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DeAndre Levy

Extra Points: Cowboys, Bengals, Rams, Lions

November 16th, 2016 at 9:17pm CST by Zachary Links

After defensive end Randy Gregory‘s latest slip-up, Babe Laufenberg of The Dallas Morning News hopes that the Cowboys and Jason Garrett realize the best indicator of future behavior is past behavior. In the wake of Gregory’s latest failed drug test, owner Jerry Jones has said that he will not give up on the former second-round pick. Still, Dallas probably would have been better off paying attention to Gregory’s red flags and passing on him in the draft, Laufenberg opines. Many fans have expressed similar sentiments after the Cowboys have dealt with Gregory, Greg Hardy, Rolando McClain, and other failed reclamation projects, but it is hard to argue with the club’s results on the field this season. Teams can often get ahead by taking risks and the 8-1 Cowboys seem to be doing fine despite some miscalculations.

More from around the NFL:

  • With Los Angeles quarterback Jared Goff starting in Week 11, Field Yates of ESPN.com (on Twitter) notes that Bengals cornerback William Jackson III will be the only 2016 first-rounder to not yet play this season. Jackson suffered a torn pectoral muscle over the summer and was placed on IR. It’s possible that the 24th overall pick could return this season, but his status is currently up in the air.
  • Case Keenum, whom Goff is replacing as the Rams’ No. 1 signal-caller, is predictably displeased that he lost his place atop the team’s depth chart. On receiving the news, Keenum said Wednesday, “Honestly, I wasn’t happy. I want to play. That’s why I play football, to be the quarterback and the guy with the ball in his hands” (via Zac Jackson of Pro Football Talk). However, Keenum isn’t going to cause any behind-the-scenes problems for LA. “With that being said I trust Coach (Jeff) Fisher,” he continued. “I trust these coaches and their decision. I’m a captain and I have to do my job. My job is whatever they tell me my job is.”
  • Lions linebacker DeAndre Levy returned to practice Wednesday for the first time since Week 1, per Kyle Meinke of MLive.com. Levy, who has missed 23 of the Lions’ past 25 games, has been dealing with knee and quad injuries this year. While it’s possible the 2014 second-team All-Pro could take the field Sunday against Jacksonville, it’s likelier he’ll suit up on Thanksgiving versus NFC North rival Minnesota, writes Meinke.
  • Saints safety Kenny Vaccaro said he’s playing Thursday night in Carolina, as Josh Katzenstein of The Times-Picayune tweets. This likely means Vaccaro has appealed his four-game ban for Adderall. Players are typically able to suit up while the process plays out.

NFC Notes: Lions, Staley, Redskins

November 6th, 2016 at 11:41am CST by Rory Parks

Let’s take a look at some notes from the NFC as we head into the full slate of Week 9 action:

  • Michael Rothstein of ESPN.com says that Lions fans should not expect any shakeups in the club’s defensive coaching staff this year, even if the defense continues to struggle. Rothstein notes that Teryl Austin is a good coordinator and that the team has shown improvement in some areas–like its pass rush and in total yards allowed–and the fact that Austin’s unit has been ravaged by injury gives him a bit of a pass.
  • Speaking of injured Lions, Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press tweets that Detroit could try to make DeAndre Levy restructure his contract at the end of the year. Levy is set to count $8.39MM against the cap, and the Lions would be on the hook for $7.2MM in dead money if they were to cut Levy.
  • We learned earlier today that the Raiders were going to prioritize a new contract for Derek Carr this offseason, and former NFL agent Joel Corry tweets that Matthew Stafford would be wise to wait and see what type of deal Carr gets before entering into extension talks with the Lions.
  • 49ers tackle Joe Staley, now 32, has not given any thought to retirement, according to Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee. Staley was the subject of trade rumors leading up to last week’s deadline, but he never thought he would be dealt and he continues to be singularly focused on returning the Lombardi Trophy to the Niners. He is under contract through 2019.
  • Josh Doctson‘s lost rookie season may change things, but John Keim of ESPN.com does not foresee the Redskins retaining more than one of DeSean Jackson and Pierre Garcon. Both players, in fact, may look to move on in 2017, and if that happens, Washington would be forced to look for wide receiver help on the open market and/or expend a high draft choice on a wideout.
  • We learned earlier today that the Packers would bring in free agent RB Joique Bell for a workout tomorrow.

Lions’ Ansah, Levy Could Miss Extended Time

September 19th, 2016 at 7:08pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

The Lions’ best pass rusher, defensive end Ziggy Ansah, suffered a high ankle sprain in the team’s 16-15 loss to the Titans on Sunday and will miss an undetermined amount of time, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link). Detroit played nearly all of Week 2 without Ansah, who limped off the field after three snaps and didn’t return.

Ziggy Ansah (vertical)

Ansah, whom the Lions chose fifth overall in the 2013 draft, has developed into a prolific sack artist in the NFL. After taking down opposing quarterbacks 15.5 times and forcing five fumbles during his first two seasons, he tallied 14.5 and four in those two categories last year. He hasn’t made much of a dent on the stat sheet this season in limited playing time for the 1-1 Lions, whose defense currently ranks 22nd in the league in scoring and 25th in yardage (though it is tied for seventh in sacks).

Up next for the Lions are the NFC North rival Packers, but Ansah won’t be on the field against the Aaron Rodgers-led club. The same might be true for another of the Lions’ integral defenders, linebacker DeAndre Levy, who didn’t practice last week and missed the Titans game. When asked Monday if Levy’s quad injury could end his season, head coach Jim Caldwell didn’t give the most reassuring response.

“We’ll see. You know we don’t talk about injuries,” said Caldwell (via Kyle Meinke of MLive.com).

Levy was one of the Lions’ top players from 2009-14, but he missed all but one game a season ago on account of a hip injury. A knee issue then caused Levy to sit out training camp over the summer, though he did recover in time to take the field Week 1. Levy’s inability to stay healthy since last year isn’t what he or the Lions envisioned when the two agreed to a four-year, $33MM contract extension in August 2015. Without Levy on Sunday, Detroit turned to fifth-round rookie Antwione Williams on the weak side. Williams picked up four tackles.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Newton, Peterson, Others Get Salary Guarantees

March 11th, 2016 at 8:38pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

Several NFL players have contracts containing language which states that they’ll get a full or partial salary guarantees for 2016 and/or 2017 if they remained on their respective teams on Friday, the third day of the league year. Let’s check in some of those players (link courtesy of CBS Sports’ Joel Corry):

  • Cam Newton, quarterback (Panthers): $13MM base salary for 2016 is now fully guaranteed. Friday is also the deadline Cam Newton (Vertical)for the Panthers to pick up Newton’s 2020 option for $10MM.
  • Eli Manning, quarterback (Giants): $17.5MM base salary for 2016 is now fully guaranteed.
  • Jay Cutler, quarterback (Bears): $16MM base salary for 2016 is now fully guaranteed.
  • Adrian Peterson, running back (Vikings): $7MM base salary for 2016 is now fully guaranteed.
  • Julio Jones, wide receiver (Falcons): $11.5MM base salary for 2017 is now fully guaranteed.
  • A.J. Green, wide receiver (Bengals): $6MM roster bonus is payable.
  • Brandon Marshall, wide receiver (Jets): $9.5MM base salary for 2016 is now fully guaranteed.
  • Mike Iupati, guard (Cardinals): $6.75MM base salary for 2016 is now fully guaranteed, as is $2MM of Iupati’s $8MM base salary for 2017.
  • Rodney Hudson, center (Raiders): $7.35MM base salary for 2016 is now fully guaranteed.
  • Gerald McCoy, defensive tackle (Buccaneers): $13.25MM base salary for 2017 is now fully guaranteed.
  • Marcell Dareus, defensive tackle (Bills): $9.75MM base salary for 2017 is now fully guaranteed.
  • Justin Houston, linebacker (Chiefs): $14.75MM of Houston’s $14.9MM base salary in 2016 is now fully guaranteed, as is $6.75MM of his $16.35MM base salary for 2017.
  • DeAndre Levy, linebacker (Lions): $5.25MM base salary for 2016 is now fully guaranteed.
  • Aqib Talib, cornerback (Broncos): $8.5MM base salary for 2016 is now fully guaranteed.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

NFC Notes: Saints, JPP, 49ers, Lions

February 27th, 2016 at 12:25pm CST by Ben Levine

Some assorted notes from around the NFC…

  • The Saints have interest in linebacker James Laurinaitis, reports NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport (via Twitter). The team is hoping to have the 29-year-old in for a visit next week.
  • The Giants have been working to get a deal done with Jason Pierre-Paul before free agency opens, tweets ESPN.com’s Dan Graziano.
  • 49ers coach Chip Kelly is Colin Kaepernick‘s best chance to “re-establish himself as a reliable NFL starter,” writes Mark Maske of The Washington Post. Therefore, the writer says the quarterback is wrong for asking for a trade, and he believes the 49ers would be wrong to consider the request.
  • Lions general manager Bob Quinn is optimistic that linebacker DeAndre Levy will be ready to go for the start of the 2016 season. “I’m fairly confident,” Quinn said (via Tim Twentyman of DetroitLions.com). “I have not seen DeAndre in the building as of yet. I’m really interested to see when he comes back for the offseason program what kind of shape he’s in and how he’s looking. But we’re confident he’s going to be ready for the season.”

Lions Notes: Megatron, Ngata, Quinn, Levy

February 18th, 2016 at 12:32pm CST by Luke Adams

Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson is expected to retire this offseason, but it’s not a done deal yet. Appearing on 105.1 FM in Detroit on Thursday morning, Lions president Rod Wood said that the team is still waiting on a final decision from Megatron, as Tim Twentyman of DetroitLions outlines.

“We’re staying in touch with him,” Wood said of Johnson. “I talked to him Monday, and [GM] Bob Quinn talked to him, so get that out there. Bob has spoken to Calvin. Calvin has not made a decision…. We’re going to give him time to think about what he wants to do. If he wants to come back, we’d, obviously, love to have him back. If he decides to retire, we’re going to support that decision.”

Asked whether the Lions will push Johnson to make his decision by a certain date, Wood insisted there was no timetable.

“It’d be nice to know what we’re going to do, but it’s not something that we’re going to force on him to make a decision prior to free agency,” Wood said. “I’m not going to try and talk him in, or anybody else with the team, talk him into a decision. He needs to decide what’s right for him and his future and his body and the rest of his career. And I think the worst thing that we could do is try and put pressure on him, and we’re not doing that.”

Wood weighed in on a few more Lions-related topics, and we have a couple other notes out of Detroit to pass along, so let’s round up the latest….

  • Defensive tackle Haloti Ngata, who took some time after the season to contemplate his future, wants to play in 2016 and perhaps beyond, tweets Ian Rapoport of NFL.com. Ngata is unsigned for 2016, but will talk to the Lions soon to see if the two sides can continue their relationship.
  • As Twentyman writes in his piece linked above, Wood pointed to the offensive line as an area the Lions will look to upgrade this offseason, and also stressed the importance of building a strong defense. “I certainly think there’s a long history of teams with good defenses winning,” the club president said. “Last year (2014), when we had the No. 2 defense in the league, we were 11-5. This year, when our defense didn’t play as well the beginning of the year, we struggled.”
  • Wood confirmed today that GM Bob Quinn has final say on all of the team’s player personnel decisions, and that it was “absolutely” Quinn’s call on whether or not to retain head coach Jim Caldwell (Twitter links via Mike O’Hara).
  • Wood dismissed the idea that Caldwell is on a short leash, but stressed that the Lions do expect to win in the short term, rather than enter rebuilding mode (Twitter link via Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press).
  • Asked whether linebacker DeAndre Levy will be healthy for the start of training camp, Wood said he has “no reason to believe” Levy won’t be ready (Twitter link via O’Hara). The veteran linebacker missed most of the 2015 season due to hip issues.

NFC Notes: Gabbert, Levy, Rams, Vikings

December 19th, 2015 at 2:35pm CST by Sam Robinson

A first-round bust label notwithstanding, Blaine Gabbert will likely be the 49ers‘ starter to open the 2016 season, Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com writes.

Colin Kaepernick‘s tenure with the team will have probably concluded by then, and San Francisco will be a candidate to draft underclassmen Paxton Lynch or Jared Goff, should they decide as expected to declare, with its first-round pick. The team, however, may opt for a more pro-ready quarterback like Connor Cook soon after, Maiocco offers.

The 26-year-old Gabbert is far ahead of his former pace with the Jaguars from an accuracy standpoint, completing 63.2% of his passes. The former No. 11 overall pick finished his Jags seasons at 50, 58 and 49% connect rates from 2011-13. Kaepernick finished this season with a 59.0% completion rate.

Here are some other NFC items on the eve of Week 15 Sunday.

  • Lions linebacker DeAndre Levy resumed running and lifting after undergoing hip surgery and anticipates an offseason return, Mike Rothstein of ESPN.com reports. The recently extended outside backer said being placed on injured reserve was the right thing for him after injuring his hip during the preseason and re-aggravating it in a 17-snap cameo in Week 5. Levy will be 29 in March.
  • Friday’s approval of new stadium financing by the St. Louis Board of Aldermen didn’t necessarily save football in St. Louis, but the proposal not passing may have ended it, Benjamin Hochman of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes. The stadium financing package gives the city a boost in adding a replacement if the Rams indeed trek to Los Angeles.
  • Stedman Bailey addressed the Rams before their defeat of the Bucs in what could be their St. Louis finale, the Post-Dispatch’s Joe Lyons reports. The 25-year-old receiver talked to teammates, many for the first time since being shot in the head twice Nov. 24, via FaceTime. Jeff Fisher told media, including Lyons, the team’s 2013 third-round pick is making steady progress.
  • The Vikings will now contribute $50MM more to their new stadium after winning approval to do so, according to an Associated Press report. The Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority approved the new funding. An initial contribution of $477MM, with the city then tabbed for $498MM, for the $1 billion+ U.S. Bank Stadium represented the Vikings’ original cost. But since, their bill has gone up by 31%, and the Vikings portion of the cost could hit $631MM by summer, when the stadium is set for completion.

Lions Place DeAndre Levy On IR

November 4th, 2015 at 1:02pm CST by Luke Adams

After a few weeks of deliberation, the Lions have decided to place linebacker DeAndre Levy on the injured reserve list, ending his 2015 season, according to Tim Twentyman of DetroitLions.com (via Twitter). With the newly-opened roster spot, the club officially signed linebacker James-Michael Johnson, whose deal was reported yesterday.

Levy, 28, made his season debut in a Week 5 blowout loss to the Cardinals, but aggravated the hip injury that had kept him sidelined for the first several weeks of the season. Although he said after the game that he didn’t think this injury was as bad as the strained muscle he suffered in August, he underwent surgery on the hip, and the Lions ultimately made the decision to shut him down for the year.

In 2014, Levy established a new career high in tackles, racking up 155 stops to go along with 2.5 sacks, five passes defended, and an interception. So it didn’t come as a surprise that the team signed him to a four-year, $33MM contract extension in August that, at the time, made the former third-round pick the highest-paid 4-3 outside linebacker in the league.

The timing of the extension was good for Levy, whose stock would’ve dipped this winter if he became a free agent coming off his troublesome hip issue. As is, he’ll return to Detroit next season ready to play the first year of his new four-year deal, which keeps him under team control through 2019.

North Notes: Ratliff, Lions, Levy, Ravens

October 30th, 2015 at 12:45pm CST by Luke Adams

Veteran defensive tackle Jeremiah Ratliff is currently a free agent, free to sign with any NFL team, but as details continue to trickle out about last week’s incident at Halas Hall, it appears increasingly unlikely that another team will give him a shot this season.

Ratliff showed up last Wednesday in no condition to practice, prompting the Bears to send him home. After the team made the decision to cut him, Ratliff returned to the club’s practice facility, saying at one point that “he felt like killing everybody in the building,” according to Rich Campbell of the Chicago Tribune, citing a report from Lake Forest Police.

Ratliff left Halas Hall and returned again later, at which time he reportedly said, “I am the devil” and that he “wished staff member’s children would die.” Although no charges were filed against Ratliff, the Bears did call local police, with team officials alerting police of their belief that the 34-year-old owns multiple firearms, according to Campbell.

As the Bears attempt to move on from last week’s incident, let’s check in on some other items from out of the NFL’s North divisions….

  • The idea that the Lions may consider parting with quarterback Matthew Stafford after this season is “comical,” GM Martin Mayhew told reporters today, including Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. Mayhew also dismissed the possibility of a Calvin Johnson trade: “Both of those guys are very important to what we’re doing as a franchise, great people off the field, great teammates. And both of those guys have Hall of Fame potential. So to say that we should move those guys doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.”
  • DeAndre Levy, recovering from hip surgery, may not see the field again this season after playing just 17 regular season snaps. However, Mayhew doesn’t regret locking up the Lions linebacker to a long-term extension prior to the season, as Birkett writes. “He’s not the first guy to sign an extension and get hurt. That happens sometimes,” Mayhew said. “You hate when it happens, but certainly through no fault of his own. It’s a serious injury that he’s dealing with.”
  • It was a busy day for Mayhew, who also said that he expects the Lions to be buyers, not sellers, at next week’s trade deadline.
  • The Ravens‘ front office and coaching staff have received no phone calls and just one text message from Terrell Suggs since the veteran pass rusher tore his Achilles a month and a half ago, writes Mike Preston of the Baltimore Sun. GM Ozzie Newsome says he isn’t worried about the lack of communication with Suggs, who may be rehabbing on his own, adding that he expects the 33-year-old to return to the team next season.

NFC Notes: Levy, Lions, JPP, Hardy

October 26th, 2015 at 12:46pm CST by Luke Adams

A week after undergoing surgery on his troublesome hip, Lions linebacker DeAndre Levy is still contemplating trying to return this year, as Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press details. Asked why he isn’t shutting it down for the season, Levy replied, “We’re not mathematically out of it yet, are we?”

Of course, no team is mathematically out of the postseason yet, and no team will be for several more weeks. But with the Lions in the NFC North cellar at 1-6, the playoffs seem awfully unlikely, so I’d be surprised if Levy doesn’t land on IR within the next couple weeks.

Here’s more from across the NFC:

  • After another disappointing loss in Week 7, Lions head coach Jim Caldwell said his team isn’t making any changes to its coaching staff this week, tweets Tim Twentyman of DetroitLions.com.
  • If Jason Pierre-Paul were to sign his franchise tender with the Giants, and the team placed him on the non-football injury list for the rest of the season, it would likely result in the NFLPA filing a protest over the move, according to Jason Cole of Bleacher Report (video link). The union’s goal would presumably be to get Pierre-Paul free agent status, rather than having the Giants keep him under team control.
  • While Cowboys owner Jerry Jones supported Greg Hardy publicly, there are people within the organization that view the defensive end’s behavior as “juvenile,” says Cole in a separate video. The team seems invested in Hardy for this season, but Cole thinks that the former Panther will have to change his attitude in order for his time in Dallas to last more than just one year.
  • The Falcons worked out former Tuskegee linebacker Quavon Taylor last Friday, a source tells Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter link).
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