2017 September - Pro Football Rumors

49ers Could Place Tank Carradine On IR

September 23rd, 2017 at 8:54am CST by Ben Levine

49ers defensive end Tank Carradine was starting to come into his own over the past several weeks, but the former second-rounder now might be forced to sit out several months. Head coach Kyle Shanahan revealed yesterday that Carradine suffered an ankle sprain on Thursday night and could be placed on the injured reserve. The move wouldn’t necessarily end the player’s season, as the 49ers are allowed to bring back a pair of players from the IR. However, if he was indeed placed on the injured reserve, he’d be out at least eight weeks.

“Tank has got a high ankle sprain,” Shanahan said (via Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com). “We haven’t gotten his MRI back, but we’re going to have to get that and really decide whether IR or not, because any time you’ve got a high ankle sprain, it’s going to be a while. So we’re not exactly sure how long it’s going to be. We’ll have to decide that probably Monday.”

The former Florida State standout has spent his entire career in San Francisco. During his first four years in the league, Carradine had served mostly in a reserve role, starting only one of his 36 career games. However, he was seemingly given more responsibility in 2017, as he had already started two of the 49ers three contests. So far, Carradine had compiled seven tackles and one sack, and Pro Football Focus had ranked him as the 25th-best edge defender among 87 eligible candidates.

If Carradine is forced to miss significant time, the 49ers could turn to first-rounder Solomon Thomas to slide into the starting spot. The team is also rostering former Pro Bowler Elvis Dumervil and former fifth-rounder Aaron Lynch.

NFC Rumors: Vikes, Saints, Hawks, Eagles

September 22nd, 2017 at 9:01pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

A left knee injury will shelve Vikings quarterback Sam Bradford for the second straight game on Sunday, but it’s not necessarily time to panic, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network says (video link). While Bradford’s knee is “painful,” according to Pelissero, doctors have not told the quarterback that it has any structural that would require surgery. Notably, Bradford underwent procedures for two torn ACLs in that knee earlier in his career. For now, Bradford and the Vikings are hoping he’ll return for their Week 4 home game against Detroit – the first of three divisional matchups in a row.

A lack of continuity is one of the key causes of the Saints’ years-long defensive struggles, Mike Triplett of ESPN.com observes. The Saints have started the most defenders (55) in the NFL dating back to 2014, and have also seen a league-high 23 defensive backs start at least two games in that span, per Triplett. The club has simply missed on too many defensive free agent signings and draft picks – including linebacker Stephone Anthony – to establish a rhythm on that side of the ball, Triplett contends. The Saints traded Anthony, a first-round selection in 2015, to Miami this week for a 2018 fifth-rounder after he failed to live up to his draft status in New Orleans. Safety Kenny Vaccaro, a 2013 first-rounder, may also find himself in another uniform soon. A starter in 57 of 58 career appearances, Vaccaro sat on the bench for a large portion of the Saints’ blowout loss to New England last week. Former teammate Scott Shanle, a retired linebacker, informed Triplett that Vaccaro is “the most bipolar player I’ve ever seen as far as consistency. When he’s on, he’s one of the best players in the league. When he’s off, I just don’t get it.”
Seahawks tight end Luke Willson told Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times that he expected his offseason foray into free agency to go better than it did. Willson was on the market for a week before re-signing with the Seahawks on a modest deal worth between $1.8MM and $3MM. “To be honest with you it was a miserable process,’’ Willson said. “Not what I expected. I don’t know what day I officially signed back but it wasn’t the first few days and it was, whatever it was — four days of being unemployed felt like about four months.’’ Willson added that he has no complaints about the end result, noting that he’s still “making quite a bit of money playing football.” The 27-year-old has never been a prolific pass catcher during his four-plus seasons, meaning he could once again have trouble scoring a coveted long-term contract by next spring.
Eagles executive vice president Howie Roseman erred in handing guard Isaac Seumalo a starting job before training camp began, Paul Domowitch of Philly.com opines. Roseman traded Allen Barbre to Denver on July 26 to further drive home the point that he wanted Seumalo in the starting lineup, but the second-year man is already headed to the bench in favor of Chance Warmack after a pair of rough games. The Eagles’ hope was that Seumalo would start all 16 games at left guard this year and then, perhaps as early as next season, shift to center to take over for Jason Kelce, Domowitch suggests. Kelce’s under contract for a few more years, so if Seumalo doesn’t return to a No. 1 role this season and show marked improvement, perhaps the former will stick around in 2018.

NFL Workout Updates: 9/22/17

September 22nd, 2017 at 7:50pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

Friday’s workout updates (Twitter links via Howard Balzer):

Cleveland Browns

LB Austin Calitro

Indianapolis Colts

CBs Stanley Jean-Baptiste, D.J. Killings, Tre Roberson

Minnesota Vikings

TEs Brandon Barnes, Gavin Escobar, Scott Orndoff; S A.J. Hendy; DEs Pat O’Connor, Devin Taylor

Frank Gore Could Be Playing Final Season

September 22nd, 2017 at 6:17pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

The 2017 season represents Colts running back Frank Gore‘s age-34 campaign and a contract year. Given those two realities, the 13th-year man realizes he could be approaching the very end of his illustrious NFL career.

Looking ahead to the offseason, Gore told Zak Keefer of the Indianapolis Star: “I will really think about how I feel after the season and how I feel I played this year. If I feel good, a team wants me and I wanna play? Then I’ll play. But if I can’t do it no more, I won’t do it no more.”

Gore is one of only six NFLers still around from the 2005 draft, notes Keefer, who adds that he has outlasted the five running backs who went ahead of him that year by at least four seasons apiece. The former Miami star joined the 49ers as a third-round choice (65th overall) and evolved into one of the premier players in the franchise’s storied history. Gore spent a decade in San Francisco and totaled 11,073 rushing yards, nearly 4,000 more than second-place Joe Perry, on 4.5 yards per carry and made five Pro Bowls.

Gore left the 49ers in 2015 to sign a three-year, $12MM deal with the Colts, who had Super Bowl aspirations at the time. Unfortunately for the Colts and Gore, though, they haven’t made the playoffs with him in the fold and, at 0-2 and with Andrew Luck injured, look likely to extend their postseason drought to three years this season. Still, Gore doesn’t regret making Indianapolis his second (and potentially final) NFL stop.

“If I had to do it again, I still would make the same decision,” Gore said. “Things just didn’t go our way the last two years, starting with our leader. He got hurt. I’ve played with, what, five quarterbacks?”

Gore has played with six quarterbacks in Indianapolis, to be exact, including the uninspiring duo of Scott Tolzien and Jacoby Brissett this year. While Gore still managed at least 260 carries, 957 yards and four rushing touchdowns in each of his first two seasons as a Colt, they’ve scaled back his workload in 2017. He only has 24 carries through two games, putting him on pace for 192 (which would be his fewest since a 127-attempt rookie season), and 88 yards.

Despite his slow start this season, Gore’s overall output as a Colt has helped him vault into eighth on the all-time rushing list, 10th in carries and a 23rd-place tie in ground TDs, and he could ascend to the top five in each of the first two categories by year’s end. That wouldn’t be a bad way to exit for Gore, who already has a plan for the next chapter of his football life.

“I want to help in the front office,” he revealed.

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 9/22/17

September 22nd, 2017 at 5:42pm CST by Sam Robinson

We’ll keep track of today’s practice squad moves here:

Detroit Lions

Signed: DE Alex Barrett
Cut: DE Earl Okine

New England Patriots

Signed: QB Taylor Heinicke, WR Riley McCarron

New Orleans Saints

Signed: LB Ben Heeney

Chiefs Work Out Jace Amaro

September 22nd, 2017 at 5:20pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

The Chiefs worked out free agent tight end Jace Amaro on Thursday, Terez A. Paylor of the Kansas City Star tweets.

The 25-year-old Amaro has been on the hunt for a third NFL employer since the Titans cut him Sept. 3. Amaro, formerly with Texas Tech, entered the league as a second-round pick of the Jets in 2014 and totaled 38 receptions and two touchdowns in his rookie season. The Jets cut him prior to Week 1 last year, though, and he went on to appear in just three of the Titans’ games in 2016, catching three passes for 59 yards.

If he signs with Kansas City, Amaro would vie for a role behind star tight end Travis Kelce. Demetrius Harris is the only one of Kelce’s backups who has been a factor at all in the Chiefs’ offense this year, having hauled in two of Alex Smith‘s throws for 15 yards.

Ra’Shede Hageman Gets Six-Week Ban

September 22nd, 2017 at 4:42pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

The NFL has handed free agent defensive lineman Ra’Shede Hageman a six-week suspension as a result of a March 2016 domestic violence arrest, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports (via Twitter). Hageman faced misdemeanor charges of battery, cruelty to children, and interfering with calls for emergency assistance on the heels of his arrest, and the league began investigating him in September 2016.

Although Hageman escaped serious legal punishment, his off-field issues led the Falcons to part with him on Sept. 4. At that point, the league placed the 27-year-old on the commissioner’s exempt list as it continued its investigation.

“Really as an organization, we weren’t comfortable with where things were,” head coach Dan Quinn said after the Falcons cut Hageman (via Vaughn McClure of ESPN.com). “As you know, it’s an ongoing investigation through the league, so I won’t comment much further past that.”

Hageman was someone the Falcons had high hopes for before he forced them to move on from him. Atlanta used the 37th selection in the 2014 draft on the ex-Minnesota standout, and its coaching staff was reportedly enamored of him this past offseason. All told, Hageman appeared in 44 of the Falcons’ 48 regular-season games and combined for 15 starts during his three-year tenure with the club. The majority of his work came in 2015, when he tallied career highs in starts (11), defensive snaps (419) and tackles (27).

Pats Work Out Lamarr Houston, Philly Brown

September 22nd, 2017 at 4:18pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

Outside linebacker Lamarr Houston was among those to work out for the Patriots on Friday, Field Yates of ESPN reports (on Twitter). The team also auditioned a pair of wide receivers – Philly Brown and Tavarres King – as well as defensive tackle Stefan Charles, Mike Reiss of ESPN.com tweets.

New England joins New Orleans as the second team Houston has tried out for since the Bears released him from injured reserve Sept. 6. Knee injuries, including two ACL tears, slowed Houston in recent seasons and led to his release from Chicago, which signed the ex-Raider to a five-year, $35MM contract prior to the 2014 campaign. Houston appeared in just two games last season, though he’s only two years removed from an eight-sack showing.

If Houston signs with the Patriots and returns to something resembling his past form, the 30-year-old could provide a boost to a Patriots defense in need of help. The reigning Super Bowl champions’ stop unit ranks last in DVOA through two weeks and has only totaled four sacks.

On the other side of the ball, the Pats haven’t been the picture of health this year at wideout, which could explain their interest in Brown. The 25-year-old has been available since the Bills waived him Sept. 3, and he has worked out with the Jets, Saints and Pats since then. Brown spent the first three years of his career in Carolina, where he hauled in 79 catches, 1,019 yards and seven touchdowns across 43 games (22 starts).

Latest On Cowboys’ Ezekiel Elliott

September 22nd, 2017 at 3:54pm CST by Zachary Links

The Cowboys will have Ezekiel Elliott in uniform when they face the Cardinals on Monday night. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals will not hold oral arguments until Monday, October 2, sports attorney Daniel Wallach has learned (Twitter link).

The NFL was pressing the Fifth Circuit for an emergency stay in the Elliott case, essentially reversing a previous decision from a lower court. The league was hoping for a ruling sooner rather than later, but Roger Goodell & Co. will have to wait longer to see if/when they can enact the six-game suspension on the running back.

Had the league won the decision on Friday, a suspension for Monday night would have been in play. In theory, the league may have even suspended Elliott hours before kickoff with a legal victory during business hours on Monday. Now they won’t have the opportunity to bench Elliott until October, at least. At minimum, we’ll see Elliott on the field through Week 4 when the Cowboys face the Rams.

Minor NFL Transactions: 9/22/17

September 22nd, 2017 at 3:26pm CST by Zachary Links

Today’s minor moves:

The Patriots are promoting defensive end Geneo Grissom to the active roster, according to Mike Reiss of ESPN.com (on Twitter). The Pats have been paying Grisson handsomely by taxi squad standards – $36,716 per week – and they think rather highly of the former third-round pick. Given the way the Pats’ pass rush was depleted over the offseason, they could use his production. The 25-year-old has appeared in 26 games for the Patriots over the last two years but has yet to really make a mark.
The Browns have promoted practice squad wide receiver Jordan Leslie in advance of Sunday’s game (Twitter link via Ian Rapoport of NFL.com). Given Corey Coleman’s injury, Leslie should be in for some playing time. To make room, Cleveland waived wide receiver Reggie Davis.
The Bengals have waived wide receiver Jake Kumerow from injured reserve.