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Case Keenum

NFC Notes: Caldwell, 49ers, Eagles

January 2nd, 2016 at 11:52am CST by Ben Levine

Lions coach Jim Caldwell refuses to defend himself to anybody, including owner Martha Ford. Despite professing his love for the organization, the 60-year-old will not fight to keep his job. The coach explained his logic to Carlos Monarrez of the Detroit Free Press.

“I don’t believe in it,” Caldwell said. “It’s not a matter of fighting for my job. When you take a look at it, the record speaks for itself. I’m not going to go into any long sort of explanation or those kinds of things. I never have, never will.”

As we wait to see whether that approach helps Caldwell retain his job, let’s take a look at some more notes from the NFC…

  • Following reports that 49ers linebackers coach Clancy Pendergast is expected to leave for a gig at USC, coach Jim Tomsula wasn’t particularly eager to discuss any potential moves. “We’re fully on board with the St. Louis Rams, and we’ll take care of that stuff next week,” Tomsula said (via Matt Barrows of The Sacramento Bee).
  • Besides his Philadelphia roots and experience with the Eagles organization, Panthers defensive coordinator Sean McDermott‘s ability to develop an elite defense makes him a perfect fit for Philly’s head coaching gig, writes Reuben Frank of CSNPhilly.com.
  • Set to become a free agent after this season, Rams quarterback Case Keenum has one final opportunity this weekend to make an impression on any potential suitors. “Any time the lights come on or we step on the field and the film’s on, that film goes around to everybody,” Keenum told Michael Wagaman of the Associated Press. “They see everything from a lot of different views. In the NFL, that’s what your resume is, what you put on tape. I want to put everything on tape that is the best I can.”

NFC West Notes: Dawson, Niners, Rams

December 31st, 2015 at 11:01am CST by Luke Adams

49ers kicker Phil Dawson will turn 41 next month, which would make him one of the NFL’s oldest players, but the 17-year veteran wants to sign a new contract and continue his career next season, writes Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com. Dawson also believes he can still handle kickoff duties, a role the Niners handed over to rookie punter Bradley Pinion this season.

“I miss [kicking off],” Dawson said. “I’ve always enjoyed that aspect of the game, and I still feel like I can do it. But Bradley has done a tremendous job, and he’s helped the team. So (there’s) no problem here on that front.”

For now, Dawson hasn’t spoken to the 49ers about signing an extension with the club, but he hopes to discuss the topic sometime after the regular season finale, and it sounds like he intends to convey an interest in remaining in San Francisco.

“When the proper time and place comes, I’ll definitely communicate how I feel about this place and how grateful I am to have been here for three seasons,” Dawson said. “But the time is not now for those conversations.”

Here’s more from around the NFC West:

  • The two running backs signed by the 49ers last week received multiyear deals, according to Maiocco, who tweets that DuJuan Harris was signed through 2016 and Jarryd Hayne was locked up through 2017.
  • The fact that the Rams get all stadium revenue for football, including naming rights, is a key aspect of St. Louis’ stadium proposal, says Howard Balzer of The SportsXchange (Twitter links). The plan also includes a rebate on amusement tax, and revenue from the lease if an MLS team moves in, which should make it more appealing to the Rams and to the NFL.
  • With his contract set to expire at season’s end, Rams quarterback Case Keenum will be looking for a more permanent NFL home this winter, and he’s increasing his free agent value with a nice run to end the year. If he can lead the Rams to victory in San Francisco this weekend, Keenum will finish the season with four straight wins. Michael Wagaman of The Associated Press examines the QB’s situation.
  • Cardinals defensive back Tyrann Mathieu will go under the knife next Tuesday, undergoing a procedure to repair his torn right ACL, per Josh Weinfuss of ESPN.com.

Sunday Roundup: Marrone, Martin, Keenum

November 29th, 2015 at 12:36pm CST by Rory Parks

As the afternoon games get underway, let’s take a look at some news and notes from around the league:

  • We heard earlier today that Jaguars OL coach Doug Marrone will be viewed as a top head coaching candidate this offseason, and Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com explains why. As Florio writes, Marrone, who became available after opting to terminate his relationship with Buffalo last year, came on the market “a little too unexpectedly” for teams to scrap their existing plans at the time. Now, however, with a high number of potential head coaching vacancies and a relatively small number of truly qualified candidates, Marrone will be an attractive option, especially given that the Bills are doing less (record-wise) with more talent under Rex Ryan than they did under Marrone.
  • Former NFL agent Joel Corry tweets that there is no need to speculate as to whether the Buccaneers will put the franchise tag on Doug Martin, as the nearly $12MM cap number for a franchised running back is too steep in today’s NFL. The last time the tag was used on an RB was in 2012, when the Ravens tagged Ray Rice and the Bears tagged Matt Forte. The cap number for a franchised RB at the time was $7.7MM.
  • ESPN’s Chris Mortensen tweets that, even though the NFL has apparently closed the book on whether the Rams should be penalized for last week’s concussion controversy surrounding Case Keenum, the NFL Players Association is continuing its own investigation.
  • In his latest mailbag, Tony Grossi of ESPNCleveland.com looks at what the Browns might expect to receive if they were to trade Johnny Manziel at this point, and he notes that the best the Browns could hope for is a future pick conditioned on Manziel’s active status and number of starts.
  • After the Lions promoted Isa Abdul-Quddus to a starting role and moved James Ihedigbo to the bench, they began to see a noticeable improvement from the back end of their defense, as Kyle Meinke of MLive.com observes. Abdul-Quddus is not as physical as Ihedigbo, but he covers much more ground and has established himself as a quality option in the team’s secondary, particularly in light of the recent injury to Glover Quin. Adbul-Quddus, who signed a one-year deal with Detroit last year, may be putting himself in line for a multi-year pact this offseason.
  • David Moore of The Dallas Morning News examines the futures for Cowboys defensive backs Byron Jones and Morris Claiborne, predicting that Dallas plans to move Jones to safety moving forward, thereby increasing the likelihood that the team retains Claiborne.
  • In a series of three articles, Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap.com reexamines the Eagles‘ offseason decisions, offers his thoughts on the Jets‘ rebuilding process, and previews the 2016 class of free agent tight ends.

Rams Sign Zach Hocker

November 28th, 2015 at 4:39pm CST by Luke Adams

4:39pm: To open up a spot on the roster for Hocker, the Rams have cut tight end Justice Cunningham, tweets Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post.

1:08pm: With Greg Zuerlein questionable to play in Sunday’s game against the Bengals, the Rams are signing free agent kicker Zach Hocker as an insurance policy, reports Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter). Zuerlein has been battling a groin injury, and his availability for Sunday remains unclear.

Hocker, a seventh-round pick in the 2014 draft, earned his first starting job this year in New Orleans. However, the 24-year-old was a little shaky during his first six games as the team’s kicker, resulting in his release in October. Hocker missed four of his 13 field goal tries, including three from less than 50 yards, and failed to convert one of his extra-point attempts as well. After becoming a free agent, Hocker had workouts with the Jets, Jaguars, and Giants.

As for Zuerlein, even when he’s been healthy, he’s been up and down this season. The fourth-year veteran has missed eight field goals and an extra point in 10 games, and is converting a career-low 65.2% of his field goal attempts.

An injury is also forcing the Rams to make a change at a more important position, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com, who tweets that Nick Foles will return to the starting lineup with Case Keenum still recovering from a concussion. No roster move should be required at QB though, since Sean Mannion remains on the roster as a backup option.

West Notes: Lynch, Washington, Manning

November 22nd, 2015 at 8:51pm CST by Sam Robinson

Marshawn Lynch will visit a specialist in Philadelphia, with a possible sports hernia injury, Sheil Kapadia of ESPN.com reports (on Twitter).

Pete Carroll noted after Lynch missed the Seahawks‘ victory against the 49ers that injury hasn’t been ruled out, and such a diagnosis would shelve Lynch for a while.

The Seahawks appear to be in solid shape due to Thomas Rawls‘ presence, however, and Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio didn’t mince words when characterizing what the rookie’s 255-total-yard day means for the 29-year-old Lynch’s future in Seattle, saying the sixth-year Seahawk will not be back with the team for a seventh season due to the gulf between the backs’ contracts.

With a cap number of $11.5MM, Lynch would be the third-highest-paid Seahawk in his age-30 season. Should the Seahawks take Florio’s advice and turn their backfield over to 2015 UDFA Rawls, who’s slated to make $530K next year, Lynch’s recent extension which runs through the 2017 season contains $5MM worth of dead money going into next season.

Here’s some more news coming out of the Western divisions tonight.

  • Former Cardinals Pro Bowl linebacker Daryl Washington continues to violate the terms of the NFL’s substance-abuse policy, Jay Glazer reported on Fox (as relayed by Darin Gantt of Pro Football Talk). The 29-year-old Washington hasn’t played since Week 17 of the 2013 season due to his year-long suspension that hasn’t been revisited. Washington was scheduled to apply for reinstatement in March, and there are concerns his career is over.
  • Rams starter Case Keenum sustained a concussion during the team’s loss to the Ravens today, but he continued to play, losing a fumble that led to Baltimore’s game-winning field goal, Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. A Timmy Jernigan sack that didn’t count due to an offside penalty negating it did the damage, according to Jeff Fisher. Media learned of Keenum’s concussion only when informed by the St. Louis media relations staff that the quarterback wouldn’t be available for postgame interviews.
  • San Diego mayor Kevin Faulconer met with Chiefs chairman Clark Hunt to discuss progress on a path to a new Chargers stadium, David Garrick of the San Diego Union-Tribune reports. Hunt’s a member of a six-owner committee focused on Los Angeles relocation, and Faulconer’s met with five members of that newly formed coalition thus far. The two didn’t discuss the two LA stadium projects, Garrick reports, with the meeting instead focusing on San Diego’s path to green-lighting construction on its own. Faulconer’s plan features $350MM in contributions from city and county taxpayers, and after California Gov. Jerry Brown’s recent ruling to expedite an environmental review would put this proposal up for a city vote as early as June, but the Chargers have yet to resume negotiations with the city.
  • Gary Kubiak hasn’t decided if Peyton Manning or Brock Osweiler will start for the Broncos against the Patriots next week, Florio reports. The PFT scribe notes Kubiak said he’d have a difficult time benching Osweiler after his solid performance against the Bears, and if the fourth-year career backup follows it up with an upset over the Patriots, Kubiak’s previous declaration of starting Manning again when healthy will simply resolve itself when the first-year Denver coach deems the 39-year-old of insufficient health to recapture the job.

Extra Points: Foles, Benjamin, Dolphins

November 16th, 2015 at 10:00pm CST by Luke Adams

Earlier tonight, the Rams announced that they will be benching quarterback Nick Foles in favor of backup Case Keenum. However, coach Jeff Fisher told reporters that, at some point, Foles will resume starting duties.

“Nick also understands that he eventually will be under center for us again,” Fisher said (via Mike Florio of PFT). “But this is my decision based on what I think is best for this team offensively is to go this direction.”

While we wait to see how things shake out in St. Louis, here’s more from around the NFL:

  • Browns owner Jimmy Haslam said in the wake of the team’s 30-9 loss to the Steelers that he doesn’t expect to make any changes to the coaching staff as the club enters its bye week. However, it seems increasingly likely that an offseason house-cleaning is around the corner, according to Marla Ridenour of the Akron Beacon Journal, who doesn’t envision GM Ray Farmer hanging onto his current position.
  • Despite the Browns‘ struggles this season, wide receiver Travis Benjamin says his desire to re-sign with the team remains unchanged, adding that he’s willing to stick with the franchise for the long haul, tweets Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon Journal.
  • Sources tell Mike Garafolo of FOX Sports that Dolphins executive VP of football operations Mike Tannenbaum currently has a “strong say” when it comes to who plays on Sundays for Miami. Interim head coach Dan Campbell seems to be fine with that, and Garafolo wonders if that makes Campbell a stronger candidate to land the permanent job, since other candidates may not be able to co-exist as well with Tannenbaum, who likes to have input on game-day decisions.
  • Former Ravens defensive tackle Terrence Cody has been acquitted of the most serious animal cruelty charges levied against him, as Alison Knezevich of The Baltimore Sun tweets. However, Cody was convicted of multiple neglect charges.
  • The Saints worked out linebacker Brad Jones and running back Vick Ballard today, according to Field Yates of ESPN.com (on Twitter).

Rams To Bench Nick Foles, Start Case Keenum

November 16th, 2015 at 5:09pm CST by Zachary Links

Rams coach Jeff Fisher announced that he will start Case Keenum this week at quarterback in favor of Nick Foles (via Ian Rapoport of NFL.com on Twitter). Foles is coming off of a rough performance against the Bears on Sunday, but the news still comes as a surprise.

Against Chicago on Sunday, Foles was 17-of-36 for 200 yards with no touchdowns and one interception. In total, the veteran signal caller posted a passer rating of 53.0. In that rough outing against Chicago, Foles did throw for more than 200 yards, but that was only the second time this season he has eclipsed that mark. With Foles getting roughed up for much of the day, Keenum was brought in to play in the fourth quarter. When asked on Monday morning whether he might make a QB change, Fisher was adamant that he wouldn’t.

“That’s my choice, but no,” Fisher said, according to Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com. “I’m just going to look at it. We have to play better around him. I’ll look and see how he played but he was prepared. He had great practice this week and he missed a couple throws and we had a couple of drops. We’ll look at it but at this point, no.”

The Rams acquired Nick Foles via trade from the Eagles in a swap that saw Sam Bradford go out East. The deal also included a pick swap and a 2016 second-round choice going to St. Louis. While the deal might not have worked out so well for the Rams, they did improve their draft situation. Also, given Bradford’s struggles in Philly, it’s hard to argue that the Rams would have been better off with the former No. 1 overall pick. What can be questioned, however, is the Rams’ decision to give Foles a two-year extension worth more than $24MM.

Foles, a former third-round pick, had his breakout season in 2013, when he threw for 2,891 yards, 27 touchdowns and only two interceptions. A broken collar bone ended his 2014 season, and the 26-year-old (27 in January) finished with 2,163 yards, 13 touchdowns and 10 interceptions in eight games.

In 2013, his breakout campaign, Foles finished with a 7.4 overall grade by Pro Football Focus‘ metrics, good for No. 17 in the league amongst qualified QBs. Last season, in his injury-shortened season, Foles placed No. 25 in the league with a below average -7.4 rating.

Extra Points: Hunter, Brady, Thomas

September 1st, 2015 at 9:25pm CST by Zachary Links

Titans wide receiver Justin Hunter‘s case was continued until Sept. 15 because a defense witness did not show up to court today, Terry McCormick of TitanInsider.com tweets. Just days ago, Hunter had his charge reduced to a misdemeanor. The 24-year-old was viewed as a potential breakout candidate last year, but battled injuries and complied just 498 yards and three touchdowns on 28 receptions.

Here’s more from around the NFL..

  • Judge Richard Berman will issue his decision and order in the Tom Brady case by the end of the week, as Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. As it stands, the Patriots QB is set to serve a four-game suspension.
  • Following his doctor’s visit, Jaguars tight end Julius Thomas has decided to have surgery on his injured finger on Wednesday, a source told Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). Thomas could be out for a month, as previously estimated.
  • Larry Foote was coaching at Cardinals practice today, which is likely a sign that he’s not playing this season, Josh Weinfuss of ESPN.com tweets. Foote had to make a decision on his status by 1pm Arizona time, and that deadline has come and gone. The Cardinals added the 35-year-old to their coaching staff earlier in the offseason with the intent of signing him to the roster later in the summer if he decided to continue playing.
  • Rams coach Jeff Fisher made it clear that Case Keenum will be the team’s No. 2 quarterback, Nick Wagoner of ESPN.com tweets. That leaves Austin Davis and Sean Mannion to battle for the No. 3 job (link). Given that Mannion was a third-round pick this year, it seems unlikely that Davis will win that battle.

NFC West Notes: Wilson, Dockett, Keenum

June 10th, 2015 at 12:02pm CST by Luke Adams

The best roster in football belongs to the Seahawks, according to Sam Monson of Pro Football Focus (Insider-only link via ESPN.com), who ranks Seattle No. 1 on his list all 32 NFL rosters. As Monson details, the offensive line is a weak area, with perhaps three starters who should be upgraded, but the team has several above-average offensive skill players, and one of the league’s best defenses. The Seahawks “aren’t going anywhere for a while” with the talent they have all over their roster, in Monson’s view. No other NFC West team places in the top half of PFF’s roster rankings, with the 49ers coming in 17th, the Rams 22nd, and the Cardinals 24th.

Here’s more from around the NFC West:

  • Former agent Joel Corry of CBSSports.com offers some specifics on what he thinks Russell Wilson‘s next contract should look like, suggesting a four-year, $89MM deal that includes $62.5MM in guaranteed money ($41MM+ fully guaranteed). After explaining why the structure of his proposed extension makes sense for Wilson and the Seahawks, Corry plays devil’s advocate and offers some reasons why it might not work.
  • The Seahawks should try to get a deal done as soon as possible with Wilson, even if it means making him the highest-paid player in the NFL, says Terry Blount of ESPN.com.
  • Despite a parade of departures via free agency and retirement since he joined the team, defensive lineman Darnell Dockett doesn’t regret his decision to sign with the 49ers this offseason, writes Cam Inman of the San Jose Mercury News. “My decision was easy. I wouldn’t change it,” Dockett said.
  • Case Keenum has shuffled back and forth between Houston and St. Louis in recent years, and is hoping his latest stint with the Rams is “a little more permanent,” as he tells Joe Lyons of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Keenum and Austin Davis are competing for the No. 2 job behind Nick Foles, and the loser of that battle may not make the roster, since third-round rookie Sean Mannion is also in the mix.
  • Bernie Miklasz of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch wonders if the city of St. Louis could get another team if it loses the Rams, like Cleveland did with the Browns.

NFC Mailbags: Rams, Saints, Packers, Bucs

April 11th, 2015 at 11:28am CST by Ben Levine

It’s Saturday, and that means ESPN.com’s NFL writers are opening the mailbags to answer questions from readers. Let’s take a look at some notes out of the NFC…

  • If the Rams were to select a quarterback in the upcoming draft, Nick Wagoner would expect either Austin Davis or Case Keenum to not make the roster.
  • When focusing on Washington‘s positions of need in the draft, John Keim points to an edge rusher, defensive lineman, receiver or quarterback. Meanwhile, he eliminates a running back, tight end and inside linebacker from consideration for the team’s first-round pick.
  • Despite the Saints signing veterans Brandon Browner and Kyle Wilson, Mike Triplett says the team shouldn’t hesitate to select top cornerback prospect Trae Waynes if the Michigan State product is available.
  • Rob Demovsky believes it’s a 50-50 chance the Packers will match the Raiders‘ offer sheet to safety Sean Richardson. The $2.55MM could ultimately prove to be too pricey to retain the backup safety.
  • The Panthers should begin exploring an extension for cornerback Josh Norman, according to David Newton. “Big corners with that type of ability — and attitude — are rare and don’t come cheaply,” the writer explained.
  • Pat Yasinskas writes that the best value the Buccaneers could get for quarterback Mike Glennon is a third-round pick, but he clarifies that a fourth or fifth-rounder is much more realistic.
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