Category: Football

Free agent running back Dalvin Cook said he is in no rush to find his next employer.

Released by the Minnesota Vikings last week, Cook detailed what he’s looking for in his prospective new team on Tuesday while speaking on “The Rich Eisen Show.”

“I want the value,” Cook said. “I want somebody who values Dalvin Cook. I want somebody that wants me to be there and give me the ball. I just want to go into the right situation so I can go help somebody win.

“Like you said, the money is going to come. If you play good, they’re going to pay you. I just want to go somewhere where it feels like it’s home to me and help somebody win and just go be me. Just go turn it loose and look for a home. That’s it.”

Cook, who turns 28 in August, said his shoulder is “feeling great” after undergoing surgery in February.

A four-time Pro Bowl selection, Cook rushed for 5,993 yards and 47 touchdowns and added 221 receptions for 1,794 yards and five scores in 73 career games (72 starts) in Minnesota. He was selected by the Vikings in the second round of the 2017 NFL Draft.

“I got a lot of love for Minnesota. They brought a kid in that didn’t know what to expect and they embraced me,” Cook said.

“I’m looking forward to this next step in my life and it’s going to be fun. Whoever gets Dalvin Cook, they know what they are getting. That’s just plain and simple. You know what you are getting out of me, and I’m going to be a great team player, great teammate, great person in the locker room. I’m just ready to go run the rock and help somebody win games.”

–Field Level Media

The New York Jets signed safety Adrian Amos to a contract Tuesday, adding yet another former member of the Green Bay Packers to the team.

The Jets did not divulge terms of the deal, however multiple media outlets reported it was a one-year contract worth up to $4 million.

Amos, 30, played the last four seasons in Green Bay. He’ll see a few familiar faces in New York — ex-Packer quarterback Aaron Rodgers, wide receivers Allen Lazard and Randall Cobb and offensive lineman Billy Turner.

Amos played in — and started — all 66 games for the Packers from 2019-22. He has 10 interceptions, six sacks and 48 passes defensed in 126 career games (122 starts) with the Chicago Bears (2015-18) and Packers.

He was selected by the Bears in the fifth round of the 2015 NFL Draft.

Amos adds depth to a position group headlined by Chuck Clark and Jordan Whitehead. Tony Adams also is on the roster.

–Field Level Media

Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones skipped mandatory minicamp Tuesday in Kansas City as he positions himself for a contract extension.

Jones posted to his Instagram account a video highlight reel, set to the song “YoungBoy Never Broke Again.” The clip ends with Jones celebrating a quarterback sack against the Los Angeles Rams with a money-spraying motion.

“Coming for it all. #year8,” Jones account read.

Jones, a four-time Pro Bowl selection, signed a four-year, $80 million contract in July 2020. In the final year of his current contract this season, he’s scheduled for a base salary of $19.5 million. The 28-year-old can earn $500,000 for a workout bonus and a $1.25 million incentive bonus if he records 10 sacks in 2023.

The defensive tackle market is trending upward with three contracts this offseason that far exceed the full value of Jones’ deal. Jeffery Simmons (Tennessee Titans) signed a four-year, $94 million deal that falls just $1 million short of the full four-year value of Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald’s existing contract. Washington Commanders defensive tackle Daron Payne (four years, $90M) and Dexter Lawrence of the New York Giants (four years, $87.5M) also jumped Jones among highest-paid DTs.

Chiefs head coach Andy Reid called Jones’ contract “well deserved” in 2020.

With Jones in the fold, Kansas City has the potential to start 10 homegrown defensive players in 2023, with free safety Justin Reid the lone player drafted by another team.

–Field Level Media

Senior defensive analyst Matt Patricia is new to the Philadelphia Eagles, but he’s very familiar to the team’s top cornerback.

Darius Slay spent the 2013-19 seasons with the Detroit Lions, where he had an acrimonious relationship with Patricia starting in 2018, when the latter took over as head coach.

Slay, who was traded to the Eagles before the 2020 season, said Patricia met with him upon joining the Lions and told him he was not an “elite” coverage defender.

“He said I wasn’t an elite corner and that I’m not in their category. I was coming off an All-Pro year, eight picks,” Slay said in 2020. “That told me right there that he didn’t have no respect for me. He told me I was a good player, but then to tell me what I’m not, so I said, OK. I just took that to the chin and said, ‘OK, that’s cool.’ Then I bounced back to two back-to-back Pro Bowlers on him. Let him know how elite I was.”

Slay said the final straw with Patricia was accusing him of taking it easy, to put lighter words to the actual phrase Slay alleges the coach used, on a young wide receiver. Slay said “I lost all respect for him.”

Slay, who signed a three-year, $42 million extension with the Eagles in the offseason, told the Detroit Free Press that he and Patricia have been cordial since the Eagles hired him to assist with the defense.

“We both got the same goal, just going out there to compete and win a championship, so that’s the main focus,” Slay said.

The Eagles nearly traded Slay, who was named to the Pro Bowl each of the past two seasons, to the Baltimore Ravens in March, according to Slay.

Patricia went 13-29-1 in two-plus seasons with the Lions, getting fired after Week 12 of the 2020 season.

–Field Level Media

Odell Beckham Jr. is expected to slowly get up to speed with the Baltimore Ravens while working his way back from an ACL injury.

Signed to a one-year, $15 million contract in April, Beckham said Tuesday that he’s encouraged by the progress he’s made since sustaining the injury during Super Bowl LVI.

“It feels good to be able to get out of bed and not feel pain,” said the 30-year-old Beckham, who sat out all of last season.

“It feels good to feel like if I needed to take off running right now, I could take off running. It’s been a long journey this time around and it was its own process, so I just had to take that for what it was.”

Ravens head coach John Harbaugh told reporters that Beckham is considered a “full go” for practice.

“He’s learning the offense for the first time like a lot of guys have been,” Harbaugh said. “So, I think we’ll kind of be a see as we go. (He’ll) go through individual (work), take a few reps in group (work) and team and see how he and the other guys feel and go from there.”

A three-time Pro Bowl selection, Beckham has recorded 531 catches for 7,367 yards and 56 touchdowns in 96 career games (91 starts) with the New York Giants, Cleveland Browns and Los Angeles Rams. He exceeded 1,000 receiving yards in five of his first six seasons.

One of Beckham’s new teammates, fellow wide receiver Rashod Bateman, is not participating in minicamp. Bateman is working his way back from a Lisfranc injury and recently received a cortisone shot in his left foot. He did work out during organized team activities in May.

“I’m not expecting Bate to a part of” minicamp, Harbaugh said. “Right now, he had a shot for healing purposes, so that will keep him out for a couple of days. We just decided to let him just keep rehabbing and make sure he’s ready to go for training camp.”

Bateman was a first-round pick by the Ravens in 2021 and has played in just 18 games (nine starts) over his first two NFL seasons due to injuries. He has 61 career catches for 800 yards and three touchdowns.

–Field Level Media

Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott is “very concerned” by the no-show of star wideout Stefon Diggs for the team’s mandatory minicamp.

However, Diggs is in Buffalo and took part in pre-minicamp medical testing on Monday, according to WGRZ Buffalo and ESPN, citing Diggs’ agent.

Agent Adisa Bakari told ESPN that Diggs met with McDermott and Bills general manager Brandon Beane the past two days and “will be there for the entirety of the minicamp.”

Save for the part where Diggs didn’t show up Tuesday.

Diggs skipped the team’s entire offseason program, but those sessions were all voluntary until Monday.

Whatever the reason for his absence, it likely isn’t financial; Diggs signed a four-year, $96 million extension in April 2022. He’s set to make $24.415 million in 2023. That puts him fifth among all wide receivers for the 2023 season, per Spotrac.

Diggs carries a dead cap hit of $45.5 million this season, making him untradeable.

Diggs, 29, caught 108 passes for 1,429 yards and 11 touchdowns in 2022. His catches ranked fourth in the NFL, his yards fifth and his TD receptions tied for third.

He made the Pro Bowl all three seasons in Buffalo after a March 2020 trade from Minnesota. He has 703 catches for 8,812 yards and 59 TDs in 119 career games (111 starts) for the Vikings and Bills. He was selected in the fifth round of the 2015 draft by the Vikings.

–Field Level Media

Former New York Jets and Denver Broncos kicker Jim Turner passed away at age 82, his family revealed Monday.

According to reports, Turner died of heart failure on Saturday with his family at his side.

Turner kicked for the Jets from 1964 when they were a member of the AFL until the team’s first season after the NFL merger in 1970. He then moved on to the Broncos from 1971-79, playing 16 total professional seasons after he was a quarterback and kicker at Utah State.

The Crockett, Calif., native and straight-footed kicker made 304 of his 488 field-goal attempts over 228 games in both the AFL and NFL. He also made 521 of 534 extra-point attempts for 1,439 total points.

He was named to the Pro Bowl in 1968 and 1969 — topping the AFL in each season in total points — and was the NFL’s second-leading scorer when he retired following the 1979 season.

Turner kicked three field goals in New York’s 16-7 win over the heavily favored Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III, winning a title with the Jets, and also converted a field goal in the Super Bowl XII with the Broncos. He was also named to the Broncos’ Ring of Fame in 1988.

“Jim was instrumental in helping establish the Broncos’ winning tradition in the 1970s as a key member of our first Super Bowl team,” the Broncos said in a statement. “While his competitive spirit and reliability defined him as a player, Jim’s dedicated mentorship and support of youth following his career with leave a lasting legacy in our community.”

Turner is survived by his wide Mary Kay and daughters Lisa, Chris and Allison.

–Field Level Media

The New England Patriots waived former 1,000-yard rusher James Robinson on Monday, ESPN reported.

The former Jacksonville Jaguars and New York Jets running back signed a two-year, $4 million deal in March.

Robinson rushed for 1,070 yards as an undrafted rookie with the Jaguars in 2020.

He rushed for 85 yards in four games with the Jets last season after being acquired in a trade in October.

Robinson, 24, has gained 2,879 yards from scrimmage with 23 touchdowns in 39 career games (32 starts).

Rhamondre Stevenson is the RB1 for the Pats, who also have Pierre Strong Jr. and Ty Montgomery on the roster.

–Field Level Media

The Washington Commanders called off their final day of organized team activities (OTAs) scheduled for Tuesday, with head coach Ron Rivera and his coordinators happy with how the spring went for their club.

The Commanders instead will have meetings and a light workout Tuesday to conclude their offseason program. The team held a minicamp last week.

Washington will reconvene for training camp next month, when Sam Howell will make his bid to be the 2023 starting quarterback. Veteran Jacoby Brissett remains in the mix for QB1.

The Commanders finished last in the NFC East last season with an 8-8-1 record. They haven’t had a winning record since 2016 but did make the playoffs in 2020 with a 7-9 mark.

Jack Del Rio is the defensive coordinator and Eric Bieniemy is entering his first season as offensive coordinator.

–Field Level Media

Minnesota Vikings three-time Pro Bowl pass rusher Danielle Hunter will skip the team’s mandatory minicamp, choosing to hold out over his contract, NFL Network reported Monday.

Hunter, 28, is set to make $5.5 million this season after the team restructured his deal to move up money to him in 2022, per the report. He wants a new deal after signing a five-year, $72 million extension in June 2018.

Hunter has 71 career sacks for the Vikings, including 10.5 last season. He’s started 73 of 102 games in Minnesota since being selected in the third round of the 2015 draft out of LSU.

He has 85 tackles for loss, 112 quarterback hits, seven forced fumbles and four fumble recoveries in his seven seasons.

The Vikings have received trade calls on Hunter, per the report.

Hunter is subject to fines totaling $99,000 if he skips all three days of camp.

–Field Level Media