A number of NFL owners hope the current collective bargaining agreement proposal doesn’t pass with the players because they believe they can negotiate a better deal with eyes on an 18-game season in the future, a league source told ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler on Saturday.
“They think they can get a better deal next year,” the source said. “They feel they gave up too much on the economics.”
The owners told commissioner Roger Goodell this at an owners meeting in New York in February, citing frustration with the players’ monetary increases and the increase to active rosters.
The owners approved the proposed CBA last month, though ESPN reported at the time that the vote was not unanimous. Three-fourths of the owners had to approve the CBA for it to be ratified.
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Players have until 11:59 p.m. ET Thursday to cast their votes on the proposed CBA via DocuSign. The CBA will pass if it receives a simple majority (50% plus one vote) of all ballots sent in. It would be in effect for the 2020 league year, with the possibility of a 17th game not being added until the 2021 season at the earliest.
If the CBA is approved, the NFL regular season could not be expanded past 17 games through the life of the deal, which would run through the 2029 season.
But a handful of owners want an 18-game season eventually, and that could come up in future negotiations if the players’ vote doesn’t pass next week.
In July, NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith acknowleged that the NFL had raised the idea of an 18-game schedule in early labor negotiations but said at the time that isn’t something he sees happening.
“I don’t see an 18-game schedule — under any circumstance — being in the best interest of our players,” Smith said. “If somebody wants to make an 18-game proposal, we’ll look at it. I haven’t seen anything that makes me think that it would be good for the players.”
It’s no secret the Atlanta Falcons need pass-rush help. The numbers scream it.
Last season, the 7-9 Falcons had just 28 sacks — one of four teams to fail to reach 30 sacks along with the Lions, Seahawks and Dolphins. Over the past two seasons, the Falcons rank tied for 29th with 65 sacks, 35 fewer than the division-rival Saints had over that same time span. The Falcons rank dead last in pressure rate over the past two seasons at 22.9%. Those numbers have contributed to the Falcons allowing opponents to convert 44.3% of third downs — the fourth-worst third-down defense in the league in that time frame.
The Falcons might have solved some of their pass-rushing issues after installing Raheem Morris as defensive coordinator halfway through the season. The Falcons had just seven sacks in Weeks 1-8 — but they had 21 sacks in Weeks 9-17. Changing the complexion of the pass-rush personnel already has started with the team’s decision not to re-sign former sack champ Vic Beasley Jr., who had been extremely inconsistent since his breakout Super Bowl season.
Free agent Robert Quinn had 11.5 sacks last season for the Cowboys. Scott W. Grau/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
“Dante Fowler’s played himself, probably, into a different stratosphere,” said former agent Joel Corry, now a salary-cap and contract analyst. “Fowler had a pretty expensive one-year with the Rams. He made $13 million on a one, so he’s not going to sign $13 million on a long-term deal.”
Rather than paying perhaps $15 million-plus for the 25-year-old Fowler, the Falcons might be better off looking at an older but effective pass-rusher such as Robert Quinn, who turns 30 in May but had 11.5 sacks for the Dallas Cowboys last season. Pairing a veteran such as Quinn with another pass-rusher via the draft seems sensible, considering the team cut ties with Beasley and appears unlikely to pick up McKinley’s fifth-year option.
So what does Dimitroff think the market price will be for an impact pass-rusher?
“You know the ranges there,” Dimitroff said. “You could have a quality free agent who is shy of the double digits [less than $10 million per year]. You’re going to have a number [of players] who are going to be over double digits. There’s a wide range there, and they can still produce. I believe it’s all over the place.
“Part of your approach as an organization is to decide where you’re going to put your resources. If you think you can get somebody that can be shy of double digits and can produce for you like you would expect, then you make that move. Otherwise, you know that X Games analogy — ‘go big or go home’ — there’s some people that believe that.’’
In terms of the draft, it’s highly doubtful the Falcons would pay the price required to move up from No. 16 to grab Ohio State’s Chase Young, who’s the best pass-rusher in the class. One general manager said that after Young, the pass-rushers he believes are worthy of consideration are Iowa’s A.J. Epenesa, LSU’s K’Lavon Chaisson, Tennessee’s Darrell Taylor, Notre Dame’s Julian Okwara and Michigan’s Josh Uche. Penn State’s Yetur Gross-Matos wasn’t on that list, although the Falcons are likely to check out the former Nittany Lion, too. Chaisson was the player ESPN’s Todd McShay had going to the Falcons in his latest mock draft. The Falcons have three picks in the first two rounds this year.
Here’s how one league executive broke down the pass-rushers outside of Ohio State’s Young.
K’Lavon Chaisson (6-3, 254): “Very athletic. Can stand up or put his hand in the dirt. Can drop. A better version of [Vic] Beasley but more natural and more instinctive. Size is a minus.”
A.J. Epenesa (6-5, 275): “Power rusher. Very physical. Can collapse the pocket. Plays heavy-handed and displaces the offensive lineman. Not quick twitch, latter twitch of elite edge benders, but makes up with physicality. Speed won’t be negative due to physicality. Toughness of Ryan Kerrigan.”
Yetur Gross-Matos (6-5, 266): “Has some Michael Strahan traits. Better as a left defensive end. Has size, length and solid instincts. Has natural skills and better against the run than the pass. Needs to extend his arms better to keep offensive tackles from getting to his body.”
Darrell Taylor (6-4, 267): “Right defensive end who can play left because of combination of strength, speed and quickness. Can also drop in space. Plays well at the line of scrimmage and can hold point of attack. Doesn’t have a glaring weakness, but right on borderline with side and length.”
Julian Okwara (6-4, 252): “Has quickness and athletic ability, but a little raw. Kind of like the Florida State kid [Brian Burns] last year. Really good pass-rusher. Relies on athletic ability and speed. Good feel for pass rush. Needs to work on his consistent play strength. A right defensive end.”
Josh Uche (6-1, 245): “Undersized guy with very strong hands. Going to get push on tackles with his punch and physicality. Lack of size is a concern. Does not drop well for a little guy. Better playing forward and rushing. Got average instincts playing off the ball. Nickel edge rusher. Plays heavy and strong. Surprising strength as a rusher.”
HOUSTON — When Bill O’Brien announced last week that he was handing over playcalling duties to Tim Kelly, the Houston Texans coach praised the job his young offensive coordinator already was doing before quickly joking that he better not speak too highly of him because he wants to keep him in Houston.
In O’Brien’s six seasons with the Texans, he has continued to gain more influence in the organization, outlasting two general managers — Rick Smith and Brian Gaine — to take over the job himself. Now that he has control of the front office in addition to his head-coaching duties, it’s on O’Brien even more to produce a winning team. That has led to the realization that to be successful, he has to prioritize keeping his bright young coaches in the organization.
“[Kelly is] a really bright guy,” O’Brien said. “He’s a really good coach. Players really respect him. He just does a great job. Great knowledge of the whole offense from the passing game to the running game.”
Kelly, 33, has been with O’Brien since serving as a graduate assistant on his staff at Penn State. Although Kelly wasn’t calling plays during the regular season in his first year as offensive coordinator, he was in charge of many meetings.
New defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver is in a similar situation as Kelly after taking over for Romeo Crennel. Promoting from within is something new for O’Brien, who watched quarterbacks coach Sean Ryan move on to the Detroit Lions after the 2018 season to pursue his aspirations of one day calling plays in the NFL.
Weaver was promoted to defensive coordinator after the Tennessee Titans showed interest in him to replace the retired Dean Pees as coordinator there.
Tim Kelly, left, has been on Bill O’Brien’s coaching staff since their days at Penn State, when Kelly was a graduate assistant. Daniel Dunn/Icon Sportswire
“Weave [Weaver] has a great presence,” O’Brien said. “He was a former player and has coached for a long time. He’s been in different schemes; he’s done an excellent job with our D-line. … He’s very smart, and the players have a lot of respect for Anthony and he’s going to bring a lot of different ideas and creativity to our defense.”
Regardless of why O’Brien decided to make the changes, it shows that he realizes that to have continued success, especially after being named general manager by Texans owner Cal McNair, it will require more delegation of control than he previously was willing to relinquish.
Of course, O’Brien hopes that giving up the playcalling also frees him up to take a look at the bigger picture on game day as well. At the NFL combine last week, O’Brien said he doesn’t think this will change his in-game role “too much,” but that it does allow him to focus more on the whole game instead of sitting on the bench between series with quarterback
METAIRIE, La. — Andrus Peat might be the New Orleans Saints’ most high-profile free agent outside of their three quarterbacks this offseason.
But figuring out how the Saints and the rest of the NFL will value the two-time Pro Bowl left guard is one of their biggest mysteries heading into the start of free agency on March 18.
Peat, 26, seems like an obvious place for the Saints to save money this offseason, because they’re slammed against the salary cap (they have about $11 million in space) and because they have so much money and draft capital invested everywhere else on their offensive line. But the Saints could also wind up keeping Peat if he doesn’t generate enough interest on the open market.
Andrus Peat may be difficult for the Saints to re-sign considering their challenging salary-cap situation. Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire
The top 10 guards in the NFL make at least $10 million per year, but it remains to be seen if the league will value Peat in that category. The Saints, meanwhile, have less than $10 million in salary-cap space for now (though they have a handful of ways to create more space by releasing players or restructuring current deals).
The 6-foot-7, 316-pounder has waffled between overrated and underappreciated throughout his five-year career. He struggled a bit as a rookie, when the Saints drafted him with the 13th overall pick out of Stanford in 2015 and moved him from left tackle to right tackle to guard.
And he seemed to regress a bit in 2019, showing more inconsistency than usual — which made his second straight Pro Bowl selection as an alternate a bit of a surprise.
But in between, the versatile big man was better than many Saints fans gave him credit for from 2016-18. Peat’s greatest asset has been his ability to slide over and play left tackle when needed — which has been huge for the Saints, since their standout left tackle
Peat is at the very least a competent, experienced starter with the flexibility to play two positions. And at 26, he still has the potential to be even more than that. So there’s a good chance that a team with more money and more desperation to upgrade the offensive line will snatch him away.
If that happens, the Saints could turn to veteran backup Nick Easton, who proved more than capable while starting six games as an injury replacement for both Peat and right guard Larry Warford in 2019. Easton, 27, is due to make $5 million this season.
Or New Orleans could go even cheaper with some combination of third-year backup Will Clapp, free agency and the draft. And it’s not out of the question that they could consider upgrading the position instead — especially because Warford is heading into the final year of his contract.
The offensive line, in general, should be a priority for the Saints in the draft because they will eventually have to do some rebuilding alongside fourth-year right tackle Ryan Ramczyk and second-year center Erik McCoy. Armstead and Warford both turn 29 this summer.
Peat is one of 10 Saints starters/key contributors scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent this month. We have broken down QBs Drew Brees and Teddy Bridgewater’s prospects at length. I also took a long look at New Orleans’ five key defensive free agents recently (safety Vonn Bell, cornerbacks Eli Apple and P.J. Williams, linebacker A.J. Klein and defensive tackle David Onyemata). The Saints’ other top unrestricted free agents are fullback Zach Line, who already announced his retirement, and receiver Ted Ginn Jr.
Ginn could potentially come back because he shouldn’t cost very much and remains a good veteran presence in a young position group. But he turns 35 next month and his production has dropped off considerably over the past two years. So that’s a position the Saints must upgrade whether he stays or not.
