NFL - NEWS & NOTES

The Bills have welcomed several former Panthers coaches, executives and players in the last few years and they’re adding another to kick off this week.

Mike Garafolo of NFL Media reports that the team has agreed to a one-year, $6 million deal with cornerback Josh Norman. Norman played for the Panthers when Bills head coach Sean McDermott was the defensive coordinator in Carolina.

Norman left the Panthers for Washington in 2016 after the Panthers pulled the franchise tag they’d used on Norman early in the offseason. He was a starter for his first three seasons in Washington and made eight starts last season before being benched down the stretch.

Washington released Norman last month and Bills General Manager Brandon Beane, another former Panthers employee, said that the team had spoken with him a short time later. Garafolo reports Norman spoke to other teams as well, but the familiarity with the Bills defensive scheme helped lead him to Buffalo.

NBC

 

Raiders release LB Tahir Whitehead, save $6.25M

Raiders general manager Mike Mayock recently spoke rather candidly of where his team needs to improve, and among the most important areas was linebacker.

Las Vegas made a change at the position Monday, releasing Tahir Whitehead, the team announced.

The 29-year-old Whitehead spent his last two seasons with the Raiders, recording 234 tackles, six passes defended, one interception and one forced fumble in 32 games. His Pro Football Focus grade (55.2) places him just behind standout linebackers Anthony Barr (55.6), Tremaine Edmunds (58.5) and Leighton Vander Esch (58.6), providing quantitative proof Whitehead could offer some value to a team in need.

That team won't be the Raiders, but his release does offer some financial relief. Whitehead accounted for $7.29 million in cap space in 2020, per Over The Cap, and his release will save the Raiders $6.25 million of that total, bringing their projected total north of $55 million just before free agency begins.

Whitehead will get an early shot at free agency with a little over a week to go before the pool is flooded with eligible players. The Raiders will turn the page in the meantime ahead of free agency and a draft in which they own two first-round picks and could use one to select a promising prospect in a class featuring at least a few of them at the position.

NFL.com

 

The Browns said farewell to linebacker Chistian Kirksey on Tuesday.

Kirksey has been released with just over a week to go before the start of the 2020 league year. He’ll be free to sign with any other team once the move is officially processed by the league office.

“Christian Kirksey has been a vital member of our organization for the last six seasons because of his contributions on and off the field,” Browns General Manager Andrew Berry said in a statement. “He has been a strong leader both in our locker room and in the Cleveland community. These are difficult decisions and, in Christian’s case, more challenging because of how well he has represented our team. We thank him for his dedication and wish him nothing but the best in the next phase of his career.”

Kirksey didn’t miss a game in his first four seasons after the Browns made him a 2014 third-round pick, but a hamstring injury limited him to seven games in 2018 and a chest injury forced him to miss 14 games last year. He had 484 tackles, 11.5 sacks, four forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries and two interceptions when he was healthy enough to play.

The move clears $6.675 million in cap space while leaving $2.4 million in dead money.

Joe Schobert is set to hit the open market as a free agent next week, so Kirksey’s departure may not be the only significant one in the linebacking corps.

NBC

 

Browns center JC Tretter will be taking on another job off the field this season.

Tretter has been elected president of the NFL Players Association in a vote of the union’s board of player representatives on Tuesday. He takes over for former NFL offensive tackle Eric Winston, who was elected in March 2014.

Tretter was one of three candidates for the position. Buccaneers linebacker Sam Acho and Giants safety Michael Thomas, who are both on the union’s executive committee, were also up for the vote. Soon-to-be Panthers tackle Russell Okung was expected to be a candidate, but pulled out and endorsed Thomas after filing a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board about the conduct of NFLPA staff.

Thomas was a no vote on the Collective Bargaining Agreement and Acho supported approving the deal. Per Tom Pelissero of NFL Media, Tretter’s platform for election focused on moving forward in light of either vote on that deal rather than on his personal position. The voting window for players to weigh in on the CBA was extended through Saturday.

Tretter was an alternate player rep for the Browns and put together a presentation on the proposed Collective Bargaining Agreement that did not take a public stance on the deal, but it still gained a great deal of notice after being shared by former Packers teammate David Bakhtiari.

 

Alvin Kamara says he’s 100 percent after playing last season at 75 percent



Saints running back Alvin Kamara‘s highlight reel from 2019 don’t impress Alvin Kamara.

The NFL’s official account tweeted some of Kamara’s top moments last season. Kamara replied, “On 1 leg. . .At 75%. . .but we back to 100.”

Kamara battled injuries for the first time in his career, nursing knee and ankle issues. He missed two games and played through others at less than 100 percent.

Kamara finished last season with his fewest yards from scrimmage (1,330) and fewest touchdowns (six) in his three seasons. Still, he earned his third Pro Bowl nod.

It appears he has returned to full health and will be ready to go for the offseason program.

NBC

 

Today is Jimmy Graham‘s last day as a Green Bay Packer.

The Packers will cut Graham tomorrow, Adam Schefter of ESPN reports.

That move has been expected, as the Packers wanted the $8 million his release will clear on their salary cap more than they wanted Graham, who is no longer the elite tight end he once was.

The 33-year-old Graham caught just 38 passes for 447 yards last year, both of which were the lowest totals since his rookie season. He doesn’t look like he has a lot left.

Graham will become an unrestricted free agent as soon as his release becomes official and will not have to wait until free agency begins next week to sign with a new team.

NBC

 

When he was in New Orleans he was pretty good with Drew Brees when he left there he's been alright and with the Packers he's been so so IMO

 

Giants fullback Eli Penny agreed to a two-year deal, Jordan Raanan of ESPN reports.

Penny, 26, was set to become a restricted free agent.

He played 127 offensive snaps (12 percent) and 227 special teams snaps (50 percent) last season in playing all 16 games.

In three seasons, Penny has appeared in 46 games with four starts.

He has 67 touches for 285 yards and two touchdowns in his career.

 

It remains to be seen if the Titans will have running back Derrick Henry back for the 2020 season, but we know he won’t be sharing the backfield with Dion Lewis if he is back in Tennessee.

According to multiple reports, the Titans are releasing Lewis. Lewis signed a four-year deal with the Titans in 2018.

Lewis ran 155 times and caught 59 passes while playing 61 percent of the offensive snaps in his first season with the team, but dropped to 37 percent of the snaps as Henry took charge last season. He leaves the Titans after running 209 times for 726 yards and catching 84 passes for 564 yards.

The move will clear just over $4 million from the salary cap.

NBC

 

The Titans better not let not let Derrick Henry get away can't see them losing him he was very good in 2019

 

Danny Trevathan isn’t going anywhere.

The linebacker and core special teams player will stay in Chicago, having agreed to a three-year contract, Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports.

Trevathan, who turns 30 later this month, was scheduled to become a free agent next week.

Trevathan has spent the past four seasons with the Bears after four seasons with the Broncos.

He has appeared in 46 games, with 45 starts, with the Bears. Trevathan has made 327 tackles, six sacks and three interceptions with the Bears.

 

The NFL currently has “no plans” to delay the start of free agency. Those plans could be changing, soon.

Per a league source, the NFL currently is contemplating the possibility of announcing on Sunday a delay in the start of free agency. The league wants to wait until after voting on the CBA closes before making a final decision, in order to prevent further delays to the CBA voting process.

The league is keenly aware of the optics of players agreeing to terms on multi-million-dollar deals while the rest of the nation is adjusting to what will still be as of next week the early days of the coronavirus crisis. Likewise, with teams closing facilities, the traditional practice of new players showing up and signing contracts and conducting press conferences and holding up new jerseys can’t happen next week.

Despite the fact that the rest of the sports world has shut down, there’s a real question as to whether anyone will care about the transactions that will happen next week.

The NFL has the ability to delay the free-agency process; it did just that for more than four months in 2011, due to the lockout. This time around, the stakes are much higher than a garden-variety labor dispute. The league can, should, and quite possibly will delay the launch of the annual spending spree.

NBC

 

The NFL draft is still on for April 23-25, but whether the draft will be the big Las Vegas spectacle the NFL envisioned remained to be seen.

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the NFL is making contingency plans, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports.

If the coronavirus outbreak remains a major threat to the United States, the league could scrap all events and conduct the draft by conference call. The draft would go on, but it would consist of teams calling in their picks to the league, and the league office making the announcement. ESPN and NFL Network could still televise live draft shows in that event: The shows would look different, but the primary draw is still football fans finding out who the new players on their favorite teams will be, and that will be unaffected.

If the spread of the virus has subsided by mid-April, the NFL could still have the event in Las Vegas, and the league seems to be holding out hope that will happen. At this point, it seems unlikely that Americans will be ready to travel across the country to gather in big crowds in April, so the numbers of fans attending may be affected, but the league is still planning as if the draft will go on as planned.

 

I'm working from home. The NFL can, too. Conference call. Problem solved.

 

Tag, Matthew Judon is it.

Specifically, the Ravens pass rusher is the first player to be franchise-tagged in 2020. The team announced the decision on Friday.

Described as an outside linebacker in the press release, Judon and the Ravens could be headed for a fight over whether he’s a linebacker or a defensive end. Ravens and Terrell Suggs engaged in precisely that type of disagreement in 2009, before resolving the situation.

Suggs becomes the seventh player who has been franchise-tagged by the Ravens since the device first emerged in 1993.

A fifth-round pick in 2016, Judon had 9.5 sacks in 2019. He also started 16 games last year, for the first time in his career.

NBC

 

Jaguars defensive end Yannick Ngakoue has been franchised.

The franchise tag, which Ngakoue had been expecting, was officially placed on him today.

Ngakoue has said he does not intend to sign a long-term contract with the Jaguars, so it appears likely that he’ll be traded. That has become the norm around the NFL: Last year three pass rushers were franchised — Jadeveon Clowney, Dee Ford and Frank Clark — and all three of them were traded.

The big question now is which team will trade for Ngakoue, and how much the Jaguars can get in a trade for him. The Jaguars already have two first-round picks in this year’s draft, and they’d love to get a third.

NBC

 

The Chargers will be using their franchise tag this offseason.

Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that the team has tagged tight end Hunter Henry. The tag is expected to carry a salary of around $11 million for the 2020 season.

Henry is ranked No. 30 on our list of this year’s top free agents and is just ahead of Austin Hooper as the top tight end on that list.

Henry returned from a 2018 torn ACL to play in 12 games last season. He caught 55 passes for 652 yards and five touchdowns. Those were career bests in catches and receiving yards for Henry, who will be adjusting to a new quarterback with Philip Rivers moving on this offseason.

UPDATE 2:04 p.m. ET: The Chargers officially announced the application of the franchise tag.

 

NFL prohibits teams from pre-draft visits starting Sat.

The NFL sent a memo to all 32 teams on Friday instructing clubs to halt pre-draft visits to team facilities effective at the end of today's business day due to growing concerns surrounding the new coronavirus, NFL Network's Tom Pelissero and Mike Garafolo reported.

"We have been closely monitoring developments relating to the coronavirus (COVID-19) and taking action based on the guidance of our Chief Medical Officer Dr. Allen Sills and the medical experts at the World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention," the memo stated. "After considering recent medical and public safety information related to COVID-19, we have decided to prohibit all in-person pre-Draft visits involving draft-eligible players effective at the end of this business day, until further notice."

The news comes after NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported the Miami Dolphins had Ohio State running back J.K. Dobbins in for a pre-draft visit Friday. Rapoport reported Dobbins has been living and training for the 2020 NFL Draft in South Florida so no air travel was necessary for the visit, and the Dolphins were exercising extreme care and caution with the visit.

Rapoport also reported on NFL NOW that the Dolphins are meeting with potential first-round quarterback Jordan Love on Friday before pre-draft visits are prohibited.

Since Thursday, multiple NFL teams have suspended their air travel for coaches and scouts and a few announced they are temporarily closing their facilities due to COVID-19. The Dolphins announced Thursday that they have pulled their scouts and coaches from the road during the pre-draft process.

Additionally the memo states that the following is prohibited:

-- Any draft-eligible player traveling to a club facility or other location to meet with club personnel
-- Club personnel (including BLESTO or NFS scouts) traveling to any location, including a college campus to visit with a draft-eligible player

NFL teams are permitted to conducted interviews with prospects via telephone or video conferences through the day prior to the draft -- scheduled April 23-25 in Las Vegas.

Per the memo, the following new restrictions are applicable to any telephone or video conference:

-- Clubs can schedule no more than three telephone or video conferences with an individual draft-eligible player per week (Sunday through Saturday)
-- Each telephone or video conference can last no longer than one hour
-- Such telephone or video conference cannot be conducted at a time that interferes with the player's school schedule

The league also said that any team found in violation of the new guidelines will be subject to discipline.

NFL.com

 

The expectation around the league has been that Washington would apply the franchise tag to right guard Brandon Scherff if they couldn’t work out a long-term deal by Monday’s deadline, but it appears they won’t go down to the last minute before making a call.

The team announced Saturday that they have applied the franchise tag to Scherff.

It’s no surprise that Washington wants to hold onto Scherff as the 2015 first-round pick has been one of the team’s best players for much of his time in the NFL. The only surprise comes from the fact that guards rarely receive the franchise tag because the salary is tied to the highest-paid offensive linemen regardless of position and tackles command a higher price than their mates on the interior.

Former Patriot Logan Mankins was the last guard to get a franchise tag and that came in 2011. Center Alex Mack was the last non-tackle to receive any kind of tag when he got the transition tag from the Browns in 2014 and wound up signing a long-term deal after the Jaguars signed him to an offer sheet.

The salary for a player playing out the year on the offensive line tag is expected to be more than $15 million for the 2020 season.

NBC

 

When it comes to its plan for free agency in light of current global events, the NFL could be consciously choosing the appearance of tone deafness over strategic benefit, for now.

Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that the “NFL continues to say it’s business as usual and new league will start this week.” And while Schefter continues not to point out that the league is believed to be waiting until after CBA voting has closed to change its plans (enough believe this that he surely would have heard it by now), Schefter acknowledges that “[m]ultiple team officials express widespread skepticism that the NFL can start its league year this week, when our country is in crisis and so much — travel, visits, physicals — would have to happen.”

The truth continues to be that, if the league will be delaying on Sunday the start of the league year and free agency, it has indeed decided to say nothing about it until after tonight, when voting closing on the new CBA. This will mean that the league wants to avoid a situation where the union will piggyback on a delay in the start of free agency and delay the CBA voting or, possibly, re-do it in light of the dramatically changed circumstances.

As to the CBA vote, there’s a belief that the outcome will be close, and that it could go either way. There’s also a belief that any votes cast based on the events of the past few days are far more likely to be yes.

Some still think the notion that the league wants the players to vote no is bluffing or posturing or reverse psychology or whatever. The possibility that the league is willingly allowing itself to be painted by many in the media as out of touch in order to increase the chances that the CBA won’t be ratified strongly suggests otherwise.

The fact that the league is keeping its cards pressed tightly to the vest only enhances that perception.