2017 December - Pro Football Rumors

Saints Place LB A.J. Klein On IR

December 19th, 2017 at 5:19pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Saints will be without one of their starting linebackers down the stretch and into the playoffs, as the club announced they’ve placed A.J. Klein on injured reserve. In a corresponding move, New Orleans has signed tight end John Phillips.

Klein, 26, inked a three-year, $15MM with the Saints this offseason, staying in the NFC South after four seasons with the Panthers. While the New Orleans defense has experienced a remarkable turnaround in 2017, Klein hasn’t necessarily been a large part of that effort despite playing roughly three quarters of the club’s defensive snaps. The Saints are still just 23rd in rush defense DVOA, while Klein himself has graded as only the No. 82 linebacker among 92 qualifiers, per Pro Football Focus.

While the loss of Klein will certainly lead to adjustments along the Saints’ front seven, the team does possess an ample amount of linebacker depth. Veterans such as Manti Te’o, Gerald Hodges, and the recently-signed Jonathan Freeny are all candidates to join the starting lineup opposite Craig Robertson.

Phillips, meanwhile, is now back in New Orleans after appearing in eight games for the club a season ago. An effective blocker but not much of an offensive weapon, the 30-year-old Phillips was with the Saints during training camp before being waived off injured reserve in September.

Texans Work Out S Calvin Pryor

December 19th, 2017 at 4:57pm CST by Zachary Links

The Texans worked out former Jets safety Calvin Pryor on Tuesday, according to a source who spoke with Aaron Wilson of The Houston Chronicle (on Twitter).

Nicknamed the “Louisville Slugger,” former Jets GM John Idzik believed that Pryor would bring some old school hard hits to the Jets secondary as a longtime starter. Unfortunately, the first-round pick was a bust in New York. This offseason, Gang Green gave up on him and traded him the Browns. His time in Cleveland was short-lived after he got into a pre-practice fight with teammate Ricardo Louis. Pryor hoped for a restart with the Jaguars, but he was released after spending much of the year on IR.

Pryor may never fulfill his potential, but he could be a good future/reserve candidate in Houston. In 2016, Pryor finished out with 62 tackles and six passes defended in 15 games, so he’s shown that he at least has the talent to be on someone’s 53-man roster.

Chargers Place TE Hunter Henry On IR

December 19th, 2017 at 4:52pm CST by Zachary Links

The Chargers announced that they have placed tight end Hunter Henry on injured reserve due to a small laceration on his kidney. In related moves, the Bolts promoted guard Brett Boyko to the active roster and signed tackle Andrew Wylie to the practice squad.

Henry suffered the painful injury during Saturday night’s game against the Chiefs. It’s a tough loss for the Chargers as they try and fight their way into the playoffs. The Chargers face long odds of winning the AFC West, but they have a slightly better chance of securing the final Wild Card spot in the AFC. In order to have any chance at the postseason, the Chargers will have to beat the Jekyll-and-Hyde Jets this weekend.

Henry’s year ends with 45 catches for 611 yards and four touchdowns. As of this writing, he is tied for second with Melvin Gordon in team receiving TDs, and third in catches and yards. The advanced metrics were also a huge fan of his work. Henry placed third amongst all tight ends in performance this year, according to Pro Football Focus.

Buccaneers Place J.R. Sweezy On IR

December 19th, 2017 at 3:47pm CST by Zachary Links

The Buccaneers announced that they have placed guard J.R. Sweezy and linebacker Adarius Glanton on injured reserve. Glanton had surgery on his broken leg on Monday night. Sweezy, meanwhile, should be able to avoid surgery for his lower leg injury, according to head coach Dirk Koetter.

Sweezy signed a five-year, $32.5MM deal with the Buccaneers in 2016 but he was forced to miss all of last year with a back ailment. This year, he stayed healthy for the majority of the season until a new injury caught up with him. In April, the Bucs reworked his deal to give them some additional protection against potential health issues.

By starting in all 14 games to date, Sweezy has likely satisfied the contract escalator in his deal that will restore his base pay to $6.5MM in 2018.

Packers Place Aaron Rodgers On IR

December 19th, 2017 at 3:12pm CST by Zachary Links

As expected, the Packers are placing quarterback Aaron Rodgers on injured reserve. With two games to go and zero chance of making the playoffs, there is no reason for Green Bay to jeopardize his long-term health.

Rodgers was out for a big chunk of the season after undergoing shoulder surgery. With an accelerated rehab program, the quarterback beat out the estimates of many medical professionals and managed to take the field this past weekend against the Panthers. Unfortunately, the 31-24 defeat ended any chance the Packers had at extending their season.

Rodgers is among the game’s best quarterbacks and one of its fiercest competitors. He may be displeased with the team’s decision, but it was the logical call for the Packers to make. Rodgers now has a head start on making a full recovery in advance of next season. The team also removed any possibility that he could aggravate the injury in this season’s final games.

Rodgers’ season ends after just seven games played. Even in that small sample size, Rodgers played like a top quarterback with a 64.7% completion percentage and 16 TDs against six interceptions. With two weeks to go in the regular season, Pro Football Focus has him ranked as the league’s ninth-best QB, ahead of Alex Smith, Philip Rivers, Kirk Cousins, and several other notable names. Remarkably, his solid 84.4 overall score is his worst showing since taking over as the Packers’ full-time signal caller in 2008.

This marks the first time that the Packers have missed the playoffs since the 2008 season.

Lions Place WR T.J. Jones On IR

December 19th, 2017 at 3:07pm CST by Zachary Links

The Lions will have to make their playoff push without the services of their No. 4 wide receiver. On Tuesday, the Lions placed T.J. Jones on injured reserve. To take his place on the roster, the Lions signed wide receiver Andy Jones (no relation).

T.J. Jones exited Saturday’s win over the Bears with a shoulder injury. His season ends with 30 catches for 399 yards. Without him, recent pickup Bradley Marquez will move up a spot on the depth chart in support of Marvin Jones, Golden Tate, and third-round pick Kenny Golladay.

Andy Jones, 23, has spent time with the Cowboys, Texans, and Lions since breaking into the league as a UDFA in 2016. After nearly three months on Detroit’s practice squad, he hopes to record his first career reception.

Heading into a Christmas Eve showdown with the Bengals, the Lions have a 13% chance of reaching the postseason, according to the NY Times’ playoff odds calculator. If they lose, they will effectively be out of the running for an NFC Wild Card spot.

Diddy Is Serious About Buying Panthers

December 19th, 2017 at 2:51pm CST by Zachary Links

When word broke of the Panthers going up for sale, Sean “Diddy” Combs rushed to put his name in the conversation. Those close to the rapper turned business mogul say that this is not a publicity stunt. He’s also intent on looping quarterback Colin Kaepernick into the ownership group.

“The interest is real and it’s moving forward,” a source said of Combs and Kaepernick working together (via Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports). “They want to make this a reality. It’s serious.”

Some very real questions remain about whether Combs has enough financial capital to make a play for the Panthers. As Robinson notes, the most recent Forbes evaluation put the value of the franchise at $2.3 billion. Typically, teams in the major three North American sports will sell for even more than their evaluations, so a 100% sale of the Panthers could be in the range of $2.5 billion. Buying Jerry Richardson‘s 48% stake in the team could cost about $1.2 billion, which is more than Diddy’s projected net worth of $820MM.

Kaepernick, of course, does not have the kind of cash needed to own a large chunk of an NFL team, but he could theoretically be a minority owner in the group and gain additional equity by reeling in bigger fish. A source close to the QB tells Robinson that he has already begun reaching out to “business leaders, venture capitalists, and sports icons” who could bring the big bucks. Overall, Combs and Kaepernick envision a group that is about 70% black to more closely reflect the makeup of the league’s players.

If Diddy is intent on positioning himself as the largest shareholder of the group, he could face some pushback from NFL owners. Typically, the league prefers owners who can make the purchase with mostly cash. They also prefer an ownership group is not overly fractured.

For what it’s worth, Diddy may have the support of Patriots owner Robert Kraft.

“I’m a big fan of Diddy,” Kraft told TMZ this week. “You ask him. I’m a big fan of his. … He’s a good businessman. He’s a very good businessman and I have a lot of respect for Diddy.”

Steelers Sign RB Stevan Ridley

December 19th, 2017 at 2:26pm CST by Zachary Links

Stevan Ridley‘s jersey collection continues to grow. On Tuesday, the Steelers announced that they have signed the running back. He’ll replace fellow RB James Conner, who is headed to IR after undergoing knee surgery.

Ridley’s best football came during his four-year run with the Patriots, particularly in 2012. In that campaign, he totaled more than 1,200 rushing yards as well as 12 rushing touchdowns. Unfortunately, injuries have altered the course of his once-promising career. Since parting ways with the Pats, he’s been employed by the Jets, Lions, Colts, Falcons, Broncos, and Vikings. He has not been able to replicate that ’12 stat line at any of those stops. With Pittsburgh, he’ll be asked to serve as the third tailback behind starter Le’Veon Bell and Fitzgerald Toussaint, the team’s de facto No. 2 RB.

Conner, a third-round pick of the Steelers in 2017, was one of the most inspirational stories to come out of this year’s draft. The Pennsylvania native and Pitt product bounced back from a Hodgkin’s lymphoma diagnosis (not to mention a torn MCL) in 2015 to conclude his college career with a vengeance in 2016. A cancer-free Conner turned in his second thousand-yard campaign with the Panthers (1,092, on 5.1 yards per carry) and combined for 20 touchdowns (16 rushing, four receiving). This year, he became Bell’s primary understudy. His season ends with 32 catches for 144 yards.

Browns Work Out Roberto Aguayo

December 19th, 2017 at 1:25pm CST by Zachary Links

The Browns are kicking the tires on some notable names as the season winds down. Kicker Roberto Aguayo and tight end Gavin Escobar were among the players to audition for Cleveland on Monday, according to Adam Caplan of ESPN.com (Twitter link).

Last year, the Bucs traded up to select Aguayo in the second-round. It was a perplexing move at the time and it backfired even quicker than anyone could have imagined. Prior to this season, the Buccaneers waived the kicker.

“You never feel good when you shatter someone’s dream,” GM Jason Licht said at the time. “That is always tough, especially someone you had such high hopes for. You don’t have good feelings about that. It is a little bit of a sense of, I don’t want to say relief, but we’ve ripped off the band-aid, and we move on. We’re moving forward.”

Luckily for the Bucs, the Bears claimed Aguayo and took on the remainder of his contract. He never saw live action in Chicago, however, and the Bears quickly waived him. This time around, there were no takers for his $400K+ salary guarantee. He went on to have a stint on the Panthers’ practice squad, but that too was short lived.

Escobar, also a former second-round draft pick, never blossomed into the downfield threat the Cowboys hoped he’d be. The tight end worked out for roughly one-third of the league’s teams this year and had a cup of coffee with Baltimore before being put back on to the free agent pile. He appeared in two games for the Ravens, but did not record a reception.

In Escobar’s four seasons with Dallas, he started just seven games. His had at least 100 receiving yards in his first two seasons, but combined for just 12 receptions, 94 yards, and two touchdowns in 2015 and 2016.

Quarterback Stephen Morris, punter Jeff Locke, and four other players also worked out for the Browns.

Jeff Fisher Eyeing Browns, Colts, Bears?

December 19th, 2017 at 11:55am CST by Zachary Links

Are you ready for the return of Jeff Fisher? The former Titans and Rams head coach is looking to get back in the NFL and it sounds like he has his eye on a trio of potential openings. Fisher sees himself as a fit for the Browns, Colts, and Bears, should those jobs become available, according to Mike Jurecki of 98.7 FM (Twitter link).

Despite 22 years of head coaching experience, Fisher would not be a particularly sexy hire for any NFL team. He’s had five 8-8 seasons and four 7-9 seasons (plus one 7-8-1 campaign) as head coach, a stat that seemingly overshadows his successful playoff teams in Tennessee.

Fisher’s second act with the Rams did not go as planned, but he remains extremely well connected in league circles and it would not be surprising to see him at least land an interview or two. Depending on how things go from there, Fisher could be running things on the sidelines once again.

In his nearly five year run with the Rams, Fisher went 31-45-1 with no playoff appearances. He had better success with the Titans, though they reached the Super Bowl just once in his 17 years at the helm. Overall, Fisher owns a career 173-165-1 regular season record.

No one would be surprised if the Colts and Bears part ways with Chuck Pagano and John Fox, respectively. The Browns have pledged to bring Hue Jackson back for another season, but new GM John Dorsey has sidestepped questions about Jackson’s job security.