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Month: November 2024

East Notes: Belichick, Patriots, Jets, Giants

August 8th, 2019 at 5:36pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

Patriots coach Bill Belichick is known for finding diamonds in the rough. He’s turned MAC quarterback Julian Edelman into a star receiver, and made numerous other brilliant discoveries. The draft apparently isn’t the only place he looks for these unheralded gems, as Zach Cox of NESN.com pointed out in a recent interesting piece. The Patriots are holding joint practices with the Lions right now, and Cox points out that Belichick always uses these joint practices to scout the opposing team’s players for guys he might want to pick up when they’re later cut.

“From 2012 to 2017, New England participated in 11 rounds of joint practices with seven different opponents. In all 11 cases, at least one member of the opposing team went on to sign with the Patriots,” Cox writes. That’s a pretty incredible streak, and it shows that the Patriots are paying extremely close attention during these joint sessions. It’ll be interesting to see which current member of the Lions ends up signing with New England later this year.

Here’s more from the league’s eastern divisions:

  • We’ve got the full details on Ryan Kalil‘s contract with the Jets, courtesy of Rich Cimini of ESPN.com (Twitter link). The one-year, $8.4MM pact includes a $3MM signing bonus, 2.4MM in base non-guaranteed salary, and a $3.4MM roster bonus. The total guarantee is just the $3MM signing bonus. Kalil recently came out of retirement, and the veteran center’s presence should be a huge boost to the rest of the offensive line and Sam Darnold‘s protection. Even though the majority of his money is non-guaranteed, it would take something truly shocking for him not to end up collecting it all.
  • The Giants have had a brutal stretch of luck with their receivers. Just in the past few weeks, Corey Coleman tore his ACL, Sterling Shepard suffered a broken thumb, and Golden Tate was suspended for the first four games of the season. Shepard will likely be back for Week 1, but the options after him aren’t too appealing. As of right now it looks like Cody Latimer will be the second receiver to open the season, while Bennie Fowler will be the third, according to Matt Lombardo of NJ.com. Latimer is a former second-round pick of the Broncos who is looking to reinvent himself with the Giants. He spent last year in New York, catching 11 passes for 190 yards in only six games. Fowler is also a former Bronco who caught 16 balls for 199 yards in his first season with the Giants last year. Eli Manning (or Daniel Jones) won’t be in an easy situation when the season opens.
  • In case you missed it, the Dolphins signed former Cardinals first-round pick Robert Nkemdiche

South Notes: Ramsey, Texans, Kamara, Bucs

August 8th, 2019 at 4:45pm CST by Sam Robinson

Throughout the offseason, John Dorsey insisted he wanted Duke Johnson on the 2019 Browns. But the Texans‘ decision to offer what will likely become a third-round pick — assuming Johnson plays at least 10 games this season — was clearly a proposal the Browns could not refuse. The consensus around the NFL placed the passing-down back’s value at being worth a fifth-rounder in a trade, per Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports (on Twitter). The Browns getting a likely Day 2 pick is, then, quite the haul. That said, the Texans needed help behind Lamar Miller and now have a running back under contract through 2021.

The GM-less Texans had Bill O’Brien running point on this trade. The sixth-year HC spoke with Dorsey and pulled the trigger, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports (on Twitter). With O’Brien clearly having a say in the Jadeveon Clowney process, and the team opting not to hire a GM this year, it is not surprising the post-Brian Gaine Texans have him operating in a key personnel capacity. This marks another notable trade between these franchises, who made 2017 swaps in deals that sent Brock Osweiler (and a second-round pick) to Cleveland and Deshaun Watson to Houston. But the parties who negotiated those deals, GMs Sashi Brown and Rick Smith, are out of the picture.

Here is the latest from the South divisions:

  • Jalen Ramsey is under Jaguars control through the 2020 season, thanks to the fifth-year option the team exercised this spring. But the contract-seeking cornerback has not exactly been pleased with the franchise as of late, considering his 2018 team-imposed suspension and the high-end corner still attached to his rookie contract. When asked by Titans tackle Taylor Lewan and former Titans linebacker Will Compton (during the duo’s “Bussin’ with the Boys podcast, via the Florida Times-Union) about where he would like to play if he left Jacksonville, Ramsey responded by saying he would like to go to the Titans or the Raiders. Ramsey is a Nashville-area native and said he would be attracted to Las Vegas. The standout corner, set to play for $3.6MM this season, continues to stir the pot.
  • After going down in a Buccaneers practice this week, Vita Vea will get a knee MRI on Friday, Jenna Laine of ESPN.com tweets. The Bucs hope their second-year nose tackle suffered an LCL sprain, per Mike Garafolo of NFL.com (on Twitter). Vea missed three games due to injury as a rookie.
  • With Mark Ingram out due to suspension to start last season, the Saints played Alvin Kamara on 82% of their snaps. The rest of the way in 2018: Kamara played 61% of New Orleans’ offensive plays. Sean Payton prefers the latter work rate, despite Ingram’s defection to Baltimore, Mike Triplett of ESPN.com notes. “Look, is one player taking exactly Mark Ingram’s reps? I can’t tell you that right now,” Payton said. “And yet I think there’s that presumption that Alvin’s going to get more. And I think our pitch count and how we’ve played and utilized him has been really good.” Kamara received 201 touches in 2017 and 275 last season; he cleared 1,500 scrimmage yards in each. Latavius Murray will be his backfield mate this season. The Saints also added Jacquizz Rodgers recently.
  • The Bucs worked out rookie UDFA defensive lineman Shane Bowman on Thursday morning, Greg Auman of The Athletic tweets. The Jaguars waived Bowman earlier this summer.

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/8/19

August 8th, 2019 at 4:10pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Today’s minor moves:

Chicago Bears

  • Signed: WR Joe Walker
  • Waived/injured: DB Josh Simmons

Cincinnati Bengals

Dallas Cowboys

Green Bay Packers

Kansas City Chiefs

Minnesota Vikings

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

Pittsburgh Steelers

  • Signed: CB Trevon Mathis
  • Waived/injured: RB Ralph Webb

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

  • Signed: OL Salesi Uhatafe
  • Placed on injured reserve: S D’Cota Dixon

NFL Suspends Cowboys DE Robert Quinn

August 8th, 2019 at 2:59pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The NFL has suspended Cowboys defensive end Robert Quinn two games for violating the league’s performance-enhancing drug policy, tweets Adam Schefter of ESPN.com.

In statement on Twitter, Quinn’s agent explains the Dallas defender believes his seizure prevention medication was contaminated with a substance called probenecid, which the NFL classifies as a masking agent under its drug policy. Quinn failed his test on April 2nd, and embarked on an investigation to find out how the substance was in his system.

His team claims Quinn’s pharmacy filled a prescription for probenecid prior to filling Quinn’s prescription, which may have resulted in the contamination. Additionally, Quinn argues that his levels of probenecid would have been much higher had he actually been using the substance as a masking agent.

Quinn has already lost his appeal of the ban, so he’ll be out for the first two games of the regular season. The NFL has historically taken a hard approach on drug suspensions, and successful appeals are rare. Recently, Giants wideout Golden Tate appealed his upcoming suspension by arguing that was he taking fertility drugs, but the leagues’s policy is considered “unforgiving” and “rigid.”

Quinn, for his part, recently underwent surgery to repair two fractures in his hand, but was expected to be back in time for the season opener, according to David Moore of the Dallas Morning News (Twitter link). Now, he’ll get two additional weeks for his hand to heal, but Dallas will have to rely on other defensive ends — such as Taco Charlton and Tyrone Crawford — to rush the passer opposite DeMarcus Lawrence.

The Cowboys acquired Quinn from the Dolphins in March in exchange for a 2020 sixth-round pick. Quinn agreed to lower his salary under the terms of the deal, reducing his compensation from $11.1MM to $8MM. While he finished with only 6.5 sacks in 2018, Quinn tied for 20th among defensive ends with 24 quarterback hits. Pro Football Focus, meanwhile, assigned Quinn the 19th-highest pass-rush grade among 103 qualifying DEs.

49ers CB Jason Verrett To Miss Preseason

August 8th, 2019 at 2:33pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Rookie defensive end Nick Bosa isn’t the only 49er who will miss the 2019 preseason slate. San Francisco cornerback Jason Verrett will also miss this year’s exhibition season with an ankle injury, head coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters, including Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com (Twitter link).

Shanahan indicated Verrett is dealing with an injury that’s similar to Bosa’s ankle issue. Earlier today, 49ers general manager John Lynch said that while Bosa doesn’t have a high ankle sprain, his injury does have “elements” of a high ankle sprain. Like Bosa, Verrett will sit out the preseason and then be re-evaluated before the regular season gets underway.

Verrett’s injury, of course, is especially concerning given the 28-year-old’s lengthy history of health questions. He’s only played in five total games over the past three seasons, with various injuries — including a torn ACL and a ruptured Achilles — ending his campaigns. Injuries have been such a detriment to Verrett’s career that he actually considered retiring before landing a one-year, $3MM deal with the 49ers this offseason.

Meanwhile, fellow 49ers cornerback K’Waun Williams will also be absent for the preseason after undergoing a knee scope, tweets Matt Barrows of The Athletic. Williams played 615 total snaps for San Francisco in 2018 while serving as the club’s primary slot corner.

AFC North Notes: Steelers, Bengals, Browns

August 8th, 2019 at 1:49pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Steelers will use the preseason to determine their backup quarterback behind Ben Roethlisberger, but 2018 third-round pick Mason Rudolph appears to have a leg up over fellow signal-caller Josh Dobbs, as Ed Bouchette of The Athletic writes. Dobbs, a fourth-round selection in the 2017 draft, served as Pittsburgh’s No. 2 last season, but managed just 12 passing attempts in relief of Roethlisberger. Rudolph, meanwhile, only played during the 2018 preseason, completing 24-of-44 passes for 315 yards. “I had the general concepts down and our plays but there are things that you take a little deeper dive,’’ Rudolph said. “Run schemes, protections, signals. Just the no-huddle calls. Ben does such great job of ad-libbing.” As Bouchette notes, No. 3 quarterbacks rarely get significant practice reps during the regular season, so if the Steelers view Rudolph as Roethlisberger’s successor, he could use the practice snaps due a backup quarterback in order to develop this year.

Here’s more from the AFC North:

  • Another Steelers battle is taking place at wide receiver, where veteran Donte Moncrief appears to be the frontrunner for No. 2 duties behind JuJu Smith-Schuster, according to Dan Graziano of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Moncrief, who signed a two-year, $9MM deal with Pittsburgh in March, is competing against 2018 second-round pick James Washington and 2019 third-rounder Diontae Johnson for time. In his first and only season with the Jaguars in 2018, Moncrief posted 48 catches for 668 yards and three touchdowns, but ranked as a bottom-15 wideout in Football Outsiders‘ efficiency metrics. The Steelers lost the second-most air yards and sixth-most targets of any NFL team during the offseason, so there should be plenty of work to go around.
  • Bengals sixth-round rookie running back Rodney Anderson has been cleared to practice, tweets Ben Baby of ESPN.com. Once viewed as a potential early-round selection, Anderson suffered a torn ACL during his final season at Oklahoma and subsequently fell to Day 3 of the draft. In 2017, however, Anderson put up 1,161 yards on the ground and scored 18 total touchdowns. Cincinnati is set at the top of its running back depth chart with Joe Mixon and Giovani Bernard, but Anderson and fellow sixth-round rookie Trayveon Williams should make the roster as reserves.
  • After the Browns traded Kevin Zeitler to the Giants, Austin Corbett was thought to be a shoo-in to take over as Cleveland’s starting right guard. But the 2018 second-rounder may not enter the regular season as one of the Browns’ top five linemen, per Graziano (Instagram link). Corbett hasn’t had the offseason the Browns “wanted or expected him to have,” so much so that veteran Eric Kush could end up starting at right guard. Kush, 29, started seven games for the Bears in 2018 and has appeared in 33 career contests.

Chiefs To Sign CB Morris Clairborne

August 8th, 2019 at 12:04pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Chiefs have agreed to sign free agent cornerback Morris Claiborne, according to Terez A. Paylor of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link).

Claiborne will receive a one-year deal worth $1.5MM, per Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link). The pact contains playtime incentives, tweets Tom Pelissero of NFL.com, and Paylor indicates (via Twitter) those incentives could be worth up $1.5MM. In total, Claiborne’s deal will have a maximum value around $3MM.

Kansas City is bringing in Claiborne with the knowledge that he’ll be unavailable for the first quarter of the regular season. Claiborne was hit with a four-game suspension earlier this month after violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy.

Claiborne, 29, has a concerning injury history, as he played in only 47 of a possible 80 games during the first five years of his career. But he managed to stay healthy during his past two years on the Jets roster, appearing in 30 games and playing nearly 2,000 defensive snaps since 2017. Last season, Claiborne posted two interceptions and ranked as a top-25 corner in Football Outsiders’ success rate.

The Chiefs lost more than 1,900 cornerback snaps during the offseason via the departure of free agents Steven Nelson and Orlando Scandrick. When he returns from suspension, Clairborne should become an immediate starter alongside Kendall Fuller and Bashaud Breeland.

Despite his recent track record, Claiborne drew limited over the offseason, perhaps because teams were aware of his impending suspension. Claiborne met with the Cardinals in April, and worked out for the Vikings near the end of July.

Claiborne averaged $6MM annually on his two consecutive one-year pacts with the Jets, so he’ll be taking a step pay cut to join the Chiefs. PFR ranked Claiborne as the fourth-best available defensive free agent in mid-May, and three players listed above him — Ndamukong Suh, Tre Boston, and Shane Ray — have all since found new homes.

Texans Acquire RB Duke Johnson

August 8th, 2019 at 9:45am CST by Dallas Robinson

The Texans have acquired running back Duke Johnson from the Browns, Cleveland announced today. Houston will send a conditional 2020 fourth-round pick to Cleveland, tweets Tom Pelissero of NFL.com. If Johnson is active for 10 games with the Texans, the Browns will receive a 2020 third-rounder, per John McClain of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter link).

Johnson, of course, has been on the trade block ever since the Browns signed former Chiefs running back Kareem Hunt earlier this offseason. Hunt won’t be available until the second half of the 2019 season as a result of a suspension, but Johnson nevertheless formally requested a trade in April. At various points, Cleveland has indicated it would keep Johnson on its roster, but after the 25-year-old back fired his agent and hired Drew Rosenhaus, he finally got his wish.

Houston was on the hunt for depth at running back after waiving former third-round pick D’Onta Foreman earlier this week. With Foreman out of the picture, the Texans were planning to use Josh Ferguson and Buddy Howell (who have 30 career carries between them, all Ferguson’s) as Lamar Miller‘s backups.

[RELATED: Full List of 2019 NFL Trades]

Johnson handled 104 rushing attempts during his rookie campaign in Cleveland, but that figure represents a high-water mark. Playing behind Browns starter Nick Chubb in 2018, Johnson managed only 40 attempts, but did post 47 catches and was one of the NFL’s most efficient receiving backs, per Football Outsiders. Since entering the league in 2015, Johnson leads all running backs with 2,170 receiving yards, per Field Yates of ESPN.com (Twitter link), so he figures to see a good deal of work on third downs and other passing situations.

With Johnson out of the picture, the Browns will rely on unproven options Dontrell Hilliard and D’Ernest Johnson to backup Chubb until Hunt’s suspension is completed. But by dealing Johnson, Cleveland has further added to its stockpile of 2020 draft picks. General manager John Dorsey & Co. now boast 10 picks in 2020, including extra fourth-, sixth-, and seventh-rounders, tweets Pelissero.

The Texans will add Johnson on a highly team-friendly contract. The former third-round pick is due a base salary of just $1.8MM for the 2019 campaign, while he can also collect up to $400K in per-game roster bonuses. Houston will essentially hold club options on Johnson in both 2020 ($3.6MM) and 2021 ($4.65MM), and won’t incur any dead money if it cuts Johnson over the next two years. Cleveland, meanwhile, will immediately take on $750K in dead cap charges by dealing Johnson, with another $1.5MM hitting the club’s books in 2020.

Johnson is only the second running back to be traded this offseason. Jordan Howard was dealt from the Bears to the Eagles in March in a swap that saw Chicago receive just a sixth-round pick that can become a fifth-round pick based on Howard’s performance.

49ers DE Nick Bosa To Miss Preaseason

August 8th, 2019 at 9:37am CST by Dallas Robinson

49ers defensive end and No. 2 overall pick Nick Bosa will miss at least the preseason after suffering an ankle sprain, as general manager John Lynch told KNBR (Twitter link via Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com).

Initial reports suggested Bosa’s sprain was a minor issue, but Lynch’s comments suggests that may not be the case. Lynch called the injury a “significant” sprain, and while he noted Bosa doesn’t have a full-blown high ankle sprain, the rookie pass-rusher’s injury does have “elements” of a high ankle sprain, which can often take a while to fully heal.

It’s unclear if Bosa will be ready for Week 1 of the regular season, and Lynch seemed unsure if the Ohio State will be available. “We won’t see in the preseason and we’ll go from there. … We’ll get him right and he’ll be a great player for a long time in this league,” Lynch said, via Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area (Twitter link).

Going without their first-round pick for any amount of time isn’t ideal, but the 49ers do have depth along their defensive line. If Bosa is forced to miss regular season action, Dee Ford, Arik Armstead, and Solomon Thomas would all likely see increased snaps along the edge.

Dolphins Sign DT Robert Nkemdiche

August 8th, 2019 at 9:18am CST by Dallas Robinson

The Dolphins announced that they’ve signed free agent defensive tackle Robert Nkemdiche to a one-year deal and placed him on the active/physically unable to perform list. The pact is worth $1.19MM, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com.

Nkemdiche, who was selected 29th overall by the Cardinals in 2016, was cut by Arizona in late July. He was quickly linked to the Dolphins, who were reportedly making “preliminary due diligence inquiry calls” on the former first-round pick. Miami left tackle Laremy Tunsil, a teammate of Nkemdiche at Ole Miss, was a “big advocate” for signing the interior defender, tweets Mike Garafolo of NFL.com.

In the midst of a rebuilding phase, the Dolphins can afford to take a chance on Nkemdiche, a player that clearly boasts talent but comes with question marks. Effort issues dogged Nkemdiche during his time in Arizona, and he reportedly showed up to training camp out of shape. Additionally, he’s facing a possible suspension due to a June arrest.

Still recovering from a December torn ACL, Nkemdiche won’t be able to practice with the Dolphins until he’s removed from the active/PUP list. It’s possible that he’ll be placed on the reserve/PUP list once the regular season begins, which would force him to miss the first six weeks of the year. When he is healthy, Nkemdiche will compete with first-round pick Christian Wilkins, Davon Godchaux, Akeem Spence, Vincent Taylor, and others for playing time on Miami’s defensive line.

Nkemdiche, who won’t turn 25 years old until September, appeared in only 27 out of a possible 48 games during his three-year run with the Cardinals, with injuries reducing his chances at playing time. Last season, he played in 10 games (six starts) before tearing his ACL, posting 4.5 sacks on 426 snaps. Among the 130 defensive tackles with at least 20% playtime in 2018, Nkemdiche ranked a lowly 114th in Pro Football Focus’ grades.

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