HEADLINES

Chaz Green

NFC Rumors: Manning, Smith, Capers, 49ers

November 11th, 2017 at 9:56pm CST by Sam Robinson

This week has been among the more grim Giants stretches in many years. Anonymous players came forward to criticize Ben McAdoo, and the statuses of the head coach and GM Jerry Reese aren’t exactly entrenched going into 2018. And the Giants are ready to look at the 2018 quarterback crop for a possible high first-round selection. Eli Manning, though, still looms as the team’s franchise passer with two full seasons remaining on his contract. While it doesn’t make much sense for a 36-year-old quarterback to be around for the kind of rebuild the Giants may want to embark upon, Manning would prefer to finish his career with one team, Dan Graziano of ESPN.com notes.

While Graziano mentions the Jaguars and Broncos as teams that would make sense as possible Manning suitors via trade, he writes the possibility of landing back on a contender — with these teams missing a quarterback to complement top-flight defenses — wouldn’t necessarily override Manning’s desire to play his entire career with New York. Manning having a no-trade clause makes his desires rather significant as the Giants begin plans for their future.

Here’s the latest from the NFC going into Week 10 Sunday.

  • While Ezekiel Elliott will be the most notable absence in Sunday’s Cowboys-Falcons game, Dallas will be without its cornerstone left tackle as well. Tyron Smith will miss Week 10 with back and groin injuries. The All-Pro blocker will not make the trip to Atlanta, David Moore of the Dallas Morning News reports (on Twitter). Chaz Green will start in Smith’s place. The seventh-year veteran had made all eight starts for the Cowboys this season.
  • 49ers defensive end Tank Carradine returned to practice this week, Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com reports. The team planned to bring the injured defender back from IR, and it looks like that’s still the plan. Carradine can return as soon as Week 12 — a November 26 game against the Seahawks. Both Carradine and Arik Armstead are on IR, and it looks like the latter’s third NFL season will be over. “It’s a tough decision, but we feel Tank has got a good chance to at least be back for these last six games where we know Arik would have been only the last two,” Kyle Shanahan said. “We had to make a decision (Wednesday), so we’re going to go with Tank right now.” Fellow defensive lineman Ronald Blair took San Francisco’s first IR-return spot last week.
  • If this Packers slide results in the team’s eight-season playoff streak ending, there could be changes in Green Bay. Pete Dougherty of PackersNews.com notes Dom Capers‘ job looks to be in the most danger. The Packers have invested 10 first- or second-round picks in their defense since 2012 and are trotting out a sub-average unit. Green Bay ranks 21st in defensive DVOA and 19th in points allowed. Dougherty writes the advancing ages of Aaron Rodgers (34 in December), Mike McCarthy (54, but in season No. 12) and Ted Thompson (64, in season 13) could force the organization to make a high-profile change in hopes of capitalizing on this era’s Rodgers-opened window. The 67-year-old Capers is in his ninth season leading Green Bay’s defense and been leading defenses for more than 25 seasons.
  • The Seahawks‘ post-Richard Sherman plan will likely feature the nearly traded Jeremy Lane moving into the starting lineup alongside rookie Shaquill Griffin, Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times writes. Condotta predicted the Seahawks would bring in former starter Byron Maxwell for a visit, which they plan to, but no agreement is yet imminent. DeShawn Shead remains on the PUP list after suffering a serious knee injury in the divisional round last season, but thanks to an NFL rule change, the Seahawks don’t have to make an activation decision by Week 11. They can wait longer if they want to activate Shead, but he would likely require multiple weeks of practice to return to a game-ready status. Time’s running out on those prospects, if Seattle wants to use Shead during the regular season.

NFC Notes: OBJ, Rodgers, E. Decker, Lions

June 7th, 2017 at 7:02pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Wednesday morning that Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. has been away from OTAs because he wants a new contract. That isn’t the case, according to The Record’s Art Stapleton, as a source told him that Beckham’s absence amounts to nothing more than a player exercising his right to skip voluntary workouts. Regardless of where the truth lies, the Giants are motivated to keep the 24-year-old superstar for the long haul. Contract negotiations haven’t begun yet, co-owner John Mara revealed Tuesday, but he added, “Obviously we want him to be a Giant for the rest of his career.”

More from the NFC:

  • Even though he has fallen to fifth among quarterbacks in average yearly salary ($20MM), the Packers’ Aaron Rodgers isn’t pushing for a raise. At the same time, the 33-year-old realizes a contract extension might be around the corner. “Well, that stuff usually takes care of itself, and I have a fantastic agent, he does a great job. He worries about that stuff,” Rodgers said Tuesday (via Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com). “When it comes to setting the market values, I let that stuff take care of itself. I know my value in this league, and I know the team appreciates me. I’m going to continue to make myself an indispensable part of this roster. When you do that, when your time comes up to get a contract, you usually get a contract extension.” With his deal on track to expire after the 2019 season, extension talks between the Packers and Rodgers could begin soon, observes the Associated Press, which notes that cap room won’t be an issue for the club when it comes to locking up the two-time MVP.
  • With Eric Decker‘s Jets tenure on the verge of ending, the Lions would be wise to add the receiver, opines Michael Rothstein of ESPN.com. Decker’s history of quality production would continue as part of Detroit’s Matthew Stafford-led offense, argues Rothstein, who points out that Decker is familiar with coordinator Jim Bob Cooter from their time together in Denver in 2013. Further, given that the Lions only found the end zone 54.2 percent of the time in the red zone last year, acquiring the tall, touchdown-scoring Decker would be a boon. Of course, the Lions might have to win a bidding war for Decker, which isn’t a guarantee considering they’re toward the bottom of the league in cap space (just over $9MM).
  • With La’el Collins moving from left guard to right tackle, the Cowboys will need someone to take over his previous position. That could be tackle Chaz Green, who has been working as the Cowboys’ first-team left guard during OTAs, according to Brandon George of the Dallas Morning News. Green, whom injuries have limited to four appearances in two seasons, told George that the Cowboys approached him about changing positions last week. The 2015 third-round pick is embracing the move, saying: “It’s an opportunity with the ones [first team]. I don’t care where I am. I just want to put my best foot forward and show that I cannot drop off when I’m out there and better yet help the team when I’m out there.”

Minor NFL Transactions: 12/16/16

December 16th, 2016 at 5:09pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

The latest minor moves from around the NFL:

  • The Broncos signed outside linebacker Vontarrius Dora to their active roster and placed long snapper Casey Kreiter on injured reserve Friday. Dora, an undrafted free agent from Louisiana Tech, is now in position to make his professional debut after tallying 23.5 tackles for loss and 13.5 sacks during his 31-game college career.
  • Falcons safety Kemal Ishmael is headed to IR after undergoing season-ending shoulder surgery, head coach Dan Quinn announced Friday (via the Associated Press). Ishmael, who had been playing for weeks with the injury, totaled 421 snaps this year between defense and special teams. In 13 appearances (four starts), he racked up 29 tackles.
  • Offensive tackle Chaz Green will undergo back surgery Friday and the Cowboys will place him on IR, as Charean Williams of the Star-Telegram writes. Green, a third-round pick in 2015, didn’t play as a rookie thanks to hip surgery. He appeared in four games this season and started two.

Zach Links contributed to this post.

Cowboys Sign Kellen Moore

December 2nd, 2015 at 5:07pm CST by Zachary Links

Today’s minor moves from around the NFL:

  • The Cowboys have signed quarterback Kellen Moore to the active roster, as David Moore of The Dallas Morning News tweets. In other news, the Cowboys placed defensive end Ryan Russell on IR with an abdominal injury. Taking his place on the 53-man roster will be rookie offensive tackle Chaz Green, who is being activated off the PUP list.
  • The Chiefs placed Ben Grubbs on injured reserve, as Terez A. Paylor of the Kansas City Star writes. Grubbs last played in the Chiefs’ 23-13 win over Pittsburgh on Oct. 25. “We’ve gone four or five weeks here with rehabilitation (and) he hasn’t improved,” head athletic trainer Rick Burkholder said. “He’s going to need at least another month to come back from this.” The Chiefs promoted offensive lineman Daniel Munyer to the active roster to fill the newly-created opening.

PUP, NFI Players Soon Eligible To Practice

October 19th, 2015 at 10:30am CST by Luke Adams

Week 6 of the NFL season will come to an end after Monday night’s game between the Giants and Eagles, and when teams begin preparing for Week 7, many clubs could be welcoming injured players back to practice. Six weeks into the NFL season, players who were placed on the physically unable to perform list or the non-football injury list prior to Week 1’s games will be eligible to return to the practice field.

Of course, just because those players are able to return to practice doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll be healthy enough to do so. Players on the PUP list have a five-week window to begin practicing. Once they return to practice, they have three weeks to be added to their respective teams’ active rosters. In other words, a player currently on the PUP list could return to the field for his team’s Week 7 game, or could return as late as for his team’s Week 15 contest.

The rules for NFI players are similar to those for PUP players. If a player on either reserve list doesn’t return to practice or game action in time, his 2015 season will officially be over.

Here are the players currently on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list who can begin practicing as soon as this Tuesday:

And here are the players currently on their teams’ non-football injury or illness lists, who are also eligible to begin practicing this Tuesday:

  • Arizona Cardinals: WR Damond Powell
  • Buffalo Bills: CB Leodis McKelvin
  • Cincinnati Bengals: T Cedric Ogbuehi
  • Cleveland Browns: DB Ifo Ekpre-Olomu, TE Randall Telfer, RB Glenn Winston
  • Dallas Cowboys: LB Mark Nzeocha
  • Houston Texans: T David Quessenberry
  • Kansas City Chiefs: QB Tyler Bray
  • San Francisco 49ers: WR DeAndre Smelter
  • Seattle Seahawks: DT Jesse Williams

In addition to monitoring players on the PUP and NFI lists, it’s worth keeping an eye on players who have been placed on the injured reserve list with the designation to return. Teams can use this IR-DTR spot on one player per season, placing him on the injured reserve list without necessarily ruling him out for the season. As we explained in an earlier post, players given this designation can begin practicing after six weeks and can return after eight weeks.

That means that a player who was placed on IR-DTR prior to Week 1 can begin practicing on Tuesday, though he won’t be eligible to return to game action until Week 9. A player who was placed on IR-DTR after Week 1 will have to wait until next Tuesday – October 27 – to return to practice, while other IR-DTR players will have to wait until November to practice.

Here’s the list of players currently on IR-DTR who can begin practicing as soon as Tuesday:

Minor Moves: Tuesday Night

May 26th, 2015 at 7:26pm CST by Zachary Links

Earlier today, we rounded up the day’s smaller transactions. Here are the latest minor moves..

  • The Seahawks announced they have signed draft picks Frank Clark and Tyler Lockett to their rookie contracts, Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times tweets. Seattle now has all of its picks under contract.
  • The Cowboys officially signed third-round offensive lineman Chaz Green, Aaron Wilson of The Baltimore Sun tweets. With Green in the fold, only two picks remain unsigned for Dallas: cornerback Byron Jones and linebacker Damien Wilson.
  • The Steelers removed wide receiver L’Damian Washington from injured reserve with an injury settlement, according to Wilson (on Twitter).
  • The Browns have signed offensive lineman Eric Olsen and linebacker Mike Reilly, according to Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon-Journal (on Twitter). Olsen, a four-year NFL vet, has appeared in 23 games with four starts over the course of his career. Reilly was a participant in Cleveland’s rookie minicamp.
  • The Raiders have signed seventh-round cornerback Dexter McDonald. McDonald was selected 242nd overall by the Raiders in the 2015 NFL Draft. He played three seasons at Kansas, starting 24-of-31 games at cornerback.

Extra Points: Carr, Cowboys, Green, Spikes

March 24th, 2015 at 10:36pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Let’s round up some assorted items from around the NFL…

  • Cowboys COO Stephen Jones said the club isn’t certain it will ask cornerback Brandon Carr to take a pay cut, according to Clarence Hill of the Fort Worth Star Telegram (Twitter link). Jones adds that Dallas has accounted for Carr’s salary in its books, and discussions are still ongoing. For his part, Carr has indicated that he is not amenable to a pay reduction.
  • Florida offensive lineman Chaz Green will have a full schedule, as he has visits set up with the Buccaneers, Panthers, Falcons, Texans, Cowboys, Bills, Saints, and Chargers, tweets Tony Pauline of DraftInsider.net.
  • The Vikings’ signing of Casey Matthews probably signals the end of their interest in Brandon Spikes, says Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN (Twitter link). Minnesota was only “lukewarm” on Spikes as it was, and Wolfson hears that Spikes is asking for to much money.
  • Western Oregon receiver Tyrell Williams already had a workout with the Patriots, and he also has a private workout with the Lions lined up, per Rand Getlin of Yahoo! Sports (via Twitter).
  • In his review of free agency, Jason Fitzgerald of Over the Cap analyzes the 10 worst contracts handed out during the offseason, listing Ndamukong Suh and Byron Maxwell‘s deals Nos. one and two, respectively.
  • Also at Over the Cap, Bryce Johnston uses his expected contract value metric to determine which contracts are the most likely to be “one-and-done,” with Tramon Williams (Browns) and Andre Johnson (Colts) topping the list.