2016 August - Pro Football Rumors

Cowboys Place Jaylon Smith On NFI

August 30th, 2016 at 2:18pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Cowboys have placed rookie linebacker Jaylon Smith on the non-football injury list, according to Todd Archer of ESPN.com. As such, Smith will not be able to play for at the first six weeks of the season. Of course, the odds are that Smith won’t play during the 2016 campaign at all as he recovers from a knee injury.

In late 2015, Smith was viewed as a potential top-10 selection in the upcoming draft. However, that all changed when the Notre Dame standout tore his ACL and MCL in January. To make things worse, Smith was also diagnosed with a nerve issue in his ankle. At that point, teams began to fear that the linebacker would require a “redshirt” season in the NFL. Even though multiple teams gave Smith a failing grade on his physical at the combine and subsequently removed him from their draft boards, the Cowboys felt that Smith’s potential was just too good to pass up.

In his junior season with the Fighting Irish, Smith totaled 115 tackles with 9.0 tackles for a loss and 1 sack. In the year prior, he put up a similar statline of 111 tackles, 9.0 tackles for a loss, and 3.5 sacks. If Smith spends the season on the NFI list, as expected, he’ll be a restricted free agent in 2020 instead of an unrestricted free agent.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Teddy Bridgewater Leaves Practice With Injury

August 30th, 2016 at 2:05pm CST by Zachary Links

Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater has suffered an apparent knee injury, prompting the Vikings to end practice early, as Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press tweets. Exact details of the injury remain murky, but it was serious enough to prompt players to form a prayer circle around the QB (link).

Bridgewater’s injury appeared to be of the non-contact variety (via Brian Murphy of the Pioneer Press on Twitter), which could spell serious leg trouble. Players around Bridgewater “freaked out” upon seeing what happened, Murphy says. Bridgewater left the field via ambulance (link).

Behind Bridgewater, the Vikings have quarterbacks Shaun Hill and Wisconsin product Joel Stave. Taylor Heinicke will be placed on the NFI list with an injury.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Patriots Shopping WR Aaron Dobson

August 30th, 2016 at 1:52pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Patriots are trying to trade wide receiver Aaron Dobson, according to Albert Breer of TheMMQB.com (Twitter link). Dobson has played 128 snaps this preseason, as Breer notes, allowing other clubs to get a good look at him.

Dobson, 25, is a former second-round pick, but he’s never broken out since joining New England in 2013. In three seasons with the club, the Marshall product has only posted 53 receptions for less than 700 yards. Most of that production came during his rookie season, as Dobson has put up only 16 catches during the past two years. Entering the final year of his rookie deal, Dobson will earn about $872K in base salary.

The Patriots have already been active on the trade market in recent days, as they acquired Barkevious Mingo from the Browns and attempted to deal Bryan Stork to the Redskins. Stork, however, failed his physical, ending the trade.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Giants To Re-Sign Will Beatty

August 30th, 2016 at 1:32pm CST by Zachary Links

1:32pm: It’s a one-year deal, tweets Schefter. The pact contains $1.1MM guaranteed, and $750K in incentives, per Adam Caplan of ESPN.com (Twitter link).

1:24pm: Well, this is surprising. Months after releasing Will Beatty, the Giants have re-signed the veteran offensive lineman, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter). A reunion was long considered to be unlikely, but the Giants have brought Beatty back just before the 75-man deadline.

One year ago, the Giants were devastated when they learned that Beatty would have to miss the entire 2015 season with a torn pectoral muscle and rotator cuff issues. This year, Big Blue was faced with a tough decision on the talented tackle. Given his health issues and significant salary hit for 2016, the Giants opted to release him.

Beatty was one of the league’s more effective left tackles in 2014, grading as a positive contributor as both a run- and pass-blocker, according to Pro Football Focus. PFF ranked him 14th overall out of 84 qualified players at the position.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Justin Houston Placed On PUP

August 30th, 2016 at 1:32pm CST by Zachary Links

The Chiefs are down to the 75-man maximum after a handful of moves today (Twitter links via Terez A. Paylor of the Kansas City Star). The most noteworthy item is that linebacker Justin Houston has been placed on the PUP list, meaning that he will be out for at least the first six weeks of the season.

Houston underwent postseason arthroscopic surgery on his knee, at which point his ACL was found to be “intact but not functioning.” His recovery timetable was up in the air, but it was expected that he would miss at least a few games to start the season.

One of the league’s top outside linebackers, Houston inked a six-year, $101MM extension with the Chiefs roughly one year ago, but was hampered by injuries in the first season of his new deal. Houston still played very well in 2015, but totaled just 7.5 sacks in 11 games, a fraction of what he turned out in the year prior.

Meanwhile, running back Trey Millard has been waived/injured and will likely return to the team and go through the rehab process. The team also freed up a spot when they released wide receiver Mitch Mathews, as agent Brett Tessler tweets. Between those three moves and the roster exemption given to the team for Eric Berry, KC is at 75.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Chiefs LB Josh Mauga Done For Year

August 30th, 2016 at 1:31pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Chiefs have lost linebacker Josh Mauga for the season due to a labral tear, according to Terez Paylor of the Kansas City Star (Twitter link).

Mauga, 29, started 14 games for the Chiefs at inside linebacker, racking up 45 tackles, two interceptions, and a sack. Over the past two seasons, Mauga has become an unheralded force in the middle of Kansas City’s defense, as he’s started 30 games during that period. He was especially valuable in 2014, when he filled for the injured leader Derrick Johnson. In 2015, Mauga graded as the No. 34 LB in the league, per Pro Football Focus.

Mauga is signed through the 2017 campaign, with cap hits of $2.7MM and $3.75MM in the next two years.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Cowboys Receiving Calls On Darren McFadden

August 30th, 2016 at 1:19pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Cowboys are getting phone calls from clubs interested in trading for running back Darren McFadden, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. However, Dallas is inclined to keep McFadden at this time.

Fourth overall pick Ezekiel Elliott is poised to take over the Cowboys’ starting running back job, and free agent signee Alfred Morris has performed well in camp. Pass-catching back Lance Dunbar, meanwhile, has come off the PUP list and will be ready for the start of the season, so Dallas could have trouble finding carries for McFadden.

Still, McFadden is a pretty valuable asset given that he rushed for more than 1,000 yards last season and will cost only $1.25MM in base salary. However, his health has always been a question mark, and he’s injured at the moment. McFadden is dealing with an elbow ailment and still hasn’t practiced this offseason.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Rams Make Several Roster Moves, Down To 75

August 30th, 2016 at 1:13pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Rams are down to the 75-man roster limit. Here’s the full slate of transactions made by Los Angeles, per a club announcement.

Waived:

K Taylor Bertolet
TE Benson Browne
DB Michael Caputo
LB Zach Colvin
C/G Brian Folkerts
LB Darreon Herring
S Jordan Lomax
LS Jeff Overbaugh
WR David Richards
TE Jake Stoneburner
OT Jordan Swindle
QB Dylan Thompson

Waived/Injured:

FB Zach Laskey
WR Marquez North

If Laskey and North clear waivers, they’ll revert to the Rams’ IR list.

Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Twitter links) first reported most of these moves.

Panthers Audition Major Wright

August 30th, 2016 at 1:07pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Panthers worked out safety Major Wright, according to Bill Voth of the Black and Blue Review. Wright was released by the division rival Buccaneers earlier this week.

Carolina has been looking for veteran defensive back help recently, as they’ve met with both Stevie Brown and Donte Whitner. They’ll now also look at Wright, who started 21 games over the past two seasons with Tampa. He posted 76 tackles from 2014-15, but was scheduled to make $1.75MM this year, necessitating his release.

The Panthers are now back up to 75 players following the signing of Wright — they had been at 74 following a recent round of cuts.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Jets Make Moves, Down To 75

August 30th, 2016 at 1:06pm CST by Zachary Links

The Jets are down to the 75-man roster maximum after they waived/injured safety Dion Bailey, defensive lineman Jake Ceresna, and RB Romar Morris.

Bailey, claimed off waivers from the Seahawks last September, appeared in five games with the Jets last season and recorded with 22 tackles. Ceresna, a Cortland product, had 14.5 sacks in college and hooked on with the Jets in August. Morris, a UNC product, impressed at the Jets’ rookie minicamp and earned a contract in May.

With today’s moves, the Jets get to stave off their tough decision at quarterback for a few more days. Reportedly, the Jets have received some “soft” trade interest in Geno Smith. If the Jets can parlay the second-round pick into a future draft choice, that could painlessly solve their logjam.