Orlando Scandrick

Cowboys To Release Orlando Scandrick

Orlando Scandrick has been granted his request. ESPN’s Josina Anderson reports (via Twitter) that the Cowboys will release the cornerback. Earlier this week, Scandrick had requested his release from Dallas.

Scandrick was scheduled to carry a $5.28MM cap hit in 2018. They will designate him as a post-June 1 cut, the team confirmed. By moving on from him, the Cowboys will now save $3MM as opposed to $1.4MM.

The Cowboys won’t save a whole lot of money by releasing Scandrick, but his performance last year seemingly necessitated the move. In 2017, Scandrick totaled 38 tackles and graded out as one of the ten worst qualified cornerbacks in the NFL, per Pro Football Focus. Of course, the 31-year-old could have just had an off year, as he previously earned a second-team All-Pro nod in 2014.

The Cowboys nearly traded Scandrick to the Saints during the 2017 draft, but ultimately did not come to terms on a deal that would have brought safety Kenny Vaccaro to Dallas. Reports from late February indicated that the organization was looking to trade the veteran.

Scandrick’s release doesn’t necessarily impact the top of the Cowboys cornerback depth chart. The team is currently projected to start Chidobe Awuzie and Jourdan Lewis, with Anthony Brown slotted in as the top reserve.

Cowboys’ Orlando Scandrick Requests Release

Cowboys cornerback Orlando Scandrick has requested his release from the team, according to ESPN.com’s Todd Archer (on Twitter). The Cowboys are reportedly planning to trade or release Scandrick, but the veteran would prefer to choose his own destination. 

Scandrick is scheduled to carry a $5.28MM cap hit in 2018. By moving on from him, the Cowboys will save $1.4MM while carrying $3.88MM in dead money.

The Cowboys won’t realize any great savings by dumping Scandrick, but his performance last year necessitated the move. In 2017, Scandrick totaled 38 tackles and graded out as one of the ten worst qualified cornerbacks in the NFL, per Pro Football Focus. With that in mind, it’s hard to see a trade for him materializing.

The Cowboys nearly traded Scandrick to the Saints during the 2017 draft, but ultimately did not come to terms on a deal that would have brought safety Kenny Vaccaro to Dallas.

Cowboys To Cut Or Trade Orlando Scandrick

One way or another, it sounds like Orlando Scandrick‘s time in Dallas is about to come to an end. Team CEO Stephen Jones says the cornerback will likely be cut or traded, as Clarence Hill of the Star-Telegram tweetsOrlando Scandrick

The Cowboys dangled Scandrick on the trade block during last year’s draft, but ultimately did not come to terms on a trade with the Saints that would have brought safety Kenny Vaccaro to Dallas. Scandrick stayed on board for his ninth season in Dallas, but he was dogged by injuries and landed on IR in December. Around that time, the 31-year-old acknowledged that he might not return to the only NFL team he’s ever known.

I’m prepared for whatever,” Scandrick said. “I’m still going to play football. I’m still a good football player when I’m healthy. We’ll see what happens. … I’m not at the point of my career where I’m willing to just be an inactive guy or a guy that’s not a part of what’s going on and can’t help the team win. I just want to play somewhere I can finish things out the right way.”

Scandrick is scheduled to carry a $5.28MM cap hit in the coming year, but the team will probably part ways with him and eat $3.88MM in dead money in order to save $1.4MM against the cap.

In 2017, Scandrick registered just 38 total tackles and graded out as one of the ten worst qualified cornerbacks in the NFL, per Pro Football Focus. It’s possible that he could draw some trade interest, but it would be surprising if the Cowboys got a significant return for him.

NFC East Notes: Scandrick, Eagles, Williams

Orlando Scandrick doesn’t sound like he’s counting on another Cowboys contract in 2018. Dallas placed the veteran slot cornerback on IR Friday and dangled him on the trade block earlier this year. Younger talents Chidobe Awuzie, Jourdan Lewis and Anthony Brown are signed to rookie deals for the rest of the decade, leaving the 30-year-old Scandrick as a player who may need another team to swoop in to allow him to continue his career.

I’m prepared for whatever,” Scandrick said, via Clarence Hill of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “I’m still going to play football. I’m still a good football player when I’m healthy. We’ll see what happens. … I’m not at the point of my career where I’m willing to just be an inactive guy or a guy that’s not a part of what’s going on and can’t help the team win. I just want to play somewhere I can finish things out the right way.”

The 10th-year veteran will be entering free agency after fracturing multiple transverse processes and missing the final five Cowboys games. Scandrick also thanked the Cowboys for his 10 seasons of work. He will turn 31 in February.

Here’s the latest from the NFC East, shifting to another team’s cornerback situation.

  • The Eagles‘ placement of linebacker Joe Walker on IR could open up roster a spot for cornerback Sidney Jones, who remains on the PUP list. Philadelphia’s roster stands at 52 players, and the rookie has to be activated by next week in order to be on the playoff roster. Zach Berman of Philly.com expects the Eagles to activate the second-round pick (Twitter link). This would allow Jones additional practice time to prepare for a small role in the postseason rather than a full redshirt year. The University of Washington product has not played in a game since New Year’s Eve of last year, but Adam Caplan of ESPN.com tweets he’s recovered sufficiently from the Achilles’ tendon tear that damaged his draft stock. However, Caplan adds a conditioning issue stands in the way of Jones’ potential activation now.
  • Trent Williams‘ post-surgery clock started Friday. The Redskins tackle underwent the long-discussed knee operation, one performed by a patella specialist. He’s expected to be shelved for approximately six months, putting training camp well within reach for Washington’s stalwart edge blocker.
  • The Redskins are expected to let fourth-year starter Bashaud Breeland walk as a free agent come March.
  • Dave Gettleman discussed Eli Manning‘s status for 2018, and as of now, he’s slated to be the Giants’ starter.

Cowboys Place Tyron Smith, Orlando Scandrick On IR

Tyron Smith will move into offseason mode one week earlier than otherwise scheduled. The Cowboys placed their All-Pro left tackle on IR on Friday, Todd Archer of ESPN.com reports, adding cornerback Orlando Scandrick will join him in being moved from the 53-man roster to the injury list.

The Cowboys promoted wide receiver Lance Lenoir and tackle Kadeem Edwards from the practice squad to replace them, Archer reports.

Smith has battled multiple maladies this season, but knee pain will end up ending his season. Smith played in 13 games this year; the seventh-year tackle has never played in fewer than 13 in a season. His absences during a crucial November losing streak proved costly for the Cowboys, who will miss the playoffs after earning the NFC’s top seed last season.

Scandrick has missed the past four games with a back injury. His status in Dallas is far less certain than Smith’s, and the 30-year-old slot corner — a trade candidate this past offseason — could be moving on after 10 seasons with the team. After missing all of the 2015 season due to injury, Scandrick will have missed nine games over the past two campaigns because of ailments.

Could Cowboys Shop CB Orlando Scandrick?

During the 2017 NFL Draft the Cowboys were in trade talks to send CB Orlando Scandrick to the Saints for S Kenny Vaccaro, a source told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram’s Clarence Hill Jr. Mike Fisher of 105.3 The Fan in Dallas confirmed the trade talks and believes the veteran cornerback will not be with the team next season. Orlando Scandrick

Scandrick is unlikely suit up for the team’s finale vs. Philadelphia after missing the team’s previous three games with fractured bones in his back and with the Cowboys eliminated from playoff contention. In his absence, the team has relied on rookie cornerbacks Chidobe Awuzie and Jourdan Lewis, and second-year CB Anthony Brown. Those results have been favorable and could make the 10-year veteran expendable.

Though signed through the 2019 season, Scandrick, as Hill notes, is in a favorable contract that will pay the 30-year-old cornerback $3 MM in 2018 and $4 MM in 2019. The team could again target Vaccaro, who was placed on IR earlier this month with a wrist injury, though it is not known if the Saints will be willing to part with the former first-round pick who played a role in helping New Orleans dramatically improve its defense in 2018.

Though known in the past as one of the league’s top slot cornerbacks, Scandrick has endured a down year. Entering Week 17, Scandrick has not registered an interception and has just three passes defensed on the season. Pro Football Focus ranked the veteran as the No. 113 cornerback heading into the season finale.

Extra Points: Nagy, Cowboys, Cards, Pugh

The Chiefs‘ offense bounced back after a rough stretch, going off for 31 points and four Alex Smith touchdown passes in a loss to the Jets. While Kansas City’s defense couldn’t hold up in a shootout, the team will be sticking with the offensive setup that authored the mini-turnaround. OC Matt Nagy will continue to call plays, B.J. Kissel of KCChiefs.com tweets. The 474 yards the Chiefs put up were the most since their 537-yard explosion against the Patriots in Week 1. The Chiefs host the Raiders in what’s close to a must-win game. Nagy has been mentioned as a head-coaching candidate, and these games he has play-calling responsibilities could be a key factor in whether he’ll get that opportunity in 2018.

Here’s the latest from around the league.

  • Despite a 2018 roster that almost certainly will still house Chandler Jones, Markus Golden and Haason Reddick, the Cardinals are interested in bringing back outside linebacker Kareem Martin, Mike Jurecki of Arizonasports.com tweets. Martin’s a pending UFA and has been a part-time starter since being selected in the 2014 third round. Jurecki notes the team likes Martin’s versatility. Although, Arizona has used plenty of capital in stocking this position already.
  • The Cowboys will be without Orlando Scandrick, David Irving and Justin Durant against the Giants on Sunday, Mike Garafolo of NFL.com tweets. Scandrick suffered two transverse process fractures, while Durant and Irving remain in concussion protocol. The 6-6 Cowboys are clinging to contention and will need to complete a sweep of their NFC East rival to stay in the race.
  • Justin Pugh will be unavailable for the Giants. The upper-echelon blocker now faces the prospect of heading into free agency on a low note. Pugh’s back injury could force him to IR, Tom Rock of Newsday notes. Pugh said he wants to return this season but is also cognizant of his status. “I don’t want to,” he said of the prospect of being shut down for the season. “(But) I don’t want to make (the injury) even worse. It’s not at a point now where I have to get surgery or anything like that, and I don’t want it to get to that point.” Both Pugh and Weston Richburg, who is on IR, will see their contracts expire at season’s end. Pugh’s played in eight games this season.
  • Rookie Saints defensive end Trey Hendrickson is expected to miss multiple weeks due to an ankle injury sustained against the Falcons, Nick Underhill of The Advocate tweets. A third-round pick, Hendrickson has played in 12 games for the Saints this season as a backup.

Cowboys’ Orlando Scandrick Suffers Injury

Cowboys defensive back Orlando Scandrick suffered two transverse process fractures in his back, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). The injury will cost him at least one game and potentially more.

Scandrick suffered the injury on the third play of last night’s win over the Redskins. Remarkably, he managed to play through the pain. On Friday morning, doctors delivered the bad news.

This marks Scandrick’s second significant injury of the year. In the season opener, the cornerback suffered a broken hand. Remarkably, he missed only one game following surgery.

So far this year, the advanced metrics at Pro Football Focus are not crazy about Scandrick’s work. He has a 47.8 overall grade for his eleven games, placing him as just the No. 89 cornerback in the NFL out of 118 qualified players. Last year, Scandrick ranking an 27th out of 111 qualified corners as he totaled 46 tackles, two sacks, and an interception.

While Scandrick is out, the Cowboys will likely start rookie Jourdan Lewis or Anthony Brown in his place.

 

NFC Notes: Cousins, Foster, Scandrick, Cards

The Redskins are using the franchise tag arrangement with Kirk Cousins once again, and some more information about how the franchise planned its negotiations this past summer has emerged. Washington submitted the offer Bruce Allen referenced — a five-year proposal worth just less than $110MM, with $53MM fully guaranteed at signing — in May, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports. But Rapoport adds the team did not do anything to sweeten its offer in the months that followed, leading to the stalemate dragging past July 17.

This lack of a notably different second offer came in spite of Allen meeting with Cousins’ agent in Chicago and the Redskins president meeting with Cousins and his father in a four-plus-hour summit Rapoport describes as friendly. Allen, per Rapoport, said he would make another proposal between then and the July 17 deadline. But it did not arrive, and the same offer ended up being a take-it-or-leave-it submission.

Washington cannot renegotiate with Cousins until after the season, when the price for a tag will skyrocket — up to approximately $34MM — and put the Redskins to a higher-stakes decision.

Here’s the latest from the NFC as the conference’s Week 1 slate winds down.

  • Orlando Scandrick broke his hand during the Cowboys‘ Sunday-night win over the Giants, Rapoport reports (on Twitter). However, the veteran slot cornerback underwent surgery on Monday and is adamant on playing in Week 2. Scandrick’s goal might have been a bit optimistic, though. The surgery was a success, per ESPN.com’s Todd Archer, but the Cowboys don’t sound like they’re counting on him next week. Week 3 looms as a target, Archer notes. Scandrick missed four games last season and struggled with foot trouble. He’s back in his primary role, though, and is a key cog on a Cowboys defense that lost multiple cornerback regulars in free agency.
  • While an official timetable for Reuben Foster‘s high-ankle sprain isn’t yet known, Kyle Shanahan is expecting the first-round pick to miss at least a month. The rookie 49ers coach said Monday, via Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter), the four-to-six-week range would be the typical hiatus length. The 49ers are down to their third option at outside linebacker after Malcolm Smith tore a pectoral muscle and was lost for the season in training camp.
  • Cardinals coach Bruce Arians told reporters on Monday morning that left tackle D.J. Humphries will miss a week or two with a sprained MCL. John Wetzel is expected to start in his absence. Humphries debuted on the left side on Sunday after he and Jared Veldheer switched positions in the offseason.

Zach Links contributed to this report.

Extra Points: 49ers, Cowboys, Colts, Dobbs

Of all the quarterbacks in this year’s draft, Iowa’s C.J. Beathard was the only one 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan had interest in selecting, details Peter King of The MMQB. Shanahan ultimately got his man toward the end of the third round, pick No. 104, after the 49ers sent the 109th and 219th choices to Minnesota to trade up. “We’d all sleep a little better if we got him instead of waiting ’til tomorrow,” CEO Jed York told other members of the 49ers’ draft room before they moved up for Beathard. Shanahan compares Beathard to a former pupil, Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins, noting that Beathard “processes the game so well” and is “tough as sh–.”

More from around the game:

  • Cowboys cornerback Orlando Scandrick is “miffed” that he was the subject of trade rumors during the draft, reports Clarence Hill of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (on Twitter). Nevertheless, Scandrick, who was on hand Monday for the second phase of Cowboys workouts, is “being professional,” Hill adds.
  • Rookie general manager Chris Ballard‘s restructuring of the Colts’ scouting department has led to the ouster of Jimmy Raye III. The Colts parted with Raye, their former vice president of football operations, on Monday, tweets Albert Breer of The MMQB. The two sides split on “amicable” terms, per Breer. At one point this past winter, Raye looked like the favorite to succeed the fired Ryan Grigson as the Colts’ GM. Now, he’ll presumably look to catch on with another team’s front office.
  • The belief is that the Seahawks and Vikings had interest in Tennessee quarterback Joshua Dobbs on the third day of the draft, according to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Dobbs ended up with the Steelers in the fourth round, pick No. 135. The Seahawks used their fourth-rounder, No. 111, on Colorado safety Tedric Thompson. Minnesota selected Michigan linebacker Ben Gedeon 120th.
  • Chattanooga defensive end Keionta Davis is a “name to watch” as the undrafted free agent process continues, notes Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). The Senior Bowl invitee was a third- to fifth-round possibility before a bulging disc scared teams away on draft weekend. Davis’ specialist expects his neck to heal, though, according to Rapoport.