2016 November - Pro Football Rumors

Bears LB Danny Trevathan Done For Season

November 28th, 2016 at 1:46pm CST by Zachary Links

The Bears worst fears have been confirmed. Coach John Fox tells reporters that linebacker Danny Trevathan is done for the year with a knee injury. Specifically, it’s a ruptured patella tendon that will end Trevathan’s season early, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). The Bears will place Trevathan on IR, opening up a spot on the 53-man roster.

This has been a trying season for the Bears, to say the least. After a rocky start to the year, quarterback Jay Cutler found himself on the sidelines for several weeks with a sprained thumb. Then, running back Jeremy Langford was put out of commission for multiple games thanks to an ankle injury. Then, as the losses continued to pile up, the Bears found out that wide receiver Alshon Jeffery and linebacker Jerrell Freeman were both slapped with four-game bans for PEDs. Now, Trevathan becomes the 15th member of the team to go on IR as the 2-9 Bears continue to struggle.

Trevathan, 26, was productive during his first season in Chicago. As of this writing, he is second on the team in tackles (61) and he also has a sack and four passes defended. Even more impressive, he did this while missing two of eleven possible games thanks to his September thumb surgery. The Bears still have the former Bronco under contract for another three years beyond 2016.

Lions Sign Logan Thomas To Practice Squad

November 28th, 2016 at 12:54pm CST by Zachary Links

Big changes today for former Virginia Tech quarterback Logan Thomas:

He is now a member of the Lions’ practice squad.
He is no longer a quarterback.

In their signing announcement, the Lions said that they are converting Thomas to tight end. The move comes as a bit of a surprise considering that Thomas is in his third professional season and has been exclusively marketing himself as a QB. With just two games and nine attempted passes on his resume, Thomas is apparently looking to shake things up.

Since being taken in the fourth round of the 2014 draft by the Cardinals, Thomas has bounced around the league a bit. Arizona cut him in September 2015, leading him to stints with the Dolphins and Giants. At 6’6″ and 248 pounds, Thomas may have more success as a pass-catcher.

The Lions had a vacancy on the ten-man practice squad, so they will not have to release anyone to accommodate Thomas. Here is the rundown of their p-squad, courtesy of Roster Resource:

WR Jace Billingsley
WR Corey Fuller
WR T.J. Jones
WR Jay Lee
TE Logan Thomas
G Brandon Thomas
G/T Matt Rotheram
ILB Brandon Chubb
OLB Steve Longa
CB Alex Carter

Titans Release Perrish Cox

November 28th, 2016 at 11:35am CST by Zachary Links

The Titans announced that they have released cornerback Perrish Cox. Fellow corner Kalan Reed has been promoted from the practice squad to take his place.

Cox joined the Titans on a three-year, $15MM deal prior to the 2015 season. It’s safe to say that he hasn’t lived up to expectations in the last season-and-a-half. This year, Cox’s coverage has slipped to the point where the Titans would rather get rid of him altogether than to relegate him to a smaller role.

Despite his struggles as of late, Cox does have three interceptions on the year and he’s not that far removed from a solid 2014 campaign. In that contract year with San Francisco, Cox intercepted five passes. Before signing with the Titans in March 2015, Cox visited the Redskins, Browns, and Ravens. It’s possible that those teams will be among the clubs looking at the 29-year-old in free agency.

Reed, who spent part of his childhood in Nashville, was Mr. Irrelevant in the 2016 draft. Today, he has broken out of irrelevancy with a bump up to the Titans’ varsity squad.

Colts QB Andrew Luck On Track To Return

November 28th, 2016 at 11:20am CST by Zachary Links

Andrew Luck was forced to sit out Thursday night with a concussion, but it looks like he’ll be in uniform for the Colts on Monday. The quarterback was on the practice field today as Indianapolis prepares for Monday’s game against the Jets, as Stephen Holder of the Indianapolis Star tweets. It’s not immediately clear if Luck has completed the league’s concussion protocol yet, but he can’t be far off.

Without Luck, the Colts were forced to turn to Scott Tolzien under center. Predictably, the offense wasn’t quite the same and the Colts succumbed to the Steelers who were powered by Antonio Brown‘s three touchdown performance.

If Luck is given the green light for this week, the Colts will likely bump Tolzien back to No. 2 and cut Stephen Morris. Throughout the year, the Colts have been using two QBs on the 53-man roster, so Morris figures to be on the chopping block. If Morris clears waivers, he could be re-signed to the practice squad, where he has spent most of the season.

Now at 5-6, the Colts are still in the divisional conversation as they sit behind the Titans (6-6) and the Texans (6-5). So far this year, Luck has completed 62.9% of his passes for 2,827 yards with 19 scores against eight interceptions.

Jets Notes: Bowles, Petty, Revis

November 28th, 2016 at 9:48am CST by Zachary Links

Should Todd Bowles be fired after this season? Some fans are dissatisfied with the second-year coach, but Jets players believe that he should stay. “No, no coaching change,” cornerback Buster Skrine said (via Kimberley A. Martin of Newsday).

“Todd Bowles is a great coach . . . We need to finish. Coach can’t go out there and play the game. Obviously, he’s coaching us well enough to get us in situations to win. We just have to make plays at the end of the game.”

After a promising start on Sunday, the Jets collapsed against New England. Gang Green is now 3-8 with no hopes of making the playoffs and, understandably, there is speculation about Bowles’ job security. So far, owner Woody Johnson and GM Mike Maccagnan have stood by Bowles.

Here’s more out of the Meadowlands:

At 3-8, it’s time for Jets to see what they have in Bryce Petty, Bob Glauber of Newsday opines. Yesterday, Bowles declined to discuss what he’ll do at quarterback. Glauber feels that even though Petty has not really wowed in his time on the field or in practice, the Jets have to evaluate the younger quarterback and figure out what he can provide going forward. Fitzpatrick looked good against the Pats, but he won’t be part of the team’s future plans. Petty is still only 25 and still has a chance to be the team’s QB of the future.
Does Darrelle Revis want to be a part of the future in New York? “It’s [management’s] decision,” Revis said, dodging the question from a reporter (via Connor Hughes of NJ.com). “Everyone has their individual decision. That being said, every year there are different roster changes. You have to see. We’ll see how it goes.” Revis is set to have a cap hit of $15.333MM in 2017. If he doesn’t accept a pay cut, he’ll almost certainly be released. By cutting Revis before the second day of the new league year, they Jets will free $9MM, or more than that if he signs elsewhere. If Revis wants to stay with the Jets, that could require a move to safety after he has gotten picked apart all season long.
Running back Matt Forte nearly wound up with the Patriots instead of the Jets.

NFL Progressing Towards D-League

November 28th, 2016 at 8:26am CST by Zachary Links

NFL Europe closed up shop in 2007, leaving the NFL without an official developmental league. Nearly a decade later, we could be on the cusp of a new D-League being established. Troy Vincent, the NFL’s head of football operations, will make recommendations for a developmental league or in-season academy in early 2017, Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com writes. Things are moving quickly and that could mean that we’ll see some action on the topic as soon as the spring meeting in May.

Step one for Vincent & Co. will be to meet with the Competition Committee, coaches and NFLPA after the season. The new league could be a great way for the league to cultivate young talent, new coaches, and even referees, but it’s not a given that the players’ union will be on board. The NFLPA has been “lukewarm, at best” to the notion of a spring league, La Canfora hears, and nothing will be launched without their approval. Sources tell La Canfora that Vincent will be pitching both in-season and out-of-season proposals, which could be helpful for getting all of the necessary parties on board.

“It is a concept that could check all of those boxes we often talk about — diversity, officiating, developing coaches, player development, experimenting with rules and technology,” Cowboys owner Stephen Jones said at the last spring meeting. “It’s something we have to start to seriously look at within the Competition Committee and then discuss with the NFLPA. We’ve reached a point where we really should be looking more at a developmental league, and I really expect that to begin here in the next year or so. We lost a lot of money on the NFL Europe, but there were a lot of things the league did well and for all of those reasons — coaches, officiating, players, quarterbacks in particular — it’s something we really do need to be looking at and studying. The time might be right to do it.”

Already, the project has support from several key league executives, some of whom have helped formulate plans for the league. Seahawks GM John Schneider and Colts GM Ryan Grigson have weighed in, along with former Giants coach Tom Coughlin. The league also has the support of Hall of Fame coach John Madden.

The NFL is younger than ever and it seems like an official developmental league would benefit everyone. However, it remains to be seen whether the NFLPA agrees.

AFC Notes: Browns, Bengals, Pats, Titans

November 27th, 2016 at 9:29pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

After Cleveland fell to 0-12 with a loss to the Giants on Sunday, Browns head coach Hue Jackson had a meeting with his bosses and showed up 40 minutes late to his press conference. Jackson then assured reporters, including Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com, that his job is secure. “Let me go on record saying I have full support of Jimmy and Dee (Haslam) and Sashi (Brown) and his crew,” stated Jackson. “We’re not apart or splintered or whatever term you guys want to use. There’s none of that going on.” Jackson, who’s in his first year with the rebuilding Browns, was fighting back tears and said “being 0-12 is probably the hardest thing ever.”

Texans Won’t Make Quarterback Change

November 27th, 2016 at 8:40pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

Texans quarterback Brock Osweiler turned in another subpar performance Sunday, completing 22 of 37 passes for 246 yards and three interceptions in a 21-13 loss to the Chargers. Houston, which was in the driver’s seat in the AFC South a couple weeks ago, fell to 6-5 in the process and now holds a tenuous grip on the division lead. Despite that, the team won’t replace Osweiler with backup Tom Savage in an attempt to jump-start its offense, head coach Bill O’Brien declared Sunday (via Sarah Barshop of ESPN.com).

“No,” O’Brien said when asked whether he’d bench Osweiler. “We’re going to come in here tomorrow, we’re going to correct mistakes, and move on to Green Bay.”

After spending the first four seasons of his career as Peyton Manning‘s backup in Denver, Osweiler, 26, hit the open market last winter and inked a four-year, $72MM pact with the quarterback-desperate Texans. The deal also includes $37MM in guarantees for Osweiler, who hasn’t come close to living up to his contract in Year 1. The 6-foot-8, 235-pounder has been among the worst starters in the NFL, in fact, having tossed more picks than scores (13 to 12) while completing just 59.5 percent of his passes and averaging a paltry 5.68 yards per attempt.

The Texans’ Osweiler-led offense entered Sunday 28th in the league in points per game (18.1), 30th in yardage and dead last in DVOA, Notably, superstar wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins has also been far less productive with Osweiler at the helm than he was with the cavalcade of mediocre-at-best signal-callers who lined up under center in Houston from 2013-15. Nevertheless, with significant money invested in Osweiler and uninspiring options in Savage and Brandon Weeden behind him, the Texans will stay the course as they attempt to win their second straight division title.

Chargers, Rams Progressing Toward LA Deal

November 27th, 2016 at 8:05pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

Chargers owner Dean Spanos said earlier this month that he was shelving relocation talks until after the season, but he and the Rams’ Stan Kroenke are in close contact and progressing toward an agreement to share a stadium in Inglewood, Calif., according to Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports.

The $2.6 billion facility in Inglewood won’t be ready until 2019, so the Chargers are considering relocating to Carson, Calif., for the next two seasons and playing at the StubHub Center. Although its capacity is just 27,000, some in the Chargers organization prefer temporarily utilizing the StubHub Center in lieu of sharing the Coliseum with both the Rams and USC Trojans, reports La Canfora.

For their part, the Rams are motivated to make a deal with the Chargers happen. Rams chief operating officer Kevin Demoff made clear last week that there aren’t any roadblocks in the way of an agreement. Further, the Rams can’t sell personal seat licenses and suite deals until they know whether the Bolts will join them in Inglewood, notes La Canfora. That could give the Chargers leverage in negotiations and result in the franchise paying a less expensive relocation fee if it heads to Los Angeles.

The Chargers could have joined the Rams in LA this season, but they opted to give the city of San Diego more time in hopes of landing a new stadium. Little progress has been made on that front, and the Bolts’ Jan. 15 deadline to decide whether to partner with the Rams is fast approaching. Theoretically, given that the Chargers’ lease with San Diego runs through the 2020 season, they could extend the LA deadline again and continue lobbying for a stadium in the city they’ve called home since 1961. However, given that relations between the Chargers and Rams have improved from where they were a couple weeks ago, it seems likelier the Bolts are playing their final season in San Diego.

NFC West Notes: Kaepernick, Bennett, Fisher

November 27th, 2016 at 7:23pm CST by Zachary Links

With 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick likely to opt out of his contract at season’s end, Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap.com will be surprised if he doesn’t get a “$7M chance to start somewhere” next year (Twitter link). The 29-year-old has been solid this season, throwing for 1,144 yards, seven touchdowns, and only two interceptions. He’s also collected 260 yards on the ground. Kaepernick accounted for 409 total yards (296 passing, 113 rushing) and three scores in the 49ers’ 31-24 loss to the Dolphins on Sunday.

More from the NFC West, whose four teams all lost Sunday:

Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett has lost more than $312K of his $1MM roster bonus as a result of missing five games, tweets CBS Sports’ Joel Corry. The veteran was inactive again today’s for the Seahawks’ game against his former team, Tampa Bay, and hasn’t played since Week 7. Bennett’s likely to return next week, head coach Pete Carroll said Sunday (Twitter link via Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times).
The Rams are still declining to give an update on head coach Jeff Fisher‘s contractual status, Mike Florio of PFT writes. There has been buzz that the Rams have a deal in place with Fisher, but they are waiting until an opportune time to make it all official. Of course, after Sunday’s 49-21 loss to New Orleans, this isn’t exactly an opportune time. On the flip side, the Rams are seeing some flashes out of No. 1 overall pick Jared Goff, and that could help the overall reception to a new Fisher deal. During Fisher’s four-plus years at the helm, the Rams have gone just 31-43-1, and they haven’t won more than seven games in any individual season. It appears that trend will continue this year.
Fisher made third-year offensive tackle Greg Robinson a healthy scratch for Sunday’s game. Robinson was the second overall pick in the 2014 draft and has started in 38 of 42 appearances, including 26 straight prior to Sunday, but he has nonetheless disappointed and could be on his way out of Los Angeles.