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PFR Glossary: NFI List

July 4th, 2019 at 3:00pm CST by Zachary Links

The NFL’s “physically unable to perform” (PUP list) allows teams to park seriously injured players for a minimum of six regular season games without taking up a spot on the roster. Meanwhile, a similar designation exists for players who are unable to practice as a result of conditions unrelated to the team’s official football activities.

We’re talking about the NFL’s Non-Football Injury list, more commonly known as the NFI list. The name indicates that the designation is only for injuries that occur off of the gridiron (snowboarding accidents, banana peel slips, etc.), but it also covers injuries that are sustained while partaking in football activities outside of the auspices of the shield. For example, a player who suffered an injury during college football activities could be placed on the NFI list.

There are two types of NFI designations: the Active/NFI designation leaves the door open to returning to practice once the player is medically cleared. Meanwhile, the Reserve/NFI designation is for players who will not return to the active roster during the regular season. With the “Active” tag, players count against the roster max, whether it’s the 90-man or 53-man version. With the “Reserve” tag, they do not.

So, what’s the real difference between NFI and PUP? The biggest distinction is that teams can withhold part of the player’s salary while on NFI. This isn’t frequently done, but it’s an option for teams who feel that a player’s personal irresponsibility caused their condition.

 

 

Extension Candidate: Texans OLB Jadeveon Clowney

July 4th, 2019 at 1:30pm CST by Zachary Links

Jadeveon Clowney is no stranger to PFR’s Extension Candidates series. Last year, Clowney seemed poised for the big bucks, but the Texans elected to have him play out the 2018 on his $12.3MM fifth-year option. This year, they employed the $15.967MM franchise tag to cuff him, but Clowney has yet to sign his tender. 

The two sides have until July 15 to work out a long-term deal. If Clowney is not signed to an extension by that date, Clowney will be on course for free agency after the season. While he has been kept in limbo and away from free agency riches, he is not completely without options. Last year, Le’Veon Bell elected to stay at home rather than signing his one-year tender with the Steelers and signed with the Jets as an unrestricted free agent in March.

Clowney’s situation is complicated by a number of factors. Unhappy with the club’s lack of action, he abstained from the team’s mandatory minicamp. And, unless he signs his tender or gets the extension he wants, it’s unlikely that he’ll be involved in the team’s full training camp. Meanwhile, the Texans are without a GM following their surprising dismissal of Brian Gaine and failure to land Patriots exec Nick Caserio.

Will the Texans’ front office revamp breath new life into the longstanding standoff between the club and one of its top defenders? So far, that doesn’t appear to be the case – we’ve yet to hear any recent developments on a deal and the team, presumably, is still wary of a long-term commitment that would make him one of the NFL’s highest-paid edge rushers.

Depending on who you ask, the Texans may have shown a willingness to trade Clowney earlier this offseason. At this point, the Texans may have to commit, or get off the pot. Or, in other words, their only options may be to fork over a massive contract to the former No. 1 overall pick or trade him to a team that will.

Release Candidates: Seahawks QBs Geno Smith, Paxton Lynch

July 4th, 2019 at 9:30am CST by Zachary Links

The Seahawks’ quarterback room has some serious name value. Behind starter Russell Wilson, the club is currently rostering both Geno Smith and Paxton Lynch. 

The odds of both players making the final cut is slim. Historically, the Seahawks have carried only two quarterbacks on the 53-man roster and both players have their warts.

Smith, a former second-round pick of the Jets, has yet to do much at the pro level. Once positioned as the Jets’ starting quarterback, his last attempt at NFL relevance was stopped by the fist of a teammate and a subsequently broken jaw. Lynch, a former first-round pick of the Broncos, lost the starting QB competition twice to former seventh-round pick Trevor Siemian.

To date, Lynch has four career starts on his resume with a 61.7% completion rate, 792 passing yards yards, four touchdowns, and four interceptions. Smith – who has 40 career appearances with 31 starts – hasn’t fared much better in a larger sample. He’s completed 57.7% of his throws with just 29 touchdowns against 36 picks.

One of these QBs will probably be out of Seattle by the time September rolls around, and there’s a chance that both will be gone. Last year, the Seahawks traded for Brett Hundley in the preseason and installed him as Wilson’s backup, so the Seahawks’ next No. 2 QB could be with another team as of this writing.

If things don’t work out for Lynch or Smith, they’ll have options. Despite their missteps, they’re both on the right side of 30 and may still hold appeal for evaluators who considered drafting them just a few years ago. And, if an NFL opportunity doesn’t present itself, both players may find a home in the upstart XFL.

“We’re watching the backup quarterback camp battles. One of these guys is going to get cut,” XFL commissioner Oliver Luck said of the Smith/Lynch situation. “There’s a bunch of those going on. We might not get all of those guys, the quote-unquote loser of those, but a Geno or Paxton is not going to end up on a practice squad. There are a bunch of 3-4-5-year guys that are in that boat. They’ve been on rosters, practice squad, been yo-yo’d two years. They need to play, and that’s my argument to them, that it’s very doable here.”

Both players have just $25K guaranteed on their one-year deals, so the Seahawks wouldn’t lose much by releasing either player.

Dolphins’ Kendrick Norton Injured In Car Crash

July 4th, 2019 at 8:46am CST by Zachary Links

Defensive tackle Kendrick Norton was involved in a “serious car accident,” according to an announcement from the Dolphins. The 22-year-old had to have his arm amputated at the scene of the crash, Andy Slater of 640 AM (on Twitter) hears. It’s unlikely that Norton will play football again, though his life is not believed to be in danger.

Norton, a University of Miami product, entered the league as a seventh-round pick of the Panthers in 2018. Last December, the Dolphins signed him off of Carolina’s practice squad, but he has yet to appear in an NFL game.

Norton spent three years at the U of M, racking up five sacks and 18 tackles for a loss during his time there. Athleticism, and fighting, is in his blood – he’s the son of Seahawks defensive coordinator Ken Norton and the grandson of former heavyweight champion Ken Norton Sr.

Our thoughts and prayers are with Norton and his family.

NFC Notes: Pierre-Paul, Buccaneers, Kiser, Rams, Elliott, Cowboys

July 3rd, 2019 at 9:09pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

Jason Pierre-Paul doesn’t appear particularly close to returning to football activities. The Buccaneers defensive end shared a video of himself to Instagram recently, in which he can be seen wearing a bulky brace on his neck, per Florida Football Insiders. Pierre-Paul, of course, suffered a serious neck injury in a car accident back in May. At the time there was concern he’d miss the entire season, but JPP ended up avoiding surgery and as of right now the hope is he’ll be able to return at some point this year.

That being said, he’s still going to be sidelined for a significant period of time, and the last we heard is that he’ll be out until November at the earliest. FFI has details on the accident, including that his car “did a 360 degree wipeout into a guardrail.” The injury was a massive blow to the Buccaneers’ defense, which is hoping for a resurgence under new coach Bruce Arians. JPP had his best season in years in 2018, racking up 12.5 sacks. Tampa will need some unproven players to step up for their pass-rush in his place, and hopefully the former Giant can make it back as soon as possible.

Here’s more from around the NFC:

  • The Rams cut Mark Barron earlier this offseason, leaving them very thin at inside linebacker. They also didn’t resign Ramik Wilson, who started a handful of games when Barron was hurt last year. Cory Littleton is the entrenched starter at one inside linebacker spot, and second-year player Micah Kiser is “the odds-on favorite” to start next to him, per Vincent Bonsignore of The Athletic. It’s a risky move, since Kiser doesn’t have much experience. In fact, the 2018 fifth-round pick didn’t play a single snap on defense last year. That being said, the Virginia product was a big contributor on special teams and the coaching staff has expressed confidence in him. Sean McVay and defensive coordinator Wade Phillips know what they’re doing, so it’s safe to assume Kiser is ready.
  • Ezekiel Elliott got some good news earlier today, when it was announced that he wouldn’t be suspended for an incident involving a security guard in Las Vegas back in May. While he ended up getting off without punishment, it sounds like the league took the investigation very seriously. In addition to speaking to Elliott, the NFL also spoke to his girlfriend, a source told Dan Graziano of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Obviously nothing came of it, but it shows the investigation went pretty deep and wasn’t dismissed easily. In other Elliott news, we also heard earlier today that the Cowboys no longer believe they can put-off extending the young running back.
  • In case you missed it, Josh Doctson doesn’t expect to be back with the Redskins in 2020.

Extra Points: Military Academies, Cutting, Vikings, AAF, Westerman, Bengals

July 3rd, 2019 at 7:43pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

One of the couple dozen recent draft picks who has yet to sign his rookie deal is Austin Cutting. Cutting, the 250th overall pick of the Vikings, is the only seventh-round pick who hasn’t signed. Cutting is a recent graduate of the Air Force Academy, which is what has been holding things up. Once President Trump took office, his administration overturned an Obama-era rule that permitted recent graduates from pursuing careers as professional athletes before fulfilling their service. Now, the Trump administration has changed its mind, per Nicki Jhabvala of The Athletic.

The administration has issued a presidential memorandum that “will essentially reinstate the protocol” Obama established in 2016, per Jhabvala. The rule under Obama was overturned so quickly that it barely had time to take effect. Coaches at the various academies have long argued that it’ll help with recruiting if their athletes can go pro. Air Force coach Troy Calhoun said that Cutting will “absolutely” be allowed to play for the Vikings now. It’ll be interesting to see what effect this new policy has on the programs of Navy, Army, and the Air Force moving forward.

Here’s more from around the football universe:

  • Another day, more drama surrounding the collapse of the Alliance of American Football. Since its demise, it’s become clearer and clearer that the ill-fated spring football league was doomed from the start. We’ve heard varying tales of incompetence and mismanagement, and now we have further fireworks. Charlie Ebersol, one of the league’s founders, is firing back at players who filed a class-action lawsuit against him and other founders, saying it was the players who committed fraud, per Michael Rothstein of ESPN.com. It’s a bold strategy by Ebersol, who is arguing that players should be “barred from claiming any injuries or damages because such injuries and damages are the sole, direct and proximate result of Plaintiffs’ conduct.” We’ll keep you updated as the lawsuit progresses.
  • The Bengals were dealt a tough blow last week when it was announced Jonah Williams would likely miss the entire 2019 season due to shoulder surgery. Cincinnati was counting on the 11th overall pick to be their starting left tackle, and they’ll now have to slide Cordy Glenn over from left guard in his place. That also means they’ll have to find someone to replace Glenn at left guard. For right now Christian Westerman “appears to be option one” for the role, although there will be a camp battle for starting duties, Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic hears. Westerman is a 2016 fifth-round pick who has played sparingly in his three years in the league. He’s only made two starts in his career, both of which came in 2017. It’s not an ideal situation, but Cincy’s offensive line can’t be any worse than it was last year.

Cowboys Notes: Prescott, Cooper, Elliott, Collins, Smith

July 3rd, 2019 at 6:04pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

The Cowboys are fortunate to have a lot of young talent. But one downside that comes with having a lot of young talent, is that sooner or later you have to pay them all. Dak Prescott, Ezekiel Elliott, and Amari Cooper are all looking for extensions, and Dallas is going to have to break the bank. Prescott is likely looking to top what Carson Wentz just got, meaning he’ll demand $30MM-plus annually. Quietly, there have been some rumblings that the team isn’t in any rush to extend Elliott. It makes sense because Elliott has the most time left on his deal, but it’s interesting nonetheless. There’s been a lot of concern about how they’ll fit all three players under the cap, but Calvin Watkins of The Athletic writes that you shouldn’t be concerned.

Talking about those key three as well as safety Byron Jones, Watkins writes that the team is “optimistic they can take care of all of them.” Watkins says that the Cowboys did in fact put Elliott on the back-burner before, but that’s no longer the case. “The team no longer believes they can wait on extending him in 2020,” as he could get too expensive by then, Watkins writes. They’re now going to try to lock him up this summer as well, and Watkins does some of the math that shows they should be able to squeeze them all in. Watkins does admit there could be some possible complications, but everything seems on track for the Cowboys to be able to extend all their guys.

  • While the aforementioned four players can all expect to be taken care of, the same can’t be said of offensive lineman La’el Collins. Watkins writes that Collins “could be one player out the door,” in order to make room for the extensions in future years. Collins “is due for a new contract next spring, but Cowboys officials are expected to let him test free agency,” Watkins reports. The team’s right tackle, Collins has started all 16 games each of the last two seasons, so this would be a big departure. Although he’s been reliable, the team has never seemed too enamored with him, so this isn’t shocking. Collins is still only 25 and will be seeking a massive contract next offseason, and it sounds like he could get priced out of Dallas’ range.
  • In the same piece, Watkins also has some news on linebacker Jaylon Smith. Smith was the 34th overall pick in 2016, and normally a 2016 second-round pick would be scheduled for unrestricted free agency next offseason. But because of language in the CBA, Smith will have only accrued three years of service time once this year is over. Smith, of course, was inactive his entire rookie season due to a serious injury suffered toward the end of his college career. Because of this, Smith will be a restricted free agent next spring. A source told Watkins that “the team is expected to place a second-round tender on him.” That means the Cowboys will be able to match whatever offer Smith gets from a team, and if they let him walk that team would have to give Dallas their second-round pick. Most teams aren’t willing to pay that price, which means the Cowboys will likely get Smith back at a discount next year.
  • In case you missed it, Elliott won’t be suspended by the league.

Jared Lorenzen Passes Away

July 3rd, 2019 at 4:13pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

We have sad news today, as former NFL quarterback Jared Lorenzen has tragically passed away at the age of 38. We heard late last week that Lorenzen was battling major health issues, and he unfortunately succumbed to them. The cause of death wasn’t immediately clear, although his family had issued a statement last week saying he was battling kidney and heart problems.

Lorenzen’s family issued a statement through Matt Jones of Kentucky Sports Radio (Twitter link). “It is with heavy hearts that the family of Jared Lorenzen, would like to extend our sincere thanks and appreciation for all of your support and prayers over the past 6 days,” the statement read. “We are deeply saddened to announce the passing of Jared today, July 3, 2019. Again, we appreciate all of the warm wishes and prayers, but as a family, we would request your respect and privacy. We will offer arrangement information in the coming days. Please keep Jared’s family and especially his children, in your thoughts and prayers.”

Lorenzen starred at Kentucky in the early 2000’s, and then signed with the Giants as an undrafted free agent back in 2004. He defied the odds by making the team, and would go on to serve as Eli Manning’s primary backup for a few seasons. Manning was never seriously injured so Lorenzen didn’t see the field too much, but he did win Super Bowl XLII with the team.

Shortly after, the Giants posted a statement to Twitter from Manning. “Jared was a great teammate and friend. We competed against each other in college and came to the Giants together. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family. I will always remember his competitive spirit and his good nature. Jared has left us all way too soon,” Manning said.

Lorenzen became a fan favorite in New York, and the fanbase affectionately gave him the nickname ‘Hefty Lefty.’ After being cut by the Giants he had a brief stint with the Lions, and then spent the next handful of years playing in various indoor football leagues. Lorenzen had been open about his struggles with his weight, admitting in retirement that he weighed as much as 500 pounds at one time.

He had made positive strides in dropping some of the weight, and his journey was chronicled in an ESPN E:60 feature last July. All of us here at PFR send our thoughts and condolences to the Lorenzen family.

 

Poll: Will The Titans Reach .500 In 2019?

July 3rd, 2019 at 3:00pm CST by Zachary Links

For three straight seasons, the Titans have finished with a 9-7 record. Naturally, Las Vegas has set their over/under around the eight-win mark, and they might be one of the trickiest plays for gamblers in 2019. 

This wasn’t a flashy offseason for the Titans, but they did make some quietly savvy moves. With injury questions surrounding starting quarterback Marcus Mariota, they added former Dolphins starter Ryan Tannehill as a backstop. If Mariota stays healthy, he’ll have Adam Humphries and rookie A.J. Brown as new targets and distractors for defenses who may key in on incumbent Corey Davis. Meanwhile, they beefed up the interior offensive line by signing Rodger Saffold, who graded out as Pro Football Focus’ ninth-best guard in the NFL last year, and drafted Nate Davis in the third-round, who could be primed to unseat Kevin Pamphile for a starting role.

On the other side of the ball, the Titans picked up Cameron Wake and first-round pick Jeffery Simmons to bolster their lackluster pass rush, and they should easily offset the retirement of Brian Orakpo and the potential departure of Derrick Morgan, who remains in free agent limbo. The common thread to the Titans offseason across every position group is this – they didn’t grab headlines, but they made some smart under-the-radar moves without losing a whole lot in the process.

How do you see things playing out for the Titans? Will they, at minimum, reach the .500 mark?

Cast your vote below (link for app users) and back up your choice in the comments section:

No Suspension For Cowboys’ Ezekiel Elliott

July 3rd, 2019 at 1:28pm CST by Zachary Links

The NFL has decided against discipline for Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott in connection with his May incident. Here is the league’s statement, in full: 

Immediately following reports of an incident in Las Vegas in May involving Ezekiel Elliott of the Dallas Cowboys, the NFL conducted a comprehensive investigation that included interviews with multiple witnesses, including security personnel and others with direct involvement, as well as a review of documentary and other information.

On Tuesday, as part of the review, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell met with Mr. Elliott to reinforce the standards of conduct expected of him and the consequences for failing to meet those standards.

Mr. Elliott acknowledged that he demonstrated poor judgment and committed to make better choices in the future. He volunteered to take advantage of the resources available to help him continue to grow personally.

Commissioner Goodell determined there was no violation of the personal conduct policy and no further action is warranted.

A suspension was viewed as unlikely for Elliott, but not out of the realm of possibility given his history with the league. Elliott was banned for six games in 2017 for violating the league’s personal conduct policy, despite no criminal charges being filed in connection with past allegations of domestic abuse.

In May, Elliott was briefly detained by police at a Las Vegas concert after bumping a security guard. The event gained national headlines after TMZ procured video, putting the onus on the NFL to act. Ultimately, after a lengthy investigation, the league opted against suspending the soon-to-be 24-year-old.

Elliott avoided a ban this time around, but it sounds like he’ll be on even thinner ice going forward.

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