HEADLINES

Month: September 2024

Minor NFL Transactions: 11/17/20

November 17th, 2020 at 5:55pm CST by Ben Levine

Today’s minor moves:

Baltimore Ravens

Denver Broncos

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Las Vegas Raiders

Minnesota Vikings

New York Giants

Philadelphia Eagles

San Francisco 49ers

Tennessee Titans

Washington Football Team

Jets Place CB Brian Poole On IR

November 17th, 2020 at 4:32pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

The Jets’ secondary sure is getting a makeover today. Shortly after releasing starting cornerback Pierre Desir, New York has placed fellow starting corner Brian Poole on injured reserve, the team announced Tuesday.

Poole is dealing with shoulder and knee injuries although head coach Adam Gase indicated recently they weren’t overly serious. With this move, Poole will have to miss at least the next three games. Poole has been playing heavy snaps as a starter, leaving the Jets with a lot of production to replace. He entered the league as an UDFA with the Falcons in 2016, then signed a one-year, $3.5MM contract with the Jets in 2019.

He re-upped with another one-year pact worth $5MM this past offseason. In nine games so far he’s racked up 44 tackles, a sack, seven passes defended, and two interceptions. Rookie fifth-rounder Bryce Hall, just activated off the NFI list, was already going to play a bigger role with Desir gone and now he’s even more important. The Jets are going to have a very young group of corners when they take on Justin Herbert and the Chargers this week. Things could get ugly.

Rams Make Handful Of Roster Moves

November 17th, 2020 at 3:19pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

The Rams made a handful of roster moves Tuesday afternoon. Los Angeles is signing kicker Matt Gay while placing offensive tackle Andrew Whitworth, safety Taylor Rapp, and kicker Kai Forbath on IR, the team announced Tuesday.

Obviously with Forbath going on injured reserve, the team needed a new kicker. They started the year with seventh-round rookie Sam Sloman as their kicker, but replaced him with Forbath after he struggled to start the year. Gay was drafted by the Bucs in the fifth-round last year, and spent 2019 as their kicker. He was waived in September following a training camp battle with veteran Ryan Succop that he lost. He then signed with the Colts’ practice squad, which the Rams just poached him off.

Whitworth of course suffered a torn MCL and PCL during Sunday’s win over the Seahawks. The injury was thought to possibly be season-ending, but head coach Sean McVay indicated recently they were hoping to get him back and that it would sideline him only 6-8 weeks. If that’s the case, then the veteran stud left tackle may be able to return and block Jared Goff‘s blindside for a playoff run. 2018 third-round pick Joseph Noteboom will take his place for the time being.

Rapp is a 2019 second-rounder who was a starter as a rookie and had once again been playing a big role on defense this season. He has an MCL sprain which McVay said will likely sideline him between 3-4 weeks. Meanwhile Forbath has a sprained ankle. Gay will apparently compete with Austin MacGinnis, currently on the practice squad, for the kicking job.

Jets Release Pierre Desir

November 17th, 2020 at 2:50pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

The 0-9 Jets are making a change on defense. New York is releasing veteran cornerback Pierre Desir, Mike Garafolo of NFL Network tweets.

New York signed him to a one-year deal with a base value of around $4MM and max value of $5.5MM with incentives back in March, hoping he could be their top corner this year. Desir had been playing a near every down role, starting all but one game this season, so this is a pretty big shakeup for Gregg Williams’ defense. Obviously Desir is a vet who is set to be a free agent at the end of the year, so as his play has slipped there’s no reason for the tanking Jets not to get a look at some of their younger guys.

Desir will finish his Jets tenure with 47 tackles, eight passes defended, and three interceptions. The three picks are solid, but Desir often struggled in coverage and was pulled from games a couple of times. A fourth-round pick of the Browns back in 2014, Desir spent his first two years in Cleveland before getting cut. After brief stints with the Chargers and Seahawks, he found a home in Indianapolis.

He was with the Colts for three seasons, and was a full-time starter in 2018 and 2019. After a surprisingly strong 2018 campaign he was rewarded with a three-year, $22.5MM deal, but was cut after just one season of that. Since it’s this late in the year Desir will go on waivers, and it’ll be interesting to see if a contending team in need of secondary help decides to claim his expiring contract. Bryce Hall, a rookie sixth-round pick from Virginia who was recently activated off the NFI list, should be one of the aforementioned young guys who gets more run with the Jets moving forward.

Bengals Waive Takk McKinley

November 17th, 2020 at 2:15pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

Takk McKinley‘s time with the Bengals is over before it really ever began. Cincinnati waived the defensive end after he failed his physical with the team, they announced on Tuesday.

Cincy had just claimed McKinley off waivers from the Falcons last week. He’ll now revert to waivers, where every team will again have the chance to claim him. In addition to the Bengals, the 49ers, Browns, and Raiders also submitted claims last time. The 49ers have the highest waiver priority among those teams so they’ll presumable be able to get him if they still want him, unless a previously uninterested team decides to pull the trigger.

Atlanta drafted McKinley in the first-round back in 2017, but he never lived up to that status. He had six and then seven sacks in his first two years in the league, but had only 3.5 last season. Through four games and limited playing time this season he only has one, although he’s had a very high pressure rate.

He was hoping to get traded, and accused the Falcons of turning down trade offers for him. After the trade deadline came and went he blasted the team on social media, leading to his release shortly thereafter. McKinley has plenty of talent, and at only 25 makes for a nice low-risk upside addition for teams in need of pass-rushing help. It’ll be interesting to see who jumps at the opportunity the second time around.

Giants, Washington Have COVID-19 Positives

November 17th, 2020 at 1:55pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

We continue to see a steady uptick in COVID-19 cases around the league, although fortunately they have been mostly isolated incidents with no full-blown outbreaks. Tuesday morning we got word of two more teams with players testing positive, both in the NFC East. The Giants and the Washington Football Team are the latest to be hit with the virus.

The Giants’ player is kicker Graham Gano, Paul Schwartz of the New York Post tweets. Thankfully New York is on bye this week, so Gano should be able to kick by the next time the Giants play a game in Week 12 against Cincinnati assuming there are no complications, Mike Garafolo of NFL Network tweets. The Giants are finally starting to pick up a little steam, so hopefully this remains an isolated incident that has minimal implications because of the bye.

Washington also had a player test positive, and also thankfully it sounds like somewhat of a best-case scenario. The unidentified player hasn’t been in the facility in the past few days and didn’t travel with the team for their game in Detroit last week, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network tweets. That’s because the player is currently on injured reserve, Nicki Jhabvala of the Washington Post tweets.

Washington is going into the intensive protocol, but since he didn’t play in the game the Lions won’t have to and hopefully no other Washington players caught it. Interestingly, as Pelissero noted in a follow-up tweet, Washington was one of only three teams who hadn’t placed a player on the reserve/COVID-19 list during the regular season before now. The only two remaining are the Rams and Seahawks.

Latest On Drew Breees

November 17th, 2020 at 1:05pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

The top story in the NFL right now remains the injury to Saints quarterback Drew Brees, and exactly how long he’ll be out. We’re still a bit in the dark, but we’ve got a couple new developments to pass along.

Brees is having his scans sent to other experts for a second opinion on his cracked ribs and collapsed lung, a source told Ed Werder of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Brees has five clear rib fractures but could have even more, Werder noted in a follow-up tweet. Werder writes it’ll be the second opinion that determines whether or not Brees goes on injured reserve and in turn misses a minimum of three games.

We originally heard that injured reserve wasn’t being immediately considered, but it now sounds like that’s very much on the table. The absolute best case scenario seems to be that Jameis Winston and/or Taysom Hill fill in for the next couple of games. Ideally Brees would get a few games to readjust before the playoffs start, but he may not have that luxury. In a final tweet Werder says a source told him no determination on the length of his absence will be made until after the second opinions come in, so everything is still in flux.

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 11/17/20

November 17th, 2020 at 12:00pm CST by Zachary Links

We’ll keep track of today’s practice squad moves here:

Atlanta Falcons

  • Signed: LB Jake Carlock

Baltimore Ravens

Carolina Panthers

Cincinnati Bengals

  • Cut: OT O’Shea Dugas

Dallas Cowboys

Kansas City Chiefs

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

This Date In Transactions History: Cardinals Extend Larry Fitzgerald

November 17th, 2020 at 9:59am CST by Zachary Links

Three years ago, Larry Fitzgerald was thought to be on his farewell tour. That, of course, was not the case. The Cardinals inked the legendary wide receiver to a new one-year extension worth $11MM, tying him to the team for at least one more year. "<strong

Fitzgerald was considering retirement, but the Cardinals talked him out of it with this re-up, which included a no-trade clause. It wasn’t necessarily an easy decision for the vet, who could have left on a high note. At the time of the deal, Fitzgerald led the NFC with 60 catches and was on pace for well over 1,000 yards. No player in league history ever registered more than 100 catches and 1,000 yards in an age-34 season — Fitzgerald did it with ease.

The deal didn’t necessarily guarantee that Fitzgerald would play in 2018 — it merely put the ball in his court. Fitzgerald went on to play and suit up for every game, matching kicker Jim Bakken for the most regular season games played in Cardinals history with 234. He also captured his eleventh career Pro Bowl nod and leapfrogged tight end Tony Gonzalez for second all-time in NFL receptions, behind Jerry Rice. Fitzgerald didn’t stop there — he’s now eclipsed Randy Moss and Terrell Owens on the all-time list with 17,000+ receiving yards. Once again, only Rice (22,895) tops him.

Fitzgerald is still doing his thing at the age of 37 and he’s still not quite ready to commit to retirement. What would it take for one of the league’s all-time legends to call it quits?

“You wouldn’t see me around here anymore if [we win the Super Bowl this year],” Fitzgerald said in September. “Another catch, another touchdown, another yard is not going to make more whatever – my legacy is pretty much cemented. I just want to win a championship, I want to compete for a division title. Those are the things that are important to me.”

Bucs’ Antonio Brown Accused Of Vandalism

November 17th, 2020 at 8:59am CST by Zachary Links

Antonio Brown was recently accused of destroying a surveillance camera in his gated community in Florida (via David Ovalle of the Miami Herald). The alleged incident took place before Brown joined the Buccaneers. It’s not immediately clear whether the Bucs were informed of the matter at the time of signing, but they are aware of the matter now.

“We are aware of the reported incident involving Antonio Brown prior to his signing,” the Bucs said in a statement. “When Antonio joined us, we were clear about what we expected and required of him. Thus far, he has met all the expectations we have in place.”

It’s worth noting that the homeowners association declined to press charges for the mid-October incident, though the board’s president says she feared possible retaliation. The allegations are troubling given Brown’s extensive history of off-the-field trouble, though it pales in comparison to everything else on his rap sheet. Ultimately, the Buccaneers are unlikely to discipline Brown in connection with this issue, but the league office may look into it. Per the collective bargaining agreement, the NFL has the authority to fine or suspend players for conduct violations, even when the justice system is not involved.

Brown, a seven-time Pro Bowler, caught seven passes for 69 yards on Sunday as the Bucs trounced the Panthers. It was a step-up from his Nov. 8 debut against the Saints — Brown had 3 catches for 31 yards in the blowout loss.

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