Eagles QB coach joins Vikes offense
Preliminary hearing scheduled in robbery case for Ravens’ Humphrey
John DeFilippo stood on top of a double-decker bus with the rest of the Eagles, as they cruised through raucous downtown Philadelphia on Thursday to celebrate the franchise’s first championship in 57 years.
Hours later, the Minnesota Vikings handed him the keys to their offense.
DeFilippo has had quite the ride in two seasons as quarterbacks coach for the Eagles.
“Howmanyguyscan say they participated in a Super Bowl parade in the morning and became one of 32 play-callers in the National Football League that night? That’s a pretty good deal,” DeFilippo said. “It was a whirlwind, but it was a whirlwind that was 100 percent worth it, professionally and personally.”
The Vikings finalized their hire of DeFilippo as offensive coordinator on Friday, following Pat Shurmur‘ s departure to become head coach of the New York Giants. The 39-year-old DeFilippo is the third offensive coordinator Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer has had in five seasons on the job.
“He has a track record of success and has proven to be a great teacher. We feel John will have good chemistry with our team, and we are all eager to get to work,” Zimmer said in a statement.
Just five days earlier, the Eagles beat New England 41-33 in the Super Bowl in Minnesota behind an MVP performance by Nick Foles. With guidance from DeFilippo, offensive coordinator Frank Reich and head coach Doug Pederson, Foles found a rhythm in the playoffs after an initially rocky takeover for the injured Carson Wentz. In those three games, including a 38-7 victory over the Vikings in the NFC championship game, Foles threw for 971 yards, six touchdowns and only one interception for a 115.7 passer rating. Against the Patriots, Foles threw for 373 yards and three touchdowns and even caught a pass for a score on a trick play.
“We really sat down and spent some time with Nick and what he felt comfortable doing, and to me, that’s coaching,” DeFilippo said. “Why would you ask a player to do something that he’s not comfortable with?” Humphrey hearing scheduled: A prelimi- Eagles quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo, right, who tutored Philadelphia’s Carson Wentz, left, and Nick Foles this season, was hired by the Vikings as offensive coordinator. nary hearing has been set for March 1 on third-degree robbery charges against Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey.
A Tuscaloosa County District Court judge will hear evidence that day and determine if the case goes forward.
The team’s first-round pick in 2017 was arrested in Alabama on Jan. 25 and charged with third-degree robbery in an incident involving a cell phone charger.
Humphrey was accused of stealing a $15 phone charger from an Uber driver on Jan. 13. According to the incident report, Humphrey asked to borrow a cell phone charger during an Uber ride to a Tuscaloosa, Ala., hotel.
The Uber driver alleges that Humphrey refused to return the cable and grabbed several other cables from the vehicle. Per the police report, Humphrey also elbowed the driver aside.
Humphrey’s attorney, Paul Patterson, disputed the driver’s allegations in the incident report and said, “Marlon has 11 million reasons not to steal a … phone charger.”
Patterson has expressed confidence that the case against the former Alabama player will ultimately be dismissed. 49ers finalize Garoppolo deal: Jimmy Garoppolo could have waited and cashed in even more than he did after other quarterbacks re-set the market.
San Francisco could have used a franchise tag instead of making a long-term commitment to make sure Garoppolo was worth a hefty investment after only seven NFL starts.
But both sides wanted this resolved quickly, and did so with a contract that will pay Garoppolo a record $27.5 million per season over the next five years.
“This is where I want to be, honestly,” Garoppolo said at a news conference Friday. “I wanted to get this deal done as fast as possible. It will only help our team going forward going into free agency. I wanted to be here. I was excited to be here. I’m happy we got it done as fast as we did.”
Garoppolo’s $137.5 million contract has the richest annual value in NFL history, topping the deal Detroit’s Matthew Stafford signed last year by $500,000 a season.
The deal includes nearly $49 million that is full guaranteed, more than $74 million guaranteed for injury and more than $86 million that will be paid out over the first three seasons.
The franchise tag could have been a safer option for both sides, leading to more money for Garoppolo if he kept playing at the high level he showed this past season and more protection for the 49ers if he didn’t reach that level.
But neither side was eager to go that direction.
“We became convinced we had that as an option, but we didn’t want to use it,” general manager John Lynch said. “We wanted to make Jimmy a 49er for a long, long time. Do you have to have some faith for that? Absolutely. But he earned that faith we had for him. I know it wasn’t a super long time but we felt we had a really good grasp on the talent and that was only confirmed when he got here.” Lions extension: The Detroit Lions have extended general manager Bob Quinn‘ s contract to match the length of the deal they gave coach Matt Patricia.
Detroit announced the agreement with Quinn on Friday, four days after hiring Patricia. The Lions have not provided details on the length of Quinn or Patricia’s contracts.
Lions president Rod Wood says the extension ensures stability.
Quinn was hired two years ago after he had worked in the New England’s personnel department for 16 years. He retained coach Jim Caldwell in 2016 and fired him last month with a 36-28 record over four regular seasons — plus two postseason losses, —with the franchise.
The Lions also announced Bo Davis, who has 24 years of experience, will coach the defensive line. Panthers case: Carolina interim general manager Marty Hurney will meet with an NFL investigator Friday to answer his ex-wife’s claims of harassment.
Hurney’s attorney Kathleen Lucchesi said Hurney will meet with Lisa Friel, the NFL’s special counsel for investigations, in Charlotte. Hurney was placed on a paid administrative leave Wednesday by Carolina while the NFL investigates the matter, even though his ex-wife Jeannie Hurney has withdrawn her complaint.
Hurney is one of four men who have interviewed for the team’s full-time general manager position. His current contract expires June 30. Lucchesi told The Associated Press in an email that Hurney is “very upset” by the allegations “first, because they are not true, and second, because she made them at a time she and the rest of Charlotte knew Marty was interviewing for the GM job with the Panthers.”
Houston’s Jimmy Raye III, Buffalo’s Lake Dawson and San Francisco’s Martin Mayhew have also interviewed for the full-time GMposition.