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NFC Notes: Ware, Jordan, Eagles, Packers

March 25th, 2014 at 9:30pm CST by Zachary Links

The Cowboys had to let veteran DeMarcus Ware go this offseason, but head coach Jason Garrett says it was far from an easy decision to make.

“DeMarcus Ware is one of the best players the franchise has ever had,” Garrett told Calvin Watkins of ESPNDallas.com. “He played his position over the past eight or nine years as well as anybody has in the National Football League. Those are very difficult and challenging decisions. There’s a lot of different factors that go into making a decision like that and we just felt like at this time, the best thing for us to do was to not compete to the extent that we would have had to to keep him in a Cowboys uniform. A great player, a great human being, one of the cornerstones of our franchise. But you have to make some of these hard decisions and you have to be disciplined to do that.”

Here are a few more NFC links:

  • Coach Andy Reid says Akeem Jordan’s versatility and reliability will help the Redskins, writes Mike Jones of the Washington Post. Reid coached Jordan for six seasons in Philadelphia, and then brought him with him to Kansas City last season. Now, Jordan has traveled east to join him in Washington D.C.
  • The Eagles are going to have to make several difficult and most likely unpopular decisions in the next year to get under the 2015 salary cap, explains Reuben Frank of CSNPhilly.com. 13 players have a combined 2015 cap hit of $68,025,140, or 47 percent of the Eagles’ current 2015 total cap figure. Aside from LeSean McCoy and Jason Peters, any of those players could wind up as cap casualties after the 2014 season.
  • Packers coach Mike McCarthy told reporters, including Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com, that they shouldn’t put a label on newly-acquired veteran Julius Peppers. Peppers will play a combination of outside linebacker and defensive lineman that Green Bay will refer to as an “elephant.” This means means Peppers will not work directly under defensive line coach Mike Trgovac, who was Peppers’ defensive line coach and defensive coordinator with the Panthers from 2002-08.
  • McCarthy wants to have unrestricted free agent Matt Flynn back in the fold, but he’s realistic and knows it might not be in the cards. “I’d like to have Matt back,” the Packers coach said, according to Jason Wilde of ESPNWisconsin.com. “I thought Matt was a good addition to our football team. I have great respect and admiration for him, just being around him a lot on a positional basis. Yeah, I’m hoping financially it works out.”

49ers Notes: Harbaugh, Cox, Jackson

March 25th, 2014 at 7:21pm CST by Zachary Links

Earlier today, we learned that the 49ers hope to lock Colin Kaepernick up to a brand new deal before he throws his next pass in an NFL game. “We’re going to work extremely hard, very diligently in trying to get something done prior to training camp,” GM Trent Baalke said. “That’s the objective right now, as it stands.” However, with Kaepernick reportedly seeking in the neighborhood of $20MM+ annually on his next deal, the Niners may have to get creative as they consider how to keep the Nevada-Reno alum around long-term. More out of SF..

  • 49ers owner Jed York doesn’t deny that there can be tension between coach Jim Harbaugh and GM Trent Baalke, but he says it’s not necessarily a bad thing, writes Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee. “We’ve been competing for the Super Bowl – realistically competing for the Super Bowl – for the last three years,” York said. “They get along. They’re just grinding. They want a ring. And they’re trying to battle and fight to get a ring. And sometimes it wears on people. But I like that tension,” he continued. “I think they like that tension. And I think both of them compete better when there’s something to compete against.”
  • Re-signing Perrish Cox will help to build the 49ers’ depth at cornerback, writes Bill Williamson of ESPN.com. Two weeks ago, San Francisco also brought back Eric Wright on a new contract. Cox beat out Wright for playing time in the postseason, but the fact that Wright signed first probably indicates that he’s the bigger priority.
  • It would be quite a challenge given their salary cap constraints, but Williamson looks at how the 49ers could possibly find room for DeSean Jackson. ESPN analyst Louis Riddick tells Williamson that it could work from an Xs and Os standpoint, but it doesn’t sound all that feasible from a financial standpoint.

Bills Owner Ralph Wilson Passes Away

March 25th, 2014 at 2:07pm CST by Luke Adams

Bills founder and owner Ralph Wilson has passed away, team president and CEO Russ Brandon announced today (Twitter link via Tim Graham of the Buffalo News). The longest-tenured team owner in the NFL, Wilson was 95 years old.

Inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2009, Wilson was instrumental in keeping the Bills in Buffalo, resisting offers to move or sell the team. With his passing, there will be many suitors, including several in Western New York and Ontario, seeking to purchase the franchise, tweets Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com. However, the current lease will make it very difficult to move the team for the next few years.

Wilson, who saw the Bills transition from the AFL to the NFL, was acting as the club’s president as recently as 2012, but surrendered all team control to Brandon on January 1, 2013.

Our condolences go out to Wilson’s friends and family.

Steelers Won’t Lose Pick For Tomlin Incident

March 20th, 2014 at 1:46pm CST by Luke Adams

The book has been closed on an incident from 2013’s Thanksgiving night game between the Baltimore and Pittsburgh, the Steelers announced today. According to a press release from the club, the NFL has informed the Steelers that they won’t lose a draft pick for the incident.

During a kickoff return by Jacoby Jones of the Ravens, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin strayed onto the sideline and field before jumping out of Jones’ way. The league fined Tomlin $100K at the time and warned that further penalties could be forthcoming, but has decided that the fine will suffice.

Pro Football Rumors On Facebook/Twitter

March 20th, 2014 at 11:06am CST by Luke Adams

The first wave of free agency is behind us, but with plenty of notable names still on the board and the draft just a few weeks away, we should still expect plenty of roster turnover and player movement before the 2014 season. There will be plenty of notable stories to track on Pro Football Rumors throughout the spring, and you don’t necessarily have to keep refreshing our site to keep tabs on them. There are a handful of different ways you can follow us to get the latest updates on NFL news and rumors all year.

You can like us on Facebook, and receive headlines and links for all our posts via your Facebook account. You can also follow us on Twitter to have all our posts and updates sent directly to your Twitter feed. Meanwhile, our Google+ page is located here, and if you’d like to follow us using your RSS reader of choice, you can find our RSS feed right here.

If you prefer to receive updates only on roster moves such as signings, cuts, and trades, you can follow our transactions-only feeds via RSS and Twitter.

NFC Rumors: Brown, Williams, Redskins

March 19th, 2014 at 9:21pm CST by Zachary Links

Free agent cornerback Tarell Brown left the 49ers to sign a a one-year, $3.5MM deal with the Raiders in part, he says, because he didn’t get much of an offer from his old team. “[I]t wasn’t what I wanted and it was to me more of a slap in the face,” Brown told Erik Kuselias of Pro Football Talk. “But I understand that it’s a business and I understand that they have to do what is best for them and it’s no hard feelings. But what they offered me definitely wasn’t what I wanted and definitely wasn’t worth my value of what I’ve done in this league and how well I played these past 3-4 years in the league. So it’s understandable and like I said there’s never any hard feelings. They are doing a great job over there and I wish them the best.”

  • Kevin Williams isn’t optimistic about his chances of returning to the Vikings, writes Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press. “I’m just sitting here waiting, man,” Williams said in a phone interview. “I don’t know (if I’ll be back). I thought there was a good chance early (in free agency). It keeps looking slimmer and slimmer, though. … I don’t know what their view is on it, but to me it’s getting slimmer.“
  • Jared Allen is making a second visit to the Seahawks and could decide whether to join them in the next few days, tweets Ed Werder of ESPN.
  • New Redskins linebacker Akeem Jordan‘s one-year deal has just $65K guaranteed, tweets Adam Caplan of ESPN.com. Appearing in 483 defensive snaps last season, Jordan recorded 67 tackles and forced a pair of fumbles, while ranking as the 11th-best inside linebacker out of 55 qualified players, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required). Between the guaranteed money and his base salary, Jordan should see $920K in total.
  • Free agent wide receiver Kevin Cone is set to workout for the Panthers on Friday, agent Mark Clouser tells D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Cone, who was not extended an exclusive-rights tender by the Falcons earlier this offseason, also has interest from the Jaguars.
  • New Cowboys defensive tackle Henry Melton says that he gave the Bears a real opportunity to keep him, writes Michael C. Wright of ESPN. “We gave them a chance to make an offer, and they said they would wait to see what the market was and we don’t do business like that,” Melton said. “They dropped out early.”

AFC West Notes: LBs, Watson, Wilfork, Chiefs

March 16th, 2014 at 12:33pm CST by Rory Parks

The Broncos have responded to their Super Bowl loss by attempting to win the offseason Super Bowl, signing DeMarcus Ware, Aqib Talib, T.J. Ward, and (controversially) Emmanuel Sanders. However, they still have a gaping hole at middle linebacker, writes Mike Klis of the Denver Post. The Broncos missed out on D’Qwell Jackson and also had interest in Karlos Dansby, Jon Beason, Perry Riley and Daryl Smith before those players signed elsewhere.

If the season started today, the talented but oft-injured Nate Irving and the unproven Steven Johnson would be battling for the “Mike” linebacker position. As a result, Klis writes, the Broncos will be forced to compile a “Plan B” list of free agent linebackers and/or find a gem in the draft. Klis suggests Michigan State’s Max Bullough would be an intriguing option in the third round.

More from the AFC West:

  • After the Rodger Saffold debacle, the Raiders‘ offensive line is still in flux. ESPN.com’s Paul Gutierrez writes that the team would love it if Menelik Watson won the job and was healthy enough to keep it, but if Auburn’s Greg Robinson is still available when Oakland is on the clock with the fifth-overall pick in this year’s draft, he would be very difficult to pass up.
  • Eric D. Williams of ESPN.com writes that Vince Wilfork, assuming he is released by New England, would fill a major need for the Chargers as a run-stuffer in the interior of their defensive line. However, Williams also notes that San Diego has little cap room and would have to release someone in order to bring Wilfork in.
  • The Chiefs thought they had a deal in place with Emmanuel Sanders, but Sanders ultimately signed with Denver instead. But even if the Chiefs had landed Sanders, Adam Teicher of ESPN.com writes that wide receiver would have remained a top priority for Kansas City. The team signed CFL veteran Weston Dressler and has expressed an interest in Devin Hester and Jason Avant, but all of those players are complementary pieces and the Chiefs may be looking at Hester solely as a return man. Given that the Sanders deal fell through, Kansas City will almost certainly address their dearth of receivers in the very deep 2014 draft.

 

Extra Points: Freeney, Young, Edelman

March 15th, 2014 at 6:20pm CST by Rob DiRe

Dwight Freeney has agreed to take a pay cut to remain with the Chargers, according to Michael Gehlken of the U-T San Diego. The move clears about $900,000 in cap space for the team and reduces Freeney’s base salary from $2.5MM down to $1.625MM. It also reduces his roster bonus from $500,000 to $375,000.

Other notes from around the league this evening…

NFC Rumors: Peppers, Cowboys, Penn, Clark

March 14th, 2014 at 9:57pm CST by Peter Sowards

When DeMarcus Ware was released from the Cowboys due to his high salary, nine seasons and 117 sacks walked out the door, with the seven-time Pro Bowler eventually landing with the Broncos. Add in the Cowboys losing Jason Hatcher, who totaled 11 sacks last season, and the void at pass-rusher in Rod Marinelli’s 4-3 defense was unmistakeable.

So, it makes sense that the Cowboys have reached out to another former All-Pro, Julius Peppers, who was released by the Bears on Tuesday. CBSSports’ Jason La Canfora hears that the Cowboys‘ interest in Peppers is “quite real,” pointing out the obvious connection (via Twitter) between Peppers and Marinelli, who teamed in Chicago from 2010-’12.

ESPN reporter Josina Anderson confirmed La Canfora’s report (via Twitter), calling the interest significant but not going so far as to guarantee the deal.

Other free agent rumors from around the NFC…

 

Extra Points: Phillips, Lions, Tate, Ducasse

March 12th, 2014 at 10:09pm CST by Luke Adams

Free agent defensive end Shaun Phillips tells Josina Anderson of ESPN (on Twitter) that as much as he wants to return to the Broncos, he knows it’s not in the cards with the signing of DeMarcus Ware. “It’s definitely not mutual now just because they found a baller and we play the same position. DeMarcus (Ware) is a baller. He’s a great player and a great pick-up for them. More than likely I won’t be back there. You never know, but more than likely I will not be there.,” the veteran said. More from around the NFL…

  • The Lions officially signed unrestricted free agent Kevin Ogletree and exclusive rights free agents Kris Durham, Julian Stanford, and Matt Veldman, tweets Tim Twentyman of DetroitLions.com.
  • Golden Tate took to KJR Sports Radio in Seattle to discuss free agency and his decision not to return to the Seahawks (via Todd Dybas of the Tacoma News Tribune on Twitter). He spoke fondly of his time with Seattle, but also mentioned that the team “didn’t reward (him) enough.” He said that he gave the team an opportunity to offer a lesser contract, but the team didn’t bite. He also mentioned the 49ers interest, but claimed he “couldn’t do that to Seattle right after winning.” Tate signed with the Lions earlier today.
  • Free agent cornerback Captain Munnerlyn, who is meeting with the Vikings today, also has visits scheduled with the Jets and Buccaneers, reports Joseph Person of the Charlotte Observer (via Twitter).
  • Free agent offensive lineman Vlad Ducasse is expected to visit with the Vikings next week, tweets Adam Caplan of ESPN. Ducasse started off his Jets career as a skilled athlete with little polish, but he was able to round out his game over time.
  • Antoine Bethea told SiriusXM NFL Radio (Twitter link) that the interest between himself and the Colts “wasn’t mutual.” Before he signed with the 49ers, he says that he got some contact from the Packers, Chiefs, and Lions.
  • Cornerback Chris Cook will visit the 49ers tomorrow, a source tells Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee (on Twitter).
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