HEADLINES

Desmond King

Deshaun Watson Would Not Be Placed On Exempt List If Traded

October 24th, 2021 at 11:18am CST by Rory Parks

Multiple teams are still interested in trading for Texans QB Deshaun Watson, as Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network reports (video link). Critically, Rapoport says Watson would not be placed on the commissioner’s exempt list if he were to be dealt.

Of course, Watson has no interest in playing for the Texans, and the Texans have no interest in trying to force their best trade asset to suit up. So he has effectively been on paid leave all season, but we have heard all along that if another club were to trade for the three-time Pro Bowler, the league could step in and park him on the exempt list until his legal situation is resolved, thereby making a trade difficult to consummate.

Rapoport, citing the provision of the NFL’s personal conduct policy that states that a player can be placed on the exempt list if he has been charged with a felony or violent crime, says Watson — who has not been criminally charged at this point — should be eligible to play for any team that acquires him. And, RapSheet hears that a deal is expected to be completed prior to the November 2 deadline.

A recent report indicated that the Panthers and Eagles were no longer involved in the Watson sweepstakes and that the Dolphins were the only team left standing. However, Rapoport says the Dolphins are not alone in their pursuit, and that in addition to Carolina, Philadelphia, and the Broncos, there are other clubs sniffing around.

That report could have been leaked by the Texans in an effort to get Miami to increase its offer. Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports writes that no team has been as motivated as the Dolphins to get a deal done, and Jay Glazer of FOX Sports reports that the Texans have told another club that they have to beat Miami’s offer (via Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald on Twitter). Plus, it’s unclear if Watson will waive his no-trade clause for any team other than the Dolphins.

In addition to Watson, there are other Texans players that could be on the move in the next week or so. La Canfora hears that LT Laremy Tunsil could have been a trade candidate if he had not suffered a serious thumb injury earlier this month, and other players that GM Nick Caserio might seek to trade include QB Tyrod Taylor, RB Phillip Lindsay, LB Christian Kirksey, and CB Desmond King.

Texans To Sign Desmond King

March 18th, 2021 at 5:44pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

The Texans continue to make low-risk, high-upside signings for their defense. This time Houston has agreed to terms on a deal with cornerback Desmond King, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets.

Per Schefter, it’s a one-year pact worth $3.5MM. A fifth-round pick of the Chargers in 2017, King quickly made a name for himself in Los Angeles. He started four games in a rookie and played in all 16, racking up 76 tackles, four sacks, five passes defended, and a 90-yard interception return touchdown.

In 2018 he entered the season as the Chargers’ slot cornerback, and had 62 tackles, ten passes defended, and three interceptions. He earned a first-team All-Pro nod for his work. He also took over punt return duties for the Chargers in 2018, and was a second-team All-Pro as a returner.

Despite being a dual All-Pro it wasn’t long before he fell out of favor with the coaching staff, and butted heads with Anthony Lynn. After seeing his playing time reduced in the secondary he griped on social media, and was traded to the Titans last November. 

King is still only 26, and has obviously had a lot of success in the past. On a pretty cheap deal, the signing makes a lot of sense for a rebuilding Texans defense.

Chargers Trade Desmond King To Titans

November 2nd, 2020 at 12:03pm CST by Zachary Links

The Chargers have agreed to send Desmond King to the Titans, as Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. Los Angeles is getting a sixth-round pick back in exchange for the cornerback/return specialist. 

King, 26 in December, was a healthy scratch for Sunday’s game against the Broncos. Now, we know that the Bolts were safeguarding against injury in order to trade him before the deadline. There was speculation that the Cardinals would trade for him, giving them a potential Patrick Peterson replacement for 2021. Instead, the Titans have emerged with the former All-Pro returner.

A fifth-round pick in 2017, King broke out in 2018 with 62 tackles, three interceptions, a defensive TD, and ten passes defensed. So far this year, he hasn’t made the same kind of impact. At 2-5, the Chargers have opted to move on from him and recoup some value for ’21 and beyond.

Los Angeles has a ton of talent in their secondary, which made King more expendable. The Iowa product grew unhappy with his decreased role, and was vocal about it on social media.

It’s a nice low-risk move for the Titans as well, as they desperately needed help in their secondary. Young cornerbacks Adoree’ Jackson and Kristian Fulton are both hurt and unavailable at the moment, and Mike Vrabel’s defense has been getting torched.

They’re currently giving up the sixth-most passing yards per game, although that’s not all on the secondary as they’ve been unable to get much of a pass-rush going either. It wouldn’t be at all surprising if the Titans made another move on defense before tomorrow’s deadline, either for an edge rusher or another cornerback.

Chargers Shopping Desmond King

November 2nd, 2020 at 9:19am CST by Zachary Links

The Chargers are shopping former All-Pro defensive back and punt returner Desmond King, according to sources who spoke with ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter (on Twitter). Multiple teams have inquired on King, setting the stage for a possible trade between now and the Tuesday afternoon deadline.

King, 26 in December, was a healthy scratch for Sunday’s game against the Broncos, fueling speculation that he could be on the move. The former fifth-round pick earned First-Team All-Pro honors in 2018 after notching 62 stops, three interceptions (including one pick-six), and ten passes defensed. This year, he hasn’t made the same kind of impact for the Chargers’ secondary, despite the opportunity created by injuries to Derwin James and others.

King would represent an intriguing and affordable pickup for contenders. Some have speculated that the Cardinals could make a move for him, giving them another key piece in the secondary for this year and a quality cornerback beyond 2020. Arizona may part ways with Patrick Peterson after this season, so King would give them a quality safety net who could also contribute on special teams.

After Sunday’s 31-30 loss to the Broncos, the Chargers find themselves in the AFC West cellar at 2-5.

Chargers Not Pursuing Earl Thomas

August 31st, 2020 at 1:57pm CST by Sam Robinson

Despite carrying one of the league’s most talented secondaries to training camp, the Chargers are in familiar trouble. Derwin James‘ knee issue will cost him games at the start of a season for the second straight year.

The Bolts have four All-Pros in their secondary but are missing their highest-ceiling talent for the foreseeable future. They are not interested in the All-Pro safety currently in free agency. Anthony Lynn said Monday the team is not planning to pursue Earl Thomas, per The Athletic’s Daniel Popper (on Twitter).

Even without James, Los Angeles’ secondary includes Casey Hayward, Desmond King and free agency addition Chris Harris. King, a 2018 All-Pro cornerback who saw action at safety in college, has been working as a second-string safety in camp. The Bolts also have 2019 second-round pick Nasir Adderley and 2019 substitute starter Rayshawn Jenkins. They drafted Alohi Gilman in this year’s sixth round. It appears Los Angeles will stick with its in-house options to replace James.

The Ravens released Thomas earlier this month. Joining Harris on the 2010s’ All-Decade team, Thomas certainly carries top-flight ability. Even entering his age-31 season, the three-time All-Pro is one of the game’s top safeties. But he suddenly carries some baggage. Teams are clearly doing homework on the former Legion of Boom centerpiece, but as of Monday, his market has not seen much momentum.

West Rumors: Chargers, Cardinals, Armstead

March 31st, 2020 at 8:13pm CST by Sam Robinson

In signing Chris Harris, the Chargers now employ three first-team All-Pros (Harris, Derwin James, Desmond King) and a second-team All-Pro (Casey Hayward) in their secondary. Harris resided as the NFL’s slot kingpin for many years, but the injury-depleted Broncos used him almost exclusively on the outside last season. The four-time Pro Bowler confirmed Tuesday the Chargers informed him he will be their primary slot defender, per Daniel Popper of The Athletic (on Twitter). For most of his Broncos career, Harris played outside in base sets and inside in sub-packages.

Harris’ Los Angeles arrival puts King in an interesting position. King has become a high-end slot player for the Bolts, earning All-Pro recognition for the role in 2018. Harris said (video link via Pro Football Focus; h/t Chargers Legion) earlier this offseason the Chargers planned to move King to safety, where he played at Iowa. The contract-year defender being a full-time safety would allow the Bolts to start their four All-Pro defensive backs, but Anthony Lynn has yet to indicate how the team’s new secondary will look.

Here is the latest from the West divisions:

  • On the subject of defensive alignments, the 49ers are not expected to make Arik Armstead a full-time defensive tackle despite trading DeForest Buckner and seeing fellow Super Bowl D-tackle starter Sheldon Day join him in Indianapolis. Armstead is expected to remain a base-downs defensive end and inside pass rusher, Matt Barrows of The Athletic notes (subscription required). Armstead has shown the ability to be an outside and inside pass rusher, leading the 49ers with 10 sacks last season.
  • Kliff Kingsbury‘s offense did not feature too much from the tight end position last season, though the Cardinals did extend Maxx Williams. Neither he nor Charles Clay reached 250 receiving yards in 2019. The Cardinals, however, are eyeing tight ends in this coming draft class, Josh Weinfuss of ESPN.com tweets. They had planned to bring in some for pre-draft workouts, but the NFL nixed those early in the process. This draft class is not viewed to be especially deep at tight end, however.
  • The Cardinals also are interested in Utah running back Zack Moss, according to Weinfuss (on Twitter). Moss already went through a FaceTime conversation with Cardinals running backs coach James Saxon, per Weinfuss. Moss ended the 2019 season as the Pac-12’s offensive player of the year, totaling 1,804 yards from scrimmage and 17 touchdowns as a senior.
  • Arizona’s Marcus Gilbert contract is not quite as lucrative as initially advertised. While it is worth up to $3.75MM, the veteran right tackle’s deal will be for the veteran minimum ($1.05MM, in Gilbert’s case), Howard Balzer of SI.com writes. The longtime Steelers starter will see just $150K guaranteed. Gilbert missed all of last season with an injury, one that severely limited him on the open market.
  • The Broncos are guaranteeing Jeremiah Attaochu $500K, per the Houston Chronicle’s Aaron Wilson (on Twitter). That includes $250K of his $1MM base salary. Attaochu will be expected to be a backup to Von Miller and Bradley Chubb.

West Notes: Donald, Raiders, Carter

August 5th, 2018 at 12:39pm CST by Rory Parks

There are a couple of critical dates coming up in the Aaron Donald saga this week, as Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk points out. If Donald does not report to the Rams by August 7, he will not earn a year of credit towards free agency, which means that he would be eligible for restricted free agency next offseason, but not unrestricted free agency. However, Florio says that is not a major deterrent for Donald’s camp, as the Rams would either use the franchise tag on Donald — which, of course, they could also do if he became an unrestricted free agent — or apply a first-round restricted free agent tender. If Los Angeles went with the latter option, there would be any number of teams willing to extend a massive offer sheet to Donald and to surrender a first-round pick to the Rams if the Rams elected to not match the offer sheet, so Florio suggests LA would use the franchise tag regardless of whether Donald becomes a UFA or RFA.

The more important date, then, could be August 9, when the Rams play their first preseason game. As we have written previously, Donald could be fined a game check for each preseason game he misses, and between those penalties and the penalties for missing training camp, Donald could be looking at over $3.2MM in fines if he does not show up until the eve of the regular season opener. That reality could make him rethink his holdout, but given a recent report that the standoff could easily drag into September, it appears Donald’s reps are confident that the Rams will waive any penalties when the two sides do finally come to terms (or else that Donald’s contract will be so massive that the lost money won’t really matter).

Now let’s round up a few more notes from the league’s west divisions:

  • Raiders head coach Jon Gruden says his team’s kicking competition is not over, and that either rookie Eddy Pineiro or recent veteran acquisition Mike Nugent could win the job. But Scott Bair of NBCSports.com says Pineiro remains the heavy favorite, and Bair suggests it would be a major surprise if the rookie did not open the season as the team’s kicker.
  • We have not heard anything about a potential suspension for new Raiders receiver Martavis Bryant since June, which is obviously good news for Bryant and the team, but Gruden does not seem impressed with Bryant’s on-field performance thus far. Vic Tafur of The Athletic tweets that Bryant needs to step up his game and get more out of his reps, and Gruden said that the former Steeler needs to “master the offense and be more versatile.” Bryant is eligible for unrestricted free agency in 2019 — assuming he’s not suspended, of course — and even though he is battling for the team’s No. 3 receiver job, his talent suggests he could excel in Oakland’s offense and earn himself a nice payday next year.
  • Broncos safety Jamal Carter, a 2017 UDFA, has been very impressive in this year’s training camp, as Mike Klis of 9News.com writes. Carter appeared in all 16 of the team’s games last season, primarily as a special teams contributor, but he could get more defensive snaps in 2018, especially in sub-packages.
  • The Chargers‘ starting free safety job remains up for grabs, as Eric Williams of ESPN.com tweets. Jahleel Addae, Desmond King, and Jaylen Watkins have all seen action with the starters at that position.
  • We learned earlier today that veteran cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie had to cancel his scheduled workout with the Seahawks due to a family matter. There is not yet any word on whether the visit will be rescheduled.
  • The 49ers are growing increasingly concerned about guard Joshua Garnett‘s right knee injury.

Chargers Sign Forrest Lamp, Three Others

May 11th, 2017 at 6:38pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

After locking up their top draft pick, first-round wide receiver Mike Williams, earlier Thursday, the Chargers went to work on signing a few other selections, per Eric D. Williams of ESPN.com. The club inked four more rookies to deals, including second-round pick and former Western Kentucky guard Forrest Lamp. Here are the others:

Forrest Lamp (Vertical)

Lamp drew plenty of first-round buzz entering the draft, but the team that seemed to like him more than anyone else, Miami, cooled on him at the 11th hour. The Chargers ended up selecting Lamp 38th overall, and he could be an immediate factor – perhaps at right guard – on a line that Football Outsiders ranked among the NFL’s worst last season.

With Lamp, King, Tevi and Rochell now under contract, only two of the Chargers’ seven picks are without deals.