HEADLINES

Month: November 2024

Jimmy Graham Contract Talks Moving Slowly

July 11th, 2014 at 12:37pm CST by Luke Adams

While all eyes in the sports world this week have been on a certain NBA free agent, one of the top 2014 NFL free agents technically remains on the market, and two important deadlines are looming for Jimmy Graham and the Saints. The two sides have until July 15 to work out a long-term agreement for the franchise player. If no multiyear contract is agreed upon by that point, Graham can only sign a one-year deal with New Orleans.

Additionally, Graham has a 10-day window to appeal the decision made by arbitrator Stephen Burbank, who ruled that he is a tight end rather than a wide receiver, meaning his one-year franchise tag is worth $7.035MM rather than $12.312MM. Burbank’s decision came down on July 2, which would suggest Graham and the NFLPA would have to file an appeal by tomorrow, prompting a three-person appeals board would review the case. However, a source tells Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk that Graham’s camp believes the deadline actually comes on Monday, since the Saints star received the ruling on July 3, and the league office is closed on Sunday.

We heard on Monday that contract talks between Graham and the Saints were expected to resume this week, and it seems that has indeed happened. However, according to Florio, those discussions have been moving slowly, and the two sides don’t appear on the verge of reaching a deal.

The pair of deadlines could provide an interesting predicament for both sides as Tuesday’s deadline approaches — if Graham’s camp files an appeal by Monday (or by tomorrow, depending on when that deadline actually arrives), a final decision on his positional designation likely won’t be made until after July 15. As such, if the two sides don’t come to an agreement by Tuesday, the Saints risk Burbank’s decision being overturned, meaning they’d be on the hook for a much larger franchise salary for Graham in 2014.

Complicating matters further is the fact that, since he received the non-exclusive franchise tag, Graham is still technically a free agent, albeit a restricted one. If another team is willing to give up two future first-round picks, it could sign the 27-year-old to an offer sheet and hope New Orleans decides not to match it, and recent reports have indicated a few teams haven’t ruled out this possibility.

At last word, according to Florio, the Saints’ offer to Graham was in the $9.5MM per year range, which would be enough to make him the highest-paid tight end in the league, but is nowhere near the $12MM annual figure he was initially seeking. We’ll have to wait to see whether the two sides find a common ground by Tuesday, and also whether Graham’s camp appeals last week’s franchise positional ruling, which would throw another wrench into the negotiations.

AFC Notes: Dalton, Glenn, Colts, London

July 11th, 2014 at 11:38am CST by Luke Adams

Shortly after star wideout A.J. Green said he doesn’t want to play with any other quarterback besides Andy Dalton, the Dalton support campaign continued, with Bengals offensive coordinator Hue Jackson praising his QB.

“We are tethered together,” Jackson told Michael Silver of NFL.com. “And I’ll jump off a building with this guy, because I believe in the things he’s trying to accomplish with his career, and I think I can help him.”

Dalton is entering the final year of his current contract, and has reportedly discussed an extension with the team, though it’s not clear whether the two sides will reach a long-term agreement in the near future. Here’s more from around the AFC:

  • Cordy Glenn was arguably the Bills‘ best offensive lineman a year ago, but he’s not extension-eligible until after the 2014 season, at which point locking him up figures to become a top priority for the team, says Mike Rodak of ESPN.com. Because Glenn wasn’t a first-round pick, Buffalo won’t hold a fifth-year option on his rookie deal.
  • Pointing to Andre Johnson‘s contract with the Texans as an example, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk suggests that simple contract restructures don’t always benefit the player, since they result in larger cap hits in later years of the deal, increasing the likelihood of the player’s release. While there’s some truth to that, I’d point out that restructures also increase the dead money on a contract in those future seasons, which somewhat offsets the increased cap hit — Before it was reworked, Johnson’s deal had a more manageable cap number for 2015, but it also had less dead money for ’15, so if he’s at risk to be cut next year, that risk probably would’ve existed either way.
  • In his latest mailbag, Kevin Bowen of Colts.com explores how free agent signee Hakeem Nicks will fit in Indianapolis, and discusses a few other Colts-related topics.
  • Maurice Jones-Drew, Charles Woodson, and Marcel Reece are among the Raiders looking forward to this year’s game in London, and both Jones-Drew and Matt Schaub went so far as to suggest that the European city deserves an NFL franchise, as Neil Reynolds details at BritViewNFL.com (hat tip to Pro Football Talk).

Waivers

July 11th, 2014 at 10:37am CST by Luke Adams

Over the last several months at Pro Football Rumors, we’ve published dozens of stories on players being cut, waived, or released by their NFL teams. While these terms are often used interchangeably, they’re not quite synonymous. A player who is “cut” has been removed from his team’s roster, but whether he is “waived” or “released” generally depends on his NFL experience.

Between the day after the Super Bowl and the following season’s trade deadline, players with less than four years of service time – or “accrued seasons” – have to pass through waivers after they’re cut by an NFL team. The other 31 clubs around the league have a day to place a waiver claim on that player, adding him to their roster and taking on his contract. That’s why we refer to these players as having been waived, rather than released.

If a player with more than four years of service time is cut between the Super Bowl and the trade deadline, he is not subjected to the waiver process, meaning he becomes a free agent immediately, able to sign with a new team right away if he so chooses.

This isn’t the case all year round, however. Once the trade deadline passes, any player who is cut by his team must pass through waivers, regardless of how many accrued seasons are on his résumé. So if a team cuts loose a 12-year veteran in Week 10 of the coming season, that player must pass through waivers unclaimed before he’d be free to sign with a team of his choice.

Here are a few more details on the waiver process:

  • If two teams place a waiver claim on the same player, he is awarded to the team with the higher priority. Waiver priority is determined by the previous season’s standings — this year, for example, the Texans have first dibs, while the Super Bowl champion Seahawks have 32nd priority.
  • The window to claim a player closes at the end of the NFL’s business day, which is at 3:00pm central. So if a player is waived by one team on Monday, the other 31 clubs have until Tuesday afternoon to submit a claim. Players cut on Friday clear waivers (or are awarded to a new team) on the following Monday.
  • Prior to the first cutdown date in training camp, injured players with fewer than four years of service time cannot be placed on injured reserve until they pass through waivers. Teams will cut this sort of player with a waived-injured designation, allowing other teams to place a claim if they so choose. If the player goes unclaimed, his team can place him on IR or agree to an injury settlement, then fully release him from the roster.

Note: This is a PFR Glossary entry. Our glossary posts will explain specific rules relating to free agency, trades, or other aspects of the NFL’s Collective Bargaining Agreement. Information from Russell Street Report and SBNation.com was used in the creation of this post.

Texans Don’t Plan To Trade Andre Johnson

July 11th, 2014 at 8:59am CST by Luke Adams

While it’s not clear if he has lodged a formal trade request with the Texans, Andre Johnson appears to be hoping for a deal before the regular season, as Ian Rapoport detailed in a story for NFL.com yesterday. Although Rapoport suggested there were four teams with interest in acquiring the star wideout, John McClain of the Houston Chronicle says the Texans don’t intend to move Johnson anytime soon.

According to McClain, the Texans would like to see Johnson eventually retire with the club, and the team doesn’t want to set a precedent for future situations where a player may be unhappy with his contract or his role. In McClain’s view, the standoff between the two sides can only end in two ways: Johnson will either report to the team in time for its Week 1 opener against the Redskins, or he’ll sit out the season. And McClain thinks the latter scenario is very unlikely, considering the receiver, who turns 33 today, would forfeit about $588K in salary per missed game.

While there has been speculation that Johnson is unhappy with the team’s quarterback situation and doesn’t want to go through another rebuilding year, McClain dismisses these notions, suggesting that the Texans – who don’t believe they’re in rebuild mode – have never had a star quarterback and Johnson has been just fine up until this point. That may be true, but the former third overall pick is clearly unhappy with the team for some reason, and I suspect it’s not just because of a dispute over his $1MM bonus.

Despite McClain’s confidence that Johnson will eventually report to the Texans, Rapoport suggests (via Twitter) that he’d be “surprised” if that happens, assuming the Texans don’t make any sort of concessions. With both sides apparently digging in as training camp nears, it’ll be interesting to see whether a compromise can be reached, or whether the issue will drag into August and perhaps even September.

Poll: Will Geno Smith Finish The Year As Jets Starting QB?

July 10th, 2014 at 9:58pm CST by Zachary Links

Nothing is set in stone, but Michael Vick sounds resigned to serving as Geno Smith‘s backup for the Jets this season. Many expected the former All-Pro quarterback to immediately come to East Rutherford, New Jersey and supplant Smith as the starter, but he has said nothing but complimentary things about the rising sophomore and claims that he’s just there to be the No. 2 QB on the depth chart.

“I think it can happen this year,” Vick said last month regarding the prospect of Smith leading the Jets to a Super Bowl win, according to Rich Cimini of ESPNNewYork.com. “I think Geno can take us to where we need to go. It’ll seal my legacy — for me, myself. For the public, I don’t know.”

Strangely enough, Vick might be one of Smith’s biggest supporters out there. In a recent poll of league executives, ESPN.com (Insider subscription required) found that Smith was voted as the NFL’s worst starting quarterback. Joe Namath also isn’t a fan of Smith’s, but then again, Broadway Joe seems to enjoy criticizing any Jets team that came after the 1976 season. Smith showed flashes of last season and helped lead the Jets to an 8-8 mark, but some questionable passing decisions left many observers wondering if he’s ready to be a starter and if he’ll ever be ready, period.

Odds are, Smith will be the starter in Week 1 against the Raiders, but who do you believe will wind up as the Jets starting QB for 2014 when all is said and done?

Extra Points: Lee, Jaguars, Bengals, Fitzgerald

July 10th, 2014 at 9:27pm CST by Zachary Links

NFL teams split an eye-popping $6 billion in revenue last season, writes ESPN.com’s Darrel Rovell, who figured out the total number by looking into the Packers’ financials. That money was divided equally among all 32 teams. The national revenue dollars the Packers and the rest of the league’s teams have received continue to climb over the years, with the total pie up 56 percent, factoring for inflation, since 2006. The most significant jump will happen next season, as new television deals with each of the league’s partners, along with the new CBS Thursday Night package, pushes the league’s media revenue from the networks alone to an average of more than $5 billion a season. More from around the NFL..

  • Jaguars second-round pick Marqise Lee is only four of 256 draft picks who are unsigned and Ryan O’Halloran of The Florida-Times Union wonders why. Lee’s contract is slotted at a total value of $5.174MM over four years, including a $2MM signing bonus. A veteran agent tells O’Halloran that if agent Andrew Kessler of Athletes First is holding out for an un-slotted deal is wasting his time. Kessler could be holding out for workout money, but that would only be a disparity of $2-3K and that shouldn’t hold up a deal.
  • More from O’Halloran, who writes that of the 17 undrafted rookies on the Jaguars‘ roster, there are two that stand out above the rest. Wide receiver Allen Hums has made a strong impression on coaches in the wake of injuries to others at the position. Tight end Marcel Jensen, meanwhile, has healed nicely from sports hernia surgery and is making a strong case to be on the roster.
  • Andy Dalton is still trying to figure out a new deal with the Bengals and star wide receiver A.J. Green doesn’t want to work with any other quarterback, writes Kevin Patra of NFL.com. “We came in together and that is the great thing for me and him,” Green said. “I know he’s my guy. I don’t want any other quarterback throwing me the ball. I think he feels the same way about me.”
  • The Patriots need a big target like Andre Johnson, writes CSNNE.com’s Jimmy Toscano. Danny Amendola, Julian Edelman, Brandon LaFell, Kenbrell Thompkins, and the rest can’t be counted on to stretch the field in 2014.
  • There was plenty of speculation, but Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald didn’t hear anything about the Patriots making a run for him at the trade deadline, writes Tom Pelissero of USA Today. “[I heard] nothing at all. I mean, I heard stuff that was being said. But there was never a time where the team approached me. Nothing like that,” said the wide receiver, who is friendly with quarterback Tom Brady.
  • The NFL will name former Vikings and Ravens center Matt Birk as its director of football development, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. Birk will work with players, coaches, and front office execs.

Latest On Andre Johnson

July 10th, 2014 at 7:41pm CST by Luke Adams

The quiet period in the NFL calendar got a little more interesting today, when Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reported that Andre Johnson wants the Texans to trade him, and that there are four teams with interest in making a deal for the wide receiver. Since that story broke, a number of writers have suggested, via Twitter or in columns of their own, that Houston won’t be inclined to move Johnson because a trade would result in nearly $12MM in dead money on the team’s cap.

While I agree that a trade is unlikely, pointing to the potential dead money on Houston’s cap as the primary reason the club would prefer to keep him seems a little off to me. Since it’s after June 1, only $4.64MM of that dead money would count against the team’s cap in 2014, with the remainder ($7.32MM) being applied to 2015’s cap. Those are significant numbers for a player no longer on the roster, but Johnson’s cap hits if he remains a Texan are much higher — $14MM+ this season and $16MM+ in 2015. Trading Johnson would actually open up cap room this year and next for the club. It would just mean that a larger percentage of cap space is being committed to a veteran no longer on the club.

Trading Johnson wouldn’t be the best way for the Texans to manage their cap. But if the team could get a decent asset, such as a future draft pick or two, without taking on a sizable contract in return, there’s no reason why the club shouldn’t explore the possibility, regardless of that dead money. I just don’t think the Texans will get an offer at this point in the NFL year that makes a deal worth their while. We’ll have to wait and see how the situation plays out.

Here’s the latest on the Johnson situation:

  • A source tells Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (on Twitter) that Johnson would restructure his contract to help a potential new team get under the salary cap but will not take a pay cut. Meanwhile, Rapoport (on Twitter) sees the Raiders as a possible landing spot if Johnson would greenlight a deal to Oakland since he shares an agent with GM Reggie McKenzie.
  • Ben Volin of the Boston Globe (via these Twitter links) throws cold water on the idea that the Patriots can land Johnson in a trade with the Texans. The Pats are currently $6.4MM under the cap, Johnson will earn a $10MM base, and trading Danny Amendola will add $2.25MM to the Pats’ cap. So, unless Johnson agrees to a heavily backloaded new contract, it’s not a likely pairing. The Pats can clear come space by cutting Dan Connolly and extending Devin McCourty and Stephen Gostkowski, but that’s a lot work to do before dealing for Johnson.
  • Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk hears a similar story to what Rapoport reported earlier today — after meeting with the Texans‘ new coaching staff and being reassured that the club wasn’t in full rebuild mode, Johnson had been willing to report to OTAs and minicamp this spring in order to receive his $1MM bonus. However, because the bonus hinged on the 32-year-old’s full participation in offseason activities, the Texans turned down that request. If there’s a rational explanation for why the team wasn’t willing to pay that $1MM to mend the fences and allow Johnson to save face, it “has yet to make its way into the eyes and ears of the media,” writes Florio.
  • In his full story on Johnson from this morning, Rapoport noted that the wideout feels he has earned a measure of goodwill from the Texans, since he has restructured his contract three times at the team’s behest. That’s part of the reason why he’s upset about the $1MM slight. Of course, as Brian McIntyre points out, none of those three restructures – which saw a total of $18.5MM in salary or roster bonuses converted into signing bonuses – involved pay cuts, so it’s not as if Johnson was making huge sacrifices (Twitter links).
  • Florio and NFL.com’s Marc Sessler both ran through a list of potential suitors for Johnson, should the Texans start to seriously explore trades. Predictably, there’s plenty of overlap, with the Browns, Ravens, Patriots, Panthers, and Chiefs showing up in both pieces. Florio also identifies the Falcons, Chargers, and Rams as possibilities, while Sessler names the Seahawks and Jets.

Offseason In Review: New York Jets

July 10th, 2014 at 6:24pm CST by Zachary Links

Notable signings:

Notable losses:

Draft picks:

  • Calvin Pryor, S, Louisville (1.18): Signed
  • Jace Amaro, TE, Texas Tech (2.49): Signed
  • Dexter McDougle, CB, Maryland (3.80): Signed
  • Jalen Saunders, WR, Oklahoma (4.104): Signed
  • Shaquelle Evans, WR, UCLA (4.115) Signed
  • Dakota Dozier, OT, Furman (4.137): Signed
  • Jeremiah George, LB, Iowa State (5.154): Signed
  • Brandon Dixon, CB, Northwest Missouri State (6.195): Signed
  • Quincy Enunwa, WR, Nebraska (6.209): Signed
  • IK Enemkpali, DE, Louisiana Tech (6.210): Signed
  • Tajh Boyd, QB, Clemson (6.213): Signed
  • Trevor Reilly, OLB, Utah (7.233): Signed

Other:

You can criticize the Jets for a lot of things. And I mean a lot of things. But you can’t call them risk averse. The Jets love nothing more than stealing the tabloid back pages from the Giants and they did just that this offseason with three high-profile singings.NFL: New York Jets-Minicamp

For all the hoopla surrounding Michael Vick this offseason, the veteran is telling anyone who will listen that he’s just there to hold the clipboard and give sage advice to sophomore Geno Smith. “Geno’s the starting quarterback for that football team,” Vick told Dom Cosentino of NJ.com at an event earlier this offseason. “Ultimately our goal is to try to help Geno become the best quarterback that he can be. Myself and [third-stringer Matt Simms] are all trying to put him in a position where he can get better from year one or year two.”

Of course, after watching Smith’s many, many hiccups last season, that might not be the case three weeks into the season. Some may have already forgotten, but before Nick Foles established himself as one of the better quarterbacks in the NFL, Vick was off to an insanely hot start in the early weeks of the 2013 campaign. At 34, Vick is no longer a spring chicken, but he still offers mobility and in the second act of his career he has become a much more judicious signal caller. Vick can climb to the top of the Meadowlands’ ugly shopping mall in development with a megaphone and announce that he’s only there to be No. 2 on the depth chart. No one will believe him. Smith will be under center against the Raiders for Week 1 but a couple of errant throws could vault Vick into the starting job rather quickly. Vick knows it too. After all, with so many QB vacancies this offseason, would Vick have signed a one-year deal with the Jets only to ride the pine?

Smith and/or Vick will have the pleasure of throwing to one of this offseason’s top free agent wide receivers. Eric Decker surely benefitted from getting to play alongside future Hall of Famer Peyton Manning, but he’s still a significant upgrade in the passing game for Gang Green. Decker hauled in 87 catches for a career-high 1,288 yards and found pay dirt 11 times. At 6’3″, Decker gives the Jets another tall passing target capable of huge plays, filling the void left by the over-the-hill Santonio Holmes.

The question is – do the Jets have enough firepower in their receiving corps outside of Decker? Georgia Tech product Stephen Hill looks like the favorite to come out as the No. 2 wide receiver with David Nelson, Jeremy Kerley, and fourth-round picks Shaquelle Evans and Jalen Saunders in support. The Jets were tied to other notable wide receivers in free agency – like James Jones – but Jacoby Ford wound up being the only other WR inked on the open market. They were also expected to use one of their top two picks on a wide receiver but they went defense with their first round choice and were unable to trade up for USC’s Marqise Lee in the second round. It’ll be up to Hill to take some of the pressure off of Decker in his first year in green. Texas Tech tight end Jace Amaro, hailed by many as an underrated gem in this year’s draft, will also be in the mix and fighting incumbent Jeff Cumberland for the starting spot.

The Jets’ third major signing came late in the game when they signed longtime Titans tailback Chris Johnson. It’s unclear what CJ?K can provide the Jets, but there’s no question that the two-year, $8MM deal with just $3MM guaranteed is a phenomenal value. The Jets got Johnson at a bargain basement price for two reasons. One, it was a depressed market for running backs with big names like Ben Tate ($3.1MM guaranteed), Knowshon Moreno ($3MM), Rashad Jennings ($2.5MM), and Maurice Jones-Drew ($1.2MM) getting a whole lot less than anyone would have predicted a year ago. However, that great value was mainly thanks to the fact that the Titans released Johnson late in the game after most teams already had their RB situations squared away.

The 28-year-old is recovering from a torn meniscus, and even though he reached 1,000 yards in 2013, those yards were hard to come by — he graded out as the league’s 42nd-best running back out of 55 qualified players last season, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required). It was widely expected that Johnson would have signed a one-year deal to try and re-establish his value, but the Jets got him on a two-year pact that includes a team option on year two. Johnson will be the feature back for the Jets with the powerful Bilal Powell and the crafty Chris Ivory there to mix things up. Gone from the roster is the troubled Mike Goodson, who will have to get his house in order before getting back to the gridiron.

Protecting the Jets suddenly star-studded backfield at right tackle will be former Seahawks lineman Breno Giacomini, brought in on a four-year, $18MM deal ($7MM guaranteed). It’s hard to find fault with Giacomini and his price and GM John Idzik is familiar with the journeyman from his time in Seattle. However, Giacomini will be stepping in for Austin Howard, whom the Jets have watched develop into a pretty solid tackle as of late. The Raiders inked the still up-and-coming Howard to a five-year, $30MM deal (50% of which is guaranteed) after the Jets were unable to reach a deal before he hit the open market. Howard is probably the better player for 2014 and beyond, but dollar-for-dollar Giacomini is probably the better bet. Of course, after years of watching the turnstile that was Wayne Hunter man the right tackle position for a number of seasons, Jets fans want to see a steady force hold down the position. The physically gifted but sometimes absent-minded Vlad Ducasse is also out of the picture after hooking on with the Vikings.

On the other side of the ball, the Jets bid farewell to veteran Antonio Cromartie and replaced him with free agent Dimitri Patterson. The journeyman is talented, but talent doesn’t mean much if you can’t stay healthy. Patterson has missed a boatload of time in recent years and some say that he’s more a slot assignment type of guy, not someone who should be charged with locking down the outside receivers. Patterson is pegged to be opposite of Dee Milliner with Kyle Wilson, third-round choice Dexter McDougle, and Ellis Lankster behind them on the depth chart. That could work out just fine, but this won’t resemble the secondary that featured Darrelle Revis just a couple of years ago.

With the Mark Sanchez era in the rear view mirror, it’s time for the Jets to erase the memories of the butt fumble and the futility of the last few years. If they don’t, coach Rex Ryan and GM John Idzik will be on the chopping block.

Spotrac and Over The Cap were used in the creation of this post. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

NFC North Notes: Thompson, Bears, Lions

July 10th, 2014 at 4:46pm CST by Luke Adams

Let’s check in on the latest from around the NFC North….

  • Packers general manager Ted Thompson remains under contract through the 2016 draft, but that doesn’t mean the club hasn’t started thinking about extending his deal. According to ESPN.com’s Rob Demovsky, Green Bay president Mark Murphy confirmed that he considers an extension for Thompson a priority for the team. “I think Ted’s been instrumental obviously in the run we’ve had,” Murphy said, adding that the GM hasn’t conveyed a desire to retire anytime soon.
  • Guard Matt Slauson is Jason Fitzgerald’s pick for the Bears‘ most team-friendly contract in his latest piece for Over The Cap. Fitzgerald had a harder time identifying the club’s worst contract, eventually deciding on Tim Jennings, who will be paid $7.5MM in the first year of his four-year deal.
  • Plenty of other March signings overshadowed the Lions‘ addition of fullback Jed Collins, but the former Saint may end up being a real difference-maker in Detroit this season, writes Carlos Monarrez of the Detroit Free Press.

East Notes: Redskins, Bills, Bryant, Jordan

July 10th, 2014 at 1:49pm CST by Luke Adams

Tanard Jackson wasn’t a lock to make the Redskins‘ roster before word of his second indefinite suspension broke, so his absence from training camp doesn’t figure to have a huge effect on the secondary. A source tells Mike Jones of the Washington Post (Twitter link) that the club is unlikely to bring in another safety to fill Jackson’s roster spot, and John Keim of ESPN.com (Twitter link) hears that as of this morning, Washington had not reached out to free agent safety Reed Doughty, who has spent his entire eight-year career with the team.

Here’s more out of the NFL’s two East divisions:

  • Jeffrey Gundlach, CEO of Los Angeles-based investment firm DoubleLine Capital, still has interest in making a bid for the Bills, reports Tim Graham of the Buffalo News. Gundlach has previously expressed interest in purchasing the franchise and keeping it in Western New York, and appears to have rebounded from a financial perspective after an “ugly courtroom divorce”
  • In a conversation with Nick Eatman of DallasCowboys.com (video link), star wideout Dez Bryant admitted it was hard for him to hear that the Cowboys cut Miles Austin this offseason. Bryant, entering the final year of his rookie deal, also downplayed his contract situation, suggesting he intends to focus on football. “When it’s time to talk about it, that’s when I’ll talk about it. I’m gonna let that stuff take care of itself,” Bryant said.
  • Todd Archer of ESPNDallas.com notes that the worst-case scenario for Bryant this year would involve those extension talks becoming a distraction and having an effect on his on-field performance.
  • Dolphins defensive end Dion Jordan has no plans to appeal his four-game suspension and will serve it at the start of the 2014 season, according to James Walker of ESPN.com (Twitter link). That’s no surprise, since the NFL typically doesn’t announce a suspension until it has already gone through the appeal process.
Load More Posts