Tag: nfl free agents

FB Kyle Juszczyk wants to stay with 49ers RB coach Bobby Turner

49ers RB coach Bobby Turner is a key reason fullback Kyle Juszcyk wants to return to San Francisco.

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The 49ers have a slew of pending free agents who likely won’t return for the 2021 season. It sounds like fullback Kyle Juszczyk wants to be among the group that will come back.

Juszczyk said in early December he’s only had informal discussions with the 49ers about a return. There’s no long-term deal on the table per the fullback.

While head coach Kyle Shanahan designs the offense that leans heavily on Juszczyk because of his skill set, it was running backs coach Bobby Turner who got the attention when the fullback showed up for his video conference wearing a t-shirt with Turner’s face and a popular saying of his on it.

“I’ve had a great four years now with the same position coach, a guy that knows me, I know him, and we have a good understanding,” Juszczyk told reporters about Turner per the Sacramento Bee. “It makes for a really good work environment. So that’s definitely something I can’t put a discount on. I definitely have really, really enjoyed my time with Bobby T, learning from him and would love to continue to work with my guy.”

There aren’t a lot of teams using fullbacks as frequently as the 49ers use theirs. Some teams, like the Los Angeles Rams, don’t even roster a fullback. Juszczyk’s important to what Shanahan wants to do on offense is reflected in the four-year, $21 million deal he got from the 49ers when Shanahan became the head coach in 2017. His $5.25 million average annual value is $2 million more than the second highest paid fullback.

Juszczyk is an important player for San Francisco. They run 21 personnel (two running backs, one tight end) the second-most in the league. They ran by far the highest rate of 21 personnel in the NFL the previous two seasons. That’s made possible by their do-everything fullback.

There are a few players the 49ers simply can’t let walk. Juszczyk is one of them, and it sounds like there’s mutual interest in his return beyond the 2020 campaign.

Richard Sherman believes only a miracle will get him back to 49ers

Richard Sherman is a free agent in 2021, and he’s probably not going to wind up with the San Francisco 49ers.

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The 49ers and their front office will be in uncharted waters next offseason. They’ll have a number of key free agents, and too many good players on the roster and in free agency to pay them all. Richard Sherman is well aware of this reality and wasn’t shy about stating it in a Thursday video conference with reporters.

Adding up the dollars and cents against a salary cap that could either stagnate or dip means some players San Francisco might like to retain will sign elsewhere for more money. That’s the reality of a league with a hard salary cap.

Sherman put two and two together and determined his value will probably exceed what the 49ers will be able to pay once all the dust settles with some long-term extensions they’re due to hand out.

“If there’s some miracle that happens, sure, there’s an opening” Sherman said about a return to the 49ers per the San Francisco Chronicle. “But there’s 40 free agents and they’ll probably have $40 million or less in cap (space0. And they’ve got to bring back Trent (Williams), who costs over $20 million. And they have to pay Fred, who costs $18 million-plus a year. So anybody who knows the situation understands that.”

Williams is set to hit free agency and earn a contract at the top of the tackle market. Green Bay’s David Bakhtiari is the highest-paid left tackle by average annual value at $23 million per season. It stands to reason Williams will eclipse that.

Warner has become one of the best off-ball linebackers in the NFL and he’s eligible for his first extension this offseason. Seattle’s Bobby Wagner is setting the market there with an $18 million AAV.

Sherman, 32, is still playing at a high level and earned a Second-Team All-Pro nod in 2019. He missed nine games through the middle portion of this season to deal with a calf injury, but he’ll still be coveted enough in free agency that he could get priced out of what the 49ers are willing to pay a corner going into his mid 30s.

The impact Sherman had on San Francisco’s turnaround since he arrived in 2018 can’t be understated, but it sounds like it’s nearing the point where both sides will have to move on.

CB Richard Sherman believes re-signing with 49ers is unlikely

San Francisco 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman believes both he and the team would like to reunite in 2021 but thinks the chances are slim.

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San Francisco 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman has easily been one of the team’s best free-agent signings under general manager John Lynch. However, approaching the end of his three-year, $39 million deal with San Francisco, both he and the team must think about life after this season.

Sherman, 32, who doesn’t have an agent and instead represents himself, spoke with Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports about his expectations for the impending offseason.

The three-time All-Pro acknowledged, “there’s obviously a want from both sides to come back and make this work,” but ultimately concludes, “the numbers are adding up to that I won’t be here [with the 49ers next season] unless something miraculous happens.”

The 49ers have an impending salary cap crunch. With starters like Sherman, left tackle Trent Williams, and cornerback Jason Verrett all slotted for free agency, San Francisco will only have around $22.6 million in cap space to work with, per Over the Cap. Verrett and Williams have been two of the best players at their positions this season. If the 49ers re-sign Williams, they will probably have to choose between Sherman and Verrett. Given Verrett’s elite play this season, they might lean in that direction.

General managers have been known to manipulate media narratives to try and gain leverage in contract negotiations. Sherman would be justified in trying to entice a more favorable contract out of the 49ers even if he plans on staying. Still, it’s noteworthy that one of the team’s starting corners is discussing the possibility of leaving.

There is still plenty of time for things to change. Sherman’s market could not develop as he expects, or another team could offer Verrett a contract out of the 49ers’ price range. Of course, defensive coordinator Robert Saleh remains a leading head coaching candidate this offseason. If he’s hired by another team, it would make sense for him to target familiar faces like Sherman.

Over his time with San Francisco, Sherman has started 31 games, recorded 88 tackles, 16 passes defended, four interceptions, and a sack. This season Sherman has been limited by injuries and played in just two games, with 11 tackles, and one interception.

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3 Chargers among The Athletic’s top-50 free agents in 2021

The Chargers will have some decision-making to do following the 2020 season.

Sitting at 3-7, the chances of the Chargers making the playoffs are very slim. While there’s still some hope among some fans, the majority of them are already looking towards the next season, particularly the offseason where there will be some retooling to the roster.

A big part of that includes free agency, where Los Angeles will have a few notable players that they will have to decide whether or not they will have returning.

The Athletic’s Sheil Kapadia ranked the top-50 free agents currently set to hit the market in 2021. L.A. had three players featured on the list and a couple of players as honorable mentions.

Highest on the list for the Bolts is edge defender Melvin Ingram.

Here’s what Kapadia wrote:

16. Melvin Ingram, edge, Chargers (32)

He’s had a very good career, but Ingram has battled injuries and has no sacks and four QB hits this season. Plus, age is working against him. Ingram can still be a disruptive player and is a versatile pass rusher capable of lining up in different spots. But his lack of production this year could hurt him. Ingram could be an attractive option for a contending team looking for a short-term fix. Jason Pierre-Paul’s two-year, $25 million deal from last offseason could be a good comp.

Following Ingram is tight end Hunter Henry, who has served as a security blanket for quarterback Justin Herbert this season.

26. Hunter Henry, TE, Chargers (26)

The Chargers tagged Henry last offseason. He ranks sixth among tight ends with 435 receiving yards so far this season but is 25th with 1.36 yards per route run. Austin Hooper got a four-year, $42 million deal last offseason. Given how young Henry is, he could be in line for a similar deal.

The last person on the list is cornerback Michael Davis, who’s been one of the more productive players in the secondary.

48. Michael Davis, CB, Chargers (26)

After originally signing with the Chargers as an undrafted free agent in 2017, Davis has developed into a quality starting corner. He has size at 6-foot-2 and athletic traits and is young. Davis has been on the field for 96 percent of the Chargers’ defensive snaps this season and has been a contributing player for three seasons. His best days could be still to come.

The Chargers also had two others listed among the honorable mentions that barely didn’t make the list, linebacker Denzel Perryman and safety Rayshawn Jenkins, two defenders that have been impactful this season.

Re-signing Trent Williams won’t be a hard choice for 49ers

49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan didn’t mince words when talking about 2021 free agent Trent Williams.

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The 49ers have a slew of free agency decisions to make next offseason. Perhaps their biggest, in multiple ways, will be left tackle Trent Williams. He’s on the final year of his contract and opted not to work out an extension prior to this season. Head coach Kyle Shanahan on Tuesday didn’t make it sound like it’ll be much of a decision for the team.

“Trent knows how I feel about him and how our whole team feels about him. I think Trent feels the same, so hopefully it makes sense for him to stay here and I know it makes sense for us,” Shanahan said. “That’s the tough part about this league. We’ve got a lot of good players and we’ve worked real hard to build our roster up and that’s why we’ve had to make tough decisions last year and we’re going to have to do it again this year, but everything’s tied together. I know Trent is very important to me and very important to our team and someone I want around here for a while.”

Among the 49ers players set to hit free agency this offseason are Williams, Richard Sherman, Kyle Juszczyk and K’Waun Williams.

San Francisco knew this was coming when they traded a 2020 fifth-round selection and a 2021 third-round choice to Washington for Williams during the 2020 draft. He had one-year left on his deal, and he chose to play out his contract rather than trying to get an extension done before the year.

His patience is paying off. Through 10 weeks he’s Pro Football Focus’ highest-graded tackle, and he’s allowed just two pressures and no sacks since Week 5.

The big left tackle will surely reset the market at one of the most important positions on offense. San Francisco may have to do some maneuvering to fit Williams’ deal under the deflated salary cap, but the decision to keep him in the Bay Area shouldn’t be a hard one.

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Notre Dame in NFL: Chicago Bears bringing in former Notre Dame QB for workout

The Chicago Bears are bringing in a former Notre Dame quarterback to possibly try and solve their massive issues at the position. Details:

The Chicago Bears have gone from the NFC North’s penthouse to laughing stock as their 5-1 start was erased in the last month as they’ve dropped four straight in falling to 5-5.

Starting quarterback to start the year Mitchell Trubisky was benched in favor of Nick Foles but with injuries to both, the Bears are indeed perhaps looking to bring in another quarterback to try and help solve their massive offensive issues.

Field Yates of ESPN reported on Tuesday that the Bears, who are on their bye week, will be bringing in former Notre Dame quarterback DeShone Kizer for a tryout.

Kizer was a second round draft pick of the Cleveland Browns in 2017 but struggled mightily as they lost all 15 of his starts that season.

Kizer was then traded to Green Bay where he backed up Aaron Rodgers in 2018 and played in three games.  He has not however played in any NFL games since despite spending 2019 as a member of the Raiders.

For his NFL career, Kizer has 11 touchdown passes and 24 interceptions.  Stay tuned to see if he’ll get the opportunity to try and turn around his professional career and the Bears offensive woes.

Former Ravens S Earl Thomas visiting Texans, likely to sign

Former Baltimore Ravens safety Earl Thomas is finally getting some free-agent looks this week, visiting the Houston Texans

Former Baltimore Ravens safety Earl Thomas might have found himself a new home for the 2020 NFL season. After three weeks and a bunch of defensive woes, the Houston Texans are bringing Thomas in for a workout. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Texans are likely to sign the Pro Bowl safety.

The Ravens released Thomas this offseason after he got into a fight with fellow safety Chuck Clark at a training camp practice. However, it wasn’t the only incident that helped Baltimore decide to move on from their starting safety. Thomas had previously gotten into a heated exchange with defensive tackle Brandon Williams last season, needing players and staff to intervene to stop it from getting physical. Thomas also had a troubled offseason that included allegedly being confronted by his wife with a loaded gun, causing the police to be called.

In the end, it was just too much trouble for the Ravens to take, releasing Thomas for conduct detrimental to the team. Baltimore has since rallied around Clark and DeShon Elliott as the starting safeties this season.

Houston has had a pretty rough start to their season, arguably getting the hardest opening stretch of any team this year. The Texans have had the Kansas City Chiefs, Ravens, and Pittsburgh Steelers in their first three games, helping guide them to an 0-3 start. After having been a playoff team last year, that type of awful beginning leaves their chances of returning to the postseason in doubt.

The Texans have actually done well this season defending the pass. Despite playing against two of the better offenses in the league to open the season, Houston has allowed the third-fewest passing yards. The real issue has been defending the run, where they’re the worst-rated team in the NFL, giving up an average of 188.3 rushing yards per game. Baltimore fans will remember all too well Thomas’ woes in that area of the game last season, struggling against Browns running back Nick Chubb and Titans running back Derrick Henry especially.

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Should the Cardinals Sign Pro-Bowl S Earl Thomas?

Following the Cardinals’ 23-26 loss to the Detroit Lions and glaring needs at safety, should the Cardinals bite the bullet and sign Pro-Bowl safety Earl Thomas?

The Arizona Cardinals experienced one of their more gut-wrenching losses in recent memory to the Detroit Lions on Sunday, falling 23-26. The team has lost to worse teams before, but this one felt different for both the Cardinals and their fans. This team is full of talent and potential, but can’t seem to reach it.

Part of Sunday’s disappointing loss came as a result of a very thin secondary for the Cardinals. By the time Detroit was at midfield in their game-winning drive, the Cardinals had backup safeties to their backups playing. The result was Marvin Jones breaking a tackle to move Detroit into field-goal range.

The incredible Budda Baker played through a thumb injury that requires surgery, but his availability in the future is uncertain. He will have surgery this week.

Baker’s plans are to only miss next week’s game against Carolina, but that is far from a certainty. He could end up missing a few weeks. This injury unfortunately pairs with the injuries to safeties Jalen Thompson, who is on injured reserve with an ankle injury, and Chris Banjo, who left Sunday’s game with a hamstring injury.

So, what can the Cardinals do to add talent to their safety room? Many fans have expressed their desires to sign former Cardinal Tony Jefferson, though he does not appear ready to return to football as he recovers from a season-ending knee injury in 2019.

The obvious most talented option left for Arizona is none other than seven-time Pro-Bowler Earl Thomas III. After being an anchor in Seattle’s legendary Legion of Boom, Thomas signed with the Baltimore Ravens on a one-year deal. He was a large part of Baltimore’s stout 2019 defense. Thomas was released by Baltimore before the start of the season.

A seven-time Pro-Bowl and three-time First-Team All-Pro safety doesn’t get released in training camp very often. Thomas allegedly got into a fight with a teammate that led to him throwing a punch. This came months after he reportedly got into a scuffle with DT Brandon Williams after their loss to Cleveland. ESPN’s Adam Schefter has also reported Thomas missing or being late to some team meetings in his one-year stint with Baltimore.

Arizona would have to believe Thomas can prevent these type of incidents from occurring again for them to have any interest. There is certainly a risk in bringing a player into a locker room with that recent track record, but the payout if all works out is an All-Pro safety to bolster the secondary.

Budda Baker has settled in nicely in his role at free safety, which is the same role occupied by Thomas. While Baker has shown his positional versatility on the field, Thomas is usually locked into free safety. That becomes an issue when Baker returns, unless Vance Joseph wants to have Baker roam the field.

The bottom line is, Earl Thomas is a great player who makes the Arizona Cardinals better in the secondary. However, his release from Baltimore likely deters Steve Keim from bringing in the former All-Pro.

Depending on the status of Baker’s thumb surgery, Arizona would be better off adding one of the other free agent safeties given the hopeful short term injuries to their two starting safeties. Thomas may be a great player, but Arizona made Baker the highest-paid safety in the NFL. They rightfully believe in him.

Other free agent safeties include Tony Jefferson, Haha Clinton-Dix, Eric Reid and Demarius Randall. It would be a surprise if Arizona didn’t look into at least one of these options before Sunday’s game against the Panthers.

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7 available free agents that make sense for 49ers

The 49ers could dramatically improve their roster with some additional free agent signings.

The 49ers’ 90-man roster is full, but that doesn’t mean they’re done making tweaks.

While their early free agent moves were relatively minor outside of re-signing Arik Armstead and Jimmie Ward, more free agent moves could be on the way. An additional free agency wave tends to hit once the moves no longer factor into the compensatory pick formula.

The major free agents are mostly signed, but some available players remain who could help the 49ers in 2020. Here are seven free agents San Francisco could bring in to help improve their roster:

TE Delanie Walker

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The 49ers could use another versatile playmaker at tight end. Ross Dwelley, sixth-round pick Charlie Woerner and 2019 undrafted free agent Daniel Helm are the only tight ends behind George Kittle on the roster. None of them are particularly dangerous pass catchers. Walker offers the versatility Kyle Shanahan likes from his tight ends while also offering an upgrade in the passing game. His best years are behind him, but defenses would have to account for Walker even if his role is limited.

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Rams announce jersey numbers for Leonard Floyd, A’Shawn Robinson

Leonard Floyd and A’Shawn Robinson will have new numbers with the Rams.

After revealing jersey numbers for each member of the 2020 draft class, the Los Angeles Rams have now announced which numbers their free-agent additions will wear next season.

Leonard Floyd and A’Shawn Robinson were the only outside free agents signed by the Rams, and both figure to play key roles on defense in 2020. They’ll both be wearing different numbers than they wore with their previous teams, too.

Floyd is taking No. 54, which was worn by Bryce Hager last year, and Robinson will wear No. 94. Coincidentally, Floyd wore No. 94 with the Bears, but perhaps he wanted a new number with this fresh start in L.A.

Floyd expects to be one of the starting outside linebackers for Los Angeles, helping replace Dante Fowler Jr. and Clay Matthews. He’ll likely play strongside linebacker, which is where Matthews lined up, primarily stopping the run while also rushing the passer.

Robinson will play all across the defensive line, spending time at defensive end, nose tackle and 3-technique when Aaron Donald needs a breather. The Rams signed him after Michael Brockers agreed to terms with the Ravens, but now L.A. will benefit from having both in the mix.

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