Tag: 2020 free agency

Colts moving on from TE Eric Ebron, should the Bears pursue him?

Upgrading the TE position will be one of the top priorities for Bears GM Ryan Pace this offseason, and Eric Ebron is now available.

Upgrading the tight end position will be one of the top priorities for Bears general manager Ryan Pace this offseason. And an intriguing talent will be hitting free agency this year.

Eric Ebron, who spent the last two seasons with the Colts, won’t be returning to Indianapolis next season. That much was confirmed by Colts general manager Chris Ballad and Ebron himself.

When asked about Ebron on Thursday, Ballard said, “We’ll probably move on.” Ebron also tweeted the following, a clear indication that he’s hitting the open market.

Given the Bears need at tight end, should Pace pursue Ebron in free agency?

While Ebron’s production in his second season with the Colts dipped from his first year, the 26-year-old Ebron would be an immediate upgrade for the Bears at tight end.

Trey Burton continues to be plagued by injuries, Adam Shaheen’s future remains in question and aside from promising play by J.P. Holtz and Jesper Horsted, the Bears really don’t have certainty at the tight end position.

But considering the Bears’ current salary cap situation — they currently have roughly $16 million in cap space for the 2020 season — it’ll be a challenge. While Pace is likely to find ways to free up more cap space, there are still in-house priorities that need to be addressed, including receiver Allen Robinson, safety Eddie Jackson and linebackers Nick Kwiatkoski and Kevin Pierre-Louis. Still, the Bears could certainly bring Ebron in on an affordable deal.

With tight end such an important offseason need for the Bears, expect Pace to consider free agency and the NFL Draft to upgrade the position.

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When can the Dolphins start signing free agents in 2020?

When does free agency open for the Miami Dolphins and the rest of the NFL in 2020?

The Miami Dolphins must now wait. After having repeated opportunities to tack on waiver wire additions throughout the course of the last few weeks, Miami’s influx in roster talent is now going to have to be thrown on ice. That is, of course, until the start of the 2020 free agency window, in which the Dolphins will look to add talent to their roster and build out a winning team for 2020 and beyond.

Dolphins general manager Chris Grier met with the Dolphins media earlier this week along with coach Brian Flores and the two stated that the plan is to spend but spend responsibly. That could be interpreted in any number of ways — but first and foremost the Dolphins have approximately two months to figure out what that means for themselves.

The NFL’s free agent signing window? It opens during the third week in March.

The Dolphins are sure to spend. Whether that spending features top shelf talents or a more volume/middle of the road approach? That is the big debate for Dolphins fans and coaches and executives alike. The team will need to find the appropriate balance of aggressiveness and long-term commitment in order to see this roster overhauled in a timely but effective manner.

Thankfully, the worst is behind us, Dolphins fans. It is hard to imagine the talent level dropping lower than what it was at the end of the 2019 season, with so many players injured and so much payroll trimmed off by design in the name of future flexibility.

The Dolphins now have that flexibility they’ve coveted for contracts and payroll. And they’re now on the clock to determine how it would be best put to use.

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Which in-house free agent should be Bears’ top priority on defense?

Bears GM Ryan Pace has plenty of work to do in locking up in-house free agents. But should S Ha Ha Clinton-Dix be his priority on defense?

The Chicago Bears have a busy offseason ahead of them, and it all starts following Sunday’s finale against the Minnesota Vikings.

General manager Ryan Pace has a ton of work to do this offseason, particularly in-house with players set to hit free agency. His priority should be to re-sign current players.

While the Bears offense has plenty of room to grow, Chicago’s defense can’t say the same. They’ve allowed the fifth fewest points in the NFL this season, and they have a nice core in place. They’ll certainly benefit from the return of some healthy starters in 2020.

But there are some essential extensions that Pace needs to make happen on the defensive side of the ball, among them defensive tackle Nick Williams and linebackers Nick Kwiatkoski and Kevin Pierre-Louis.

As for who should be the biggest priority, that guy is safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, according to Bleacher Report.

Ha Ha Clinton-Dix may not be the best safety set to hit the free-agent market, but his physical style of play fits the Chicago Bears defense perfectly.

Clinton-Dix has thrived in his first season with the Bears—he has 74 tackles, five passes defended, two interceptions and a defensive touchdown—and it makes sense to bring him back for another.

While Clinton-Dix doesn’t have sensational numbers, he’s fared well for the Bears as Adrian Amos’ much cheaper replacement. Clinton-Dix has two interceptions this season — both coming against the Washington Redskins in Week 3 — which ranks second on the Bears. He’s done enough to warrant an extension from Chicago.

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Week 17 contract extensions narrow free agent field for Dolphins

The NFL saw three big contract extensions handed out this week, whittling the field for the Dolphins in free agency.

The 2020 offseason isn’t here yet and NFL teams are already crashing the party on the upcoming class of free agents! Not exactly — but the NFL did see several contract extensions handed out over the course of Week 17, mainly by teams that have nothing significant to play for today and are instead focused on the upcoming playoffs. These extensions remove potential free agent targets from the free agent player pool and whittle down the field for March, when the league’s 2020 season opens.

There were three contract extensions of note:

  • The Baltimore Ravens extended CB Marcus Peters
  • The Houston Texans extended OLB Whitney Mercilus
  • The Cincinnati Bengals extended C Trey Hopkins

The Dolphins could have been viable contenders to sign each of the three — but only from the sense that Miami has needs at all three positions and definitely has the money to spend. Pegging Mercilus to Miami was difficult given Mercilus’ age (he’ll be 30 at the start of next season and Peters’ reputation as a polarizing personality has already prompted him to change teams twice in five seasons (despite being named a three time Pro Bowler).

The true impact for the Dolphins will be increased competition to sign other players who Miami could covet and be seen as a better fit with Miami’s personnel — although this was inevitable to some degree. And if anything, getting as much notice as possible for the players who aren’t going to be a part of the free agent class can be helpful in further projecting an effective game plan for the NFL’s singing period in March.

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Redskins ink P Tress Way to four-year, $15 million contract extension

The Redskins decided to keep Way along for the ride as they enter a hopefully bright future, inking the punter to a four-year extension.

Washington Redskins punter Tress Way was honored earlier this month when he was named to the first Pro Bowl of his career, and now he is collecting a check to go along with it.

According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the Redskins are signing Way to a four-year extension that is worth more than $15 million, putting him under contract for the next five years.

The deal is not currently finalized, but it is expected to be signed on Monday.

Way has had a career season in 2019, and he has pinned an opponent inside its 20-yard line 50 times over the past two years and booted it into the end zone for a touchback just twice in 145 attempts. The contract extension is well deserved, and it will ensure that Washington has a dynamic special teams player for years to come.

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NFL provides expected 2020 cap range, Cowboys could near $90M of space, 2 tags

The Cowboys have 24 unrestricted free agents along with a handful of RFA and ERFAs. They now have a workable range to decide who to keep.

The Dallas Cowboys have a lot of decisions to make in the 2020 offseason, but they’ll also have a lot of money to spend. The Cowboys have holes all over the roster as soon as the final whistle is blown on their 2019 season. With 24 unrestricted free agents and another five either restricted or exclusive rights, there’s plenty of players at every level of importance they’ll need to decide whether to try and keep or try and replace.

That list includes high profile players such as quarterback Dak Prescott, wide receiver Amari Cooper, cornerback Byron Jones and defensive end Robert Quinn. Fortunately, they’ll have close to $90 million of salary cap space to address those needs. The NFL informed teams of the expected range for the 2020 cap, and it’s right where projected, an increase of between $8.4 million and $13 million from the 2019 cap.

The 2019 cap was set at $188.2 million.

Dallas didn’t spend nearly that amount, and Over the Cap projects the Cowboys to be able to carry over around $21.4 million of unused cap space into next season. That number will be adjusted by the final calculations of likely-to-be-earned and unlikely-to-be-earned bonuses incentives from the season, which can sometimes boost a team’s carryover upwards of $2 million to $3 million.

With the contracts currently on the books for 2020, Dallas is expected to have north of  $133 million in liabilities. If the cap comes in at $201.2 million, that means the Cowboys will have just shy of $89 million of cap space to spend.

The Cowboys will look to work out long-term arrangements with some, but have the added ability to use both the franchise tag and the transition tag in the same season. Thanks to a clause in the collective bargaining agreement, Dallas can use both to keep two different players under team control.

This means if they are able to agree to only one long-term deal between Prescott, Cooper and Jones, they would be capable of retaining all three while they work towards long-term deals on whomever isn’t first to the signature table.

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2020 NFL Salary Cap projections give Redskins some room to work in free agency

A projected 2020 salary cap between $196- and $201 million will give the Redskins room to work in free agency is they rid of some contracts.

Per a report from NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the 2020 NFL Salary Cap is projected to increase to somewhere between the range of $196.8 million to $201.2 million.

The increase marks a significant jump from where it was back in the 2015 season, when the cap sat at $143.4 million.

According to Rapoport, this is the 7th consecutive year where the cap is projected to climb more than $10 million per club, year over year. Since 2011, the cap has increased roughly 65 percent and $76 million per club.

The Washington Redskins currently have just over $163 million committed to the 2020 salary cap, which would leave them with approximately $40 million in salary cap going into the new year. This number could also grow if they are to cut ties with aging and expensive players like Josh Norman, Trent Williams, Jordan Reed and Vernon Davis.

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Trent Williams says future free agents should take note of his treatment in Washington

Williams is unhappy with how he’s been treated in Washington, and he urges free agents to look at that before signing with the Redskins.

Regardless of whose side you stand on in the Trent Williams vs. the Washington Redskins power struggle that has taken place over the last calendar year, you can’t deny that it’s acted as a black mark on the franchise as a whole.

For anyone who is unfamiliar with the situation, Williams was upset with the medical staff in Washington after they reportedly downplayed the significance of a growth on his scalp that ended up being a rare form of cancer. He held out from the team for several months, and when he eventually returned, claiming he had intentions to play, they placed him on the NFI list, making him ineligible for the season.

Now, as the team sees the end of the season fast approaching and starts to think about future free-agent signings, a dark cloud looms over the franchise that has to be detracting to future signees.

In a recent interview with The Washington Post, Williams explains why.

“Let’s say you are a coaching candidate or you’re a free agent, what does it say to you?” he asks. “… It’s not like it’s something whispered. Everybody sees how they treated me. Free agents know for a better part of the last decade I’ve been one of the only guys in those Pro Bowl locker rooms with a Redskins symbol on my helmet. So then they see somebody like that get treated like that …”

His voice trails off.

“At the end of the day, money is money, so you might have to overpay just to get people in to overcome this,” he continues. “But I know if I was [a free agent] looking at it, I’d be looking at the situation closely.”

Will the treatment of Williams cause future free agents to avoid Washington completely? Maybe, maybe not. It may not have made the franchise a non-factor when it comes to the free agency market this upcoming offseason, but it for sure did not make them a more coveted place to play.

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The open-market price has been set for RG Brandon Scherff, thanks to the Eagles

Scherff will be looking for a new contract from the Redskins this offseason after his expires, and it will likely be an expensive one.

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Earlier this season, Washington Redskins offensive lineman Brandon Scherff expressed his desire to be a member of the Redskins for the rest of his career, which is convenient, as his contract is set to expire this coming offseason.

As one of the premier right guards in the NFL, it has been expected that Bruce Allen and Co. would do what they could to retain Scherff, who the Redskins drafted with the No. 5 overall pick in 2015. However, it was unknown how much Scherff would be looking to get in a new contract.

Thanks to the Philadelphia Eagles, the market has now been set for a premier right guard in the NFL.

On Tuesday, the Eagles signed Brandon Brooks to a four-year, $56 million extension to keep him in Philadelphia. You can be assured that Scherff made sure to take note of that number. If he is able to test the open market in a few months, he will undoubtedly be looking for an extension that rivals that $14M annually, and chances are that he could ask for a bit more, as he is a couple of years younger than Brooks and Dallas’ Zach Martin, the other top paid guard in the NFL.

Everything was sunshine and roses earlier this year when Scherff showed his HTTR pride and expressed his love for the team, and nothing has changed on that front. What’s different now is that Washington has become aware of what it will take to keep that relationship strong, and it’s going to cost a pretty penny.

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