Lions work out QB Trevor Siemian and several WRs

Chris Hogan is the most accomplished of the receivers

Now that the team is finally allowed to conduct workouts with free agents, the Detroit Lions are taking full advantage. On Friday the team welcomed former Broncos starting QB Trevor Siemian to Allen Park, as well as four wide receivers for him to work out with as an audition.

Siemian worked out with WRs Shelton Gibson, Keon Hatcher, Chris Hogan and Krishawn Hogan. None of the players were immediately signed.

Siemian was Denver’s primary starting QB in 2016-2017, leading the Broncos to a 13-11 record as a starter while completing 59.3 percent of his passes. He threw 30 touchdowns against 24 interceptions. He has played in just one game since, a start for the New York Jets in 2019 where his leg was broken in the first quarter.

Chris Hogan is the most notable of the wideouts. He’s a longtime New England Patriot with a very consistent production line. From 2014-2018, he caught between 34 and 41 passes every season (2014 was with the Bills). The 32-year-old spent 2019 in Carolina.

The other wideouts have combined for seven career NFL catches.

NFL Draft: None of the 7 QBs chosen in 2015 are with the team that selected them

With Jameis Winston moving on from Tampa Bay, every QB taken in the 2015 NFL Draft has moved on from the team that chose them.

Jameis Winston won’t be with the Tampa Bay Bucs anymore. The No. 1 overall pick in 2015 has been inconsistent and led to TB signing TB 12 — Tom Brady — in hopes of finding playoff success. How did the quarterbacks drafted in 2015 fare?

Trevor Siemian (Round 7)

The Denver Broncos drafted Trevor Siemian out of Northwestern. He was 13-11 as a starter for the Orange Crush. Siemian wound up with the New York Jets last season and was 0-1.

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Report: Trevor Siemian receives clean bill of health after scary Jets injury

After throwing just six passes for the Jets in 2019 and missing 13 games, Trevor Siemian has just now received a clean bill of health.

Trevor Siemian’s 2019 season ended abruptly and in gruesome fashion.

Siemian replaced Sam Darnold in the starting lineup after Darnold was diagnosed with mononucleosis following Week 1. The veteran was supposed to step in and be a calming presence in Darnold’s absence, but he ripped ligaments in his ankle after throwing just six passes.

Now, Siemian has received a clean bill of health from specialist Dr. David Porter, per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero. Five and a half months later, he is deemed healthy with free agency around the corner.

Siemian’s 2019 season didn’t even last an entire half. He got drilled in the helmet by Browns defensive end Myles Garrett. On the play, the Jets backup quarterback’s leg bent underneath him and his season and New York’s simultaneously ended in the second quarter of the second game.

This year’s pool of free agent quarterbacks could include Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Philip Rivers, Dak Prescott, Teddy Bridgewater, Jameis Winston, Case Keenum, Ryan Tannehill and Marcus Mariota. Siemian, however, shouldn’t have a problem finding work as a backup.

If the Jets are unable to get Keenum to be Darnold’s next mentor, bringing back Siemian, who has starting experience, would definitely be a viable option. Especially since Darnold has played 26 of 32 possible games to start his NFL career.

For his career, Siemian has completed 59.2 percent of his passes for 5,689 yards, 30 touchdowns and 24 interceptions between stops in Denver, Minnesota and New York.

2020 NFL Free Agency: Robby Anderson among Jets options for Saints

The New Orleans Saints need help at wide receiver, and New York Jets star wideout Robby Anderson might be one of the best in free agency.

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There was a lot of bad football played at MetLife Stadium last year, the home of both the New York Giants and the New York Jets. But free agency could see players hit the market who might intrigue the New Orleans Saints, who will be on the lookout for upgrades as well as greater depth for their roster. Here are all of the Jets free agents in the 2020 offseason:

CB Brian Poole
CB Maurice Canady
CB Arthur Maulet (RFA)
CB Bennett Jackson (ERFA)
DE Brandon Copeland
FS Rontez Miles
K Sam Ficken (ERFA)
LB Frankie Luvu (ERFA)
LB Paul Worrilow
LB Jordan Jenkins
LB Neville Hewitt
LB Albert McClellan
LB James Burgess (RFA)
LB B.J. Bello (RFA)
OC Ryan Kalil
OG Tom Compton
OG Alex Lewis
OT Kelvin Beachum
OT Brent Qvale
OT Leo Koloamatangi (RFA)
OT Brandon Shell
P Lac Edwards
QB Trevor Siemian
QB David Fales
RB Bilal Powell
RB Ty Montgomery
WR Robby Anderson
WR Demaryius Thomas
WR Josh Malone (RFA)
WR Jeff Smith (ERFA)

Robby Anderson is the best player on this list, a big-play threat at wide receiver who has struggled with spotty quarterback play in his Jets career. He’ll command top dollar on the open market and is likely going to be priced out of the Saints’ budget, but he’s worth monitoring in their search for a number-two compliment to Michael Thomas.

The Saints need to start adding to the depth chart at cornerback, and the Jets offer several interesting options. Two of them are already familiar to the Saints in Arthur Maulet (a restricted free agent), a New Orleans native whose pro career started with the Saints, and Brian Poole, a former Falcons role player. Either of them might make sense for the Saints as backup material.

Don’t overlook Trevor Siemian, at least while the Saints have a vacancy or two at quarterback. Like Teddy Bridgewater, Siemian is a former starter who does his best work from the pocket. Those qualities could convince Sean Payton to give him a shot, but Siemian’s lack of pro success and above-average arm talent probably keeps him in a reserve role.

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Jets free agent profile: What to do with QB David Fales?

Here’s how the Jets should approach David Fales’ free agency situation.

Before Joe Douglas can focus on who he plans to target in free agency come March, he’ll have a handful of in-house decisions to make.

The Jets have 32 players set to hit the open market this offseason. Some don’t figure to factor into New York’s plans for 2020, while it’s safe to assume the Jets would like to keep others around for a while. Either way, Douglas has a lot of work to do in his first offseason on the job.

David Fales was signed by the Jets after Trevor Siemian tore ligaments in his ankle and was ruled out for the season. Fales was Luke Falk’s backup until Sam Darnold returned from mononucleosis. He played in two games during the season, but didn’t record any stats. Let’s take a look at how the Jets should approach Fales’ free agency in another edition of Jets Wire’s free agent profile.

Pros of keeping him

Fales is familiar with Adam Gase’s offense as the two spent time together in both Miami, Chicago and now New York. He hasn’t played many games in the system though, only playing in three games prior to this season.

He’s also a veteran player in the NFL. Fales just completed his fifth season in the league out of San Jose State. His familiarity with the offense and him being a veteran could be why the Jets keep him.

Cons of keeping him

While Fales does know the offense, his skills at the quarterback position are just not that good to play in case Darnold were to be injured.

The Jets need to get a capable backup quarterback who can come in and at least keep them competitive. Fales has yet to prove in his five-year career that he can do that as he’s been on six different teams.

The verdict

Fales may be best buddies with Gase, but that can’t be the reason the Jets let him stay with the team. It’s time to get a backup quarterback who has some starting experience in the NFL and knows what he’s doing when he steps on the field.

The only way the Jets could let Fales stick around is on their practice squad. But if the Jets’ plan is to break camp next season with two quarterbacks on the 53-man roster, then Fales shouldn’t be included.

What are the Broncos backup quarterback options?

The Broncos have a starting QB in Drew Lock and now need to give him a solid backup.

The Denver Broncos have found their starting quarterback for the foreseeable future in Drew Lock. There should be no controversy this offseason.

But the team has a few different directions it can go in terms of the team’s backup quarterback spot. Will the team look within for Lock’s backup or will it go outside the organization and find a different option than one currently on the roster? Here are three options.

Option 1: Joe Flacco

The first option to consider is going to be Flacco, the veteran the team traded for last March and hoped to get a couple seasons out of. Instead, they might have just gotten part of one season.

Whether Flacco could be the team’s backup next season rests on a couple of things. One, is his contract, the one the team chose to restructure. Secondly, would be whether he has an interest in staying in Denver or if the organization has an interest in him staying.

It’s hard to imagine there being much interest on either side and though there would be a lot of dead money for the team to eat if it cuts ties with him, that should be the direction things end up going.

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Jets Free Agent Profile: What to do with QB Trevor Siemian?

Jets Wire breaks down whether or not New York should re-sign impending free agent quarterback Trevor Siemian this offseason.

Before Joe Douglas can focus on who he plans to target in free agency come March, he’ll have a handful of in-house decisions to make.

Trevor Siemian’s 2019 season came to an abrupt end when he suffered a gruesome lower leg injury in Week 2 against the Cleveland Browns. He didn’t get the chance to show much a year ago, but that doesn’t mean he brings no value to the table. Should the Jets bring the veteran back for another season as Sam Darnold’s backup? Let’s evaluate the situation in Jets Wire’s latest free agent profile.

Pros of keeping him

Siemian’s 2019 season essentially ended before it could really begin. That will likely play a major role in Douglas’ decision, but New York’s first-year general manager needs to take a step back and ignore the injury that landed him on injured reserve before coming to any sort of conclusion.

Siemian knows Adam Gase’s system relatively well after spending a whole year at One Jets Drive. The Jets still need a veteran in the building to help Darnold along in his development. Considering his familiarity with New York’s offense, Siemian could be that guy for another season.

Cons of keeping him

It’s tough to evaluate Siemian’s performance in 2019 considering his season lasted less than one half of football, but his past performances as a starter with the Denver Broncos indicate the Jets could possibly upgrade behind Darnold in free agency.

Siemian is also coming off a major injury. Is it really worth keeping a backup who missed a whole season when Douglas could opt for a second-string signal caller with a cleaner bill of health and more upside?

The verdict

Siemian was good for Darnold, but that is not enough to save his job in this situation. This would likely be a much different debate if Siemian did not get hurt, but it’s not like he was a world-beater when healthy anyway.

Expect the Jets to have a new quarterback holding down the No. 2 spot on the depth chart next season.

If Teddy Bridgewater leaves in free agency, who could replace him?

The New Orleans Saints will have options to replace Teddy Bridgewater in free agency with Marcus Mariota, Mike Glennon, and other veterans.

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What are the New Orleans Saints going to do at quarterback this year?

It’s an easy question to ask, and almost too simple to try and answer. They should re-sign Drew Brees for one more year, if he’s willing, because he gives the Saints their best shot at winning a Super Bowl title. They should also keep Teddy Bridgewater around as a top-paid backup, because he impressed while winning all five of his starts. And Taysom Hill should return on a cheap restricted free agent tender; he’s a fun weapon who can run and catch, but has shown some serious limitations as a passer. It’s fine if his future isn’t at quarterback.

But things rarely go according to plan in the NFL. Bridgewater should be a hot commodity in free agency — we’ve already highlighted several teams who could try to sign him away from New Orleans. While the Saints can’t afford to pay a starter’s salary to both Brees and Bridgewater (or other top free agents like Dak Prescott, Ryan Tannehill, or Jameis Winston), he’s definitely earned it, and it’s very possible the backup leaves town in pursuit of a starting gig.

So let’s say Bridgewater bows out for greater opportunities, while Brees and Hill remain. Which free agents could the Saints try to recruit in free agency to pad out the depth chart at quarterback? Here are four options that could make sense.

Marcus Mariota

He makes sense if… The Saints see him as a future starter. Mariota is on the outs, having flopped as a high first-round pick with the Tennessee Titans. But it’s not like he was surrounded by offensive masterminds. In fact, he’s had to work with a new coordinator every year he’s played in the NFL. The Saints could offer rare stability for the 26-year-old quarterback, who thrived with similar passing concepts in college. Mariota is kind of similar to Bridgewater, having protected the ball well while struggling to pull the trigger on deep-field throws. Maybe Saints coach Sean Payton can tap into the potential the Titans squandered.

Trevor Siemian

He makes sense if… Payton wants another reclamation project. An ugly ankle injury ended Siemian’s season before it could get off the ground, but he’s a mechanically-sound passer who’s won games in this league. Granted, he’s only gone 13-11 as a starter with the Denver Broncos, but that isn’t far from Bridgewater’s mark of 17-11 with the Minnesota Vikigns. Siemian has shown he can navigate a collapsing pocket and hit receivers in stride. He’d be worth a look as someone who could develop behind Brees and compete with Hill for the starting job in the future.

Chase Daniel

He makes sense if… The Saints aren’t worried about life after 2020. Let’s say that the Saints have a ton of faith in Hill’s projection in the long-term. If he’s their guy after Brees calls it a career, they won’t need a younger option to work with while pursuing a Super Bowl berth next season. Daniel knows the offense well, won’t break the bank, and can provide a steady presence for Brees to workshop new signature handshakes with during his swan song. At 33, he could easily stick around as a safety blanket should Hill struggle in the starting role later on down the road.

Mike Glennon

He makes sense if… Chase Daniel is ready to retire. Maybe Daniel wants to go out on top, with $34.3 million and a couple of Super Bowl rings to his credit. If so, Glennon makes sense as a veteran alternative. Payton has been a fan of Glennon going back to the 2014 NFL Draft, even if the N.C. State product’s career hasn’t gone as hoped. He was immediately replaced by the Chicago Bears when they made an ill-advised trade up for Mitchell Trubisky, and spent last season quietly on the bench behind Oakland Raiders passer Derek Carr. Maybe Payton still likes him enough to ask Glennon to hold a clipboard for a year while Brees chases another Super Bowl.

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Jets should invest in solid backup QB in 2020

Joe Douglas and Adam Gase should invest in a solid backup quarterback behind Sam Darnold to insure their 2020 season for injury.

Backup quarterback isn’t a sexy position in football, but it can be an incredibly important one if a team wants to make a run and their starter goes down.

The Jets, however, haven’t had much success with their backups the past two seasons. The trio of Trevor Siemian, Luke Falk and Josh McCown went 0-6 when Sam Darnold went down with injury or illness.

Luckily, the Jets won’t need to worry about Darnold getting mono twice, but Joe Douglas and Adam Gase should take a hard look at the backup quarterback market and pay a higher premium for a better No. 2.

A good backup can equate directly to wins if they’re needed. Just look at the numbers: The Jets invested less than $3 million in 2019 in their backups between Siemian, Falk and David Fales, and that netted them a grand total of zero wins. The seven other backups who weren’t on rookie deals made less than $2 million annually and started at least one game combined to finish 6-15. Five of those wins came from Panthers backup Kyle Allen.

Meanwhile, the highest-paid backups for teams have either won or were competitive in games they were forced to play in.

Ex-Jet Teddy Bridgewater went 5-0 for the Saints when Drew Brees injured his hand. That was after New Orleans made Bridgewater the highest-paid backup with a one-year, $7.25 million deal last offseason. Chase Daniel makes $5 million annually for the Bears and went 1-1 as a starter in 2018, beat the Vikings in 2019 after taking over for Mitchell Trubisky early in the first quarter and came within two minutes of beating the Raiders in his first start the next week.

Ryan Tannehill is a weird exception to the rule. He tied Siemian for the 13th highest-paid backup in 2019 with a $2 million annual salary, but he has 73 more career starts than Siemian and led the Titans to a Wild Card and an 8-3 record.

Paying for a backup means insuring your season. It will cost you, but it’s worth it if your team has aspirations for contention. The best backups in the NFL aren’t no-name players, either. They’re guys who have legit starting experience. Tyrod Taylor has 46 career starts and makes $5.5 million annually for the Chargers. Chad Henne, Colt McCoy and Drew Stanton make $3.25 million each and have combined for 98 career starts.

Are these players full-time starters in the NFL? Absolutely not. But that’s why they’re backups on short-term, low-risk deals. Teams don’t want them to play, but they’ll be happy to have them if called upon.

The best example is the team Douglas previously worked for, the Philadelphia Eagles. Starting quarterback Carson Wentz missed the end of both the 2017 and 2018 seasons with injuries, leaving Nick Foles to lead the team. Foles ended up making $16.025 million in two seasons, but the Eagles barely missed a beat with him. He finished with a 6-2 regular-season record, a 4-1 playoff record and a Super Bowl ring. Foles was the ultimate backup, and he is the perfect reason why teams should sign veteran players to slightly larger contracts if they want to insulate themselves from injury to their starter.

The Jets don’t need to and shouldn’t spend too much on a backup, though. They have far too many holes on the roster to allocate more funds to their No. 2 quarterback. But, they need to find a more experienced player than Siemian, Falk or Fales to sit behind Darnold, and that will likely be a little bit more expensive.

The backup quarterback market is weird, uninspiring and rarely bountiful, but if the Jets could secure the services of someone like a Matt Moore (who went 2-3 with Gase in Miami), Case Keenum or even Marcus Mariota, they’d be better served if Darnold were to go down with an injury again, even it costs them between $4-$5 million annually. There could be other veterans who hit free agency this offseason as well, and Douglas should keep on eye on the market to give Darnold a legit backup who can step in and compete immediately.

It’s a move that won’t be praised, but it’s a necessary one to ensure the season can remain on track if anything were to happen to Darnold.

Will Bears OLB Khalil Mack reach double-digit sacks in 2019?

Entering the final game of the season, Bears OLB Khalil Mack has 8.5 sacks. Can he eclipse the double-digit mark for the season?

While the most important thing that Bears star edge rusher Khalil Mack cares about remains winning a championship, there’s something else he’s playing for in Sunday’s season finale against the Vikings.

Entering the final week of the 2019 season, Mack leads the Bears with 8.5 sacks. But he’d like to reach double-digits before season’s end, which would mean getting at least 1.5 against the Vikings on Sunday.

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“Absolutely it means something,” Mack said. “But, at the same time, it’s a whole other mindset that I’m in at this stage of my career as far as wanting to play in the playoffs and get to the championship.”

While Mack’s numbers haven’t lived up to his personal expectations, he’s still had an impact on the field. Although Mack isn’t happy with his performance this season. But that’s to be expected, considering how the Bears underachieved this year.

The Bears might face a Vikings team that’s resting a bulk of their starters, which could give Mack an opportunity to get after backup quarterback Trevor Siemian.

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