2014 September - Pro Football Rumors

Quinn, Rams Progressing Toward Extension

September 12th, 2014 at 9:39pm CST by Luke Adams

The Rams have made progress toward a contract extension that would lock up defensive end Robert Quinn for several years, according to Rand Getlin of Yahoo! Sports, who reports that talks have intensified as the two sides close in on an agreement. Per Getlin, there is optimism in Quinn’s camp that a new deal could be in place before Week 3.

Quinn, 24, is coming off the best season of his three-year career, having racked up 19 sacks, 57 tackles, and seven forced fumbles in 2013, en route to earning spots in the Pro Bowl and on the All-Pro first team. As Getlin notes, the defensive end’s camp is looking for a contract that would make him one of the league’s highest-paid defensive players, something in the range of $15MM per season on a four- to six-year extension. It’s not clear whether Quinn will match or exceed that $15MM-per-year figure, but that’s the target for his reps, a source tells Getlin (Twitter link).

Like J.J. Watt, who signed a long-term extension of his own before the season got underway, Quinn was a first-round pick in 2011, meaning he’s under contract through 2015 after his fifth-year option was exercised. As such, an extension in the neighborhood of $15MM annually wouldn’t begin until 2016, so there’s no urgency for the team to get something done immediately.

Still, while Quinn likely won’t quite match Watt’s impact on the defensive side of the ball, he’s one of the league’s top pass rushers, and Watt’s extension provides a guideline for what Quinn’s next contract could look like. Quinn may not receive as many years (six) or dollars per year ($16.67MM) as Watt, but he shouldn’t be far behind the Texans star.

Extra Points: Giants, Patriots, Hardy, Rice

September 12th, 2014 at 8:35pm CST by Zachary Links

Steve Weatherford was out punting during the portion of Giants practice that was open to the media on Friday, writes Brian Lewis of the New York Post. The veteran had suffered a high left ankle sprain during Big Blue’s 35-14 Monday Night season-opening loss in Detroit and said that he wanted to test things out on Friday. He’s still listed as questionable, but today’s session is probably a good sign.

Nonetheless, the Giants seem to be preparing a backup plan just in case Weatherford is unable to go on Sunday. Per Field Yates of ESPN.com (via Twitter), the team has worked out punters Zoltan Mesko, Brian Moorman, and Kasey Redfern.

The Patriots worked out defensive tackle Fred Evans this week, as well as a handful of offensive linemen, including Conor Boffeli, Caylin Hauptmann, and Martin Wallace, according to Yates (Twitter link).
Despite a rumor to the contrary, coach Ron Rivera says the Panthers plan to let the legal process play out with Greg Hardy and he will not be released before there’s a resolution in the courts, tweets Joseph Person of the Charlotte Observer.
Roger Goodell made a serious error in how he handled the Ray Rice case, but Panthers owner Jerry Richardson still has time to get it right when it comes to Hardy, writes Scott Fowler of the Charlotte Observer. For now the NFL and the Panthers are respecting the legal process, but they have the right to punish Hardy before things get underway in court, and Fowler thinks they should take advantage.
There’s a strong possibility that the NFLPA will file a grievance on behalf of Rice even without his approval, a source tells Jeff Zrebiec and Aaron Wilson of The Baltimore Sun.
With Josh Gordon‘s suspension set to be reduced to 10 games, it could “open a can of worms” with others who tested positive in 2013 fighting for a revised suspension, a league source tells Mary Kay Cabot of The Plain Dealer.

Luke Adams contributed to this post.

Adrian Peterson Indicted In Child Abuse Case

September 12th, 2014 at 5:46pm CST by Luke Adams

5:46pm: The Vikings have announced that Peterson will be deactivated for Sunday’s game against the Patriots.

5:35pm: Several new details and statements have emerged since the initial report on Peterson. Here are a few of them:

Montgomery County Sheriff Tommy Gage sent out a release confirming that a warrant has been issued for Peterson’s arrest, per the Houston Chronicle.
Nick Wright of Sports Radio 610 in Houston has published a report with many specific details on the incident being investigated, which involved Peterson striking his four-year-old son with a tree branch. According to Wright, Peterson “admitted that he administered two different “whoopings” to his son” during his visit to Texas.
WCCO in Minnesota also has photos from the police report of the four-year-old’s injuries, which Wright says were taken “at least a week” after the incident (Twitter link).
Rusty Hardin, Peterson’s attorney, issued a statement which says that his client “used the same kind of discipline with his child that he experienced as a child growing up in east Texas,” and that “Adrian never intended to harm his son and deeply regrets the unintentional injury.”

4:26pm: Vikings star Adrian Peterson has been indicted in Montgomery County for reckless or negligent injury to a child, reports Mark Berman of FOX 26 Houston. Per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter), the indictment stems from Peterson disciplining his son with a switch. The Montgomery County District Attorney’s office tells ESPN that Peterson has not been arrested, while Montgomery County sheriff investigators say that the running back has been cooperative with them.

According to Rapoport (via Twitter), the investigation into the incident involving Peterson has been ongoing for some time — the longtime Viking testified in front of a grand jury weeks ago, a source tells the NFL.com scribe. It’s the latest bad piece of news in what has been a devastating week for the league, on the heels of all that has transpired with the Ray Rice suspension and the NFL’s apparent botched investigation into that incident.

While due process has yet to play out in Peterson’s case, the Vikings and the league will be under the microscope as they decide how to handle this news. As Jay Glazer of FOX Sports tweets, because Peterson was indicted, he’ll have to turn himself in and his status for this weekend’s game against the Patriots is unclear. The club is currently deciding on what to do with Peterson for Week 2, Glazer adds in a second tweet.

Minor Moves: Friday

September 12th, 2014 at 5:26pm CST by Zachary Links

We’ll keep track of today’s minor moves here, with the latest transactions added to the top of the page throughout the day:

Confirming the signing of cornerback Jamell Fleming, the Chiefs announced that they’ve placed offensive lineman Jeff Allen on injured reserve in a corresponding roster move (Twitter link). It’s the latest blow to a line that already took several hits this year via free agency and a suspension.
The Colts have tweaked their practice squad, re-adding running back Zurlon Tipton, according to Adam Caplan of ESPN.com (via Twitter). Offensive tackle Reid Fragel will be the odd man out, per Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post (via Twitter).
Raiders head coach Dennis Allen confirmed earlier today that special teams ace Taiwan Jones is headed to the IR list (Twitter link via Fallon Smith of CSN Bay Area), and Bill Williamson of ESPN.com says (via Twitter) that it’ll mark the end of the season for Jones, who won’t be given the designation to return.

Earlier updates:

The Raiders are promoting Bojay Filimoeatu from practice squad to active roster, a source tells Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post (on Twitter). Oakland signed the linebacker to their practice squad in late August, one day after releasing him to get down to the 53-man roster. The 6-1, 258-pound linebacker suffered a torn patellar tendon after his senior season and went undrafted in 2013.

Bears Cut Kelvin Hayden, Two Others

September 12th, 2014 at 4:44pm CST by Luke Adams

The Bears are in the process of making some changes to their 53-man roster, and have cut three players to clear some openings. According to Adam Jahns of the Chicago Sun-Times (via Twitter), the club has released veteran defensive back Kelvin Hayden and fullback Tony Fiammetta, and waived quarterback David Fales.

After missing the 2013 season with a hamstring injury, Hayden was cut by the Bears prior to the season, but returned to the team when Marquess Wilson was placed on the IR list with the designation to return. However, he didn’t see action in Chicago’s Week 1 game against the Bills. In fact, all three players cut today by the Bears were inactive last weekend.

Because Fales isn’t a vested veteran, he’ll have to pass through waivers unclaimed to sign with another team or practice squad, whereas Hayden and Fiammetta immediately become free agents. I’d expect Chicago to fill the three openings created by today’s cuts by signing or promoting players at positions that were hit hard by injuries in Week 1, such as wide receiver and offensive line.

Josh Gordon To Be Suspended 10 Games

September 12th, 2014 at 3:56pm CST by Zachary Links

3:56pm: Once the player reps vote within the next hour, the names of those reinstated players will be made public, tweets Chris Mortensen of ESPN.com. That tally should be in the double digits, but is not expected to exceed 20.

3:28pm: Under the new policy, Gordon’s suspension will be 10 games, a source tells Mary Kay Cabot of The Plain Dealer (on Twitter). The new policy calls for a 10-game suspension for a fourth violation.

2:23pm: A source with knowledge of the situation gave Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk a detailed rundown of what the new policy will look like if it is approved by the NFLPA. The NFL and NFLPA will jointly select, approve, and pay for a pool of three-to-five independent arbitrators to deal with appeals. Also, testing for HGH will also get underway this year without a population study.

9:20am: When a new drug policy is approved as early as this afternoon, Josh Gordon‘s suspension is expected to be reduced to eight games, a source tells Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter). As expected, the new policy would also mean the reinstatement of Wes Welker, Orlando Scandrick, Dion Jordan, and others, as Ian Rapoport of NFL Network tweets.

If the new policy is finally approved today, it will bring weeks of back-and-forth negotiations and outside speculation to a close. According to a report frm Rapoport and Albert Breer last night, the new deal will have two-game suspensions for DUI convictions but won’t include the mandatory one-game suspension for a DUI arrest that the league was looking for. Additionally, the THC threshold is expected to move from 15 nanograms/milliliter to 35 ng/ml, which is still less than the standards of MLB (50 ng/ml) or the Olympics (150 ng/ml), but a significant change nonetheless. Had Gordon been tested with the new threshold in mind, he would have passed comfortably.

An eight game suspension for Gordon would be a split-down-the-middle compromise between the two sides as he was initially slated to miss the entire 2014 season. Welker, Scandrick, and Jordan all failed their tests inside of the 2014 league year while Gordon’s came before the official start on March 11th.

Matt Schaub Not Considering Retirement

September 12th, 2014 at 3:41pm CST by Zachary Links

Matt Schaub didn’t quite envision this when he greenlighted the trade that sent him from the Texans to the Raiders this offseason. Troubled by elbow tendinitis, the veteran QB had a rough preseason and six days before the season opener against the Jets, the team crowned rookie Derek Carr as the team’s starter. Still, despite the adversity Schaub has gone through, his age, and presumed financial security, he is not thinking about calling it quits.

“Definitely not,” Schaub told Dale Robertson of the Houston Chronicle when he was asked if he might be confronting the beginning of the end of his career. “I’ve got plenty of football left in me, plenty left to give.”

Schaub admitted that he’s frustrated and disappointed, but he says that he’ll focus only on what he can control. In the interim, coach Dennis Allen has stated plainly that Carr is the team’s quarterback and, at least for the moment, that is not up for discussion.

Schaub was excited to join up with the Raiders earlier this year and he took significant pay cuts in 2014 and 2015 to make the trade work for Oakland. Although he struggled with performance and health in 2013, Schaub is only two years removed from a Pro Bowl season in which he threw for more than 4,000 yards, completing 64.3% of his passes and recording a 22-12 TD-INT ratio. Even during his down year, he completed 61.2% of his passes and averaged 231 passing yards per game.

AFC East Notes: Jets, Hill, Amaro, Patterson

September 12th, 2014 at 2:40pm CST by Zachary Links

Jets cornerback Dee Milliner had to wait a week, but it looks like he’ll make his season debut this Sunday against the Packers after recovering from a high ankle sprain, writes Dennis Waszak Jr. of The Associated Press. The cornerback is technically listed as probably but coach Rex Ryan said it’s not a matter of if he’ll play, but how much. Still, Antonio Allen and Darrin Walls will likely start at Green Bay. Here’s more from the AFC East..

As Saalim Hakim takes off, Jets wide receivers coach Sanjal Lal can rest easy about the project that didn’t work out: Stephen Hill. “Was there anything else I could have done?” Lal asked rhetorically to Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News. “Could I have worked harder with him? Could I have given him more individual attention? Could I have done anything different? I can look myself in the mirror saying I did everything I could and put all of myself into trying to develop him.”
The Jets have big things planned for rookie tight end Jace Amaro, as Mike Mazzeo of ESPNNewYork.com writes. Ryan doesn’t want to put expectations on the Texas Tech product in terms of yards or receptions, but he says that Amaro is going to be a “major factor” for Gang Green. Amaro racked up 1,352 receiving yards in his final college season but had just two catches for seven yards in his NFL debut.
Patriots coach Bill Belichick says he doesn’t have any regrets, but the folks at CSNNE say the Patriots would be better off had they drafted Cordarrelle Patterson at No. 29 in 2013 rather than trading him to the Vikings for four draft picks.

AFC North Notes: Rice, Green, Gilbert

September 12th, 2014 at 1:32pm CST by Zachary Links

The Ray Rice incident continues to dominate both the front page and the back page of newspapers around the country. Yesterday, we rounded up the latest news on the embattled ex-Ravens running back and the controversy surrounding commissioner Roger Goodell. Here’s a bit more on Rice and other news out of the AFC North..

The NFL has informed Rice and the NFLPA that it increased his suspension because the new video showed a “starkly different” sequence of events than the version he presented to the league, writes Jane McManus of ESPN.com. “This video shows a starkly different sequence of events from what you and your representatives stated when we met on June 16,” Goodell wrote, “and is important new information that warrants reconsideration of the discipline imposed on you in July.” Meanwhile, other reports have indicated that Rice did not distort the events in his meetings with the Ravens and the NFL.
Sunday’s matchup of the Bengals and Falcons feels like it’s just as much about A.J. Green versus Julio Jones. The two wide receivers are eyeing their next contract and NFL front office execs tell ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter that each deal will be based on cornerback Patrick Peterson‘s pact with the Cardinals. That means that they’re both looking at the possibility of $14MM per season and maybe more with an increased salary cap.
Browns rookie cornerback Justin Gilbert has a target on his back and the club expects him to rise above it, writes Pat McManamon of ESPN.com. “When you’re a top 10 pick — I went through this my rookie year as the No. 8 pick — expectations are so high to have one or two balls caught on you is really unacceptable,” Whitner said. “To give up almost 100, you know, really, you know we don’t think it’s acceptable. He understands that. He has to work on getting better.”

Chiefs To Sign Jamell Fleming

September 12th, 2014 at 11:48am CST by Zachary Links

The Chiefs are signing cornerback Jamell Fleming off the Ravens’ practice squad to their active roster, a source tells Aaron Wilson of The Baltimore Sun. The Ravens signed Fleming, a former Cardinals third-round cornerback, to their practice squad just last week.

As our own Luke Adams detailed last week, Fleming was one of eleven practice squad players earning more than the minimum this year. The 25-year-old was cut by the Jaguars during the final major roster cutdown after seeing time in eight games last season for the for them. While he hasn’t made a major impact at the NFL level yet, the cornerback had 168 tackles, seven interceptions, two touchdowns, and a sack for the Sooners during his time at Oklahoma.

Fleming’s departure will leave the Ravens with nine players on their practice squad and Wilson writes that they could consider re-signing cornerback Deji Olatoye to the practice squad.