NFL Notes: Eagles, Raiders, Texans

Eagles

• Matt Lombardo of NJ.com writes that while Corey Clement is one of the most intriguing and accomplished of the Eagles’ rookie free agent signings, the team appears to be set at the running back position with LeGarrette Blount, Darren Sproles, Wendell Smallwood and Donnel Pumphrey.
• With this in mind, Lombardo says that Clement is likely bound for the practice squad, unless the Eagles carry Pumphrey as a slot receiver.
• Lombardo believes there’s a chance the Eagles could cut Allen Barbre if he doesn’t beat out Isaac Seumalo for a starting job and Chance Warmack exceeds expectations.

Raiders

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk writes that while a few reports have said that the Raiders don’t have the cap space to also sign Khalil Mack to a long-term extension now that they’ve locked up QB Derek Carr and G Gabe Jackson, the logic here doesn’t add up.

The NFLPA currently shows that the Raiders have $32,816,294 of cap room to work with, but it’s likely that this figure doesn’t account for both of the recent contracts they handed out. OvertheCap.com has the Raiders with just over $18 million of cap room right now, which would be enough to still sign Mack to a new contract.

If the Raiders could boost their available cap space by $6 million or so if they were to restructure the contracts of G Kelechi Osemele and LB Bruce Irvin.

With this in mind, Florio says that the issue is really whether the Raiders want to sign Mack right now and not whether they can.

Mack is under team control through the 2018 season and they could always franchise him in 2019 if needed, so they have options available if they can’t reach a long-term deal with him. Although, it’s probably wise to do right by one of the game’s best young defensive players and not push things off just because you can.

Texans

An AFC college scouting director tells Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle that he views Texans LB Benardrick McKinney to be an “absolute stud” would be “very comfortable” building a defense around him.

“I’d be very comfortable starting my defense with McKinney as my first pick,” said the scouting director said. “He’s an absolute stud. He’s so big and strong, but, at the same time, he runs so well. If you could redo the draft, he’d be a first-rounder, easily. The Texans really hit on this guy. He’s special.”

Texans HC Bill O’Brien added that he has a lot of respect for McKinney and how he stepped in and quickly got much better.

“Bernardrick’s getting better and better every year,” O’Brien said. “He’s a guy who I have a lot of respect for. He came in here and learned the game pretty quickly. I thought he had a Pro Bowl-type of year last year.

“Last year’s over, but I think the guy is poised to have a really good career here. A lot of it is going to have to do with health, but I think as long as he stays healthy he’s a hell of a football player.”