NFL - NEWS & NOTES

Commanders place franchise tag on Daron Payne



As expected, the Commanders have placed the franchise tag on defensive tackle Daron Payne.

The Commanders made it official and franchised Payne this morning, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN. That means Payne has the option to sign for a fully guaranteed $18.937 million for the 2023 season. He also has the option to negotiate a long-term deal with the Commanders, and to negotiate with other teams, although if he signed with another team that team would have to send the Commanders two first-round draft picks or work out another trade agreement with the Commanders.

Payne is the first player to get the franchise tag so far this offseason.

Payne was the 13th overall pick in the 2018 NFL draft and was a Pro Bowler last season. He has only missed one game in his five-year NFL career.

PFT

 

Another, blast from the past...

 

Report: Bucs to release Leonard Fournette



Running back Leonard Fournette has reportedly reached the end of the road in Tampa.

Tom Pelissero of NFL Media reports that the Buccaneers plan to release Fournette once the new league year starts on March 15. Fournette has $2 million of his 2023 salary guaranteed, so the team will wait until then in order to have it hit the 2023 cap rather than the current one.

Assuming Fournette’s departure is not designated as a post-June 1 cut, the Bucs will save over $3.47 million in cap space while incurring $5 million in dead money.

Fournette ran 189 times for 668 yards and three touchdowns in 16 games with the Bucs last season. He’s spent the last three years in Tampa and scored four touchdowns in the postseason during the team’s run to the Super Bowl LV title.

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Thank you. I hope their good fortune continues but the words Haslam and success are not often spoken in the same sentence.

 

Tom Telesco: No thought of parting ways with Keenan Allen



The Chargers have some work to do to get under the cap ahead of the start of the new league year on March 15, but that work won’t include the departure of wide receiver Keenan Allen.

Allen missed seven games last season and he has a cap number of $21.7 million for the 2023 season, which is a combination that led to a question for General Manager Tom Telesco on if the team’s given any thought to moving forward without the 10-year veteran. Telesco said that the Chargers are “thrilled” with Allen and have not entertained that notion.

“Keenan Allen, to me, he’s our Andre Reed. He’s our Charlie Joiner,” Telesco said on NFL Network. “He’s an incredible football player. We have a great quarterback and we need weapons around him. There’s never been any thought of that.”

Allen has the second-most catches, third-most receiving yards, and fourth-most receiving touchdowns in Chargers history and Telesco’s comments suggest he’ll have plenty of chances to add to those totals before he’s out of the organization.

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I liked the original third quarterback rule. Previously, you had 8 players listed as inactive. Under the third QB rule, one of those 8 could be designated as the emergency third quarterback, eligible to come in and play if both other QBs get hurt or for garbage time in the fourth quarter.

Now we've increased the number of active players, but teams still need to "burn" an active roster spot if they want to carry the third QB as an insurance policy. That's a competitive disadvantage that isn't going to happen unless some rule makes it desirable - which was the whole point of the third QB rule.

The other potential drawback is that the #3 QB is now typically on the practice squad rather than the regular roster. But with the standard callups, bringing guys up from the practice squad in a pinch is much easier now than it used to be. Keeping that third QB on the roster on a permanent basis wouldn't be as much of a drawback now as it was when the third QB rule ended.

 

Report: Raiders to franchise tag Josh Jacobs if no deal reached by deadline



The Raiders do not plan to let running back Josh Jacobs hit the open market.

Las Vegas will franchise tag Jacobs if the team does not reach a long-term deal with the running back by Tuesday’s deadline, according to NFL Media’s Tom Pelissero.


The report did not note whether the Raiders will use the exclusive or non-exclusive franchise tag. But given Jacobs’ position, it’s more likely that he’ll get the non-exclusive tag. It’s unlikely that any team would sign Jacobs to an offer sheet that would result in Las Vegas receiving two first-round picks in return for Jacobs.

A 2019 first-round pick, Jacobs did not have his fifth-year option picked up last spring, putting him on track to become an unrestricted free agent this month.

He responded by putting together the best season of his career. Jacobs rushed for a league-leading 1,653 yards with 12 touchdowns. He also caught 53 passes for 400 yards.

If he plays on the one-year franchise tender, Jacobs would make $10.091 million in 2023. Once tagged, Jacobs and the Raiders would have until July 15 to strike a multi-year deal.

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Report: Rams to release Leonard Floyd if no trade partner found



The Rams are looking to move on from another veteran on their roster.

After news surfaced earlier on Monday that receiver Allen Robinson has been given permission to seek a trade, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports Los Angeles will release edge rusher Leonard Floyd if they don’t find a trade partner for him.


Floyd signed with the Rams on a one-year deal in 2020 and recorded 10.5 sacks, 11 tackles for loss, and 19 quarterback hits in 16 games. He then posted 9.5 sacks in 2021 and 9.0 sacks in 2022, playing all 17 games in each of the last two seasons. In Los Angeles’ championship run in the 2021 postseason, Floyd had 2.0 sacks and two tackles for loss in four games.

The Rams would incur a $19 million cap hit in dead money by releasing him with $3 million in cap savings. But if Los Angeles used a post-June 1 designation, they’ll save $15.5 million in cap space with a $6.5 million dead cap hit.

A Bears first-round pick in 2016, Floyd has 47.5 sacks in 104 career games. He’s also recorded 54 tackles for loss, 103 QB hits, three forced fumbles, seven fumble recoveries, and a pair of interceptions.

After a 5-12 season, the Rams have already moved on from linebacker Bobby Wagner and could be looking to trade defensive back Jalen Ramsey.

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Eric Kendricks (LB) of the Vikings got kicked to the curb today too.

 

I'm not going to pretend to understand some of these "cap" moves. What linebacker will the Rams pickup for $3M to replace his output? I know a June 1st designation will recoup some of that in 2023, but it also adds to the dead money in 2024. At what point does it stop being beneficial to cut players, rather than pay their full contract for high output?

 

Tony Pollard got tagged.

 

Report: Titans are shopping Derrick Henry



Titans running back Derrick Henry could be on the way out in Tennessee.

The Titans have been shopping Henry, according to Michael Silver of BallySports.com.


Henry is due a base salary of $10.5 million this season, none of which is guaranteed. If the Titans were to trade him, they’d save $6.3 million on their salary cap in 2023.

The 29-year-old Henry was the NFL’s offensive player of the year in 2020. He has led the NFL in rushing yards twice and led the NFL in carries three times, including last season. But his yards per carry average dropped a full yard from 5.4 in 2020 to 4.4 in 2022.

The Titans earned the AFC No. 1 seed in 2021, but last year they acted more like a rebuilding team by trading wide receiver A.J. Brown, and this year they’re continuing to shed expensive players. Henry might be the next to go.

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NFL reinstates Jaguars' Calvin Ridley from gambling suspension

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The NFL on Monday fully reinstated Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Calvin Ridley from his suspension for violating the league's gambling policy.

Ridley, who had applied for reinstatement from his indefinite suspension for gambling on NFL games on Feb. 15, is now eligible to participate in all team activities immediately.

"Today's reinstatement by the NFL brings an end to a challenging chapter of my professional career, one that was self-inflicted and began with an isolated lapse in judgement," Ridley said in a statement. "I have always owned my mistakes and this is no different. I have great respect for the game and am excited for the opportunity to restart my career in Jacksonville. I look forward to showing my new coaches, teammates, and the entire Jaguars organization exactly who I am and what I represent as a player and person."

The Jaguars also released a statement saying they were looking forward to integrating Ridley into the offense: "Calvin is a proven playmaker and we are excited to see him compete among and with his new teammates, first during our Offseason Program in April and ultimately into the 2023 season, as we collectively pursue a championship for Jacksonville."

Ridley was suspended for at least the 2022 season on March 7 last year after an investigation found that he bet on NFL games over a five-day stretch in November 2021 while he was away from the Atlanta Falcons. A league source told ESPN's Adam Schefter last March that the league determined Riley placed parlay bets that included the Falcons to win via his mobile device out of state.

In a series of tweets after the suspension was announced, Ridley admitted his bets totaled $1,500 but said he doesn't have a gambling problem.

The Jaguars traded for Ridley on Nov. 1 -- sending the Falcons a 2023 fifth-round pick and a conditional fourth-round pick in 2024 that could rise as high as a second-round pick if the Jaguars sign Ridley to an extension. Ridley now will be paid a guaranteed $11.116 million in 2023 as the fifth-year option from the rookie deal he signed with the Falcons after being drafted 26th overall in 2018.

Ridley hasn't played in an NFL game since Oct. 24, 2021. Ridley left the Falcons seven days later and said in a statement that he "needed to step away from football at this time and focus on my mental wellbeing."

Ridley, 28, had 248 catches for 3,342 yards and 28 touchdowns in 49 games with the Falcons, including 90 catches for 1,374 yards and nine touchdowns in 2020. If he's able to play at a similar level to what he did in 2020 (90 catches for 1,374 yards and nine touchdowns), the Jaguars could have one of the best offenses in the NFL.

Ridley will join a Jaguars pass-catching unit that was bolstered last year by free agent signings. The Jaguars signed receivers Christian Kirk (four years, $72 million, $37 million guaranteed) and Zay Jones (three years, $24 million, $14 million guaranteed) and tight end Evan Engram (one year, $9 million) to free agent contracts last March, and all three set career highs in receptions and receiving yards.

The Jaguars officially placed the franchise tag on Engram on Monday, a source told ESPN's Adam Schefter. Sources had told ESPN's Jeremy Fowler last week that it was expected that Engram would be receiving the tag.

The Jaguars finished 10th in the NFL in scoring (23.8 points per game), passing (232.9 yards) and total offense (357.4 yards) in 2022.

ESPN

 

Dropping like flies!



After four years in Kansas City, defensive end Frank Clark is on the way out.

The Chiefs plan to cut Clark after trying and failing to come to terms on a renegotiated contract, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.


That’s no surprise, given that Clark’s contract called for him to get a $20.5 million base salary, with nothing guaranteed. By cutting Clark the Chiefs save a whopping $21 million against the 2023 salary cap and move from slightly over the cap to well under.

Clark, who will turn 30 in June, had five sacks in 15 starts last season. He added 2.5 sacks in the postseason, giving him 13.5 sacks in his postseason career, the third-most in NFL history.

 

As expected, Josh Jacobs got Tagged.

 

Ridley is a legit #1 WR, though he's going to have to shake off the rust. That Jaguars passing game is LOADED.

Trent Baalke is getting it done as GM. Kinda makes you wonder why Jacksonville took so long to fire David Caldwell (8 years as GM, only one winning season, overall regular season record 37-91).

 

They are up and coming. Weapons for Trevor Lawrence.

 

The intriguing thing... a team trading for him before the start of the league year would be getting him on a two year deal paying $15.5M this year and $16M next year, with no cap penalty if he flops in 2023 and gets released before the 2024 season. Alternatively, the team picking him up could restructure a chunk of his 2023 salary to bonus, as his contract already has two void years. As an example, you could shift $12 million to bonus. His cap figures would become $6.5 million this year, $19M next year, plus $6M dead money in 2025 on the void years.

If I'm in Atlanta's front office, I'm already calling and offering a pair of seventh rounders to see if that makes it happen. Floyd and Lorenzo Carter on the edge in a four man nickel front with Grady Jarrett and The Player To Be Named Later at DT seems like a pretty good start to the offseason.

 

This is a guy I would live the Steelers take a look at.

 

He's all over the field too... great ball-hawk. Led the Vikings in tackles the past two seasons also. He would be ideal for the Steelers, or any team to be frank. Im pissed he was a let go (cap casualty), I hoped the Vikings would have looked elsewhere to address the Cap . Team leader on defense and a captain... he will be missed.