HEADLINES

Ken Crawley

South Notes: Godwin, Peat, Marrone

December 19th, 2019 at 12:10pm CST by Rory Parks

Buccaneers WR Chris Godwin left Sunday’s victory over Detroit due to a hamstring injury, and since Tampa Bay is out of playoff contention, Godwin’s breakout 2019 campaign may end prematurely. Curiously, fellow wideout Mike Evans has already been placed on IR with a hamstring ailment, and yet another receiver, Scott Miller, also left the Lions game due to a hamstring issue.

That has led some to question the way in which head coach Bruce Arians is running things, and as Eduardo A. Encina of the Tampa Bay Times writes, Arians has conceded that he may be overworking his receivers. “We’ll be talking with our sports science people about it,” Arians said. “Maybe I’ve overworked them in practice, the receivers, because we need the reps. Our quarterbacks need the reps, so we run them this time of the year more than I would probably like to, but we need the reps.” The hamstring injuries may all just be a coincidence, but it’s worth keeping an eye on the team’s new sports science department moving forward.

Jenna Laine of ESPN.com says Arians has already ruled Godwin out for Week 16 but hopes he will play in the 2019 finale.

Now for more from the league’s south divisions:

  • Good news for the playoff-bound Saints. As Mike Triplett of ESPN.com tweets, New Orleans guard Andrus Peat, who has missed the last five games with a broken arm, has returned to practice. The team’s offense has performed just fine in Peat’s absence, but the Saints would surely like to have their 2018 Pro Bowler back in action.
  • The Saints continued to bolster their secondary by adding safety D.J. Swearinger on Wednesday, just two days after claiming CB Janoris Jenkins. As Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle observes, the Saints did their due diligence in the DB market before signing Swearinger, working out nine total players (Twitter link). That list included recognizable vets DeShawn Shead and Kentrell Brice.
  • The Jaguars parted ways with executive vice president Tom Coughlin yesterday, and many believe that head coach Doug Marrone will be axed at the end of the season. However, Marrone said he has not heard anything in that regard from owner Shad Khan, nor does he expect to (h/t Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk). Meanwhile, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk believes that, since Khan did not also fire Marrone when he fired Coughlin, Marrone (and GM Dave Caldwell) could be back in 2020. But Coughlin seems to have been fired largely as a result of a damning NFLPA report that surfaced Monday, so the fact that Marrone and Caldwell will stay on board for the rest of 2019 probably doesn’t mean very much.
  • The Colts tried to shore up their CB position by signing Briean Boddy-Calhoun yesterday, and as Wilson tweets, Indy also brought in CB Ken Crawley for a tryout.

Minor NFL Transactions: 12/16/19

December 16th, 2019 at 8:44pm CST by Rory Parks

Here are today’s minor moves:

Detroit Lions

Miami Dolphins

Pittsburgh Steelers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

  • Signed off Cowboys‘ practice squad: WR Cyril Grayson

Dolphins Claim WR Mack Hollins

December 4th, 2019 at 4:07pm CST by Sam Robinson

Another veteran wide receiver will head to Miami via waiver claim. The Dolphins submitted a successful claim for former Eagles wideout Mack Hollins on Wednesday.

Hollins follows Trevor Davis, whom the Raiders recently cut, to south Florida. The Dolphins have lost multiple receivers to season-ending injuries in recent weeks.

The Dolphins also signed offensive lineman Evan Brown off the Giants’ practice squad. They waived offensive lineman Chris Reed and cornerback Ken Crawley, the latter with an injury designation, to make room on their 53-man roster.

With their receiver situation battling injuries for most of the season, the Eagles gave Hollins extensive work. He played in at least 50% of Philadelphia’s offensive snaps in six games this season but produced just 10 receptions for 125 yards. The 2017 fourth-round pick’s rookie contract runs through 2020, so the Dolphins will have a chance to evaluate him in the offseason as well.

The Dolphins signed Reed to a low-end two-year deal this offseason; he played in five games with one start. Brown is a rookie UDFA out of SMU who’s played three snaps this season. A former Saints corner, Crawley played in four Dolphins games this season.

More Minor NFL Transactions: 10/30/19

October 30th, 2019 at 6:07pm CST by Dallas Robinson

Today’s minor moves:

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

  • Claimed off waivers (Giants): LB Tae Davis

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Houston Texans

Los Angeles Chargers

  • Promoted from practice squad: CB Tevaughn Campbell

Miami Dolphins

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Washington Redskins

Minor NFL Transactions: 10/30/19

October 30th, 2019 at 10:41am CST by Zachary Links

Today’s minor moves:

Atlanta Falcons

Green Bay Packers

New England Patriots

New Orleans Saints

New York Jets

Oakland Raiders

Seattle Seahawks

Saints CB Ken Crawley Signs RFA Tender

April 23rd, 2019 at 9:39pm CST by Rory Parks

Saints CB Ken Crawley has signed his original round RFA tender, as veteran NFL reporter Howard Balzer tweets. We learned last week that Crawley would be signing the tender, as he had not garnered any interest from rival clubs.

The lack of interest is not surprising, even though a team that signed Crawley to an offer sheet would not have needed to send any draft compensation to the Saints (since Crawley entered the league as an undrafted free agent). Crawley was demoted from his starting role prior to New Orleans’ Week 3 matchup last year, and although he was reinstated as a starter for the next three contests, he wound up appearing in only ten games and did not return to the starting lineup.

That was quite a contrast from his 2017 campaign, when he started all 13 games that he appeared in. But in 2018, Crawley finished as a bottom-three cornerback, per Pro Football Focus‘ advanced metrics, and although he is now under contract for 2019, his $2.025MM salary is not guaranteed, so he could be cut without any cap repercussions.

For his career, Crawley has 128 tackles, an interception, a forced fumble, and 31 passes defensed.

 

South Rumors: Texans, Falcons, Saints

April 18th, 2019 at 7:51pm CST by Dallas Robinson

The Texans have received positive health news on two offensive players, as both receiver Will Fuller and left tackle Matt Kalil are expected to be ready for the regular season after sustaining injuries in 2018, per Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle (all Twitter links). Fuller averaged a career-high 15.7 yards per reception in seven games before suffering a torn ACL, but he’s now recovering nicely. Kalil, who inked a one-year deal with Houston after being released by Carolina, missed all of last year while dealing with a knee issue, but general manager Brian Gaine says Kalil is expected to compete with Julien Davenport to start on Deshaun Watson‘s blindside.

Here’s more from the NFL’s two South divisions:

  • Alabama State offensive tackle Tytus Howard is a second-round target of the Falcons, tweets Tony Pauline of DraftAnalyst.net. Daniel Jeremiah of NFL.com lauds Howard’s size (6’2′”, 322) and ability to “explode out of his stance,” but notes potential concerns about Howard’s level of competition in the FCS. Atlanta owns the 45th pick, so Howard could certainly be available when the Falcons make their second-round selection. Although Atlanta recently extended incumbent right tackle Ty Sambrailo, his new contract is essentially a one-year deal with multiple team options. Howard has also met with the Jets during the pre-draft process.
  • Defensive tackle Tyeler Davison‘s one-year deal with the Falcons will qualify as a minimum salary benefit contract, according to D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal Constitution. Davison will collect an $895K base salary ($110K guaranteed) and a $90K signing bonus, but he’ll only carry the salary cap charge of a second-year veteran plus his signing bonus — a total of $660K. A fifth-round pick in the 2015 draft, Davison started 48 games over the past four seasons in New Orleans, and will now give Atlanta a run-stuffing option alongside fellow defensive tackle Grady Jarrett.
  • Saints cornerback Ken Crawley is planning to sign his original round restricted free agent tender when New Orleans begins its offseason program on Monday, as Josh Katzenstein of NOLA.com writes. As of yet, Crawley has not received any interest from any rival clubs, and isn’t expected to until Friday’s deadline for RFAs to sign offer sheets. Crawley is now scheduled to earn $2.025MM for the 2019 campaign, but none of that total is guaranteed, an important distinction given that Crawley isn’t a lock to make the Saints’ roster after finishing as a bottom-three cornerback last season, per Pro Football Focus.

RFA/ERFA Tender Decisions: 3/13/19

March 13th, 2019 at 4:05pm CST by Zachary Links

Here is the latest news involving restricted free agents and exclusive-rights free agents, with updates coming throughout the day:

ERFA

Tendered:

Non-tendered:

RFA

Tendered at second-round level: 

Tendered at original-round level:

Non-tendered: 

Extra Points: Jets, Bowles, Seahawks, Thomas, Saints, Crawley, Raiders, Hall

September 21st, 2018 at 7:24pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

Not too long ago, the Jets were riding high off their Week 1 Monday Night Football win over the Lions as they kicked off the Sam Darnold era and all was well in New York. Now things have gone south quickly, as the team has dropped two straight games to the Dolphins and Browns. And although coach Todd Bowles recently landed a contract extension that locks him up through the 2020 season, his job isn’t necessarily safe writes Ralph Vacchiano of SNY.

While Vacchiano cautions that these first couple games wont determine Bowles’ future, he writes that “the feeling around the Jets is still that the 54-year-old Bowles isn’t really that safe at all.” It’s an interesting development considering Bowles was widely praised last season for leading the team to a surprise 5-11 record. Before last season, Bowles had been thought to be on one of the hottest seats in the entire league. It will be interesting to watch play out, but it looks like Bowles might not be the coach of the future in New York.

Here’s more from around the league:

  • Earl Thomas didn’t practice for the Seahawks today, and coach Pete Carroll was extremely vague about why according to Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times. Carroll said it wasn’t an injury and was something the team was dealing with, but wouldn’t commit to Thomas playing this Sunday. This immediately revived trade rumors that have surrounded Thomas all year, but it doesn’t seem like he’ll be on the move at this point. The team that was most-linked to Thomas this offseason, the Cowboys, aren’t pursuing him at the moment as EVP Stephen Jones said the team was “not exchanging any calls or any information at this time” according to Jon Machota of Dallas News (Twitter link). It’s a strange situation, and while it doesn’t seem like he’ll be traded, Condotta writes “no one will say” why he isn’t practicing.
  • The Saints’ defense, particularly their secondary, has struggled mightily this year. A large part of the problem has been cornerback Ken Crawley, who has now been benched ahead of the team’s Week 3 matchup with the Falcons according to Josh Katzenstein of NOLA.com (Twitter link). Fourth-year player P.J. Williams will move into the lineup in his place.
  • Raiders cornerback Leon Hall was hospitalized after the team’s Week 2 game against the Broncos according to Michael Gehlken of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Hall has a sickle cell trait issue that can flare up at altitude. He’s expected to play for this team this Sunday in Miami.

 

Marshon Lattimore To Miss Week 13

December 3rd, 2017 at 1:29pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Saints are set for a crucial game against the Panthers, but they won’t have one of their top defenders in that game.

Marshon Lattimore will miss Week 13, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports (on Twitter). The ankle injury that kept the standout rookie out of the Saints’ Week 12 game in Los Angeles will do the same today, with Rapoport noting the team is exercising caution to protect its top cornerback.

The Ohio State product tested the ankle before the home game, but it didn’t go well, Tom Pelissero of NFL.com tweets.

Lattimore’s work has been a big reason why New Orleans has been able to stampede back into the playoff race, and his team missed his presence last week in a loss to the Rams. Jared Goff‘s 327 passing yards marked the most the Saints had yielded since Week 2, a week before their eight-game win streak commenced. Ken Crawley also missed last week’s game, but Lattimore’s running mate is expected to play today. Fellow corner P.J. Williams is questionable.

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