2016 October - Pro Football Rumors

Raiders’ LV Stadium Hits Potential Snag

October 27th, 2016 at 8:56am CST by Zachary Links

The Raiders have been building momentum towards a Las Vegas move, but they could be hitting a snag. Casino magnate Sheldon Adelson is not happy with what he perceives as changes to the stadium deal and he is threatening to walk.

“I negotiated to bring in the Oakland Raiders, an NFL football team from Oakland, because they don’t have a stadium there, that I would build a stadium and rent it out to the Oakland Raiders,” Adelson told Reuters’ Ari Rabinovitch. “They want so much. So I told my people, ‘Tell them I could live with the deal, I could live without the deal. Here’s the way it’s gonna go down. If they don’t want it, bye-bye.”

The Raiders’ Las Vegas project took a major leap forward last week when Nevada’s governor OK’d a bill that would increase hotel taxes and reroute those additional funds to the new stadium. Adelson, meanwhile, has pledged up to $650MM toward building the stadium. If Adelson were to pull out, the Raiders and the state of Nevada would have to scramble for a new billionaire partner.

Latest On Lions Coaching Situation

October 27th, 2016 at 8:37am CST by Zachary Links

Jim Caldwell‘s seat was looking pretty hot earlier this month, but talk of a coaching change in Detroit has cooled now that the Lions are on a three-game winning streak. However, things change quickly in the NFL and there’s no guarantee that Caldwell will be back in 2017 if the Lions cannot keep it up in the second half. If there is a head coaching change, Chris Mortensen of ESPN.com hears that Lions GM Bob Quinn would probably consider Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia to Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels.

In a scenario where McDaniels was hired as the Lions’ head coach, current offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter would probably be squeezed out. Given how well Cooter has worked with quarterback Matthew Stafford, the Lions are likely eager to hang on to their OC. And, at the young age of 32, Cooter can probably be kept as OC for at least a few more years.

Of course, the Lions are going to have to make a serious commitment to keep Stafford in place as he excels in his contract year.

Teddy Bridgewater’s Career In Jeopardy?

October 27th, 2016 at 8:25am CST by Zachary Links

Some people around the NFL believe that Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater‘s career could be in jeopardy following his gruesome knee injury this summer, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com. Schefter has heard from multiple medical officials, both in the NFL and not in the NFL, who are questioning whether he’ll be able to take the field again.

“If he didn’t make it back, it wouldn’t surprise me,” one doctor who has worked with NFL teams said. “This is a bad injury, about the worst knee injury a player can have.”

Schefter notes that Bridgewater is making progress in his recovery, and Vikings officials are pleased with what they’ve seen from his early stages of rehab. Still, the Vikings paid a small fortune to acquire Sam Bradford after Bridgewater went down and it’s believed that they made the trade with the 2017 season in mind. Given the complex nature of Bridgewater’s injury – he suffered a torn ACL and dislocated his knee – there are no guarantees when it comes to his timetable.

Mike Tomlin Suspended Eli Rogers Vs. Patriots

October 26th, 2016 at 10:02pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Steelers have struggled all season, and really throughout 2016, to have their starting offense together thanks to injuries and suspensions.

In addition to Ben Roethlisberger‘s injury, the player expected to be Pittsburgh’s primary slot receiver, Eli Rogers, was unavailable against the Patriots last weekend. A source informed Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Twitter link) the wideout was serving a Mike Tomlin-issued suspension for an unspecified violation in Week 7.

Rogers missed two games earlier in the season with turf toe and has struggled to make an impact since a solid opening-night performance that saw the newcomer catch six passes for 59 yards and a touchdown, one that came off a deflection. The second-year UDFA who spent last season on IR has 13 receptions for 135 yards this season.

Pittsburgh has featured exactly zero members of the projected statistic-accruing contingent of its starting offense suit up for all seven games.

Roethlisberger remains out due to his recent knee injury, and Le’Veon Bell incurred a three-game drug suspension. Martavis Bryant is suspended for the season, and Ladarius Green began it on the PUP list. Neither Rogers nor Markus Wheaton has been healthy throughout, either.

Browns Rumors: Thomas, Haden, Coleman

October 26th, 2016 at 9:17pm CST by Sam Robinson

We’ve consistently heard Joe Thomas does not want to leave Cleveland despite the Browns being the league’s only winless team. The perennial All-Pro left tackle elaborated on that stance today and indeed did confirm he does want to compete in a playoff game at some point in his career, willingness to play through the Browns’ latest rebuild notwithstanding.

Responding to a question regarding other former Browns like T.J. Ward or Jabaal Sheard who have left and been on dominant teams, Thomas replied he wants that for himself but seeks it in Cleveland.

“When I first got here, my goal and my mission is kind of always to make the playoffs and to help be part of turning the Browns into a consistent winner and kind of turning the franchise’s fortunes around,” Thomas said, via Dan Labbe of cleveland.com. “We haven’t done that yet, so to me that means that my mission is not yet complete here.”

With the Browns as far away from such a turnaround as at any point in the decorated blocker’s 10-year career, it doesn’t seem the back end of his prime and a Cleveland playoff berth will line up. GMs also believe the Browns will backtrack on their firm stance of keeping the 31-year-old future Hall of Famer in northeast Ohio.

Here’s more from the Browns as their downtown counterparts look set to see the Cubs tie the World Series at 1 game apiece.

Thomas and Joe Staley have been reported to be thrust onto the trade block, and OverTheCap’s Jason Fitzgerald takes look at the tackles’ markets. He notes a team would owe Thomas more than $24MM through 2018, while Staley would cost less than $18MM, potentially narrowing the talent gap between them and explaining the 49ers’ demand for a first-round pick and the Browns’ willingness for a second. A team trading for the 31-year-old Thomas would owe the six-time All-Pro (the 32-year-old Staley has no All-Pro honors) $4.882MM if it executed a trade before Week 8.
Another name to possibly keep an eye on in prospective Browns trade talks is Joe Haden, Pat McManamon of ESPN.com writes. While Thomas has drawn the most trade interest of Browns players the past two seasons, Haden also qualifies as a veteran on a rebuilding team full of younger talent. The second-longest-tenured Brown behind Thomas, Haden doesn’t have a deal as trade-friendly as Thomas’. The 27-year-old corner has $6.8MM worth of guaranteed money left on his contract, one that runs throuugh 2019, and stands to take up $14MM of a team’s cap in 2017 and ’18. McManamon cites Haden’s injury history, having missed three games already this season for finger and groin maladies on top of a 2015 season plagued by ailments, as a reason the Browns would want to seek out a return for their top defender.
Corey Coleman returned to practice today for the first time since breaking his hand Sept. 21, Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com reports. The first-round rookie ran routes but didn’t catch any passes, and Cabot puts Coleman’s timetable in line with a Week 9 or Week 10 return.
After missing Sunday’s second half due to an unspecified illness, Cameron Erving returned to practice today and is expected to start when the Browns host the Jets this weekend, Cabot reports. The second-year center suffered a bruised lung earlier this season, his first as a full-time starter.
Josh McCown looks like he’s going to return to the Browns’ lineup behind Erving, barring a setback.

Gus Bradley’s Job Secure Through 2016?

October 26th, 2016 at 8:08pm CST by Sam Robinson

Jaguars owner Shad Khan addressed the team earlier this week in an attempt to address Jacksonville’s futility in what was described, via Mike DiRocco of ESPN.com, as a non-confrontational address.

However, another takeaway that appears to have emerged from the meeting: Gus Bradley‘s job could well be safe throughout the season. Due to an organizational philosophy under Khan that steers clear of in-season coach changes, the embattled fourth-year leader looks to have the rest of this season to stake his claim to the Jags’ job, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports (Facebook link).

Rapoport adds a change could be made after the season if this spiral continues, and the Jags are coming off another embarrassing defeat, a 33-16 loss to the Raiders that saw multiple defensive starters get ejected and another penalized for a racial slur. The Jags are 14-40 under Bradley and 16-54 in Khan’s four-plus seasons as the owner, the first of which a 2-14 campaign in 2012 under Mike Mularkey‘s sideline leadership. Khan fired Mularkey and then-GM Gene Smith following the ’12 slate.

Khan asked several unspecified players their opinion of why the team is struggling, per DiRocco, and inquired what he could do to help the effort. Jacksonville is now 2-4 after receiving a decent amount of preseason hype.

“He said, ‘Hey, what can I do to help? Why have we gotten off to a slow start? What we can do to turn it around?’” a Jags source said, via Ryan O’Halloran of the Florida Times-Union. “A lot of guys got up and talked, players and coaches and he sat back and listened. It was good. He didn’t make a bad thing worse.”

The former Seahawks DC would certainly be a Black Monday candidate at this rate regardless of the support Khan is showing presently.

Jets Place Geno Smith On IR

October 26th, 2016 at 7:39pm CST by Sam Robinson

Geno Smith‘s return to the Jets’ starting lineup did not last, and the team made the procedural move to place the former second-round pick on IR, Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk reports.

The fourth-year quarterback tore his ACL against the Ravens and as a result will cede the reins back to Ryan Fitzpatrick, whom he replaced briefly. Although Fitzpatrick had a career year in 2015 that induced the Jets to re-sign him for $12MM, this will mark the second time he’s stepped in for Smith due to injury.

The first, as a result of then-teammate IK Enemkpali‘s sucker punch, changed Smith’s trajectory with the Jets. The second looks like it will end his Gang Green tenure.

Smith’s contract expires after this season, with the Jets having only Bryce Petty and Christian Hackenberg signed past 2016. The former West Viginia signal-caller started 30 games for the Jets in 2013-14 and ’16, throwing 28 touchdown passes compared to 36 interceptions. Once regarded as a first-round talent, Smith holds a 12-18 career record and has completed 57.9% of his passes.

New York’s quarterback position could be categorized as unstable after Fitzpatrick’s comments regarding the team’s belief in him and the lack of experience of the new Nos. 2-3 passers on the depth chart. But Fitz will start this weekend against the Browns and is once again the Jets’ short-term answer.

Minor NFL Transactions: 10/26/16

October 26th, 2016 at 7:12pm CST by Zachary Links

Here are today’s minor moves.

The Dolphins cut defensive tackle Julius Warmsley today, as Adam H. Beasley of the Miami Herald writes. Warmsley has been inactive for the last two weeks. In total, he appeared in five games for Miami this year and recorded eight tackles.
The Jets announced that they have signed linebacker Taiwan Jones. No, the Raiders running back-turned-cornerback-turned-running back didn’t change positions again. This Taiwan Jones is a UDFA out of Michigan State who has yet to play in an NFL game, but that could end soon.
The Texans are signing offensive tackle Jeff Adams, according to Mark Berman of FOX 26 (on Twitter). Adams has played in four games during what’s been a five-year career, suiting up for two with the Texans in each of the past two years. He started two games last season.
The Cardinals promoted wide receiver Chris Hubert from the practice squad to the active roster today. Hubert will fill Jaron Brown‘s roster spot after he was put on IR with an ACL injury.

Practice Squad Updates: 10/26/16

October 26th, 2016 at 6:23pm CST by Zachary Links

Here are today’s practice squad moves.

Arizona Cardinals

Signed: OT Martin Wallace

Chicago Bears

Signed: CB Jacoby Glenn

Cleveland Browns

Signed: DB Darius Hillary, RB Terrence Magee, DL Gabe Wright
Cut: RB Terrell Watson

Green Bay Packers

Signed: C Jacob Flores

New England Patriots

Cut: G Chase Farris

New York Jets

Signed: C Kyle Friend, LB Reshard Cliett
Cut: WR Myles White

San Diego Chargers

Signed: CB Trovon Reed

Seattle Seahawks

Signed: QB Joel Stave

NFC Notes: Reed, Graham, Seahawks, Eagles

October 26th, 2016 at 5:58pm CST by Sam Robinson

Jordan Reed has missed the past two Redskins games, continuing the top-tier tight end’s career-long battle with injuries. But the fourth-year pass-catcher is packing for London and expects to be cleared by an independent neurologist, Aditi Kinkhabwala of NFL.com reports (on Twitter).

Reed’s sustained six documented concussions in his NFL career but is signed through 2021 on a five-year, $46.5MM extension. Washington has gone 1-1 without him this season. If Reed is unable to suit up, Vernon Davis would again be the team’s primary receiving tight end.

The 26-year-old target will visit with the independent neurologist on Thursday in advance of Washington’s game against Cincinnati in London.

Here’s more from the NFC.

Doug Pederson attempted to cool off trade buzz surrounding the Eagles and wide receivers, but the team has been linked to Torrey Smith. Among NJ.com’s list of targets for the Eagles are Michael Floyd, Alshon Jeffery, Smith and, perhaps most interestingly, Terrelle Pryor. Categorizing the Browns’ top 2016 playmaker as unlikely to re-sign with Cleveland, the sides’ extension talks and Pryor’s history in Ohio notwithstanding, NJ.com lists the converted quarterback as a trade candidate for Philly.
The Seahawks have been linked to left tackles Joe Staley and Joe Thomas as potential trade targets, but coach Pete Carroll says that he doesn’t anticipate any deals between now and the deadline. “I don’t think that there is a guy out there who is gonna come flying in here. Now, if there is, [Seahawks general manager] John [Schneider] will figure it out. He’s already all over it,” Carroll said on ESPN 710 [via Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times]. “He will figure it out if there is something that we can do. But we have never not been looking for another player at every position. So we’re always looking, that’s the way we do it. When something happens, we have [a] backlog of guys that we’ve worked out and things that we’ve looked at and the options that are there. But right now this is like the most difficult time to find a player that’s just sitting there, and so it’s not likely.”
As the Saints get set to face Seattle, Nick Underhill of The Advocate revisits the Jimmy Graham trade. Graham, of course, was Drew Brees’ favorite aerial weapon and an integral part of the offense. However, since the deal, the Saints have managed to score on a league-best 79.17% of their trips to the red zone. At the same time, this offseason’s Coby Fleener signing appears to be a bust so far. After being given a five-year, $36MM contract, Fleener has caught just 21 passes for 281 yards. It’s also worth noting that linebacker Stephone Anthony, taken with the first-round pick received in the deal, hasn’t quite panned out as the team hoped he would.
Anthony’s struggles and Graham becoming a focal point in the Seahawks’ offense puts the March 2015 exchange without a clear winner at this point after it appeared the Saints came out ahead here, Larry Holder of NOLA.com writes. Anthony’s been demoted to the Saints’ second string behind the newly acquired James Laurinaitis. Graham hasn’t rediscovered his New Orleans form but is ahead of his 2015 pace despite returning from a torn patella tendon. The seventh-year tight end has 27 receptions for 408 yards after making 48 catches for 605 yards in 11 games last season.

Zach Links contributed to this report