Tag: NFL trades

A.J. Bouye wishes Jags fans success after pending trade

A.J. Bouye doesn’t appear to have any hard feelings towards the Jags trading him.

The Jacksonville Jaguars have been one of the top topics of NFL headlines this week. It started off rather rough for them as defensive end Yannick Ngakoue declared that he wanted out of Jacksonville and didn’t want a long-term deal with the team. Afterward, the team tagged him and now fans of the league in general are intrigued about what the future holds for him.

The Jags also found themselves in the headlines due to their decision to trade cornerback A.J. Bouye to the Denver Broncos Tuesday. He followed things up Wednesday evening by releasing a classy message to the Jags and their fans wishing them all success heading forward.

Bouye’s statements at least should put a smile on the faces of fans as he clearly enjoyed their presence. It also should put a smile on the fans’ faces because most of the Jags’ breakups with key players have ended on the wrong foot, but that doesn’t seem to be the case here.

Bouye, 28, was one of the players who most had questions about returning this offseason due to the hefty cap hit he’d come with ($15.5 million). While he was able to have great success upon signing with the team in 2017, he wasn’t able to maintain that level of play, although the Jags did lose several other pieces over his tenure. That said, they came to the conclusion that his price tag was too high for their current cap situation and the rest is history.

Bouye garnered 175 tackles and eight picks during his three years with the Jags. In his first year, he was named a Pro Bowler and was named a second-team All-Pro after racking up 56 tackles and six picks. With the pass-rushing talent the Broncos have, it’s possible Bouye could have a resurgence on the West Coast and his time with the Broncos certainly will be worth watching.

Report: Jags to trade CB A.J. Bouye to Broncos for a 2020 fourth-round pick

The Jags will be parting ways with one of their key veterans in A.J. Bouye, who will be traded to the Broncos.

With the Jacksonville Jaguars needing to free up some cap space, it appears they’ve decided to move on from one of their top veterans in cornerback A.J. Bouye. Per ESPN insider Adam Schefter, the Jags will be trading him to the Denver Broncos for a 2020 fourth-round pick, however, the deal can’t be processed until the new league year.

Bouye, 28, was set to free up over $11 million for the Jags if released this year. Though he’s proven to be a pretty good player, the argument could be made that his cap hit on the season was simply too high for a team in the Jags’ current state, as they were over the cap prior to the combine. Now, with his departure and the releases of defensive tackle Marcell Dareus and linebacker Jake Ryan, the Jags have found themselves at over $32.3 million in available cap space, per Over the Cap.

Bouye signed signed a five-year, $67.5 million contract with the Jags on March 11, 2017 after leaving the Houston Texans. While with the team, he accumulated 175 tackles and eight picks. In his first year, he was named a Pro Bowler and was named a second-team All-Pro after garnering 56 tackles and six picks.

With Chris Harris Jr. set to be an unrestricted free-agent, Bouye will now be Denvers top cornerback. With Von Miller and Bradley Chubb rushing the passer, he should be able to find success easily in Denver and help them get back to their postseason ways.

Should Falcons consider trading for Panthers G Trai Turner?

Another possible option for the Falcons that could solidify the line for years to come would be trading for Panthers five-time Pro Bowl guard Trai Turner.

Last season, the Atlanta Falcons may have found two long-term starters in guard Chris Lindstrom and tackle Kaleb McGary, but they still have a need for another guard with Jamon Brown and James Carpenter not quite living up to their free agent contracts.

Selecting another lineman in the first two rounds would drive some fans mad, but Arthur Blank has said he team intends to add a guard in the 2020 draft. Another possible option for the Falcons that could solidify the line for years to come would be trading for Panthers five-time Pro Bowl guard Trai Turner.

According to ESPN’s Jenna Laine, Carolina is shopping Turner, who is just 26 years old with two years remaining on his contract.

The biggest obstacle for Atlanta in acquiring Turner would be its own salary cap. The Pro Bowl guard is due an $8.5 million base salary in 2020 and an $11 million base salary in 2021.

With just $4.3 million in cap space according to Over The Cap, the Falcons would need to potentially cut or trade some players to free up the money to go get Turner.

As discussed previously, running back Devonta Freeman’s release would clear up $3.5 million, while making a more drastic move such as trading away or releasing Keanu Neal or Desmond Trufant would give the team even more space.

The kind of return the Panthers are expecting for Turner is debatable since their recent moves indicate a lack of interest in contending next season. Atlanta has two second-round picks, and perhaps pick No. 55 would be enough to acquire him. Or possibly a mid-round pick packaged with a veteran contract to make the numbers work could be another option.

Either way, if you can add a five-time Pro-Bowler up front that’s just 26 years old, it’s at least worth exploring.

[lawrence-related id=47427]

[vertical-gallery id=47279]

Trading OLB Matthew Judon might be in Ravens’ best interest

The Baltimore Ravens have a tough decision to make with Matthew Judon that could involve trading him instead of re-signing him

Baltimore Ravens outside linebacker Matthew Judon offers an interesting dilemma this offseason. He seems destined to hit the free-agent market where Baltimore simply won’t be able to keep up with other franchises that have a wealth of cap space to burn. If the Ravens don’t feel they’ll be able to lock up Judon to a long-term deal, trading him might be their best scenario here.

Judon is going to be one of the top options in free agency and will likely command serious money if allowed to hit the open market. Of course, the Ravens have the franchise tag available to keep Judon in town if they absolutely want, but it also has some serious ramifications on Baltimore’s salary cap while only locking him up for the 2020 season. It also leaves the option open for Judon to not sign his tender and hold out, or worse; sign the deal and still walk next offseason.

Though Baltimore has more cap space expected than in previous years, they still rank the bottom third of the league, according to Over The Cap. As of right now, 15 teams are expected to have more than $50 million available to spend this offseason, with two teams having more than $90 million in cap space. With just shy of $29 million expected to be available, according to OTC, the Ravens cannot keep up with the checkbooks of other teams if Judon gets serious interest in free agency.

Baltimore is staring down a potential repeat of last season where they lost key starters C.J. Mosley, Za’Darius Smith and Terrell Suggs for only compensatory picks in return. If the Ravens are planning on being buyers at all in free agency, they could just as easily wipe out the compensatory pick they’d acquire for Judon’s departure, which would be adding insult to injury here.

General manager Eric DeCosta might have learned from last offseason and could decide to go on the offensive here instead. As a top pending free-agent pass rusher, Judon is sure to draw interest from plenty of teams. But not every team will be interested in getting into a bidding war for his services or taking the chance they might not get him. Those teams might be far more eager to guarantee they can land Judon by trading with Baltimore and signing him to a long-term deal themselves.

From just last offseason until now, the NFL has had a bevy of trades to prove that star players can carry a lot of trade value.

The New York Jets traded defensive end Leonard Williams for a third-round pick in the 2020 NFL draft and a fifth/fourth-round pick in 2021. The Jacksonville Jaguars sent cornerback Jalen Ramsey to the Los Angeles Rams in return for two first-round picks and a fourth-rounder. The Kansas City Chiefs paid a second-round pick in the 2020 NFL draft for San Francisco 49ers defensive end Dee Ford. The Chiefs also sent defensive end Frank Clark and a third-round pick to the Seattle Seahawks in exchange for first-, second- and third-round picks.

By that history, it seems pretty likely Baltimore would net more than a third-round pick in exchange for Judon. If the Ravens can get a few teams interested, a first-round pick or more doesn’t seem to be out of the realm of possibility.

To play their options out and incentivize other teams to make a move, Baltimore could apply the franchise tag to Judon now. If Judon wants to have more control over where he goes, he could decide to not sign the tag unless he likes the destination. But that would also mean the Ravens could rescind the tag at any time before the deadline in May and still let Judon hit free agency like normal. It’s a win-win for Baltimore here given that re-signing Judon seems pretty unlikely at this point.

The Ravens still need help at pass rusher and one guy isn’t going to fix the problem, including just re-signing Judon. Baltimore would be better off picking up multiple second-tier players while using the draft to hopefully acquire an immediate game-changing talent. Trading Judon would mean the Ravens could spend their cap space on those types of free agents while giving them an extra early-round pick to either move up for a star prospect or take multiple shots at the position.

Of course, all this is dependent on other teams being interested in trading for Judon. But on the flip side, if Judon doesn’t draw much interest on the trade market, it might indicate his value as a free agent isn’t nearly as high as expected either and might push him to sign a long-term deal with Baltimore for cheaper.

There seems to be no downside to dangling Judon out as a trade option and a lot of serious upsides to trading him away.

[vertical-gallery id=41592]

The Patriots need to say goodbye to Tom Brady … and trade for Cam Newton

The league is more fun when the Patriots are evil and good. They can maintain that by saying bye to Tom Brady trading for Cam Newton.

There is going to be a ton of speculation in the coming weeks about the future of Tom Brady and the New England Patriots. The future Hall of Fame quarterback didn’t look like himself this season, and head coach Bill Belichick has never been one for sentimentality. (That’s an understatement, but, you know.)

With Brady turning 43 this summer, it wouldn’t surprise anyone if New England moved on.

Brady will have plenty of options if he and the Pats break up, one would assume. John Elway and the Broncos probably have a contract lined up and ready to go. The Colts could make a play. There are plenty of teams which would be delighted to see what a fired-up Brady has left in the tank, were the split to occur.

That’s all well and good. But here’s where things could get really fun: If the Patriots traded for Cam Newton.

This needs to happen. Partly for the football, but mostly for the chaos.

AP Photo/Jeffrey T. Barnes

Newton is on the outs in Carolina, where the franchise has apparently talked itself into Kyle Allen. Good on you, Panthers. This is laughable and wild, but more power to you.

Newton, one of the most gifted quarterbacks alive when healthy, would get to be plugged in to a Patriots team that just needs him to be solid to compete. With their defense, their coach, a healthy offensive line and a re-tooling at the skill positions, Newton could win 10 games just by playing decently.

If he plays well, the Patriots are immediately in the discussion of Super Bowl favorites.

Patriots fans would be miffed for about 45 seconds, then watch two minutes of Newton highlights and start talking about the second coming of the dynasty. There’d be some crabs who will argue he doesn’t play the game the right way, or whatever, but all it would take is one deep throw to Mohamed Sanu and they’d get over it.

Newton deserves a fresh start. The Patriots deserve a dynamic quarterback. The league deserves the villains to remain villains.

This is the key point here: Just imagine the banter. Just imagine Twitter if the Patriots traded for Newton.

If only for that, the Patriots need to do this. Chaos is fun. The world is going to hell and we need distractions, and Cam Newton on the Patriots will give us that. Oh man, will it give us that. I don’t want to spend my offseason debating, like, if the Rams are going to get out from under some contracts or if the Jets linebacker corps will be improved this season or whatever. I need people loudly screaming about Cam Newton and Bill Belichick all summer.

The league is more fun when the Patriots are evil and good. If Tom Brady sticks around for another season tossing ducks in a nine-win season, the schadenfreude will only last so long. Eventually people will get bored, or worse — they”ll start to feel bad for New England.

No one wants that. New England doesn’t want that.

We as NFL fans need evil. We need chaotic evil. The Patriots need to trade for Cam Newton.

[lawrence-related id=884105,884027,883958]

[jwplayer HfdjBjM5-q2aasYxh]