Tag: James Bradberry

Byron Jones or James Bradberry: Which CB is the best fit for the Eagles in free agency?

Byron Jones or James Bradberry would be good fit for the Eagles at CB

The Philadelphia Eagles have a pressing need at cornerback and if the team can’t acquire Darius Slay via trade, then the free agency period could provide the next best option.

Byron Jones (Dallas) and James Bradberry (Carolina) are two of the top names set to hit the market and would both guys looking to cash out, the question has to be asked, which cornerback would be the better fit in Philadelphia.

Hoping to avoid another Nnamdi Asomugha disaster, Howie Roseman and company need to secure a strong cornerback, who can flourish and allow the Eagles defense to take the next step.

Jones has already established his desire to reset the cornerback market and according to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com, Bradberry is looking for similar money.

With the Eagles expected to be very active in free agency, here’s a breakdown of what both players bring.

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Byron Jones

Jones will be hitting his prime when the season starts, turning 28 this coming September. Jones gave up just 5.1 yards per target in 2019, 2nd best among cornerbacks in the NFL and an overall grade from Pro Football Focus, of 76.1.

He may not be an interception machine, but he’s stout in coverage, versatile enough to lockdown wideouts and tight ends.

Jones (6-foot, 205 pounds) only gave up 0.39 yards per coverage snap in press-man last season, the second-lowest rate at his position.  Jones’s ability to take away one part of the field or a man, would finally allow Jim Schwartz to fully utilize his defensive packages, thus making Avonte Maddox, Cre’Von LeBlanc, Sidney Jones and Rasul Douglas even better players.

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CB James Bradberry to hit free agency; aiming to get $15 million per year

Bradberry has expressed interest in playing with the Redskins under former coach Ron Rivera, but Washington would have to pay up to get him.

The Washington Redskins are expected to be very active in the free-agency cornerback market this spring, and it appears that one of their top targets is going to be up for grabs.

That is if they are willing to pay the price for him. Carolina Panthers CB James Bradberry is reportedly going to avoid the franchise tag in Carolina, and he is likely to hit the open market, where he wishes to be paid as one of the top CBs in the NFL, with $15 million per season as a starter. For reference, Minnesota Vikings CB Xavien Howard earned $15.3 million in 2019.

Bradberry has had a strong career in Carolina, and he topped it off with his best year yet in 2019, with three interceptions, 12 passes defended, 65 tackles and one sack. On top of that, Bradberry has also been on record as saying he would love to play for his former coach Ron Rivera again in Washington.

Though Bradberry may not be one of the top 3 free-agent CBs on the market this spring, that might not stop the Redskins from signing him to a deal that makes him paid as such. While that seems like a big cap-hit at the moment, The Athletic‘s Mark Bullock points out that it could all change once a new CBA is approved.

We don’t know yet how much the salary cap will go up under a new deal, but there’s a good chance that signing a mega-deal now will be a lot more appealing to the team than it would a couple of years down the road.

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Report: Panthers CB James Bradberry aiming for $15 million or more a year

According to a report by Jeremy Fowler at ESPN, Panthers cornerback and pending free agent James Bradberry is aiming to sign for $15 million or more per year on his next contract.

According to a report by Jeremy Fowler at ESPN, Panthers cornerback and pending free agent James Bradberry is aiming to sign for $15 million or more per year on his next contract.

That amount might sound high, but it’s fairly typical for what a player like Bradberry makes these days. The starting cornerbacks who have been extended or signed recently earn around $14 million per season. Xavien Howard of the Dolphins currently leads the position in yearly salary at just over $15 million, per Over the Cap.

Bradberry has developed into a solid, above-average starter for Carolina’s secondary. However, giving him what he wants would represent a massive investment in a defender who has been inconsistent at times during his career and has never made the Pro Bowl.

On the other hand, allowing Bradberry to walk and sign with another team could be disastrous. If he leaves, the Panthers would be left with Cole Luke and Donte Jackson as the only true corners on the roster, as Ross Cockrell and Javien Elliott are also both about to become free agents.

This is supposed to be a deep cornerback draft class, but letting Bradberry leave would still represent a huge risk.

This is definitely a difficult decision for general manager Marty Hurney. If he’s wary of agreeing to a long-term deal, he may decide to use the franchise tag.

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Ranking the top 3 Panthers players who have the most trade value

With that in mind, here are the top three guys with the most trade value on the roster.

The Panthers stand at a crossroads heading towards the 2020 league year and this offseason has already seen some remarkable personnel changes.

Matt Rhule has replaced Ron Rivera’s old staff with a group of mostly untested college coaches. All-Pro linebacker Luke Kuechly suddenly retired, leaving a huge hole in the middle of the defense. Long-time tight end Greg Olsen was released and has signed with the Seahawks. More huge changes may be coming down the line, as well.

There will always be questions about quarterbacks going into the last year of their contracts, especially ones who have had three surgeries in as many years. Cam Newton’s future seems to be particularly up in the air, though after team owner David Tepper’s comments about his health and an unusual lack of public commitment from the front office for a franchise QB.

What comes next for Carolina depends on what they plan to do with Newton. If they want to keep him, it will affect how they retool the roster in profound ways.

If not, then it makes sense to embrace a total rebuild.

Should the Panthers decide to go that route, the first thing they’ll need to do is start accumulating draft capital. The team has massive gaps on its depth chart at several important positions and addressing them all will be impossible unless they add more picks.

Trading down from the No. 7 spot in the 2020 NFL draft (and perhaps trading down again later) is a good place to start.

It’s also worth considering dealing the team’s most valuable players in order to accumulate more capital. With that in mind, here are the top three guys with the most trade value on the roster.

CB James Bradberry // RB Christian McCaffrey // QB Cam Newton

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1 pending free agent Chargers should target: NFC South Edition

Chargers Wire lists one player on each team in the NFC South that the Los Angeles Chargers could target.

The Los Angeles Chargers are set to enter free agency with the most salary cap available since Tom Telesco took over as general manager in 2013.

Even though the franchise has some in-house players that will need to get paid, there’s a great chance that Telesco and company will be aggressive in signing other soon-to-be free agents to bolster an already talented roster, with the hopes of making a quick turnaround after finishing 5-11 in 2019.

With that being said, we are going to list one pending free agent from each team in the NFL that could be a realistic target for L.A. Next up is the NFC South.

New Orleans Saints – G Andrus Peat

Peat, 27, was drafted as a tackle in the first round of the 2015 NFL Draft but has played guard for the Saints. Peat has made two Pro Bowls in his career, but was up and down in 2019 and has missed nine games over the past two seasons with various injuries. A complete blocker, Peat has very few penalties against him. The positional versatility should attract the Chargers as he has the ability to plug-and-play at one of the guard spots or at right tackle.

Carolina Panthers – CB James Bradberry

At the age of 26, Bradberry is barely entering his prime. He defended nine passes along with a career-high three interceptions this past season. His best season came in 2018 when he defended 15 passes, posted two interceptions, forced a fumble and recorded a sack. Los Angeles wouldn’t necessarily have to go broke to acquire him – but based on his production in recent seasons he wouldn’t be that cheap, either.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers – DT Beau Allen

After spending the first four seasons of his career with the Eagles, Allen played the last two with the Bucs as a rotational defender where he amassed 40 tackles, four tackles for loss and four quarterback hits. At 6-foot-2 and 333 pounds, Allen has the functional strength to occupy blocks, has a desirable mentality for the position, brings energy, plays hard and gives terrific pursuit effort. These characteristics should really stand out to the Chargers, who are in need of shoring up the interior part of the defensive line.

Atlanta Falcons – DE Adrian Clayborn

Clayborn, Joey Bosa and Melvin Ingram. Wow! Clayborn has been an integral piece to the Falcons’ defensive line as he is averaging around 5.6 sacks per season. Clayborn, 32, isn’t the player that he once was in his prime but he’d offer some juice as an additional pass-rusher. The best part about it is that he wouldn’t be that expensive to acquire.

Free agent power rankings 1.0: Top 10 players Redskins should target

The Redskins are poised to be buyers once free agency rolls around, and there are a number of high-profile players they should target.

There is over a month until free agency officially begins in the NFL, but the Washington Redskin seemingly got the ball rolling last week by clearing up some cap space and getting ready to go shopping on the open market.

But who are they looking at, and what position do they plan to spend some money on? We’ve gone over the needs before, and a number of players that would fit those needs. However, that just tells you what’s on the wish list. Now we need to put them all in order. Here’s our definitive ranking of free agents that the Redskins should look to snag this offseason.

No. 10 — FS Tre Boston

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA – DECEMBER 29: Tre Boston #33 of the Carolina Panthers dances as he warms up before their game against the New Orleans Saints at Bank of America Stadium on December 29, 2019 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)

The free safety position isn’t a major area of need for the Redskins, but depending on what they decide to do with Montae Nicholson, who has been decently productive, but has struggled with some off-the-field stuff in the past, it could become one of their biggest priorities. It wouldn’t come as a total shock to see Ron Rivera and the new coaching staff decide to start fresh at the position and look to sign a top-end safety.

Sticking with a trend that has been realized in Washington as of late, it makes a lot of sense to continue the string of Carolina Panthers that have flocked to the Redskins. With Ron Rivera at the helm and a bunch of his former assistant coaches underfoot, plus the potential additions of CB James Bradberry and TE Greg Olsen, a trip to Washington might sound appealing for Tre Boston.

With 14 interceptions in his career, Boston would bring a great ball-hawking presence to the Redskins secondary, and his brief stint as a strong safety in Arizona with the Cardinals points to his ability to be a run-stopper as well — he has averaged 75 tackles per game over his last three seasons. Boston made just over $2.5 million in 2019, but he could stand to receive a solid payday once free agency rolls around if he were to sign in Washington.

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2020 NFL Free Agency: Top Panthers targets for the Saints

The Carolina Panthers have several pending free agents for the New Orleans Saints to consider, such as James Bradberry and Chris Hogan.

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The New Orleans Saints are hard at work evaluating their pending free agents and considering who might become available around the league, and we’re taking the same approach. We’ll be continuing our team-by-team preview of every team’s potential free agent class in the weeks leading up to NFL’s new fiscal year. Today, that means surveying the Carolina Panthers free agents.

  • CB James Bradberry
  • CB Javien Elliott
  • DT Vernon Butler
  • DT Kyle Love
  • DT Stacy McGee
  • DL Gerald McCoy
  • FS Tre Boston
  • G Greg Van Roten
  • OLB Mario Addison
  • OLB Bruce Irvin
  • RT Daryl Williams
  • TE Greg Olsen
  • WR Chris Hogan
  • DT Dontari Poe (Club Option)
  • WR Jarius Wright (Club Option)
  • WR DeAndrew White (RFA)
  • TE Dillon Gordon (RFA)
  • QB Kyle Allen (ERFA)
  • G Brandon Greene (ERFA)
  • G Kitt O’Brien (ERFA)
  • TE Marcus Baugh (ERFA)
  • CB Cole Luke (ERFA)

The name to watch here may be James Bradberry. He’s had some good games against the Saints before, but more importantly has been a consistently productive cover corner in a tough division. His best games have come against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, including a 2019 matchup in which he intercepted two passes and deflected two others. That experience against common opponents means he could help the Saints right away. The Saints are running thin at cornerback with just three corners under contract right now (being Marshon Lattimore, Janoris Jenkins, and Patrick Robinson) so we can expect some additions to the depth chart. No Panthers cornerback logged more coverage snaps than Bradberry 9614) in 2019, and Pro Football Focus credited him with the team’s second-best coverage grade.

Another name to monitor is Chris Hogan, the veteran wideout who was limited by a knee injury. Before joining the Panthers, Hogan was a well-regarded downfield threat who averaged 15.4 yards per catch the previous three years with the New England Patriots. He’s got good hands (62.3% career catch rate) and could be exactly what the Saints need to revive the vertical passing game. The questions have to surround his health and his age; he’ll turn 33 in October. Hogan should not be New Orleans’ first choice in free agency (or even one of their top choices), but he’s someone to keep in mind after the first wave or two of big signings is finalized.

Other Panthers free agents who could fit the Saints: free safety Tre Boston, defensive lineman Gerald McCoy, and defensive tackle Vernon Butler. Greg Olsen is a first-team All-Saints-Killer, but he’s not what the team needs right now at tight end.

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James Bradberry would love to play for Ron Rivera again

One free agent likes the idea of playing for the Redskins.

James Bradberry is one of the more interesting free agents available this offseason — and he just so happens to have a connection to Washington Redskins head coach Ron Rivera.

Bradberry played under Rivera with the Carolina Panthers and he’s openly admitted he’d like to do so again.

“I would love to play for coach Rivera again,” Bradberry said, according to NBC Sports’ Ethan Cadeaux. “He’s a great man and a great coach. He coached me for four years. I didn’t realize how much he meant to us until that day [he got fired]. Just how he spoke to us as men. He wasn’t overly aggressive unless he needed to be. He put his foot down when he needed to be.”

Bradberry might just be stressing some leverage against the Panthers here, as he’s a possible tag candidate by the Panthers.

But the corner’s thoughts on Rivera are genuine enough and the Redskins would probably love to have him. Bradberry has often registered as one of the league’s more underrated corners to this point in his career and is still only 26 years old.

Money will play a role in any potential fit though and the Redskins already have quite a bit invested in the secondary. There’s some wiggle room if they move on from Josh Norman and Bradberry appears to like the idea of moving to Washington, so never say never,

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20 candidates for NFL franchise or transition tags

Dak Prescott heads a list of 20 candidates for the NFL’s franchise and tags.

When all else failed in negotiations in past years, NFL teams had the option of using either the franchise tag or transition tag to keep a player they didn’t want walking away as a free agent. This year is a little different. In the final year of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, teams are allowed to use both the franchise and transition tags.

The tags can be designated between Feb. 25 and March 10. There are two types of franchise tags, exclusive and non-exclusive. A player with the non-exclusive franchise tag can negotiate with other teams. If an offer is received from outside, the current team has the option to match the offer or receive two first-round draft picks as compensation. The franchise tag is calculated by the average of the top five salaries at a given position or 120 percent of the player’s salary from last year (whichever number is greater).

The transition tag is valued at an average of the top 10 salaries at the player’s position or 120 percent of his salary from the previous year. There’s one big difference between the franchise and transition tags. With the transition tag, the current team receives no compensation if it elects to not match an offer from another team.

Some players, such as New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees, New England quarterback Tom Brady and Seattle defensive end Jadeveon Clowney have language in their contracts that forbids the use of franchise and transition tags.

Let’s take a look at the top candidates for franchise or transition tags in 2020:

20. James Bradberry, CB, Carolina Panthers

Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports

General manager Marty Hurney has told Bradberry the team wants to keep him. That makes sense because Bradberry is Carolina’s best cornerback in a division that features receivers Julio Jones, Michael Thomas, Chris Godwin and Mike Evans. But there’s a potential problem on the horizon. Former Carolina coach Ron Rivera is now in Washington and Bradberry was one of his favorites. The best way to box out Rivera may be to franchise Bradberry.

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Pro Football Focus: Panthers have 5 of the top 100 pending 2020 free agents

Pro Football Focus: Panthers have 5 of the top 100 pending free agents for 2020.

A lot of interesting names may be on the move come March when free agency begins. The Panthers have more than a dozen pending free agents on defense alone and some of them are key pieces.

Pro Football Focus recently came out with a ranking of the top 100 pending free agents for 2020, and five Carolina players made the list.

Slot CB Javien Elliott

Elliott was ranked No. 94 on PFF’s list. He proved to be an upgrade over Captain Munnerlyn and generally held up pretty well. They graded him 67.2 overall on 439 total snaps played. The Panthers need all the help they can get at cornerback, so it might not be a bad idea to bring him back. He’s far from irreplaceable, though and didn’t get a great coverage grade (65.8).

OL Daryl Williams

Williams came in at No. 91 on the list after earning a 56.1 overall grade. This speaks more to an extremely weak offensive line class than anything else. Williams began the year at left tackle, where he was predictably a bust. After Greg Van Roten got injured, he slid over and played left guard. Either way, Williams struggled in pass protection all year, allowing 12 sacks. It would come as a surprise if he returns for the 2020 season.

DT Gerald McCoy

After signing a one-year deal to lure him away from the division rival Buccaneers, the Panthers got a strong season from McCoy. He was ranked No. 58 on PFF’s list and earned a 72.0 overall grade. McCoy was excellent against the run and also had moments as a pass rusher, totaling five sacks, 13 QB hits and seven tackles for a loss. It’s tough to say whether or not McCoy will come back due to his age.

CB James Bradberry

Pro Football Focus ranked Bradberry No. 53 on their list. Bradberry got off to a hot start in 2019, but his play dropped off in the second half of the season and he gave up too many big gains. PFF gave him a below-average 63.2 coverage grade for the year. Bradberry now wants a major contract extension. While Carolina can’t afford to lose good corners, they also should be wary of giving him elite cornerback money.

FS Tre Boston

Finally, Boston was ranked No. 23 on PFF’s list. His overall rating got a huge boost from an elite coverage grade (90.6). Boston totaled three interceptions and 11 pass breakups. The Panthers have a lot of difficult decisions to make this offseason, but signing Boston to the long-term deal that’s eluded him the last three years shouldn’t be one of them.

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