Today’s minor moves will be posted and updated here:
New Orleans Saints
- Signed: LB Vince Biegel
- Waived: CB Arthur Maulet
In a relatively short 16 game season, a slow start can be a death blow. Around 90% of teams who start the season 0-2 end up missing the playoffs. Some teams can put it behind them and turn their season around, but not many. The 2007 Giants started off 0-2 and ended up winning the Super Bowl, as did the 2001 Patriots.
There are currently seven teams sitting at 0-2, and none of their prospects look particularly bright. Several of them have solid franchise quarterbacks and recent playoff success, and none of them are giving up. So which, if any, has the best chance of turning around their disappointing campaigns?
Two teams in the NFC West are 0-2. The Seahawks have lost a pair of close games, both of which they had opportunities to win in the first quarter. The Cardinals on the other hand have been blown out twice, and have scored just six total points. The Seahawks have the clear advantage at quarterback, the Cardinals have David Johnson, and neither has much of an offensive line. The Cardinals have plenty of theoretical talent and a strong defense, while Russell Wilson has shown he’s capable of carrying a team in the past. Both teams will be returning home for do-or-die games in Week 3. The Cardinals get the Bears, while the Seahawks host the Cowboys.
The other two winless teams in the NFC are the Lions and Giants. Both teams have new head coaches and Matt Patricia and Pat Shurmur have both gotten off to terrible starts. The Lions’ defense has been a mess while Eli Manning has looked like he has very little left in the tank. Like Wilson, Stafford has carried successful teams in the past while the Giants have plenty of playmakers around Manning in Saquon Barkley, Evan Engram, and Odell Beckham. The Lions will host Patricia’s old team, the Patriots, on Sunday Night Football, while the Giants will face off against another winless team, the Texans.
The Texans have failed to meet expectations as Deshaun Watson returned from the torn ACL that cut his phenomenal 2017 season short. They understandably dropped a road opener to the Patriots, but lost a head-scratcher last week to the Titans in a game where Blaine Gabbert took all the snaps. They’ve got Watson and a slew of other big name players, but if they lose to the Giants on Sunday it will be awfully hard to rebound.
The last two 0-2 teams in the AFC are the Raiders and the Bills. Jon Gruden took a lot of heat for trading Khalil Mack, and hasn’t been able to deliver through two weeks. His team hung tough against the Rams in Week 1, then blew a late lead against the Broncos last week. The Bills have potentially the worst outlook of any of these teams. In the midst of a full blown rebuild, Buffalo was forced to bench Nathan Peterman after just one start. Josh Allen will be under center the rest of the way, and the season will be more focused on his development rather than winning games. The Raiders will travel to Miami in Week 3 to take on the Dolphins, while the Bills will head to Minnesota to face the Vikings.
Which of these teams do you think has the best chance of rebounding and turning the season around? Will we see the next ’07 Giants rise up from this crop of 0-2 teams? Vote in the poll below and weigh in with your thoughts in the comments section!
We’ll keep track of today’s practice squad updates here:
Cleveland Browns
- Signed: DL Brian Price
- Released: DL Zaycoven Henderson
New Orleans Saints
- Signed: QB J.T. Barrett
New York Jets
- Signed: WR ArDarius Stewart
- Released: WR Deontay Burnett
The Panthers have placed safety Da’Norris Searcy on IR, according to a team announcement. Searcy recently suffered his second concussion inside of a month, necessitating the move. 
Searcy, 29, suffered the first concussion in the Panthers’ second preseason game. In theory, he can return after eight weeks on IR, but no timetable has been given for the veteran.
Without Searcy, the Panthers will likely push rookie Rashaan Gaulden or Colin Jones into the starting lineup. Neither player is an ideal fill-in, so the Panthers may want to explore a free agent safety market that still includes the likes of former 49er Eric Reid.
Searcy joined the Panthers on a two-year, $5.7MM deal this offseason with the ability to make up to $3.1MM in 2017. A former fourth-round pick, Searcy managed 12 tackles and one interception last year while grading as the NFL’s No. 61 safety among 87 qualifiers, per Pro Football Focus.
Vikings running back Dalvin Cook has been officially ruled out for Sunday’s game against the Bills, the team announced on Friday. The same goes for defensive end Everson Griffen, who is dealing with a knee injury. 
Cook injured his hamstring last week in last week’s tie against the Packers. The injury may cost Cook time beyond this weekend’s game, as coach Mike Zimmer says that his availability is up in the air for the team’s short turnaround against the Rams on Thursday.
This was expected to be a bounce back season for Cook, but he has yet to find his footing in 2018. Cook averaged just 2.5 yards per carry in the Vikings’ season opener against the 49ers and he had just 38 yards rushing in last week’s contest against Green Bay.
The good news for the Vikings is that they can rely on Latavius Murray, one of the more talented RB2s in the NFL, to fill the void for however long Cook is out. They also have Michael Boone, and Roc Thomas on the roster, plus fullback C.J. Ham, so they might not have to go out-of-house for depth.
No surprise here, but Patriots coach Bill Belichick didn’t offer much insight on the newly-acquired Josh Gordon when speaking with reporters on Friday. When asked about the wide receiver and newly re-signed defensive back Cyrus Jones, Belichick said the two have “done as much as they can do in the few days they’ve been here, we’ll see how it goes,” (via Tom E. Curran of NBC Sports Boston).
Belichick went on to say that Gordon is a “smart kid” who has “picked up a lot,” so that could bode well as the former Browns standout tries to learn the Patriots’ playbook in short order.
Here’s more on the Pats:
- Speaking of Jones, his new two-year deal gives him the same base salaries he was set to make on his previous Patriots contract before they cut him, as Ben Volin of the Boston Globe tweets. That means the defensive back will earn $814K this year ($718K prorated) and $996K next year. The Patriots probably did that in order to convince Jones to forego restricted free agency next year. If the 2016 second-round pick plays up to his potential, it will be a worthwhile investment for New England.
- Former Patriots wide receiver Malcolm Mitchell filed an injury grievance against the team seeking his entire 2018 salary of $630K, Volin writes. Mitchell had six catches for 70 yards in the Patriots’ Super Bowl victory over the Falcons, but missed the entire 2017 season with a knee injury. He was cut in August without an injury designation, meaning that he was unable to recoup any of his salary. Mitchell will be examined by a neutral doctor selected jointly by the NFL and NFLPA and a neutral arbitrator will decide the case, as per the rules laid out in the collective bargaining agreement.
- The 49ers had interest in Gordon before he was traded to the Patriots, but they backed out towards the end.
Here at Pro Football Rumors, you’ll see a number of stories posted on players being cut, waived, or released by their NFL teams. While these terms are often used interchangeably, they’re not quite synonymous. A player who is “cut” has been removed from his team’s roster, but whether he is “waived” or “released” generally depends on his NFL experience.
Between the day after the Super Bowl and the following season’s trade deadline, players with less than four years of service time – or “accrued seasons” – have to pass through waivers after they’re cut by an NFL team. The other 31 clubs around the league have a day to place a waiver claim on that player, adding him to their roster and taking on his contract. That’s why we refer to these players as having been waived, rather than released.
If a player with more than four years of service time is cut between the Super Bowl and the trade deadline, he is not subjected to the waiver process, meaning he becomes a free agent immediately, able to sign with a new team right away if he so chooses.
This isn’t the case all year round, however. Once the trade deadline passes, any player who is cut by his team must pass through waivers, regardless of how many accrued seasons are on his résumé. So if a team cuts loose a 12-year veteran in Week 10 of the season, that player must pass through waivers unclaimed before he’d be free to sign with a team of his choice.
Here are a few more details on the waiver process:
- If two teams place a waiver claim on the same player, he is awarded to the team with the higher priority. Waiver priority is determined by the previous season’s standings — this year, for example, the Browns have first dibs, while the Super Bowl champion Eagles have 32nd priority.
- However, the waiver priority order will change starting in Week 4. At that point, waiver priority is determined by records of the current season.
- The window to claim a player closes at the end of the NFL’s business day, which is at 3:00pm central. So if a player is waived by one team on Monday, the other 31 clubs have until Tuesday afternoon to submit a claim. Players cut on Friday clear waivers (or are awarded to a new team) on the following Monday.
- Prior to the first cutdown date in training camp, injured players with fewer than four years of service time cannot be placed on injured reserve until they pass through waivers. Teams will cut this sort of player with a waived-injured designation, allowing other teams to place a claim if they so choose. If the player goes unclaimed, his team can place him on IR or agree to an injury settlement, then fully release him from the roster.
Note: This is a PFR Glossary entry, modified from a previous post by Luke Adams. Our glossary posts explain specific rules relating to free agency, trades, or other aspects of the NFL’s Collective Bargaining Agreement.
Before the Patriots acquired Josh Gordon, the 49ers were among the clubs to contact the Browns about Josh Gordon. Apparently, their interest didn’t last long. Niners GM John Lynch admits that he kicked the tires on the talented wide receiver, but ultimately it wasn’t worth the risk. 
“I think in that situation, like any situation, if there’s a chance to improve your team, you always look into it,” Lynch said on KNBR (transcription via Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle). “But in certain situations, particularly when you have knowledge of a player, you sit back and you weigh it. Sometimes it’s intriguing. But then, particularly when you have knowledge of someone, the more you look into it: You know what — we’re going to stay away from that.”
Clearly, Gordon’s previous trouble hurt his trade value. The Patriots first agreed to send a fifth-round pick to Cleveland in exchange for Gordon and a conditional seventh-round pick. Then, at the last minute, the Pats convinced the Browns to remove the conditions from the late selection, which essentially knocked the total price down to a sixth-rounder. Had there been comparable proposals elsewhere, one has to imagine the Browns would have pivoted to another team.
The 49ers may or may not regret the decision to pass on Gordon as they gear up for a Week 3 shootout against the Chiefs. Meanwhile, Gordon’s Patriots debut is expected to come on Sunday against the Lions.
The Cowboys expect wide receiver Terrance Williams to receive a two-to-four game suspension stemming from his May arrest in the near future, according to David Moore of the Dallas Morning News.
Williams won’t be handed a ban before Dallas’ Sunday tilt against Seattle, as the NFL doesn’t feel allowing a player to practice all week only to be suspended on a Friday is in the competitive interests of the game. But the feeling inside the Cowboys’ organization is that Williams will likely be notified of his impending punishment early next week, per Moore.
Williams was arrested in May after allegedly crashing his vehicle into a light pole, but he was never charged with driving under the influence. Instead, Williams faced a misdemeanor charge of public intoxication, a violation which was dismissed after Williams completed an alcohol awareness course and paid for damages, but the NFL still holds the right to issue its own response.
The Cowboys knew a Williams suspension was coming when they re-signed fellow wideout Brice Butler earlier this week, reports Moore. Butler joins a Dallas receiver depth chart that also includes Cole Beasley, Tavon Austin, Deonte Thompson, Michael Gallup, and Allen Hurns.
Delicia Gordon, the ex-girlfriend of Bills running back LeSean McCoy, will hold a press conference on Friday to explain why she is “certain” McCoy was involved in a July home invasion that left her battered and bloodied, writes Mike Rodak of ESPN.com. While Georgia police haven’t yet uncovered any direct evidence linking McCoy to the incident, Gordon is offering a $20K reward for information tying McCoy to the crime. Reports earlier this month indicated McCoy was not expected to face charges stemming from the invasion, while the NFL also hasn’t expressed any interest in suspending him. On the field, McCoy is questionable for Sunday’s contest against the Vikings as he deals with a rib injury.
- Chargers defensive tackle Corey Liuget is suing athletic trainer Ian Danney for $15MM in damages after Danney allegedly injected the former first-round pick with a banned NFL substance, as Eric D. Williams of ESPN.com details. Danney reportedly told Liuget he was using an over-the-counter anti-inflammatory to treat pain, but Liuget alleges the substance led to his four-game performance-enhancing drug suspension. Liuget ultimately accepted a hefty pay cut from Los Angeles, as his pay was slashed from $8MM to just $935K (with more money available via incentives). As Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets, Danney treats dozens of NFL players, so this case could be crucial on a league-wide basis.
- The Texans are open to moving veteran defensive back Kareem Jackson back-and-forth between safety and cornerback, as Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle writes. Jackson, a longtime corner, shifted to safety this offseason to replace Andre Hal, but moved back to corner against the Titans in Week 2. Now 30 years old, Jackson graded as just the No. 95 cornerback in 2017, per Pro Football Focus, so lining him up in that position certainly has its risks. Houston head coach Bill O’Brien said Jackson’s role will be determined on a week-to-week basis, and where Jackson lines up will affect whether Aaron Colvin (cornerback) or Justin Reid (safety) is viewed as a starter.
- Iowa State football coach Matt Campbell is a name to watch in NFL circles, according to Albert Breer of TheMMQB.com. A general manager brought up Campbell’s name this summer, per Breer, and another executive mentioned Campbell after the Cylcones competed with Oklahoma last weekend. Campbell, who was highly successful at Toledo before taking over the Iowa State program in 2016, finished with an 8-5 record last year.