HEADLINES

Month: October 2024

Cowboys CB Trevon Diggs Battling Torn Calf

November 1st, 2024 at 10:52am CST by Sam Robinson

Trevon Diggs‘ run on his second Cowboys contract has not gone especially well. The former All-Pro cornerback entered this season after an extensive rehab effort, one stemming from an ACL tear suffered during an early-season practice last year. Diggs now looks likely to miss more time.

The fifth-year player has not practiced this week, and Jerry Jones said during his latest 105.3 The Fan appearance (via The Athletic’s Jon Machota) that a calf tear is behind the absence.

While it appears Diggs will not play against the Falcons on Sunday, Jones’ news drop comes after the highly paid cover man played 99% of the Cowboys’ defensive snaps in Week 8. Diggs returned from his ACL rehab during training camp, being activated off the active/PUP list. He has played in all seven Cowboys games this season. That said, Jones added (via Machota) he is not sure Diggs will miss the Atlanta contest. Though, three DNPs often signal an absence. Diggs’ Friday status has not been determined yet.

Jones’ refusal to rule out Diggs comes as DaRon Bland, whom the Cowboys activated off IR this week, is still experiencing pain in his surgically repaired foot. Bland suffered a foot fracture during camp, and while he had progressed to full practices, the 2023 All-Pro — who moved to the outside position after Diggs’ September 2023 injury — has not practiced this week. Bland is back on Dallas’ 53-man roster, as he would have been shuttled to season-ending IR had the Cowboys not made that activation this week.

The Cowboys gave Diggs a five-year, $97MM extension before training camp last summer. Diggs, 26, made it through two games before the knee injury ended his season. The former second-round pick, who had become the first player to reach the 11-INT mark in a season since the Cowboys’ Everson Walls did so in 1981, has cultivated a boom-or-bust reputation at corner. This season, Pro Football Focus has the Alabama alum slotted 95th at the position.

Boom-or-bust also accurately labels the Cowboys’ 2020s run at corner. Each of the team’s current top three (Diggs, Bland, Jourdan Lewis) has sustained a significant injury in the recent past, with Lewis going down with a Lisfranc injury deemed career-threatening. The Cowboys also missed on second-round pick Kelvin Joseph and did not re-sign Stephon Gilmore this offseason; the Dallas one-and-done CB landed in Minnesota.

The Cowboys, who sit 3-4 as their offensive and defensive units rank outside the top 20, also have not seen Micah Parsons return to practice. The All-Pro edge rusher has missed three games with a high ankle sprain. DeMarcus Lawrence remains on IR with his Lisfranc issue.

Browns Brass Agreed Deshaun Watson Was Team’s Best Starter Option

November 1st, 2024 at 10:13am CST by Sam Robinson

The first third of the Browns’ season brought consistent scrutiny on Kevin Stefanski‘s decision to keep starting Deshaun Watson. The former Texans Pro Bowler had rarely resembled his Houston version in Cleveland and had bottomed out this season, producing the league’s worst QBR among qualified passers during his seven starts.

Weekly calls for Watson to be benched rang out, but with Browns ownership and GM Andrew Berry not making themselves available to address this big-picture issue, Stefanski continued to do so. Stefanski had kept indicating Watson would not be benched, but the two-time NFL Coach of the Year shed some light on the organization’s decision-making process by confirming he had discussed the matter with Berry and the team’s ownership. It appears the parties were aligned on the decision to avoid benching the struggling starter.

While Stefanski had said ownership was not forcing him to keep starting Watson, who remains tied to a record-shattering guarantee ($230MM), ESPN.com’s Daniel Oyefusi notes the choice to stay the course was agreed upon at all organizational levels. Watson’s Week 8 Achilles tear, of course, changed the Browns’ plan. Although the injury conceivably clouds Watson’s future in Cleveland, his guarantees for 2025 and ’26 — which are currently slated to smash NFL records in terms of cap hits — remain intact.

As many expected he would, Jameis Winston outplayed the 2024 Watson version in Week 8. The free agent pickup completed 27 of 41 passes, including a game-winner to Cedric Tillman, for 334 yards and three touchdowns. The Browns prioritized Winston over Joe Flacco, who said repeatedly he wanted to stay in Cleveland — before ultimately confirming he received no offer to return — but demoted him to the third-string level in Week 7. Dorian Thompson-Robinson, however, did not hold the starting gig once Watson went down. After a promising Week 8 — albeit with a boost from some Ravens dropped interceptions — Winston appears the clear-cut Browns starter.

It is not especially surprising the upper reaches of the organization agreed to keep trotting out Watson, who was at the controls as the Browns lost five straight. The team had made a historic investment in the embattled passer, sending the Texans three first-round picks in a package that included other draft choices and greenlighting the five-year, $230MM guaranteed deal. The Browns joined the Falcons, Panthers and Saints in being willing to send three first-rounders to the Texans for Watson, but their $230MM guarantee set them apart. As Watson was on the cusp of choosing Atlanta, the Georgia native backtracked thanks to the whopping guarantee — a figure that has not been approached despite the QB market skyrocketing since.

The Watson contract, which Jimmy Haslam indicated stemmed from a Berry plan, unfolding as it has may well place the HC-GM combination on hot seats despite the Browns authorizing extensions for both this offseason. Stefanski has also given up play-calling duties for the first time in his Browns tenure, handing the role to OC Ken Dorsey. The team did not discuss changing play-callers until Week 8, Dorsey said (via The Athletic’s Zac Jackson).

Stefanski’s run as a play-caller stretched back to taking over for a fired John DeFilippo as interim Vikings OC in 2018. Becoming Minnesota’s full-time OC in 2019, Stefanski landed the Browns’ HC job in 2020, arriving two weeks before Berry.

Winston’s early success reflects well on the coach’s scheme, which keyed a playoff berth in 2020 with a healthy Baker Mayfield and obviously flourished with Flacco at the controls en route to a surprising postseason berth last season. Though, with the Browns 2-6 and rumored to be prepared to make more seller’s trades following the Amari Cooper swap, Stefanski may not be out of the woods yet regarding an ouster.

Watson underwent surgery last week. Stefanski did not commit to the high-priced passer as his 2025 starter, though the veteran HC said he still believed in Watson. Thanks to the QB’s two restructures, he is tied to $72.94MM cap numbers in 2025 and ’26. Cutting Watson in 2025 would create an unfathomable $172.73MM dead cap hit, which would be spread over two years in a post-June 1 transaction (which would certainly be necessary in the event of a release). It will now be interesting, given the money still owed to Watson, if the Browns add a starter-caliber arm in 2025.

Texans’ Kenyon Green Suffers Shoulder Injury; Team Discussed G In Trade?

November 1st, 2024 at 9:22am CST by Sam Robinson

Kenyon Green re-emerged in the Texans’ starting lineup this season, attempting to bounce back after missing all of 2023 and struggling as a rookie the year prior. The former first-round pick’s return has not gone as hoped.

The Texans benched Green in Week 8 but moved him back into their lineup once replacement Jarrett Patterson suffered a concussion. Houston, however, needed to use a third option — 2023 trade acquisition Kendrick Green — once Kenyon Green sustained an injury Thursday. Kenyon Green sustained a dislocated shoulder, according to KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson, who notes the third-year blocker is out indefinitely.

Houston had considered making the Green-for-Green switch before Week 9 but gave the 2022 No. 15 overall pick another shot. It now appears the Texas A&M product’s career is on hold once again. This comes a year after Kenyon Green suffered a torn labrum and missed all of his second season.

Green, whom the Texans traded down for from the No. 12 slot they obtained from the Browns in the Deshaun Watson blockbuster, entered Week 8 ranked last among guard regulars in the view of Pro Football Focus. Despite being the first guard chosen in 2022, he has been unable to put it together. The offseason rejuvenation that led the once-highly regarded prospect back into Houston’s left guard spot has stalled, and it appears the Texans will need to make other plans.

Although Kenyon Green has struggled, first-round O-line prospects generally have fans in other teams’ buildings. That looks to be the case here, as Green was generating some trade interest before Week 8. Expanding on that, veteran NFL reporter Josina Anderson indicates the Texans are believed to have discussed the young guard with an NFC East team. Anderson describes those proceedings as Houston looking into the unspecified club’s preliminary interest. With Green now out, the Texans will almost certainly retain him at the trade deadline.

Kenyon Green’s rookie deal (four years, $15.95MM), which is fully guaranteed, runs through 2025. Kendrick Green, whom the Texans acquired from the Steelers in the wake of Kenyon’s summer 2023 injury, is in a contract year. The former Pittsburgh third-rounder has not worked as a regular starter since struggling as the Steelers’ center in 2021. Kendrick Green did start three games for the Texans last year, before going down with a season-ending meniscus injury early in his first Houston season.

Patterson, a 2023 sixth-round pick, started all seven games he played last season; an ankle injury ended his season midway through — during a shaky year for the Texans’ O-line. Patterson vied with the Greens for the guard job opposite Shaq Mason this offseason. Should Patterson come back from the recent concussion soon, it would stand to reason he will be given another opportunity at LG.

This year has gone better for the Texans up front, as both their tackles — Laremy Tunsil and Tytus Howard — are healthy after injuries cost them time in 2023. Houston’s center, Juice Scruggs, has also started all eight games after missing much of his rookie season. The team will need a fix at left guard, however, and given Kenyon Green’s work to date, probably will look for a longer-term solution in the offseason.