HeadtoHeadFootball -
NFL

Here are ways Minnesota could use franchise tags with Case Keenum

During the first two days in which teams could use the franchise tag, only one NFL team so far has enacted the one-year tender, as the Miami Dolphins tagged wide receiver Jarvis Landry for the 2018 season.

The two-week window to place a franchise or transition tag on players that are scheduled to become unrestricted free agents closes at 4 p.m. ET on March 6. As the Vikings work through the unique set of circumstances they have at quarterback, with three potential starters set to hit free agency in less than three weeks, the first important decision has to do with the potential use of the franchise tag.

Case Keenum isn’t considered the most likely of candidates across the NFL to receive a franchise tag, but as the Vikings decide whom they want to be their quarterback in 2018, the options start with the player who led them to a 13-3 record and an appearance in the NFC title game. He could end up being the best fit.

Minnesota has used the franchise tag only twice since it was introduced in 1993: once on tight end Jim Kleinsasser in 2003 and again on linebacker Chad Greenway in 2011. The Vikings have never placed the designation on a quarterback.

After Keenum’s career year, his modest $2 million contract from 2017 is expected to increase exponentially, but do the Vikings view him as someone worth $20 million or more to run the offense next season?

The Vikings have several options to weigh if they seek to keep Case Keenum, but all will likely be expensive. AP Photo/Bruce Kluckhohn

The franchise-tag window closes six days before teams can enter into negotiations with other teams’ free agents, on March 12. If the Vikings place the tag on Keenum between now and March 6, that could end the conversation about going after Washington quarterback Kirk Cousins.

But will it?

Here’s a look at the options the Vikings have as they pertain to Keenum and the franchise tag.

Exclusive franchise tag: This option would immediately take Keenum off the market and lock him into a deal with the Vikings. Minnesota would have to pay Keenum the average of the top five salaries at his position, which is around $23 million for one year, with either the exclusive or non-exclusive franchise tag. The binding nature of the exclusive option, however, makes its projected use appear rather unlikely.

Kirk Cousins. Jimmy Graham. Le’Veon Bell. This class could get wild. Here’s everything to know heading into free agency, which begins March 14.

• Latest news, players to watch »
•InsiderMaking biggest decisions for all 32 »
• Destination Cousins: Landing spots »

Non-exclusive franchise tag: If the Vikings go this route, Keenum and his agent would be able to negotiate with other teams and try to find a long-term deal. The Vikings would get the first opportunity to match any offer sheet the quarterback receives, and if Keenum and the Vikings decide to part ways, Minnesota would get two first-round picks. Franchising Keenum would allow the Vikings to see if the journeyman quarterback can replicate the success he had in 2017 without having to lock him in to a long-term deal. If Minnesota goes this route for Keenum (whose salary would be a $23 million cap hit in 2018), it could also help the team in an attempt bring back Teddy Bridgewater or Sam Bradford and keep the current core of QBs together. The situation could set up a quarterback competition in training camp and would ensure that the Vikings, who are built to win now rather than later, will have options as they try to make another Super Bowl run.

Transition tag: The cheapest of the three tags would give Keenum the average of the top-10 salaries at his position, which would be around $21 million. The QB can test the market, and if he finds another team willing to fork over big money and a long-term deal, Minnesota again has the first right of refusal or can match his offer sheet. If the Vikings don’t, they don’t get a compensatory pick. Either way, with any of the three tags, the Vikings and Keenum would have until July 16 to work out a multiyear contract.

Tag and trade: The Vikings could choose to utilize the franchise tag on Keenum even if they have the intention of trading him in the near future. If Keenum ends up leaving in free agency without a franchise tag, the highest compensation the Vikings would receive is a third-round pick. They’d also have to sacrifice a 2019 compensatory pick if this happens. The seldom-used tag-and-trade tactic has been thrown out as a possibility with Cousins, despite the challenges it would yield by putting a franchise tag on him for a third straight year.

Other options: Minnesota could end up not going the route of tagging Keenum and could instead opt to work out a long-term deal before he becomes a free agent. The Vikings could also let him test the market after March 14 and decide if any offer sheets he gets are worth trying to match without a franchise tag. The Vikings could also let him walk in free agency, which seems like a risky move unless the Vikings are confident they can land Cousins or another free agent QB they have in mind, or believe Bridgewater or Bradford, despite their knee issues, is their best option for a Super Bowl run in 2018.

NFL

Flu symptoms hospitalize Saints/Pels owner

METAIRIE, La. — New Orleans Saints and Pelicans owner Tom Benson was recently hospitalized with flu symptoms, but he is now resting comfortably, according to a statement released by the teams.

Benson, 90, was admitted to Ochsner Medical Center’s intensive care unit. According to the statement, he “requests and sincerely appreciates your thoughts and prayers.”

Benson has battled some health issues in recent years, including a similar brief hospital stay in October. He also endured complications from multiple knee surgeries, beginning in 2014, that left him heavily medicated and were highly publicized during a prolonged legal battle with his estranged heirs. However, Benson’s health improved after those surgeries, according to those close to him.

NFL

Lewis signs on for 13th season in Jacksonville

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — One of the longest-tenured players in Jacksonville Jaguars history is coming back for another season.

1 Related

The team announced Tuesday afternoon that it picked up tight end Marcedes Lewis’ one-year, $3.5 million option. The 2018 season will be his 13th with the team that selected him 28th overall in the 2006 draft.

The 33-year-old Lewis, who caught 24 passes for 318 yards and five touchdowns in 2017, ranks second in franchise history in receiving touchdowns (33) and third in receptions (375) and receiving yards (4,502). The next game he plays will tie him with receiver Jimmy Smith for second place on the franchise’s list of most games played (171), behind center Brad Meester (209 games in 14 seasons).

Lewis played in all 16 games in 2017 for just the second time since 2012.

The team also announced it was picking up options on reserve offensive linemen Josh Wells and Tyler Shatley. Wells has played in 32 games with three starts, all in 2017. Shatley has played in 46 games with eight starts.

NFL

Contrite ex-WR Carruth seeks custody of son

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Former Carolina Panthers wide receiver Rae Carruth, who has spent the last 17 years in a North Carolina prison for conspiracy to murder his pregnant girlfriend, opened up for the first time in a hand-written letter to the victim’s mother.

Carruth wrote a 15-page letter to Saundra Adams, the mother of Cherica Adams, that was sent to Charlotte television station WBTV. He also spoke at length by phone with the station about the letter, accepting responsibility for the 1999 conspiracy to murder Cherica and expressing interest in gaining custody of his son.

“I’m apologizing for the loss of her daughter. I’m apologizing for the impairment of my son,” Carruth told WBTV. “I feel responsible for everything that happened. And I just want her to know that truly I am sorry for everything.”

Carruth is scheduled to be released from Sampson Correctional Institution in Clinton, North Carolina, on Oct. 22. He was sentenced to 18 to 24 years in 2001 after being found guilty of hiring Van Brett Watkins and Michael Kennedy to murder Cherica. Watkins, who shot Adams multiple times, was sentenced to a minimum of 40 years. Kennedy, who drove the car, was released in 2011.

Adams died a month after the shooting. Her son, Chancellor Lee Adams, was born prematurely and has battled the challenges that come from Cerebral Palsy, which was the result of his traumatic birth after the shooting.

Saundra Adams has raised Chancellor, now 18. In past interviews with the Charlotte Observer, she has expressed that she would like to be present the day Carruth is released.

Carruth, who did not testify at his trial, said he wants custody of Chancellor when he is released.

“I should be raising my son. His mother should be raising her son,” Carruth said. “Ms. Adams should not be doing this and I want that responsibility back.

Rae Carruth is scheduled to be released from prison in October after serving a 17-year sentence for conspiracy to murder his pregnant girlfriend. AP Photo/Jeff Siner

“I feel like he might not ever have his mother in his life but he could still have me and I could still make a difference and I don’t think that’s anyone’s responsibility when I’m still here.”

Saundra Adams told the Observer on Monday that she would not relinquish custody of Chancellor to Carruth.

“I’ve forgiven Rae already, but to have any type of relationship with him, there does have to be some repentance,” Adams told the newspaper. “And I think this opens the door. But I can say definitively he’s not ever going to have custody of Chancellor.

“Chancellor will be raised either by me or, after I’m gone, by someone else who loves him and who knows him. He will never be raised by a stranger — someone he doesn’t know and who tried to kill him.”

In the letter, Carruth opened that he has “long accepted my lot as a social pariah.” He said in an introduction to the letter, which he began with “To whom it may concern,” that the purpose of the letter was to challenge allegations made by Saundra on the “truthfulness of the statements she’s made about me.”

Carruth referred to several “lies” he claimed Saundra made, beginning with saying he never apologized for what happened. He noted that he apologized on several occasions in correspondence from prison.

Carruth also accused Saundra of creating a false impression of his relationship with Cherica. He said outside of a physical relationship with Cherica, “me and your daughter were practically strangers.”

Carruth also challenged that his motive for having Cherica killed was to avoid having to pay child support, noting child support never was mentioned as motive during the trial. He said the motive was more to do with Cherica being unwilling to get an abortion.

In the letter, Carruth said he wishes he could go back to 1999 and do things differently.

“If I could change anything, I’d change the whole situation,” he wrote. “His mother would still be here and I wouldn’t be where I’m at. So that’s what I’d want to change. I want the incident to never have happened at all.”

Carruth, 44, told WBTV that he has changed a lot since the Panthers drafted him in the first round of the 1998 draft out of Colorado. He noted back then he was very “self-centered” and immature.

He talked about finding a relationship with God.

“I feel like I owe Chancellor,” Carruth said. “I let him down as he came into this world and the only way that I can make that right, the only way I can work out my relationship with my son, is to be there for him and to be a father and a dad to him going forward.”

Page 250 of 392« First...102030249250251252260270280...Last »