HEADLINES

Year: 2024

Saints Add RB James Robinson To Practice Squad

December 12th, 2023 at 6:52pm CST by Ben Levine

James Robinson‘s busy 2023 campaign has brought him to New Orleans. The running back is signing with the Saints, according to Nick Underhill. It’s a practice squad deal for Robinson, according to Luke Johnson of NOLA.com.

Robinson inked a two-year, $8MM deal with the Patriots back in March, but a failed physical and health concerns ultimately led to his release. He caught on with the Giants for the preseason but didn’t make the roster, and he later had a handful of stints on the Packers practice squad before getting cut a final time last week. He ended up getting into one game for Green Bay, garnering two touches.

The Illinois State product had a memorable rookie season, with his 1,414 yards from scrimmage setting the record for the most scrimmage yards by an undrafted rookie. His volume was down a bit in 2021, but Robinson was just as productive, averaging 5.1 yards per touch. However, he suffered a torn Achilles towards the end of that campaign that served as a setback for the following year.

He got into seven games with the Jaguars in 2022 before getting shipped to the Jets to finish the campaign. In 11 games between the two squads, Robinson compiled 476 yards from scrimmage and five touchdowns.

The Saints aren’t in urgent need of RB depth with Alvin Kamara and Jamaal Williams leading the depth chart. Rookie Kendre Miller hasn’t seen the field since Week 9 while nursing an ankle injury, opening up an opportunity for Adam Prentice to get some extra snaps at the position. Per Katherine Terrell, Robinson was one of several RBs to audition for the Saints today, with the group also including Jerrion Ealy, John Lovett, and Ty Montgomery.

NFL, NFLPA Reviewing Steelers’ Handling Of T.J. Watt Concussion

December 12th, 2023 at 3:53pm CST by Sam Robinson

T.J. Watt left the Steelers’ Week 14 game after taking a knee to the head from Patriots running back Ezekiel Elliott. Watt returned to action soon after but reported concussion-like symptoms a day later. The Steelers then placed their top defender in concussion protocol.

Watt was briefly checked for a concussion before being cleared to return on the same drive. The Steelers’ medical staff also took an extended look at Watt’s jaw/mouth, and Watt was spotted wearing a tinted visor later in the game. The NFL and NFLPA have since launched a joint investigation into the Steelers’ handling of this injury, NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport tweets.

Mike Tomlin said Monday he was unaware Watt had switched to a tinted visor upon returning to action. The switch certainly looks to be a red flag, with an investigation underway.

“I assume that he was, but again I’m managing the game,” Tomlin said (via Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio) when asked if he knew Watt was evaluated for a concussion during the game. “I leave that to the medical experts. They essentially tell me whether someone is out, whether they’re subject to return, or whether they’re back. I got a report that he was subject to return and then I got a report that he was back and that was just my knowledge of the details of what transpired with him during the time that he was out in game.”

The investigation will involve interviews with Watt and both team-affiliated and independent medical personnel involved, according to CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones. Both Watt and Alex Highsmith, who did not return to action after exiting Thursday’s game early, are in concussion protocol.

Dolphins C Connor Williams Out For Season

December 12th, 2023 at 2:12pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Dolphins continue to absorb blows along their offensive line. They will lose a second starter to a significant malady. Connor Williams is set to miss the rest of the season due to a torn ACL, Mike McDaniel said Tuesday.

Williams will join left guard Isaiah Wynn as Miami blockers set to rehab long-term injuries. It is not known if Wynn is done for the season, but early indications have signaled that is the case. Williams, who is in a contract year, left Monday night’s game early.

This is a brutal setback for Williams, who was playing out a two-year, $14MM contract. The former Cowboys draftee had angled for a raise this offseason, but the Dolphins did not buckle. Williams missed offseason time but ultimately returned on the deal he signed in 2022. Going down with a severe knee injury this late in the season will undoubtedly affect the former second-round pick’s 2024 market, as the Texas alum’s rehab effort will run up to, and potentially beyond, Week 1 of next season.

McDaniel said (via the Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson) the Dolphins will consider signing a center. Liam Eichenberg, who has bounced across the Dolphins’ offensive front during his three-year career, is set to move into the role on a fill-in basis. Eichenberg, whom Wynn beat out for the left guard job in training camp, has worked as a utility player this season — for a Miami O-line unable to keep its starting five healthy — before becoming a full-time starter once again.

Williams, 26, had missed four games earlier this season but had started the past five. Converted from Texas tackle to Cowboys guard to Dolphins center, Williams had become an important part of Miami’s top-flight offense. The Dolphins finished their Week 14 game without four of their original O-line starters, with Robert Hunt out after aggravating a hamstring injury and Terron Armstead nursing his latest ailment. Armstead, who suffered a quad injury during the Dolphins’ Black Friday game, returned for the team’s Week 13 matchup against the Commanders; the Dolphins held him out Monday due to knee and ankle injuries. Armstead, whom the team already activated from IR, has missed eight games this season. Miami’s second-stringer-laden front allowed five sacks in a 28-27 loss.

The recently extended Austin Jackson, who has settled in at right tackle, has been the only Dolphin O-lineman to start every game this season. Jackson entered the season after missing 15 games last year. Kendall Lamm started in place of Armstead, while Lester Cotton was in for Hunt. Cotton has a direct path to the starting lineup at guard, while McDaniel said he is the team’s backup center presently. Eichenberg has made one career start at center — in Week 4 of this season — but has played every position up front for the Dolphins since being drafted in the 2021 second round.

Centers who either just retired (Chase Roullier, Justin Britt) or have been connected to doing so (Rodney Hudson, Ben Jones) represent the biggest names available in free agency. The Cardinals and Titans, respectively, released Hudson and Jones this offseason. Jones, 34, had signed four contracts with the Titans and had missed just one game in his 11-year career before a two-concussion 2022 stalled his career. Hudson, 34, made three Pro Bowls as a Raider but was linked to retiring before the 2022 season; he missed 13 games last year. The injury-prone Roullier, 30, retired this summer but had worked out for the Cardinals shortly before making that decision. The Texans released Britt, 32, after he spent almost all of last season on the reserve/NFI list.

Chargers Activate Josh Palmer From IR

December 12th, 2023 at 2:11pm CST by Sam Robinson

DECEMBER 12: The Chargers will use the roster spot opened by Herbert’s IR placement to activate Palmer. While the landscape between Palmer’s return to practice and his return to the Bolts’ active roster has changed significantly, the third-year wideout will be set to make his return Thursday night. Their reputation as perhaps the NFL’s most injury-prone team notwithstanding, this is the Bolts’ first IR activation this season.

DECEMBER 6: Justin Herbert has operated without two of his top three receivers over the past several weeks, leaving Keenan Allen as the team’s lone reliable target. This has been a steady issue for the star quarterback, as the Chargers have sunk to 5-7.

While the Bolts will face an uphill battle to return to the playoffs, they may soon have one of Herbert’s primary weapons back in uniform. The team will designate Josh Palmer for return Wednesday, NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero tweets. The former third-round pick has been out with a knee sprain.

Palmer has been required to play a bigger role over the past two seasons. A nagging Allen hamstring injury forced him into the WR2 role for Los Angeles’ AFC team, and Mike Williams going down with a season-ending ACL tear in September forced another Bolts adjustment. While the Chargers drafted Quentin Johnston in the first round, the TCU product has not proven dependable just yet. With Johnston struggling to establish consistency, Palmer’s absence has been felt over the past five weeks.

Regularly needed in an injury-prone receiving corps, the Canadian wideout caught 72 passes for 769 yards and three touchdowns last season. OC Kellen Moore‘s arrival has resulted in longer-range Palmer targets, with the third-year pass catcher’s yards-per-catch number moving north by nearly six yards. Palmer is averaging 16.4 yards per grab (23/377) this season.

The Bolts have used Johnston and Jalen Guyton as Allen complementary cogs, with the latter coming back after an ACL tear sidelined him for more than a year. Johnston has caught 26 passes for 242 yards, but the 6-foot-4 target — who had worked behind Palmer in the Chargers’ aerial pecking order earlier this season — has been slow to develop thus far. A Johnston fourth-quarter drop proved costly for the Bolts in a close loss to the Packers last month.

Allen, 31, has done well to pick up the slack. His 102 receptions lead the NFL, and the 11th-year veteran has posted 1,175 yards. He is on pace to eclipse his career high (1,393, from 2017) this season. But the Bolts will aim to give Allen more help as they attempt a last-ditch wild-card push. Los Angeles sits two games back in a crowded AFC playoff race.

Ravens To Move Devin Duvernay To IR, Sign Malik Cunningham Off Pats’ Practice Squad

December 12th, 2023 at 1:22pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Patriots have regularly passed quarterbacks through waivers to their practice squad this season, but they will bid farewell to one of those arms. Rather than sign Malik Cunningham to their active roster once again, the Pats will let him head elsewhere.

Cunningham will trek to Baltimore; the Ravens are signing the rookie UDFA to their 53-man roster, ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter tweets. This will mark a reunion for Cunningham and Lamar Jackson. Despite the superstar QB being in his sixth NFL season, he and Cunningham were teammates at Louisville in 2017. Cunningham, who was at the ACC school for six years, redshirted during the ’17 slate.

As the Ravens add a quarterback, they will lose a wide receiver. Devin Duvernay sustained a back injury in Week 14, and NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport reports the former All-Pro return man will head to IR. Though, Rapoport adds the fourth-year wideout will not require surgery and is expected to be ready to return in the playoffs. Duvernay will be eligible for activation to start Baltimore’s playoff journey, whenever that point comes. But he is done for the regular season.

Emerging as an intriguing gadget-type player during the preseason in New England, Cunningham did not make the Pats’ 53-man roster out of training camp. The team took a chance on exposing Cunningham to waivers on cutdown day, waiving both he and Bailey Zappe. Cunningham indeed passed through waivers and stayed in Foxborough on the Pats’ practice squad.

Cunningham will join a Ravens team that has used a Jackson-Tyler Huntley QB depth chart for the past three seasons. The team now has four QBs on its active roster, with journeyman extraordinaire Josh Johnson still with the team. This could point to a versatile role for Cunningham, for whom the Patriots had designed special packages this season. Even as the Pats moved from Mac Jones to Zappe and designed a package of plays for Cunningham recently, the athletic rookie has played only six regular-season snaps — all against the Raiders in Week 6.

This move will ensure Cunningham stays on Baltimore’s active roster for at least three weeks, though Schefter adds it could be a play for next season as well. Given an original-round RFA tender this offseason, Huntley will be a UFA in 2024. Cunningham, 25, can be kept through the 2026 season before he hits unrestricted free agency. Though, it remains to be seen if the ex-Louisville star will pan out as a QB2 option.

A thinner Ravens wide receiver depth chart last year required regular Duvernay contributions, but Baltimore reloaded at the position this offseason. The team signed Nelson Agholor and Odell Beckham Jr. and drafted Zay Flowers in Round 1. With Rashod Bateman recovering from his 2022 foot injury, the Ravens have a solid top four at receiver. Tylan Wallace also became a memorable fill-in for Duvernay at punt returner, notching only the fourth overtime punt-return walk-off in NFL history.

While Duvernay caught 37 passes for a career-high 407 yards last season, he exited Week 14 with just four grabs for 18 yards. The former third-round pick had operated as Baltimore’s primary kick- and punt-return option this season. Duvernay, who is set for free agency in 2024, also finished last season on IR (due to a foot injury).

Additionally, the Ravens will use one of their IR activations on cornerback Damarion Williams, The Athletic’s Jeff Zrebiec notes. The 2022 fourth-rounder played in 14 games as a backup last season but suffered an ankle injury this summer. The Ravens had expected Williams back around October. Regardless of the delay, the Houston alum will be in position to contribute. Williams will fill Mark Andrews‘ roster spot. The Ravens now have four IR activations remaining.

Browns LT Jedrick Wills Undergoes Surgery, To Miss Rest Of Season

December 12th, 2023 at 12:20pm CST by Sam Robinson

Stationed on IR with an MCL sprain, Jedrick Wills is eligible to be activated. But the Browns will not have their top left tackle available at any point down the stretch.

Rather than making a return from an injury that often leads to seasons pausing but not ending, Wills underwent surgery Tuesday morning, Bleacher Report’s Jordan Schultz reports. While this is an arthroscopic procedure, it is slated to sideline the fourth-year blocker for the rest of the season. The Browns have since announced the procedure will keep Wills off the field the rest of the way.

This deals a blow to a Browns team that has been playing without top right tackle Jack Conklin since Week 2. Cleveland also lost fill-in tackle starter Dawand Jones to a season-ending injury as well. Conklin suffered an ACL tear in the Browns’ opener; Jones sustained a knee injury in practice leading up to the team’s Week 14 game. Wills’ status update will continue Cleveland’s uphill battle at tackle.

The Browns started James Hudson and Geron Christian at tackle Sunday. That combination was good enough to propel a now-Joe Flacco-quarterbacked team past the Jaguars, despite Christian arriving as a practice squad pickup on Halloween. A 2018 third-round Washington pick, Christian is on team No. 6. But he has made five starts for the Browns this season. A 2021 fourth-rounder, Hudson has made three this year and 10 during his Browns run. This looks like the combination Cleveland will need to rely on going forward.

One of four tackles who went off the 2020 draft board in the top 13 picks, Wills was selected 10th — behind Andrew Thomas but ahead of Mekhi Becton and Tristan Wirfs. The Browns picked up the Alabama alum’s fifth-year option this offseason, locking him into a $14.1MM salary for 2024. This injury-marred season blunts any momentum the team had hoped Wills would carry into the ’24 offseason, potentially complicating extension talks. The Browns already have three big-ticket contracts along their O-line, having also extended guards Joel Bitonio and Wyatt Teller in 2021.

Coming into the season, Wills had never missed more than four games during any of his NFL slates. This gave the Browns some stability at tackle during a period that has involved two severe Conklin injuries. Cleveland gave Conklin a four-year, $60MM extension in December 2022. This points to the Browns running out the Wills-Conklin tandem for a fifth straight season come 2024. Those two will be tabbed to protect Deshaun Watson and likely open run lanes for Nick Chubb. As it stands now, the Browns’ offense is missing cornerstone cogs as it attempts to complement a high-end defense.

Watson and Chubb are done for the year. While Jerome Ford (feat. Kareem Hunt) has been the team’s backfield solution, the Browns are on QB No. 4 in Flacco. Despite not playing for the season’s first three months and being a month away from his 39th birthday, Flacco has played well in two starts with the Browns. The former Super Bowl MVP has done so despite the issues at tackle. While placing an immobile passer behind two backup tackles represents a shaky situation for the Browns, they are atop a jumbled AFC wild-card race at 8-5. The Browns having a solid interior O-line mix (Bitonio-Teller-Ethan Pocic) certainly helps their battered offense’s cause.

Chargers’ Justin Herbert Undergoes Season-Ending Surgery

December 12th, 2023 at 11:13am CST by Adam La Rose

Justin Herbert‘s finger injury will end his 2023 campaign. The Chargers quarterback underwent season-ending surgery on Tuesday, per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. The Bolts have since played their franchise QB on IR.

This represents the expected outcome of this situation, with Herbert’s long-term health being weighed against the Chargers’ slim playoff chances. The 25-year-old consulted two hand specialists yesterday to gain additional opinions on the injury suffered to the index finger in his throwing hand in Week 14. It was reported last night that he would likely undergo surgery, a procedure which would determine his recovery timeline.

With Los Angeles sitting at 5-8 on the year and therefore on the outside of the AFC’s wild-card picture, electing to take the surgical route with Herbert makes sense. The former Offensive Rookie of the Year signed a five-year, $262.5MM extension this offseason as one of several young passers to land a mega-deal. Herbert is on the books through 2029 as a result, and the Chargers’ investment in him makes his long-term outlook an obvious priority.

With Herbert out of the picture, Los Angeles will continue to use Easton Stick under center. The former fifth-rounder took over after Herbert suffered the injury in Sunday’s loss to the Broncos. He totaled 179 scoreless yards on 13-of-24 passing upon entering the contest, which represented his first regular season action since 2020. The latter appearance saw him attempt just one pass, so he will now take on starting duties with very little in-game experience. Stick has never started an NFL game.

Being shorthanded on offense will hurt the Chargers’ chances of closing out the season on a high note. That, in turn, would likely lessen head coach Brandon Staley‘s chances of being retained in the offseason. The third-year coach has drawn signficant criticism over the course of his tenure, and the Chargers are on track to miss the postseason for the second time over the past three seasons. Shortcomings on both sides of the ball have led many to expect a change will be made on the sidelines soon.

Herbert’s presence would make the Chargers an attractive option to coaching candidates with an offensive background in particular. Ben Johnson – one of the top options in the 2024 hiring cycle – is believed to have a mutual interest in an L.A. agreement. Regardless of what happens on the coaching front, though, the Chargers’ offseason will have Herbert’s recovery as a notable storyline.

Commanders’ HC Position Seen As Attractive?

December 12th, 2023 at 10:24am CST by Adam La Rose

The Commanders have already made one coaching change this season with defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio being fired. More changes are expected, though, which would make the team one to watch in the upcoming hiring cycle.

Head coach Ron Rivera is in his fourth season in Washington, and the 2023 campaign will be the third which ends in a losing record. The Commanders have made just one playoff appearance in his tenure (due to a division-winning 7-9 record in 2020), leading many to view this season as his last. Signs continue to point that way, and a firing after the end of the season would leave the team in need of a new coach for the first time since Josh Harris became owner.

“From an outside perspective, Washington is the best job now that Dan Snyder doesn’t own it,” one coaching agent said about a potential Commanders vacancy (h/t Nicki Jhabvala of the Washington Post).

The emergence of Sam Howell as a genuine starting quarterback this season is among the top reasons coaching candidates could be attracted to a posting in the nation’s capital. The 2022 fifth-rounder has served as the team’s starter throughout the 2023 campaign, offering reasons to believe he can retain the job for years to come. While his 14 interceptions and 58 sacks taken lead the league, Howell has reached 300 passing yards five times this season while adding 243 yards and five touchdowns on the ground.

In addition to a potential quarterback of the future, the Commanders are set to have five picks within the top 100 of April’s draft. That is due to the decision to trade both Montez Sweat and Chase Young at the deadline, moves which eliminated the requirement of signing either edge rusher to a new deal in the offseason. Washington is currently projected to have the second-most cap 2024 cap space in the league, so a busy offseason could be in store for the front office.

On that note, it very much remains to be seen if general manager Martin Mayhew will be retained after the campaign. It would come as little surprise if Harris were to clean house on the sidelines and in the front office in his first full offseason in charge, and the Commanders’ 19-27-1 record during Mayhew’s time in Washington could justify a shake-up in its own right. Replacing him could be a priority for Harris and the new ownership group before hiring a Rivera successor.

The Raiders and Panthers have already moved on from the coaches they had at the start of the season, and they will be involved in searches for outside hires in the near future. Other teams will no doubt join them once the campaign is over, so the Commanders will have competition with respect to bringing in an in-demand coaching candidate. If the franchise is seen as one worth committing to, however, they could gain an edge on others in their search for a new bench boss.

Ravens S Kyle Hamilton Suffers MCL Sprain

December 12th, 2023 at 8:52am CST by Adam La Rose

The Ravens’ secondary was shorthanded by the end of the team’s overtime win in Week 14. Safety Kyle Hamilton exited the contest due to a knee injury, and he could miss further time as well.

An MRI revealed a Grade 1 MCL sprain, as first reported by Jordan Schultz of Bleacher Report. That outcome means the worst-case scenario has been avoided, a positive sign for the 2022 first-rounder. Hamilton has been enjoying a breakout season in 2023, establishing himself as an integral part of Baltimore’s defense. ESPN’s Adam Schefter notes that Hamilton is considered week to week at this point.

When speaking on the subject, head coach John Harbaugh – who is known for having an optimistic outlook on recovery timelines – said Hamilton is day to day (video link). While the 22-year-old’s Week 15 availability will be worth watching as the week progresses, it would come as a surprise if he were to miss signficant time. That will be welcomed news for the AFC leaders given Hamilton’s versatility and production this season.

The Notre Dame product has logged triple-digit snaps at both safety positions in 2023, in part due to the time missed early in the campaign by Marcus Williams. With the latter back in the fold, however, Hamilton has increasingly been used as a slot corner. It is there that he has been used most frequently, and his flexibility has produced a noteworthy statline to date. Hamilton has totaled 69 tackles, three sacks, nine pass deflections and a pair of interceptions (one of which was returned for a touchdown) to date.

Those totals have produced a PFF grade of 81.5, which ranks seventh amongst safeties. Missing Hamilton for any game action down the stretch would thus deal a notable blow to the Ravens’ defense, a unit which has posted top-five totals in a number of categories this season. Both Williams and Geno Stone would be leaned on heavily on the backend in the event Hamilton were to miss Week 15.

QB Drake Maye Declares For 2024 Draft

December 11th, 2023 at 10:45pm CST by Sam Robinson

Pegged for months as a likely top-five pick in the 2024 draft, Drake Maye has determined he is done with college football. The North Carolina quarterback announced Monday he will declare for the draft.

Listed by most as the second-best quarterback in the 2024 class (behind USC’s Caleb Williams), Maye may well come off the board second overall. It is not out of the question, either, the two-year North Carolina starter leapfrogs the 2022 Heisman winner for the top overall slot. Sam Howell‘s Tar Heels successor will begin pre-draft preparations in earnest now.

The younger brother of former North Carolina basketball standout Luke Maye, Drake rocketed onto the first-round radar after throwing 38 touchdown passes (compared to just seven interceptions) in his first starter season. This year, the 6-foot-4 prospect threw 24 TD passes. Maye averaged 8.4 and 8.5 yards per attempt in his two seasons, respectively, and threw for 4,321 yards in 2022. With Maye showcasing his rushing talents in Chapel Hill as well (1,209 career rushing yards, 16 TDs), he will be a coveted prospect by teams who hold early draft slots and those eyeing a first-round trade-up maneuver.

The redshirt sophomore will skip North Carolina’s bowl game, the Duke’s Mayo Bowl, joining Williams in bypassing his team’s season finale. That has become an increasingly common tactic by top prospects not on teams who qualify for the College Football Playoff. While Williams has not yet entered his name in the draft, that is widely expected to happen.

Mel Kiper Jr.’s current ESPN big board lists Maye as 2024’s third-best prospect — behind Williams and Ohio State wideout Marvin Harrison Jr. With many past examples to judge, Maye surpassing Harrison should perhaps be anticipated. This is assuming his pre-draft process goes well, of course. Drafts have begun with two quarterbacks four times since 2015, though the 2018 and ’20 drafts could potentially be relevant re: Maye. The Giants passed on Sam Darnold to pick a dynamic skill-position player (Saquon Barkley) in 2018, while it took until picks 5 and 6 for Tua Tagovailoa and Justin Herbert to follow Joe Burrow off the 2020 board. Should a team without a QB need land the No. 2 overall pick and view Harrison as a can’t-miss prospect, it is certainly possible the draft will not begin with a Williams-Maye procession.

Multiple wild cards exist regarding QB investments in 2024 as well. The Bears are determining if they want to keep going with Justin Fields beyond this year. With the Panthers holding a two-game lead on the Patriots and Cardinals for the No. 1 pick, the Bears (by virtue of the Bryce Young trade) are the clear favorites to hold the top draft slot once again. The Patriots are expected to pursue a quarterback in the draft, though the Cardinals are uncertain to do so. They are evaluating Kyler Murray, but with Murray’s contract far more difficult to move on from than Fields’ rookie deal, Arizona sticking with the 2019 top pick — a player the team’s new regime praised throughout his ACL rehab process — and adding a highly touted non-QB in Round 1 may be the play.

Teams without surefire QB needs’ plans will be determined by the respective ceilings of Williams and Maye. Wherever the latter lands in the top five, he will be expected to start either from the jump or at some point during his rookie season.

Load More Posts