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Demarcus Lawrence

NFC Notes: 49ers, Eagles, Injuries

December 22nd, 2017 at 6:43pm CST by GregGoldstein

The 49ers have won every game that Jimmy Garoppolo has started this season. However, general manager John Lynch knows that the team’s priority this offseason must be to surround his new signal caller with better talent, reports Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk.

Smith relays quotes that the first-year decision maker made on FS1 today that expresses his decision to move forward with the plan of building around Garoppolo.

“It frees you up in the draft to go looking for other needs and build your team around him,” said Lynch.

At the moment, San Francisco seems to have found two solid play makers in Marquise Goodwin and rookie Trent Taylor. But with running back Carlos Hyde‘s future with the team uncertain being that he will become an unrestricted free agent, the team needs more guys that can help elevate Garoppolo’s game.

It’s certainly a team with a number of holes, but there’s undoubtedly newfound hope that the organization has found their next franchise quarterback given this late season run.

Here’s more notes from around the NFC:

  • While the Eagles have a number of assistant coaches that could be in-line for head coaching gigs after the conclusion of this season, the team’s Vice President of Player Personnel Joe Douglas has gone a bit under-the-radar in terms of garnering interest from general manager needy teams, opines Jeff McLane of The Inquirer. Douglas surprisingly wasn’t mentioned in the league’s annual list of prospective GM candidates. But despite not being named, owner Jeffrey Lurie has spoken highly of the number two football man in his front office. “The hiring of Joe Douglas, I thought, was the pivotal moment of the last year,” said Lurie. With Douglas’ guidance, the Eagles have made a number of quality football decisions that has led them to being on the verge of clinching home field advantage in the NFC. McLane does mention that while Douglas is highly-regarded in league circles, he’s still viewed as strictly a “football guy”, which isn’t the type of person that is now needed to lead an entire front office, according to McLane. Nevertheless, if the Eagles continue to dominant with Douglas partially at the helm, he definitely should start to become more sought after for a lead job in the years to come.
  • Despite the Cowboys getting Zeke back for the first time since Week 8, the team is still dealing with a number of injuries entering their season-defining Week 16 game against Seattle. Star left tackle Tyron Smith is currently dealing with back and knee injuries, but he will “give it a try” this Sunday, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link). Defensive tackle David Irving has been officially ruled out for a third straight game because of a concussion as well, reports David Moore of the Dallas Morning News (Twitter link). Although, there is some good news on the injury front for the Cowboys as stud pass rusher Demarcus Lawrence practiced fully on Friday and is ready to go, per Todd Archer of ESPN.com.
  • The Seahawks are also dealing with a few critical injuries of their own prior to the Week 16 contest, even though the injury news seems to be a bit better on Seattle’s side. Head coach Pete Carroll said after practice that linebacker Bobby Wagner and strong safety Bradley McDougald are on track to play on Sunday, but the team would “wait-and-see” if cornerback DeShawn Shead would be activated from the PUP for this weekend’s matchup, reports Brady Henderson of ESPN.com.

NFC East Rumors: Cowboys, Foster, Johnson

October 28th, 2017 at 4:46pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Cowboys decided not to pursue an extension for Demarcus Lawrence before this season, with the defensive end’s history of back trouble leading to hesitancy on this front, Brandon George of the Dallas Morning News notes. Dallas’ brass wanted to see if Lawrence could stay healthy and deliver on the intermittent promise he showed during his career, per George, who adds the franchise tag could be in play for Lawrence come March. That would cost the team more than $17MM, but with Lawrence’s 9.5 sacks second in the league (despite the Cowboys having already had their bye) and considering he had back surgeries the past two offseasons, it would seem reasonable the team would still want to opt for a temporary arrangement for the time being. George describes Lawrence as playing through severe back pain last season rather than opting for season-ending surgery, and he’s on the verge of becoming a high-end UFA if he can make it through this season healthy.

Here’s more from Dallas and other NFC East cities.

  • Ezekiel Elliott will play for the Cowboys on Sunday, but the seminal event for the running back will come Monday afternoon when his team and the NFL face off in New York’s Southern District Court. The latest Elliott-vs.-NFL chapter is set for 4pm CT Monday, and Kate Hairopoulos of the Dallas Morning News expects it to determine the running back’s 2017 fate. Should Judge Katherine Polk Failla green-light an Elliott injunction, Hairopoulos expects him to play the rest of this season while the court battle plays out. If not, the reporter doesn’t see him skirting the six-game suspension.
  • Mason Foster fired off a string of tweets voicing his frustration with the Redskins, who placed him on IR Friday. However, the veteran linebacker met with Bruce Allen, senior VP of football operations-general counsel Eric Schaffer and other members of Washington’s front office on Saturday to clear the air about the IR decision, Master Tefatsion of the Washington Post reports. The inside ‘backer described his state of mind upon sending those tweets as being “too emotional,” and the UFA-to-be is open to staying with the Redskins. “I’m a Redskin until they tell me I’m not a Redskin,” Foster said, via Tefatsion. “That’s how I feel about it. I love this team. This is where I wanna be. We handled it internally, and I appreciate Bruce sitting down with me and Eric Schaffer so that we could get it squashed and go about business.” Foster played through a 2014 injury that affected his free agent stock the following spring and will be shut down this time around after playing through a torn shoulder labrum for three games.
  • The Eagles will not move Lane Johnson to left tackle midseason, instead installing swing tackle Halapoulivaati Vaitai at Jason Peters‘ spot, Zach Berman of Philly.com notes. Vaitai struggled replacing Johnson last season at right tackle, and considering the Eagles’ hot start, there will be a bright spotlight on the second-year player this season on the left side. “Right now, Lane is playing extremely well at right tackle and looking down the road, and I hate to look down the road, but we’ve got some teams coming up that have some players on our right side, their left side, the Von Millers of the world, Khalil Macks of the world that play on that side of the ball,” Doug Pederson said of the decision to keep Johnson at right tackle.

East Rumors: Lawrence, Jets, McAdoo, Pats

September 21st, 2017 at 9:13pm CST by Sam Robinson

Demarcus Lawrence has won matchups with Giants right tackle Bobby Hart and Broncos right-edge protector Menelik Watson en route to 3.5 sacks in the Cowboys‘ first two games. However, the fourth-year defensive end is not big on attributing his early run of success to being in a contract year. And the former second-round pick wants to impress Cowboys management rather than pursue a UFA path.

“I mean, it’s a contract year, so what?” Lawrence said, via Jon Machota of the Dallas Morning News. “I want to be here forever. This year don’t define me as a player. Y’all might say it’s because it’s a contract year, but the first year I was balling. My second year I was balling. My third year I had trouble with my back, so it didn’t seem like I was there. This year doesn’t define me.”

That injury and a four-game suspension limited Lawrence to nine regular-season contests last season. He registered just four sacks after recording eight as a second-year player. Lawrence missed nine games as a rookie due to injury, so the former Boise State standout staying healthy would be a key component of his push for a second Cowboys contract.

Here’s the latest from the East divisions, shifting to a contract that didn’t come to pass.

  • Jay Cutler said the Jets scheduled multiple visits for him to visit New York as a free agent, but each ended up being cancelled. Now coming to the Big Apple as the Dolphins starter, Cutler said the sides weren’t in the mere exploratory stage but also noted (via the Associated Press) the Jets weren’t “aggressive” in their pursuit of him as a then-UFA. Cutler will face former Bears teammate Josh McCown this weekend in the AFC East tilt.
  • Malcolm Butler played at least 96 percent of the Patriots‘ defensive snaps in 2015 and ’16, but Eric Rowe took his place in the starting lineup last week against the Saints. The subject of trade rumors this offseason — with the Saints being the frontrunner for that would-be deal — the contract-year corner tried to brush that topic off. “This is where I play; this is where I’m happy at,” Butler said (via Mike Reiss of ESPN.com), “just have to continue doing my thing.” This is the latest chapter in the Butler/Pats saga, one that looks likely to end after this season. Both Rowe and Stephon Gilmore have seen groin injuries emerge, so Butler may well return to the Pats’ starting lineup against the Texans. However, Butler’s received no indication that he’ll return to a first-string role.
  • Ben McAdoo is not dismissing the idea of ceding the Giants‘ play-calling reins, but it doesn’t sound like he wants to give them up, Ralph Vacchiano of SNY.tv notes, adding it might take a front office direction to get the second-year coach to give up that responsibility. While writing OC Mike Sullivan suddenly calling plays wouldn’t be a cure-all, Vacchiano opines that McAdoo is occasionally “lost” trying to manage the game and call plays.

NFC Notes: 49ers, Eagles, Seahawks, Cowboys

January 24th, 2017 at 8:27pm CST by Ben Levine

49ers fans have been waiting for the better part of a month for the organization to hire their next head coach and general manager. The team will seemingly have to wait at least another two weeks to hire frontrunner Kyle Shanahan from the Falcons, and they may be waiting a bit longer to bring in a new general manager.

On Tuesday, CEO Jed York preached patience when it comes to the team’s hirings.

“The message is we’re going to re-establish a championship culture,” York said (via Cam Inman of The Mercury News). “We’re not going to do that by filling a job quickly. We need to be patient. We need to be willing to wait.

“And when we get the right people, we’ll start putting everything into place.”

Let’s take a look at some more notes from around the NFC…

  • Last offseason, the Eagles dealt with some turmoil when quarterback Sam Bradford was upset following the team’s draft selection of Carson Wentz. This offseason, the front office is hoping to be completely transparent with their franchise signal-caller. “The way the league rules are, you’d love to be able to bring him down and throw to these guys,” said vice president of football operations Howie Roseman (via Jimmy Kempski of PhillyVoice.com). “That would be unbelievable. It just doesn’t work that way. But from our perspective, we want to make sure that he’s on board with some of these things, and he’s looking at some … probably more in free agency than in the draft, because it’s hard for him to get caught up on the draft prospects.”
  • The Eagles traded former second-round pick Eric Rowe to the Patriots earlier this season, and the cornerback proceeded to start seven games for the AFC champs. Roseman provided some logic for cutting bait on the promising defensive back. “When we sat down and discussed the offer, we really started thinking about the likelihood that we had to sign him to an extension,” Roseman said (via Reuben Frank of CSNPhilly.com).“We want to build this team with some continuity. We felt at that time that we were not going to sign him to an extension and to be able to get that value for him and possibly add someone who would be here for a longer period of time made sense for where we were.
” Rowe’s contract expires following the 2018 season.
  • Perrish Cox‘s new one-year contract with the Seahawks is worth $855K, reports ESPN.com’s Sheil Kapadia. The cornerback’s initial cap hit is $680K, and he’ll earn $443K if he suffers an injury prior to the start of the regular season.
  • Cowboys CEO Stephen Jones said his team would like to keep free agent wideouts Terrance Williams and Brice Butler (via Brandon George of The Dallas Morning News on Twitter). Williams had one of his least-productive seasons in 2016, but he still finished the campaign with 44 receptions for 594 yards and four touchdowns. Butler, a former seventh-round pick, finished the season with 16 receptions for 219 yards and three touchdowns.
  • Jones also passed along that Cowboys defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence will need back surgery for the second straight offseason (via George on Twitter). The former second-round pick has only played in 32 games over his three seasons in the NFL, including nine games (three starts) in 2016.

Extra Points: Jags, Raiders, Lawrence, FAs

December 23rd, 2016 at 9:33pm CST by Sam Robinson

Three-plus years after multiple coaches declined interviews with the Jaguars before Gus Bradley was hired, the north-Florida head-coaching job is generating more buzz. An “overwhelming” degree of interest has emerged for the Jags’ HC vacancy, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reports.

Florio does not expect coaches to turn down Jags interviews this time and lists Tom Coughlin, Josh McDaniels, Todd Haley, and Anthony Lynn as those to be among the most coveted candidates for head-coaching positions. Doug Marrone could also be a candidate, per Florio, but that’s obviously dependent on what happens for the 2-12 team in the season’s final two weeks. The team’s talent base has increased since the 2013 vacancy, likely leading to the enhanced interest.

Coughlin has been connected to Jacksonville as a front-office cog as well. In a coach, the Jaguars are likely going to want to hear Blake Bortles-related pitches — even if the next coach won’t be forced to play him — due to the franchise spending the No. 3 overall pick on the signal-caller and having closed the book on their previous first-round QB, Blaine Gabbert, so quickly. Having that happen twice in the same half-decade would be deflating for the franchise.

Here’s more from the Jags and the rest of the league.

  • Paul Posluszny is leading the Jaguars in tackles, but the veteran linebacker knows that he might not be back in Jacksonville next year, as ESPN.com’s Michael DiRocco writes. “I want to play these last two games as hard as I can knowing that I may not have a future here,” Posluszny said. “You take it one game at a time and say, ‘I’m going to devote everything that I can to these last two games because this might be the last opportunity I get.’” Posluszny is the franchise’s second-leading tackler (904) after six seasons with the club, but those aren’t the numbers that necessarily matter. The 32-year-old is due a $3.95MM base salary plus a $500K roster bonus on the fifth day of the league year (in March). He’s also set to receive a $31K bonus for each game he’s on the active roster, up to $500K. Instead of bringing him back, the Jaguars could give additional playing time to second-round pick Myles Jack.
  • The Raiders are planning to turn to Menelik Watson at right tackle instead of Austin Howard, Scott Bair of CSNBayArea.com reports. The former second-round pick has been unable to stay healthy, being lost for the season due to injury in 2015 and joining Howard as ailing right-flank protectors this season. Oakland saw three of its starting line make the Pro Bowl, and right guard Gabe Jackson has been solid as well. The right tackle spot has been the only deficiency thus far.
  • The Cowboys will rest Demarcus Lawrence in the next two games, as Jon Machota of The Dallas Morning News tweets. “It wouldn’t surprise me if [Randy Gregory] gets a lot of snaps,” owner Jerry Jones said.
  • Brandon Williams, Mario Addison and Ronald Leary are among the looming UFAs who can expected to be paid handsomely, at least when compared to their public perception, Field Yates of ESPN.com writes. Kelechi Osemele helping catalyze the Raiders’ offensive line points to the Cowboys’ left guard being a sought-after player. Leary reclaimed this job after La’el Collins‘ foot injury and has been a top-20 guard in the opinion of Pro Football Focus, and the fourth-year player has seen far more work than well-paid Jaguar right tackle Jermey Parnell was during his time in Dallas. Williams became a space-eating 3-4 nose man despite a Division II background, and Addison now has three straight seasons of at least six sacks. The Panthers’ 40 sacks match the Broncos for the league lead, and Addison’s 7.5 bests their group.

Zach Links contributed to this report.

Cowboys Activate Demarcus Lawrence

October 8th, 2016 at 6:54pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Cowboys’ pass rush will receive a boost on Sunday after the team officially activated Demarcus Lawrence, placing him back on its 53-man roster, Todd Archer of ESPN.com reports.

Lawrence missed four games because of a substance-abuse suspension, depriving the Cowboys of their top pass-rusher. The third-year player led Dallas with eight sacks last season, doing so after registering none as a rookie in seven games in 2014.

Dallas ranks in a tie for 24th in the league with just six sacks this season, besting only five teams’ totals. It’s been without Lawrence, Randy Gregory and elected to move on from Greg Hardy. Defensive tackle Tyrone Crawford is the only Cowboy with more than one sack, posting two through four games.

A former second-round pick, Lawrence saw his appeal denied, forcing him to miss four games. He missed nine in 2014 after suffering a broken foot before playing in all 16 last year.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

14 Players Returning From Suspension

October 3rd, 2016 at 7:06pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Fourteen players will return from four-game suspensions this week, according to Howard Balzer (Twitter links: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6). The most high-profile returnee, of course, is quarterback Tom Brady, who will re-join the 3-1 Patriots on Sunday against the Browns.

The following players have completed their suspensions:

The club that employs each player will receive a short roster exemption that ends the day following the team’s Week 5 game. that means the 49ers’ exemption for Lynch ends Friday, the Panthers’ exemption for Scott ends next Tuesday, and the rest end next Monday.

Sterup, meanwhile, was on the Chiefs’ practice squad when he was banned, but he hasn’t completed the PED reinstatement requirements, according to Balzer. So although he can sign with a new club, Sterup can’t practice or play until he’s approved by the league.

Cowboys Trim Roster To 53

September 3rd, 2016 at 5:23pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Cowboys have made the following moves in order to cut their roster down to 53:

Cut:

Waived/Injured:

  • DE Mike McAdoo

Reserve/Suspended:

NFI:

Rolando McClain Suspended 10 Games

June 30th, 2016 at 2:03pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Friday afternoon NFL news dump is happening a day early. Cowboys linebacker Rolando McClain has been suspended 10 games for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy, according to Adam Schefter and Todd Archer of ESPN.com (Twitter link).Rolando McClain

[RELATED: Johnnny Manziel, Sheldon Richardson suspended]

The 10-game ban indicates that McClain has entered stage three of the league’s substance policy for marijuana. McClain missed the first four games of last season while on suspension, so the penalties will keep increasing as McClain continues to fail drug tests. The 26-year-old McClain has dealt with plenty of off-the-field question marks throughout his career, and his free agency earnings have thus been relatively modest. Still, he’s now set to lose about $2.35MM as a result of this latest ban.

In 2015, McClain graded out as Pro Football Focus’ No. 28 linebacker (subscription required). In his suspension-shortened season, McClain recorded 80 total tackles, 2 sacks, and 3 pass deflections. The former first-round pick had been sitting out Dallas’ team activities while reportedly dealing with a family issue, an occurrence that had apparently caused a minor dispute between owner Jerry Jones and head coach Jason Garrett.

McClain is the third Cowboys defender to face a multi-game ban for 2016, as defensive lineman Demarcus Lawrence and Randy Gregory are scheduled to miss the first four games of the year with their own suspensions — in fact, Archer reports that Lawrence’s appeal has been denied, ensuring that he will in fact be suspended. I recently listed Dallas as a potential landing spot for veteran edge rusher Dwight Freeney, and though he wouldn’t be directly replacing McClain, Freeney could help a Cowboys defense that is now in dire need of talent.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Cowboys Notes: Hardy, QBs, Smith, Lawrence

May 5th, 2016 at 3:03pm CST by Luke Adams

According to Stephen Jones, the Cowboys were done with Greg Hardy when the 2015 season ended, despite not publicly making that stance clear until more recently, as Clarence E. Hill Jr. of the Star-Telegram writes.

“I think one of the most important things is when you take a chance with a player, if you see it’s not working, it’s time to move on,” said Jones, the Cowboys’ executive VP. “We gave it its due in terms of a year here, and we just felt like at the end of the day, it wasn’t the right fit.”

Last week, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones went on record saying that Hardy will not be back, but it appears that the decision was made months ago. On the field, Hardy still has plenty to offer, but it would seem Dallas is not interested in dealing with the off-field headaches. Last season, Hardy ranked as the league’s 28th-best edge defender out of 110 qualified players, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required).

Let’s round up a few more Cowboys-related items:

  • The Cowboys missed out on drafting Paxton Lynch, but they’re content with their quarterback depth chart as it stands today, writes Drew Davison of the Star-Telegram. Kellen Moore will be Tony Romo‘s primary backup in 2016, per Jerry Jones. “I think Kellen Moore has shown the ‘it,'” Jones said. “He has the instincts. He has the anticipation. He knows what’s going on. He gives me and us a great feeling about basically improving. Obviously those interceptions were not something you can live with, but some of the stuff he was doing was pretty obvious that the team was responding. He was able to move the team.” Rookie Dak Prescott will likely fill the No. 3 spot behind Romo and Moore.
  • While the general consensus in the Cowboys organization seems to be that second-round pick Jaylon Smith will miss the entire 2016 season, Jerry Jones isn’t ready to commit to taking the linebacker off the regular-season roster, as Charean Williams of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram details. Appearing on 105.3 The Fan, Jones said Smith “will not be IR’d,” noting that the club hopes Smith can be available for the latter part of the season. We’ll see if Dallas sticks to that stance in September.
  • During that appearance on 105.3 The Fan, Jones also said that he’s holding out hope for Demarcus Lawrence‘s suspension to be reduced from four games to two games (link via Clarence Hill of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram). Lawrence’s four-game ban is currently under appeal.

Zach Links contributed to this post.

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