HEADLINES

Month: October 2024

Ravens To Audition Dez Bryant 

August 17th, 2020 at 10:20am CST by Zachary Links

The Ravens are set to bring in Dez Bryant for a tryout, according to Tom Pelissero and Jane Slater of NFL.com (on Twitter). Bryant is expected to travel to Baltimore sometime this week and make his case for a spot on the roster.

[RELATED: Ravens Won’t Rule Out Antonio Brown]

Bryant has not played since 2017, but his camp says he’s in shape and eager to get back on the field. Of course, this isn’t Bryant’s first rodeo with the Ravens. The longtime Cowboys star famously rejected Baltimore’s three-year, $21MM pitch in 2018 without a viable Plan B. Bryant then sat out for much of the year before landing with the Saints in November. Unfortunately, he tore his Achilles before he could make his New Orleans debut, prompting him to dedicate 2019 to rehab.

Bryant was a three-time Pro Bowler in Dallas with three-straight seasons of at least 1,200 yards. Things started to tail off after he inked a five-year, $70MM contract with the Cowboys. He was= was limited to nine games in 2015 and underwent ankle and foot surgeries in the offseason. In 2016, he bounced back with a career-high 15.9 yards per grab, though the catch and yardage totals were not as gaudy as his best ones. In 2017, he started in all 16 regular season games, but his production did not match the contract. The Cowboys cut him in the following April – crummy timing that resulted in tepid interest at his asking price.

Now on the verge of his age-32 season, Bryant is looking at reduced expectations and earning power. Still, Bryant badly wants to get back on the field, and he could have his chance with the Ravens.

Bengals’ Trae Waynes To Miss Time

August 17th, 2020 at 9:00am CST by Zachary Links

Trae Waynes will be out for a while. The Bengals cornerback underwent surgery for a torn pectoral muscle and his recovery will extend into a “sizable portion” of the season, according to Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero of NFL.com (on Twitter). 

Waynes has a “chance” to return before the season is through, according to the NFL.com duo, an indication that he’ll be out for months, rather than just a few weeks. That’s the standard for pectoral surgery, though some players have recovered faster than others. J.J. Watt, for example, managed to return for the final stretch of the Texans’ 2019 campaign.

The Bengals signed Waynes to a three-year, $42MM deal earlier this year, one that pays $20MM in Year One. The two sides didn’t necessarily get off on the right foot, however. The Bengals refused to allow Waynes to take an off-site physical, which kept his $15MM signing bonus and training plan in limbo.

After making Waynes one of the NFL’s highest-paid cornerbacks, they’ll have to forge ahead without him for the time being. The Bengals also moved on from former first-rounders Darqueze Dennard and Dre Kirkpatrick, putting more of the onus on players like former fifth-round pick Darius Phillips. For what it’s worth, veteran defensive back Logan Ryan is still available for hire, though he would prefer to play safety.

49ers’ Spencer Long Retires

August 17th, 2020 at 8:46am CST by Zachary Links

Last week, the 49ers signed Spencer Long to a one-year deal. This week, they placed the offensive lineman on the reserve/retired list, per a club announcement.

[RELATED: 49ers Sign Tavon Austin]

Long, 29, spent last season as a key reserve for the Bills. He was a surprise cut in early August, leading him to the Niners. His stint in SF lasted just three days, and he’s apparently walking away from the sport altogether.

Long came into the league with Washington as a third-round pick in 2014. After four seasons in D.C., he moved on to the Jets in 2018 before landing with the Bills last year. If this is the end fo the line for Long, he’ll leave the sport with 67 games played, including 44 starts at both center and left guard.

Giants Plan To Sign K Graham Gano

August 16th, 2020 at 1:08pm CST by Rory Parks

Lawrence Tynes was the Giants’ placekicker from 2007-12, though an injury limited him to two games in 2008. Now, he’s breaking news for Big Blue.

Tynes reports that the Giants are bringing in kicker Graham Gano for a visit (Twitter link). Ian Rapoport of NFL.com says the team is planning to sign the 33-year-old specialist, who was released by the Panthers last month (Twitter link).

New York, of course, has experienced some turmoil at the kicker position this year. Aldrick Rosas, the team’s kicker over the past three seasons — including a Pro Bowl campaign in 2018 — was cut by the Giants following a hit-and-run incident earlier this summer.

To replace Rosas, the Giants brought in Chandler Catanzaro, who appeared to be primed to claim New York’s kicking job. But assuming Gano is signed, there will be a legitimate competition between the two vets.

Gano was tremendous in his last full season in 2017, sinking 29 of his 30 field goal tries for a league-leading 96.7% conversion rate. That performance earned him the first Pro Bowl bid of his career, and it also helped him secure a four-year, $17MM deal. Unfortunately, a fractured femur suffered towards the end of the 2018 season laned Gano on IR, and he was unable to get back on the field in 2019. Before his release, though, his recovery was said to be progressing well.

Catanzaro, meanwhile, was a productive full-time kicker as recently as 2017 and does have several very productive seasons under his belt, but after a difficult preseason with the Jets last year, he announced his retirement. He came out of retirement to hook on with New Jersey’s other club, but he may be hard-pressed to beat out a healthy Gano.

Buccaneers Sign DT Kyle Love

August 16th, 2020 at 12:17pm CST by Rory Parks

The Buccaneers have agreed to sign veteran DT Kyle Love, as Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times reports. Love, 33, has spent the last six years as part of the defensive front for the division-rival Panthers.

Love entered the league as an undrafted free agent out of Mississippi State in 2010. He spent three seasons with the Patriots, appearing in 41 total games before he was waived with a non-football illness designation due to a diabetes diagnosis. Love appeared in only three contests from 2013-14 while playing for the Chiefs, Jaguars, and Panthers, but he’s since reestablished his career with Carolina.

In the past three seasons, Love has appeared in at least 37% of the Panthers’ defensive snaps. For what it’s worth, however, Pro Football Focus’ advanced metrics ranked him near the bottom of the league’s interior defenders.

Still, Tampa Bay does not have a ton of defensive line depth behind its starting trio of Vita Vea, Ndamukong Suh, and William Gholston, so Love will add some valuable experience to the rotation. He has 15 sacks and four forced fumbles in his career.

Contract Talks Ongoing Between Panthers, RT Taylor Moton

August 16th, 2020 at 11:52am CST by Rory Parks

Panthers right tackle Taylor Moton has three years of service time, which means he is eligible for an extension. He is entering the final year of his rookie contract, and Carolina would like to keep him off the open market next year.

Per David Newton of ESPN.com, the club and Moton’s camp are engaged in ongoing contract negotiations, but nothing is imminent at this time. Moton, a Western Michigan product, was selected by the Panthers in the second round of the 2017 draft.

He became a full-time starter in his sophomore campaign. He opened the 2018 season at left tackle in place of the injured Matt Kalil, but he quickly shifted over to right tackle after the Panthers signed Chris Clark to fill the LT spot. Moton has been the starting RT ever since.

He will celebrate his 26th birthday on Tuesday, and he has quietly established himself as a dependable force on the Panthers’ offensive front. Pro Football Focus’ advanced metrics considered him a top-20 tackle in 2019, and PFF was especially fond of his pass-blocking abilities.

The rebuilding Panthers have seen a mass exodus of veteran talent this offseason, but Moton certainly qualifies as a foundational piece that could be part of the next competitive Carolina club. If player and team are able to come to terms at some point soon, it would not be surprising to see Moton land a deal similar to Ja’Wuan James‘ four-year, $51MM pact with the Broncos.

Minor NFL Transactions: 8/16/20

August 16th, 2020 at 11:31am CST by Rory Parks

Here are today’s minor moves. We will update this list as necessary throughout the day:

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Kansas City Chiefs

New York Giants

New York Jets

Seattle Seahawks

Jets Not Interested In Yannick Ngakoue

August 16th, 2020 at 11:05am CST by Rory Parks

The Jets’ lack of a top-tier pass rusher has led to many observers connecting the dots between Gang Green and players like Yannick Ngakoue and Jadeveon Clowney this offseason. But we heard earlier this month that the club has no interest in Clowney, and Rich Cimini of ESPN.com says the Jets feel the same way about Ngakoue.

That jibes with what Cimini reported back in March, but as the Jets have since acquired multiple first-round picks while failing to address their pass-rushing needs, it seemed that there was a possibility that the club could still make a move for Ngakoue, whose disenchantment with the Jaguars has been well-publicized. And, since several Power 5 conferences have pushed their seasons to the spring — while the remaining conferences could still follow suit — New York’s 2021 first-round selections may not be quite as valuable as they normally would be.

Still, Cimini says GM Joe Douglas views his four first-round picks from 2021-22 to be vital to the club’s rebuild, and he would be loathe to part with them. On the other hand, the ESPN scribe says Ravens’ edge defender Matt Judon could pique Douglas’ interest.

Indeed, Douglas, a former Ravens scout, has made a habit of acquiring former Baltimore talent, and Cimini classifies Judon as a better player than Ngakoue — which could be up for debate — who would fit nicely in the Jets’ 3-4 front. Judon and the Ravens did not reach an extension prior to the July 15 deadline, so he will play out the 2020 season on his franchise tag.

But unlike Ngakoue’s animosity towards Jacksonville, Judon harbors no ill-will towards the Ravens. And Baltimore, a championship contender, does not have much by way of proven depth in the pass-rushing department either, so it would be surprising to see the team jettison Judon, even if it could get a first-rounder in return.

West Notes: Samuel, Chiefs, Broncos

August 16th, 2020 at 10:38am CST by Rory Parks

Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area says the 49ers seem to be expecting top wideout Deebo Samuel, who is recovering from surgery to correct the Jones fracture in his left foot, to miss the first six weeks of the 2020 season. Indeed, the club recently signed both Tavon Austin and JJ Nelson to fill out its WR depth chart.

But Samuel’s timetable may not be quite that long. Maiocco acknowledges that workout videos posted by the talented second-year pass catcher suggest he could return sooner, and head coach Kyle Shanahan is still hoping for a Week 1 return.

“Deebo’s going to do everything he can to be in shape, but it’s hard to be in football shape until you can play football,” Shanahan said (via Keiana Martin of the team’s official website). “So, how many practices do we get him in here before Arizona? That’s going to all go into play. I’m hoping for Week 1, but not sure yet. It’s still too early.”

Now for a quick roundup of several more West division items:

  • In addition to the Austin and Nelson signings, the 49ers recently took a flier on TE Jordan Reed. As Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets, Reed’s one-year pact with San Francisco includes a $1.05MM base salary with up to $750K in playing time incentives.
  • Chiefs CB Alex Brown suffered a torn ACL in Friday’s practice, as Brown himself noted on Instagram (via Nate Taylor of The Athletic on Twitter). Brown, a 2019 UDFA, spent time with the 49ers, Eagles, and Jets last summer before signing with KC’s practice squad. He got called up to the active roster in December and served as a special teams contributor down the stretch of the regular season and throughout the club’s Super Bowl run.
  • Broncos TE Austin Fort is having an arthroscopic procedure on his knee and will miss some time, as Mike Klis of 9News.com tweets. It’s more tough luck for Fort, a 2019 UDFA who was impressing in training camp for Denver last summer before sustaining a season-ending ACL tear.
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