2016 September - Pro Football Rumors

Saints Work Out CB D’Joun Smith

September 22nd, 2016 at 4:06pm CST by Zachary Links

The Saints are in need of some cornerback help and they’re looking at out-of-house options. Today, the Saints auditioned D’Joun Smith, a 2015 third-round pick of the Colts, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets.

A former Florida Atlantic defensive back, Smith was placed on IR-DTR by the Colts in his rookie season and wound up seeing time in only four games before being cut. He was in camp with Indianapolis again this offseason but he was waived with an injury designation prior to the 53-man deadline. Still only 23, the Saints are hoping he can help their ailing secondary. In 44 career games at Florida Atlantic, Smith totaled 120 tackles (78 solo), nine interceptions, three forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries, 1.0 sack and 29 passes defensed.

The Saints, of course, are without their top two cornerbacks. Delvin Breaux will be out for more than a month after suffering a broken fibula in the season opener. Then, this week, P.J. Williams was placed on IR after suffering a severe concussion.

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Packers Promote DT Brian Price

September 22nd, 2016 at 12:39pm CST by Zachary Links

The Packers are promoting defensive tackle Brian Price from the practice squad to the 53-man roster, as Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com tweets. In a related move, it appears that cornerback Robertson Daniel will be taking Price’s spot on the taxi squad.

Price, a product of University of Texas-San Antonio, made headlines for the wrong reasons in college. In the second-to-last game of the 2014 season, Price shoved an official to the ground in a fit of rage. In May, Price admitted to Tom Silverstein of the Journal Sentinel that the incident probably cost him an opportunity to hear his name called in this year’s draft.

“I think it was definitely a red flag,” Price said. “You know, in football, tempers flare, emotions run high. It was the heat of the moment. I didn’t know it was a ref beside me, I kind of side-swiped him and it happened to be a ref and I was like, oh, I knew I messed up. I definitely feel NFL teams took note of that.”

Still, despite the incident, roughly two-thirds of the league reached out to Price’s reps after the draft to express interest. The defensive tackle ultimately chose Green Bay and it appears that he chose wisely as he has found his way to the varsity roster.

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Titans Promote Curtis Riley To Active Roster

September 22nd, 2016 at 10:52am CST by Zachary Links

The Titans announced that they have promoted cornerback Curtis Riley to the active roster. Riley takes the place of guard Chance Warmack, who was placed on injured reserve yesterday.

Riley first joined the Titans as an undrafted free agent after the 2015 NFL Draft. Since then, he has practiced as both a cornerback and a safety. Now on the 53-man roster, he’ll be expected to provide the Titans with depth in the secondary along with help on special teams. After spending his entire rookie season on IR, he’s hoping to get his first taste of NFL action this fall.

In a related move, guard Karim Barton has been added to the practice squad. Barton, a Morgan State product, previously spent time with Houston, Philadelphia, and Cleveland.

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Bears Promote Matt Barkley To Active Roster

September 22nd, 2016 at 9:49am CST by Zachary Links

The Bears announced that they have elevated quarterback Matt Barkley from the practice squad to the 53-man roster. Barkley will give the team additional depth while Jay Cutler is sidelined with a sprained thumb. Brian Hoyer is expected to start in the interim.

Barkley was with the Cardinals this offseason but missed the 53-man cut. Soon after, he signed on with Chicago’s taxi squad. Barkley, 26, was a fourth-round pick of Chip Kelly’s Eagles in 2013. In two seasons with Philly, Barkley attempted 50 passes with four interceptions and zero touchdowns.

In related moves, fullback Paul Lasike was re-signed to the practice squad and outside linebacker Lamarr Houston was officially placed on IR. We learned earlier this week that Houston is done for the season after suffering a torn ACL.

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Latest On Injured Adrian Peterson

September 22nd, 2016 at 9:32am CST by Connor J. Byrne

THURSDAY, 9:32am: The Vikings announced “there were no additional injuries or issues noted in or surrounding the knee joint,” during Peterson’s surgical procedure.

WEDNESDAY, 4:44pm: Vikings running back Adrian Peterson is set for surgery to repair the torn meniscus he suffered in the Vikings’ 17-14 win over the Packers on Sunday, and there’s now question as to whether the 31-year-old also has a torn LCL. Adam Schefter and Jeff Darlington of ESPN report that he does (via Twitter), while both Vikings officials and Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press have shot down that notion (Twitter links). Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets that Peterson has a mild LCL sprain, one that won’t require surgery.

There’s already a chance Peterson’s meniscus issue will keep him out for the rest of the season, so an LCL tear would make a comeback all the more difficult. If Schefter and Darlington are wrong, it seems Peterson and the Vikings have dodged a potentially significant problem.

For however long Peterson is out, the Vikings will turn to Jerick McKinnon, Matt Asiata and the newly signed Ronnie Hillman at running back. Their track records pale in comparison to Peterson’s, of course, but he didn’t resemble his seven-time Pro Bowl self during the Vikings’ first two games. Peterson racked up 31 carries and amassed just 50 yards, good for an average of 1.6 per tote.

Despite Peterson’s lack of production and having to use two starting quarterbacks in as many games, defending NFC North champion Minnesota has begun 2016 with back-to-back victories. The team will head to Carolina this week to face the reigning NFC champion Panthers.

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Falcons To Re-Sign O’Brien Schofield

September 22nd, 2016 at 9:00am CST by Zachary Links

For months, O’Brien Schofield has been lobbying for a return to the Falcons. It took a while, but the veteran linebacker is on his way back to Atlanta, as Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com tweets. It’s a one-year deal for the Falcons and Schofield, Adam Caplan of ESPN.com tweets. The Falcons have confirmed the deal via press release. To make room, the team has waived running back Terron Ward.

Schofield will likely play SAM linebacker for the Falcons and help with the pass rush on occasion, McClure writes. The 29-year-old signed a one-year, $1.7MM deal with Atlanta last year and finished out the year with 28 tackles, four tackles for losses, two sacks, 13 quarterback hits, and one forced fumble.

The Falcons made Schofield an offer early on in the offseason, but he held out for more money. Schofield appears to have misjudged the market as the Falcons did not improve their offer and interest from other teams was mild to say the least. The Patriots met with Schofield in August and the Jets hosted him on a visit in September, but neither meeting led to a deal.

Schofield followed Dan Quinn to Atlanta last offseason when he signed a one-year, $1.7MM contract. He finished out the year with 28 tackles, four tackles for losses, two sacks, 13 quarterback hits, and one forced fumble.

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Browns WR Corey Coleman Avoids Surgery

September 22nd, 2016 at 8:36am CST by Zachary Links

Browns wide receiver Corey Coleman saw a specialist today and received some good news. The rookie won’t need surgery on his broken hand and is expected to return in 4-6 weeks, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. If Coleman went under the knife, he would have been out for a lot longer – perhaps for the entire season.

The Browns’ offense has been battered by injuries in the first two weeks of the season. Already, Cleveland has lost both its starting quarterback (RG3) and its primary backup (Josh McCown), leaving rookie Cody Kessler as the starter on Sunday.

Coleman, the No. 15 overall pick in this year’s draft, was the first wide receiver to come off the board this year. The Baylor product didn’t have the best quarterbacking in his final year on campus, but he still managed to rack up 1,363 receiving yards and he led the nation with 20 touchdown catches. Known for his speed, the Browns were hoping to see Coleman make his presence felt right out of the gate. The rookie did manage seven grabs for 173 yards and two touchdowns to start the season, but they’ll have to wait at least a month before he adds to those totals.

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Extra Points: Cards, Falcons, Fins, 49ers

September 21st, 2016 at 9:55pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

The Cardinals made an under-the-radar move in sending a 2018 seventh-round pick to Kansas City for cornerback Marcus Cooper on Sept. 2. Cooper failed to register a tackle in his Week 1 Cardinals debut, but he racked up seven and intercepted two passes, one of which he returned for a touchdown, in the team’s 40-7 win over the Buccaneers last Sunday. As a result, Cooper earned NFC defensive player of the week honors.

Cardinals general manager Steve Keim spoke to Kent Somers of the Arizona Republic earlier this week about acquiring Cooper, saying, “We liked him coming out of Rutgers (2013) and he fit what we did schematically. He’s longer. And from Quentin Harris to Terry to all of our pro scouts, to Adrian Wilson to Malik Boyd, they all loved what he did on tape in the preseason. He was a guy we focused on. We weren’t sure if he was going to be released or not but liked him enough to call John Dorsey (Chiefs general manager) to see if he’d be willing to move Marcus for a conditional pick.”

Cooper’s picks Sunday were his first since his rookie year, 2013, when he hauled in three. In three seasons with KC, he made 38 appearances and totaled 11 starts.

Lions Uninterested In Ray Rice

September 21st, 2016 at 9:00pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

After the Lions placed running back Ameer Abdullah on injured reserve Wednesday, Jason McIntyre of The Big Lead reported that the team was considering signing free agent Ray Rice (Twitter link). That won’t happen, however.

“We are NOT signing Ray Rice, never have even discussed him. 1000% false,” a Lions executive told ESPN’s Adam Schefter via text message (Twitter link).

The 29-year-old Rice is familiar with Lions head coach Jim Caldwell, who was the Ravens’ offensive coordinator from 2012-13. Those were Rice’s final two years in Baltimore, where he spent six seasons and rushed for over 1,100 yards in four individual campaigns. Rice has been out of the league since the Ravens released him in September 2014, when video of him knocking out his then-fiancee in a hotel elevator surfaced. Rice has seemingly cleaned up his act off the field since, leading Schefter to report on opening weekend that the three-time Pro Bowler could receive another chance sometime this year.

Rice’s potential next opportunity won’t come with the Lions, who are wary of adding any figures with controversial pasts to their team, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk writes. Rookie general manager Bob Quinn said during the offseason that Detroit wanted no part of players connected to “domestic violence and dangerous weapons,” but he then went against his word in signing tight end Andrew Quarless in August. Quarless previously earned a two-game ban for discharging a gun in public in July 2015. That suspension is now over for Quarless, whom the Lions released this week.

Without Abdullah, the 1-1 Lions are set to rely on Theo Riddick, Dwayne Washington and Zach Zenner at running back. They did work out one of their former backs, Joique Bell, on Tuesday, though no deal has materialized. Aside from Rice and Bell, other notable rushers who are currently unemployed include Karlos Williams, who’s halfway through a four-game suspension for substance abuse, and C.J. Spiller.

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Latest On Raiders’ Potential Relocation

September 21st, 2016 at 8:22pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

The relationship between Las Vegas-based businessman Sheldon Adelson and Raiders owner Mark Davis hit a snag when Adelson expressed a desire to buy a piece of the team last week, according to Jason Cole of Bleacher Report (video link). Davis subsequently called Adelson’s office in anger, per Cole, who adds that other NFL owners are wary of Adelson. Commissioner Roger Goodell, who works for the owners, expressed doubt Sunday that casino-filled Las Vegas would be a proper market for the league.

Alienating Adelson could cost the Raiders a chance to relocate to Vegas, as the 83-year-old casino owner is willing to contribute $650MM to a proposed $1.9 billion football stadium in the city. Previously, Adelson threatened to withdraw financial support without the approval of a record $750MM in public money going toward the venture. The Southern Nevada Tourism and Infrastructure Committee did approve that total last Thursday, thereby clearing one major hurdle. The next step is for the $1.9 billion plan to receive a thumbs up from Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval and state Legislature.

Sandoval said Wednesday that he intends to begin a special session of the Legislature no earlier than Oct. 7 and no later than Oct. 13, reports Michelle Rindels of the Associated Press (Twitter link). Sandoval also revealed that he has recently spoken with Davis, who is eager to go forward with the plan.

“Just as I have met with the top leaders prior to those announcements, this week I met with the owner of the Raiders, Mark Davis. He was committed and resolute in the team’s interest in relocating to our state,” said Sandoval (via KTVN).

Given that Davis is still on board with Las Vegas, it seems his relationship with Adelson isn’t ruined. Assuming the Legislature signs off on the high-priced stadium, Davis would still need 23 approval votes from the league’s other 31 owners to move his franchise. If they’re not comfortable with Adelson, it could dash Davis’ hopes.

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