Titans Notes: Preston, Lewan, Mettenberger
The Titans are set atop their receiver depth chart with Nate Washington, Kendall Wright and Justin Hunter. There is a spot up for grabs behind the trio, and Lauren Moore of The Tennessean writes that second-year player Michael Preston is looking like the favorite. Receiver coach Shawn Jefferson gushed about the 25-year-old:
“He is my jack of all trades,” Jefferson said. “He knows all the positions. I can plug him in anywhere, he hustles, blocks, and is a great teammate.
“He has a great chance, but there is a lot of competition at this position. Right now, I’m not making any predictions, but as a coach I can’t live without him. That’s how much he means to me as a player and a person.”
The competition for the spot isn’t easy. Among the candidates are veterans Brian Robiskie, Derek Hagan, Dorin Dickerson and Marc Mariani. 2013 undrafted free agent Rico Richardson is in the mix, as well as a handful of 2014 undrafted free agents.
Here are some more notes from the Volunteer State…
- The holdup over first-round pick Taylor Lewan‘s contract is likely regarding roster bonuses, writes ProFootballTalk.com’s Mike Florio. The offensive tackle could be looking to replace his fully-guaranteed base salaries with roster bonuses paid out during training camp. As Florio points out, this is similar to what happened with the team’s first-round pick in 2013, Chance Warmack. Warmack ended up receiving the type of contract that Lewan is seeking.
- Among the team’s expiring contracts, Jim Wyatt of The Tennessean suggests that the Titans should negotiate extensions with defensive lineman Jurrell Casey and punter Brett Kern. The writer wanted to see more from quarterback Jake Locker, linebacker Akeem Ayers, defensive lineman Derrick Morgan and offensive tackle Michael Roos before extending their contracts.
- Rookie quarterback Zach Mettenberger is making it his goal to be the starter “from day one,” he said on SiriusXM NFL Radio (via Michael David Smith of ProFootballTalk.com). “I’m going to make Jake work that much harder…cause I’m coming everyday. And I’m bringing my best effort and my hardest work to the facility everyday to show that I should be the guy playing.” Mettenberger clarified that he isn’t trying to start a quarterback controversy, claiming that “any guy worth his salt” would have the same approach.
Titans Notes: Lewan, Hunter, Thompson
Titans rookie first-rounder Taylor Lewan remains unsigned, but that didn’t prevent the team from training him at both left and right tackle, writes John Glennon in the Tennessean.
Here’s a few more Titans tidbits provided by offensive coordinator Jason Michael, who did an interview for the team website:
- Talented but raw second-year receiver Justin Hunter has shown flashes of playmaking, and “the sky’s the limit” for him, but the staff needs to continue pushing him.
- Veteran Shonn Greene (injury) and rookie Bishop Sankey (academic requirements) missed most of the team’s offseason, opening the door for Dexter McCluster to learn the system.
- Another player who must make strides is Taylor Thompson, whose transition from college defensive end to NFL tight end has not gone smoothly. Michael did not call out Thompson, but did stop short of praising him, saying, “He’s still young to the position, with changing from defensive end, and I know we’ve talked about those things and at some point, he’s got to put that behind him and move forward and be a tight end…”
- However, unlike Hunter, a 2013 second-rounder who scored four touchdowns and averaged nearly 20 yards per catch as a rookie, Thompson enters his third pro season with just nine catches to his credit. In a recent Daily News Journal article, Thompson admitted to enduring growing pains and a steep learning curve. Additionally, first-year position coach Mike Mularkey said his first impression of Thompson is that he’s raw and inexperienced. Thompson, whom the Titans traded up for in the fifth round of the 2012 draft, has two years remaining on his rookie contract, but the team is hoping for signs of development. He’s expected to be the team’s No. 3 tight end, but at 6-6 and nearly 270 pounds with sub-4.6 speed and natural catching ability, Thompson has breakout potential if the light comes on.
Extra Points: OTAs, Packers, Titans, Brady
Minicamps are finished. The 2014 NFL season awaits.
Players have left their respective clubs until the opening of training camp, and as ESPN.com’s John Clayton notes, coaches now will cross their fingers that they don’t receive the 3 a.m. phone call alerting them of the star player’s transgressions.
Clayton, the Worldwide Leader’s senior NFL writer, outlines seven things learned from the offseason programs, with No. 1 being the lack of readiness for rookie quarterbacks. Reading into Clayton’s words, he believes that no rookie quarterback will open the season as the team’s starting signal caller. Teddy Bridgewater is the most pro-ready, Clayton says, but Matt Cassel will get the first snap on opening day.
Taking a page out of Pete Carroll‘s playbook, Clayton writes that teams around the league are gravitating toward taller defensive backs. Case in point, the Kansas City Chiefs, who released 5-foot-9 cornerback Brandon Flowers in a cap-saving move. They’ll look to replace Flowers with 6-foot-1 Phillip Gaines, 6-foot-2 Marcus Cooper and 6-foot David Van Dyke, each of whom are first- or second-year players.
Other news and notes from around the league…
- Among the 10 Packers stories to watch before training camp opens by Tyler Dunne of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is peace of mind at backup quarterback. It wasn’t pretty for the Pack at QB when Aaron Rodgers went down in a Week 9 loss to the Bears, but coach Mike McCarthy should feel better about this year’s situation with Matt Flynn and Scott Tolzien backing up the All Pro, Dunne writes.
- Quarterback Jake Locker, receiver Kendall Wright and the defense’s front seven are all things Titans fans should feel good about, The Tennessean’s Jim Wyatt writes. Locker should be at 100% coming off foot surgery in November and had started the 2013 season with a bang, while Wright will team with Nate Washington and Justin Hunter to ease Locker’s return to health.
- Tom Brady‘s private quarterback coach, Tom House, admitted in an interview with SiriusXM radio that the three-time Super Bowl champion has struggled as of late to connect on the deep passes. “As he’s getting a little older you lose a little strength, you lose a little flexibility,” House said. “And what was happening was he was noticing that his accuracy and his long ball weren’t what they were three or four years ago. So we ran him through the computer, compared him to the models we have created for movement efficiency, and there were really, really small things that were causing his issues.”
Extra Points: Winston, Flowers, CJ2K, 49ers
Jameis Winston‘s father, Antonor Winston, believes his son plans to play two more seasons at Florida State, writes Jeff Sentell of The Birmingham News. The quarterback is slated to graduate in December of 2015 but if he jumps early, he’ll likely find himself as a top 10 pick in next year’s draft. Winston is also a promising baseball prospect and has been projected by some to be a first round pick in the 2015 MLB Draft. Tonight’s glance around the NFL..
- Matt Vensel of the Star Tribune (via Twitter) heard this morning from a league source that free agent cornerback Brandon Flowers is not expected to visit the Vikings. Flowers, who was cut loose by the Chiefs last week, is visiting with the Chargers before potentially taking visits elsewhere, but it sounds like Minnesota is not on the docket.
- Jets tailback Chris Johnson is upset with the Titans for cutting him so late in the offseason and former NFLPA president Kevin Mawae is on his side. “I’ve got to give some credit to Chris,” Mawae said on 102.5 The Game, according to Terry McCormick of TitanInsider.com. “There are some times when the business side of it is done wrong and if the team knew they were gonna cut him or whatever, then I’m in agreement with Chris that they should have done it earlier. There’s no sour grapes about it. You just don’t do business that way, is what I think Chris is trying to say and I would agree with that.”
- Tight end Vernon Davis and guard Alex Boone want new contracts from the 49ers and are holding out from practice until they get them. Unfortunately for them, as Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com explains, the club has a history of not caving into such holdouts. San Francisco set an important precedent in 2011 with running back Frank Gore and it’s hard to see them going against that now with Davis and Boone.
- Although some have hammered Colin Kaepernick for signing a team-friendly deal with the 49ers, he says the contract is an all-around win, writes Lindsay H. Jones of USA Today Sports. “You can skew things anyway you want,” Kaepernick said. “At the end of the day, a lot of the way the contract is set up is the way every other quarterback’s contract is set up. The things that aren’t set up like those contracts are because we wanted them that way, so we could sign other players.“
- Brandon Pettigrew has been a scapegoat for the Lions‘ struggles during his five years in Detroit, but he says he didn’t let that cloud his judgement before deciding to re-sign with the club, writes Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. This season, Pettigrew will share playing time with first-round pick Eric Ebron and second-year pro Joseph Fauria.
Titans To Sign Dorin Dickerson
The Titans are in the process of making a change to their 90-man roster, having cut tight end David Wright, according to Terry McCormick of TitanInsider.com (via Twitter). In place of Wright, who was signed last month as an undrafted free agent, the Titans will sign veteran tight end Dorin Dickerson.
Dickerson, 26, was a seventh-round pick by the Texans in 2010, and has spent time with Houston, New England, Buffalo, and Detroit since then. The Lions opted not to tender Dickerson a contract offer in March, making him an unrestricted free agent. The Pittsburgh product, who has 11 career receptions for 151 yards, auditioned for the Titans at their minicamp this week, and seemingly made a strong enough impression to earn a chance to compete for a roster spot in training camp.
The latest set of transactions may not be the last of the Titans’ maneuverings this summer, according to coach Ken Whisenhunt, who said today that moves may still be made before training camp begins (Twitter link).
Minor Moves: Bengals, Raiders, Bears, Bucs
Tonight’s minor moves..
- The Bengals announced (via Twitter) that they have released Mississippi halfback Jeff Scott.
- The Raiders claimed tackle Emmett Cleary off waivers from the Buccaneers, tweets Vic Tafur of the San Francisco Chronicle.
- Safety Sean Cattouse (Bears), Steven Jenkins (Buccaneers), Lamont Bryant (Titans), Aaron Mellette (Ravens), and Adrian Hamilton (Ravens) all went unclaimed, according to Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun (Twitter links).
- The Texans signed former North Carolina defensive tackle Tim Jackson, Wilson tweets.
- Texans cut tight end Chris Coyle and waived-injured defensive lineman Sullivan Grosz, Wilson tweets. Both Coyle, an Arizona State product, and Grosz, out of Cal Poly, were signed as undrafted free agents back in May.
- The Raiders cut David Gilreath, according to Wilson (on Twitter). The former Wisconsin wideout hooked on with Oakland earlier this month.
- The Cowboys removed former Illinois State tight end Evan Wilson from injured reserve with an injury settlement, Wilson tweets. The UDFA signed with Dallas in May and received a $2.5K signing bonus.
AFC Notes: CJ2K, Steelers, Yates, Titans
New Jets running back Chris Johnson is now five years removed from a 2009 season in which he eclipsed 2,000 rushing yards with the Titans. He’ll turn 29 this fall, and is coming off a knee injury, but Johnson still believes he has enough left in the tank to make another run at that mark, as he tells Seth Walder of the New York Daily News.
“I’d just retire and not play anymore if I didn’t feel like I was still capable of being a 2,000-yard back,” Johnson said. “I know I have the ability.”
Another run at 2,000 yards may be aiming a little high for the former Titan, but the fact that Johnson feels as if he hasn’t lost a step should be encouraging for Jets fans hoping he’ll make an impact this season. Here’s more from around the AFC:
- The Steelers have swapped one undrafted free agent for another, announcing today (via Twitter) that they’ve signed running back Jordan Hall and waived cornerback Deion Belue. Belue signed with the Dolphins as a rookie free agent last month, then was claimed off waivers by Pittsburgh after being cut by Miami.
- Although the Ravens have been “monitoring” T.J. Yates‘ situation for some time, there’s no guarantee that Baltimore will pursue the quarterback now that he’s been cut by the Texans, sources tell Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun.
- Of the two linebackers who worked out for the Titans earlier this week, Quentin Groves is viewed as a better fit than Marvin Mitchell, tweets Jim Wyatt of the Tennessean.
- Wide receiver Greg Little, who joined the Raiders after being cut by the Browns, was surprised that Cleveland waived him, since he had a “tremendous relationship” with the new coaches, he tells Vic Tafur of the San Francisco Chronicle. Of course, as Little acknowledges, the decision ultimately wasn’t in the hands of the coaching staff (Twitter links).
AFC Notes: Titans, Vick, Ravens, Chiefs, Bills
According to recent reports, the Broncos may or may not have offered Demaryius Thomas a five-year contract extension, but there’s no doubt that discussions are open between the two sides, prompting Joel Corry of the National Football Post to examine what a new deal for the star wideout might look like. Corry points out that matching the massive contracts signed by Calvin Johnson and Larry Fitzgerald probably isn’t likely for Thomas and other standout receivers approaching free agency. But as I suggested last week, the five-year, $60MM+ deals signed by Mike Wallace and Percy Harvin in recent years could be used as benchmarks in negotiations between Thomas and the Broncos.
Here’s more from around the AFC:
- The Titans worked out a pair of linebackers, Quentin Groves and Marvin Mitchell, on Monday, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter). Neither player received a contract from the club right away, however. Per Jim Wyatt of the Tennessean (via Twitter), the Titans are also auditioning WR/FB Dorin Dickerson this week at their minicamp.
- Michael Vick is on a one-year contract with the Jets, but the signal-caller feels like he has about three years left at his “current level,” as he tells Bart Hubbuch of the New York Post (Twitter link). Although the “current level” qualifier makes it unclear whether Vick plans to continue his playing career beyond that point, it sounds like he hopes to play for at least a couple more seasons after his current deal expires.
- Asked today about a potential contract extension with Baltimore, defensive tackle Haloti Ngata told reporters that he’d “love to be a Raven for life” (Twitter link).
- We heard yesterday that several veteran cornerbacks would be trying out for the Ravens at their minicamp this week, and Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun adds one more name to the list of participants today: Kevin Thomas, a Colts third-round pick in 2010 who hasn’t appeared in a regular season game since 2011. Wilson adds in a pair of tweets that cornerback Bobby Felder, linebacker Austin Spitler and wide receiver Dezmon Briscoe are also trying out for the Ravens.
- Former Missouri defensive back Kip Edwards was one of four non-roster players to audition for the Chiefs at the club’s minicamp today, tweets Adam Teicher of ESPN.com. Terez A. Paylor of the Kansas City Star (Twitter link) provides the other three names: Cornerback Quinton Byrd, and wide receivers Mark Harrison and Cole Stanford.
- In a series of three tweets, Joe Buscaglia of WGR 550 AM and Mike Rodak of ESPN.com report that wide receiver Tori Gurley, cornerback Kamaal McIlwain, and cornerback Sam Miller are auditioning for the Bills at their minicamp.
Titans Sign Second-Rounder Bishop Sankey
The Titans have locked up their second round pick, agent Jason Bernstein announced today, tweeting that running back Bishop Sankey has signed his rookie contract with the club (hat tip to ESPN.com’s Adam Caplan). The deal will keep Sankey under contract through the 2017 season.
The 54th overall pick, Sankey was the first running back off the board in last month’s draft, and was the Titans’ second pick after offensive tackle Taylor Lewan, who remains unsigned. As I detailed earlier this afternoon, Sankey and Lewan were two of just 13 picks who had yet to put pen to paper, so the running back’s agreement means we’re down to just 12 unsigned draftees now.
According to Jason Fitzgerald of Over The Cap, Sankey’s signing bonus will be worth about $1.115MM, while the overall value of his four-year pact amounts to around $3.843MM.
13 Draftees Still Unsigned
While a couple dozen mandatory offseason minicamps around the NFL are getting underway today, we’re still several weeks away from players reporting for training camps. That means there’s still plenty of time for members of 2014’s draft class to sign contracts with their respective teams. Still, for the most part, this year’s draftees won’t need to take those next few weeks to negotiate their deals.
After the Browns announced their agreement with Johnny Manziel and the Texans signed Xavier Su’a-Filo today, nearly 95% (243 of 256) of this year’s draft picks have been locked up by their new NFL clubs. 24 of 32 teams have totally locked up their draft classes, including the 49ers, who selected a league-high 12 players last month.
Since the new Collective Bargaining Agreement made rookie contracts so standardized, there’s little wiggle room for teams and players to push for better deals, and essentially no reason for players to hold out. Among the remaining unsigned players, five are first-round picks, six are second-rounders, and the last two are third-rounders, so in many cases the holdup can likely be attributed to haggling over offsets, guaranteed money, or the way in which that money gets paid. But as soon as a player was drafted, he essentially knew what his rookie contract would look like, based on his draft slot.
With the help of our tracker, here’s the full list of the remaining 13 unsigned draftees:
- Blake Bortles, QB, Jacksonville Jaguars (1.3)
- Justin Gilbert, CB, Cleveland Browns (1.8)
- Taylor Lewan, OT, Tennessee Titans (1.11)
- Ja’Wuan James, OT, Miami Dolphins (1.19)
- Dominique Easley, DT, New England Patriots (1.29)
- Demarcus Lawrence, DE/OLB, Dallas Cowboys (2.34)
- Joel Bitonio, OT, Cleveland Browns (2.35)
- Marqise Lee, WR, Jacksonville Jaguars (2.39)
- Stephon Tuitt, DE, Pittsburgh Steelers (2.46)
- Bishop Sankey, RB, Tennessee Titans (2.54)
- Allen Robinson, WR, Jacksonville Jaguars (2.61)
- Billy Turner, OT, Miami Dolphins (3.67)
- Dexter McDougle, CB, New York Jets (3.80)