NFL Rumors: Dolphins, Jets, Lions, & Saints

Dolphins

• Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald mentions that if Dolphins DE Olivier Vernon receives an offer above the $12.7 million transition tag, it would not be surprising to see Miami move on and try to sign two defensive ends for that price.
• Jackson suggests Rams DE William Hayes, Cowboys DE Jeremy Mincey and/or Giants DE Robert Ayers as some names to watch for the Dolphins.
• In regards to Cameron Wake, Jackson reports that the Dolphins haven’t threatened to cut him if he doesn’t agree to lower his $9.8 million cap hit and $8.4 million salary.
• However, Jackson adds that the Dolphins have told at least one NFL official that he remains in their plans and they’d like him to retire as a member of the organization.

Jets

Dom Cosentino of NJ.com does not expect the Jets to pursue a trade for Bears TE Martellus Bennett, who is reportedly on the trade block right now.

• Rich Cimini of ESPN believes the recent contract signed Eagles QB Sam Bradford — two years, $36 million with $22 million fully guaranteed — could impact contract talks between the Jets and QB Ryan Fitzpatrick.
• As Cimini notes, both Bradford and Fitzpatrick share the same agency, so it would make sense to see his agent take a similar approach towards Fitzpatrick’s next deal.
• Cimini thinks that it would be a wise move for the Jets to use a similarly structured deal that would give them some flexibility in the second-year of the contract.
• A prominent quarterback agent told Cimini months ago that he could see Fitzpatrick signing for something between $10 million to $12 million per year.
• However, Cimini has heard more recently that $8 million to $10 million per year could be more realistic for him.

Lions

• Michael Rothstein mentions that DT Haloti Ngata, S Isa Abdul-Quddus, and LB Tahir Whitehead as a few free agents who could net the Lions 2017 compensatory picks if they sign elsewhere in the coming weeks.
• Rothstein doesn’t see the Lions bringing back DT Nick Fairley.
• In the draft, Rothstein expects the Lions to target offensive or defensive line in the first round, unless someone like Ole Miss WR Laquon Treadwell is available to them at No. 16 overall.
• If it were up to Rothstein, he’d target Broncos DL Malik Jackson and Chiefs CB Sean Smith in free agency.
• Other free agents Rothstein believes are worth considering are Bengals S George Iloka and Browns C Alex Mack.

Saints

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk writes that Saints QB Drew Brees has the leverage to be the highest-paid players in the NFL if he wants to push for this kind of contract.

There has been talk for some time now that the Saints would likely have to sign Brees to an extension in order to reduce his $30 million cap figure for the 2016 season.

New Orleans is once again in a tough position from a cap standpoint, so they could use all the cap space they could get from this deal.

Florio mentions that the Saints could free up $10 million by signing Brees to a deal that includes a large signing bonus and a small base salary.

Florio believes Brees has the leverage to push for more money per year than the $20.1 million Joe Flacco just got from the Ravens last week.