Paris Saint-Germain is beginning to gather the names of potential replacements for manager Unai Emery, and Mauricio Pochettino and Antonio Conte apparently top the French behemoth’s list.
Another early elimination from the Champions League on Tuesday – this time at the hands of Real Madrid in the round-of-16 stage – ended Emery’s hopes of extending his contract beyond its expiration this summer, according to ESPN’s Jonathan Johnson.
And a change at the helm could be made sooner rather than later after Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the emir of Qatar and founder of the consortium that owns Paris Saint-Germain, left the Parc des Princes before the 2-1 second-leg defeat to Los Blancos concluded. The notion of having an interim manager has been mooted, with assistants Maxwell and Zoumana Camara linked to a short-term role.
Pochettino has long been admired by the PSG hierarchy due to his exploits in England in charge of Southampton and, most notably, Tottenham Hotspur. Some sources told Johnson that a move for the Argentinian seems to be inevitable, and a bond already exists between Pochettino and PSG through his work in the club’s defence between 2001 and 2003.
Conte is also on club president and CEO Nasser Al-Khelaifi’s radar due to his ability to draw short-term success. The Italian’s relationship with his employers at Chelsea has been under question this season as he oversees a limp Premier League title defence, and has been quoted questioning the club’s ambition and transfer policy.
Outside bets to replace Emery are Andre Villa-Boas and Carlo Ancelotti. Sporting director Antero Henrique is reportedly keen on the former, but his own post at the club could be untenable as the continental failure threatens a shake-up at various levels. If Henrique leaves, that could usher in Ancelotti’s return due to the decorated manager wanting a greater say in transfers than he experienced in his first tenure, which ended in 2013.
We’ll be grading all of the NFL offseason moves — signings and trades — right here in March, so check this file for updates as the deals come in. Grades go all the way back to the Alex Smith deal before Super Bowl LII.
Last year went disastrously for Baker, who left Washington to sign a three-year, $15.8 million deal with Tampa Bay. Baker got $6 million guaranteed but did little during his season in Tampa, racking up just a half-sack, five quarterback knockdowns and two tackles for loss across 437 defensive snaps. Baker didn’t win the locker room over, either, with teammates having to stop quarterback Jameis Winston from getting in Baker’s face after a critical encroachment penalty on fourth down late against the Panthers.
The Bengals have a long history of taking on reclamation projects with some success under Marvin Lewis, and at one year, $3 million, Baker doesn’t come with much risk. The 30-year-old is down to 300 pounds, a noticeable drop given that he was listed at 320 and likely played at a larger weight last season. The Hampton product racked up 9.5 sacks and 27 knockdowns between 2015 and 2016, so if Lewis can turn Baker back into a useful interior pass-rusher, the Bengals will have a steal on their hands.
Trade: Rams deal LB Alec Ogletree to Giants
Grade for Rams: C+ Grade for Giants: C
The Giants were loathe to spend money on coverage linebackers under the reign of general manager Jerry Reese, who never adequately replaced Antonio Pierce in the middle of the field after the playoff hero finished his career in 2009. Draft picks like Jonathan Goff and a bevy of free agents — everyone from Jon Beason to J.T. Thomas — couldn’t stay healthy or play effective football. With new GM Dave Gettleman coming over from a Panthers organization that built its defense around Thomas Davis and Luke Kuechly, it’s no surprise that he might want to address inside linebacker this offseason.
Of the candidates the Giants have brought in since Pierce, Ogletree is certainly the most likely to succeed, but it’s hard to argue that the former Georgia star is likely to return value. The 26-year-old is a stud athlete, but he hasn’t been able to turn those measurables into significant production since 2014. Ogletree forced 10 fumbles over his first two seasons, but he has been responsible for only two strips in the three years since. He made tackles on 16.1 percent of Los Angeles’ run plays last season, a rate that ranked 60th in the league among players with 200 run snaps or more.
Kirk Cousins. Jimmy Graham. Andrew Norwell. This class could get wild. Here’s everything to know heading into free agency, which begins March 14.
The problem is that Ogletree plays a position the league really doesn’t seem to value with significant contracts. The Rams signed Ogletree to a four-year, $42.8 million extension last October, and the Giants will essentially have Ogletree on a four-year, $38 million deal with $10 million guaranteed, all coming this season. That’s not in line with what better players have gotten in free agency; Dont’a Hightower, for one, got four years and $35.5 million to stay with the Patriots last offseason. Useful players such as Zach Brown, who is back in the market this year, had to settle for a one-year pact. It’s difficult to believe Ogletree would have received this much if he were a free agent.
The Rams free up cap space as part of this deal, which marks the second expensive defender they’ve dealt away in a week after trading Robert Quinn to the Dolphins. It now seems more likely that they’ll hang on to fellow linebacker Mark Barron, who seemed like a plausible cap casualty. L.A. will have $6.5 million in dead money on its cap for Ogletree this year, but with $47.3 million in space, the Rams can use the savings to bring back receiver Sammy Watkins, who would otherwise be an unrestricted free agent. Defensive coordinator Wade Phillips has helped develop unheralded inside linebackers such as Todd Davis and Brandon Marshall in years past, so the Rams might be able to get by without big-money players on the interior.
Gettleman gives up fourth- and sixth-round picks to the Rams, who send a 2019 seventh-rounder back as part of the deal. The Giants have the second pick in the fourth round (No. 102) and the third-to-last selection in that round (pick 135) as a compensatory chit. There’s a big difference between the two selections, obviously, but either pick would represent a victory for the Rams.
Trade: Seahawks deal DE Michael Bennett to Eagles
Grade for Seahawks: C Grade for Eagles: B+
The Eagles are one of the most aggressive trading teams in the league and built their Super Bowl success around a deep, dominant defensive line, so it’s no surprise that they acquired Michael Bennett from the Seahawks today. Bennett will slot in as a replacement for Vinny Curry, and with three years and $22.1 million left on his deal, Bennett won’t break the bank as part of one of the league’s best defensive lines. It seems pretty clear that Seattle wanted to move on from Bennett, who might be the first part of a painful defensive rebuild over the days to come. The Seahawks would likely have cut Bennett, given that the return — a fifth-round pick and flyer WR Marcus Johnson, with a seventh-rounder going back to Philadelphia — won’t move the needle.
Bill Barnwell, ESPN Staff Writer
Tuesday, March 6
Grade: D
Chris Ivory has been one of the worst running backs in football over the last two years, averaging 3.6 yards per carry while producing more fumbles (seven) than touchdowns (five). It’s no surprise he was cut by the Jaguars, but it’s more difficult to see why the Bills prioritized him on a two-year, $5.5-million deal when backs of his ilk are free to acquire in the market. Remember that LeGarrette Blount, a more effective power back, languished in free agency for months after an 18-touchdown season before settling for a one-year, $1.3-million deal with the Eagles last offseason. The Bills just guaranteed Ivory $3.3 million, which seems inexplicable for a team which already has the league’s most expensive running back in LeSean McCoy.
Bill Barnwell, ESPN Staff Writer
Friday, March 3
Trade: Rams deal DE Robert Quinn to Dolphins
Grade for Rams: C+ Grade for Dolphins: C+
The Rams decision to trade Robert Quinn is a reflection on what the 27-year-old has looked like since undergoing back surgery in January of 2016. Quinn has just 12.5 sacks and 18 knockdowns over the past two years. That would be an upgrade for the Dolphins, who foolishly gave Andre Branch a three-year deal last offseason with $8 million fully guaranteed for 2018 to play across from Cameron Wake. Quinn will be a massive upgrade at defensive end on Branch, but the Dolphins will likely need to perform cap gymnastics to either fit Quinn in on his current cap hit of $11.4 million or as part of a new contract. It seems likely that Quinn could serve as a replacement for Ndamukong Suh, whose departure would free up $17 million in cap room for a Dolphins team which is nearly $16 million over the salary cap at the moment.
Bill Barnwell, ESPN Staff Writer
Monday, Feb. 26
Grade: B+
The one-year, $5-million deal the Bills inked with Vontae Davis is a good short-term risk for a team who probably would have had to pay more to bring back the oft-injured E.J. Gaines next season. Davis slipped badly in 2016 and was impacted by injuries in 2017, but the former Colts standout won’t turn 30 until May and was a legitimate number-one cornerback up to that point. In a free-agent pool where mid-market starting corners are likely to approach $10 million per season with two years of guaranteed money, getting Davis on a short-term pact for half that is a win for Bills general manager Brandon Beane.
Bill Barnwell, ESPN Staff Writer
Friday, Feb. 23
Trade: Chiefs deal CB Marcus Peters to Rams
Grade for Chiefs: C Grade for Rams: B+
Grades for the Marcus Peters trade: The Chiefs get a C for their end of the swap, in which they sent Peters and the 196th pick to the Rams for the 124th selection and a 2019 second-rounder. If the Rams finish 20th in the draft order next year and we don’t depreciate the pick’s value for time (both of which are perhaps conservative estimates), the Chase Stuart suggests the Chiefs picked up the 33rd selection in a typical draft for a 25-year-old former All-Pro cornerback on a below-market deal for the next two seasons. While Kansas City clearly wanted to trade Peters, this is a price point at which the Chiefs probably needed to trust their ability to rehabilitate Peters and bring him back into the fold. The Rams, meanwhile, get a B+ for their end of the bargain. They probably need to start holding onto their draft picks after sending high selections out in the trades for Peters, Jared Goff, and Sammy Watkins, but they’re not incurring an enormous amount of risk in trading for Peters. They can go year-to-year and pay the Washington product just $27.5 million over the next three seasons, which is less than inferior cornerbacks like Dre Kirkpatrick and Logan Ryan got in their free-agent deals last offseason.
Washington’s stunning trade for a new quarterback should reverberate around the league; a half-dozen teams that weren’t involved with the deal suddenly saw their offseason plans change or come into focus. The deal (and Smith’s subsequent extension) obviously suggest that Washington will be moving on from incumbent quarterback Kirk Cousins, who will hit unrestricted free agency.
Here’s my story breaking down the winners and losers from this swap.
Unai Emery believes there is no shame in being eliminated from the Champions League by title holder Real Madrid, and is confident Paris Saint-Germain can capture the trophy in the future.
Whether the Spaniard is given another chance to win the tournament with PSG remains to be seen. Les Parisiens limped out of the round-of-16 stage in a flimsy showing which contrasted with the Parc des Princes’ explosive home support.
“We all want to win this competition quickly. We’ll continue with patience, and build a team that can win,” Emery told ESPN.
Related: Emery’s PSG tenure fizzling out after meek European elimination
“I’m sure this team can win the Champions League. The supporters will see that Paris will win this competition one day.
“Losing to Madrid is not a disappointment, but going out in the last 16 is.”
Paris Saint-Germain is still in with a good chance of capturing a domestic treble, but the lavish spending overseen by the club’s Qatari owners is intended to establish Emery’s side as a world force. In a two-legged bout which largely fell below expectations in terms of quality, PSG was eventually overshadowed by Real despite a promising start.
“The first leg was the key because we were better over the first 80 minutes than them,” Emery claimed.
“They controlled 60 percent of this match and we couldn’t do enough in the 40 percent we controlled.”
Related – Poll: Should Emery or PSG brass take blame for Champions League exit?
The last-16 exit means PSG hasn’t ventured further than the quarter-finals since the 1994-95 edition of the Champions League. That tournament had half the number of teams seen in today’s version, enabling PSG to just beat Barcelona before it was booted out the semi-final stage by AC Milan.
Some of these decisions are easy. Some are agonizing. The deadline for NFL teams to designate franchise or transition players passed at 4 p.m. ET Tuesday with a fair amount of activity, all of it impactful.
For some, it’s a disappointing day, as players find out they’ll need to wait for the long-term contracts of their dreams and teams find themselves confronting the loss of an important player or two. For others, it’s a thrilling day, as the franchise tag numbers have grown so large that some players don’t mind the tag anymore.
For fans, it can be a confusing day, which is why we’re here to help. Here’s our quick-reaction look at who came out of the 2018 franchise period looking good and who came out of it with reason for concern:
WINNERS
Sure, it’d be better to have a long-term deal. But the defensive end franchise number this year is a whopping $17.143 million, and thanks to health and suspension issues in his first three years, Lawrence couldn’t have expected the Cowboys to rush into a commitment off one monster season. Lawrence will be 26 this time next year, and franchising him again in 2019 would cost Dallas $20.5716 million. So as long as he keeps playing at a high level, he’ll be in a great position. The edge rushers who got franchised last year — Jason Pierre-Paul, Chandler Jones and Melvin Ingram — each got long-term deals, so there’s a template for Lawrence and the Cowboys to get something even bigger done before July 16.
The Rams’ decision to franchise safety Lamarcus Joyner instead of Watkins means they can’t franchise Watkins, the former Bills first-rounder who was traded to Los Angeles prior to last season. Watkins didn’t put up big numbers in the Rams’ high-powered offense, but he did stay healthy for the first time since his rookie season, and Rams coaches were impressed with the way he handled a role that sometimes fell into the dreaded “decoy” category. He doesn’t turn 25 until June and is still viewed by enough people around the league as a top-level talent that he can expect a big deal ($12-$13 million per year?) if the Rams don’t sign him in advance of free agency.
Sammy Watkins caught 39 passes for 593 yards and eight touchdowns in 2017, his first season with the Rams. Chris Williams/Icon Sportswire
Not because of anything that happened Tuesday, but just as a reminder that both Brees and Solder got provisions put in their last contracts that prohibited the Patriots and the Saints from franchising them once the deals expired. That makes Solder an unrestricted free agent, and with the final three years of Brees’ deal automatically voiding next Wednesday, it gives the Saints a true deadline for Brees’ likely lucrative extension.
The Bears pulled a surprise move by applying the transition tag to Fuller, but think of it this way: The transition tag price is $12.971 million, which is $4.445 million more than Fuller would have made this season if the Bears had picked up his fifth-year option a year ago. That means he has already played himself into a 52 percent raise, and he could end up getting even more if another team wants to offer him a big contract. The transition tag allows other teams to make offers to Fuller and the Bears to keep him if they’re willing to match those offers. Odds seem decent that he’ll end up sticking in Chicago on a long-term deal, but the transition tag gives him a high starting point for negotiations, and he’s in a lot better shape than he was last summer, when the Bears had him on the trade block.
LOSERS
Yeah, the $14.544 million is nice. Specifically, it’s the 43-percent-more-than-the-average-annual-salary-of-any-other-running-back-in-the-league kind of nice. But we all know Bell wants a long-term deal, and for the second year in a row, it’s clear that he and the Steelers don’t see eye-to-eye on what he deserves. If they can’t get a deal finished by mid-July, Bell faces another 400-touch season at age 26 and the possibility of an early breakdown under the kind of workload he carries in the Steelers’ offense. Even if he makes it through the season healthy and finds himself in the running back version of Kirk Cousins’ situation this time next year, he isn’t a quarterback, which means he isn’t likely to enjoy the kind of eye-popping raise for which Cousins is in line right now.
That’s right. There are no winners in the Steelers/Bell situation. Pittsburgh faces another offseason through which Bell is sure to hold out, and it’s possible that he could even sit out a regular-season game or two, as Seattle’s Kam Chancellor did a couple of years ago. The Steelers’ best-case scenario if they can’t get a Bell deal finished before July is that he plays great and they’re in this same spot next year, when franchising their superstar back for a third straight season would cost $20.94336 million. If they can’t get him signed to a long-term deal by the July 15 deadline, this looks like Bell’s last season as a Steeler.
Once Washington traded for Alex Smith, there was no way they were really tagging Kirk Cousins again for nearly $35 million and trying to trade him. As such, Tuesday just marked the expected end of Cousins’ time in Washington and served as a reminder of how badly the organization bungled his situation each of the past two offseasons. How good would Washington look right now if, two years ago, the front office had given Cousins the $19 million a year he wanted then?
Le’Veon Bell has been franchise-tagged for the second straight year, and he’ll make $14.544 in 2018. Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
The Dolphins rushed right out and tagged Landry to the tune of $15.982 million on the first day teams could tag players, and everybody was confused. The confusion hasn’t abated, as Miami spent the entire combine talking to teams about potential Landry trades, and then he informed the team that he would sign the tag, which means they can’t rescind it anymore. It still seems that the most likely outcome is a trade, but at this point, it seems that any trade would require Landry to have a new deal in place with the acquiring team. So we wait.
Worst case, Landry is on a team that no longer seems to want him for one more year at a premium price. Best case, he gets the deal Miami never wanted to give him from a new team. It’s tough to decide whether he’s a “winner” or a “loser” in this particular sweepstakes just yet.
| Insiders predict
