Eight expiring rookie deals: Pay Jadeveon Clowney, Dee Ford Published: Nov 28, 2018 at 07:04 AM Gil Brandt Though the playoff chase is ramping up, it's never too soon to look toward the future. So I thought I'd examine a handful of players in the final year of their first NFL contract and decide whether their respective teams should pay up to keep them or let them walk. Below, you'll see four players on expiring rookie deals who should be retained -- and four who can be allowed to test the market. PAY UP , LB, Houston Texans: General manager Brian Gaine will have to weigh the positives against the negatives when considering a multi-year offer for Clowney. Speedy and unbelievably athletic, Clowney is a game-changing defender with rare physical gifts. His best talent is rushing the pa ser with his hand on the ground, but the former No. 1 overall pick (and two-time Pro Bowler) can also move outside and drop into coverage. He also has a lengthy injury history, including , most notably in December of 2014, with most of his rookie season . But with defensive load-bearer getting older, Clowney -- who is on pace for a Tony Bradley Jersey career-high 11 sacks -- figures as a natural star around whom to focus the unit going forward. At a minimum, I'd expect him to be franchise-tagged, though with QB still just two years into his rookie contract, there would be room to put something more lasting together with Clowney. , DE, Seattle Seahawks: The decided to take a second-round gamble on a player who wasn't even on some other teams' draft boards after a domestic violence arrest -- which on a reduced charge of disorderly conduct -- led to Clark's during his senior season. Since then, he's developed into one of the NFL's top pa s rushers. Emmanuel Mudiay Jersey After posting nine sacks in 2017, Clark has racked up 10 already through 11 games this year for Seattle's 16th-ranked defense. Clark has 29.0 sacks since 2016, the seventh-most in the NFL in that span; that's more than (28.5) and (28.5) and just 0.5 le s than . Clark has great bend when he comes around the edge and is very hard to block. He can be the centerpiece of the ' defense for years to come, and they should have the cap room to work something out with him, thanks in part to the recent veteran exodus in Seattle. , LB, Kansas City Chiefs: GM John Dorsey -- who drafted Ford in the first round of the 2014 draft back when he held the same position with the -- told me on Sirius XM Radio during my annual training-camp tour that he considered Ford to be the second-best pa s rusher in his cla s, which included Clowney, and . (Dorsey wouldn't tell me who he had at No. 1.) After showing flashes in his first four NFL seasons, Ford is proving Dorsey right this year -- he is on pace to finish with a career-high 13 sacks. Ford's injury history, which includes , scares you to death, but Andy Reid and the can't afford to let Ford get away, not with 's time as a game-changing edge threat winding down. Ford is the kind of player who can cover up some ugly spots on an otherwise bad defense. He's also helped make a more effective player. Ford is undoubtedly key for this defense. Ricky Rubio Jersey , TE, Pittsburgh Steelers: It would behoove the to use some of the money they might have spent on retaining to keep James, even if it means having to overpay a bit to prevent him from testing the market. James was ill-prepared for the NFL when he entered the league as a fifth-round pick in 2015 following his junior year at Penn State, and he didn't do much as a rookie, recording eight catches for 56 yards on 11 targets. Since then, he's developed into a huge deep threat, upping his yards-per-catch mark from 7.0 in 2015 to a beefy 14.6 in 2018. James' catch percentage also shot up from 68.3 in 2017 to 81.3 this season, while his yards-per-target figure (11.84) this season among players with 30-plus targets. He's a 6-foot-7 beast who can do everything you want a go-to tight end to do, and the should make him a part of their future plans. LET THEM WALK , MLB, Los Angeles Chargers: You've got to feel for Perryman, a second-round pick in 2015 who earlier this month with a knee injury. He's one of the top run-stuffing linebackers around, with a career average of 5.5 tackles per game in 42 career games. But he's never completed a 16-game season. Even if the can get Perryman back at the right price, they would probably be better served to find a more reliable option at inside linebacker, maybe someone who has better coverage skills, which is not Perryman's strength. Perryman is excellent against the run, but his difficulty in pa s defense makes him a le s attractive fit for today's game. , RB, Atlanta Falcons: This is le s about Coleman than it is about his fit with the . On another team, Coleman can be a perennial 1,000-yard runner, but Atlanta simply doesn't feature the running back like that. With fellow running back sidelined this year by a variety of injury i sues (he's currently on ), Coleman has been productive, ranking second on the team in yards from scrimmage (774). But the will presumably get Freeman -- who -- back next year, when they'll also have on the second year of his rookie deal. Thus, Coleman Grayson Allen Jersey is probably expendable in Atlanta. But he would be a good fit for a team that likes to run the ball; he seems like the kind of back who would do well with an organization like Tenne see. , LB, Minnesota Vikings: Yes, Barr has been a Pro Bowler for three consecutive seasons. But when sidelined Barr from Week 8 to Week 11, his absence was hardly noticeable, a reflection of just how far the former first-round pick has fallen from his status as a difference-making linebacker. He's recorded five-plus tackles in just three games thus far and is on pace to finish the season with 49, 22 below his per-year average coming into this season. His shortcomings in coverage were exposed in the . Barr was the nearest defender on five pa s plays, according to Next Gen Stats -- and L.A. scored touchdowns on three of those plays, including the ' first score of the game, when in the end zone. I wouldn't use the franchise tag on him, given the lofty going rate for linebackers. And based on Minnesota's inability to last offseason, it would appear he values his services more than the do. , WR, Carolina Panthers: Ostensibly Carolina's No. 1 receiver, Derrick Favors Jersey Funche s has been vastly outpaced by running back in targets (82 to 68), catches (71 to 41) and receiving yards (608 to 516). Meanwhile, rookie receiver DJ Moore and second-year man are poised to a sume a bigger role in the pa sing game going forward. Funche s' length helps him catch some balls, but he doesn't create great separation and he doesn't have No. 1-receiver speed. If Carolina can get him on a reasonable contract, I'd consider it, but I wouldn't franchise-tag him or sign him for No. 1-receiver money. This article has been reproduced in a new format and may be mi sing content or contain faulty links. Please use the Contact Us link in our site footer to report an i sue.
Click here Click here Click here