HEADLINES

Month: November 2024

Chiefs, 49ers Interested In DeAndre Baker

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

The armed robbery charges against former Giants cornerback Deandre Baker have been dropped and he’s already drawing interest from a handful of NFL teams. The Chiefs, Bengals, 49ers, and Jaguars are all in on Baker, according to Paul Schwartz of the New York Post (on Twitter). The Cowboys, he adds, “could also be in play.” 

[RELATED: Robbery Charges Against DeAndre Baker Dropped]

The Giants, who immediately distanced themselves from Baker following the allegations from Florida, are not interested in a reunion, Schwartz says. Giants head coach Joe Judge effectively confirmed that when speaking with reporters on Monday.

“[We] wish him the best luck in the future,” Judge said. “We’ve made the decision we think is best for the program. That is all I have to say about that.”

The Giants traded up from the second round in 2019 to draft Baker towards the back-end of the first round. A standout at Georgia, Baker was widely regarded as the top cornerback in the class. The 5-foot-11 athlete turned in a standout 2018 season with the Bulldogs, compiling 40 tackles, two sacks, nine passes defended, and two picks. However, he struggled to grasp the playbook as a rookie and wound up benched late in the season. All in all, he had 55 stops, zero interceptions, and lots of headache-inducing game tape.

On the other hand, Baker is still young and represents a low-risk, high-reward signing for teams like the Chiefs and 49ers. He’s free to sign with any team, though NFL discipline could still be in his future.

Jets Beat Dolphins, Ravens, Others For Pat Elflein

November 16th, 2020 at 9:28pm CST by Zachary Links

The Jets, at least, have achieved something this year. On Monday, the Jets beat out five other NFL teams on the waiver wire when they picked up former Vikings offensive lineman Pat Elflein, a source tells Field Yates of ESPN.com (on Twitter). The Jaguars, Bears, Dolphins, Ravens, and the Washington Football Team all tried to claim the veteran, but the Jets’ 0-9 record gave them the upper hand. 

Elflein started 15 games at guard in 2019, and he started the 2020 season opener before suffering a torn thumb ligament. That injury forced him to the injured reserve list. And, after returning to practice three weeks ago, his IR-DTR window had recently come to an end. Therefore, the Vikings had no other choice than to activate Elflein. One day later, they released the 26-year-old lineman.

The former third-rounder earned a spot on the All-Rookie Team in 2017 after starting 14 games at center for the Vikings. He played the same role in 2018, but he was switched to guard in 2019 after Minnesota drafted Garrett Bradbury in the first round of that year’s draft.

Elflein’s injury has hindered him, but he now says that he’s fully healthy. And, although his rookie contract will expire at the end of the year, the Jets will have the opportunity to evaluate him and potentially lock him up before he can reach the open market in March. The advanced metrics have never been fond of Elflein’s work, but quality linemen are in short supply, and plenty of teams were eager to take the low-cost risk before the Jets won out.

QB Injury Updates: Brees, Darnold, Minshew, Lock, Dalton

November 16th, 2020 at 5:55pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

There have been a lot of short-term quarterback injuries recently, and we’ve got a batch of updates to pass along. We heard earlier Monday that Drew Brees is dealing with several cracked ribs as well as a collapsed lung, and now we have a better idea how long he’ll be sidelined. 2-3 weeks is apparently the “most optimistic recovery time” for the veteran, a source told Dan Graziano of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Graziano said there’s emphasis on the optimistic part there, indicating it could be quite a bit longer than that.

He also added “there is hope he’s back in time for playoffs,” which doesn’t paint the prettiest picture. It sounds like it’ll be Jameis Winston and/or Taysom Hill for the foreseeable future. Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reported earlier the Saints weren’t immediately planning on placing Brees on injured reserve, confirming there is some hope he won’t even have to miss three full games. Graziano says it’ll all come down to when they feel like he can take a hit without risk of re-injury. New Orleans will take on the Falcons this weekend, and head coach Sean Payton has already said he won’t name a starting quarterback until closer to kickoff.

Here’s more on the health status of various passers:

  • The Jets will be looking for their first win of the season with Joe Flacco yet again. Sam Darnold will not be able to return this week, they announced Monday. This will be Flacco’s fourth start of the season after Darnold briefly returned before re-injuring his shoulder and hitting the shelf again. Head coach Adam Gase said he could possibly play in Week 12, but that doesn’t sound overly likely at the moment. Darnold himself spoke to the media, and made it sound like the team is going to be very cautious and not play him until he’s 100 percent. He did say he was “very confident” he would play again this season, but we could be looking at another couple of games at least with Flacco under center.
  • Jaguars quarterback Gardner Minshew also won’t be ready to return this week, head coach Doug Marrone said Monday, meaning sixth-round rookie Jake Luton will get his third-straight start. It does sound like Minshew is getting closer though, as Marrone said he’ll start throwing routes again in practice this week, via Michael DiRocco of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
  • Drew Lock melted down against the Raiders on Sunday with four interceptions, but he apparently wasn’t 100 percent healthy. Lock has a muscle strain around his ribs, a source told Tom Pelissero of NFL Network (Twitter link). Head coach Vic Fangio acknowledged that his status for this weekend’s game against the Dolphins is in doubt. He also reiterated that he’s not considering benching the second-year pro assuming he’s healthy, even though he’s been struggling mightily recently. If he isn’t able to suit up Brett Rypien is currently the number two, although the team also has veteran Blake Bortles on the practice squad.
  • In better news, it looks like the Cowboys won’t have quite as chaotic a situation any more under center. Coach Mike McCarthy announced Monday that Andy Dalton had been cleared to fully return to practice, and he should start this Sunday against the Vikings. Dalton has missed the past two games after suffering a concussion and then testing positive for COVID-19. Seventh-round rookie Ben DiNucci and former undrafted AAF star Garrett Gilbert started in his place.

Minor NFL Transactions: 11/16/20

November 16th, 2020 at 5:08pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

We’ll put all of today’s minor moves here:

Houston Texans

Jacksonville Jaguars

Kansas City Chiefs

Philadelphia Eagles

San Francisco 49ers

Tennessee Titans 

Fortunately it looks like all these COVID-19 list placements were due to contacts and not positive tests, meaning the Chiefs will likely have both of their starting tackles available on Sunday assuming they don’t test positive between now and then.

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 11/16/20

November 16th, 2020 at 4:26pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

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

Arizona Cardinals

Carolina Panthers

Denver Broncos

Los Angeles Chargers

Miami Dolphins

  • Signed: LS Rex Sunahara

New England Patriots

New York Giants

Washington Football Team

The Panthers were going to land Stevens as an UDFA back in April before the Saints snagged him in the seventh-round. He was recently cut from New Orleans’ practice squad last week. Stevens is a diverse athlete who played a Taysom Hill-esque role at Penn State before transferring to Mississippi State for the 2019 college season. His signing could be an indication the Panthers are worried about Teddy Bridgewater‘s status for Sunday, but since they had previous reported interest in Stevens it could be completely unrelated.

Jets Claim Pat Elflein Off Waivers

November 16th, 2020 at 3:20pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

The Jets are using their 0-9 record to their advantage. New York has claimed offensive lineman Pat Elflein off waivers from the Vikings, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network tweets.

It goes without saying, the Jets are at the top of the waiver wire. It’s rare for a player with Elflein’s recent starting experience to hit the waiver wire late in the year, and GM Joe Douglas took advantage. A 2017 third-round pick of the Vikings, Elflein started at least 13 games in each of his first three NFL seasons. He spent his first two years at center before kicking over to left guard for the 2019 campaign.

His rookie contract is set to expire at the end of the year, so he’ll be an unrestricted free agent in March. Now the Jets can take a look at him internally and potentially lock him up before he hits free agency if they like what they see. Elflein has never graded out well as a starter by most evaluators, but it’s a decent low-risk acquisition as the Jets continue to try to improve their offensive line.

The Ohio State product started Minnesota’s opener against the Packers this year, but was then placed on injured reserve with a thumb injury. He was released nearly immediately upon being activated.

 

Dolphins Extend DT Zach Sieler

November 16th, 2020 at 2:37pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

The Dolphins have been arguably the best story in football this season, and now they’re locking up one of their diamond in the rough finds. Miami has extended defensive tackle Zach Sieler through the 2023 season, the team announced Monday.

He had previously been set to become a restricted free agent at the end of the year. A seventh-round pick of the Ravens in 2018, the Dolphins claimed him off waivers from Baltimore in December of last year. He played in a few games for Miami down the stretch, and showed enough to earn a role in 2020. The Dolphins’ defense has been one of the biggest surprises in the NFL as they’ve played at a very high level recently, and Sieler has been a big part of the turnaround.

He’s played in all nine games this season, starting three, while notching right around half of the defensive snaps. So far he has 26 tackles, four for a loss, 1.5 sacks, and eight quarterback hits. We don’t have the financial terms yet for the Ferris State D2 alum, but we’ll pass those along as soon as we get word.

Drew Brees Has Multiple Fractured Ribs, Collapsed Lung

November 16th, 2020 at 2:00pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

We heard early this morning that the Saints were bracing for the possibility of Drew Brees missing time, and now that sounds like an absolute certainty. Brees is dealing with multiple fractured ribs as well as a collapsed right lung, Ed Werder of ESPN.com reports (on Twitter).

In a follow-up tweet, Werder notes that Brees suffered two fractured ribs during New Orleans’ win over the 49ers, and he had three other fractures on the other side from their win over the Bucs the week before that weren’t discovered until Monday’s X-Rays. He also writes that doctors have advised Brees to be cautious with the collapsed lung, which makes it sound like his return to the field won’t be imminent.

Brees has also been on the injury report this year with a shoulder issue, and all these ailments explain why Brees called it an “accumulative thing” after the game on Sunday. On the bright side Ian Rapoport of NFL Network tweets that injured reserve is not currently being discussed, so it sounds like there’s still a chance the injuries aren’t too long-term.

For however long Brees has to be sidelined, it will presumably be Jameis Winston under center, although Sean Payton could easily go with Taysom Hill as well at a moment’s notice. Winston filled in for Brees in the second half against the 49ers, completing six of ten passes for 63 yards. When Brees was on the shelf last year the Saints had Teddy Bridgewater start five games.

Even if it’s only a game or two, this is a massive opportunity for Winston to redefine his narrative and reset his value heading into unrestricted free agency next offseason. The former first overall pick signed a one-year deal with the Saints back in April. Many already believed this would be Brees’ final season, as he lined up a deal with NBC Sports for his post-playing days this offseason, and the toll his body is clearly taking might only make that decision easier. We’ll keep you posted as soon as we have more information on the situation.

Dolphins Release RB Jordan Howard

November 16th, 2020 at 1:11pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

Jordan Howard‘s time in Miami has come to an end. The Dolphins have cut the running back, head coach Brian Flores announced during his press conference on Monday.

Interestingly, Flores deemed it a “mutual parting,” which likely has something to do with Howard being frustrated with his limited role. Even though he’s a vested veteran since it’s this late in the season, Howard will be subjected to waivers. We heard a couple of weeks ago that Howard might be available in a trade, but clearly there weren’t any takers. Still, he could be a target of some contending teams looking for running back help.

Howard signed a two-year, $9.75MM deal with Miami back in March, and they proved to regret it almost immediately. He started the first two games but only carried the ball 13 times for 11 yards, and quickly took a backseat to Myles Gaskin and Matt Breida. He’s mostly been inactive recently. All told, he’ll finish his Dolphins tenure with a pitiful 33 yards on 28 attempts through five games, although he did score four touchdowns.

A fifth-round pick of the Bears in 2016, Howard became Chicago’s starter as a rookie and spent his first three seasons as their lead back. The Indiana product slowly fell out of favor with Matt Nagy, and was shipped out to Philadelphia before the 2019 season. Last year with the Eagles he was relatively productive, rushing the ball 119 for 525 yards and six scores. Howard’s salary isn’t guaranteed for 2021 and he’s only owed around $721K for the rest of this year (per this tweet from Field Yates of ESPN.com), so it’s certainly not inconceivable that a team will claim him.

COVID-19 Positive Test Closes Browns Facility

November 16th, 2020 at 12:34pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

UPDATE, 3:45pm: The Browns have placed fullback Andy Janovich on the reserve/COVID-19 list, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network tweets, which would seem to suggest he’s the player who tested positive.

12:34 pm: Cases of COVID-19 continue to trickle in throughout the league, and the Browns are the latest to be hit by the virus. Cleveland is closing their facility after a player tested positive Monday morning, the team announced in a tweet. This news comes just a few days after the Browns were originally cleared to reopen their facility following offensive lineman Chris Hubbard‘s positive test.

By now the drill is more or less routine. The Browns will have their facility closed while they conduct contact tracing and identify any close contacts. Players who are close contacts with the infected player will then likely go on the reserve/COVID-19 list as well, although they can still play this coming week as long as they test negative for five days in a row. Speaking to the media on Monday, head coach Kevin Stefanski declined to say whether the player played on Sunday against the Texans.

Assuming he did, Houston will then likely have to go into an intensive protocol as well around their facility. There’s no word yet on who the player on the Browns is, but we’ll pass that along as soon as it’s reported. Cleveland improved to 6-3 yesterday with their victory over the Texans.

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