FREE AGENTS CUTLER AND KAP STILL WAITING
Never mind Colin Kaepernick’s continuing unemployment and the reasons for it. Jay Cutler, too, remains out of an NFL job nearly a full month into free agency.
Apparently, Cutler’s as caustic as Kap.
Even the Houston Texans didn’t rush to sign him after Tony Romo’s surprise retirement on Tuesday. Apparently they’re not going to, either.
Everybody expected the Texans to make a hard push to sign Romo once the Dallas Cowboys finally released him the other day. But to the Texans’ undoubted chagrin, Romo has become a broadcaster.
So now what do the Texans do? Remember, last month they unloaded Brock Osweiler on the equally QB-bereft Cleveland Browns. That leaves the otherwise playoff-ready Texans with only a couple of nobodies at the passer position: designated starter Tom Savage and backup journeyman Brandon Weeden.
The Texans apparently are uninterested in Cutler, the discarded Chicago Bears veteran who turns 34 in three weeks. Report after report over the past few weeks have underscored that Texans GM Rick Smith and head coach Bill O’Brien don’t see Cutler as a fit.
And Houston’s not alone. Said NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport on Wednesday: “I’ve had a lot of conversations with general managers or head coaches talking about where (remaining free-agent) quarterbacks are going to land, and it is unbelievable that Cutler’s name rarely, if ever, comes up.”
Instead, the Texans later this month plan to draft a quarterback early — perhaps even in the first round with their 25th overall pick, according to longtime Texans beat writer John McCain of the Houston Chronicle.
As for Kaepernick, his playaction, pocket-optional skill set runs counter to the pure-pro offence O’Brien has installed in Houston.
After Cutler and Kap, these are the top unsigned free-agent passers: Ryan Fitzpatrick (whom the Texans saw enough of in 2014), Robert Griffin III, Blaine Gabbert, Christian Ponder, T.J. Yates, Shaun Hill, Ryan Nassib, Matt McGloin, Dan Orlovsky, Charlie Whitehurst, Thad Lewis and Bruce Gradkowski.
Deadspin.com weighed in on the Texans’ plight and applied this typically blunt, crude, yet apt take:
“Tony Romo’s Retirement Means The Texans Are Basically F---ed.”
BEASTMODE BACK?: Marshawn Lynch reportedly has informed the Oakland Raiders he wants to unretire and suit up in Silver and Black — while his hometown team still plays in Oakland.
If Lynch can summon even something close to the incredible “Beastmode” level he displayed in Seattle circa 2011-14 — when he averaged 4.5 yards per carry in amassing 5,357 yards and 48 touchdowns — then the Raiders should benefit by his backfield presence.
Even then, the Raiders should make it an incentive-heavy deal.
Because no one should forget Lynch’s regrettable actions off the field and forgettable actions on it during his last year in Seattle.
Early in 2015, he threatened to retire, with $5 million still to be earned in the last season of the four-year, $30-million deal he’d signed in 2012. Not cool. The Seahawks caved and gave Lynch a new three-year deal that paid him $12 million in 2015.
Lynch paid the Seahawks back by appearing to gain yet more weight, acting even more strangely off the field, and being healthy enough to play in only seven games. He rushed for just 417 yards and three TDs on 111 carries, a 3.8-yard average. He looked, and acted, done.
Ten years after the Buffalo Bills drafted him — and 2,337 pro carries later — does the nearly 31-year-old Lynch have enough usefulness left after a year off to make signing him worthwhile to the Raiders?
It’s a question the Raiders ought to be asking. And researching. Cuz they don’t need the distractions.
SHERMAN TO BE TRADED?: Lynch’s best bud on the Seahawks by the end of his six-year tenure there was outspoken cornerback Richard Sherman. Regarded as one of the top corners in the game over the past four seasons — and maybe the best, 2013-15 — Sherman found himself routinely beaten last season. The frustration of that, coupled with the Seahawks’ occasionally embarrassing performances defencewide in 2016, got the better of him on several occasions. At one point Sherman publicly criticized offensive co-ordinator Darrell Bevell, which clearly did not sit well with Seattle’s up-with-people, all-forone head coach Pete Carroll.
Now Seahawks GM John Schneider has confirmed reports and whispers that Seattle has entertained trade offers for Sherman.
But while the club has indeed listened to offers from other clubs, Schneider told a Seattle radio station Wednesday, a trade is unlikely.
Look, it’s uber-rare when a team confirms trade discussions publicly. So take this for what it probably was: a message from the Seahawks to Sherman as much saying, “Hey, bud. Don’t think you’re indispensable.”
AMAZON STREAMING: If you missed the news that broke Tuesday night, Amazon.com has agreed to pay the NFL a reported $50 million for the rights to stream Thursday night games in 2017. That’s how much it means to that online retail giant, whose aggressive aim is to become a dominant web provider of vital entertainment content. Hopefully, we won’t be bombarded with annoying product-placement ads such as, “Others who liked this webcast also bought …”
THREE WEEKS AWAY: The NFL draft begins three weeks from tonight. It’s been too quiet on the trade-up front. Surely some deals are in the works.
Or maybe that means the Cleveland Browns will actually use their flatbeds full of draft picks this year. To acquire actual players. The Browns own three of the first 33 picks.
This year’s draft takes place in Philadelphia. And it’s reportedly being held outdoors. In late April. Alas, crowd-killing, cold, pouring rain last year in Chicago did not cure the NFL of its outdoors draft predilection.