KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The parade of offensive linemen drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs and headed out of town four years later, when the contracts have expired, is officially over.
The Chiefs started to sink money into their own offensive linemen last summer, when they signed left tackle Eric Fisher to an extension that will keep him in Kansas City for the long term.
It’s officially a trend now that the Chiefs are close to an agreement on a five-year extension worth about $41 million for right guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif.
Laurent Duvernay-Tardif and the Chiefs are close to an extension that signifies a shift in how the team is treating offensive linemen. AP Photo/Rick Scuteri
In the last three years, the Chiefs lost to free agency five offensive linemen they had drafted to free agency: Branden Albert, Jon Asamoah, Rodney Hudson, Jeff Allen and Donald Stephenson.
When it came time for those players to get paid big money, they had to leave Kansas City to get it. Dorsey and the Chiefs kept Albert around for one season as the franchise player in 2013 before he left for a lucrative contract with the Miami Dolphins. They tried to re-sign Hudson in 2015 but were outbid by the Oakland Raiders.
They filled in mostly with draft picks playing on their rookie contracts or lower-priced veterans. What the Chiefs collectively paid their linemen in 2014 and 2015 was among the lowest in the league.
That’s changing now. Between Fisher, Schwartz and now Duvernay-Tardif, the Chiefs are no longer among the league’s lowest spenders for their linemen.
It’s also notable that the Chiefs signed Fisher and Duvernay-Tardif before they had to. Each had another season left on his contract when he agreed to an extension.
As a result, the Chiefs can have some much-needed offensive line continuity in 2017. Their starting lineup projects to be the same next season as it was the last. All five except for left guard Zach Fulton are signed at least through 2018 and one of last year’s draft picks, Parker Ehinger, could compete with Fulton for the starting job next season anyway.
Good times look to be ahead for the Chiefs’ offensive line. They suddenly have the money to throw themselves one heck of a party.
The NFL combine is less than two weeks away and days after that, the free agency period will begin with the start of the new league year. So it’s time for the Detroit Lions — and every other team in the NFL — to begin to take stock of what they have and where they can upgrade.
With that in mind, we’ll do that with every position on the Lions’ roster leading into next week’s combine. And just a reminder that things can change incredibly quickly over the next few weeks as Detroit decides which players to re-sign and let go.
Today we’ll look at a position where the Lions need to add bodies and some major pass rush: the defensive line.
Nick Fairley appears to have met his potential since leaving the Lions after the 2014 season. Would that entice Detroit to bring back the defensive tackle in free agency? Derick E. Hingle/USA TODAY Sports
Free agents: Tyrunn Walker (starting DT), Devin Taylor (starting DE), DE Armonty Bryant, DT Stefan Charles, DT Khyri Thornton (restricted), DL Kerry Hyder (exclusive rights), DE Brandon Copeland (exclusive rights).
What are the chances the Lions bring back their own free agents here: It would seem like there are few matches here. Hyder and Copeland should be back as exclusive rights free agents who had roles with Detroit in 2015. Bryant and Thornton are intriguing as both performed well and could end up returning on smaller deals. Detroit would likely be wise to explore options beyond Walker, who was largely ineffective in 2016, and Taylor, who didn’t have the breakout season many projected. Charles is another question mark and his return could be tied to price.
What do the Lions need between free agency and the draft: Considering how Detroit likes to rotate its defensive linemen, the Lions have a lot of work to do here, possibly needing somewhere between 4-6 players. Figure this will happen in a combination between the draft and free agency and the interior of the defensive line is a spot Detroit could choose to spend massively as there are multiple talented options out there, especially if Carolina defensive tackle Kawann Short, Arizona’s Calais Campbell and Baltimore defensive tackle Brandon Williams all end up reaching free agency.
Three free agents to look at besides the three names mentioned above:
Johnathan Hankins, DT, New York Giants: He’ll be 25 at the start of the 2017 season and entering the prime of his career. He’s a high-level run-stopper and had 43 tackles and 10 quarterback hits last season according to Spotrac. If he doesn’t return to the Giants, he is likely to have a large market and would fit well in the middle of Detroit’s defensive line as a future long-term pairing with A’Shawn Robinson. Plus, the 6-foot-2, 320-pound Ohio State product grew up in Detroit, so he understands what the Lions culture is.
Jabaal Sheard, DE, New England: If the Lions are looking for more of a rotational player on the outside, he could be the guy. GM Bob Quinn has familiarity with Sheard from the Patriots days and he has been a somewhat consistent pass-rusher with 13 sacks total over the past two seasons in New England. He also won’t be a high-cost free agent, so Quinn could sign him and spend big elsewhere.
Nick Fairley, DT, New Orleans: Yes, this might seem unlikely, but the Lions at least have to kick around the idea of it. The 29-year-old Fairley has played well since leaving the Lions, including the best season of his career last season with the Saints, where he had 43 tackles, 6.5 sacks and 22 quarterback hits (according to Spotrac). The coaching staff knows him, which could both hurt and help, and he knows the area well. It would be an interesting decision, but Fairley was always well-liked in the locker room and had immense potential. Now, he’s finally starting to show that.
Three combine rookies that could get considered:
Derek Barnett, DE, Tennessee: Detroit desperately needs pass-rushers and Barnett can do that extremely well. He had 33 sacks in college, is good with his hands and extremely tough. He’s a player who the Lions would likely consider at No. 21. His 197 tackles in three years are impressive for a defensive lineman and he also had 52 tackles for loss along with 31 quarterback hits. He is a player who could be a difference-maker for the Lions.
Taco Charlton, DE, Michigan: If Charlton is available at No. 21, he would have to be looked at by the Lions. At 6-foot-6, 272 pounds, he would be a perfect complement to Ezekiel Ansah at defensive end. He also has length and would be a fit as a pass-rusher. Charlton got better every year at Michigan, including a 10-sack, 13.5 tackle for loss final season. If he has a good combine, he might end up gone well before the Lions pick.
Chris Wormley, DT, Michigan: The Lions love to have a player or two who can play inside and outside to give Teryl Austin diversity in his defensive line packages. They have one player who can do that in Hyder. If the Lions grabbed Wormley in the second or third round, he could potentially offer that as well. At 6-foot-6, 302 pounds, he has the height and length to be an end but the size to get kicked inside to tackle. He had 122 career tackles with 32.5 tackles for loss and 18 sacks — good production for a lineman on a very deep defensive line.
The Pittsburgh Steelers and Antonio Brown have reached agreement on a four-year, $68 million deal that makes him the highest-paid wide receiver in the NFL, sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
He is now tied to the Steelers through the 2021 season. He tweeted after he signed his new deal, which is front-loaded with Brown standing to make less money in the fourth and final year of the extension. The breakdown: Brown will make $18.5 million in the first three-years of the contract and $12.5 million in the fourth, sources told Schefter.
Steelers for life #Boomin pic.twitter.com/LYcCi4fW8U
— Antonio Brown (@AntonioBrown) February 27, 2017
The Steelers announced the extension as a five-year deal. Brown contract for the 2017 season, with a scheduled base salary of $4.7 million, stands as is, the sources told Schefter.
The Steelers had promised to rework Brown’s contract this offseason. They restructured his contract last August, advancing $4 million of his 2017 salary into his base salary for 2016.
Brown, 28, is considered one of the best receivers in the league and has been a key piece of the Steelers’ offense for the past several seasons. He had one year left on a five-year, $42 million contract he signed in 2012.
A 2010 sixth-round pick out of Central Michigan, Brown has been to five Pro Bowls and has earned three first-team All-Pro nods in his seven seasons. He led the league with 1,698 receiving yards in 2014.
He is the first player in Steelers history to finish with 1,000 receiving yards and 10 receiving touchdowns in three straight seasons.
Brown drew the ire of Steelers coach Mike Tomlin for posting a Facebook Live video from the locker room after a win against the Chiefs in the divisional round of the playoffs that caught Tomlin’s postgame speech, but the incident appears to have been put to rest.
ESPN’s Katherine Terrell contributed to this report.
The reality of the situation continues to be apparent: It’s hard to see the marriage between Kirk Cousins and the Washington Redskins lasting beyond 2017. His price tag remains high; their love for him has a financial ceiling. And neither side appears willing to budge from its stance.
This really isn’t a case of both sides wanting to break away from each other. According to multiple people, Cousins likes playing in Washington. According to multiple people in the organization, the team truly likes Cousins. But the leverage Cousins enjoys isn’t about to change, and the Redskins clearly aren’t prepared to pay him what he thinks he can get.
That’s why with all the options as to what can happen if he’s tagged by Wednesday’s deadline, one has a higher percentage of happening: a trade. The NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah said last week that he thought there was a better chance that Cousins would be traded than that he would return. It’s hard to argue against that, and some close to Cousins say that’s what the Redskins want to do anyway, knowing that signing him to a long-term deal will be difficult. It may even be impossible, given their different positions on what his ability is worth.
With little movement, the Redskins could trade Kirk Cousins for more value than a third-round compensatory pick. Patrick Gorski-USA TODAY Sports
As of now, some in his camp view any deal reached at the July 15 deadline as an impossibility. It certainly would take an increased offer by Washington. I don’t know that this is a universal opinion in Cousins’ camp, but the point is that based on the Redskins’ actions to date, there’s no reason to believe their offer will increase that much. They clearly view him as good, not great. And there’s no reason for Cousins to lower what he believes he should get.
The Redskins’ problem is that there’s only one team Cousins will sign with right now, according to one source: San Francisco. So Washington doesn’t have much bargaining power with other teams. This isn’t just about Cousins maximizing his financial value; it’s about putting himself in the best position. Reuniting with a coach (Kyle Shanahan) who loves you in an offense you love? That’s a win-win for Cousins. But it’s a tough way for the Redskins to maximize his trade value on the market.
Therefore, with a trade, the Redskins can get what they can for a player they’ll lose in a year anyway. Of course, if Cousins plays under the tag, he’s gambling that San Francisco – a preferred destination with Shanahan in charge – still will need a quarterback next year. But with a six-year contract, Shanahan can afford to wait. Use the picks this year on other spots knowing the quarterbacks will arrive in 2018.
It’s hard to say the Redskins definitely will trade him; it’s not hard to say they will try. With the combine starting this week – and agents in touch with teams – Cousins and his side should have a good sense of what San Francisco might do. If he signs the franchise tag right away, or within a few days, it likely means he knows what will – or won’t – happen. Cousins also knows a year from now he’ll be free.
The transition tag idea for 2018 at around $28 million has been floated. It’s not realistic. So if Cousins leaves after 2017, then the Redskins would get a third-round compensatory pick in 2019. If they can get a good return from the 49ers this offseason, it’s hard to imagine them saying no. Quite a bit of work remains for this situation to be resolved, whether via trade or anything else. But for the marriage to continue, the first step would be a willingness on both sides to alter their position.
