HEADLINES

Month: October 2024

AFC Notes: Titans, Henry, Jets

July 5th, 2019 at 5:06pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

Derrick Henry had a very interesting 2018 season. He started off very slowly and grew frustrated with his role splitting time with Dion Lewis in the Titans’ backfield. In eight of the team’s first 12 games, he had 46 or fewer rushing yards. Then he caught fire over the final month of the season, putting in consecutive performances of 238 and 170 yards on the ground. In that 238-yard game he had one of the most electrifying plays of the entire NFL season, with his 99-yard instant-classic touchdown run where he threw multiple defenders to the ground. Henry became the team’s featured back down the stretch, and Lewis got reduced to a bit role.

It created an interesting situation heading into 2019, as Henry enters the final year of his rookie deal. We’ve already heard that Lewis’ roster spot is safe, but it’s unclear how they plan on splitting up work, especially with offensive coordinator Matt LaFleur now gone to Green Bay. Speaking of his contract situation, Paul Kuharsky of PaulKuharsky.com writes that it will be “complicated.” Kuharsky opines that “if he has the big year they need from him, he will command more money than he is worth. And if he doesn’t, then he won’t be worth having.” A second-round pick in 2016, Henry will likely be seeking a big payday next offseason. The coaching staff and front office have never seemed completely enamored with him even when he’s producing, and it’ll be fascinating to see how they handle his free agency. Kuharsky is vehemently against the Titans using the franchise tag on the Alabama running back, writing that the “best hope for the Titans regarding Henry going forward is that he had a very good year and the market is soft for him anyway” next spring.

Here’s more from around the AFC:

  • Speaking of the Titans, it sounds like third-year receiver Taywan Taylor could be ticketed for a bigger role in 2019. The Titans’ receiving situation has been inconsistent at best the past couple of years, and they still need to figure out a starter opposite Corey Davis on the outside. “Honestly, I just think we need to give him more opportunities,” Tennessee’s receivers coach Rob Moore said recently of Taylor, per Jim Wyatt of the team’s official site. Taylor has shown a lot of promise since entering the league as the 72nd overall pick back in 2017, but hasn’t gotten a ton of consistent looks. The Titans signed Adam Humphries to a big contract this offseason, but he’ll be playing mostly out of the slot. Taylor had 466 yards in just 13 games last year, and it sounds like he could have a leg-up on the competition for the starting spot opposite Davis.
  • It sounds like Jamison Crowder is going to have a big role with the Jets. Crowder was always highly regarded during his time in Washington, but never truly broke out and injuries ruined his 2018 campaign. He signed a three-year, $28.5MM deal this offseason, and New York is apparently very high on him, per Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News. Mehta writes that new coach “Adam Gase has made no secret about how much he’ll lean on pass catchers inside the numbers in his scheme.” Crowder will be operating out of the slot, and it looks like he might thrive in Gase’s offense. That spot is important to us,” Gase said of slot receivers. “(It) really kind of creates the tempo of the offense.” He continued by saying “a lot of the slot receivers, historically have been not guys that are threats down the field. He’s a threat down the field, but at the same time he can catch it and create, which is going to be interesting for us because we’ve never had a guy who can really juice it up.” Mehta also writes that Sam Darnold already feels fondly toward his new safety blanket.
  • In case you missed it, Jets left tackle Kelvin Beachum is unlikely to be back with the team in 2020.

Negotiations Between Raiders, Rookie Josh Jacobs Not Going Well

July 5th, 2019 at 1:41pm CST by Rory Parks

The Raiders have just one unsigned pick from this year’s draft class, RB Josh Jacobs. Jacobs is expected to be a featured part of the club’s revamped offensive attack in 2019, but according to Vic Tafur of The Athletic, negotiations between player and team are not going well.

Tafur adds that there is a growing belief that Jacobs will not report to training camp on July 23, when rookies are scheduled to arrive. Of course, since the 2011 collective bargaining agreement, rookie holdouts have become quite rare, given that the contract values and signing bonuses are predetermined. Some first-year players have taken issue with offset language, but Jacob’s concerns apparently involve the payment schedule of his signing bonus.

As the name implies, signing bonuses are fully guaranteed at signing, but as we have seen in the saga of the Seahawks and former second-round draft choice Malik McDowell, the team does not have to pay the full amount of the bonus upfront and instead can pay in installments. So, since McDowell sustained a non-football injury and was ultimately cut, Seattle did not pay him the final installment of his signing bonus and is now suing him to recover another installment.

Although Jacobs is presumably not planning to suffer a non-football injury of his own, it sounds as if he wants to paid a larger chunk of his signing bonus (or all of it) as soon as he puts pen to paper.

Given his background — Jacobs spent some of his childhood homeless and sleeping in a car — that’s easy to understand. But it would also seem to be in his best interests to get this matter resolved and to start seizing control of Oakland’s starting RB job. After all, head coach Jon Gruden has spoken glowingly of Jacobs, and Tafur believes the Alabama product could be the three-down workhorse that Gruden is looking for.

When Jacobs does sign, he will receive a four-year, $11.9MM deal with a $6.7MM signing bonus.

East Notes: Zeke, Giants, McCoy

July 5th, 2019 at 1:20pm CST by Rory Parks

Cowboys RB Ezekiel Elliott managed to escape a suspension for a potentially troublesome incident in May, but Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk suggests that if Elliott should even come close to violating the league’s personal conduct policy again, the punishment will be severe. Commissioner Roger Goodell gave everyone in the league office this week off, so Florio believes the only reason for Goodell to summon Elliott to league headquarters on Tuesday was to sufficiently scare him into staying on the straight and narrow. Goodell has been less harsh with players who run afoul of league policies in recent history, but if Elliott should put another toe out of line in the future, the commissioner will likely hand out a lengthy ban, and his decision to not suspend Elliott this time will help to justify such a measure.

Now for more the league’s east divisions:

  • There do not seem to be any starting jobs up for grabs along the Giants‘ defensive line, even though the presumptive starters are young and mostly unproven. However, with that youth comes a great deal of potential, and one of the keys to Big Blue’s immediate prospects is the realization of that potential. Third-year player Dalvin Tomlinson, second-year talent B.J. Hill, and rookie Dexter Lawrence are expected to open the season atop the Giants’ D-line depth chart, as Paul Schwartz of the New York Post writes, and the addition of Lawrence allows Tomlinson to slide into a traditional nose tackle spot, to which he is better-suited.
  • In a separate 2019 positional preview piece, Schwartz examines the Giants‘ tight end group, which is headed by Evan Engram. Engram had a disappointing start to 2018, his second professional season, but when Odell Beckham missed the final four games of the season, Engram excelled and finished with some positive momentum. Now that OBJ is in Cleveland, New York will need Engram to show more of the same in a crucial year for his development. The club’s second TE, Rhett Ellison, is a favorite of HC Pat Shurmur, while returnee Scott Simonson will have to hold off C.J. Conrad — a UDFA who impressed this spring — and former Syracuse QB Eric Dungey, another UDFA who is trying to make the club as a TE/gadget player.
  • Vic Carucci of BNBlitz.com says it’s possible that Bills GM Brandon Beane and LeSean McCoy have adamantly pushed the notion that McCoy will be the team’s starter in 2019 in order to generate some trade interest. After all, the club does have a large stable of RBs, and McCoy, a 2020 free agent, appears to be nearing the end of his career. But Carucci says he has heard nothing to indicate that Buffalo is seeking to trade McCoy.
  • In the same piece, Carucci says he believes Levi Wallace will start for the Bills at cornerback opposite TreDavious White.
  • In case you missed it, we heard this morning that Cowboys edge rusher Randy Gregory will be applying for reinstatement shortly.
  • Also from this morning: the Giants may deploy safety Jabrill Peppers as their primary punt returner.

Former Patriots LB Tedy Bruschi Suffers Stroke

July 5th, 2019 at 12:30pm CST by Rory Parks

Former Patriots linebacker and current ESPN analyst Tedy Bruschi suffered a stroke Thursday, per a statement from his family. The statement, which can be found on the Tedy’s Team Instagram page, reads as follows:

“Yesterday afternoon, Tedy had a stroke, known as a TIA. He recognized his warning signs immediately: arm weakness, face drooping and speech difficulties. Tedy is recovering well, and would like to thank the nurses, doctors and staff at Sturdy Memorial Hospital for all they have done. Tedy and his family thank you for your ongoing encouragement, and kindly ask for privacy at this time.”

The good news is that Bruschi is, as the statement indicates, recovering well. The bad news is that this is not the first stroke Bruschi has suffered. Just three days after playing in Super Bowl XXXIX in February 2005, Bruschi had a mild stroke that stemmed from a congenital heart defect. He returned to the playing field later that same year, appearing in nine games (all starts) for New England during the 2005 campaign.

That experience, which led to the creation of Tedy’s Team — a foundation dedicated to raising funds for stroke research — also apparently helped Bruschi to recognize his symptoms on Thursday and to immediately seek medical attention.

One of the most beloved players in New England franchise history and a member of the club’s Hall of Fame, Bruschi spent his entire career with the Pats, winning three Super Bowls during that time. Although it took a couple of years for the Arizona product to become a full-time starter after New England made him a third-round pick in the 1996 draft, he ultimately played in 211 games for the team, starting 156 of them (including playoffs). He racked up over 1,100 tackles in his career, along with 35 sacks, 14 interceptions, and four pick-sixes. He received one Pro Bowl nod and shared 2005 Comeback Player of the Year honors with Steve Smith.

We at PFR wish Bruschi the best in his recovery.

Giants To Use Jabrill Peppers In Return Game?

July 5th, 2019 at 11:09am CST by Rory Parks

New Giants safety Jabrill Peppers, whom the Browns selected in the first round of the 2017 draft, is still highly-regarded in NFL front offices. Peppers, of course, was a key part of the trade that sent Odell Beckham to Cleveland, and Browns GM John Dorsey was loathe to let him go, while Giants GM Dave Gettleman was adamant that the former Michigan star be included in the deal.

We have already heard that Big Blue envisions a versatile role for Peppers. Although the club sees him as a classic strong safety, Peppers will not line up in the same position from snap to snap and will be asked to line up deep, up near the line, at slot cornerback, and at nickel linebacker. And, as Ryan Dunleavy of NJ.com writes, the Giants had their starting safeties on the field for almost all of the team’s defensive snaps last year, so Peppers — who didn’t play more than 76% of the defensive snaps in either of his two seasons with the Browns — could be looking at a healthy increase in playing time.

But will that increase carry over to special teams? Dunleavy observes that the Giants’ return game was a mess last season, and Peppers could help in a big way. He was a quality return man with the Wolverines, and while he has not been as electric in that regard at the professional level, he has been at least serviceable. New York’s coaching staff thinks he can thrive as a returner if he continues to get the opportunity.

Special teams coordinator Thomas McGaughey said, “[Peppers] is a for-sure ball-handler. Can make all the cuts full speed. He just brings juice.”

It remains to be seen whether Peppers’ heavier workload on the defensive side of the ball will force the Giants to keep him on the sidelines when they send out the special teams units. But Dunleavy expects Peppers to be the primary punt returner and to flank Corey Coleman on kickoff returns (Dunleavy believes Coleman will remain the team’s No. 1 kickoff returner given the stability he brought to that role last season).

If Peppers does need a breather, the club also has the sure-handed Golden Tate and rookie Darius Slayton at its disposal.

Latest On Jeffery Simmons’ Recovery

July 5th, 2019 at 9:40am CST by Rory Parks

Despite two major issues that damaged his draft stock, DT Jeffery Simmons was selected by the Titans with the No. 19 overall pick of this year’s draft. When team owner Amy Adams Strunk signed off on the selection, that helped Simmons put one of those issues, an assault against a woman that Simmons committed while in high school, in the rearview mirror. And now, Simmons is a little closer to overcoming his second hurdle, a torn ACL that he suffered in February.

In early June, Simmons told Erik Bacharach of the Nashville Tennessean that he had not yet started running or jogging. He said, “I’m not rushing anything. If I don’t play this year, I’m fine with it, but my goal is to get healthy on my time and on this team’s time. There’s no time limit [on] when I can come back. Every day I come to work, I’m putting my mindset, you know, ‘I want to get back today.’ That’s how I come to work everyday and try to get better.”

But Simmons recently posted to his Instagram account a clip of himself running across a football field (h/t Titans Tape on Twitter). The clip is not long, and much of it is in slow motion, but the fact that he has been cleared to run is a major step in the right direction.

Of course, as Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk points out, the fact that Simmons is running in a straight line does not mean that he will be ready to hit the practice field when training camp opens next month. He likely won’t be cleared until the end of the regular season, and depending on where the Titans are in the playoff race at that point, he may ultimately miss his entire rookie campaign. But progress is progress, and Tennessee is doubtlessly encouraged by this latest development.

The Titans’ D-line is still a bit thin outside of star Jurrell Casey, and Simmons’ presence could go a long way towards bolstering that unit.

Randy Gregory To Apply For Reinstatement

July 5th, 2019 at 8:41am CST by Rory Parks

Cowboys edge rusher Randy Gregory, who has been been banned indefinitely for another violation of the league’s substance abuse policy, will petition the NFL for reinstatement, as David Moore of the Dallas Morning News reports. Gregory hopes to be cleared in time to take part in training camp, which opens at the end of this month.

Gregory’s talent is undeniable, but he has not been able to shake his demons and get his professional career on track. Due to a failed drug test at the combine and potential mental health concerns, he tumbled to the second round of the 2015 NFL draft despite having top-10 ability. After a nondescript rookie campaign, he was hit with a four-game suspension in February 2016 for violating the substance abuse policy. That same year, Gregory failed a second drug test, resulting in an additional 10-game ban. Months later, we learned that Gregory had failed a third drug test, but since the league did not immediately institute a suspension for that violation, Gregory was able to play in the final two games of the 2016 regular season.

He was suspended for the entire 2017 campaign, but he was granted a conditional reinstatement that allowed him to play in 2018. Appearing mostly in a reserve role, Gregory managed six sacks and 25 tackles in 14 games last year while flashing the promise that made him a collegiate star at Nebraska. Unfortunately, this offseason brought with it news of another failed test and the aforementioned indefinite ban.

When news of the suspension first broke, we heard that the league was unlikely to revisit Gregory’s case until 2020 at the earliest. However, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones remained hopeful that Gregory would be cleared to play sometime in 2019, and he has remained steadfast in his support of his troubled defender. To that end, Dallas signed Gregory to an extension just over a month after the indefinite suspension was announced. Provided that Gregory is allowed to play, the extension will keep him under club control through 2020.

Moore reports that no paperwork has been filed yet, but the process is underway and the required documents are expected to be submitted shortly. Moore believes it’s unlikely that Roger Goodell will fully reinstate Gregory by the end of the month, though the commissioner could allow Gregory to take part in camp and preseason contests with an understanding he will still miss a specified number of games once the regular season begins.

Moore’s sources also indicate that Gregory has not failed or missed a drug test during his latest suspension, and that he wouldn’t be applying for reinstatement if he had slipped up. That’s encouraging news in and of itself, and given Goodell’s recent pattern of working with players battling substance abuse issues, perhaps Gregory will, in fact, suit up for Dallas this year.

NFL Release Candidates Series

July 4th, 2019 at 7:00pm CST by Zachary Links

As NFL rosters begin to take shape this summer, teams will have some difficult choices to make. Despite having varying degrees of potential and upside, many noteworthy veterans will be released between now and the 53-man deadline.

Here at PFR, we’ve been profiling some of the more interesting release candidates from around the NFL. In case you missed them, here are our entries in the Release Candidates series, so far:

NFL Extension Candidates Series

July 4th, 2019 at 5:00pm CST by Zachary Links

Here at PFR, we’ve been previewing some of the league’s top candidates for big money contract extensions. Here’s the full rundown of our Extension Candidates entries, with plenty more to come throughout the summer: 

Happy Fourth Of July!

July 4th, 2019 at 4:00pm CST by Zachary Links

Today, we celebrate the Fourth of July, the anniversary of the United States’ Declaration of Independence from the rule of the British monarchy. It’s a day for picnics, barbecues, fireworks, parades, pool parties, and talking about football, among other things. It’s a day off from work (er, for most of us), and that includes just about everyone in the football world. 

For those of you who are perusing Pro Football Rumors in between burger flips and cannonballs, we’d like to wish you a happy Fourth of July! And, to our international readers: Stay tuned, because the NFL’s offseason calendar will quickly pick up steam.

Today might not bring us news of record-breaking extensions or big-ticket signings, but July will feature plenty of breaking news and insightful analysis on PFR. Remember, we’re just 63 days away from a brand new NFL season.

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