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NFL offseason agendas: Barnwell's to-do lists for all 16 NFC teams

No NFL team manages to fill all of its holes during the offseason. Each has a weak point or two that gets revealed by injuries or disappointing play over the course of a season. Even the most successful offseasons of 2018 prove that point. The Bears surrounded Mitchell Trubisky with talent, acquired a dominant pass-rusher in Khalil Mack and won the NFC North, only for the kicker who signed a four-year extension to sputter out over the course of the year and collapse at the worst possible moment. The Colts needed to turn to midseason acquisition Dontrelle Inman when their wideouts were struggling to stay healthy.

Every NFL team still has some work to do. In some cases, that's filling a roster spot or supplementing a positional group. In others, it's locking up a player who is about to hit free agency. Some teams have much more to do over the next few months than others.

Over the next two days, I'll run team-by-team and try to identify the key things each has to accomplish before the calendar turns to September:

JUMP TO A TEAM: NFC East: DAL | NYG | PHI | WSH NFC North: CHI | DET | GB | MIN NFC South: ATL | CAR | NO | TB NFC West: ARI | LAR | SF | SEA

NFC East

Re-sign Dak Prescott and Amari Cooper. Early negotiations with the cornerstones of Dallas' passing attack haven't yielded much. Executive vice president Stephen Jones suggested that Prescott's deal needs to be "team-friendly," which is his own coded way of asking Prescott to give up his leverage and take a discount. It's probably not going to work in an organization with a long track record of handing its drafted-and-developed talent market-setting deals.

Russell Wilson's four-year, $140 million extension set a new annual average record at $35 million per season. As I wrote in April, the Cowboys' predilection for longer deals with their stars means that Prescott is likely to approach a record for total contract value as opposed to topping Wilson's average. This deal is going to get done unless the Cowboys want to trust the same instincts that led them to pursue Paxton Lynch and Connor Cook before settling for Prescott during the 2016 draft, and they're not that dumb. Prescott is likely to get a five- or six-year deal in the range of $32 million per season.

ESPN.com Illustration

With Prescott, the Cowboys at least have the leverage of knowing that their star quarterback is making about 6 percent of his actual market value. They have no such leverage with Cooper, who is making $13.9 million as part of his fifth-year option and reportedly has made "shockingly high demands" in extension talks with the Cowboys.

There's some gamesmanship and negotiating in public going on here, but what could the Cowboys have expected? Dallas traded a first-round pick for Cooper in a desperate attempt to kick-start its passing attack, and it worked. Cooper caught 66 passes for 896 yards and seven touchdowns in 11 games with the Cowboys, who started 3-4 without him and then went 8-3 after the wideout arrived from Oakland. Cooper is still just 24 and plays at a position in which drafts haven't delivered much talent, so the Cowboys wouldn't have many possible replacements if they did decide to let Cooper leave.

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They could franchise Cooper twice and pay the Alabama product about $53 million over the next three seasons. That's right around what Odell Beckham Jr. ($52.7 million) and Mike Evans ($55 million) got from their extensions as fifth-year stars last August. The Cowboys probably will have to pay Cooper $58 million over the next three years as part of his extension to get this deal done. It's a lot of money, but once they traded for Cooper and he succeeded, they were basically handing his agent a blank check.

If the Joneses really think Cooper isn't worth the money for which he's asking -- and to be clear, I don't think this is what they actually believe -- they should trade Cooper now in lieu of letting him play out this fifth-year option and walking for a third-round compensatory pick. Cooper's value might never be higher after last season, and there are a handful of teams that should be willing to offer significant draft compensation for a rejuvenated Cooper. The Patriots, Jaguars, Seahawks and Packers all come to mind as teams that could use receiving help, although they might not be enthused about giving up a first-round pick and making Cooper the highest-paid wideout in football. As the Cowboys showed last year, though, it takes only one interested party to make a market.

Establish a succession plan for Daniel Jones. The first time the Giants tried to move on from Eli Manning went about as disastrously as any benching in recent memory. The fans already had turned on then-coach Ben McAdoo in the middle of a disastrous 2017 campaign, but the move to bench Manning for unloved former Jets backup Geno Smith attracted universal scorn. Ownership quickly backtracked from the decision, fired McAdoo and general manager Jerry Reese, and promoted Manning back into the starting role.

This will be different, in part because there's a more significant candidate looming behind Manning in the No. 6 overall pick, Jones. Opinions are split on the Duke quarterback, but the vast majority of Giants fans want to see him suit up and start getting NFL reps. There was no such groundswell for 2017 third-round pick Davis Webb, who never ended up playing for the organization.

Barnwell and friends discuss sports -- usually. • Podcast: Josh Weinfuss and Courtney Cronin » • More: Brady Henderson and Mike Clay » • Archive: Every podcast from Barnwell »

If ownership remains concerned about letting Manning save face on the way out, it should establish a transition plan before the season even begins. Make it public that this will be Manning's last season in a Giants uniform, given that he is in the final year of his deal. (This would go against GM Dave Gettleman's suggestions that the Giants could sit Jones for three years, but it's hardly as if Gettleman's news conferences should be treated as gospel after the OBJ trade.) Admit that the team will turn to Jones if the Giants fall out of playoff contention. Induct Manning into the team's ring of honor for the home finale against the Eagles in Week 17.

In short, get ahead of the Manning transition instead of springing it with a moment's notice or daring the fans to chant for Eli's head every time he throws an interception during September. The Giants screwed things up last time, but this is their chance to get it right.

Add an edge rusher. The Giants were already thin on the edge before trading Olivier Vernon; though they took a flier on Markus Golden and spent a third-round pick on Oshane Ximines, defensive coordinator James Bettcher could still use at least one more meaningful contributor to rotate in at outside linebacker. Nick Perry is still available as a free agent, and though the Packers grew frustrated with their former first-round pick, he is only two seasons removed from an 11-sack campaign.

Talk to the Steelers about Artie Burns. The Eagles, in their own way, hold a unique position of power over their in-state rivals. Philadelphia signed Steelers linebacker L.J. Fort to a three-year, $5.5 million deal with $1.9 million guaranteed this offseason, presumably to serve as a backup linebacker and special-teamer. In doing so, the Eagles impacted the Steelers' compensatory pick formula. The Eagles would stand to gain a fourth-round pick by cutting Fort, who is canceling out the loss of Jordan Hicks to the Cardinals. The Eagles were eventually able to sign Zach Brown to help replace Hicks, squeezing their roster spots further at linebacker.

Fort holds an even more interesting spot in the compensatory universe for his old team. As expected, the Steelers netted a third-round compensatory pick for Le'Veon Bell when their star back signed with the Jets. In a rare foray into unrestricted free agency, though, Pittsburgh signed Chiefs cornerback Steven Nelson and Jags wideout Donte Moncrief to deals. At the moment, the Steelers are still in line to net that third-rounder for Bell, but if the Eagles cut Fort, Pittsburgh would lose a third-rounder and the only compensation it has to show for Bell.

The Eagles making a trade for former Steelers first-round pick Artie Burns could make sense for both sides. Roy K. Miller/Icon Sportswire

The Steelers could then cut Moncrief to keep Bell's pick alive, but they paid the 25-year-old $3.5 million in guarantees as part of a two-year, $9 million pact, nearly twice as much as Fort's guarantee. They are really hoping that Fort does well in his new home. The Eagles could cut Andrew Sendejo to free up that fourth-round pick, but Howie Roseman is one of the most creative general managers in the league. He also loves trades and taking shots on cheap cornerbacks with upside.

The Steelers have one of those in the former first-round pick Burns, who took a massive downturn in his third season and was benched for the second half of 2018. Pittsburgh declined Burns' fifth-year option and replaced him with Nelson, so he's not long for the roster. The Eagles, on the other hand, might very well want to take a flier on a player who looked like a starting-caliber cornerback in 2017. Could the Eagles and Steelers work out a deal whereby Burns heads to Philadelphia for a sixth-round pick and the Eagles (make a gentleman's) promise to keep Fort on their roster all year, therefore locking in the Bell compensatory pick?

Lock up Brandon Scherff. The only concern Washington could have with its 2015 first-round pick is health; Scherff has missed 10 games over the past two years, eight of which came as a result of a torn pectoral last season. The injury shouldn't give the team any pause in re-signing the star guard, who made the Pro Bowl in 2016 and 2017.

The former fourth overall pick is set to play out his fifth-year option at $12.5 million, and Washington should have been more aggressive about re-signing him in January to create cap space, but that's in the past now. There's no reason to wait any longer to lock up the Iowa product. It's going to cost Washington a lot of money, but putting it off will just make Scherff even more expensive to retain.

The number to watch here is $15 million per season. No guard has ever hit that average annual salary on an extension, with Zack Martin atop the market at a $14 million average figure on his deal with the Cowboys. Scherff has a large cap hold, two Pro Bowls in his back pocket, and the ability to attract possible interest as a tackle candidate in free agency, which would drive his market value up even further. A five-year, $75 million extension is likely where this ends, and that would make sense for both parties.

Could Washington move on from longtime backup Colt McCoy this offseason? Mark Tenally/AP Photo

Move on from a quarterback, but not yet. I can't recall a season in which a team carried four quarterbacks on meaningful salaries throughout an entire campaign, and even given that Alex Smith is extremely unlikely to play in 2019, I wouldn't count on Washington to be the first. The team is locked into Dwayne Haskins and Smith, which would leave coach Jay Gruden to pick between Colt McCoy and Case Keenum, both of whom are free agents after the season.

Barring some stunning injury, there aren't any starting quarterback spots left open. A handful of teams could consider upgrading their backup, including the Jaguars, Cowboys, Eagles, Packers, Vikings and Seahawks. Washington's job is to stir enough fear into one of those front offices to get a fifth-round pick and save a minimum of $3 million.

Explore the wide receiver market. Gruden doesn't have much to show for his investments at wideout. The organization just turned down the fifth-year option for Josh Doctson, who hasn't posted a 100-yard game as a pro. Paul Richardson, who signed a five-year, $40 million deal last offseason, has a history of injuries and played just seven games last season.

Richardson will start on one side, but Washington is otherwise looking at rotating between Doctson, third-round pick Terry McLaurin, and the likes of Brian Quick and sixth-rounder Kelvin Harmon on the other. It didn't find a replacement for departed slot wideout Jamison Crowder, and though Trey Quinn should get first crack at that role, Washington should be monitoring the market to try to add help over the summer. Jermaine Kearse could make sense.

NFC North

Find a kicker. The Bears are generally set with the majority of their roster. Their one obvious point of weakness, of course, is at kicker. Cody Parkey is gone, and though Bears fans saw Robbie Gould's trade request and started to pull mothballs out of their old jerseys, it doesn't appear that the 49ers are going to acquiesce and deal Gould back to the Midwest. It's also fair to note that Gould's two excellent seasons in San Francisco have seen the 36-year-old convert 96 percent of his field goals, but Gould was down at 82.3 percent over his final two seasons in Chicago.

I don't think the Bears should trade serious draft capital to the 49ers to acquire their former kicker, but Gould would be better than the kickers the Bears have on the roster, a list that includes the likes of Chris Blewitt, Elliott Fry and Eddy Pineiro. A more realistic option would be going after former Falcons kicker Matt Bryant, who -- admittedly while playing his home games indoors -- hit 95.2 percent of his field goals last season and has been at 88.2 percent over the past decade with the Falcons.

Add defensive line depth. The Lions essentially swapped out Ezekiel Ansah for Trey Flowers this offseason, and though that's an upgrade, the Lions could still use more to work with their core of Flowers and Damon Harrison. Someone to rotate on the inside and serve as a pass-rusher would make sense. The highest-profile option left on the market would represent a homecoming in Ndamukong Suh, but it's unclear whether Detroit would be interested in a reunion after Suh left in free agency for the Dolphins years ago. More feasible options are Muhammad Wilkerson and Corey Liuget.

Resolve Mike Daniels' future. As the Packers transition away from the Clay Matthews era on defense, they're about to hit a crossroads with another defensive stalwart. Daniels has arguably been the Packers' best defender when healthy over the past few seasons, but the 2017 Pro Bowler just turned 30 and is entering the final year of his deal.

The Packers also appeared to signal a different direction with their moves this offseason. General manager Brian Gutekunst targeted height and arm length with his defensive line additions this spring. The Packers signed 6-foot-4 Za'Darius Smith and 6-foot-5 Preston Smith to play on the edge, and then supplemented those selections by drafting 6-foot-5 Rashan Gary in the first round. Gutekunst also drafted 6-foot-3 Kingsley Keke to play on the interior, where he would be backing up the likes of 6-foot-3 star Kenny Clark and 6-foot-5 Dean Lowry.

Daniels, who could figure as a defensive end or a tackle depending on the situation, is an even 6-foot. The Packers also structured their offseason deals to hand significant raises to the two Smiths and fellow free-agent additions Adrian Amos and Billy Turner in 2020; the four signings will combine for a cap hit of $23.4 million this year, but that figure rises to $47.8 million next season. Green Bay has players such as Bryan Bulaga and Mason Crosby coming off the books in 2020, but the significant investments at defensive line suggest that it might not intend to keep Daniels after this season.

Mike Daniels has 29 career sacks since being picked by the Packers in the fourth round of the 2012 draft. Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel via USA TODAY Sports

If that's the case, should the Packers think about trading Daniels? There's no guarantee they will get a compensatory pick for Daniels next offseason given Gutekunst's interest in free agency, and they could still bring back Muhammad Wilkerson as a rotational piece after his 2018 season with the team was cut short by an ankle injury. A trade also would allow the Packers to save $7.6 million in cash and roll over $8.3 million onto their 2020 cap.

On the other hand, if the Packers just want to load up on defensive line depth and emulate the Eagles, they should work on re-signing Daniels now.

Add a veteran wide receiver. One position the Packers failed to address altogether this offseason was wideout, where they'll return Davante Adams and his trio of spectacularly named sidekicks in Geronimo Allison, Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Equanimeous St. Brown. The latter two are entering only their second season and still have plenty of time to develop, of course, but it seems like the Packers could do more to give Aaron Rodgers options. This is the same guy who turned James Jones into a valuable wideout out of thin air in 2015, at least in name.

It surprised me that the Packers didn't take a shot at one of the veterans whose markets didn't materialize, and I still wonder if they might look toward one of the few remaining receivers left in Pierre Garcon. The former Colts draftee was cut after two seasons in San Francisco, where he missed 16 of 32 games with injuries, but the 32-year-old was reasonably productive over an eight-game stretch with C.J. Beathard or Brian Hoyer as his quarterback in 2017. Garcon also has played under Kyle Shanahan, who has a long-standing relationship with new Packers coach Matt LaFleur, so the playbook shouldn't be an issue. Green Bay shouldn't give up on their young wideouts, but mixing in Garcon early in the year and seeing if there's anything left in the tank would make a lot of sense.

Replace Laquon Treadwell. The fifth-year option pickups for players such as Jared Goff and Carson Wentz were about as certain as any NFL decision worthy of a press release. On the other end of the spectrum, the Vikings' decision to decline Treadwell's fifth-year option after three disappointing seasons was similarly obvious. The former Ole Miss star is hardly a lock to make the 53-man roster in Minnesota.

The Vikings, of course, don't need a starting wideout. They have the best one-two punch in football with Stefon Diggs and Adam Thielen, each of whom are locked in for the long term. After those two, well, things get scary. There's Chad Beebe, who could take some slot targets in 2019. The Vikings used seventh-round picks on Dillon Mitchell and Olabisi Johnson, but there's nothing more than hope in the cupboard. It's also worth noting that Diggs hasn't completed a single 16-game season as a pro, even if you figure that the Vikings will use more 12 personnel after drafting Irv Smith Jr. in the second round.

Minnesota could very well look toward Pierre Garcon or someone like Michael Crabtree in free agency. Trade candidates also could make sense. Bennie Fowler is buried on the Giants' depth chart and played under Vikings offensive adviser Gary Kubiak in Denver, although Fowler might not be much of an upgrade over Treadwell. A post-hype option like Keelan Cole, who impressed in his rookie season before struggling and losing his starting job with the Jaguars last season, also could make sense for a sixth- or seventh-round pick.

NFC South

Work out an extension with Grady Jarrett. The Falcons didn't add anyone more significant than Adrian Clayborn to their disappointing defensive line this offseason, so they're clearly counting on holdovers such as Vic Beasley Jr. and Jarrett to play up to their potential in 2019.

Beasley, entering the final year of his deal, is the definition of a wait-and-see contract candidate, but the Falcons clearly see Jarrett as a cornerstone of their defense. They franchised him this offseason, giving the 26-year-old a raise from $1.9 million to $15.2 million for 2019. Jarrett signed his tender in April, but the Falcons have until July 15 to work on an extension with their defensive tackle.

The Falcons gave the franchise tag to Grady Jarrett, but the two sides could reach a long-term agreement by July 15. Dale Zanine/USA Today Sports

Jarrett doesn't have the sort of pass-rushing production we've seen from interior disruptors like Aaron Donald, so he can't expect to get that sort of deal. The closest comparison might be someone like Kawann Short, who signed a five-year, $80 million deal after being franchised by the Panthers in 2017. The cap has risen by 12.7 percent since then, so Jarrett might very well ask for five years and a hair over $90 million for his own deal.

Lock up Deion Jones. The Falcons haven't fielded a great defense by advanced metrics over any of the past three regular seasons, but when they have looked good, it's been with Jones on the field. He was a regular in 2016 and 2017 before missing most of 2018 with a foot injury, and the Falcons felt the difference. Over the past three years, they've been competent with Jones on the field and a sieve without him:

StatWith JonesWithout JonesPasser Rating88.0109.2Total QBR57.874.2Yds/Carry4.44.8Run First Down%25.0%28.1%

Re-signing Jones is a must, but the team can't love what happened at middle/inside linebacker this offseason. The top of the market for off-ball linebackers had been at an average annual salary of $12.5 million, but three different players topped that mark. Anthony Barr and Kwon Alexander came in at $13.5 million per year, although Alexander's deal is really a one-year, $14.3 million pact. The Jets then blew up the market by giving C.J. Mosley a five-year, $85 million deal, good for $17 million per season.

Jones might very well ask for a Mosley-sized deal, but it's hard to believe Jones would get that sort of contract in free agency. He just doesn't have Mosley's résumé. More plausibly, Jones could end up somewhere around the old top of the market with a four-year, $54 million deal.

Re-sign Julio Jones. I covered the particulars of a Julio extension in February, and the top of the wideout market hasn't changed. Jones is still likely to come away with a five-year deal between $95 million and $100 million.

Lock up James Bradberry. As the cornerback former general manager Dave Gettleman drafted to replace Josh Norman, Bradberry has been pushed into the starting lineup since Week 1 of his rookie year. The returns have generally been good. The 25-year-old Bradberry has played like an above-average cornerback for three years running, although the entire defense collapsed during a disastrous second half last season.

The only thing missing from Bradberry's game has been takeaways. He has forced two fumbles and picked off five passes in 45 games, which is part of why Panthers fans took to Donte Jackson when the rookie picked off four passes in the first half of 2018. Interceptions are a poor way to judge defensive backs and less sticky from year to year than just about any other individual statistic. Bradberry could play just as well in 2019 as he has in previous years and piece together a five-interception campaign on sheer randomness.

In an NFC South in which the Panthers could face Julio Jones, Michael Thomas and Mike Evans six times if everyone stays healthy, good cornerback play is critical. Even if Jackson continues to develop, the Panthers need to keep Bradberry. He won't be able to command the $15 million annual average Xavien Howard got in a relatively team-friendly deal from the Dolphins, but Bradberry's new contract should come in between $12 million and $13 million per campaign.

Sign a rotation defensive end. I have to admit: It was difficult to find something for the Saints to do in this exercise. They don't have any obvious holes in the starting lineup, and they have depth at just about every key position. You really have to nitpick to find a place where the Saints might look to use the $8.3 million in cap space they have left for 2019.

The one place I'd like to see the Saints add a piece is on the edge. Cameron Jordan is a Defensive Player of the Year candidate at one spot. On the other side, the Saints have two first-round picks invested in Marcus Davenport, but the Texas-San Antonio product was slowed by a toe injury during his rookie season. Last year's starter at that position, Alex Okafor, left for the Chiefs, leaving Trey Hendrickson -- who has played just 17 games over his first two seasons and recorded two sacks -- as the primary backup at defensive end.

The Saints need more depth behind first-round pick Marcus Davenport. Derick E. Hingle/USA TODAY Sports

Defensive coordinator Dennis Allen could use another piece to fill in off the edge and take snaps as an interior pass-rusher, especially given that Sheldon Rankins is recovering from a torn Achilles and might not be ready for an every-down role in September. Finding someone who can do that at a high level who hasn't already taken an offer somewhere else will be difficult.

This would have been a perfect landing spot for Chris Long, but the Eagles defensive end retired on Saturday. As it is, the Saints likely will end up needing to monitor the training camp cuts to see if a useful veteran hits the market. If Gerald McCoy is willing to take a one-year deal in the $5 million range, that would work great.

Lock up Michael Thomas. The Saints might prefer to wait until after the season to re-sign their stud wide receiver, but the 26-year-old Thomas -- who has 33 more receptions through his first three seasons than any other player in NFL history -- is only going to get more expensive if the Saints wait. There's a good chance Thomas is the first $20 million-per-year wide receiver in NFL history if the organization waits for A.J. Green and Julio Jones to sign their deals and pushes the Thomas extension out until 2020.

Plan for a season without Jason Pierre-Paul. Regardless of whether JPP ends up getting neck surgery or not, it's clear that the former Giants star is going to be out for a long time while he recovers from a serious car accident. Coach Bruce Arians suggested that the best-case scenario for Pierre-Paul would involve a five-month recuperation period, which would bring him back during mid-October. Even if that were to happen, JPP would need to get into playing shape, which would mean a part-time role at best for several weeks.

An early glimpse at the 2020 class' talent: • McShay's way-too-early mock draft » • Kiper's Big Board: The top 25 prospects » • Meet the QBs » | Watch: The QB class » • Every Top 25 team's best prospect » • Tagovailoa early favorite to be No. 1 »

The Bucs can't count on getting anything close to the JPP who racked up 12.5 sacks and 20 knockdowns a year ago. They'll have to adapt. For one, it should encourage Tampa to bring back Gerald McCoy, who immediately returns to his prior spot as the Bucs' most imposing pass-rusher. I get that Tampa has Carl Nassib and saw the Browns castoff impress last season, but McCoy is simply a different caliber of player. Without McCoy, the Bucs would be rotating through guys such as Nassib, William Gholston, Noah Spence and fourth-round pick Anthony Harris on the edge. They need more. (Editor's note: The Bucs are releasing McCoy on Monday, according to ESPN sources.)

This would have been an ideal landing spot for Ziggy Ansah before the former Lions standout signed a deal with the Seahawks. As is, the Bucs are likely stuck going after someone like Nick Perry and hoping for the best. Arians and defensive coordinator Todd Bowles were able to coax successful late-career seasons from pass-rushers John Abraham and Dwight Freeney in Arizona, so it wouldn't be shocking if the Bucs generated a useful campaign from a veteran edge rusher.

NFC West

Add a backup for Kyler Murray. Though the Cardinals needed to trade away Josh Rosen after drafting Murray with the first overall pick, the deal left the Cardinals without a recognizable backup for their new signal-caller. Arizona's sub-Murray depth chart at quarterback includes Brett Hundley, Chad Kanoff and Drew Anderson. Not ideal. I doubt coach Kliff Kingsbury wants to suit up himself behind Murray, so let's hope the Cards find a solution. The most obvious move would be to acquire Case Keenum from Washington if the former Houston product doesn't make it ahead of Colt McCoy, given Keenum's comfort with the Air Raid offense.

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Louis Riddick breaks down how Patrick Peterson's suspension negatively affects both Peterson and the Cardinals this season.

Sign a replacement for Patrick Peterson. With their star cornerback down for the first six games of 2019 after being popped for a PED suspension, the Cardinals are going to be a mess in the defensive backfield. They've made additions this offseason by signing Robert Alford and drafting Byron Murphy in the second round, but Alford was torched in Atlanta last season, and even good cornerbacks tend to struggle as rookies.

The Cardinals shouldn't plan on moving on from Peterson; if anything, this should help drive down his upcoming contract extension. Adding a veteran to help shoulder the load while Peterson is out would be a good idea. There are still options left on the market, most notably former Jets starter Morris Claiborne. He would be an upgrade over veterans such as Tramaine Brock and David Amerson, who might otherwise be in line to play meaningful snaps in September and October.

Add a defensive lineman. The Rams will theoretically hand some of Ndamukong Suh's snaps to the likes of Tanzel Smart on the inside and Clay Matthews on the edge, but they could still justify adding one more defensive lineman to supplement one of the league's best units. That lineman could very well be Suh, who is still a free agent, but the Rams realistically might not have the cap flexibility to give Suh another one-year deal north of $10 million. They have only $6.6 million in space, and though they could restructure the deals of Aaron Donald or Brandin Cooks to create more room, general manager Les Snead also intends to lock up Marcus Peters with an extension this summer.

The Rams will need to shop for lower-cost options with some upside. Muhammad Wilkerson would make a lot of sense here. Snead is no stranger to a trade, of course, and shopping for a young player with untapped upside would also seem logical. Could the Rams hope Wade Phillips coaxes an impressive campaign out of a former first-rounder like Shaq Lawson or Robert Nkemdiche? Both likely will be on the trade market this summer.

Extend Peters. The former Chiefs star had an uneven first season in Los Angeles, but it's clear that the Rams see the ball hawk as a building block for their defense. Given the deals they've handed to players such as Cooks and Todd Gurley II in recent years, it's also clear that the Rams have no qualms about paying over the norm for one of those young stars. It wouldn't be shocking if Peters ended up challenging the likes of Trumaine Johnson and Josh Norman for the richest active cornerback deal. Xavien Howard topped Norman's five-year, $75 million contract with a five-year, $75.3 million pact, but the structure of the deal isn't generous. Peters could very well come away with a five-year, $80 million extension and be guaranteed to see most of that money.

Solve the running back logjam. The 49ers could call on as many as four viable halfbacks next season in Jerick McKinnon, Tevin Coleman, Matt Breida and Raheem Mostert. McKinnon signed a four-year, $30 million deal with the club last offseason, then tore an ACL and missed the entire campaign. The 49ers paid him $12.5 million for that one season, but he's under contract at a $3.7 million base for 2019.

Matt Breida, who averaged 5.3 yards per carry last season, could be a long shot to make the 49ers' roster. Joe Nicholson/USA TODAY Sports

Keeping four backs doesn't make a lot of sense, especially when you want at least one of them to regularly play special teams. Coleman is virtually guaranteed a roster spot and doesn't play special teams. McKinnon was only a regular special-teamer for the Vikings in 2015. Breida was a regular in 2017, but he moved off special teams as he took over the starting role and struggled with a high ankle sprain last season.

Mostert was productive in a limited role last season, and though he bounced around the league before ending up in San Francisco, the 49ers gave him a three-year, $8.7 million deal this offseason. He's going to figure in the lineup, likely as a special-teamer and occasional back off the bench. The 49ers guaranteed Mostert only $1 million, so they could still move on, but it seems likely that he and Coleman are on the 53-man roster.

Draft Academy documents the journey of six prospects: Nick Bosa, Marquise Brown, Drew Lock, Tyree Jackson, Jarrett Stidham and Josh Jacobs. Watch on ESPN+

That leaves Breida and McKinnon to compete. The 49ers could probably carry them both, but is it really an effective use of their roster spots and playing time? McKinnon offers more as a receiver and allows the 49ers to disguise their intentions pre-snap, which has been key for Shanahan, but Breida has been better between the tackles and might be a better contrast to Coleman. He has been more efficient than McKinnon on a carry-by-carry basis, although Breida's 5.3 yards-per-carry figure from a year ago is a bit inflated, given that he was 30th in success rate.

Would the 49ers rather pay $3.7 million for McKinnon or $645,000 for Breida? Given that the free-agent deal clearly suggests that the 49ers see McKinnon as a game-changing back, my guess is that they'll lean toward McKinnon. If that's the case, they should see whether anyone would be interested in trading for Breida, who will be a restricted free agent after the season.

Look into wideouts. The Seahawks released Doug Baldwin earlier this month, and though they drafted DK Metcalf in the second round and Gary Jennings Jr. in the fourth, the only guys on this depth chart guaranteed a roster spot are Metcalf and Tyler Lockett. The Seahawks could head to September with Lockett, Metcalf, Jennings, David Moore and Jaron Brown as their five wideouts, but it would be foolish to pretend that the Seahawks couldn't upgrade by giving at least one veteran a shot in camp.

The usual suspects figure here. Michael Crabtree and Pierre Garcon are still free. Rishard Matthews was a starting wide receiver in the NFL in 2017 before a bizarre 2018 campaign. Jermaine Kearse, who was involved in some of the biggest plays in franchise history, is also still available. A reunion with Kearse, at least for a training camp tryout, would seem to make sense.

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Lock up Bobby Wagner. I didn't agree with the arguments people made for moving on from Earl Thomas, but those same arguments don't apply to Wagner. The biggest worry about Thomas was injury, and Wagner has missed just two games over the past four seasons. He hasn't been the same sort of publicly disruptive force Thomas was in asking for a new deal. The Seahawks also don't have the same sort of cap constraints in 2020, given that they stand to have nearly $69 million in room.

If anybody stood to be furious about the C.J. Mosley deal besides the Ravens, though, it was the Seahawks. The Jets' paying an astronomical sum for Mosley means that the Seahawks will have to do the same for their star linebacker. One NFL team's projection for Mosley heading into free agency saw the Ravens standout coming away with a five-year deal between $70 million and $75 million with $35 million guaranteed at signing. Mosley instead signed a five-year, $85 million deal with $43 million guaranteed at signing and $51 million in practical guarantees.

Wagner could very well ask the Seahawks to top that deal. I don't think the Seahawks really have a choice after letting Thomas leave, either. Wagner could very well be looking at a four-year, $72 million extension to stay in his NFL home.

Source: https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/26781838/nfl-offseason-agendas-barnwell-do-lists-all-16-nfc-teams

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shapesweets83-blog · 6 years ago

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The Disastrous Consequences of DA Larry Krasner’s “Reforms”

Opinion

Gun-related violent crime is up in Philadelphia. That was entirely predictable when we elected a district attorney whose primary goal is releasing criminals rather than prosecuting them.

Philadelphia DA Larry Krasner. Photo by Matt Rourke/AP

It was an interesting social experiment: What happens in a major metropolitan city like Philadelphia when you elect a district attorney whose primary goal is releasing criminals rather than prosecuting them?

The results, however, were all too predictable.

Gun-related violent crime is rising in Philadelphia. The police force is demoralized. Victims of crimes, their families, and advocacy groups feel betrayed.

This should come as a surprise to absolutely no one.

When he was running for district attorney, Larry Krasner, supported by a PAC funded by George Soros, made his commitment to social reform and reducing the inmate population quite clear. He promised to fundamentally transform the city’s criminal justice system.

No one can accuse Krasner of not following through.

As the Inquirer reported on June 23rd, Krasner is funneling an increased number of gun cases to a court diversionary program called Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition (ARD). In 2018, Krasner’s first year as district attorney, 78 cases were sent to the ARD program, compared with 12 the previous year.

Why does this matter? Because criminals who carry guns usually intend to use them.

Maalik Jackson-Wallace, for example, was given a second chance by Krasner’s office. Jackson-Wallace, whose case was highlighted by the Inquirer, was initially arrested on a gun possession charge. The case was sent to ARD and Jackson-Wallace received probation. He was arrested a second time for gun possession and released on unsecured bail. On June 13th, he was arrested again and charged with murder; police say he shot and killed a 26-year-old man. (Jackson-Wallace’s attorney claims it was in self-defense.)

When Krasner was practicing law in Philadelphia – specializing in criminal defense and civil rights cases – he sued the police department some 75 times. He doesn’t believe in the death penalty, and he’s called law enforcement “systemically racist.”

Since taking office, he’s ordered his assistant district attorneys to request cash bail less often and include a cost analysis of incarceration when making sentencing recommendations.

Krasner talks a lot about “social justice” and “inequality.” But you won’t hear him mention victims very often. And why? Because Krasner views crime victims as an obstacle to his agenda.

Fortunately, Philadelphia does have a federal prosecutor who understands his job and believes in the rule of law.

U.S. Attorney Bill McSwain has made prosecuting gun crime a priority. From October through May, his office had already prosecuted more gun cases than it had in all of 2018, according to the Inquirer.

Krasner, on the other hand, clearly believes he’s on the right side of history. What he doesn’t realize is that he’s the outlier, pushing an agenda that satisfies special interests, not victims.

When criminal cases are lawfully tried and properly prosecuted, it isn’t the district attorney’s job to undo justice. In March, Krasner asked the court to vacate the death sentence of double murderer Robert Wharton. In 1984, Wharton and an accomplice murdered a West Philadelphia couple, and then before leaving the house turned off the heat so the couple’s six-month-old daughter would freeze to death. (She survived.)

U.S. District Judge Mitchell S. Goldberg, who called the murders “particularly horrific,” saw no reason to vacate the death sentence. In fact, Krasner did not plead or argue any legal reason for the request. “After so many years of advocating for a death sentence, the District Attorney’s Office has now come to believe Wharton’s sentence violates the Constitution. And this concession is made without a single explanation,” Goldberg said.

There is an explanation, though not one based on the law: Krasner is a zealot in the midst of a crusade to right what he sees as the wrongs of history and he believes he has a mandate to do it.

Of course, mistakes have been made in the past. The system is far from perfect, but there is a responsible way to go about reforming the criminal justice system.

The president and Congress came together in a bipartisan way last year to pass criminal justice legislation that represents the most sweeping attempt at reform in years.

“By passing the FIRST STEP Act, lawmakers are backing long-overdue fixes to some of the most broken parts of our justice system that for too long have been overly punitive and downright unfair,” said Inimai Chettiar, the director of NYU School of Law’s nonpartisan Brennan Center’s Justice program.

Among other things, the new law eases mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent federal inmates and helps them reenter society and lead productive lives.

This is sensible reform.

Cutting plea deals for violent criminals, sending more gun cases to the ARD program, and petitioning the court to vacate a death sentence for a convicted murderer are pursuits motivated not by law but by ideology.

Prosecutors who, like Krasner, choose not to follow the law undermine crime victims, embolden criminals, and put innocent people at risk.

But Krasner has no interest in being a prosecutor. That would be fine, if only the writing on his office door didn’t read “District Attorney.”

James D. Schultz is the chair of the Government and Regulatory practice at Philadelphia law firm Cozen O’Connor. He served as the general counsel to Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett from 2011 to 2014 and was senior associate counsel to the president in the Office of White House Counsel during the Trump administration. The views and opinions expressed in this op-ed are those of the author and do not reflect the policy or position of Cozen O’Connor.

Source: https://www.phillymag.com/news/2019/06/27/larry-krasner-reforms-philadelphia/

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Learn why being a better corporate neighbor demands authenticity and consistency

Dalila Wilson-Scott knows how big companies can make a major impact in the communities they serve.

The senior VP of community impact for Comcast Corporation and president of the Comcast NBCUniversal Foundation, Wilson-Scott will join a panel discussion during Philly Tech Week’s Introduced conference to help explain that giving back isn’t a nice-to-have — it’s essential.

“Every for-profit company has an obligation to use its resources strengthen the community,” she said.

Wilson-Scott said she’s excited to join the panel because it’s a chance to brainstorm the best ways companies — from startups to multinationals — can make a positive impact in their communities.

“The more opportunities all of us have to come together and think through what matters to the communities we serve and our unique approaches to giving back, the more great things happen,” she said.

In her talk, she plans to discuss how Comcast engages communities and determines which causes to support.

“We can’t do these things in a vacuum,” she said. “Listening to our employees, listening to outside partners, listening to the very people we’re trying to serve makes all the difference in how you do the work.”

She also plans to discuss the two most important words in social impact: authenticity and consistency.

“When it comes to social impact work, people are hurt or negatively impacted when any donor isn’t committed or authentic. We shouldn’t be toying around with issues like this,” she said. “It can’t be a marketing gimmick. It can’t be something you do for a year then quit. You have to be authentic and you have to be committed.”

“Being a Good Corporate Neighbor: Listening, Aligning and Giving Back“

Speakers: Dalila Wilson-Scott, Senior VP of Community Impact for Comcast Corporation and President of the Comcast NBCUniversal Foundation; Vignesh Ganapathy, Senior Government Relations Lead for Postmates; Michelle Histand, Director of Innovation for Independence Blue Cross; Alex Rappaport, Cofounder of Flocabulary

Thursday, May 9, at noon

Convene CityView

Source: https://technical.ly/philly/2019/05/03/dalila-wilson-scott-comcast-speaking-introduced-philly-tech-week-corporate-social-responsibility/

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Your Bed Is Much Dirtier Than A Chimpanzee’s, Study Finds

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PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — You’re going to want to change your sheets after reading this. A study by biologists at North Carolina State University says a chimpanzee’s bed is typically much cleaner than a humans.

And get this.

The study says humans are much more likely to spend the night rolling around in fecal and skin bacteria than chimpanzees.

On the other hand, chimpanzees, who make their own beds daily, tend to keep their sleeping areas very tidy and clean.

“We know that human homes are effectively their own ecosystems, and human beds often contain a subset of the taxa – or types – of organisms found in the home,” explains lead author Megan Thoemmes, a Ph.D. student at the university, in a statement. “For example, about 35 percent of bacteria in human beds stem from our own bodies, including fecal, oral and skin bacteria.”

59 Percent Of People Say They Will Exercise More In New Year, Research Finds

Researchers in Tanzania swabbed 41 chimpanzee beds to test for microbial biodiversity. The swabs revealed that chimpanzee beds had greater a diversity of microbes of than human beds.

However, human beds tested showed much higher concentrations of fecal, oral and skin bacteria.

“We found almost none of those microbes in the chimpanzee nests, which was a little surprising,” Thoemmes said.

Source: https://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2018/12/26/your-bed-is-much-dirtier-than-a-chimpanzees-study-finds/

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shapesweets83-blog · 6 years ago

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Horford to Help Launch First Jr. NBA Camp in Dominican Republic

The National Basketball Association (NBA) and five-time NBA All-Star Al Horford of the Philadelphia 76ers announced today the launch of the first Jr. NBA camp in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The three-day camp will host 108 local boys and girls (ages 14-16) from under-served communities across the Dominican Republic selected by Horford’s non-profit organization, La Tribu de Quisqueya.

The Jr. NBA camp will be held at the Carol Morgan School (CMS) – an international school which empowers students to become leaders of a multicultural, global society and will be supported by NBA partners Altice, Banco Popular, Gatorade and Spalding.

The camp format, led by the NBA and Horford, will feature on-court drills, competitions and scrimmages, along with life skills sessions run by NBA coaches, trainers and staff to instill core values consistent with Jr. NBA principles. Joining Horford at the camp will be 76ers player development coach Drew Jones, who joined the organization from the Oklahoma City Thunder this summer. He played collegiately at Penn State University and then professionally overseas in Ukraine, Greece and Slovakia.

“The first Jr. NBA camp in the Dominican Republic continues to build on our efforts and commitment to growing basketball throughout Latin America,” said NBA Sr. Vice President & Managing Director, Latin America Arnon de Mello. “Along with Al Horford and our partners we are very proud to bring this event to Santo Domingo and look forward to providing an exciting and fun environment for youth to learn and play the game.”

“It is a great honor for me to be able to team up with the Jr. NBA to help continue develop basketball talent in my native Dominican Republic,” said Horford. “I look forward to providing a fun, competitive and engaging three days for these youngsters.”

“We are honored to open our doors for the Jr. NBA camp in the Dominican Republic,” said CMS Head of School, Nicolaas Mostert. “We strongly believe in the benefit of sports and youth development.”

The Jr. NBA, the league’s global youth basketball program for boys and girls, teaches the fundamental skills as well as the core values of the game – teamwork, respect, determination and community – at the grassroots level in an effort to help grow and improve the youth basketball experience for players, coaches and parents. During the 2018-19 season, the NBA and its teams are reaching more than 51M youth in 75 countries through league play, in-school programming, clinics, skills challenges, and other outreach events.

For more information on the Jr. NBA, please visit http://jr.nba.com/.

Source: https://www.nba.com/sixers/news/horford-help-launch-first-jr-nba-camp-dominican-republic

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shapesweets83-blog · 6 years ago

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Philly's switch to burning half its recyclables gets some national coverage

The conscientious citizens of Philadelphia continue to put their pizza boxes, plastic bottles, yoghurt containers and other items into recycling bins.

But in the past three months, half of these recyclables have been loaded on to trucks, taken to a hulking incineration facility and burned, according to the city’s government.

It’s a situation being replicated across the US as cities struggle to adapt to a recent ban by China on the import of items intended for reuse.

The loss of this overseas dumping ground means that plastics, paper and glass set aside for recycling by Americans is being stuffed into domestic landfills or is simply burned in vast volumes. This new reality risks an increase of plumes of toxic pollution that threaten the largely black and Latino communities who live near heavy industry and dumping sites in the US.

About 200 tons of recycling material is sent to the huge Covanta incinerator in Chester City, Pennsylvania, just outside Philadelphia, every day since China’s import ban came into practice last year, the company says.

Zulene Mayfield stands in front of her old house in Chester, Pennsylvania. Mayfield moved to Delaware because she says she couldn’t live in her home anymore despite still owning it Photograph: Hannah Yoon/The Guardian

“People want to do the right thing by recycling but they have no idea where it goes and who it impacts,” said Zulene Mayfield, who was born and raised in Chester and now spearheads a community group against the incinerator, called Chester Residents Concerned for Quality Living.

“People in Chester feel hopeless – all they want is for their kids to get out, escape. Why should we be expendable? Why should this place have to be burdened by people’s trash and shit?”

Some experts worry that burning plastic recycling will create a new fog of dioxins that will worsen an already alarming health situation in Chester. Nearly four in 10 children in the city have asthma, while the rate of ovarian cancer is 64% higher than the rest of Pennsylvania and lung cancer rates are 24% higher, according to state health statistics.

The dilemma with what to do with items earmarked for recycling is playing out across the US. The country generates more than 250m tons of waste a year, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), with about a third of this recycled and composted.

Until recently, China had been taking about 40% of US paper, plastics and other recyclables but this trans-Pacific waste route has now ground to a halt. In July 2017, China told the World Trade Organization it no longer wanted to be the end point for yang laji, or foreign garbage, with the country keen to grapple with its own mountains of waste.

Cathy Morse stands on her porch at her home in Chester, Pennsylvania. Though she would like to move, she can’t because it’s her mother’s home and her mother is elderly and unable to leave. Photograph: Hannah Yoon/The Guardian

Since January 2018, China hasn’t accepted two dozen different recycling materials, such as plastic and mixed paper, unless they meet strict rules around contamination. The imported recycling has to be clean and unmixed – a standard too hard to meet for most American cities.

It is “virtually impossible to meet the stringent contamination standards established in China”, said a spokeswoman for the city of Philadelphia, who added that the cost of recycling has become a “major impact on the city’s budget”, at around $78 a ton. Half of the city’s recycling is now going to the Covanta plant, the spokeswoman said.

There isn’t much of a domestic market for US recyclables – materials such as steel or high-density plastics can be sold on but much of the rest holds little more value than rubbish – meaning that local authorities are hurling it into landfills or burning it in huge incinerators like the one in Chester, which already torches around 3,510 tons of trash, the weight equivalent of more than 17 blue whales, every day.

“This is a real moment of reckoning for the US because of a lot of these incinerators are aging, on their last legs, without the latest pollution controls,” said Claire Arkin, campaign associate at Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives. “You may think burning plastic means ‘poof, it’s gone’ but it puts some very nasty pollution into the air for communities that are already dealing with high rates of asthma and cancers.”

Trucks full of garbage used to drive down Thurlow street in Chester to get to the Covanta incinerator. Photograph: Hannah Yoon/The Guardian

Hugging the western bank of the Delaware River, which separates Pennsylvania and New Jersey, Chester City was once a humming industrial outpost, hosting Ford and General Motors plants. Since the war, however, Chester has been hollowed out, with an exodus of jobs ushering in an era where a third of people live in poverty.

The industry that remains emits a cocktail of soot and chemicals upon a population of 34,000 residents, 70% of them black. There’s a waste water treatment plant, a nearby Kimberly-Clark paper mill and a medical waste facility. And then there’s Covanta’s incinerator, one of the largest of its kind in the US.

Just a tiny fraction of the trash burned at the plant is from Chester – the rest is funneled in via truck and train from as far as New York City and North Carolina. The burning of trash releases a host of pollutants, such as nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxides and particulate matter, which are tiny fragments of debris that, once inhaled, cause an array of health problems.

Ashley Melecio, center, sits with her daughter Da’miaa Morales, left, and her son Da’ahmeer Melecio-Martinez at her home in Chester, Pennsylvania. She says she doesn’t let her kids play outside because of all the traffic and because of how bad it smells. Photograph: Hannah Yoon/The Guardian

It’s difficult to single out the exact cause of any cancer but a host of studies have identified possible links between air pollution and ovarian and breast cancers, which are unusually prevalent in Chester. A 1995 report by the EPA found that air pollution from local industry provides a “large component of the cancer and non-cancer risk to the citizens of Chester”.

“There are higher than normal rates of heart disease, stroke and asthma in Chester, which are all endpoints for poor air,” said Dr Marilyn Howarth, a public health expert at the University of Pennsylvania who has advised Chester activists for the past six years.

Howarth said residents now risk a worsened exposure to pollution due to increased truck traffic rumbling through their streets, bringing recycling to the plant. Once burned, plastics give off volatile organics, some of them carcinogenic.

“It is difficult to link any single case of cancer, heart disease or asthma directly to a particular source. However, the emissions from Covanta contain known carcinogens so they absolutely increase the risk of cancer to area residents.”

Zulene Mayfield stands on the street she used to live on in Chester, Pennsylvania. Behind her is the Covanta incinerator. Photograph: Hannah Yoon/The Guardian

Covanta say that pollution controls, such as scrubbers in smokestacks, will negate toxins emitted by recyclables. After passing through the emissions control system, the plant’s eventual output is comfortably below limits set by state and federal regulators, the company says, with emissions of dioxins far better than the expected standard.

The company also argues that incineration is a better option than simply heaping plastic and cardboard in landfills.

“In terms of greenhouse gases, it’s better sending recyclables to an energy recovery facility because of the methane that comes from a landfill,” said Paul Gilman, Covanta’s chief sustainability officer. “Fingers crossed Philadelphia can get their recycling program going again because these facilities aren’t designed for recyclables, they are designed for solid waste.”

A garbage truck drives through a residential neighborhood to get to the Covanta incinerator in Chester, Pennsylvania. Photograph: Hannah Yoon/The Guardian

Covanta and its critics agree that the whole recycling system in the US will need to be overhauled to avoid further environmental damage. Just 9% of plastic is recycled in the US, with campaigns to push up recycling rates obscuring broader concerns about the environmental impact of mass consumption, whether derived from recycled materials or not.

“The unfortunate thing in the United States is that when people recycle they think it’s taken care of, when it was largely taken care of by China,” said Gilman. “When that stopped, it became clear we just aren’t able to deal with it.”

Follow Guardian Cities on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to join the discussion, catch up on our best stories or sign up for our weekly newsletter

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/feb/21/philadelphia-covanta-incinerator-recyclables-china-ban-imports

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UCD/SEPTA Bus Operator training program seeking participants

February 20, 2019

University City District’s West Philadelphia Skills Initiative, the program that connects unemployed West Philly residents with local employers, is teaming up with SEPTA for Bus Operator training. The program includes no-cost Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) training and testing.

This is the Initiative’s first recruitment open to Philadelphians of all zip codes, not just West Philadelphia residents. Applicants must possess a high school diploma or GED and be currently unemployed and must have a valid driver’s license with a clean driving record for at least the last three years. Successful program graduates will have the opportunity to apply for Operator positions with SEPTA. The program also offers a performance-based stipend during the training.

Interested applicants can visit www.universitycity.org/jobs to apply. Paper applications are available at First District Plaza, Suite 206 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. Applications are accepted until March 15, 2019.

Since its inception eight years ago, the Skills Initiative has served over 900 individuals through its training programs, internships and workshops. For more information, visit: www.universitycity.org/wpsi.

Source: http://www.westphillylocal.com/2019/02/20/ucd-septa-bus-operator-training-program-seeking-participants/

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An Anon E. Moss message for Phillies manager Gabe Kapler | Bob Brookover

And everyone around here is willing to acknowledge that the Phillies' history does not compare to the New York Yankees', Boston Red Sox's, St. Louis Cardinals', or Los Angeles Dodgers'. But there have been some great moments, great players, and great baseball men who spent a good amount of time here, and many of them are still employed by the team.

Source: http://www2.philly.com/philly/sports/phillies/gabe-kapler-phillies-advice-suggestions-charlie-manuel-juan-samuel-20181005.html

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NFL Trade Rumors: Eagles exploring cornerback options

The Philadelphia Eagles are “exploring multiple options” at cornerback ahead of the NFL trade deadline, according to a report from NFL insider Jason La Canfora.

One of those options we’ve already seen mentioned is Patrick Peterson. It sounds like the Arizona Cardinals won’t be dealing him, though.

So, what else is out there for the Eagles?

Well, La Canfora specifically mentioned Janoris Jenkins and Gareon Conley as two players that teams are “sniffing around on.”

With the Giants clearly in fire sale mode, I don’t doubt that Jenkins is available. But I don’t think the 30-year-old corner makes sense for the Eagles. Jenkins would cost nearly $7 million in cap space for the rest of the 2018 season before carrying a $14.75 million figure in 2019.

Conley makes much more sense for the Eagles. The 2017 first-round pick is only 23 years old. He’s inexpensive and under contract through at least 2020, prior to his fifth-year option potentially being activated for 2021. Conley has fallen out of favor with the Raiders as he’s been benched for former Eagles corner Daryl Worley.

Conley might not be an instant difference-maker for the Eagles, but that’s OK. It doesn’t hurt for Philadelphia to think about the future of the position with Ronald Darby set to be a free agent and Jalen Mills not looking like a reliable long-term answer.

For what it’s worth, the Eagles reportedly “loved” Conley heading into the 2017 NFL Draft. They ultimately passed on him at No. 14 overall, though, to select Derek Barnett. It’s entirely possible the sexual assault allegations against Conley scared the Eagles off from selecting him.

It’s hard to say what Conley would cost. With the Raiders getting a 2019 first-round pick for Amari Cooper, they could very well have a high asking price. I wouldn’t give up more than a fourth-round pick, which is what 2016 first-round corner Eli Apple was traded for earlier this week.

La Canfora also recently mentioned that the Eagles reached out to the Broncos about defensive backs Chris Harris Jr. and Bradley Roby.

Acquiring Harris Jr. would cost around $4.8 million in cap space for the rest of this season. He’s then under contract at a reasonable $8.8 cap figure on the last year of his deal in 2019. The 29-year-old Harris is very versatile; he could immediately step in and play in the slot with Sidney Jones missing time. He could also handle playing on the outside.

Roby, 26, is on the last year of his rookie deal. He’d be more of a rental unless the team has plans to re-sign him after this season.

Though it’s clear the Eagles could use upgrades at corner, I kind of find it hard to believe will make significant changes at that position. Jim Schwartz has staunchly defended Mills despite the fact the third-year player is allowing the most yards in the league this season. I don’t see Darby, who’s had some good outings this season, getting benched either. Maybe the Eagles are really looking for slot help with Jones out, but they did show a lot of trust in Dexter McDougle against the Panthers.

Again, the feeling here is that the Eagles’ best play is to try to buy low on a potential long-term player like Conley. They shouldn’t get so caught up in focusing on short-term rentals in an effort to save what could be a lost season.

Source: https://www.bleedinggreennation.com/2018/10/24/18019286/nfl-trade-rumors-eagles-exploring-cornerback-options-gareon-conley-janoris-jenkins-raiders-news-2018

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5 Million People Represented in Circuit Resolutions

November 20, 2018

5 Million People Represented in Circuit Resolutions

On November 7th, Gloucester County became the seventh county in the Philadelphia region to adopt a resolution in support of building 500 miles of The Circuit by 2025.

Circuit signatory governments now represent over 5 million people in our region!

Next stops: Mercer and Burlington Counties!

1,802 total views, 36 views today

Posted by Leonard Bonarek at 3:12 pm

Topics: Biking the Suburbs, Connecting Greater Philadelphia Bicycle Network, Featured, The Circuit

2 comments on “5 Million People Represented in Circuit Resolutions”

Thomas • November 20, 2018 • Reply

Don’t forget asalem county! We don’t have a single trail free of cars.

Leonard Bonarek • November 21, 2018 • Reply

Unfortunately, we don’t represent Salem County, or those in the South Jersey Transportation Planning Organization (Salem, Cumberland, Cape May Counties). We recommend connecting with them, or the several bike clubs in your region: South Jersey Wheelmen, Jersey Shore Bike Club, etc. Best of luck!

Source: https://bicyclecoalition.org/5-million-people-represented-in-circuit-resolutions/

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shapesweets83-blog · 6 years ago

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Police Searching For Driver Wanted In North Philadelphia Hit-And-Run

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Police are searching for the driver wanted in a North Philadelphia hit-and-run. Officers rushed to 2nd and Somerset Streets early Sunday morning.

Investigators say the driver of a green Honda hit a man then left the scene.

A bicycle was located on the street but it is unclear if the victim was riding it at the time of the collision.

Source: https://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2019/07/07/police-searching-for-driver-wanted-in-north-philadelphia-hit-and-run/

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Best Architecture, Urban Design, & Public Art Of 2018

We’ve been saying this for a few years now, but 2018 really did feel like a year where significant changes–much of them highly-anticipated–came to Philly’s built environment.

Comcast Technology Center | Photo: Bradley Maule

A refashioned LOVE Park opened without skateboarders and a replacement National Products building with its faked but convincing historic facade began filling up with renters; some might say the original versions were better. The iconic Curtis and Bourse buildings emerged from renovations as upscale food destinations. In West Philadelphia, the development of uCitySquare, a joint project of Science Center, Cambridge Innovation Center, Wexford Science and Technology, BioLabs, and Ventas continued apace with the opening of its first mid-rise tower.

A significant extension to the Schuylkill River Trail from South to Christian street closed part of the gap between the existing boardwalk and Grays Ferry Crescent, while the Fairmount Water Works Trail and Boardwalk opened, affording views of the small island wetlands behind the Philadelphia Museum of Art. We like how at this point all of these Schuylkill projects have come to an understanding about the materials, finishes, and street furniture that they will be using going forward.

In fact, there’s much to like about all of the above developments but whether in scope or aesthetics, context or contributions, they weren’t the most transformative ones of 2018. What ties our winners together are linkages–past to present, city to nature, interior to exterior. For those, read on.

New Building: Skyscraper

The eastern view from the Comcast Technology Center | Photo: Nathaniel Popkin

Who needs Amazon when we have Comcast? With its second skyscraper, the 1,121-foot, $1.5 billion Comcast Technology Center, the media giant has risen to the occasion by using corporate architecture to positively impact downtown. Granted, Foster + Partners’ glass tower isn’t exactly groundbreaking, but its interiors are. An installation by the world-class contemporary artist Jenny Holzer and an extensive use of wood (from slatted sides and ceilings to distinctive woodblock flooring) integrate the building into the life of the city and elevate its performance as public space. An elegant and reasonably priced cafe offers a great addition to the lunch scene (as I witnessed one recent afternoon, CEO Brian Roberts thinks it’s good enough to entertain Steven Spielberg). The expansive glass opens up respectful vistas of, and a connection to, the two towers’ stalwart neighbor, the Arch Street Presbyterian Church, and the Robert Morris Building beyond.

New Building: Hidden Gem

Entrance to the Discovery Center overlooking the East Park Reservoir | Photo: Nathaniel Popkin

Discovery Center in East Fairmount Park has a grand exterior, perhaps more so than its relatively modest mission demands. Designed by Digsau for the offices and services of the local branches of Audubon and Outward Bound, its long flat planes emerge from the Fairmount Park landscape seemingly out of nowhere, promising an oasis amidst the sea of chickenwire fencing that surrounds a decommissioned reservoir/now native habitat. Serene and bold at the same time, it reminds me of some of the best of modern Japanese architecture, not only in its forms and materials but in its embrace of nature. Your first steps through the portal of a hand-forged steel gate (it looks like wood lattice) positioned in the middle of a 500-foot facade of shou sugi ban will pretty much take your breath away.

Public Space

Cherry Street Pier | Photo: Michael Bixler

Among the many civic achievements of Race Street Pier (2011) was the crystallization of the allure of its near neighbor to the south, Cherry Street Pier. The realization of that tease came this fall, with a little piece of tactical urbanism designed by Groundswell Design Group and Interface Studio Architects. Drawing on the lessons of GDG’s wildly successful Spruce St. Harbor Park–namely that people like beer, street food, and things to do along with their views–it’s a fun and dynamic environment that aims to delight. Someone please give the folks at Delaware River Waterfront Corporation (the force behind all three spaces) an award for recognizing that interventions don’t always have to take dozens of years and hundreds of millions to be transformative.

Adaptive Reuse

The Rail Park | Photo: Bradley Maule

The idea of the Rail Park was a big meh to me–until it opened. As was the case with Cherry Street Pier’s first weekend, though, the excitement and interest in the unveiling that morning (of course I went!) was tangible and encouraging. If they do nothing else, such projects foster a dialogue about how we use our urban spaces, and for that alone they deserve high praise. Sure, The Rail Park’s first phase is just a little spit of a thing and sure it can’t boast the views or (as of yet) the landscape vision of New York’s High Line. But Studio Bryan Haynes nailed it with a plan that’s firmly of its place and with enough design twists and turns (literally) to keep things interesting–and swinging (also literally).

Preservation

Sprouts Farmers Market | Photo: Michael Bixler

The debut of Philadelphia’s first Sprouts Farmers Market, the Arizona-based chain with a natural/organic bent, was particularly noteworthy because it’s filled a demonstrable market need on South Broad Street. Part of Lincoln Square, an otherwise ordinary development that offers 322 apartments and a retail coterie that includes a tired trio of Target, Starbucks and Pet Smart, its real significance is its success as a bold example of both historic preservation, of the 1876 Philadelphia, Wilmington & Baltimore Railroad depot, and adaptive reuse. Though the corporate strip mall treatment of the entrance to the market fails to acknowledge the urban setting, the historic architecture of the train shed, or the contemporary design of the multi-use apartment building, Sprouts gets shouts simply because of how it’s smartly wedged into the historic train shed. That and the free samples.

New Place

Looking east toward East Market, with the under restoration Stephen Girard and under construction Girard apartment hotel tower in the foreground | Photo: Nathaniel Popkin

East Market touts itself as “dynamic” and while that’s an overstatement, I kind of like it there. An expert mix of new construction, historic restoration, and adaptive reuse that keeps it from feeling bland, this refashioning of the downtrodden former Snellenburg Department Store site into a true mixed-use pedestrian street by BLT Architects is something we haven’t seen before. A new hotel and more local retail (Federal Donuts!) suggest things will only get better. Best of all, the development adds vibrancy to the urban fabric that surrounds it, allowing new vantage points to gaze on the Reading Terminal, PSFS Building, and the former Horn & Hardart at 11th and Ludlow Streets.

Restoration

The Met: White elephant no more | Photo: Nathaniel Popkin

It’s hard to believe that The Met was ever allowed to devolve into a ruin, but after years kept alive by the Holy Ghost Headquarters Church, developer Eric Blumenfeld’s 2013 plan for the Oscar Hammerstein opera house has come to fruition. The careful $56 million renovation by local firm AOS Architects is ruby velvet and gilded surfaces–and bars, lots of bars. It’s been modernized (of course) but with much of its astounding plaster ornamentation recreated, it looks like a concert hall should. Visitors say the sightlines are almost uniformly great, too. Take that, Academy of Music.

Transformation

The Hale Building | Photo: Peter Woodall

Day in, day out the miracle of the 1887 Keystone National Bank Building, designed by Willis Hale, has proven the most pleasurable for me, located as it is on a prominent corner that I pass a couple of times each week. When I first saw the spiffed up red brick and cleaned-up facade in full reveal of the “Hale Building” I do believe I let out an audible gasp. While I’m not in love with the new entrance on the Chestnut Street and I’m not expecting much from the interiors, I thank JKRP Architects for a careful revival of this masterful mashup and making my walks around town that much more pleasurable.

Design Vision

Rear view of the Ronald O. Perelman Center for Political Science and Economics | Photo: Nathaniel Popkin

Long under-utilized, the stately West Philadelphia Trust Building has renewed presence on Walnut Street thanks to a smart restoration and intervention from Toronto-based KPMB. Freshly engraved with the name of its tenant, the University of Pennsylania’s Ronald O. Perelman Center for Political Science and Economics, the 1925 Art Deco building has been seamlessly linked to a new glass-and-aluminum tower that echoes the older structure’s massing and window cutouts. Interiors, too, are elegant with clean lines and a dramatic staircase that suggests both the old and the new bones of the intertwined university building.

Placemaking

Trolley Car Station cafe adjacent to the SEPTA Subway-Surface tunnel | Photo: Nathaniel Popkin

With outdoor seating and beds of native plantings, Trolley Portal Gardens makes a there out of something whose assets–historic Woodlands Cemetery, a charming tunnel–belie its utilitarian functions (catching and disembarking from mass transit). The wood structure of the Trolley Car Station café echoes the form of the adjacent tunnel and bumps up the space from an amenity for transit users to a gift for the entire neighborhood.

Public Art

Deck the Hall light show, City Hall | Photo: Nathaniel Popkin

Robert Indiana’s LOVE was returned to a renovated Love Park, the Parkway Holocaust memorial expanded, and the better-in-concept-than-reality (thus far) sculpture Pulse finally debuted at Dilworth Plaza. From Winter Fountains, the luminous orbs that decorated the Parkway, to Sea Monsters HERE, an Insta-ready serpent that wreaked playful havoc at the Navy Yard, it was certainly a big year for public art. My favorite, though, came courtesy of a brilliant burst of color and movement from the geniuses over at Klip Collective: the City Hall Deck The Hall Light Show. Granted, this iteration differed only slightly from the version the group premiered last year. But because it so lovingly touted City Hall as a dazzling piece of architecture and because it comes from a homegrown operation that’s rapidly gaining a national reputation, I’m giving it the nod. Next year, guys, maybe switch it up?

About the author

Freelance journalist JoAnn Greco writes about the fascinating people, places, trends, and stories found in the worlds of urban planning, arts and culture, design, hospitality, travel and, of course, Philadelphia. Her work has been published in the Washington Post, Art & Antiques, Toronto Globe and Mail, Amtrak’s Arrive, PlanPhilly, Penn Gazette, and dozens of others. She lives in Bella Vista.

Source: https://hiddencityphila.org/2018/12/best-architecture-urban-design-public-art-of-2018/

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