Cowboys restructure contracts of All-Pro linemen Tyron Smith, Travis Frederick

Cowboys have restructured a pair of contracts to clear some salary-cap <a href="http://www.authenticcowboyssale.com/shop-by-players-tyron-smith-jersey-c-2_9.html">Tyron Smith Jersey</a> space, according to ESPN's Todd Archer.

The Cowboys turned about $21 million of the $24 million due to left tackle Tyron Smith and center Travis Frederick into signing bonuses to clear up $17.3 million and get the team under the proposed salary cap of $168 million, according to the report.

Sporting News contributor Jason Fitzgerald predicted last week that Smith and Frederick would be logical candidates for restructured deals.

The Cowboys are now in a position to carry quarterback Tony Romo’s large cap hit into the regular season if the team can't find a viable trade partner for the four-time Pro Bowler.

Before the new deals, Smith was set to have a $15.8 million cap hit <a href="http://www.authenticcowboyssale.com/shop-by-players-tyron-smith-jersey-c-2_9.html">http://www.authenticcowboyssale.com/shop-by-players-tyron-smith-jersey-c-2_9.html while Frederick was set to have a $14.8 million hit in 2017, according to Spotrac.

Oakland Raiders Linebacker Shilique Calhoun Recounts NFL Scouting Combine Experience

The NFL Scouting Combine begins Feb. 28 in Indianapolis, so Shilique Calhoun recounted his experience participating in <a href="http://www.authenticnflraidersshop.com/shop-by-players-shilique-calhoun-jersey-c-2_19.html">Shilique Calhoun Womens Jersey</a> the event just a year ago.
Ironically, the questions he wasn’t asked were the ones that Shilique Calhoun remembered the most.
Just over a year ago, the current Oakland Raiders linebacker had just put the punctuation marks on his career at Michigan State, and was heading off to Indianapolis to participate in the 2016 NFL Scouting Combine, and the gauntlet of drills he’d be put through both on and off the field.
The interview portion of the four-day event has become synonymous with off the wall questions prospects are asked (If you were a dog, what kind of dog would you be? How many things can you do with a brick?), but Calhoun said that the teams didn’t try to trip him up, and kept their questions to X’s and O’s for the most part.
“People were pretty straightforward with me,” recounted <a href="http://www.authenticnflraidersshop.com/shop-by-players-tj-carrie-jersey-c-2_48.html">http://www.authenticnflraidersshop.com/shop-by-players-tj-carrie-jersey-c-2_48.html Calhoun. “I didn’t get any weird questions; I actually was kind of prepping myself, and looking forward to seeing what they would ask me, but I didn’t get asked any weird questions. It was specifically about football, and how I feel about my productivity.”
Largely regarded as one of the most rigorous jobs interview in sports, the college prospects who are invited to take place in the rundown at Lucas Oil Stadium have late nights, and early mornings, really early mornings.
“What I remember about the combine is just those grueling, early mornings,” Calhoun said. “That was the biggest thing, is having to be up early, just making sure that you had to go do all the tests, as well as the interviews. The late night interviews where they get you in the room, and they kind of break down your film, both good and bad, it’s worse going through bad film, because they’re really in depth in it. They want to understand what you were thinking, what you did wrong, and why you did what you did you wrong.”
While Calhoun didn’t shy away from talking about the grueling nature of the four days in Indy, he made sure to note that while it was no doubt a business trip, he and his fellow NFL hopefuls also had some fun in the process.
“I also remember having good times,” Calhoun said. “Talking with the guys, being out there on the days where we did the 40-yard dash or when we did the bench [press] testing, and just the memory of kind of being as one, because even though we <a href="http://www.authenticcowboysstore.com/shop-by-players-troy-aikman-jersey-c-2_51.html">http://www.authenticcowboysstore.com/shop-by-players-troy-aikman-jersey-c-2_51.html came from different teams we kind of still rooted each other on, in the hopes that each of us still succeeded.”
Overall, Calhoun had found memories of his time in Indianapolis at the combine, calling it a “positive experience” where the inner competitor in him got to shine.
“I think being there with those guys, whether they were first round, second round, third round, it was great to see them compete on their own individual level, and it kind of gave me a sense of where I fell in the fold, and I believe I’m at the top of it all, but I do believe that it was good for me,” Calhoun explained. “I was able to get out and be a one-man show for a couple of days, and see where I stacked up against certain amounts of talent.”
Two months later, Calhoun was picked by the Raiders in the third round (No. 75 overall) of the 2016 Draft, and he appeared in 10 games as a rookie before eventually being placed on the Reserve/Injured list.
Now, with a season of NFL experience under his belt, Calhoun can look back on his time at the combine and offer some words of wisdom for the hundreds of NFL hopefuls getting ready for their turn at Lucas Oil Stadium.
So what would the former Michigan State Spartan say <a href="http://www.authenticsteelersshop.com/shop-by-players-darrius-heywardbey-jersey-c-2_42.html">http://www.authenticsteelersshop.com/shop-by-players-darrius-heywardbey-jersey-c-2_42.html to those players? First, get some sleep, and second, don’t go into the experience with any preconceived notions.
“Honestly, [my advice] would be, going to every meeting with wide eyes, and a sense of understanding of what they’re trying to get at,” Calhoun said. “Gain something from going to those meetings. Don’t go in there just thinking, ‘oh, they’re going to ask me questions, and I’m going to spit out answers,’ gain something. Ask them questions about how they see your game, how they perceive you as a football player and as a person, and overall what you can get better at coming around for next season.”

Kevin Zeitler ‘cream of the crop’; reportedly set to make $10+ million annually

Offensive guard is a position where big bucks typically have not been spent in the NFL.

But, that has been changing more and more as <a href="http://www.authenticsteelersshop.com/shop-by-players-david-decastro-jersey-c-2_27.html">David Decastro Youth Jersey</a> guys like Kelechi Osemele and David Decastro have signed contracts paying them more than $11 million annually in the last year. Even this week, Chiefs guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif signed a massive contract extension, that will pay him like one of the league's top guards with a five-yard, $41.25 million deal.

Kevin Zeitler is about to be added to the list of guards making five figure annual salaries. He’s become one of the best right guards in the business, and he’s about to be paid like an elite offensive lineman, though it probably will not be in Cincinnati.

According to Draft Analyst’s Tony Pauline, Zeitler will likely be signing a massive deal this offseason, and we should expect it to be with a new team.

This jives with what’s been reported on Zeitler and his impending payday for much of this offseason. That number is also close to what Spotrac is projecting for Zeitler.

The contract resource website has him projected to earn a deal paying him around $11.6 million annually, which is likely far above what the <a href="http://www.authenticcowboysstore.com/shop-by-players-troy-aikman-jersey-c-2_51.html">http://www.authenticcowboysstore.com/shop-by-players-troy-aikman-jersey-c-2_51.html Bengals are willing to pay the stud guard. Spotrac's exact projection for Zeitler is five years, $58,107,783 with an average annual salary of $11,621,557. That would make him the second highest paid guard and 64th highest paid NFL player. For comparison, Bengals left guard Clint Boling makes the 20th ranked annual guard salary and he has a five-year, $26 million contract. He's currently entering the third year of the deal in 2017.

Sports Illustrated’s Chris Burke believes Zeitler is the cream of the crop in terms of free agent guards this year. He also thinks the Dolphins could be his best fit.

It also helps that there’s a connection between Miami and Cincinnati that could help make the Dolphins a viable landing spot. Former Bengals linebackers coach Matt Burke, who served in that role for the Bengals from 2014-15, is now Miami’s defensive coordinator after Vance Joseph, also a former Bengals assistant, became the head coach of the Broncos this offseason.

Denver could be another team to watch out for as they need help up and down their offensive line. Joseph obviously knows what Zeitler brings to the table after both were in Cincinnati from 2014-15, which is also the case with Burke in Miami.

It helps that both teams are also projected to <a href="http://www.authenticnflraidersshop.com/shop-by-players-willie-brown-jersey-c-2_33.html">http://www.authenticnflraidersshop.com/shop-by-players-willie-brown-jersey-c-2_33.html have $40-plus million in cap space this offseason. That makes them very dangerous teams who could be poised to lure Zeitler away from Cincinnati.

Super Bowl Remains Packers GM Ted Thompson’s Focus; Will He Go ‘All In’?

INDIANAPOLIS -- The Green Bay Packers got to the NFC Championship Game, thanks to a dominating finish to the season.
However, with a trip to the Super Bowl on <a href="http://www.authenticnflraidersshop.com/shop-by-players-al-davis-jersey-c-2_45.html">Al Davis Authentic Jersey</a> the line, it was the Packers who were dominated by the Atlanta Falcons.
So are the Packers close to getting back to the Super Bowl for the first time since 2010? Or is there a significant gulf to overcome?
“We start out every year the same, and this is kind of the start of it, getting ready for the draft, getting ready for free agency, the whole thing,” Packers general manager Ted Thompson said when asked that question – one he termed “nasty” at the Scouting Combine on Wednesday.
“We’re getting ready for one thing and it’s to try to get to the Super Bowl <a href="http://www.authenticcowboysstore.com/shop-by-players-tony-dorsett-jersey-c-2_42.html">http://www.authenticcowboysstore.com/shop-by-players-tony-dorsett-jersey-c-2_42.html and win the Super Bowl. We don’t try for anything else,” he continued. “Every year that’s exactly what we’re going to do every time is try to win the Super Bowl. And we understand it’s hard to do. We understand that there’s twists and turns on the road. It’s unbelievable how difficult that is, but we try to do it every single year. We’ve come up short a few times but we’ve also done some battling, and it’s not an easy thing to walk away from. It wasn’t easy for any of us, and certainly our players, to walk away from Atlanta because it’s too much heartache, too much pain that’s gone into trying to do something. And this is something special that people are trying to do.”
There are significant hurdles to be overcome if Thompson, coach Mike McCarthy and quarterback Aaron Rodgers are to hoist the Lombardi Trophy for the second time in their careers. The running, jumping and interviewing of the draft prospects at the Scouting Combine will be at the forefront of all of that. So, too, will be the conversations with the agents of free agents. The Packers have a significant group of free agents for Thompson to consider, including outside linebacker Nick Perry, guard T.J. Lang, defensive back Micah Hyde and tight end Jared Cook.
“That’s our intention and it’s our intention every year. I stand on this podium every year and say the same thing,” Thompson said of retaining those players. “Our best intentions would be to sign as many of our own players as we can and <a href="http://www.authenticsteelersshop.com/shop-by-players-cody-wallace-jersey-c-2_30.html">http://www.authenticsteelersshop.com/shop-by-players-cody-wallace-jersey-c-2_30.html keep it together.”
Free agency starts on March 9 – though other teams can start negotiating with the Packers’ free agents beginning on March 7 – so the clock is ticking for Thompson to keep his prioritized players off the market.
“It’s an artificial deadline,” Thompson said. “Not that free agency’s not going to start at a certain time, it’s just once you get to this particular point, there’s very little risk of the player getting injured, so there’s not a push on the side of the player to hurry up to get a deal done. But, at the same time, sometimes they’d prefer to stay and deals get done earlier than we think. It’s worked both ways, as you guys know. Over the years, we’ve signed several right at the start of free agency and my guess is that’s what’s going to happen this year.”
Thompson has the Packers armed with about $40 million of salary cap space, based on a reported 2017 salary cap of $167 million. That ranks 13th in the league, according to OverTheCap.com, meaning the Packers have the war chest to go shopping – as does most of the league, with a total of 18 teams having at least $32 million of cap space.
Will Thompson break from his long-standing track record and participate in unrestricted free agency? Will he do something approximating “all in,” as Rodgers suggested was necessary after the season? With Thompson’s career winding down – and Rodgers on the back nine of his career – will Thompson change his approach?
Thompson, as expected, wouldn’t divulge his offseason strategy.
“It doesn’t matter how old we are, we’re going to try to <a href="http://www.authenticsteelersshop.com/shop-by-players-joe-gilliam-jersey-c-2_71.html">Joe Gilliam Authentic Jersey</a> do the exact same thing every year,” Thompson said. “We’re going to try to get to the Super Bowl and win it. And that’s what we’re going to try to do again this year.”

SF Police: No timetable in Aldon Smith’s domestic violence case

There is no timetable for <a href="http://www.authenticnflraidersshop.com/shop-by-players-aldon-smith-jersey-c-2_62.html">Aldon Smith Jersey</a> a resolution in Aldon Smiths’ ongoing domestic violence case, a spokeswoman with the San Francisco police tells Bill Williamson of All22.com

Smith’s one-year NFL suspension <a href="http://www.authenticnflraidersshop.com/shop-by-players-aldon-smith-jersey-c-2_62.html">http://www.authenticnflraidersshop.com/shop-by-players-aldon-smith-jersey-c-2_62.html ended back in November, but Commissioner Roger Goodell has decided not to reinstate Smith. He announced during the year that Smith would not return in 2016, leaving open the possibility of him appearing on the field next season.

He is yet to total a full season since 2012, as he has been suspended on numerous occasions by the league for a litany of violations. He has appeared in just nine games as a member of the Raiders, making 28 tackles and 3.5 sacks, before he was suspended in the middle of the season for an entire calendar year. That ban stemmed from an August 2015 hit-and-run incident, which led to him being released by his then-team San Francisco 49ers.

He was chosen with the seventh overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft by San Francisco, and quickly ascended to the NFC’s Defensive Player of the Year in 2012, being named to his only Pro Bowl and First-Team All-Pro.

Then in 2013, he was arrested for DUI, leading to <a href="http://www.authenticnflraidersshop.com/shop-by-players-andre-holmes-jersey-c-2_41.html">http://www.authenticnflraidersshop.com/shop-by-players-andre-holmes-jersey-c-2_41.html him voluntarily checking into rehab, which caused a five-game absence. Before 2014, he was arrested for claiming to have a bomb at Los Angeles International Airport. In 2014, he served a nine-game suspension due to violation of the NFL’s substance-abuse policy. In the last four seasons combined, he has missed 37 games due to suspension and/or violations.

Cowboys free agents most likely to return: Why bringing Terrell McClain back is crucial to D-line

Free agency begins on March 9.

Fans often focus on players from <a href="http://www.authenticsteelersshop.com/shop-by-players-antonio-brown-jersey-c-2_14.html">Antonio Brown Jersey</a> other teams the Cowboys should or intend to pursue. That's the wrong way to look at it.

The club's emphasis is retaining its own players before they hit free agency.

There are currently 18 free agents on <a href="http://www.authenticcowboysstore.com/shop-by-players-tony-romo-jersey-c-2_3.html">Tony Romo Youth Jersey</a> the team's roster. Here's the likely priority list.
No. 3: DT Terrell McClain
Type: Unrestricted

2016 impact: The Cowboys allowed an average of 83.5 yards on the ground to lead the league in run defense. McClain was the <a href="http://www.authenticcowboysstore.com/shop-by-players-lp-ladouceur-jersey-c-2_45.html">http://www.authenticcowboysstore.com/shop-by-players-lp-ladouceur-jersey-c-2_45.html primary reason. The starting defensive tackle led the team's defensive linemen with 41 tackles. He forced two fumbles, had three tackles for a loss and came up with 2.5 sacks.

Dallas picked up Cedric Thornton in free agency last season to plug into the 1-technique spot on the line because McClain had missed 14 games in 2015 with a toe injury. But McClain showed last season he is the better player and regained his starting job with no questions asked.

Why he's likely to return: He's carved out a starting role in the Cowboys' defensive front. He's physical and showed he can stay healthy for an entire season. McClain is <a href="http://www.authenticsteelersshop.com/shop-by-players-ben-roethlisberger-jersey-c-2_3.html">http://www.authenticsteelersshop.com/shop-by-players-ben-roethlisberger-jersey-c-2_3.html a very good player but not one dominant enough to command big money on the open market. He forms a solid rotation with Thornton and needs to return so the Cowboys can concentrate on upgrading the end positions.

Tony Romo reportedly turned down a 'very good off-field' job offer

The Dallas Cowboys are the focal <a href="http://www.authenticcowboysstore.com/shop-by-players-tony-romo-jersey-c-2_3.html">Tony Romo Jersey</a> point of the offseason, which is nothing new for them, but the reason why is different this year. Everyone wants to know where Tony Romo will play in 2017. As CBS Sports NFL Insider Jason La Canfora reports, there is a lot of noise out there, but only a couple clear-cut contenders.

There is also the nuclear option of retirement for Romo, but that doesn’t actually appear to be on the table. According to Peter King of The MMQB, Romo is “likely” going to play and has already turned down “at least one very good off-field job offer” this offseason.

It’s likely he plays somewhere in 2017, and I say that because I know he had a chance to get at least one very good off-field job offer since the end of the regular season,” King wrote Monday. “He didn’t do it, because he still wants to play. He knows everyone thinks he’s a piece of fine china and will crack if dropped to the floor. There’s nothing he can do about that other than to play.”

Romo is the prized possession of free agency, assuming he’s released by the <a href="http://www.authenticcowboysstore.com/shop-by-players-tony-romo-jersey-c-2_3.html">Tony Romo Youth Jersey</a> Cowboys, which is looking like a more likely result than a possible trade from Dallas.

It was probably always the outcome anyway, just because of Romo’s untenable -- from a trade perspective -- contract, and the close connection between Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and Romo. If you love something, Jerry, set it free.

Hitting the market will open a floodgate for potential suitors, with the Broncos topping Vegas’ list of landing spots.

There are a pair of teams that make more sense than Denver, however. In working up a list of teams who should be aggressive this offseason to try and “win now,” I identified the Chiefs and Texans as two teams who should pursue Romo to take them over the top in their respective divisions.

King agrees, pegging Kansas City and Houston as possible landing <a href="http://www.authenticcowboysstore.com/shop-by-players-terrell-mcclain-jersey-c-2_64.html">http://www.authenticcowboysstore.com/shop-by-players-terrell-mcclain-jersey-c-2_64.html spots for Romo, pointing out that Andy Reid “has never minded upsetting the apple cart for a potentially special player” and that Alex Smith would be “mature enough” to handle the addition of Romo to the roster. (Nick Foles is expected to be a cap casualty.)

The Texans might make even more sense, considering the close geographical proximity to Dallas.

“Romo’s druthers, I think, would be to stay in Texas. Houston’s a 40-minute private-plane ride. Kansas City’s double that. Romo’s got his third child on the way and loves the Dad life,” King wrote.

The biggest obstacle to the Texans might be Jones. Would the Cowboys owner be willing to let Houston draw away some of the Cowboys’ publicity by signing one of his favorite players to ever? That might be a tough sell.

On the other hand, it would mean Romo goes to the AFC, which means that Romo can’t impede the Cowboys from making it to Super Bowl LII.

The good news for Jerry too, is that he’ll get to soak up the <a href="http://www.authenticcowboysstore.com/shop-by-players-tyron-smith-jersey-c-2_9.html">http://www.authenticcowboysstore.com/shop-by-players-tyron-smith-jersey-c-2_9.html drama over the next few weeks, as the Cowboys remain the focal point of the NFL, thanks to their backup quarterback.