin Gordon would be the perfect first-round choice for the Cardinals, who hold the No. 24 overall pick.
- Troy E. Renck of The Denver Post feels the Broncos should take an offensive tackle in the first round, even if they have to trade up a couple of spots to do it. Renck goes on to examine some of the prospects that could be available when Denver is on the board.
- Chargers safety Eric Weddle feels “highly disrespected” by the team’s refusal to engage in contract talks despite his desire to retire with the organization, but Matt Calkins of U-T San Diego believes the Chargers are taking the right approach.
- Given that the Jaguars feel better about their roster than they have in the past two seasons, Ryan O’Halloran of The Florida Times-Union would not be surprised if the team traded a couple of picks to move into the back of round 1 or up in rounds 2-3.
- Continuing a theme among NFL beat writers, Jim Wyatt of The Tennessean looks at the offensive side of the Titans‘ roster heading into the draft and offers his predictions as to what the team will do to address its deficiencies on that side of the ball during draft weekend.
- Washington GM Scot McCloughan‘s history suggests he will select an edge rusher with his top pick in this year’s draft, writes Rich Tandler of CSNWashington.com. Although Tandler says Randy Gregory‘s red flags will probably keep him off McCloughan’s board, Vic Beasley and Dante Fowler, Jr. would both be good bets.
Latest On Titans, Philip Rivers
Alex Flanagan of NBC Sports (on Twitter) is hearing from more and more people who believe the Philip Rivers trade rumors have legitimate legs. Peter King of Sports Illustrated (Twitter link), meanwhile, seems to be sensing the same thing, though he says nothing is certain regarding the No. 2 pick at this time.
As Flanagan tweets, the Titans have a clear need for Rivers and the Chargers could get out of their financial obligation to him with a trade. Meanwhile, Marcus Mariota would be marketable in Los Angeles, if the Bolts do wind up moving there. Meanwhile, Flanagan (link) isn’t so sure that the Buccaneers won’t want Mariota, which would throw a wrench into things. For his part, King (link) still sees Jameis Winston going No. 1.
All eyes will be on the Titans and their No. 2 pick heading into the draft on April 30th. Mike Mayock of NFL Network believes that it will be hard for any team to pry that selection away from Tennessee unless they’re offering an established veteran quarterback like Rivers. All in all, the discussions have been shrouded in relative secrecy despite the level of speculation going on. Earlier this week, a source told Michael Gehlken of U-T San Diego that the two sides have yet to be in contact with one another. At this stage, however, it’d be surprising if that were still the case.
Draft Links: Cooper, Perriman, Raiders, Ravens
Alabama wideout Amari Cooper figures to be one of the first two wideouts selected in next week’s draft (along with West Virginia’s Kevin White). It seems unlikely that the talented 20-year-old will fall outside the top-10, as Aaron Wilson of The Baltimore Sun reports that Cooper met with nine teams drafting within that range.
That list includes Washington, the Buccaneers, Titans, Jaguars, Jets, Bears, Falcons, Giants, Rams and Browns. The Raiders and Vikings were the only teams selecting in the top-12 to not host Cooper.
Let’s take a look at some other draft notes from around the league…
- While Cooper and White are expected to the be the first two receivers off the board, NFL Films senior producer Greg Cosell believes Central Florida’s Breshad Perriman could emerge as a top pick. “I think Cooper is the top receiver prospect this year,” Cosell writes for Yahoo! Sports. “But if you asked me who is No. 2 among White and Perriman, that’s a tougher question. I really like Perriman…Perriman is a big powerful, explosive, fast guy. Although he and White are about the same size, on film Perriman looks like the bigger guy. I could see ranking Perriman even with or ahead of White, although I’m in the minority on that.”
- ESPN.com’s Bill Williamson wonders (on Twitter) if Florida defensive end Dante Fowler Jr. could be in play for the Raiders during the first round. The junior compiled 2.5 sacks during the 2014 season, finishing his college career with 14.5 sacks.
- CSNBaltimore.com’s Clifton Brown believes the Ravens will make trades during this year’s draft, but not during the first round. The writer wonders if the team could move up during the second round to secure Minnesota tight end Maxx Williams.
Buccaneers Re-Sign Bobby Rainey
It’s the last day for restricted free agents to sign offer sheets with rival suitors, and barring some unexpected late drama, it looks like most of those players will simply return to their current teams. The latest RFA to sign his tender from his club is running back Bobby Rainey, according to a press release from the Buccaneers.
Rainey, 27, assumed the role of lead running back in Tampa Bay for several games during the 2013 season, accumulating a total of 566 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns on the season for the Browns and Buccaneers. He received fewer carries for the Bucs in 2014, but improved his yards per carry average (from 3.8 to 4.3), and increased his receptions from 15 to 33. Rainey received an original-round tender from Tampa Bay, so he’ll earn a $1.542MM salary for 2015.
With Rainey now under contract for the coming season, seven restricted free agents remain unsigned. Here are the players who have yet to ink their respective RFA tenders:
- Tony Carter, CB (Broncos): Original-round tender
- Jerrell Freeman, LB (Colts): Second-round tender
- Tashaun Gipson, S (Browns): Second-round tender
- Robert Golden, S (Steelers): Original-round tender
- Damon Harrison, DT (Jets): Second-round tender
- Jermaine Kearse, WR (Seahawks): Second-round tender
- Ishmaa’ily Kitchen, DT (Browns): Original-round tender
Draft Rumors: Clemmings, Mariota, Gregory
Pittsburgh offensive tackle T.J. Clemmings is the latest prospect to discover an injury during a team visit. A source tells Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link) that Clemmings was diagnosed with a stress fracture in his foot, despite not feeling any pain. It remains to be seen how the injury will affect the draft position of Clemmings, who is viewed as one of the best offensive lineman in the draft.
More on next week’s draft:
- Mike Freeman of Bleacher Report spoke to five NFL personnel men, and all five believe that Marcus Mariota will be drafted by the Titans, either at No. 2 or at No. 5 (following a trade with Washington). Some of those execs points to the Jets as another strong contender for Mariota, but they don’t believe New York will move up, a belief supported by GM Mike Maccagnan‘s comments today.
- Of course, even if the Titans select Mariota, it doesn’t necessarily rule out the possibility of Tennessee trading him to another team. Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com takes a look at how a Mariota trade could potentially happen after the draft.
- Randy Gregory may take a fall in the first round, but one exec tells Jason Cole of Bleacher Report (Twitter link) that Gregory won’t fall out of the first round. Personally, I’d be surprised if the Nebraska pass rusher is still on the board after the first 15 picks of the draft.
- One football executive tells Bob McGinn of the Journal-Sentinel that he sees a lot of former Raiders bust JaMarcus Russell in presumptive No. 1 pick Jameis Winston. “Lack of focus by JaMarcus is what I see in Winston,” the personnel man said. “They’re physically talented, but during the course of a game they kind of lose their focus and just put the ball up for grabs. I see the body. I see the lack of focus. I see the same coach and system. Only Winston’s not as good an athlete and his arm isn’t as strong as JaMarcus‘.”
- In addition to his previously-reported visits, Alabama wide receiver Amari Cooper also paid visits to the Buccaneers, Bears, Falcons, Giants, and Washington, according to Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post.
- Wilson also provided an update on Ohio State wide receiver Devin Smith, writing that the Cowboys, Saints, and Panthers were among the teams to meet with intriguing deep threat.
Zach Links contributed to this post.
South Notes: Bucs, Blackmon, Wisniewski
The Buccaneers aren’t expected to trade the No. 1 pick, but that hasn’t stopped teams from asking, as Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times writes.
“It’s fair to assume someone is going to have to make a really good offer, yeah,” Bucs GM Jason Licht said. “And this time of year you get a lot of calls every day. Not making offers but just throwing, gauging your interest of if you would be open to it or not. And that will continue. But it would have to be an offer that makes this franchise, that sets this franchise even further ahead than what you thought you were going to with the decision you made.”
As the Bucs continue to mull their options for that first overall pick, let’s check in on some more notes from around the league’s two South divisions….
- Asked by a reader about Justin Blackmon‘s future with the Jaguars, Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times-Union suggests the wideout is “done-zo” in Jacksonville. It’s a response to a chat question rather than the subject of an actual report, but O’Halloran, who views Amari Cooper as a strong option for the Jags at No. 3 overall, sounds pretty confident that Blackmon won’t play another game for the franchise.
- Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post has the details on Stefen Wisniewski‘s one-year deal with the Jaguars, tweeting that the veteran center will earn a $1.25MM base salary to go along with a $500K signing bonus. The contract also features $250K in per-game roster bonuses, $500K in playing-time incentives, and an injury waiver.
- West Virginia wide receiver Mario Alford, one of the fastest players in this year’s draft class, visited and worked out privately for the Falcons, according to Wilson. Wilson adds that NFL teams have primarily been working out Alford as a slot receiver, even though he mostly played outside at WVU.
Zach Links contributed to this post.
North Notes: Manziel, Peterson, Browns
Browns GM Ray Farmer told reporters, including Mary Kay Cabot of The Plain Dealer (on Twitter), that he did not try to trade Johnny Manziel to the Eagles, despite rumors to the contrary. Recently, Jason Cole of Bleacher Report reported that the Browns tossed out the idea in a conversation with Philadelphia, but it didn’t gain any traction. As for the Eagles, they apparently didn’t have any real interest in making that happen. Here’s more on the Browns and the rest of the AFC North..
- Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports told Arizona Sports 98.7 FM that the Cowboys are not in the running for Vikings tailback Adrian Peterson. “Whoever says otherwise is 1,000 percent wrong,” he said. “The Cowboys have not spoken to the Minnesota Vikings about Adrian Peterson. It has not happened. They haven’t offered a draft pick, they have not picked up the telephone to talk to the Minnesota Vikings about Adrian Peterson. It simply has not happened.” Robinson says the Cardinals, Buccaneers, and Jaguars are the teams in the mix for No. 28 at present and he wouldn’t rule out the Falcons joining that group. Robinson is 100% confident that the Vikings would trade Peterson to the Cardinals if they were to offer up their first-round pick, but it remains to be seen if they’re willing to do that.
- Farmer said that he’ll add to the competition at quarterback if he finds a viable option, Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon-Journal tweets. He’s not, however, desperate for a signal caller. “It’s constantly reported we’re [quarterback] starved and we’ll do whatever it takes to get one person. I don’t know why that is,” the GM said (link). The Browns’ collection of quarterbacks currently includes Manziel and veteran Josh McCown.
- When asked if he’d take a running back in the first round, Farmer responded, “Sure. Why not?” (via Ulirch on Twitter). The Browns own the No. 12 and No. 19 picks in the draft.
- The team has yet to decide on an interim GM that will be in charge while Farmer is suspended, Cabot tweets.
Draft Notes: Ray, Scherff, Peters, Williams
There was some concern that Missouri pass rusher Shane Ray, who is expected to come off the board early in the draft next Thursday night, would require surgery on a troublesome foot injury. According to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter links), Ray’s injury – which is similar to turf toe – was discovered during a team visit and prompted a visit to a foot specialist, who recommended rest rather than a surgical procedure, good news for the young edge defender.
Tony Pauline of DraftInsider.net (Twitter link) hears that the Cowboys flagged Ray as needing surgery, but not all teams – and not all doctors, apparently – were convinced it was required.
Let’s check in on a few more Thursday draft updates….
- Iowa tackle Brandon Scherff is drawing “heavy interest” from teams drafting between the fifth and ninth spots in the first round, a source tells Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post (Twitter link). The clubs currently in those spots? Washington, the Jets, the Bears, the Falcons, and the Giants.
- In addition to making 17 pre-draft visits to teams, Washington cornerback Marcus Peters had individual workouts for the Falcons, Panthers, Buccaneers, and Dolphins, tweets Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle.
- Speaking to Maggie Gray on SI Now, Florida State cornerback P.J. Williams said that most teams are telling him his DUI incident shouldn’t have a huge impact on his draft stock.
- Montana edge defender Zack Wagenmann, who is projected as a mid- to late-round pick, broke his foot recently during a private workout with an NFL team, writes Adam Caplan of ESPN.com. Wagenmann won’t be able to participate in football-related activities for eight weeks, but is aiming to be ready for training camp.
- Caplan also passes along an update on Hobart offensive lineman Ali Marpet, reporting (via Twitter) that Marpet visited the Chargers earlier this week, and has worked out for the Cardinals, Bengals, and Texans.
- Besides confirming some of his previously-reported visits, T.J. Clemmings‘ draft diary for USA Today (via Tom Pelissero) added some new teams to his list of possible suitors. According to the Pittsburgh tackle himself, he visited the Bears and had a private workout with the Panthers. Clemmings will also privately work out for the Dolphins tomorrow.
- Florida linebacker Neiron Ball has made pre-draft visits with the Patriots, Broncos, Buccaneers, and Texans, writes Wilson. Ball has also worked out privately for the Falcons, Rams, Steelers, Cardinals, and Texans.
Draft Visits: Strong, Steelers, Lions, Langford
With draft night just eight days away, several teams who are doing research and due diligence on Marcus Mariota are also intrigued by Bryce Petty, tweets Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com. While Petty may not be a first-round pick, he could very well be the third signal-caller off the board after Jameis Winston and Mariota, says La Canfora.
The fact that the draft is now right around the corner also means that today is the final day for teams to host pre-draft visits for prospects. While clubs can still conduct private workouts over the next several days, visits have to be completed by tonight. Here are a few updates on the final visits happening around the NFL:
- Jaelen Strong, WR (Arizona State): Visiting the Texans today, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link). The team will get a chance to look at his injured wrist.
- Landon Collins, S (Alabama); Preston Smith, DE (Mississippi State); Dexter McDonald, CB (Kansas); Davis Tull, OLB (UT-Chattanooga): All visiting the Steelers today, per Scott Brown of ESPN.com (Twitter links).
- Danny Shelton, DT (Washington): Visiting the Lions today, writes Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press.
- La’el Collins, T (LSU); Jamon Brown, T (Louisville): Also visiting the Lions today, tweets Michael Rothstein of ESPN.com.
- Jeremy Langford, RB (Michigan State): Has had visits with the Colts and Buccaneers in addition to previously-reported visit with Broncos, tweets Josh Katzenstein of the Detroit News.
- Paul Dawson, LB (TCU): Recently visited the Falcons, after previously having worked out for the club, per Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
- John Miller, G (Louisville): Visiting the Saints today, according to Rand Getlin of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter).
- Alani Fua, OLB (BYU): Visiting the Eagles today, tweets Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun.