HEADLINES

Month: November 2024

Ray Rice To Argue That TMZ Tape Was Edited

September 21st, 2014 at 11:50am CST by Rory Parks

Citing ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter, ESPN.com news services staff report that, in his appeal of the indefinite suspension imposed by the NFL, Ray Rice will argue that the TMZ videotape that precipitated the suspension was edited and does not accurately represent what transpired in the Atlantic City casino elevator.

According to the ESPN article, “Legal sources told Schefter that the TMZ tape of Rice hitting his then-fiancee was a cleaned-up, whittled down and condensed version of the events…” Robert Mueller, whom the NFL appointed to investigate the handling of the Rice incident, will have access to the “extended version” (i.e. the version not edited by TMZ).

Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk confirms that a demonstration of the unedited tape will play a major role in Rice’s strategy.

Ndamukong Suh Headed To Free Agency

September 21st, 2014 at 11:22am CST by Rory Parks

I wrote earlier today that the Buccaneers and Gerald McCoy were making progress towards an in-season extension, based on a report from Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports. In that same piece, La Canfora writes that Ndamukong Suh, who was taken one pick above McCoy in the 2010 draft, appears headed to the open market.

This does not come as much of a surprise. A great deal of ink has been devoted to Suh’s contract situation this offseason, and our Luke Adams wrote back in July that the Lions were tabling extension talks until after the 2014 campaign. According to La Canfora, that plan has not changed, as there have been no talks since before training camp began, and Suh’s demands at that time were quite steep.

Suh has performed well during the first several weeks of the regular season, and the Lions continue to publicly express optimism that they will be able to retain their star defensive lineman. However, as La Canfora observes, “If Suh plays well and stays healthy his price only goes up. And with so few young, dominant players ever hitting the market before their second contracts, Suh’s agents would have a strong sense of his market by the NFL Scouting Combine in February.”

Furthermore, the Lions, unlike the Buccaneers, have several enormous contracts on the books (Matthew Stafford and Calvin Johnson) and have been right near the salary cap ceiling in recent seasons. Since the franchise tag for Suh in 2015 would cost Detroit a cap hit of about $27MM, there is no way the team will go that route.

So it looks as if Suh will be playing his last games for the Lions this season. He signed with CAA Sports in March, and, as La Canfora points out, “the last time CAA had a top pick play out his rookie contract — former first-overall Mario Williams — he ended up leaving the Texans for a record-setting deal in Buffalo. One would expect Suh to be able to do the same.”

Ravens Could Bring Back Deonte Thompson

September 21st, 2014 at 10:23am CST by Rory Parks

Deonte Thompson, who was cut by the Ravens yesterday, could be brought back to the team next week, tweets Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun. Thompson had an impressive training camp and preseason and there were rumors that the Ravens, who are fairly deep at wide receiver, were looking to trade him to a team intrigued by Thompson’s upside and return skills.

Baltimore cut Thompson in order to promote RB Fitzgerald Toussaint from its practice squad, as Bernard Pierce is unlikely to play in today’s contest against the Browns. However, as long as Thompson clears waivers, it looks as if he will remain in a Ravens uniform for the time being.

Gerald McCoy, Bucs Move Closer To Extension

September 21st, 2014 at 10:08am CST by Rory Parks

The Buccaneers and star defensive lineman Gerald McCoy are making progress towards an extension, writes Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports. While McCoy will certainly demand a highly-lucrative contract, La Canfora points out that the Bucs rid themselves of expensive salaries during the offseason by parting ways with players like Donald Penn and Darrelle Revis, and even if they draft a signal-caller next May, they will not be committing a great deal of money to the quarterback position.

Furthermore, the team will have $30MM of available cap space next season, is projected to have about $58MM of room in 2016, and there are almost no players with hefty signing bonuses. As La Canfora writes, this means “their cap prorations on their best players are manageable and all are essentially on year-to-year deals and easily released without cash or cap ramifications.”

Joel Corry tweets that it would cost over $18MM for Tampa Bay to put the franchise tag on McCoy in 2015, so that is not exactly a tenable solution. Instead, all signs point to the Buccaneers striking a deal with the face of their franchise sometime during the season, which would be a bit of good news for a team desperately in need of some.

I detailed McCoy’s candidacy for an extension back in May, a post that details McCoy’s accomplishments to this point and projects what his next contract might look like.

Pats Notes: Amendola, White, Gaston

September 21st, 2014 at 9:20am CST by Rory Parks

After signing a lucrative five-year deal prior to the 2013 season, Danny Amendola has become the “invisible man” in the Patriots’ passing game, writes Ben Volin of the Boston Globe. Through two games in 2014, Amendola has two catches for 16 yards, and he was on the field for just 18 snaps against the Vikings last weekend. As Volin notes, “It’s a continuation from the end of last year, when he had one pass thrown his way in the AFC Championship game, which he dropped.”

Volin writes that there is a disconnect between quarterback Tom Brady and Amendola, and there is plenty of blame to go around. Some of it should be placed on the offensive line, whose shoddy pass-blocking has forced Brady to get rid of the ball on hot reads and bubble screens, and some should be placed on Brady himself (after all, Amendola has gotten himself open at least a few times and Brady has missed him). Nonetheless, there was some talk at the beginning of the offseason that New England would release Amendola, and if things do not improve soon, a release following the 2014 campaign could be inevitable.

Now for some other Patriots items:

  • Amendola is not the only New England wideout yet to establish himself in the team’s aerial attack this year. As Volin writes in the same piece cited above, newly-acquired Brandon LaFell is “frustrated as hell” that he has mostly been reduced to blocking, but Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald writes that more passes will come to LaFell, Aaron Dobson, and Kenbrell Thompkins when the Patriots “expand a game plan that called for a run-first offense and quick throws to offset protection concerns.”
  • Speaking of the run-first offense, Howe writes in the same article that rookie RB James White has been the team’s only healthy scratch for the first two weeks of the season, and despite his impressive training camp, White realizes that he will need to continue to excel in practice to get a shot on game days.
  • Mike Reiss of ESPNBoston.com tweets that the Patriots could look to bring back DL Bruce Gaston, who was waived by the Dolphins yesterday, and place him on the practice squad.
  • In a separate piece, Reiss writes that, since the Logan Mankins trade, Nate Solder has stepped up to fill the off-the-field leadership void. Reiss also wonders if the Buccaneers are regretting the trade, which appeared to be a big win for them at the time it happened but has drawn more scrutiny during the team’s early struggles.

Rob Bironas Passes Away In Car Crash

September 21st, 2014 at 8:09am CST by Rory Parks

Long-time Titans kicker Rob Bironas, 36, passed away in a single-vehicle crash in Nashville late Saturday evening, reports Jim Wyatt of the Tennessean. Wyatt writes that Bironas was traveling at a high rate of speed and ultimately lost control of his SUV, which “went off the road and hit several trees before ending up in a drainage culvert, upside down.” Area police said there was no evidence of alcohol at the scene and that Bironas appeared to be on his way home.

Bironas was a first-team All-Pro in 2007, converting 35 of 39 field goal attempts, including four out of five attempts from 50+ yards. For his career, Bironas converted 239 of 279 attempts, good for an 85.7% success rate.

In an attempt to continue his career, Bironas–along with a handful of other veteran kickers–tried out for the Lions several days ago, and our Luke Adams wrote two weeks ago that Bironas and David Akers were working out together to keep themselves fresh in case an opportunity should arise. Bironas was released by the Titans in March in a cost-cutting move–he carried a $3.88MM cap figure–that also had to do with his declining performance on kickoffs. He also worked out for the Buccaneers in August.

Our thoughts and condolences are with Bironas’ friends and family.

Matt Schaub Will Not Play Against Patriots

September 20th, 2014 at 10:38pm CST by Rob DiRe

10:38pm: Schaub left the team to be with his wife, who had an emergency C-section, says Ed Werder of ESPN.com (via Twitter).

2:57pm: Raiders’ backup quarterback Matt Schaub will not play this weekend against the Patriots as a healthy scratch, reports Vic Tafur of the San Francisco Chronicle (via Twitter). Tafur adds that Schaub made the trip to Boston, but had to take himself away from the team due to an emergency (via Twitter).

The Raiders thought they were getting a starting quarterback when they traded for Schaub this offseason. Rookie second-round pick Derek Carr outperformed his veteran counterpart in the preseason, and surprisingly won the starting job going into week one.

Schaub struggled with performance, but was also dealing with a sore elbow that kept him from playing to his accustomed level. The 11 year veteran had his worst season as a starter for the Texans in 2013, including a streak of four consecutive games in which he threw an interception that was returned for a touchdown, which is an NFL record.

If he continues going forward as neither the starting quarterback nor the backup, there are serious questions to his future with the team and in the league. Earlier this season he was adamant that he was not considering retirement, as he becomes further removed from the team that possibility seems all the more likely.

With $8MM guaranteed on his contract during this year and next, Schaub will almost definitely wait until he is cut from the team before considering retirement to ensure he gets his last NFL payday. He will be hardpressed to find another team willing to employ his services if he fails to turn it around in Oakland.

Former Penn State quarterback Matt McGloin is slated to back up Carr in Schaub’s absence.

Team Facebook/Twitter/RSS

September 20th, 2014 at 9:30pm CST by Luke Adams

We’ve detailed how you can follow Pro Football Rumors on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, or using an RSS reader to ensure that you receive all of our updates, 365 days a year. If you prefer to only receive news about your favorite NFL team, PFR has you covered. Below are links to our Facebook, Twitter, and RSS pages and feeds for all 32 teams.

AFC East

AFC North

AFC South

AFC West

NFC East

NFC North

NFC South

NFC West

Transactions only: Twitter / RSS

NFC North Links: Peterson, Packers, Lions

September 20th, 2014 at 7:58pm CST by Luke Adams

While the Vikings travel to New Orleans and the Bears prepare for a Monday night contest against the Jets, the Packers and Lions will square off in Detroit in what could be an important early-season battle between division rivals. At the moment, the NFC North is the league’s only division in which all four teams are 1-1, so the winner of that Green Bay/Detroit showdown will be guaranteed at least a tie for first place, and considering Minnesota and Chicago head into their respective games as underdogs, it’s possible that either the Packers or Lions could be sitting alone atop the division on Tuesday morning.

Here are a few Saturday notes from around the division:

  • With Adrian Peterson seemingly on the outs for the Vikings, Charley Walters of the St. Paul Pioneer Press wonders if the club will use a high draft pick to land a running back in 2015. Walters also adds that, in his view, “it still looks like” Peterson will end up playing for the Cowboys in 2015. A report last month indicated that the veteran running back expressed some interest in eventually heading home to Texas to play for the Cowboys, though of course that was before he was indicted and placed on Minnesota’s exempt list.
  • “Everyone with even minimal interest in the Packers understands [Ted] Thompson will live and die with his draft and develop philosophy,” writes Bob McGinn of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. In his piece, McGinn explores how the Green Bay general manager settled on that philosophy, and how it has worked out for the club.
  • In his latest mailbag, Kyle Meinke of MLive.com fields Lions-related questions, addressing why Corey Fuller continues to be active over Ryan Broyles, among other topics.

Chargers Place Melvin Ingram On IR-DTR

September 20th, 2014 at 6:03pm CST by Luke Adams

The Chargers have used the designated to return spot on their injured reserve, placing linebacker Melvin Ingram on the list, according to Michael Gehlken of the San Diego Union-Tribune (via Twitter). Ingram, who suffered a hip injury, will now miss at least the next six weeks of practices and eight weeks of games.

In Ingram’s absence, players like Jarret Johnson, rookie Jeremiah Attaochu, and perhaps Tourek Williams could be in line for expanded roles, though it won’t be easy for them to replicate Ingram’s production as a pass rusher. Like fellow starting outside linebacker Dwight Freeney, Ingram recorded a sack and 10 overall quarterback pressures during the season’s first two games, according to Pro Football Focus’ data (subscription required).

The Chargers haven’t made a corresponding move to fill Ingram’s spot on the roster, so for now, San Diego is the NFL’s only team carrying 52 players, by our count.

To keep tabs on how teams around the league have used their IR-DTR spot this season, be sure to check out our tracker.

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