HEADLINES

Orlando Scandrick

Drug Suspension Not Lifted In Time For Week 2

September 13th, 2014 at 3:23pm CST by Rob DiRe

The deadline to activate players for Sunday action was 4 P.M. ET today, according to Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com (via Twitter). Without a new deal agreed to, teams will not have a chance to activate players who had suspensions about to be reduced in time for the games this weekend.

Those players will not have been reinstated into the NFL in time to play, and will now have to wait until next week to see their suspension lifted, reports Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter).

The player representatives approved the new deal, but it has not yet been made official.

Some players, such as Wes Welker, Orlando Scandrick, Reshad Jones, and Dion Jordan have each been suspended four games, but could have those suspensions thrown out under the new policy.

Josh Gordon, who was suspended for the entire season, could see his ban reduced to only 10 games.

The entire group will have to wait until next week for these changes to take effect, reports Mike Garafalo of Fox Sports 1 (via Twitter).

East Links: Cowboys, Redskins, Jets

September 13th, 2014 at 11:09am CST by Ben Levine

Orlando Scandrick is currently serving a four-game suspension, but the Cowboys cornerback will likely be back soon. Clarence E. Hill Jr. of the Star-Telegram writes that the 27-year-old will be eligible to play this weekend if a new league drug policy is agreed upon.

The former fifth-round pick expressed his beliefs that a suspension wasn’t necessary, but he’s still happy that the ordeal will soon be behind him.

“I’m relieved,” Scandrick said. “It feels good to be able to join back and play with my teammates and do what I love. It was the toughest two weeks of my life. It truly allowed me to appreciate the NFL, the game of football, my job and my career. I want to thank the Jones family, coach Jason Garrett and my teammates for their support. I want to assure everybody that this will never happen again. I will take the extra step so this never happens again. I’m just thankful the NFL and the union were able to reach a resolution. I’m speechless.

I got to realize I caught a break. When you catch a break you have to learn from it. It’s an eye opener to be banned from something you have done your whole life. I’m thankful and appreciative.”

Let’s take a look at some more notes from the NFL’s east divisions…
  • Unless something happens to linebacker Rolando McClain, the Cowboys wouldn’t have a reason to add free agent Pat Angerer, writes ESPN.com’s Todd Archer. However, the writer guesses that the former second-rounder is on the team’s “emergency board.”
  • Archer also makes it clear that Jerry Jones will not be relinquishing his control of the Cowboys. “It’s his team, his money,” Archer writes. “He can do with it what he wants. He will not sell the team. He will not give up the general manager title.”
  • In regards to the Redskins‘ linebacker depth, ESPN.com’s John Keim says the “best-case” scenario would involve Brian Orakpo having a big season and re-signing.
  • Jets defensive end Muhammad Wilkerson could have commanded a huge contract following his dominant 2013 season. The 24-year-old will be making $1.2MM this year, and Mark Canizzaro of the New York Post writes that a holdout was never in the picture. “If people treat me with respect and I treat them with respect then I guess my time will come,” Wilkerson said. “I’ve got to wait. If they respect me and they feel highly of me, then I guess they’ll take care of me, right? Time will tell…I guess I’m just different. I look at things differently. That’s how I was bought up. I’m a patient person. I’m going to just wait. I’ve just got to wait.”

Josh Gordon To Be Suspended 10 Games

September 12th, 2014 at 3:56pm CST by Zachary Links

3:56pm: Once the player reps vote within the next hour, the names of those reinstated players will be made public, tweets Chris Mortensen of ESPN.com. That tally should be in the double digits, but is not expected to exceed 20.

3:28pm: Under the new policy, Gordon’s suspension will be 10 games, a source tells Mary Kay Cabot of The Plain Dealer (on Twitter). The new policy calls for a 10-game suspension for a fourth violation.

2:23pm: A source with knowledge of the situation gave Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk a detailed rundown of what the new policy will look like if it is approved by the NFLPA. The NFL and NFLPA will jointly select, approve, and pay for a pool of three-to-five independent arbitrators to deal with appeals. Also, testing for HGH will also get underway this year without a population study.

9:20am: When a new drug policy is approved as early as this afternoon, Josh Gordon‘s suspension is expected to be reduced to eight games, a source tells Adam Schefter of ESPN.com (on Twitter). As expected, the new policy would also mean the reinstatement of Wes Welker, Orlando Scandrick, Dion Jordan, and others, as Ian Rapoport of NFL Network tweets.

If the new policy is finally approved today, it will bring weeks of back-and-forth negotiations and outside speculation to a close. According to a report frm Rapoport and Albert Breer last night, the new deal will have two-game suspensions for DUI convictions but won’t include the mandatory one-game suspension for a DUI arrest that the league was looking for. Additionally, the THC threshold is expected to move from 15 nanograms/milliliter to 35 ng/ml, which is still less than the standards of MLB (50 ng/ml) or the Olympics (150 ng/ml), but a significant change nonetheless. Had Gordon been tested with the new threshold in mind, he would have passed comfortably.

An eight game suspension for Gordon would be a split-down-the-middle compromise between the two sides as he was initially slated to miss the entire 2014 season. Welker, Scandrick, and Jordan all failed their tests inside of the 2014 league year while Gordon’s came before the official start on March 11th.

Latest On Drug Policy Talks

September 10th, 2014 at 7:08pm CST by Luke Adams

7:08pm: The NFLPA hasn’t received the league’s response to the latest edits on the drug policy, tweets Tom Pelissero of USA Today. With a game tomorrow, a vote amongst team reps is now unlikely before Friday.

1:43pm: There has been significant positive movement toward an agreement between the NFL and NFLPA on a new drug policy for the league, according to Albert Breer and Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network (Twitter link), who report that the league has dropped its request for discipline upon DUI arrests (without due process). The team player representatives are expected to spend the next 24 hours reviewing the details of the NFL’s latest proposal, and if all goes well, they should conduct a vote before Sunday (Twitter link).

While the DUI issue appears to have been tentatively resolved, there are still a couple areas of contention, according to Breer and Rapoport. The two sides have yet to agree upon the HGH testing protocol and neutral arbitration on appeals — the union’s lawyers flagged language in those two areas that had been modified in the league’s most recent proposal, and that was enough to force the team player reps to postpone a vote on whether or not to approve the new policy (Twitter links).

Still, there are a number of areas which have not been divisive and have essentially been agreed upon, including the idea of revisiting all player suspensions for the 2014 league year relating to the drug policy (Twitter link). If the new policy is approved this week, players like Wes Welker and Orlando Scandrick – who were suspended for 2014 violations – would likely be able to play as soon as this Sunday (Twitter link). Those suspensions will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, but Welker’s and Scandrick’s bans were based on a part of the policy which will be modified to make penalties less punitive, so they should be retroactively wiped out.

Of course, not all current suspensions will be so cut-and-dried; Breer and Rapoport point to Josh Gordon‘s case as one that will be a little more complicated (Twitter link). An agreement on a new drug policy would mean revisiting all suspensions levied since the new league year began on March 11, 2014, but while failed tests like Welker’s and Scandrick’s actually took place this year, Gordon failed his test last season. So even though the Browns wideout wasn’t disciplined until this year, the new policy may not apply to his suspension.

However, until a new plan is approved and until we hear exactly what it entails, we’re still in wait-and-see mode. For now, it appears that the NFLPA is moving toward voting on the NFL’s proposal, perhaps as early as tonight, according to Mike Klis of the Denver Post (Twitter link).

NFC Links: Sam, Scandrick, Hill

September 6th, 2014 at 11:48am CST by Ben Levine

The Vikings finished the 2013 season as the second-worst pass defense in the league. Injuries to Xavier Rhodes and Harrison Smith certainly didn’t help, and the healthy, matured group is expected to take a big step forward in 2014… even with their daunting schedule, which includes games against Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Matt Ryan, Aaron Rodgers and Matthew Stafford in consecutive weeks.

“That’s okay, you want to play the best,” Rhodes said (via Mark Craig of the Star Tribune). “To me, staying healthy is the key. Last year, DBs were going down left and right. We have the weapons. We just need to be healthier.”

Head coach Mike Zimmer has been seeing improvements from his secondary, and he’s thrilled with the presence of veteran defensive coordinator Jerry Gray:

“I’m pretty involved with the defensive backs, so I step in there quite a bit and I tell him exactly what I want because that’s kind of my baby,” Zimmer said. “By about the third day, Jerry was saying things to the players before I could say it. And it was the exact same thing I was going to say, so that made me feel really good.”

Let’s check out some more rumblings from the NFC…

  • Todd Archer of ESPNDallas.com predicts that it will be at least a month until the Cowboys would potentially promote Michael Sam to the active roster.
  • There have been plenty of rumors over the past couple of days that recently-suspended Orlando Scandrick could be reinstated if the NFL and the players’ association agree to a new drug policy. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones isn’t counting on Scandrick to be available on opening day, however. “I’m not planning on it, let’s put it like that,” Jones said on KRLD-FM/105.3 (via Drew Davison of the Star-Telegram). “The quicker we can get him back, the better our team would be because he arguably did have … a great training camp.”
  • Since it will take him at least a couple of weeks to learn the playbook, Stephen Hill likely won’t be on the Panthers active roster any time soon, writes ESPN.com’s David Newton. The writer believes that Hill ultimately will make the team, writing that organizations “don’t keep second-round picks on the practice squad.”

Cowboys Notes: McClain, Sam, Scandrick

September 5th, 2014 at 11:59am CST by Zachary Links

Ready or not, Rolando McClain will be starting at middle linebacker for the Cowboys this Sunday, writes Schuyler Dixon of The Associated Press. “I expect him to be really a heck of a linebacker for us,” said Rod Marinelli, who replaced Monte Kiffin as defensive coordinator. “I think he has great range. He’s got length. He’s smart. He’s a really physical player. So we just have to get him going and see how it works out from there.” Here’s today’s news out of Dallas..

  • Cowboys owner Jerry Jones says the team signed Michael Sam because of what he did in St. Louis and because defensive end is a position of need for the Cowboys, tweets Charean Williams of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Many have openly wondered if Jones signed Sam to the practice squad for the attention that he will bring. However, the reigning SEC defensive player of the year did make some noteworthy plays in preseason for the Rams.
  • Jones went on to say that he hasn’t heard anything about a potential return for Cowboys cornerback Orlando Scandrick, but he would welcome it (link). Still, Jones says that he’s not counting on it. The NFL and the NFLPA are reportedly close to ratifying a new drug policy that could retroactively affect suspensions for the likes of Scandrick and Broncos wide receiver Wes Welker.
  • Meanwhile, Clarence Hill Jr. of the Star-Telegram (on Twitter) hears from the team that the Cowboys believe Scandrick would be ready to go and could play on Sunday if the suspension is lifted.

Cowboys Make Cuts, Reduce Roster To 53

August 30th, 2014 at 4:31pm CST by Luke Adams

Only two Cowboys’ cuts surfaced yesterday, and the team added Lavar Edwards in a trade with the Titans earlier today, meaning 21 players had to be removed from the team’s active roster today. Among those roster casualties were a few notable names, including veteran guard Uche Nwaneri and running backs Phillip Tanner and Ryan Williams. Here’s the complete list of Cowboys roster moves, via a press release:

Released:

Waived:

Waived-injured:

Placed on reserve-suspended list:

NFC East Notes: Scandrick, Giants, Redskins

August 12th, 2014 at 11:26am CST by Luke Adams

In the wake of the four-game suspension handed out to his client, Cowboys cornerback Orlando Scandrick, agent Ron Slavin of BTI Sports Advisors issued a statement suggesting that if the proposed agreement related to HGH testing had been instituted by now, it would significantly reduce the number of PED suspensions (Twitter link via Rand Getlin of Yahoo! Sports). A number of drugs that currently fall under the PED umbrella would instead be tested under the substance abuse policy under that proposal, and first-time substance-abuse violations typically result in counselling and treatment rather than immediate suspensions.

Let’s round up a few more items on Scandrick and on some other NFC East clubs and players….

  • Scandrick’s positive test came as a result of the recreational drug MDMA being found in his system following a vacation to Mexico, a source tells Ed Werder of ESPN.com (Twitter links). Jay Glazer of FOX Sports adds (via Twitter) that MDMA on its own should be subject to the substance abuse policy, but the drug can sometimes be laced with amphetamines, which likely resulted in the PED classification.
  • Jason Fitzgerald of Over the Cap notes that the timing of the suspension was actually somewhat fortuitous for Scandrick, since he restructured his contract with the Cowboys in the offseason to reduce his base salary. By converting a portion of his 2014 salary to a signing bonus, Scandrick will only lose out on about $847K in salary, rather than around $1.55MM.
  • With David Wilson forced into retirement and Andre Brown back on the free agent market, a reunion between Brown and the Giants may seem logical, but Ed Werder of ESPN.com tweets that the Giants seem comfortable with the running backs on their roster, and don’t appear to have interest in Brown at this point.
  • Redskins GM Bruce Allen confirmed today to reporters, including Jason Reid of the Washington Post (Twitter link), that his team only has about $2MM in cap space. Cap-clearing moves will likely be necessary for the club before the start of the regular season, writes Rich Tandler of CSNWashington.com.
  • Mike Jones of the Washington Post fields a few Redskins-related questions in his latest mailbag.

Orlando Scandrick Suspended Four Games

August 11th, 2014 at 10:20pm CST by Ben Levine

Cowboys cornerback Orlando Scandrick will be suspended for the first four games of the 2014 season, owner Jerry Jones told reporters (via a tweet from Charean Williams of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram). Jones clarified that the 27-year-old will be suspended for PEDs (via Williams’ Twitter). Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer talked to Scandrick (Twitter link), and the player attributed the positive test to something he took in Mexico. However, sources tell NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport (via Twitter) that Scandrick will be suspended for a recreational drug, not a supplement.

A fifth-round pick in 2008, Scandrick has established himself as one of the team’s premier defensive players. He finished 2013 with career-highs in tackles (64), passes defended (12) and interceptions (two). Pro Football Focus’ advanced metrics (subscription required) ranked Scandrick as the Cowboys’ fourth-best defensive player last season, and he also finished as a top-2o pass-coverage cornerback.

Scandrick’s absence will certainly hurt a defensive unit that was among the league’s worst in 2013. ESPNDallas.com’s Calvin Watkins tweets that the team’s likely starting cornerbacks are Morris Claiborne and Brandon Carr. The duo was solid last season, but it’s unreasonable to expect them to match Scandrick’s presence in the secondary.

Jason Fitzgerald of OverTheCap.com takes a look at how much the suspension will cost Scandrick. The cornerback will forfeit $670,882 of his signing bonus and $176,471 of his base salary. As Fitzgerald notes, the player’s contract restructuring in March actually helped the player. Had the team not converted $3.375MM of his base salary into a signing bonus, Scandrick would have had to forfeit an additional $700K.

Cowboys Rumors: Draft, Spencer, Smith

April 3rd, 2014 at 6:52pm CST by Ben Levine

Let’s take a look at a handful of notes pertaining to America’s Team…

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